The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

Might have a wheel bearing on the way out on the Princess.  Difficult to tell.  Low 'wubwubwub' sort of noise, increasing and decreaseing in frequency in line with changes to speed.

Sounds like Mike dropped in a V8 when you weren't looking.

[Inspector Morose]

Well, a rover V8 does fit on a princess gearbox.........

[wuvvum]

I actually had a reasonable amount of success on the fettling front over the weekend.  As well as getting the Buick running again, I also managed to get two of the 75's locking wheel nuts off.  I discovered, quite by accident, that by sliding a 20mm socket with a long extension bar over the head of the bolt and batting it back and forth in a certain way with a large hammer it will cause the bolt head (the bit with the key pattern in it and the slippery chrome plating) to become detached from the rest of the bolt (the two halves fit together with splines).  Then with the aid of the aforesaid large hammer, a 19mm bolt extractor socket thingy can be twatted over the remaining bit of bolt which can then be wound out.

 

So I took the front wheel off to see if I could see what is causing the rattling.  It actually all looks fairly newish under there - nothing is particularly rusty, and the wishbone bushes look brand new.  I still suspect it's the drop link, but they look a bit of a twat to do so I'm going to leave it until MOT man confirms my suspicions as I don't fancy tackling the job if it's not strictly necessary.  The drop link that's on there looks fairly recent and all the boots are intact, but cheapo drop links often don't last too long, and it is a bastard heavy car.

 

I was half expecting the front pads to be down to almost nowt as well, given the aforesaid lardiness and the fact that it has very little in the way of engine braking, but there's still a good 6mm on them so they'll last for a while yet. 

 

Then I took the back wheel off and swapped the wheels front to rear, as the back tyre had a lot better tread so putting it on the front would give me better traction in the wet.  Took the car up the road and it's pulling to the left, which it's never done before.  Get home, shine a torch at the (rather scuffed) sidewalls and find that the tyres are different sizes front to rear (fronts are 205/60, rears are 215/60), so my cunning plan hasn't really worked and I'm going to have to swap them back.  And buy a tyre.

 

Also, the Y10's speedo has decided to go haywire again, so it's obviously one of those intermittent faults which I'm just going to have to live with.  Fortunately it's quite easy to unplug the speedo when it does go mental, and with these fancy new telephones with GPS receivers it's easy enough to keep track of one's speed, especially now I've got the fag lighter working again and can keep said telephone charged up.

[Split_Pin]

You can do drop links on a 75 without even removing the wheel. Grab the link and give it a shoogle to check for play. They also go through front ball joints but thats a low pitched knock.

 

Have you checked that the pad anti-rattle springs are present? Springs are also a 75 thing, is there a broken piece lying in the spring cup?

 

I miss my 75, it did need mended, but you always knew what was wrong quite quickly!

[Ghosty]

The wheels by the way, are a set of directional alloys off a twincam 88-91 Civic (but were also fitted to CR-Xs). They're quite rare, and at £60 for the set, centre caps intact and no kerbing, I couldn't say no, especially as Pwllheli is a lovely place to drive to. They seem to be around 14x5 so a bit skinnier than my current ones (14x6 iirc). Plan is to tidy them up a bit either with rattle cans and lacquer or a powder coat, stick some Uniroyals on and have them as an alternative wheelset. If I take the Civic to any shows it'll be on the valver wheels for originality points.

An exhaust system is definitely on the cards too as the rear section needs replacing and I have the old 416GTi manifold lying around, which is a direct fit to the D14 block, but about 5mm larger bore so currently incompatible.
Similarly, the suspension could do with a refresh, so a mild drop might as well happen, and if I can source a spare carb setup (easy as people often add injection or engine swap GLs), I might cut the intake springs on it. I like reversible mods.
I'm going to try and find some sort of front splitter for it tomorrow.

