The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

The new battery for the Volvo arrived today, so this evening I went out and fitted it - it's the correct 075 rather than the 096 which was shoehorned in there before so it went in a lot easier.  Started the car to straighten it up in its space and the rear brakes had completely freed off.  So I'm now wondering whether the issue is collapsed flexis rather than stuck calipers - that'd explain why the brakes were such a PITA to vacuum bleed.  I think I'll invest in a new pair of flexis and see if that improves matters before I take the calipers off and start buggering about with those.

I took the Jag in to Norwich and as soon as I hit traffic it started playing up - chugging at idle and then putting out a massive cloud of clag when I put my foot down.  It's obviously overfuelling quite badly.  Eventually it went into "restricted performance" mode.  On the way home it went into RP mode shortly after I started it, but other than the lack of power it ran beautifully - no black smoke, no chugging or other shenanigans.

I plugged the laptop in when I got home and this time it gave me two fault codes.  One was to do with the EGR valve (it didn't specify which) flowing too much gas - which I suppose is logical.  The other was an injector fault - the problem is that it was a fault with the injector on cylinder 4, which is the one that was brand new a few months ago.  So I'm now wondering if that wasn't coded in properly - although the laptop said it was something to do with voltage at the injector rather than flow, but the wiring all looks OK and as I say it was running smoothly on the way home.

So I now need to decide whether I try to find someone who can diagnose it properly, or whether to cut my losses and try to sell it as it is - it's still perfectly drivable if you ignore the smoke, it's never actually FTP'd and it still runs fine when you floor it.  It's got a few months' MOT left on it so someone might want it to have a play with.  I do like the old crate though apart from the overfuelling issue.

[RoverFolkUs]

11 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

So I'm now wondering whether the issue is collapsed flexis rather than stuck calipers

I'm sure you know this already but surely just crack the bleeders off when it's playing up? By releasing any hydraulic pressure, if the brake freed up after doing that, it confirms if it's the hydraulics causing the sticking or if it is indeed still locked up then the caliper or associated hardware.

Hopefully that would save replacing any parts unnecessarily 

[wuvvum]

Yes in theory, but given the difficulties I've had getting anything at all to come out of the bleed nipples I'm not convinced that'd work.  Although I suppose before I was trying to bleed it down from the master cylinder, whereas in this scenario I'd be releasing pressure that is already inside the caliper, so it might work...

[RoverFolkUs]

5 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Yes in theory, but given the difficulties I've had getting anything at all to come out of the bleed nipples I'm not convinced that'd work.  Although I suppose before I was trying to bleed it down from the master cylinder, whereas in this scenario I'd be releasing pressure that is already inside the caliper, so it might work...

A pressure bleeder should do the trick, if you're not getting anything out of the nipples then I'd say collapsed hoses are likely 

What Volvo are we talking by the way? Assuming modern ish?

[wuvvum]

Nope - 1972 164.

[RoverFolkUs]

16 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Nope - 1972 164.

Oh, whoops, my bad! No ABS pump or associated gubbins to affect things! "Should" be a bit more straightforward?!

[Dan29]

On 6/13/2022 at 8:25 PM, Yoss said:

Don't know what's going on here. I managed to almost surreptitiously snap this today. 

A Fiat 500 you say. But those are Triumph Stag/2500S alloys. They're not just similar, they are identical. 

 

But the PCD isn't anywhere near the same. The Fiat is 4x98 and the Triumph 4x114. So if you were really keen you could fill the original holes and re drill them. Except, on both cars the wheel nuts appear to be central in the inner black circle. If you redrilled them to 4x98 surely the wheel nuts would be practically touching the centre cap.

I wonder if the same design was used on an old Italian car. The Triumphs are a Michelotti design, maybe he designed the wheels as well and so felt he could use them again on something else.

It's got me stumped. They do look good though. 

Could be these?

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, Dan29 said:

Could be these?

That's very close but not quite. Most notably the valve hole is at the end of a spoke on the Triumph wheel, and the ones pictured on the 500, but between spokes on the one above. Also that's only 13" the Triumph wheel is 14", which the ones on the 500 look more like, though of course they might come in different sizes. But I'm still going with PCD adapters. 

[cort16]

I saw this on Practical Classics Instagram feed. . Does anyone know anything about it, it looks pretty well done?

[Split_Pin]

https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=302318&page=5

 

[cort16]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=302318&page=5

 

Apparently the convertible is based on an E Class Convertible like this and the And the coupe is based on a BMW 4 series, which kind of makes a little more sense.

Still loads of work to get from this

To this.

 

[Split_Pin]

The wheels are nasty but it otherwise looks tremendous! I can imagine a nicely specced one of these being a real contender for an E class .

[Split_Pin]

I usually buy parts for my cars prior to any garage visit however I avoided doing this with the Cavalier timing belt job today as I knew that 1.6 small block stuff would arrive and I'd be out of pocket (mine has the big block 1.6).

Sure enough the garage phoned at lunchtime and said that they'd been provided with the wrong kit.  Thankfully they got the part numbers off the old belt (can't have been too bad then) and they will arrive at 4pm today. I'll get the car back tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the 75 oil level has gone back down to full again.  My theory is that if there was a leak in the pump, it would cause the car to take longer to start and would not run well. I'm going to take it to the Superbikes at Knockhill  on Saturday and then check the level again next week. I may just accept that now, for some unknown reason, the oil level goes up and then down again.

[Asimo]

7 hours ago, Yoss said:

That's very close but not quite. Most notably the valve hole is at the end of a spoke on the Triumph wheel, and the ones pictured on the 500, but between spokes on the one above. Also that's only 13" the Triumph wheel is 14", which the ones on the 500 look more like, though of course they might come in different sizes. But I'm still going with PCD adapters. 

