My project cars thread. We're now not motoring (again).

[AnnoyingPentium]

4 minutes ago, JMotor said:

That'll be the Maestro fit for another year!

Time to get it used again.

You've still to take me oot a run in that! I've yet to experience the decadence of this luxurious* automobile.

[JMotor]

Nae problem there lad.

You'll be impressed. As it has such luxuries such as door cappings AND there isn't many blanking plugs on the dash. 

But suspect a Perodua Nippa would be easier to live with. Aye, cos it has that FUEL INJECTION hai!

[Matty]

Awesome news. Do I detect its getting under your skin a bit then?

[JMotor]

It already has @Matty. 

Strange little car. It gets more attention than the Toyota! 

Also drives and goes better than I thought it would. It's about bearable with the Polo Coilovers on it. But wonder if it would be better on stock suspension or a better brand of Coilovers?

Don't even mind working on it. So easy to do jobs on. 

[JMotor]

Did a thing.

That's both B pillars fixed. Aye that's extra weld. Because I was an idiot and misjudged with the finger sander or had missed bits. Built up the area with weld. 

Otherwise, it's not too shabby now.

Now, I can crack on with the bodywork and see about getting this pig to paint soonish.

[Matty]

Just now, JMotor said:

Did a thing.

That's both B pillars fixed. Aye that's extra weld. Because I was an idiot and misjudged with the finger sander or had missed bits. Built up the area with weld. 

Otherwise, it's not too shabby now.

Now, I can crack on with the bodywork and see about getting this pig to paint soonish.

And to think you were going to move it on.

[JMotor]

30 minutes ago, Matty said:

And to think you were going to move it on.

Hmmm.

Yeah, I did. More than once too.

Glad I stuck with it now however.

[JMotor]

Wee bit of work on the Maestro tonight. 

Treated it to some new spark plugs. Old plugs weren't too bad. But no idea of when they were last changed.

Not a bad colour on the old plugs either. Gapped the new ones to 1mm and banged them in.

Grand now to head home....

Oh here! Why can I hear a kinda trickling water kind of noise!?

Well that'll be a shagged core plug being the reason why.

Yeah, that's less than ideal. 

But small confession time. Already knew the plug was looking suss. So I got five ordered up just incase one started it's pish. 

Not hard to replace. Just a nip. But only I could make a simple job hard. Dipstick and dizzy were removed to give room to smack the second one in. I smooshed the first plug enough to not trust it.

Wee smear of liquid PTFE just to make sure it sealed fine.

Filled with coolant and ran up to see if was going to leak. So far it's all good. 

[JMotor]

Little more progress with the Corsa.

Had a fella who runs a body shop local to me have a quick ganders. 

He requested I strip the car down before he wanted to quote. Which is fine. 

So far the doors and tailgate have been stripped. Not much left now. Leaving taking those off to nearer the time. Room is at a premium for me.

Also maybe a handy tip. Cheap knife was the perfect tool for getting the rear window out. Only good if you don't care about marking up the paint.

 

Did find this while poking about. 

To be expected, I suppose. It's double skinned there. So a good reason for not chucking out left over bits from the repair panels you use. 

Anything else will be made from sheet steel.

I shall not complain. The project is making positive progress again. 

[JMotor]

Ahhh bugger! 

Now own a '08 Twingo.

Pal had bought this and an Astravan. I immediately wanted the Renault. As it was sat on these wheels.

16 inch Speedline Chronos.   

Had planned to throw the car away and keep the wheels.

Ach why not give it a quick wash to get the crap off it. Looked not to bad.

Garage it came from said it wouldn't turn over. Maybe the engine was seized?

Hmmm. Lets cut the alternator belt off and see if the alternator is the cause. As I've seen the same thing happen due to a locked up alternator.

Yep, engine now moves. Good start.

Tomorrow will see a new battery and starter bought. Can't hurt to try, end of the day I'll get the money back from scrapping it and keep the alloys.

[JMotor]

Fitted a new starter and battery.

Good enough to see if it'll start. 

Which it did! Phew!

It drives too. Came out and then backed the car into my bay all under its own steam.

There is other issues, which may relate to the lack of alternator. It's also a bugger to start, but will start and rev up. No weird noises when it does run, thank goodness.

Ah yeah, need an exhaust. Blew the guts out the back box.

[JMotor]

Fack!

Twingo is now a three cylinder. 

Rest of the plugs came out no bother.

Also have to wait on an alternator, Expensive little bugger too.

It's not putting me up nor down really. Just added hassle. The remains of the plug should come out with a square easy out. 

Hopefully Amazon shipping gets me out of the shit 😅.

[JMotor]

Not good news.

For the Twingo. 

That broken plug is not coming out, at all.

Then found the radiator is leaking, the exhaust is shagged and the brakes need replacing.

Nope! Nae chance! Too much on and patience has run out. It's for the bridge in the new year.

Keeping the alloys, so not all bad 😆.

