Ghostly Goings On - over the moon

[twosmoke300]

Just “ lalalalalaing” the rust ? 😂

[twosmoke300]

😂

 

[Ghosty]

1 hour ago, twosmoke300 said:

Just “ lalalalalaing” the rust ? 😂

For now, yes... 

[bigfella2]

If that's the only rust you have found on an 80's honda, I'd call that a right fucking result!!

[Ghosty]

On 6/6/2021 at 11:59 AM, bigfella2 said:

If that's the only rust you have found on an 80's honda, I'd call that a right fucking result!!

The sill ends are a little tender, but they're easy to fix. 

 

Had the carbs off today, someone's clearly been fucking with them in the past. 

 

Cleaned out the catch can 😬 :

and having investigated everything, the carbs were cleaned and put back on. Set all the cables properly, stuck some fuel in, and there was no fuel getting through - the pump was working, and someone has already replaced it:

 

 

I need to rewire this properly at some point as it's not very well done. 

However the fuel filter seemed to be empty, it seemed as if the Chinesium fuel pressure gauge (I'm not sure why it was even there) was blocking the fuel flow somehow that I can't explain. Bypassed it, and still nothing. But fuel was getting to the carbs, as I could see one of them was pissing fuel out of the float bowl seal. I'll get some rebuild kits. 

While this was going on, I wondered if the aftermarket alarm was somehow stopping things - pulling the siren out even though it was disconnected caused the alarm to go off when you put the key in. Knowing there was at least some non-standard wiring in the interior fusebox, I pulled down the steering cowl: 

 

Sweet fucking Jesus. 

 

I unplugged the control box and unclipped all the inline fuse holders - at this point the car started (?!). 

It idles now - turns out the idle adjuster for the carbs had been mounted on the piss and turned too high. I need to make an angle bracket for it, but it doesn't run rich now. 

The clag on the ground is just water that'd been in the exhaust (I'd pressure washed some of the carbon off it the other day). 

The driver's door speaker didn't work, so I took the cover off: 

 

Nice surprise to find Pioneer speakers in there, they sound fantastic (the rear ones are Bose!). One of the spade connectors on the back had fallen off as it was the wrong size, so I made up a little adapter with stuff I had lying around from messing with old radios and such and clipped it on - sorted. 

 

For a carb rebuild (and an exhaust silencer), it'll be driveable! 

[Ghosty]

Well I found and ordered the carb seals after a call to danST Engineering who knew exactly what the deal with the carbs was - and confirmed my suspicions, they're Mikuni CV, off a Suzuki GSX-R 600 SRAD. 
They also sell a custom intake manifold for the A-series/SRAD combo that I might invest in if the car's a keeper.
I asked my dad if he could pull the carbs off while I was working so I could fit the seals, well he did the whole job and reassembled it, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

No pics of that obv, but it wouldn't be anything I've not already seen/done/taken pics of. 

I also noticed that the backbox for sale on eBay marked 'sedan' is actually the right part for the Aerodeck as well, and there were a few different listings for it varying in price by a few quid, the only difference being the engine codes. Just chose the cheapest one (which eBay's checker says fits), and of course they did that stupid 'send us your reg, oh this doesn't fit your car' thing so I just said 'send it anyway'. I'm not paying more money just to use the listing with the right engine code... I had the same thing with the Concerto backbox last year, where I ordered the part for a 216GTI (same engine and shell), that they also tried to tell me wouldn't fit.... 
All the mountings and flanges on the original exhaust are intact so it should be a direct fit, and if it isn't I have weldy grindy things. Just waiting for that to arrive now and it'll be ready to go. 

 

 

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I suppose the point of that alarm is to stuff so many wires into the steering cowl that a criminal will just say "fuck this" and leave instead of hotwiring it?

[Ghosty]

Well, the exhaust box came today. 

 

The old fartcan was the  standard1.75" flange with a 2" mild steel pipe bodged on, then another adapter on the backbox up to 2.5" or something. 

As you can see from the difference in the positioning of the rear hangers, the new box is too long. A quick run out to ECP yielded a 1.75" sleeve and two exhaust clamps for £9 and change, after cutting about a 7" section out of the pipe on the backbox, it was a perfect fit. It's now on the car, and sounds pleasingly sporting, but isn't offensive, and the back pressure is a little better too. 

 

