Bear's bangers: IT'S ALIVE! The RX-7 stops wetting the bed...

[Bear]

12 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Are these not fairly standard relays, in disguise?

Definitely not - they're often not really relays at all, but modular ECU components so the front bulb check 'relay' is a current monitoring mircrochip and circuit designed to work alongside the rear bulb check unit elsewhere in the car. The joys of pre-multiplex wiring....

[Bear]

Apparently there are deliveries today...

A little bit of flair (re)

Try it out... Cut a little bit of pipe...

Put it in the die and guide, set using the "O" stop tool and it's flush, tighten clamp...

Select OP1 for the desired double flare, squeeze and get this...

Spin the turret for operation 2 and get...

That looks promising!

Try it in the hollow nut.

Yep, very promising...

Try making a bend (though this pipe is easy to bend).

Yep. I can make some replacement pipes I think.

[Bear]

Not perfect, but good enough for rock start and roll (and stop, hopefully).

[Zelandeth]

That flaring tool looks bloody useful and a million times better than the one I have with a thousand pieces which I always manage to lose at least one of halfway through a job.  

I'd quite like to redo a couple of the ones I made for TPA as I think I hold myself to higher standards than I did back in...2018 (eek!).

[mat777]

15 hours ago, Bear said:

Not perfect, but good enough for rock start and roll (and stop, hopefully).

 

If all else fails and the brake pedal proves ineffective, then in an emergency I've found you can engage Brian Blessed mode, shout "Stoooooop!!!"   and the car will sometimes obey 😅

[Bear]

1 hour ago, mat777 said:

 

If all else fails and the brake pedal proves ineffective, then in an emergency I've found you can engage Brian Blessed mode, shout "Stoooooop!!!"   and the car will sometimes obey 😅

I once found ABS to be "a problem" on snow and slowed a Scorpio Estate for a roundabout by flinging it into the opposite lane sideways, skidding past the stopped  car, and flooring it up the first exit since the roundabout had traction...

The RX is unlikely to go so fast it would overwhelm the handbrake - for now...

[Bear]

15 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

That flaring tool looks bloody useful and a million times better than the one I have with a thousand pieces which I always manage to lose at least one of halfway through a job.  

I'd quite like to redo a couple of the ones I made for TPA as I think I hold myself to higher standards than I did back in...2018 (eek!).

Well, you can use mine if you want, or they're sold under a million "brands" as dropshipped Amazon stuff...

This was the cheapest price and the next cheapest showed a pipe roller cutter but not next-day delivery - this one had the roller cutter in the one I got.

(The sponsored one is £79 and there is a more expensive package with extra dies).

"Zyncove" brake pipe flaring tool - £66 on Amazon

Works really well - drop pipe into the former, close the hinged clamp, set pipe distance with the flat tool + pull lever, then tighten clamp, then for the 45 degree SAE double flare set tool to OP1 pull, OP2, pull, done. Seems very neat.

I got a pipe cutter with a deburring tool as well, and the deburring seems to be the stage people have missed when using any flaring tools and getting shit results. I read a lot of reviews before buying anything - mostly because I wanted cupronickel pipes and Amazon is full of copper-coloured steel ones being sold as the copper alloy.

Does need a vice, but it was this or a weird Laser one with a chunky handle that I couldn't work out how to use easily and was nearly twice as much.

[Bear]

One more pipe done when I needed a break from the screen. Would have been a very quick job if the nut for the hardline had dropped into the thread properly, but for some reason that always seems to be a ridiculous faff.

Dreading the last pipe, but mentally preparing myself to replace the hardline from ABS block to front left and not undoing anything until I have clear mental space and time to do it.

Still puzzling the Audi wiring. The headlight monitoring unit shares the same pin as the tail light one, but the missing line on the relay is a ground.

Now... could that earth knock out the dashboard? I do wonder if it could prevent the oil pressure switch from having a clean ground from the dashboard, if the relay is trying to find a path to earth for a signal.

Really wish I could shrink it into a Matchbox and get it out of the way until I've solved other problems.

[Bear]

Approach with care...

Actually it went fine.

Even the annoying line up the fitting in the bracket stage.

So...

I hate doing anything with brake fluid, the pressure bleeder always spits some and I'm worried about paint or plastics.

But it needed evicting.

[Bear]

Apparently, my replacement fuel lines are arriving with DHL tomorrow...

Seriously, how could they sell these for RX-7s?

So...

Front wheels back on.

Upside down phone...

But new flexis and one new pipe...

Rust treatment after I know the car is mobile.

This challenge remains...

Refit the fuel filter bracket. Where?

Sort of up there...

The arches get a clean up, some loose paint knocked off and wire brushed then covered with rust gel stuff until I can do properly.

New flexis at the back looking okay. Brakes need removing, stripping and lacquering.

And before it sees a road properly I want a full set of EBC discs and pads.

Though I'm not sure it'll want to see a road, it bears all the traumas of a mid-2000s daily driver from London 😕

Edit: tomorrow arrived!

Those appear to be a more realistic length for this car...

[Bear]

Pain stopped play, very faffy job

[autopaul]

Did I spy a Sinclair C5.  My great granddad used to  terrorise hasland in 1 of these back in the 90s. Pretty sure he modded it to speed it up. As well 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, autopaul said:

Did I spy a Sinclair C5.  My great granddad used to  terrorise hasland in 1 of these back in the 90s. Pretty sure he modded it to speed it up. As well 

Scariest drive of my life, in Bexhill

[Bear]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Scariest drive of my life, in Bexhill

Was that because it was in a C5, or just Bexhill?

