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Are Yugo-ing to leave your hat on?


brownnova

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The danger with squirting fuel into the intake is that you put too much in and flood the poor little bugger, it only needs a little drinkie as it's only a little engine. 'Tis a fine art the starting an engine on squirty fueling. But so joyous when it goes 'Brummmmmm' :) 

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So I’ve not touched the Yugo for a couple of months. Progress had stalled due to not getting it going quickly (I’m a millennial- I like quick results). I had meant to get back to it over Christmas but it was cold and I chose to do other things.

 Today I got the 2CV out of the garage and saw this... 218857A6-1321-4A4E-9E23-269280FD0FF5.jpeg

Yes... it really looks like one of those stalled projects... 

Mrs_b’s brother wanted to borrow the trolley jack so I had excuse to be in the garage. I wasn’t sure if the battery had any charge, but decided to give it a go anyway. BiL turned up at this point and we got chatting. I explained what I was doing and he said go on then give it a go... 

The engine span, battery was ok... it kept spinning but no catch (just as the last few time) so I started pumping the accelerator and all of a sudden... she roared into life-properly. Last time it had been lumpy as hell! To be honest both me and BiL nearly shat ourselves!!! We weren’t expecting it. Within 5 seconds the fuel in the carb was gone and it died. 

Refilled the carb and.... battery had gone.. bugger.

I popped it on charge quickly whilst I gave the BiL the bits to help with his car... then a bird flew into the garage. That was entertaining! The little twat had to be chased out!

BiL left and I was due at a friends house.

But I couldn’t resist one more quick go... if it had run then the plugs might be warmer and maybe, just maybe...

Almost instantly it purred into life! It’s glorious Yugoslavian engine clattered away happily!! 
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I was over the moon!!! I jumped around whooping like a small child.

My diagnosis is that the empty tank being sat had meant that the pump had run dry and the low level of fuel was struggling to get it drawn through. Looks like that was right.

I engaged the clutch and moved it about 8 inches backwards and forwards. Clutch works. Brakes don’t tho, that’s next on the list.

I turned it off and on again, no bother, fires straight up.

What a relief!! And a spur to get on with it! But for the fact that my BiL has pinched my trolley jack I’d probably be under it now looking at the brakes! 
 

Today is a good day!!! 

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Today one of my upper sixth lads told me of how his next door neighbour used to have this old car. It was white and in a bit of a state. He said it was a bit of an embarrassment to the nice road he lived on, and the neighbours used to complain about it. It was badly repaired, and in the end he couldn’t get it started. He offered it to the lad to buy, he declined.  

One day the neighbour says that he has sold the car to someone who was going to fix it up. And on Sunday he shared on Facebook how someone had not got it running again... the lad clicked on the profile of who was fixing up only to be met profile! He couldn’t believe how this old car he had known all his life was now in my hands, and it was the car I had told them about in (a few) previous lessons! 

 It’s a small world... 

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Today... with my brother in laws van taking the trolley jack to get it’s brakes sorted for its MoT I didn’t get a chance to play with this this weekend until now. Thought I’d best start it first and... no dice... won’t catch again... 

Can I blame it being particularly cold today and the door to the garage being open most of the day?

Grrr... should’ve started it every day like I told myself to... 

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So as I had half an hour it was... wheel of to inspect the callipers... 

First up where’s my wheel brace... 

I do hate it when people have been in my garage and used my stuff... I can’t find anything!

 Thankfully mine came with it’s original Yugo toolkit!

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 Removing the horrible after market trims revealed these! 
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Think I’ll be painting the wheels and leaving them on display! 

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Crusty as anything. No movement when depressing the pedal and the wheel is not moving very freely. Other side is up against the wall. The plan was (now it runs....) to turn it round so the front wheels were accessible... however as the car had other ideas today and wouldn’t run I couldn’t do this. And asking my pregnant wife to help lift the car might not be the best idea... 

I’ll just check the brake fluid... 

