The Current Driveway...

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, a good day's weather allowed for a good day's work, and the rocket is looking like a new one (underneath anyway!).

Here's the repair piece tacked in... I'm putting this pic here to show anyone that doesn't weld (but fancies it), that it always looks shite halfway through!  Welding rusty old cars is very different to welding fresh steel on a bench, 'better than it was' is often the best you can hope for...

And tidied up/waxoyled...  Plastic fuel tank, somehow only just noticed that today...

The welding along the back edge isn't my finest ever, but it is stuck and the angry grinder is a great friend in these instances I find!

My sprayer decided against it today, so I have brushed in a waxoyl/blo mix everywhere I can reach...

There are no lights on the dash, and no other faults I can think of, new tyres etc... so hopefully she'll go through without further work. 

I'm in for a cuppa, so just to tidy up, put the wheels back on and let her back down again and my evening will be my own, lovely.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Hello all,

Been a while, and unfortunately I'm not much further on with the motors!

The old Rover still awaits it's water pump removal and replacement, I will tackle it soon...  Lots of stress and a new (shite) shift pattern at work has meant less time and energy for tinkering.  

In a turn of events that will surprise no-one, the RX8 let me down at the MOT station, passing everything but the emissions check.  At first, I wasn't too worried, the welding and underbody condition was always my main concern. 

I took it away, replaced the plugs and blasted a dose of Cataclean through it, only to face the same very poor results again...  

This has been quite surprising to be honest, the car has been running better than ever, and fuel economy is good for an RX8 too, at 22 mpg (stop laughing, I got 17 out of my first tank!).  My mechanic thought it was plugs from the readings, and to be fair they were a rusty, broken down mess on removal.  Bugger.

£130 later saw some of NGK's finest in, but as I say, no dice.

Today I received my set of four Accuspark spark plug lights, and I am just in from an engine run with them fitted.  Lo and behold, two coils are just about dead.  There are two per rotor, a leading and trailing plug, and I've lost one of each, thankfully not on the same rotor or I assume it wouldn't run well at all.

This is not at all uncommon on the RX8 apparently, and Ryan Rotary make their own highly regarded set (warrantied for life), to improve things and avoid the 30,000 mile replacement intervals.  

I've ordered them, at £315 delivered.  I'd already done the leads and should have investigated everything ignition-wise when I did.  I also removed the O2 sensor in the exhaust, and had a look at my catalytic converter innards with an endoscope(!), no obvious issue there which is good as it's only two years old.

Hopefully that's going to do it, it's good to see an obvious fault at least, and can highly recommend the twinkly lights... really don't know how I've managed this long without them!

 

Cheers all.

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Replacement coils have arrived...

They are fancy, and much bigger than the original ones...

Will fit in the morning, on back shift just now...  Looking forward to an incredible increase in speed and fuel economy...!

Also found a replacement water pump for the P4 on eBay...  The original is really not happy about being removed, and is likely going to need cutting off with an angry grinder. 

Unbelievable I know, but that's where I'm at.  She must rove around again before the salty season starts, I miss her!!!

 

 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Replacement coils have arrived...

Is your Missus chuffed? 🤣

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, that's the RX8's coils changed, and a test drive up my private* test track carried out.  She appears to be in rude health, accelerating very cleanly and with no exhaust pops on the up-changes (which had become a feature, leading me to suspect the cat's condition).

Hopefully this means less unburned fuel is entering the exhaust, and my third attempt at an MOT pass will be successful!  There actually isn't much left to do now anyway (fuel injectors maybe?), so plan C is an unknown at the mo.

The old coils were a mixture... x2 mk1's, a 'B' suffix and one 'C'.  Mazda did improve them over the production run, and obviously someone's been in there before me.  The mk1's were, unsurprisingly, the dead ones...

Old vs new...

As you can see, a lot more bulk and cooling in the Ryan Rotary numbers, albeit with no modifications to the bracketry or wiring required.  Excellent work fellas 👍.

Doomsday is Thursday at 08:00, I lost every one of the four 6mm retaining nuts, and some skin whilst changing these, which hopefully constitutes enough of a sacrifice to the old car gods...!

 

Cheers all.

 

[Matty]

Good luck Ronnie 👍 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Alas, a failure she remains...

The RX's emissions were just as bad, very very rich.  I have done a little bit of reading around fuel trims etc, and the owners group have given some good advice too.

According to the diagnostic software, the trims are spot on basically, so as far as the ECU is concerned, it's doing its job perfectly.  So, one or more sensors must be supplying duff info... I think the lambda probes are next, followed by the MAF if still not happy.

