wuvvum Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Slightly more productive day of fettling today - the 75 now has working towbar electrics and the Mondeo has a working high-level brake light. The problem on the 75 turned out to be the live feed not being up to the job. I'm not sure why as it's a pretty hefty wire I nicked the supply from (it powers the passenger heated seat so should be up to flowing a decent amount of current), so I'm going to put it down to "because CANbus". I took the fusebox out and had a poke around behind it to try and find a permanent live, but the only one I could find that looked chunky enough for the job was the wire for the injector pump, and I didn't fancy hacking into that just in case. So I ended up running a wire direct to the battery live terminal, expertly* routed up through the wing. It works, and the towbar electrics can now cope with incandescent bulbs - before they would only manage LEDs. I put an inline fuse in the circuit a couple of years ago when I was first attempting to get the electrics working, so the direct battery feed shouldn't kill any nuns or kittens. The fix on the Mondeo involved running a live feed from the nearside brake light live wire up to the third brake light in the tailgate. Conveniently, someone had already spliced into the live on the nearside light cluster - a wire had been soldered in but then cut off, presumably as an abortive attempt to wire up the trailer plug. So there was a couple of inches of redundant live wire available which I could join onto - which saved pissing about with Scotchlocks, which is always a bonus. I've fed the wire through along roughly the same route as the main tailgate loom, so it's behind trim for most of its run - the only bit I couldn't do is get it through the rubber boot 'twixt tailgate and body, so I've run it along the outside of the boot and cable tied it in place. The LED bulbs I bought from eBay turned out to be utter shite, so it's currently running three normal 5W 501 bulbs and two LED bulbs - it seems to be coping OK with the extra load on the primary brake light circuit. Stevebrookman, LightBulbFun, Split_Pin and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 37 minutes ago, PhilA said: I now own this. And the rest of what it's attached to. I'm going to leave the calculation of how large the engine is up to y'all. I know it makes me smile. Phil About 6.4 innit? Based on the 6.6 in my old LTD being 400ci. PhilA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 2 minutes ago, wuvvum said: About 6.4 innit? Based on the 6.6 in my old LTD being 400ci. 6.4 yes. However it manages to do 33mpg (uk) at 65 along the flat. Mash the loud pedal into the carpet and that drops to about 1, maybe 2. Phil BorniteIdentity, wuvvum, chadders and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 15 hours ago, dozeydustman said: Been to 2 socially distanced birthday bbqs this evening. Just got home. 19 plate Prius taxi brought us back with 128k on the clock. is this a record? No... ? dozeydustman, somewhatfoolish and stonedagain 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 The 75 has been sitting for a week so was pressed into family car service this weekend and I can't stress enough how lovely it is to drive. Takeaway ice cream in the countryside yesterday in the middle of torrential rain and then to my folks today to sit in their garden room. Very enjoyable! Stevebrookman, LightBulbFun, barefoot and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Wanted to try to sort the misaligned exhaust tips on the Jag. They had managed to utterly nweld themselves to the tailpipes...figured battling them off with the silencers off the car would be easier...I wanted to repack the join between them and the mid section anyway as it was blowing there slightly on both sides. Of course it would have been rude to not do a test to see how things were without those rear silencers on wouldn't it. I really wanted to give her a bit more of a voice as the system on it reduces noise out the back to zero. Don't want to replicate a chavved up Corsa, but for goodness sake... it's a V12 you should be able to hear it sing. Um...those rear silencers are getting replaced with something with rather less in the way of silencing. Sounds bloody lovely. Maybe *slightly* more in your face than ideal, so probably not just straight pipes, we'll see what the local stainless specialists say (if they're open anyway). I also want to tweak things a bit back there to try to stop the nearside pipe touching the underside of the car. Hopefully this might be the opportunity to do that. Fat_Pirate, paulplom, LightBulbFun and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 9 minutes ago, Zelandeth said: Wanted to try to sort the misaligned exhaust tips on the Jag. They had managed to utterly nweld themselves to the tailpipes...figured battling them off with the silencers off the car would be easier...I wanted to repack the join between them and the mid section anyway as it was blowing there slightly on both sides. Of course it would have been rude to not do a test to see how things were without those rear silencers on wouldn't it. I really wanted to give her a bit more of a voice as the system on it reduces noise out the back to zero. Don't want to replicate a chavved up Corsa, but for goodness sake... it's a V12 you should be able to hear it sing. Um...those rear silencers are getting replaced with something with rather less in the way of silencing. Sounds bloody lovely. Maybe *slightly* more in your face than ideal, so probably not just straight pipes, we'll see what the local stainless specialists say (if they're open anyway). I also want to tweak things a bit back there to try to stop the nearside pipe touching the underside of the car. Hopefully this might be the opportunity to do that. Rear silencer deletes on executive cars are definitely the way to go. Mason the Lexus sounded amazing with straight-through rear section, but was a long way from over-bearing. