The Current Driveway...

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hello all,

I've serviced the big Audi at last, it was overdue somewhat, according to itself anyway.

A rare occurrence today, in that everything just worked out... no muss, no fuss as they say.

My cheap and cheerful oil-sucker-out vacuum pump had the old oil out in about five minutes, usually I'm sweating by the time it's built up enough oomph for the job.  I'd sealed a couple of bits up with PTFE tape, which has transformed it... excellent not having to bend/lie/fall down.  Also nice to not have to wrestle the under tray out the road.

Picture of said oil sucker...

It takes six litres, which means emptying out halfway through, as my liebling holds eight!  Anyway, the oil filter wasn't too bad, the air filter however...  no pics as it is too shameful, but the amount of crap in there was unbelievable.  The freshie installed was one of  Blueprint's finest, so the car can carry on hoovering up sticks, leaves, stones and small animals for another year...

Now, the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice a dejected looking header tank tossed to the ground there, it too has been replaced.  I had already changed the original out last year for leakage from a hose spigot...  This one was a used spare from eBay, but sadly cracked around the cap threads...

Nicht gut.  This meant the occasional top up has been required of late, as it just vents out past the seal when up to temp.  Autodoc came through with a suspiciously cheap (£30) replacement though (don't know why I didn't try them last time, I spent more than that on the breaker part), which seems decent and fitted perfectly.

Behold...

Now, all this is just tickling around the edges really, as what I should be doing is the cambelt.  It's drizzly though, so... I just had a look at it instead.  You can pull the cover off easy on these, allowing me to inspect whilst stationary and in action.  All looks good, so I don't feel too guilty about the 7000 miles she's currently overdue by.

Must try harder.

In my defence, I did spot another wee issue during my inspection, a split vacuum pipe.  It's a wee one that operates the bellows that in turn adjust the intake plenum length for MOAR POWER!  Managed to cut and shut for now, but will be ordering some line from The Amazon.

If your interested, here's what the bellows look like in sub-4000 rpm 'sucked in' mode...

Above 4000, they open up, and act on the wee levers to do the biz.  I've been at these before, they were seized solid when I got the car, and do make a difference to the driveability.  I gave myself a pat on the back and shut the bonnet.

Another important purchase arrived a few weeks back, namely my fancy fitted car mats!  The old universal rubber ones had actually worn through under the pedals, and just looked shite.  They did a sterling job through the 'orrible winter weather though, and the carpet is still nice underneath.

The satisfaction of fitting mats that actually clip onto the wee nipples in the floor is amazing though, I'm a mat snob now!

Went for black, as I wasn't sure the beige ones would match, and stand up to family use.

Finally, I let the car know she'd been serviced via the VCDS so it'll stop shouting at me, and took a pic of the rarely fault-free dash display.  Anyone attempting to run one of VAG's finest past twenty years old will appreciate the beauty of this pic...

The usual eml will return shortly (I have electronically-compromised engine mounts, would you believe?), as the secondary air pump valves in the exhaust are stuck shut.  The light stays off for three-ish days, which is nice.

All in all, a good days tinkering.  I got a couple of good first-stage interviews for decent jobs under my belt last week, so feeling better about the non-car stuff too.  

Onwards!

[Split_Pin]

I've unfinished business with A8s, a petrol one is on the cards!

Good luck on the interviews, I hope one has a positive outcome.

[TrabbieRonnie]

I love the petrol...!

There's nothing like letting an engine rev I find, although my Father-in-law's new A6 Avant 3 litre derv is pretty rapid.

Can't touch this when up towards three figure speeds though!  

[TrabbieRonnie]

Mini collection mission today, had a wee jaunt out with my Father-in-law to fetch some new-to-me front wings for le Mazz.

2 hours each way, and £200... ouch.  However, RX8 bits are thin on the ground up here, and at least I could see what I was getting.  

The yard was Davidson's of Rora, a place I'm sure will be familiar to some Aberdeenshire shiters, but I'd never heard of.  It has been bought over (in January) by a group of lads from London, who had no real idea what and where they were getting into I think!  

However, they had a huge pile of nicely packaged parts ready for despatch, and had inherited a nicely organised yard by the looks.

Anyway, my wings...

By no means perfect, but solid and far, far better than what's on just now.  Much rubbing down, prepping and painting in my future, but thankfully... I like that.

Also for sale there was a down-at-heel Saab...

...which my FIL (who has previous with these), is sorely tempted by I can tell.  It has had a hard life I think, well-worn and Cat D... 

