Andy's awful autos: OMGB! Getting a bit steamy

[Peter C]

42 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

There were No tubes in the old ones I took off so no plan on putting them in. 

Are you running tubes in yours?

Mine had tubes and I had all four replaced. All good now, no issues with air pressure loss.

[grogee]

On 30/04/2025 at 08:21, Andyrew said:

I was replacing the tailgate, however the new one rubbed on the roof when lifting the hatch up after fitting. 

There's no adjustment in the countersunk screws that fix the hinge to the gate but 3 studs with adjustment behind the headliner panel where the hinge bolts to the car.

I ended up having to slot the hinges to get it to clear, could be the new gate was tweaked/pattern part/later tooling. 

Add to that the rubber seal for the glass is old/ shrunk and damaged from improper fitting previously. It generally just all put up more of a fight than I was expecting.

If you are just taking it off and refitting, it should be a breeze.  I wouldn't undo the 3 bolts, I'd just undo the 4 countersunk screws so you don't have to re adjust the hinges. 

We should start a "BL Tailgate Replacers Club" 

[Andyrew]

3 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

Why was this at Copart? Or are they are a general ‘end of life vehicle’ destination now?

Just wondered as this has the feel of something abandoned in a garage/parking place feel to it and the landlord/garage owner seized it after 5/10 years of non payment….

Nice to see it getting some love. Obviously, as this is AS, you should be sourcing some rubber bumpers to make it proper period Leyland misery correct! 

Last log book change was 2011 and i have a full set of keys. I was thinking Possibly a deceased estate, cars obviously been in the dry for a long time possibly with a window down as it doesn't smell in the car. The air filters have been off as the clamping panel shape is faded/dusted into the rear seat. 

 When I changed the dizzy the timing was way out, the oil was very thin with a strong fuel smell and air cleaners removed already 

Maybe someone had been trying to get it to run years ago and that's what took it off the road?

[Andyrew]

Wheels and tyres sorted

[Andyrew]

[Andyrew]

Displaced-er?

Before leaving for Scotland I'd noticed the passengers displacer was looking different to the drivers side. 

The car was sat level so I assume the displacer is a little tired. However it may well still be tired still but today I spotted something else I've never noticed before. Looking back at some older pics of the engine bay on here it appears the two have been uneven for some time.

Today spot, Well that's a little skewed.

Sure enough the drivers side displacer displacer isn't seated correctly. So is sitting lower 

system drained, upper arm removed. Displacer dropped down and reseated then re assembled and pumped back up and it's now sitting correctly.

 

[Zelandeth]

Free fixes are the best fixes!

Wonder if it's worth putting something over the crazed surface of them to just keep the rubber from oxidizing further and stopping moisture getting into it over time.  Not sure what would be best to use though.

[Andyrew]

WTJ 735L The Vanden plas princess 1300 

With this little blue beast leaving soon and the weather going a little grey for the rest of the week, i figured Id get one last photo and do a little review on this car.

Its Far far from perfect, and the questionable bodywork repairs lets it down a bit, but also it being a bit rough makes using it anytime in any weather with zero concern so nice. Over the past 18months This car has been a little trooper, Having covered somewhere around 3.5k miles in my ownership and never failing to proceed (looking at you Spitfire!) Its Never got hot, cut out or had fueling issues. It's just cracked on regardless, maybe leaking a bit too much oil at certain times but given that was after 1000+ miles over a few days i couldn't be mad.

The 1275 under the bonnet has been mega reliable, a little stumble at idle and maybe a splash rich, both Probably an easy tweak but as it's never given me any issues I left it as is. I can see why people like the A series engines.

The suspension was broken when I got the car, but a new hose fitted to a displacer later and it's been fine. Its very comfy and soaks up bumps no problem .

The Autobox then, it's a bit crude. But to me it's not awful, it makes the car amusingly charming and easy to drive. The fact ive done so many miles in 18 months shows its really not that bad. 83k later there's alot of slack in the drivetrain and reverse is a delicate procedure but if you treat it like a 52 year old gearbox with a weak reverse,I think it's fine. Again some tweaking could possibly make the box function better but as this cars been so dependable I just never felt the need to open it up. 

The ADO16,  I can see why people like these, I'd happily have another (maybe check the subframes first) so if you are thinking of trying one just GIB!