What a brilliant design the brake fluid reservoir is under the spare wheel holder! 
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With that removed it’s clear that there’s not much brake fluid there! So more fluid might help, but what’s in there looks clear. Don’t think that’s right. Probably best bleeding the system methinks.

Need to look up how to bleed brakes. Not done that before.

Hmm ok let’s try starting again. I’ve had a heater on the engine bay. And.... a cough no more. Bugger. Wonder if it’s flooded again with my trying multiple times.

 Really hope it wasn’t a fluke when it did start!!!

Feeling a bit deflated I’ll head back inside. 

 

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Cold? Standard start? Full choke NO throttle.  You’ve proved it runs, it’s just your ‘ technique’.  
 

If you HAVE to move it, disconnect the king lead on the coil, & crank it in  the appropriate gear.  ( Reverse or first). Battery soft? Wind window down & walk beside it. You can’t do it far, or you’ll knocker the starter, but it will help you get it off the wall. 
 

Brakes are standard small Fiat,  piss easy to rebuild/ repair. A strip/ clean will free them back up. I’d fit new flexi’s & pads whilst in there. 

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2 hours ago, nigel bickle said:

Cold? Standard start? Full choke NO throttle.  You’ve proved it runs, it’s just your ‘ technique’.  

Out of sheer habit I put my foot flat to the floor and left the choke in... honestly I’m a moron! ?? You wouldn’t think that three out of my six cars have a manual choke!

Sometimes my lack of common sense about cars astounds me... 

Of course, when done properly it started first time!

 Good job I’ve got no neighbours going out to start a car at 11.30 at night! ?

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2 hours ago, sierraman said:

Jeremy Clarkson once boasted how shit these were because you could change gear with no clutch. Which shows how fucking moronic he is as you can do that on practically any manual car if the revs are in the sweet spot. 

I think I did that for the first time ever in the diesel Borat last week. It was only as the gear stick slotted in that I realised I had forgotten to press the clutch pedal. Can't remember what the revs were, though....

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As hinted in the news 24 thread someone came out of self isolation today... 

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For the first time in probably three years the Yugo left the garage under its own steam!!

 What was the occasion? Well my garage is a mess... and it needed a proper sort out. So that’s what I did.

 My driveway did look like some kind of jumble sale today!

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So what did I learn about the Yugo today.

1. The brakes do work!! Having been told that the brakes were completely inoperative I hadn’t really tested them since the day I got it. My foot goes flat to the floor and if I push really really hard I do get enough stopping power to stop the car whilst reversing down the slope of my drive. It couldn’t be as easy as bleeding the brakes could it? I doubt it, but we’ll find out.

2. The throttle sticks. This was more a confirmation. Push the throttle and you have to pull it back with your foot.

3. Putting it back into daylight made me realise just how bad the filler/rust work is. Do I do bodywork repair or do I leave the filler as ‘patina’ 

4. It’s a handsome little devil

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 Having it outside I was able to leave it running for longer than usual and it was good to see that it gets up to temperature as I’d not had the chance to see that before. 
Tomorrow I plan to give it a good wash, and then put it over the pit to have a proper poke at the underside. Then put it back in the garage backwards to have better access to the front brakes and to make it easier to move it in and out of the garage.

Then: bleed the brakes, strip and clean the callipers, then start changing service items, under seal (if it’s OK under there) and decide on what to do with the bodywork.

 Time to get my focus back on the cars! The house has taken up far too much of my time lately! 

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Give the brakes a good bleed.  Wouldn't be the first car I've seen where something has failed and drained the system and they've never properly got the air out.

Get it properly bled with fresh fluid and you'll then be far better able to assess the state of the brakes.

Could the sticking throttle just be a missing return spring on the carb itself?

I'd probably want to get the rust repaired properly, the car's such an unlikely survivor that it's earned it I think.  Plus if it's properly sorted it shouldn't be a potential issue for further corrosion in the future.

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