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borsuq Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 I think the Polonez has decided that it hates me and it wanted to kill me today. Took it for a decently long spin, 100 miles or so, and just as I was about to head back towards my city, the engine decided to die just as I was joining a reasonably busy A road, on an intersection that's right behind a hill. I'm really glad it was a Sunday and therefore traffic was fairly minimal, because it could have ended really badly. I was literally stopped across both lanes of the main road for what felt like eternity as the car was struggling to restart and then hold its revs. I've noticed that it now seems to struggle when even a medium amount of throttle is applied from idle revs (also, the idle is too high to begin with, ~1200 instead of ~900 revs, but I knew about that), which is a bit odd for a fuel injected car. I guess no more driving until I can investigate, because bloody hell that was scary. Hopefully it's just a dodgy stepper motor, or something that'll be fixed when I change the fuel filter. sdkrc and paulplom 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernaut Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 14 minutes ago, dollywobbler said: Rear silencer deletes on executive cars are definitely the way to go. Mason the Lexus sounded amazing with straight-through rear section, but was a long way from over-bearing. Went well round Knockhill, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Looking closer, no wonder I could never get the tips to match...one is a good 1 1/2" longer than the other... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitsisigma01 Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Zelandeth said: Wanted to try to sort the misaligned exhaust tips on the Jag. They had managed to utterly nweld themselves to the tailpipes...figured battling them off with the silencers off the car would be easier...I wanted to repack the join between them and the mid section anyway as it was blowing there slightly on both sides. Of course it would have been rude to not do a test to see how things were without those rear silencers on wouldn't it. I really wanted to give her a bit more of a voice as the system on it reduces noise out the back to zero. Don't want to replicate a chavved up Corsa, but for goodness sake... it's a V12 you should be able to hear it sing. Um...those rear silencers are getting replaced with something with rather less in the way of silencing. Sounds bloody lovely. Maybe *slightly* more in your face than ideal, so probably not just straight pipes, we'll see what the local stainless specialists say (if they're open anyway). I also want to tweak things a bit back there to try to stop the nearside pipe touching the underside of the car. Hopefully this might be the opportunity to do that. Where's the video without the silencers ? BorniteIdentity 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 4 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said: Where's the video without the silencers ? This Please have the video done and ready before you cause us all to start chewing on the edge of the table waiting in anticipation. Phil outlaw118 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speedy Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 18 hours ago, dozeydustman said: Been to 2 socially distanced birthday bbqs this evening. Just got home. 19 plate Prius taxi brought us back with 128k on the clock. is this a record? Must have been shared and driven back-to-back. No way one person could do 128k in 15ish months, surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 1 hour ago, Zelandeth said: Jag... less in the way of silencing... probably not just straight pipes... Zel. Two words: Side. Pipes. Thank me later ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 59 minutes ago, PhilA said: This Please have the video done and ready before you cause us all to start chewing on the edge of the table waiting in anticipation. Phil I had planned to, but got dragged into making dinner the moment I got in the door! Of course there was video, I know I'd have been excommunicated if there wasn't. PhilA, Stevebrookman, dollywobbler and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuboy Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Been to see my friend in sittingbourne, gave the mondeo a long run out .. came away with some 2.0 cans for my fil, a mondeo picture for my wall, and hes sold the mk1 citrine mondeo, due to go in July. EGG if u need anything from garry I'd ask soon as once buyer takes the car and any bits he wants, the left overs will be chucked . blakey79, paulplom and Amishtat 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Did an oil change on the fiesta 1.25. I bought some 5w30 to the ford spec; apparently these are fussy about their oil- (am I the first owner / service administrator to do this on this car and does it make a difference anyway?) but I went along with it FWIW. later in the week and had to go up to Bristol for my job. I misstimed it having not driven far of months and had to make up time shall we say. Despite being a 22 year old fiesta not far from the end of its life it felt good at speed, it didn’t blow up despite being caned up the m5 and is quicker than you expect it to be. Rather pointlessly I have spent out on a cheap set of the correct ford wheel trims for a ghia to replace these (ka trims?) To cap the week off I saw this parked by my house yesterday. It’s still got its period Vauxhall font plates, yum! Check out the ‘zorst Brodders, dave j, DVee8 and 12 others 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort16 Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 19 hours ago, PhilA said: 6.4 yes. However it manages to do 33mpg (uk) at 65 along the flat. Mash the loud pedal into the carpet and that drops to about 1, maybe 2. Phil Does it have cylinder decactivation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HMC Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Later I saw it’s elderly owner getting into it and made a conscious decision not to strike up convo/ leave a note. Willpower at last? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobT Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 For a brief moment you were cured. It never lasts, we all know the feeling! wuvvum and Angrydicky 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Reassembly of the SD1 continues - I have got all the headlights working - the underbonnet lights, despite not looking original, have never worked. Cleaning the connections made no difference. I cheated by connectind the lights connectors ( behind the end of the bonnet) to my battery charger. They work. But not from the cars own supply. I began checking the connections behind the n/s headlight. I managed to find 12 v at a bullet connector which feeds the lights - so I have a wire or connector issue. LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 2 hours ago, chaseracer said: Zel. Two words: Side. Pipes. Thank me later ? Sadly given the lack of ground clearance or generally any cubic nanometre of space anywhere on this car I think that would be really difficult to engineer. The exhaust on this runs very nearly above the height of the floorpan for most of its length, with the main silencers right in front of the rear axle...sure it could be done...but it would mean basically making a whole new system...and I'd rather not be throwing four figure sums of money at what is absolutely a luxury. Plus the cutouts in the rear valance would look odd without anything in them. Already have a side pipe (ridiculous one at that) on the van at least, though I do wish it was on my side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilA Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 1 hour ago, cort16 said: Does it have cylinder decactivation? Thankfully yes. De-selecting that changes it to about two-thirds of the average economy. Phil cort16 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 4 hours ago, Speedy said: Must have been shared and driven back-to-back. No way one person could do 128k in 15ish months, surely? When I first knew the cab trade they were using Ovlov 145's like you see Piouses now. Some were Hackneys, shared as the plates here cost around £30k then! So, obs interstellar mileages resulted. Speedy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Didn't get as much done today as I would have liked, primarily because every time I tried to get on with anything it'd start belting it down with rain. I had to go out and get a headlight bulb for the 75, as the offside dipped bulb blew last night. They're a right fiddly twat to fit even with the access hatch - that poxy spring clip is a bastard, I thought I might start investigating the Innocenti's subframe. Greatly to my surprise, all of the bolts (the five subframe mounting bolts, the bolt that holds the lower arm onto the subframe and the anti-roll bar retaining nut) cracked off easily. Even the lock washer on the lower arm bolt bent back without a fight. Whether this means they'll all come all the way undone without a fight remains to be seen, but it's a good start. If we get a dry weekend with not too many distractions I think I should be able to get it swapped over. I also wire brushed and Kurusted the inner sills / edge of the floorpans - I'll give the offside a spray of underseal next time I have the car up on the ramps, the nearside will need to wait until the hole at the back is patched up. I've also finally reached the conclusion that the exhaust centre section is beyond help, so I'm going to order a new one, which won't be particularly cheap - the joys of owning a car which is the only example of its type in the country. I took the Renault 6 for a quick spin as it hadn't been out for a while. The lights were playing up again - the nearside indicators stopped flashing whenever I braked. Last time this happened I "cured" it by wiggling the earth wire for the nearside rear light unit - this time I thought I'd better do the job properly, so I got under the car and found the earth was in fact two bits of wire which I'd twisted together as a temporary bodge when fitting the lights a few years back, then never got round to sorting properly. So the manky ends of the two wires were cut off, the insulation stripped back and they were joined together with a proper connector - hopefully that'll avoid the issue arising again. I do still need to look at the offside front brake caliper though as it's still sticking on a bit when I brake hard - a swift twat with a rubber mallet frees it off so it's not sticking badly, but it's an annoyance. Last time I tried having a look (a couple of years ago now) I gave up because I couldn't get the caliper off the disc due to the lip which had worn round the edge of the disc. I now own a large enough G-clamp to (hopefully) persuade the pads far enough apart to clear the disc, and I can then grease whatever needs greasing (and also check that the discs aren't wearing too thin). LightBulbFun, outlaw118, Split_Pin and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuboy Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Had been putting off tidying up boot of the car, so bought some reduced basket from tesco.. hopefully i can cure the habit of just lobbing it in and shutting the boot..lol paulplom 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitsisigma01 Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Anyone would think you had a Laguna with the amount of tools you carry ? Supernaut 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Saabnut, dome, outlaw118 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghosty Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Dad came to me this morning and asked if I'd go on a collection mission for him. His long term friend and occasional colleague is selling one of his cars, and doesn't have time to sell it - could I retrieve it and do it up to sell on his behalf? The thing is, it's a similar value to the C30, won't be much worse on fuel, far more likely to go up in value, and practicality is less important now I have the 205. If I like how it drives I might buy it and sell the C30 because absurdly, the C30 is twice as much to insure. mitsisigma01, Coprolalia and LightBulbFun 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitsisigma01 Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Intrigued already, just get it bought anyway, whether it's sensible or financially beneficial is irrelevant ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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