I'll certainly miss having the little wagon around as its been the perfect jump in and enjoy car. Its been fun,I've had some good times with it and I hope the new owner will enjoy it, improve it, but most importantly take it on an adventure too.

 

[Andyrew]

Same same but different

Today I helped my friend (and landlord) move one of his vehicles out so it can be sold. There was a couple of issues, one being a stuck starter solenoid and another a vehicle was sort of in the way, but when we went to fire that up it turned out that it too had a gummed up starter solenoid. Both used the same starter however one was much harder to access. Starter solenoid stripped and cleaned up got it running and after moving the blade on the first one, With some very skilled driving the first one was out side.

The starter in question is an absolute unit

the second vehicle while wasnt getting moved, now that we knew it didn't run we decided to sort the starter on that too. It however is a fucking monster of a thing. Access was me laying on the track and gained via the gap in the lower hydro ram and the lift arm.

Cleaned up 

refitted, a bit of Heat and it fired first turn and sounded lovely. 

[jim89]

5 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Same same but different

Today I helped my friend and landlord move one of his vehicles out so it can be sold. There was a couple of  issues being a stuck starter solenoid and another vehicle was sort of in the way, but when we went to fire that up it turned out it too had a gummed up starter solenoid. Both used the same starter however one was much harder to access. Starter solenoid stripped and cleaned up got it running and after moving the blade on the first one, With some very skilled driving the first one was out side.

The starter in question is an absolute unit

the second vehicle while wasnt getting moved, now that we knew it didn't running we decided to sort the starter on that too. It however is a fucking monster of a thing. Access was me laying on the track and gained via the gap in the lower hydro ram and the lift arm.

Cleaned up 

refitted a bit of Heat and it fired first turn and sounded lovely. 

Is that ex mines appearing to be low ? (The second one with the loader shovel on the front)

[Andyrew]

5 minutes ago, jim89 said:

Is that ex mines appearing to be low ? (The second one with the loader shovel on the front)

Unfortunately  im not sure on the history of these big buggers

[Andyrew]

I've counted the lines and I think this makes this car 49 years old. 

[Andyrew]

Come on then, it's time to poke some grot.

[Andyrew]

Fillers basically external sound deadening so this was more of an upgrade than a bodge.

This, meh not so bad

This however, 4/10 see me after class.

[Bear]

On 03/05/2025 at 09:51, Andyrew said:

Wheels and tyres sorted

Can't believe how good this looks already, but... That's a lot like the kind of scissor lift I had before someone stole it, they are amazingly useful.

I will get another one day.

[Andyrew]

1 minute ago, Bear said:

Can't believe how good this looks already, but... That's a lot like the kind of scissor lift I had before someone stole it, they are amazingly useful.

I will get another one day.

Very useful indeed. 

How did they pinch it? It's bastard heavy.

[Andyrew]

Okay, so it's not great, but neither is the whole car. Ideally it needs 2 full quarters but while I'm glad they are avaliable, I'm not spending 200 quid a side on this car, for them.

The lower part has already had a proper quarter repair panel welded in and they have absolutely warped the shite out of the joint hence all the wob. These are available for about 60 quid a side, fairly reasonable. However I have sheet steel already , a sheet metal folder and a selection of hammers so let's just make one for the cost of some time and effort.

Some more tweaking to do but now I can start chopping the old bit off too access the grot that lurks behind.

 

[Bear]

30 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Very useful indeed. 

How did they pinch it? It's bastard heavy.

Offered to store it for me when I had to move house and couldn't take it to the new one because the landlord had left a tonne of sand in the garage, then refused to give it back, in a nutshell.

Entire workshop relocated, favour appreciated at the time, but less nice when I asked for several things back and was told either one of their sons had claimed the item (stupid, annoying stuff like a rainbow Apple laptop bag in a box of joysticks I /was/ giving to them, and a Westfalia towbar bike rack, air tools including Cleco impact wrench that was a £700+ one, compressor, parts washers, unused Wolf mig welder...). Most of it I would happily have given them anyway, but the vehicle lift, air compressor and tools, and bike rack really pissed me off.