So, perfect then!  I will endeavour to encourage and facilitate his entry into the Autoshite life...

 

Cheers all.

 

 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Mini collection mission today, had a wee jaunt out with my Father-in-law to fetch some new-to-me front wings for le Mazz.

2 hours each way, and £200... ouch.  However, RX8 bits are thin on the ground up here, and at least I could see what I was getting.  

The yard was Davidson's of Rora, a place I'm sure will be familiar to some Aberdeenshire shiters, but I'd never heard of.  It has been bought over (in January) by a group of lads from London, who had no real idea what and where they were getting into I think!  

However, they had a huge pile of nicely packaged parts ready for despatch, and had inherited a nicely organised yard by the looks.

Anyway, my wings...

By no means perfect, but solid and far, far better than what's on just now.  Much rubbing down, prepping and painting in my future, but thankfully... I like that.

Also for sale there was a down-at-heel Saab...

...which my FIL (who has previous with these), is sorely tempted by I can tell.  It has had a hard life I think, well-worn and Cat D... 

So, perfect then!  I will endeavour to encourage and facilitate his entry into the Autoshite life...

 

Cheers all.

 

 

Nice one on the wings!

Just watch for rot on the Saab, they are Cavaliers underneath and rust like one. Make sure the bulkhead isn't fractured at the steering rack also. MOT fail and tricky to sort with the engine in situ.

Otherwise a nice project!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Eldest shiter's 323-of-this-parish met a new friend today, I just got these pics of the cleanest MK1 Focus I've seen in a long while...

I won't tell you how little the lad paid for this one-owner gem, but believe me it was a bargain!  

[Matty]

30 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Eldest shiter's 323-of-this-parish met a new friend today, I just got these pics of the cleanest MK1 Focus I've seen in a long while...

I won't tell you how little the lad paid for this one-owner gem, but believe me it was a bargain!  

3 door in a colour as well!

Edit. Bonus of being an Essex car as well so at least it hasn't been up your way all its life and won't be totally rotten 😆. What a little stunner!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, well.  Greetings from the tropical north.

Been doing an awful lot of fairly boring mechanic-ing of late, so have come here to bore yous with it too...

First off, the old jeep developed a squeak and a distinct lack of electrical charging.  A simple fix you might think, and indeed we proceeded to replace...

1.  Alternator and power steering belts.  No dice.

2.  The regulator pack on the rear of the alt, again no dice... and forty quid wasted.

3.  The crank pulley/harmonic balancer(!).  Never had one let go before, but alas the rubber had embrittled with age and was spinning away inside itself, driving nothing and being noisy.

Surely, that was it all along, such an obvious fault, explains all symptoms, a smoking gun?  A mere 85 credits from Roughtrax and all would be well?  No.  It wasn't just that, meaning...

4.  The alternator.  Yes, it was buggered, and another 185 quid left my account.  

All better now, and hey, it's only money.

 

After all that, I sought to console myself with a nice calm, simple wee job... the brake pads on the RX8.  They have taken a hammering through the winter, and keen to not let them damage my expensive-looking discs, I got some new pads in a while ago.

The first wheel nut...

How magical... the locking wheel nut POS disintegrated instead of undoing.

Out with old faithful...

...and welded a suitable* nut to the remains for removal.

Back to the job in hand then, where I found my pads to be in excellent condition, but my caliper piston seized solid.  I fiddled around for a wee while, did get it pressed back in a smidge, and then thought 'sod it'.  In short, dear reader, I put it all back together for another day.  It still stops, nothing is binding somehow, and I'm picking my battles.

 

Which brings me up to today's task.  The other Mazda has been suffering from some clunking at the rear, and feeling less zoom-zoom than it should.

The shocks are dead, and the springs had seen better days.  So the day followed a familiar theme of filling the boot with parts...

...and wire-brushing bits not normally exposed ready for Fertanning and oiling up again.  I have fresh KYB shocks and springs (and even top mounts) in stock from Autodoc, but I don't have gaiters.  The originals have fallen to bits, and no-one in Moray sells universal ones anymore apparently. 

Amazon do though, so the job is on hold till they arrive.  A small thing, but I'm convinced the winter will destroy the new shocks pretty quickly without some protection?

 

All this is of course getting in the way of tinkering time with my lovely old P4, so hopefully I'll be done soon!

 

Cheers all.

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, 

Shocks and springs now fitted to wee Mazda, looking a bit higher and driving beautifully.  Wheel wells got the obligatory re-coat in tetroseal (thinned down a bit with boiled linseed oil)...

