Harrison's Garage

[rob88h]

It's been a tough year on the Mini, but it is still with us. I should really consider some preservative measures sooner rather than later...

[flat4alfa]

8 minutes ago, rob88h said:

It's been a tough year on the Mini, but it is still with us. I should really consider some preservative measures sooner rather than later...

Go on, sell it / swap it to me

[cobblers]

I wish there was a way to encase that mini in amber and protect it exactly at that state of bedraggledness for eternity, while still being able to use it.

It's a thing of beauty. 

[rob88h]

On 6/8/2023 at 4:51 PM, cobblers said:

I wish there was a way to encase that mini in amber and protect it exactly at that state of bedraggledness for eternity, while still being able to use it.

It's a thing of beauty.

That way of protection is not its current life of road salt, bird poo and brake dust…

Although it did just manage 100 miles on Tuesday to collect more Granada parts. I just need to keep using it because once it comes off the road I have a feeling repairs will escalate!

[Stinkwheel]

I’ve just stopped in  say, two things. First. I agree with every fibre of my very being with what @cobblerssaid about the mini, just needs to look like this forever.
Second. 
Every time I read this thread I always at least once read it as ‘George Harrison’s Garage’ for some weird mind playing silly sods reason. And I really want to know what George Harrison had in his garage now, if anyone knows ? 

[rob88h]

9 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

really want to know what George Harrison had in his garage now, if anyone knows ?

Yellow Submarine 🤷‍♂️

The name comes from Harrison, my super secretive internet moniker, and a pun on Harry’s Garage of Harry Metcalfe fame. It’s sort of an antithesis, instead of Countachs and Testerossas it’s Balenos and Sierras. 

[rob88h]

I took the Mini over to the Bromley car show this weekend. Turning up with it covered in filth seemed like a good idea having not made time to even run a sponge over it. I did have a hearty inward chuckle watching the immaculate e30 owners near me polishing their cars from having just driven in. 

Truely worst in show, but solace that it is in the show. Use them etc etc. 

However, it was nice to see a few doppelgängers in great condition to inspire me to tidy things up a bit (albeit I’d prefer to lose the wheels, arches and mk1 front off this)

This Granada was “car of the show” for me. I don’t think I have deep enough pocket to get mine to this standard. 

A close second fave was the Granada’s period competitor, the Crown, in a very comparable spec.

On the way out of the show the Mini was able to meet up with a few friends. 

 

We made it home ok, despite the timing (I think) being a bit out after fitting electronic ignition. It’s getting a bit hot and pinky under high speed and load on dual carriageways. 

Tinkering required. 

[rob88h]

Tinkering Achieved.

Firstly, the valve clearances were finally sorted by fitting new rockers and adjusting screws (and a new rocker cover gasket for good measure). It’s back to sounding like a little whisper quiet sewing machine, other than the noisy idler in the gearbox and the gear rattle in fourth. Timing has been set to 3 deg at 600rpm, a 5 degree reduction in advance, which makes sense having switched to electronic ignition. It’s not pinking now under load and hopefully it’ll have cured the overheats. I’m looking forward to having somewhere to go in it to check that out!

With its mechanical maladies addressed I thought I’d begin on a gentle program of aesthetic maintenance. I started at the end, specifically the rear end. The bumper has lost all of it’s paint and quite frankly looks a right mess and although replacements are pretty cheap, this one is twisted and dented in all the right places. The number plate is almost completely delaminated meow.

Removing it uncovers yet more bodywork horrors, naturally.  – Anyway, Krust + POR15 and hide it under the bumper again and job’s a good’un. Shan’t lose sleep.

The bumper was treated to Krust + the dregs of two Hammerite aerosols + Halfords mid-range satin black. I’ve not lacquered it as the City bumpers were sort of matt black from memory and as it is it’ll probably weather in more quickly.

A new plate was put on with a pre-2001 font as the old one was sure to come up on the MOT as “legally too tatty”.

A wash made a big improvement too. I really need to stop parking it up on bear earth under a big tree.

[Bren]

Any news on the granada?

[Tommyboy12]

Kurust and direct to rust is my favourite kind of repair

[rob88h]

Ha ha, “repair” is generous. 
 

For the Granada; I’ve been messing around with some exhaust bits I’ve finally managed to get hold of. 

[somewhatfoolish]

4 hours ago, rob88h said:

other than the noisy idler in the gearbox

TADTS.