Surely, the gutsy bastard will behave after all that!?

 

In happier news, my new-to-me water pump has arrived for the P4, I'll refurb it with the new seal/shaft kit I'd already bought when work permits.  At that point I can hack the old one of the block with abandon, and my graceful old lady can tour the Highlands once more!

 

Buy old cars they said...

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, well...

Today is the first day of a week-and-a-half off for me...  So I approached the Rover's water pump, battle ready.

I promise I have tried my hardest to get this thing off with conventional methods... to no avail.  Still, I felt like I was about to anger the mechanical gods, by committing the cardinal sin of cutting up a very rare part...

Anyway, fortune favours the brave they say, so the cutting commenced...

I know, brutal.

And finally...

Very stressful, but the pump is off and the block is undamaged.  I sort of cut around each bolt as much as possible, and then chiselled the weakened lump of ally casting away from them.  Eventually, I could see the pump starting to let go of the block, and off she came.

This revealed the cause of the noisy running, and the roughness I could feel when spinning the pump shaft by hand...

Yes, the impeller has sheared off the shaft basically, no pumping at all.  It's obviously been like this for some time too, the break edges are old-looking, and the wee waterway just above the pump (exiting the cylinder head!) was totally blocked with crud...

This did not seem to bother the old lady in the slightest, but I guess it would have done so eventually!  

So yeah, a stressful removal procedure for us both, I'm sooooooo glad it's off...

It then started to rain, so all I've done since is flush the block and head out.  A LOT of rusty sludge has been ejected into the local water table, but all is clean and clear now.

I have the broken studs to tackle next, but my neighbour has kindly lent me what looks like an effective tool.  I will be going carefully, I'd like to avoid drilling and retapping the block if at all possible.

Then I can fit up the 'new' pump, all my new hoses and refill with the fancy Bluecol coolant, for many trouble-free years motoring!

Cheers all.

[TrabbieRonnie]

In other news...

My offspring have graduated from running and maintaining their own old vehicles, to taking on a slightly larger project at a local aircraft museum we volunteer at...

The above picture shows the once mighty Green Goddess as she was, having languished for a few years in a corner...  The engine is missing some vital components, and possibly has a cracked block, so she was not in a good place.

However, with the enthusiasm of youth, my two 'shiters have taken her on, with a view to making her a worthwhile and accessible exhibit this year, and maybe even a running one next!

Thoroughly cleaned inside and out, and some new wooden components made up for the rear already.  A protective and hopefully beautifying coat of boiled linseed oil is planned next, and a little bit of work to the roof, which leaks a bit.

Cool eh?!

I've definitely raised a couple of Autoshiters, I think my work is done?!

[jim89]

23 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

 

🎉 Just needs a suitably sized AS sticker somewhere prominent...

[Saabnut]

I have a RLHZ that I will be breaking which is complete but rotten if you need bits

[TrabbieRonnie]

2 hours ago, Saabnut said:

I have a RLHZ that I will be breaking which is complete but rotten if you need bits

Wow, that would be amazing!  I haven't had a good survey of 'theirs' myself yet, but it does sound like the engine itself is going to be the big ticket item.  

I need to check how much the museum wants to do with her, or how much they're willing to let us to do at least, but can I officially express an interest?  

I don't think we're a million miles away from each other either iirc, which makes transporting great lumps of Bedford about much easier!  

Will PM you tomorrow, many, many thanks for the reply 👍

[Brigsy]

Waterpump looks like it put up a good fight!

[Saabnut]

16 hours ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

Wow, that would be amazing!  I haven't had a good survey of 'theirs' myself yet, but it does sound like the engine itself is going to be the big ticket item.  

If you look up hubnuts youtube channel and search for green goddess you will find a video of the last time it ran at Shitefest18. I am in Aberdeenshire near Laurencekirk so not a million miles away

[TrabbieRonnie]

5 hours ago, Brigsy said:

Waterpump looks like it put up a good fight!

Aye, and not finished yet!  Still got to pull the broken studs, but the weather has worsened here to say the least!  Hopefully some more progress will be possible tomorrow.

Did get some Fertan splashed around, and cleaned up the engine a bit...

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well, all the studs are out.  There's been enough of a break in the weather today to get that far at least...

Got a question for the hive mind though...  After I'd got them all removed, I set about 'cleaning' the threaded holes in the block, to make the fitment of the new pump as straightforward as possible.  This wasn't an aggressive procedure, I just wound in one of the new bolts with a screwdriver type handle, and a bit of WD.  None of them were very rough anyway, and you could wind the bolts in by hand now.