That's genuine 1960s carpet that was dragged out from under the stairs as we're redecorating. Under it were some completely intact 1965 copies of the Daily Express! They've been there most of the house's life as it was built in roughly 1962. We've been here since 1998. 

~~~

The carbs aren't set up well and it runs slightly lumpy, thankfully they're pleasingly simple and my dad is keen to work on them so that'll get sorted soon. 

 

It's an absolute hoot to drive, and pleasingly practical (took it to IKEA for some big mirrors earlier) - I need to run about in it a bit but it might be a good keeper, especially as I might have access to a tame welder - the catch is he's in Bristol... think he'll travel though as he's mates with a few people I know up here. 

[Ghosty]

When life gives you lemons, add an E with some dots on it. 

[Fumbler]

2 hours ago, Ghosty said:

When life gives you lemons, add an E with some dots on it. 

Bëntly?

[Ghosty]

Aerodeck is more or less running - and pretty decent on fuel too considering the carbs. It's fantastic fun to drive, tons of torque and really nice well spaced gear ratios. 
I took it to a ~car meet~ today and it got loads of attention, people asking what it was etc. 



On the way back it started cutting out when I stopped at traffic lights and such, I'll have to investigate that.

[bangernomics]

That’s the second one of those I’ve seen. The first was when they were relatively new being driven by the daughter of the local Chinese chippy in Prestwich she and the car were lovely.

Nice unusual car that.

[Ghosty]

Bloody thing randomly shat its fuel pump on the M60 last night. Thankfully the AA showed up almost instantly, and I was home within an hour of breaking down.

[Sunny Jim]

You can't do a double reaction to post - for the fuel pump, 🙂 for the AA turning up promptly.

[Ghosty]

OK, investigated. 
Pump works, but not getting 12v from the car. Wiring is poor and needs improving. 

Front left indicator doesn't work for reasons unknown 

Horn wiring can't be done through the steering wheel as the original wheel and clock spring are missing, and the Civic boss I fitted, while the right spline, is the wrong length etc. Also the horn positive wire on it broke. 
I have a hole in the dash where an alarm LED was, next to the choke and the fog light, so I've bought an illuminated push button and I'm going to rewire the horn.

Some fun* evenings ahead. 

[Ghosty]

Tonight I spent an hour on the Rover. 

 

ATF was due a change, I suspect it's never been done. 108k on the clock. The magnetic sump plug was clean and the gears don't slip so this should do it some good. I'm expecting to put a few hundred more miles on the car in July so I'll change it again then - draining the box yields 2.5l, of a 5.8l capacity. 

Oil and filter change was done too - a Blue Print oil filter with a 2017 date stamp came out, and a Mann Filter went in. Based on mileage there's about 10-12k on that, and an unspecified amount on the oil, so a change was a good call. 

New sump plug and washer too. 

[Ghosty]

Today on 'what's broken?'... 
The Aerodeck had a passenger footwell full of moss when I got it. 

Because the heater matrix is leaking. I think it goes without saying that that's unobtanium. 

FFS  

[LightBulbFun]

2 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

Today on 'what's broken?'... 
The Aerodeck had a passenger footwell full of moss when I got it. 

Because the heater matrix is leaking. I think it goes without saying that that's unobtanium. 

FFS  

can you get it repaired or re-cored at a radiator place?

after-all it is just a Smoll Radiator  

[Ghosty]

12 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

can you get it repaired or re-cored at a radiator place?

after-all it is just a Smoll Radiator  

Sort of. It'll be an absolute swine to get to though. 

[Sunny Jim]

Can it be bypassed in the interim? Do you need heating in the British summer?

[Ghosty]

3 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

Can it be bypassed in the interim?

This is the solution. I don't need the heater now but if I wanted to keep the thing it'd need serious work.

The more I look into it, the more of a mess is revealed. The electrics are completely and utterly butchered.
Once it's welded up and the fuel pump works there'll be very good money in it, so I'll probably try and sell it to a y00f for double what I paid. 

[Sunny Jim]

On 05/06/2021 at 20:29, Sunny Jim said:

Aerodeck is beginning to look great, good work.

(Has anyone else called dibs on it yet? Always fancied one)

I'm too old to be in your new target market so dibs withdrawn if that's ok? Besides I now have my own two door estate requiring unobtainium parts.

Good luck with the Honda.

[High Jetter]

You say you're going to pull out now, but...? 🤣

[Ghosty]

 

What could this be? 

Horn now works on Aerodeck, fuel pump is ????. 

Off to look at my next potential purchase this evening. 

 

[Ghosty]

Rover has some fairly severe steering wheel shake as I found on the M1 yesterday coming back from looking at the next car. 
It needs new driveshafts as the damping bushes are rotten, which indicates they're about to snap. 

They're NLA. 

🤬
 

[Ghosty]

Someone came to look at the Aerodeck last night as I have it up on Farketplace for £lotsmorethanipaid. I've tentatively agreed a trade deal with him which involves cash his way, but I'm getting something rather nice in return. 

[Ghosty]

On 7/9/2021 at 12:15 PM, Ghosty said:

Someone came to look at the Aerodeck last night as I have it up on Farketplace for £lotsmorethanipaid. I've tentatively agreed a trade deal with him which involves cash his way, but I'm getting something rather nice in return. 

The guy had been on holiday hence the silence, but I went to view the car this chap was offering me on Tues, and I took the Accord there as he'd asked me to drive it to his place as a condition of the deal. I'd have left the Accord and taken the new car then and there but the MOT was measured in hours. Further to that, it was wearing a decat pipe and there were several spurious warning lights as the alternator had been replaced and they'd not been reset yet (the car is OBD1 and he didn't know how to do it I don't think). The guy knew the car back to front, and had nothing at all to hide on it, and I'd verified elsewhere that the warning lights were spurious. I drove the car (conveniently the seller lives at the end of the A537 without the average cameras in Macclesfield) and it ran perfectly. The car's clean, tidy, and needs little more than some scratch remover and a couple of small touch ups - it's in lovely condition and will be usable from the get-go.  (Though the car comes with a timing belt kit...)
I said I was happy with the car pending it getting an MOT (it's VERY good for the price, and he's said since the start of negotiation that he'd give it a full test), and he agreed, saying his mechanic was away for a couple of days but he could see about getting a test from his colleagues other garage after hours on Friday. Well he's said today that he can indeed get it a test tomorrow, and that this garage is in central Manchester, so he's going to bring the car to me with a fresh ticket to do the swap. 
And then I'm going to go on holiday to the south coast in it on Saturday morning. lol

I can't do much of a guessing game with it as I can't think of any clues that aren't glaringly obvious. 

[High Jetter]

Lexus?

[Ghosty]

46 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Lexus?

I was actually offered a very tidy R reg LS400 with factory handling pack as a straight swap for the Accord by an eighteen year old lad on FB. I declined as the insurance was £750 (new purchase insurance is £400) and it's not what I was after. He ended up trading with paulplom on TDW, for his MX5. 

It's not a Lexus, but it's not a bad guess. 

[High Jetter]

Wow that insurance quote was high! OK, I think I got it but wil let others have a go. Surprised hearing that about Paul, I miss hearing about his antics on here.