I'll be at U-Pull It in York, they have a V70 in with leather that I want to take the seats from, as well as having a general scavenge for splitters to chop up on the Civic, mislaid tools etc. Last time I went I found an absolutely beautiful drawing some school kid had done and left in a portfolio in a crashed Passat. I kept it and put it on my wall.

 

Typically the council worker with the other local T5 dropped by while I was out, he spoke to Old Man then PM'd me on the VOC forum. Turns out his T5 is green too, but the metallic one, not Classic Green. It sounds like he'll be a useful contact though as his signature suggests he might have an 850R... 

He also mentioned that his cousin has a CR-X Del Sol. 
I know the car he means as I've seen it about quite a bit. 

It's turbocharged

[wuvvum]

You can do drop links on a 75 without even removing the wheel. Grab the link and give it a shoogle to check for play. They also go through front ball joints but thats a low pitched knock.

 

Have you checked that the pad anti-rattle springs are present? Springs are also a 75 thing, is there a broken piece lying in the spring cup?

 

I miss my 75, it did need mended, but you always knew what was wrong quite quickly!

 

Spring isn't broken as far as I can see, I did check that.  Pad springs appear to be present and correct.

 

It's the top nut on the drop link which worries me a bit.  The top of the thread is about 5mm from the spring so no chance of getting a ring spanner on it, let alone a socket, so open spanner is the only way to go.  Being the nearside you're also pulling towards you to undo so no way of twatting it with a hammer to loosen it.  It might be fine, I'm just remembering the fun* I had getting various suspension-related nuts undone on the Audi.

[Cavcraft]

New car just been picked up by recovery fella and on route. Nothing that will excite or interest fellow shifters, but can’t wait to get home this evening!

[Craig the Princess]

Van. Trailer. Cuvva. Dog. 2 shiters.

 

BeEP BeEP

[Craig the Princess]

Multipla multiplication.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course the MOTed red one with the non biohazard interior is on the trailer and the one with more mould than Theresa May's jam is my home for the next hour to a pre booked MOT.

[Cavcraft]

Collected...

 

 

 

Delivered...

 

 

[loserone]

Winner!

[egg]

Is that a Puma 'Black'? I can see it is black, but you know what I mean

[HillmanImp]

Is that a Puma 'Black'? I can see it is black, but you know what I mean

 

Black? BLACK! Lock me in the cellar and feed me PINS!

[Ghosty]

A bit sad. There's a Monogram looking ZS in here too.

[Cavcraft]

Is that a Puma 'Black'? I can see it is black, but you know what I mean

Yes! He was offered £75 by a main dealer in a part-exchange. Lucky he mentioned it really it it'd probably be toast now. I paid a reasonable bit more than that, and then paid more than half again to have it delivered.

[Jazoli]

Also found footwell lights had no bulbs in so had a blue pair 501 leds doing nothing..

And it begins, I reckoned it'll be 3 months before you 'improved' it

[HillmanImp]

I've also been meaning to ask, when i tidy up the welds, what are those flap disc things people recommend? Saves me using the grinder. Is it these ones?

 

flap-disc.jpg

 

Never tried them but a few people have mentioned them.

 

What grit would peeps recommend for these for sanding back mig welds?

[chodweaver]

What grit would peeps recommend for these for sanding back mig welds?

I think I've ended up using 60, but quite prepared to be told this is not the best grade.

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

[chodweaver]

Buoyed by today's successful snapped-coil replacement on the vomit coloured Corsa (its MOT is due), futile restoration of an XM rear subframe generously donated by a good sort on the Club-XM forum began. I hope that Flag's Rust Converter has not leaped up in price since I bought this pot - I like it and can see me using it a lot...

 

Soz for potato cam quality pics

 

Before:

 

During:

 

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

 

After:

[Hertz]

I have managed to find a genuine one lady owner from new (since 1989) motor which I'm very excited about. Just in final negotiations with a possible collection next Saturday.

 

Deposit paid, insurance bought. Collection Saturday PM.