I used one when I was 14-16 - took it to school, hoofed around Kelso getting shopping and being chased by idiots (not as much as when I had a purple Raleigh Chopper with white mag wheels though). Physics teacher raced it through school on one occasion, and I got told off for it...

Progress. Though somehow, after fighting brackets etc. I got the wrong one and it's the short one.

These lines are really heavy to move around.

[Bear]

3 hours ago, autopaul said:

Did I spy a Sinclair C5.  My great granddad used to  terrorise hasland in 1 of these back in the 90s. Pretty sure he modded it to speed it up. As well 

Way too close to the 617 for comfort!

Yes - not sure if the motor will work but it's got a plan beyond my skill to have a nice differential and 48V electrics...

[High Jetter]

8 hours ago, Bear said:

Was that because it was in a C5, or just Bexhill?

Bexhill, in the mid 1980's, was a special place for drivers, and probably still is as our local correspondent @FakeConcern may agree. The population was mainly, to be kind, seniors - at a time when many alive had assumed the right to be on the road before driving tests were mandatory. Crossing the road on foot required planning and acute observation as half the time they couldn't see anything that wasn't straight ahead. Being on the road in a C5, with your head below the height of anything else around, was downright scary.

[FakeConcern]

10 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Bexhill, in the mid 1980's, was a special place for drivers, and probably still is as our local correspondent @FakeConcern may agree. The population was mainly, to be kind, seniors - at a time when many alive had assumed the right to be on the road before driving tests were mandatory. Crossing the road on foot required planning and acute observation as half the time they couldn't see anything that wasn't straight ahead. Being on the road in a C5, with your head below the height of anything else around, was downright scary.

Bexhill is the birthplace of British Motor Racing I'll have you know!

https://www.bexhillmuseum.org.uk/the-collections/the-technology-collection/birthplace-of-british-motor-racing/

However, it's well known that old folk retire to Eastbourne

and their parents go to Bexhill.

[autopaul]

19 hours ago, Bear said:

Way too close to the 617 for comfort!

Yes - not sure if the motor will work but it's got a plan beyond my skill to have a nice differential and 48V electrics...

Pretty sure that's what he must have done, as I remember him having "extra batteries" I'll have to hunt through the photo album, sure there's a pic of me driving it in the late 80s

[Bear]

28 minutes ago, autopaul said:

Pretty sure that's what he must have done, as I remember him having "extra batteries" I'll have to hunt through the photo album, sure there's a pic of me driving it in the late 80s

there was an option for a second battery - and they were leisure batteries, so you could have had two or three on the go rather than waiting for them to charge! Commitment!

[Bear]

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, FakeConcern said:

 I'll have you know!

As will the signs on every approach road 🤣

[Bear]

Final stretch. I'm not a huge fan of these pipes, you can see the distortion on the brackets not just from the diameter (I have reamed the clips a bit) but the weight).

Let's try...

Do I smell petrol? Why, yes I do...

*swearing ensues*

Can't see it, but the clip on the fuel supply from filter was a bit on the flare. I suspect the pipe is a little generous and I need a jubilee clip type.

But good enough.

All the cleaning up sprays from working on the brakes baking off the engine looked impressive.

But the smoke from trying to start it with low fuel pressure and therefore, just oil injectors cleared...

Looking promising...

Get some garage dust off...

Yes okay Audi I know the birds have been using you for target practice.

Now, to save up for a week to get a jerrycan of fresh petrol for the RX-7...

[Bear]

Acquire fuel: 10 litres of V-Power. Actually not as horrific as I feared. Glad I don't drive a diesel.

Looks happy about the first fresh fuel in 20 years!

Such a lovely profile.

Also lovely - it got to temp, behaved.

And it hot started just fine.

So for now it can vacate the garage and I can work on other things.

While I get a number plate, and then bring it in, torque everything up and double check it, and then... MOT time!

[yes oui si]

The FD is such a pretty car...

[Bear]

Someone stole the place...

So it's now on 110,00 miles, and celebrated with - over two weeks because of the vacuum not being usable for oil changes...

Oil and filter
Air filter
Cabin filter
Greased the suspension top mounts with spray grease as they're squeaking, but I didn't want to buy new ones just randomly

Stripped NSR brake and freed off adjuster, but suspect it has a warped drum

It's really clean underneath!

But there is a mystery whirring. Sounds like a wheel bearing, but I can't find any play in any wheel or the driveshaft at the hub.

So... my fear is, gearbox?

But the other thing is this car is bone dry and behaves well. No oil leaks. No horrors. After the oil and filter change the engine is super quiet and I'm alarmed by the fuel injector noise!

@petermcpete definitely in the good books for selling us this little trooper -it's funny, one of those cars most people would overlook or pull a face about, and it's a tough yet not all that crude urban warrior! If it is the gearbox (I'll change the oil tomorrow) then I'm tempted to do a @gm and fix it despite the car's value or lack thereof.

This is all I can find wrong today, and I wonder if it could be the source of the noise, but it's too... wheelbearingy.

Over the year it has had:

New brake calipers, discs, pads - we bought it with sticking brakes and the Frankberg ones were £50 a side and have worked fine.

New spark plugs and a clean of the PCV system

A new double-DIN Android radio with reverse camera and stuff

New rear shock absorbers (Monroe)

New headlight bulbs

Four new Kumho tyres

And this service.

I think we're at £1400 for a year of dependability including gratuitous luxury upgrades

[Bear]

Specialisation is key - make vehicles that excel at their purpose!

In this example of specialisation perfected, I present the ultimate vehicle for a lone traveller to move around cities and towns in. It's going to change the world after the '80s, you'll see!

2026:

Er... guys?