If you're wondering (which I seriously doubt!), the dust covers/gaiters are BMW 5 series Tourer units, but seem like they'll keep the worst of Moray Council's grit out.

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, so a tiny amount of flexing resulted in a leaky brake line...

I keep a box of brake flaring tools and unions topped up in the shed now, has turned a few show-stopping disasters into ten-minute delays, best kit I've bought I think.

Clamped the Flexi before replacing anything, a few pumps and she was bled again.  Back on the road again!

My fresh box of chrome wheel nuts has arrived for the RX8 too, will get them on pronto and be rid of the rusty locking ones for good.

 

This progress has allowed some P4 tinkering... mainly cleaning up about a million electrical connections, in a vain attempt to send charge from the dynamo to the battery.  My thoughts are that the intervening control box (voltage regulator) is fubarred, having obviously spent a long time unprotected by it's missing plastic cover.

Very sub-optimal, and I have given up and ordered a replacement from one of the two reputable Rover suppliers (Wadhams I think?).

It was actually only £36 delivered, so I don't know why I was even bothering trying to fix the bloody thing.

Will see how/if that changes things, Old Red is otherwise starting and running lovely.  

She wants to be back on the road, I can tell!  It would be lovely to be at the stage of improving a running and driveable car soon, which is much easier and more fun I find.

Cheers all.

[TrabbieRonnie]

I'm currently on back shift, but just received word that my latest RX8 pressie has arrived.  The car's at work with me, so there's been some test fitting going on with other members of the fleet...

As it's currently red, this is far too tempting...🤣

[TrabbieRonnie]

P4 electrons are flowing again!  

Literally took five minutes to plug in the new voltage regulator, and that was that.  After a short time running, I see 14v across the battery terminals, and no red light on the dash.

The fuel gauge has sprung to life, and the fan is now twice as fast.  My dashboard ammeter swung up to max for a few minutes (I assume the battery needed a pick me up after so many starts without getting anything back), before settling at 2/3rds.  As I suspected, the ammeter is wired the wrong way round, so it has been left alone following a negative earth re-flash at some point...

Anyway, to celebrate, I swung the old lady out of the drive for a run up the lane.  She's covered in bird doo doo, and the linseed oil shine has faded somewhat, but still proved a graceful way to travel. 

The 323 support vehicle couldn't keep up over a rougher section of track, despite it's fresh rear suspension!  Made of strong stuff these old Rovers...

Needs some carpets...

One similarity with the RX8 anyway...

Autoshite life goals...!

 

[Matty]

6 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

P4 electrons are flowing again!  

Literally took five minutes to plug in the new voltage regulator, and that was that.  After a short time running, I see 14v across the battery terminals, and no red light on the dash.

The fuel gauge has sprung to life, and the fan is now twice as fast.  My dashboard ammeter swung up to max for a few minutes (I assume the battery needed a pick me up after so many starts without getting anything back), before settling at 2/3rds.  As I suspected, the ammeter is wired the wrong way round, so it has been left alone following a negative earth re-flash at some point...

Anyway, to celebrate, I swung the old lady out of the drive for a run up the lane.  She's covered in bird doo doo, and the linseed oil shine has faded somewhat, but still proved a graceful way to travel. 

The 323 support vehicle couldn't keep up over a rougher section of track, despite it's fresh rear suspension!  Made of strong stuff these old Rovers...

Needs some carpets...

One similarity with the RX8 anyway...

Autoshite life goals...!

 

Excellent.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hello all, greetings from the sunny Scottish Highlands...

A beautiful day here today left me plenty of time with my lovely old Rover.  Now that's she is charging up the battery reliably, I want to put her back together and fettle the engine into giving me some more power.

I'm not expecting miracles, and to be fair she drives better each time we go out, but I just feel there should be a bit more oomph.  Also, if I try and rev the engine up quickly, there is hesitation, even the occasional backfire.  Spark plugs and leads are on the way, when they arrive I'll set about adjusting/checking ignition timings and shizz.  I know nothing about all that, so some learning on the job will be required.

Anyway, first job of the day...

Above is exactly where the brake servo and air filter will sit, so I wanted to clean out the inner wing and chassis rail area while I can get to it.  All this was caked with grease and sand, above is after digging it all out, wire-brushing and Fertanning the area.  Might not look much, but every little is definitely helping with this old thing!

Next up, and of vital importance, the washer bottle!