The two holes at the bottom of the water pump mounting leak water now though (they were the only two below water level on the inside of the block).  One of them enters a casting lump on the inside, as you would expect to make it a blind hole...  The other doesn't, and does appear to be designed as a through-hole (things are pretty rusty in there).  Obviously, this means that the 'seal' between the coolant jacket and the outside world is just the threads of the bolts... This doesn't seem right does it?

Thankfully, a P4 doesn't run at a very high water pressure, so I'm hopeful that a PTFE wrap of the threads might be enough (it didn't leak before, but now I've disturbed it all I'm worried it will?).

Any thoughts from anyone would be greatly appreciated as always, I'm in now anyway as it's bloody freezing, but don't want to put it all back together just to have it leak.

 

Cheers all.

[TrabbieRonnie]

Good progress this afternoon...

The new pump went on ok as far as I can tell, think I'll fill with plain water to test for leaks on the first run though, that Bluecol wasn't cheap!

Everything's looking a bit better under there, new hoses and clips, new pump bolts, and a wee lick of chassis black have all made a big difference (to me anyway!). 

I've still the hoses at the rear to change, and of course the radiator's still to go back in (likely to be a bit of a pain I think, it was coming out the way anyway)... but if the weather's this good tomorrow that should all be do-able.  I lost a wee bit of time this morning to the Green Goddess, which I can see becoming a pattern!

Anyway, proof!

 

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Yes!

All buttoned up and on the road again...

Celebratory wash (getting pinker again), and even a new grille badge...

Bit faded, but that goes with the overall look.

That's about an hour's running, a gentle warm up followed by a run around the lanes.  She's not leaked a drop yet, that I can see anyway, and it's good to know the proper Bluecol stuff's in and hopefully stopping the rust getting any worse.

The heater is definitely doing more, and the engine sounds lovely without the whine from the failed water pump.  The exhaust may have developed a bit more rortiness, or it's just been a while and I'm not used to it, but I'm not complaining!

Bit of a mission this one, glad that's over!

[High Jetter]

Well done in persevering, absolutely worth it. Hope it will be leak free now.

[TrabbieRonnie]

19 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Well done in persevering, absolutely worth it. Hope it will be leak free now.

All good so far, that's another fifty miles driven today, so I'm calling it a fix 🤞🤞🤞.

Heater fan needed a calibrated whack to get going, so that's next for a stripdown.   

However, it will have to wait, the nearside upper strut bushes have started complaining on the A8, I did the offside a couple of years back...  Knew I was on borrowed time, but at least I've got all the bits in and will attempt the job tomorrow all being well.

[mk2_craig]

12 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

the nearside upper strut bushes have started complaining on the A8

Took me a couple of minutes to twig you were talking about the Audi, and not how the Rover was performing on the A8 road! Enjoying reading about the latest tinkering, well done. 

[Split_Pin]

Yeah I was going to say thats some test drive 🤣

Glad old Auntie is running well again though.

[Matty]

36 minutes ago, TrabbieRonnie said:

All good so far, that's another fifty miles driven today, so I'm calling it a fix 🤞🤞🤞.

Heater fan needed a calibrated whack to get going, so that's next for a stripdown.   

However, it will have to wait, the nearside upper strut bushes have started complaining on the A8, I did the offside a couple of years back...  Knew I was on borrowed time, but at least I've got all the bits in and will attempt the job tomorrow all being well.

I got away with just taking mine out of the heater box and sending 5 gallon of WD down the spindle. Saved having to try and get the fan off without damage and its been right since. Worth a do?

[TrabbieRonnie]

1 hour ago, Matty said:

I got away with just taking mine out of the heater box and sending 5 gallon of WD down the spindle. Saved having to try and get the fan off without damage and its been right since. Worth a do?

Definitely will try this, good to know it worked for you.  Runs fine once started, so can't be far away!

[High Jetter]

If hitting prompts it into action shirley it's either duff connections, or - more likely - sticky bearings. Flooding with lube may help, but strip & rebuild may be better?

[TrabbieRonnie]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

If hitting prompts it into action shirley it's either duff connections, or - more likely - sticky bearings. Flooding with lube may help, but strip & rebuild may be better?