Not a difficult job (in a machine shop) to modify the hubs and brake discs / drums to suit the wheels.

Five spokes with four bolts though!  Can never look correct. 

[artdjones]

13 hours ago, wuvvum said:

One was to do with the EGR valve (it didn't specify which) flowing too much gas

On some cars this can also be a MAF fault. 

[RoverFolkUs]

I wish Rover made a floppy top 75, they missed a trick there. Would have been a great "modern" replacement for the then-obsolete R8 cabs in my opinion 

[stuboy]

Can't seem to stop the alarm going off at night so I've removed the sounder... I pissed off too many neighbours so ill settle for the hzard lights flashing for now..

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I wish Rover made a floppy top 75, they missed a trick there. Would have been a great "modern" replacement for the then-obsolete R8 cabs in my opinion 

I think the one above probably looks better than one that Rover would would have made themselves bearing in mind the budget they would have had available to them by that point. 

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, Asimo said:

Not a difficult job (in a machine shop) to modify the hubs and brake discs / drums to suit the wheels.

Five spokes with four bolts though!  Can never look correct. 

No but it seems a lot of bother to go to on a standard 500, I'm going with @Jamiehere, PCD adapters.

 

By the way five spokes is the right number of spokes regardless of wheel nuts/bolts. I may* be biased. 

[Split_Pin]

I went to fit a new fuel filter to the 75 after work today.

Hmm looks different:

TOO BIG!!

Another £31 lighter and the correct one ordered.

[Yoss]

8 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

https://the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=302318&page=5

 

An interesting thread, especially in the last couple of pages where one longstanding member has the temerity to say he doesn't like it with several reasons explaining why whilst still stressing how much he appreciates the work that has gone in to it. Then another member slags him off for daring to have a different opinion and within about five posts the first member decides to sell all his 75s (he seems to have more than one, not sure of the exact details) and go away for ever and 'get his life back'. 

That seemed to happen about once a fortnight when I used to frequent the place (I had a ZT-T 190 for about five years). Nice to see nothing has changed. 

[Split_Pin]

Marinabrian did the remap on mine, he doesn't log in any more.

I have posted about 6 times since I joined in 2018. Naebdy kens fuck all there anyway when you ask a question.

[vulgalour]

Could it be?  Have I found a solution that works?

Parker Knoll type springs do hook onto the original diaphragm hooks nicely.  I'm going to have to make a panel to keep the springs aligned and add some support to the foam, but I already have some good thick canvas that should do very nicely for that job.  The only issue on a test sit has been that the springs are softer than the original diaphragm so the seat does bucket a bit *but* that will be counteracted by the canvas panel I'm putting in since the foam won't be able to push down and spread the springs apart so much... at least in theory.

Time will tell if third time really is the charm in trying to solve the collapsed seat base issue.

[RayMK]

12 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Could it be?  Have I found a solution that works?

Parker Knoll type springs do hook onto the original diaphragm hooks nicely.  I'm going to have to make a panel to keep the springs aligned and add some support to the foam, but I already have some good thick canvas that should do very nicely for that job.  The only issue on a test sit has been that the springs are softer than the original diaphragm so the seat does bucket a bit *but* that will be counteracted by the canvas panel I'm putting in since the foam won't be able to push down and spread the springs apart so much... at least in theory.

Time will tell if third time really is the charm in trying to solve the collapsed seat base issue.

I used a very similar method to rectify the collapsed driver's seat in my Reliant.  I used a flexible plastic sheet to spread the load between springs and foam.  Those springs are also very handy when making temporary repairs by the roadside e.g. to re-hang a sagging exhaust or to persuade a clutch pedal to return after certain types of failure.  Mine all came from an old settee that I took to the tip - not before salvaging anything that looked useful. 

[JJ0063]

Got a couple of hundred knocked off the asking price as the front tyres were very low. Found a really good deal on the ATS website and managed to get a pair of Avon ZV7 for £140 odd fitted. No idea what they’re like but they sounded better than linglong and were really cheap for 18”. 
 

Didn’t get the rears as they are a pair and like new albeit a brand I’ve never heard of.

[RoverFolkUs]

13 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

Got a couple of hundred knocked off the asking price as the front tyres were very low. Found a really good deal on the ATS website and managed to get a pair of Avon ZV7 for £140 odd fitted. No idea what they’re like but they sounded better than linglong and were really cheap for 18”. 
 

Didn’t get the rears as they are a pair and like new albeit a brand I’ve never heard of.

They'll look like this after a year or two:

Not really much of an issue, but Avon seem to use the worst rubber compound available. They're alright for high mileage usage, but they'll crack horribly if they last more than a couple of years tread wise

[Jamie]

2 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

They'll look like this after a year or two:

Not really much of an issue, but Avon seem to use the worst rubber compound available. They're alright for high mileage usage, but they'll crack horribly if they last more than a couple of years tread wise

knowing @JJ0063he's like me, that scirocco will be gone long before them cracks appear

[JJ0063]

2 minutes ago, Jamie said:

knowing @JJ0063he's like me, that scirocco will be gone long before them cracks appear

This man knows the score. 
 

Although to be honest I do plan on keeping this a reasonable length of time, but if I get 2 years out of a pair of £70 a corner tyres I’ll be more than happy! 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 minute ago, JJ0063 said:

This man knows the score. 
 

Although to be honest I do plan on keeping this a reasonable length of time, but if I get 2 years out of a pair of £70 a corner tyres I’ll be more than happy! 

Yeah you'll do fine, it's more so when people put them on the rear of something like a Focus, so they hardly have any tread wear at all when they become badly cracked

[Eyersey1234]

To be fair I used Avons on my old Fiesta and never had an issue with them.