I'm more careful about who I consider a friend these days, and who I let have any sort of power over my fate (i.e. they also were my 'boss' effectively and on several occasions tried throwing me under the bus while gaslighting me, such as asking me to fix 'an old computer for a friend' and handing over an IT-logged and managed one year old iMac when it was an absolute breach of company policy for anyone to have done that and installed their own OS on it).

Of course it's now > 12 months since I left that job so I suspect I'll have a lot more to say about that publisher and people within it over time

[SiC]

I'm not just saying this but honestly you're getting really good at making those panels now. Scrolling through before reading the text I genuinely thought you bought a repair section. I'd wager yours fits far, far better than a commercial Steelcraft panel too. Yes it's not a mega complex shape but it's certainly not trivial to metal bash that shape and get it so close in shape. 

[Andyrew]

14 minutes ago, SiC said:

I'm not just saying this but honestly you're getting really good at making those panels now. Scrolling through before reading the text I genuinely thought you bought a repair section. I'd wager yours fits far, far better than a commercial Steelcraft panel too. Yes it's not a mega complex shape but it's certainly not trivial to metal bash that shape and get it so close in shape. 

Cheers! 

I won't lie, the temptation to go down to accuspark and buy a panel was there. Thankfully the B is a very flat sided design and the want to keep this under budget made me make my own.

[Andyrew]

Incoming doloshite! (Not mine!)

[SiC]

Memories of a rotten Dolomite turning up on their doorstep is probably giving@GingerNuttz PTSD right now. 

[Andyrew]

3 visitors and some tin bashing

This morning Dave arrived to collect the VP for it to go to its new home.

The freelander returned for some rear brake work and a worn out drop link

The @SiC dolomite arrived late afternoon and was placed in some additional storage with the @juular BX

Finished the day with a little metal shaping on the MGB and knocked up a repair sectioned for one of the wheel arch grotty bits

[Andyrew]

Switching things up

Well it ran (eventually) and is now on the lift draining of oil. I've not changed it before I don't think and given the many many non starts, and having got 20l of cheapo 20w50 for the B it felt the right thing to do. 

 

Still shit tho, at least it can move its own arse now

[Andyrew]

Are you shiteing comfortably?

With the shitfire on the lift and yet again being an absolute bag of shit to start I was contemplating if i could be arse to part the car out, i decided to ebay the hardtop roof and quarter panels that came with the car to free up some funds and will put a smidge of money back into the car to get it running and driving nice,  i ordered up the correct carb needles. I then decided to do something on the car to make it feel better to work on. It looking shit, inside and outside and being mechanically shit leaves little to inspire.

I decided to make the interior a nicer place to be with the intention of spending £0.

with a seat out you can see what we are dealing with. Worn out seat foam, dirt, rust, two swanky non matching seat belts. Interior panels with overspray on them and warped hardboard panels to name a few. It just mostly sucks.

Let's start removing some shit.

And carefully pile it over there

[Andyrew]

The rear quarter panels were just a warped mess, holes in then, shrunk and nasty. White overspray too

There's the hardboard you need or the Ali sheet you've got. 

 

[Andyrew]

Must have had a tickle of welding after the new carpet was installed 

A wee fire

[Andyrew]

Buckle up!

The shitfire had two mismatch static belts, which had certainly seen better days. Even in good nick they are a pain in the arse.

I remembered I'd found a bag of seatbelt bits in my late friend's stuff when clearing it out.  Sure enough it was a set of rear belts from a vauxhall  carlton we broke up years ago.

A trim off of the central buckle and belt gets me the bits I needed.  Two holes drilled, some big spreader plates and  bolted in.

[SiC]

39 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

ebay the hardtop roof

How much? Got a link?

I could do with one on mine!

[Andyrew]

Pain in the arse

The drivers seats had a hard time, the seat frame its pretty knackered, possibly twisted , The vinyl torn and the foam collapsed. You can buy new sponge kits and covers, Used decent frames come up from time to time. However all in probably looking around 800 quid. I don't want to spend 8 quid on this interior so Let's have a look at what we can do. The woods an interesting touch!

Thankfully after fixing the VP seat I now keep seat repair kits in stock at the workshop. 

All back together, some matt black sprayed on the old vinyl I reused on the back panels, some extra screws to pull the back panel a bit straighter, an old floor mat donated a section of black carpet to replace the burnt area and overall it a much nicer place to be.

0 expenditure 100% improvement (IMO)