It doesn't really make sense at this stage, but seeing it all clean and full of fresh screen wash is nice 👍.  Someone had dripped black paint all over It, and there were lumps in the fluid...  It actually works too, the wee plunger unit pokes through the bulkhead above the high beam foot switch.

I then noticed that my radiator top tank has been brush painted at some point, underneath is shiny...

This will be a labour of love, polishing it up a wee bit at a time I think.

Next up, I wanted to update the linseed oil 'shine juice' status, and try a slightly different application method.  A quick wash left this...

Almost back to how she was on arrival, but you can see the pattern I used to apply the neat boiled linseed oil last time.

It was a couple of months ago I think, quite cold and damp, and took an age to flash off.  This meant a lot of dead bugs stuck to the car, and wee dots where the rain then sat on it.

This time, I mixed my BLO 50/50 with thinners, and obviously today was a much warmer, nicer day.

A decent result again.  I rubbed it in more this time, a little went a long way, and it was touch dry after about an hour.  I think I could go over it again if I wanted, but it looks good in that old car/old paint kinda way!  Did the roof as well this time, which has come up lovely.  This takes no time at all compared to polishing a car, and considering how faded the paint actually is underneath... amazing.

Next up, the wood.  After a very light sanding, I was left with this...

I actually quite liked the light colour, I don't know what wood it is, but it was obviously needing a bit of love.  Out again with the linseed oil...

I've still the back door cappings to do, but a nice way to spend an hour or so I'd say.  It was very thirsty, so I'll probably be coating it again before long, build up the colour and shine.  

All in all, a nice day's tinkering.  I ran her up again, and after about five minutes she was charging up the battery even at idle.  My wife supplied a blanket for now, and we're thinking seriously about about the seat covering and carpet situation.

Tyres are going to be £300 delivered, so probably £350 by the time I get them fitted (I got made permanent in my current role of Process Engineer at a local distillery, meaning I can relax about money for once in my life!).  I'm holding fire on the tyres until I get the brake servo back in and working, in case there's any issues there.  However, I think we might make some trips to car shows and work this summer if all goes as well as it has been 🤞.

Cheers all.

 

 

 

 

[Split_Pin]

Great news on the job front Ronnie, great that the Rover is going good too, here's to the (hopefully sunny) summer!

[jonathan_dyane]

Great progress! I think I'm going to have to get a new control box too because mine seems to have stopped charging (again). 

Which tyres are you looking at? I got the Hifly 185 15 tyres off eBay for £50 each and fitted them myself; they are fine and while probably not the finest of tyre their grip is superior to crossplys however they don't help with the heavy steering...

[jonathan_dyane]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204153372379?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=9-9MnMplScu&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=uGN6m6KvRIa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Actually there is a money off coupon there to get 4 for £189.

[Surface Rust]

Another vote for the Hiflys. I've got them on my P4 as well. 

They transformed the car (in a good way) over the ancient cross plys. So far no ditches have been found!

I think the wood is African walnut. 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Thanks gents, was looking at the Radar Dymax Classics, not bad money either (not including delivery of course), and I like Radar tyres in general.

Will look at the Hiflys if you guys are recommending them though 👍

[TrabbieRonnie]

Haha!  Full power achieved!  

The pink P4 has reacted well to new (hotter) plugs, leads and a twiddle with the distributor base plate (NGK B6ES out of interest, same as the Trabbi I think).  Also learned a bit about the SU carb from my old AA Book of the Car, which has helped me lean out the mixture a wee bit.  

She has a lot more pep, and actually feels willing now.  There's a lovely straight-cut whine in first, and she wouldn't be holding anything up out on the road, that's for sure...  I've seen 40mph along my private test track, there is now a real need for the refit of the brake servo and I can justify ordering tyres too.

I've checked and re-secured the exhaust, which although rusty, is actually solid.  I'll clean it up and give it a lick of high-temp paint.  While the wheels are off I'll carry on with the underbody refresh/protection.

The clutch bite is high (smooth now though), perhaps not long for this world, but then I don't have a reference for these, it may be normal?

The inline fuel filter has required cleaning out, as well as the float bowl... I keep adding fresh fuel and will monitor the situation.  Maybe dropping the tank is in the offing, which would let me sort the reserve solenoid too, which currently doesn't work.

In short, she feels really close to the road now, and I am one happy camper 🤣🤣🤣.

Onwards!

[Split_Pin]

Aunties providing you with a whole heap of joy, how it should be! Looks like you've really got to know it well.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Just now, Split_Pin said:

Aunties providing you with a whole heap of joy, how it should be! Looks like you've really got to know it well.

