project A Very Brown (Broken) Senator

[RobT]

As posted in News 24, a cheap non-running Senator proved too much to resist.  So here it is.  Egg also owns half, so the pair of us can share the joy/despair of getting it roadworthy.

It was advertised as a non-runner, but the seller said it had ran previously.  His son replaced the fuel pump and filter, but managed to wire it up incorrectly.  I only noticed this as the buzz of the fuel pump happened after the engine was cranked, and not before.  Yep, bit crusty under there but it's mostly sound underneath.

But it still wouldn't fire.  I did some random loosening of fuel hoses by the fuel rail, just in case there was an air lock or something, and after plenty more cranking it fired up!  No idea if the random stuff helped, or if it just needed loads of cranking.  Exhaust is shot, but after a brief drive around the block I felt buoyed up so went back later for a Vauxhall 1,2 rescue mission.

This proved optimistic, as upon return it was misfiring like a bastard and would barely manage the block run.  12 miles like that is asking too much (it has an MoT, somehow).  Recovery it is then...

[paulplom]

Love the colour

[JohnK]

Watching this one with interest!

[Spiny Norman]

Superb! Never seen a brown Senny before. - Wanting! ?

[RobT]

It's dumped on my parent's driveway for the time being.  But hopefully we can get it up and running before the current MoT runs out on the 12th September.  Mind you, how it got one with an exhaust like this is beyond me.  It can't be a recent thing I'd have thought.  When it first started it was blowing badly, so it's not like me ragging it around the block has caused it to go.

Fortunately I've got spare ones from when I previously had a Senator (cheers JohnK!).  Hope they'll fit as it'll save a few quid.

Plenty of water ingress.  This is the driver's footwell which I bailed out best I could, although the carpets need to come out fully for a proper job.  The sound deadening foam stuff is highly absorbent.

A spot of gardening in the scuttle has unblocked the drains, so maybe it's that rather than knackered door seals.

Engine bay backs up the 70k miles, as it's pretty tidy under there.

Lovely brown interior, and centre console simpleness.

Trinket.

Amongst other tat, there's also a ceramic car heater that plugs into the ciggie lighter.  That could indicate the heater doesn't work.  Matrices are a common fail on these, but the pond in the footwell doesn't feel coolant-y.

OS arch is crispy (best we don't touch that until an MoT is achieved), but for the most part it's not bad.  Sills are very good surprisingly, and that's the first thing I checked.  If they were shot the full length we wouldn't be here!  Although the bits by the jacking points are showing rust, but I dared to have a prod and it's just surface I think.  Didn't prod too hard mind.  Vactan over that and fingers crossed for the test.

First joint tinkering session is tomorrow morning, where egg can shake his head and wonder why he got involved...

[RobT]

A couple of arty farty shots.

Plus the Austin Rover dealer plates!

[danthecapriman]

Love it! And what odd colour choice for such a car. The interior looks good too.

cant wait to see more on this.

[RobT]

The original owner is to be applauded for his choice!  Brown over brown...he was thinking of us all those years ago.  Hazel or Brazil brown, can't find a definitive answer after a brief check.

[Wingz123]

I like that Cavalier! 

[HMC]

Lovely old barge! Perfect colour and trim combo

[egg]

I like this way of buying a car, Rob has done all the leg work so far, but at the very least I can add some encouraging noises to my financial contribution tomorrow.

In the late 80's a car like this would have seemed unobtainable to the teenage me, a Carlton, yeah maybe, but a Senator - no way...and here we are.

Project success for me would be wafting my daughter to school in it for a bit in the new term. Will have to dry it out first though!

[RobT]

That should provide good enough impetus to get it going.  The school run beckons, I like that.

Also, I say I checked the sills.  It involved peering through the small gaps in the sill covers.  The bits I could see were still body coloured, although brown and rust look similar obv.

[michael t]

Lovely stuff. Can't remember the last time I saw a Senator in the wild, I'd guess maybe around 2011-12.... Brown upon brown is a winning combo. Will be following this with interest!

[Wingz123]

My art teacher at secondary school had a bronze senator he used to drive from Watford to Reading everyday - always remember it parked with silver gaffa tape hanging off the rear arches ?

[Dan302]

Looks lovely in brown, following this with interest

[egg]

28 minutes ago, Wingz123 said:

My art teacher at secondary school had a bronze senator he used to drive from Watford to Reading everyday - always remember it parked with silver gaffa tape hanging off the rear arches ?

Funnily enough so did my English teacher, a mark 1 though.

[Wingz123]

Have to ask so this does clear it up for me after years of wondering.....but the wheels that this senator has on it....are they exactly the same as the ones you see on e34 BMW's and some of the saab 9000's? Albeit with different centre caps? A pain in the ass to clean in a hurry!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

That's bloody fantastic.

[Datsuncog]

Oh wow. Didn't think I'd be seeing one of those today!

Well bought, fellas... looks perfect*.

2 hours ago, RobT said:

It does look more scab than actual rot, but what a picture... what a picture.

Perhaps you'll be thinking about a new set of Uniroyals at some point, I daresay?

I think this shade might be Hazel Brown - I seem to recall my uncle had a Nova saloon in Brazil Brown, which was quite a bit darker. More of an 85% cocoa artisan chocolate shade, whereas yours looks a bit creamier.

Following with interest though, this looks the absolute tits.

[RobT]

4 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Perhaps you'll be thinking about a new set of Uniroyals at some point, I daresay?

I think this shade might be Hazel Brown - I seem to recall my uncle had a Nova saloon in Brazil Brown, which was quite a bit darker. More of an 85% cocoa artisan chocolate shade, whereas yours looks a bit creamier.

The Michelins on the front definitely need replacing, but looking at those Uniroyals again perhaps it does need four.  Running properly, free exhaust change and MoTd are the first objectives though.

Thanks for the paint info!

[sierraman]

Not sure that’s just a scab, to stop it getting worse I’d grind it back with the flap disc, very likely want a bit of metal letting into the lip then filling. Worth doing right though. The bit on the arch tub to rear wing seal I would chip the bubbles off and use Vactan or whatever on. Difficult without splitting the seam to make sure it’s rust free. 

[RobT]

Yep, something does need to be done there.  We'll tackle it once the MoT is in the bag.  There's optimism for you, no If.

[Amishtat]

Always loved these and never had one! That colour is a new one on me too, the only other non-metallic examples I can remember were ex-Essex plod white ones. 

Yeah. Bit jealous. 

[sutty2006]

Love a good senny! Can’t wait to see it back up and cruising round. I had the 24v version, it was epic. 

[Yoss]

Well done chaps! Thread of the week. You won't regret it. Not for a couple of weeks anyway. 

[egg]

HML says only 98 taxed at the moment, including Senator A's. Another 400 odd SORN'd which is always reassuring*

[Sealtainn]

What a thorough conveyance of win.

I especially like purchasing cars from RobT so shall put my name down for consideration on this when it comes time to move on.

Rectum Mended Cellar 249/10

Wood Bouy Again 

[hairnet]

4 hours ago, egg said:

 

Project success for me would be wafting my daughter to school in it for a bit in the new term. Will have to dry it out first though!

before or after you drop her off

 

[egg]

Ah, luckily we've got past that stage!

She'll probably say she prefers the Mazda

[egg]

The day Rob got this moved, another one was spotted by a Twitter user and popped up in my feed by coincidence - on the M25 (natural habitat)