Your quite right, and I think I will do so when she's off road for the salty season 👍

[SiBriers]

On 05/10/2025 at 17:05, TrabbieRonnie said:

The two holes at the bottom of the water pump mounting leak water now though (they were the only two below water level on the inside of the block).  One of them enters a casting lump on the inside, as you would expect to make it a blind hole...  The other doesn't, and does appear to be designed as a through-hole (things are pretty rusty in there).  Obviously, this means that the 'seal' between the coolant jacket and the outside world is just the threads of the bolts... This doesn't seem right does it?

Thankfully, a P4 doesn't run at a very high water pressure, so I'm hopeful that a PTFE wrap of the threads might be enough (it didn't leak before, but now I've disturbed it all I'm worried it will?).

Any thoughts from anyone would be greatly appreciated as always, I'm in now anyway as it's bloody freezing, but don't want to put it all back together just to have it leak.

This was common on many older US engines - small block Chevy V8 for example.
PTFE tape or liquid "pipe dope" should be enough to seal it permanently.

Sounds like you've got it covered!
A fine selection of motor vehicles 👌

[TrabbieRonnie]

2 hours ago, SiBriers said:

This was common on many older US engines - small block Chevy V8 for example.
PTFE tape or liquid "pipe dope" should be enough to seal it permanently.

Sounds like you've got it covered!
A fine selection of motor vehicles 👌

Thank you, it certainly seems to be holding up (🤞)!  

I'll be commuting in the old girl next week all being well, try and get some miles in before winter...  Whilst also trying to fix the 'moderns' which seems to be more hassle tbh...

Today saw me start the replacement of the shot upper control arm bushes on the Audi A8.  An absolute pig of a job, and making me wish I'd just done both sides last time!

Three hours in, and I have the tiniest bit of movement on the dreaded pinch bolt of doom...

The head of the bolt is now 'turning' by about 1mm (maybe less), after a lot of heating, gallons of WD, and very cautious breaker bar action.  I can't quite see this movement at the nut end yet, which either means there's still a lot of corrosion to unstick and the bolt is twisting, or I've already sheared the bolt inside the knuckle, yay!

To be fair, it doesn't feel like it has sheared, and I remember it taking hours and hours on the other side, so I'm still confident.  However, what I also am, is in need of a pint so sod it... I'm off to the snooker hall!

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Well well,

I did indeed restart Audi pinch bolt operations this morning, after a very pleasant few frames and a couple of pints last night.

The day started with the bolt head moving a bit but no discernable movement at the other end.  This became more and more after several heating/oiling cycles, to the point were I was sure I'd already sheared the bloody thing.

So, I turned the head by a full turn, and to my astonishment the other end moved!  I had no idea a bolt could twist so much without breaking... spoiler alert, they can't!

Yes, the worst happened, and as soon as I attempted to repeat the movement, I sheared the head off flush with the casting.

Shit.

As you can see above, the A8 is even worse than most VAG pinch bolts, in that there's no room for the bolt to come through the other end once it's lost it's head.

I used the nut to to apply a pulling force, cutting the excess off with a grinder every time it hit the casting.  I used a series of cut washers to act as spacers, as eventually I ran out of thread.  Finally, with the bolt pulled through by about an inch, I cut the nut off and started drifting it through with a hammer. 

This wasn't too bad to be honest, it felt good at this point to be beating it up a bit, imagine designing such a thing!!!  Anyway, the pic below illustrates how much you can pull/knock through at a time pretty well I think...

The bushes at the other end of the control arms were truly knackered, and the arms had been rubbing on the car body, hence the noise.  You're supposed to only torque them up with weight on the wheels apparently, but I could barely see the bloody things with the wheels off, so they will have to cope...

Pics of the old ones in situ, the new ones sit centrally in the fork end...

Anyway, all done and dusted now, it's such a simple job made a nightmare by that one bloody bolt!

Hateful things, Audi's... good job it goes so well!

 

 

[TrabbieRonnie]

Fresh oil in the Rover's big six... 

Pistoneeze, the good stuff apparently.  The old oil (not very old actually), had done a good job of flushing out a lot of gunk, and was more than  a bit black.

There is some gunk caught up in the filter, hopefully she'll get a bit better each time.  New filter in as well obvs.

Check out the video below, sounds alright to my ears, but then she's my first proper old 'un!

Bit more tappety sounding on the video than in real life, but not far off.  Splashed a bit of chassis black paint around various spots (b posts, gutters etc.) where it had chipped off.  And then gave up on my partially stripped and polished brass radiator top tank and painted that too!

She's running and driving well, although after a particularly hilly day yesterday I noticed a tiny puddle of engine oil on the deck this morning.  Rear main seal I think... probably just 'let that one develop' as we say at work!