[rob88h]

Little and Large. 

[schonker]

DO NOT PAINT THE MINI.Thats all I'm saying

[Bren]

19 hours ago, rob88h said:

Ha ha, “repair” is generous. 
 

For the Granada; I’ve been messing around with some exhaust bits I’ve finally managed to get hold of. 

I believe mk1 zorst's have been difficult to find for some time.

[rob88h]

12 hours ago, Bren said:

believe mk1 zorst's have been difficult to find

Yeah, I’ve certainly found that! In fact it put a dampener on things for a good while when I couldn’t get hold of one readily. 
The exhaust became bit of a lynchpin to working on the Granada as it’s so antisocially loud thanks to massive holes in the mufflers and pip work of the mid sections. 

(A bit of period repair work for you there)

Motomobil in Germany had stock, but various non-Eu delivery constraints meant they wanted to cut the already 3 sections into 6 sections - and it was hundreds of pounds so I wasn’t happy with that. I think that’s back in this thread somewhere. The car is too rough to take it over to a custom exhaust shop without trailering it there and again that all seemed a bit extravagant. 

Luckily (about a year later) some legend had some NOS bits on eBay from in his shed some 40 years that were still looking serviceable. However, what was thought to be a left and a right muffler turned out to be two lefts… More recently I snapped up the only other mid-muffler I’ve seen come up which fortunately was a right. So, with some careful extractions I’ve enough serviceable pieces to get running and then maybe down the line a custom stainless job when it can get their of its own accord.

 

[Back_For_More]

Rob - where in Germany are MotorMobil? Could they deliver in Germany without chopping it? I can grab it from the ex's mums place when we next visit and throw it in the back of the Scoobie...... If that's any option and you're not too pushed for time. 

[rob88h]

12 hours ago, Back_For_More said:

where in Germany are MotorMobil?

Cheers dude, that’s really kind. They are near Munich. I’ve had a couple of internal shipping offers but I’ve not made it over there myself to pick up from any mediatory. There’s no rush because hopefully, hopefully, this NOS exhaust setup will see me through for a few years now. 

[rob88h]

I’ve not really said much about my Lexus yet, but it’s gone now so let’s review 88 Days and 531 miles with a Lexus LS.

First impressions were great, it’s big, it’s beige, it’s V8; what’s not to like?! It took me a while to get my head around having it, what with it being about half a day between an out-of-the-blue text message proposition [for the car] and it being sat in a parking bay later that day at work with me scratching my head over getting rid of the diesel Focus and telling my wife I accidently bought another car, again.

Indeed, it did spend a bit of time getting in the way… but finally, once it was coned off and probably earmarked as abandoned, I decided it was time to take it home.

For me, the main enjoyment with this car has been the refinement and the ridiculous amount of kit it has, particularly if you’re used to driving an early 80’s Mini City. Highlights include the many Auto-you-name-its, remote rear headrests, a blind that drops when you select Reverse and goes back up in Drive, an air purifier as well as multi-zone AC, a refrigerator, cooled seats, double glazing, hidden CD multichanger (I mostly used the tape deck with a 3.5mm jack, haha), soft close doors, dual radio controls, oscillating air vents, not only one glove box, but two and the headline act – massaging rear seats.

Features and capability wise, in period, this was probably the smart choice over the main competitors (S-Class, 7-Series, XJ?) particularly because I think they were quite a good price comparatively. But something about it seemed that it never sold that well and maybe for the same reasons, to be really honest, it never gelled well with me either. I had an XJ8 a few years back that (obviously) shared no two components with the Lexus, but to all intents and purposes it was the same car. Big, Beige, V8. For some reason I much preferred the Jag.

The Lexus, then, objectively is a good car, perhaps the best I've ever had, despite this particular example’s grotty bits that I won’t go into here (in the For Sale Sold advert if you’re particularly interested). Yet I never really let it get under my skin. But to be fair, 500 miles was not much opportunity for it to make its case. I am glad I had it, it was a lovely place to be, I just couldn’t get any more enthusiastic with it than with the glee of finding yet more features that I hadn’t realised existed. I seem to remember finding the Jag a bit boring at the time actually, so maybe I just needed more time with it and more time to pass before my spectacles get a heavier rose tint and it'll turn out that the Lexus was in fact as ace as it should have been.