 

It's a bit of an obvious one for me so won't do a thread. It's 220 miles away so just hope it gets me home OK.

[SiC]

What grit would peeps recommend for these for sanding back mig welds?

I use:

60 grit for general use.

40 grit to properly remove material when I've put far, far too much on.

80 grit for lightly cleaning or just taking the top off of rust.

[spike60]

After fitting the fuel pump, filter and repairing the wiring on the Merc SEC yesterday I went on a meander today to see if it kept going. It did, though not exactly trouble free. Going up the bank on the A174 by Ellerby I decided to kick it down, This was not a good idea, it won't have been kicked down in the last 17 years, if ever. It stuck, not the throttle, just the kick down. I was about 20 miles from home in a 35 year old 5L car that will only change up at 6000 rpm. Great.

I pulled off the road and after a bit of pondering I found the kickdown switch jammed down under the pedal, pulled it up, job jobbed. Then when I got going at more sensible RPM the passenger seat belt butler joined in the fun , frantically waving the belt at the empty seat until I clipped it in. All part of putting a car back on the road after a long layoff I guess.

 

Here it is posing in the winter sun next to the scenic Mickleby Landfill site after the latest teething troubles.

[vulgalour]

As they wear out, they get more useful for other jobs too, so don't bin them when they stop being effective on the thing you started on, you'll find them handy elsewhere.

 

 

EDIT: flapwheels, that is, not bright red Mercs.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I use:

60 grit for general use.

40 grit to properly remove material when I've put far, far too much on.

80 grit for lightly cleaning or just taking the top off of rust.

Yup - that's what I usually tickle it with……...

 

After fitting the fuel pump, filter and repairing the wiring on the Merc SEC yesterday I went on a meander today to see if it keep going. It did, though not exactly trouble free. Going up the bank on the A174 by Ellerby I decided to kick it down, This was not a good idea, it won't have been kicked down in the last 17 years, if ever. It stuck, not the throttle, just the kick down. I was about 20 miles from home in a 35 year old 5L car that will only change up at 6000 rpm. Great.

I pulled off the road and after a bit of pondering I found the kickdown switch jammed down under the pedal, pulled it up, job jobbed. Then when I got going at more sensible RPM the passenger seat belt butler joined in the fun , frantically waving the belt at the empty seat until I clipped it in. All part of putting a car back on the road after a long layoff I guess.

 

Here it is posing in the winter sun next to the scenic Mickleby Landfill site after the latest teething troubles.

Feb 2019 057.JPG

Have to say - I'd sit in that and not even bother calling for AA or whoever for a while - I'd still be king of the hill - just standing still. It looks bloody marvelous. glad it was an easy sort though - have you bothered with a service or anything at all? Or just winging it?

[stuboy]

Pollen filter maybof needing changing...

 

And new cheapo wheel centres make a nicer look..

[Cavcraft]

That red Merc is something else.

[spike60]

 

 

Have to say - I'd sit in that and not even bother calling for AA or whoever for a while - I'd still be king of the hill - just standing still. It looks bloody marvelous. glad it was an easy sort though - have you bothered with a service or anything at all? Or just winging it?

 

 

No, I'm working my way through it. When I got it the owner didn't know when the oil was last changed but it was his late FiL's car and he'd never put it on the road. Same family for 30+ years, garaged for 20 and last taxed in 2003. I don't know when it was last rustproofed but the fuel filter was Waxoyled... . It doesn't need a whole lot doing, I aim to keep so will change diff oil, box oil and filter and go through it. It's not a show winner, the pics flatter it but it's too good to run into the ground. Oh, and I aim to drive it.

[HillmanImp]

Fuck me, that Merc is PHIT!

[Split_Pin]

I did lol at the picture painted of the panicking seat belt butler!

[richardmorris]

I did lol at the picture painted of the panicking seat belt butler!

 

That could be the door switch. Only could mind - though obviously the motor is ok.