Oh yes... I'm totally charmed!  Lovely old thing.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Feel the power!!!

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Tyres are on the way, I've plumped for the Radars just to be different!

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m53b0s1143p160227/Radar_Tyres_Car_Radar_Dimax_Classic_185_R15_93V_TL_Fuel_Eff_%3A_XC_Wet_Grip%3A_XC_NoiseClass%3A_XC_Noise%3A_XC

Will report on how well they suit the P4 once fitted. 

This is part of the final push to get on the road,  in part because the Trabbi's insurance renewal has just come in, and I want to swap that over to the Rover.  The to do list as it stands...

 

Get her back up on the tilty ramp, and remove all wheels for tyre fitting.

Clean up/oil all the wheel wells.

Refit the brake servo and air filter.

Continue cleaning/polishing/oiling the wood etc.

Refit road wheels, and visit the garage for brake testing, headlight alignment and tracking... MOT maybe?

 

Grand plan then is to have her ready for commuting duties at the start of June (I work very locally, just a 15 minute drive along traffic-free but hilly back roads).  

Hey, you've got to have a plan!

 

[Split_Pin]

13 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

The to do list as it stands

You forgot 

'Attach trailer and drive down to collect Citroen XM'

🤭

[TrabbieRonnie]

7 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

You forgot 

'Attach trailer and drive down to collect Citroen XM'

🤭

My god I'd be in some trouble then 🤣🤣🤣

[TrabbieRonnie]

An airborne Auntie Rover can only mean one thing...

New shooz has arrive!  (She looks happy about it, doesn't she?!).

Old and new are packed into the Surf's commodious caboose for transport to the garage tomorrow, lovely jubbly...

I am hoping for a vast improvement given the state of the ancient "Avon Supervans" and "Goodyear Supercushion Commercials" (great names though!).  Chuffed again with Camskill, price was good and they got here within a couple of days.

Nice and easy car to lift up too, plenty of sturdy chassis bits to choose from.

I had a last run up the lane on Monday, when she started fine and ran with a very low tickover, maybe slightly too low, but I'm getting to grips with the carb and will adjust without fear!  She proceeded to run great though, which was nice as my good lady came along for the first time... and I think she was pleasantly surprised!

So on our return, instead of refitting the servo (which would've made sense), I got lost in a world infused with Autosol metal polish...

Such a nice dashboard, and the quality means it's just coming up lovely...

While she's up in the air, I will also change the diff oil I think, if it's anything like the gearbox oil was, it will be overdue.

Re-shod wheels should be back on Saturday morning, so if the weather continues in this sunny theme I should be ready by then, scrubbed, oiled and serv'od.  I have noticed some play in the water pump bearing, but no leaks as yet, will monitor and go easy for now.

Apart from that, she'll be as glamorous as her numberplate namesake (and one of my favourite aircraft)...

The TSR 2.  I'm a recovering RAF rigger, and this is THE BOLLOCKS...!!!

From the same year or thereabouts, which doesn't seem quite right does it? 

 

Cheers all.

 

 

[jonathan_dyane]

Lovely to see you progressing well.

Sounds like the clutch just needs adjusting, follow the manual though to make sure you have sufficient free play so you don't jigger up the release bearing..

[Surface Rust]

I was going to mention the TSR numberplate when you got this but thought it would be a bit nerdy.

Should have known better on AS!

[Split_Pin]

There's just something about new tyres on fresh-looking black painted steel wheels. Hopefully you gen get Auntie out and about some more while the good weather lasts!

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hiccup on the tyres...

My mechanic has the old tyres off, and the tubes...  I forgot that old cars have inner tubes.

My new tyres are if course tubeless, and have a rougher inner surface than a tubed tyre would.  He was concerned that the tubes (new replacements would be needed there also) could be worn by the inside of the tyres.  The old tyres have a perfectly smooth inner surface.

The obvious answer here is to just not have tubes at all.  Does anyone have experience of fitting tubeless tyres to a 'tubed' wheel?  There is no 'safety rim' on the wheel, a raised internal section that holds the bead against the rim in the event of a deflation in more modern units apparently. 

I can't see that the tubes would have any beneficial effect in that scenario anyway, as without air in them there will be nothing to secure the bead.

The upshot...

We have decided that he'll fit a tyre without a tube and see if it can be blown up, and hold pressure.  The wheels are in good nick, and I think it will be fine... if so, he'll do the lot.  If not, I guess I'll be having tubes fitted, and seeing how long they last?  As always though, opinions and knowledge are very much welcome 👍

Cheers all.