[rob88h]

Harrison’s History #60 - Citroen BX LEADER

Replacing the Lexus directly is the BX “Leader”. I don’t think I’ve fallen for a car so quickly for a while!

I’ve decided to record this one a bit differently - a return to the older format of a thread following a car rather than a person with a car, so for the Leader I’m going to set up a dedicated thread (and post the link here). 

[Stinkwheel]

As an ex owner of a poverty spec white BX 14 i approve wholly of this thread and now feel the need for another  

[Tommyboy12]

That is exemplary shiteing. Did they ever off the 1.1L in the UK market? Im fairly certain I have seen an example somewhere in the past.

[Stinkwheel]

6 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

That is exemplary shiteing. Did they ever off the 1.1L in the UK market? Im fairly certain I have seen an example somewhere in the past.

No, they didnt, but there are at least 2 here i know of.

[outlaw118]

Re:  Granny exhaust, give Ian at Specialised Engines in Grays a shout, he might have something useful - not just exhaust bits, last time I was there he had hoarded loads of stuff.

[Back_For_More]

On 7/8/2023 at 8:58 PM, rob88h said:

Cheers dude, that’s really kind. They are near Munich. I’ve had a couple of internal shipping offers but I’ve not made it over there myself to pick up from any mediatory. There’s no rush because hopefully, hopefully, this NOS exhaust setup will see me through for a few years now. 

No worries...... If you're wanting to use this option just drop me a PM and it can be sorted. 

[rob88h]

It was bound to happen eventually… Going to car shows I always hope to see one of my old steeds still out and about living it’s best life. FOTU provided TWO!

(also @Motown)

[rob88h]

Holiday mode enabled. 
One’s a worn out piece of old junk, the others a water bowser etc etc. 
 

[rob88h]

Mostly, usually, working on my cars is just for fun. What a pleasure. No time or no motivation; no worries, do it later and just use one of the other cars for now. 

Occasionally though circumstance and my lifestyle choices don’t line up perfectly with my laidback motoring approach and I have to employ the old skool efforts  of grinding out repairs against my will. 

Grinding. The stalwart Focus came back from the last trip of my wife’s holidays with reports of grinding and a “really hot wheel covered in red dust”. 

As Adam Savage would say, “There’s your problem”. The rear O/S calliper had stuck or been sticking and has Müller’d the pads when compared with the other side. The Volvo is still at the welders, the Mini’s MOT expires tomorrow, I need the BX for my work and my other cars are… haven’t been cars for some time. 

One course of action. To Euro Car Parts! Rear discs and pads for both sides are I n stock and collected in just an hour. 1 minute to order, 59 minutes waiting for them to bring them out of the stockroom.

The sticking calliper was a bit of a pig, but the car was needed in the morning and I couldn’t get a new one on the spot, so a bit of exercising and greasing the sliders had it mostly ok in the travel now it had fat new pads in there. It would probably stick though when the pads where thin again so needs to go. All buttoned up and back together in under 4 hours ready for work the next day (…and a few hundred miles of weekend fun).

Day 2. Everything back apart again as the damn thing was needed as a car before a completely satisfactory “finish”.

The new calliper had time to be shipped to the store and only took an hour to pick up! 1 minute to acknowledge the delivery, 59 minutes waiting for them to bring them out of the stockroom.

While I was doing the rear N/S disc and pads during the previous session I noticed the spring has snapped near the top. A speculative spring was ordered and if I don’t do it now with the arse already up in the air I’ll probably put it off for too long.

I used an ingenuous* spring removal method by undoing the bottom of the damper and levering the whole suspension arm down by sitting on a great big piece of angle iron while reaching in to pull out the old spring. Tentatively.

It turned out the spring had suffered double ended borkage, and was probably responsible for “mystery clunk A” and “mystery clunk B” (of many).

I used the same method (it’s not as perilous you’d expect it could be) to refit the new spring, but on account of it being longer thanks to being in one piece I had to employ more travel to my suspension seesaw by adding a raised fulcrum (block of wood) to allow me to really open it up. All back together in time for tea.

I’m pretty pleased with what I manage to get done in two evening slots with the car still useable in between  - but it really is so much nicer to not have to. 

[bezzabsa]

nice mini, I reckon everyone should experience a real mini and a V8 at least once!!

[rob88h]

Harrison’s History #61 - Ford Focus Ghia

Hmmm. I appear to have accidentally bought myself another Focus.