[grogee]

27 minutes ago, JMotor said:

Not good news.

For the Twingo. 

That broken plug is not coming out, at all.

Then found the radiator is leaking, the exhaust is shagged and the brakes need replacing.

Nope! Nae chance! Too much on and patience has run out. It's for the bridge in the new year.

Keeping the alloys, so not all bad 😆.

Pics of the stuck plug? Maybe someone's got a cunning plan involving tin foil, a match and a bottle of Theakston's Old Peculiar. 

Mind you I get your drift - alternator, radiator, zorst, brakes and much faffing = £1000 banger. 

[JMotor]

Didn't get a photo.

Was fair scunnered tonight.

No doubt there will be someway it'll come out.

But yeah, I could buy another on the road ready to go. My other thoughts was what else is wrong that I don't know about.

Luckily I'm next to no money into it. 

I also remembered something else too. I have a Corsa to get ready for paint. So yeah, I don't feel bad about giving up on the Twingo.

[JMotor]

Got on with the lower arch corner.

I couldn't be bothered chasing rust. Just whacked the lot out. 

As you'll see why. Two layers that have been rusty for sometime. 

Made a new inner piece. It was a bit lumpy looking here. That was due to me making that from several pieces to get the curves close.

Welded on the outer and tried going with smaller holes to plug weld with. That worked really well.

Then ran over the welds with the grinder and fingerfile to get here. Overboard maybe, but not a bad habit to have.

[juular]

That looks really solid.

Any plans to inject wax in between the skins? Would help stop it rotting out in the same place again.

[JMotor]

Absolutely.

I'm going to fill the hidden areas full of wax. Thankfully I can get to those areas from inside the car.

Really don't want to have it rot out again in a couple of years. 

[JMotor]

Dragged this out of the corner yesterday.

I was planning to sell it. Except I didn't fancy advertising it. Thought I'd wait for this month and then suffer the masses. This time, I was asked by a pal if it was for sale. Someone had asked him if he knew of any Novas for sale.

Quick bit of phone number exchanging saw a fella coming down to look it over. Was happy with it, paid me a good bit of a deposit and will be collecting it in the next fortnight.

He's getting a load of parts chucked in, as I don't want parts laying about if they didn't need to be.

I can now get 2024's plans into motion soon. Finish the Corsa and then drag out my Astra Saloon for a weldfest. If I'm gonna be extra miserable, might as well be for something I want done.

[Matty]

Good result that 👍 

[JMotor]

I was surprised to say the least 😆.

Forgot to mention. New owner is going to build a wee fast road car. Simple with no big engines, like a 1300 or 1200. Something to have fun in.

I couldn't see myself doing it anytime soon. Besides that Maestro is too much fun! 

[Matty]

Good on him. Slow is the new fast anyway. As long as it feels, sounds and smells like you're doing a million miles an hour what does what the speedo says matter!

[JMotor]

Absolutely.

It's way more fun pedaling a slow car quickly.

Your A40 is exactly (to me anyway) what a fun back road blaster should be.

Simple, easy to fix and just be fun. Yes it'll be a prick at times, yet it's an easy to fix car that doesn't cost the earth to look after either.

"Smiles per mile"

[JMotor]

Little update.

Maestro.

Nowt to report. So I washed it, fully expect it to break now.

Just a snow foam wash. Does a good job of getting the shite off. Can highly recommend the AutoSmart stuff.

Then a nut and bolt check on the Corsa.

Then a spin around the sheds. 

The little bastard surprised me. It goes well! It will keep spinning wheels if you stab the throttle. Should be a fun little car to hammer about.

[grogee]

24 minutes ago, JMotor said:

So I washed, fully expect it to break now

Yeah. I've not seen mine for a couple of months now, I can't wait* for all the new and exciting faults it will present to me when I awaken it in Spring. 

What is snowfoam? I've never used it. Does it come out of a spray can? 

[JMotor]

10 minutes ago, grogee said:

Yeah. I've not seen mine for a couple of months now, I can't wait* for all the new and exciting faults it will present to me when I awaken it in Spring. 

What is snowfoam? I've never used it. Does it come out of a spray can? 

Easiest to link this vid from Alan at AM Details. 

Also, yes the BLARG will throw something up. They always do!

Oh! Did the book reach you ok?

[grogee]

11 hours ago, JMotor said:

 

 

Oh! Did the book reach you ok?

Yep the workshop manual is safe and well, thanks very much. An interesting read, but I'm probably in a minority in that regard. 

Thanks for the vid. Looks like I need to invest in a mixing bottle applicator thing. 

[JMotor]

Began stripping the Corsa down.

As the the body shop fellas have been down. Price quoted and rough date for getting it in sorted. They thought it was a cool wee thing.

I have imposed myself a deadline too. Should be doable if I don't fanny about. This year's VBOA show at Sywell in July. Except I want some shakedown time of at least a month. So hopefully end of April it'll be mostly there.

Edit - but of course that'll never happen. I'll be thrashing like hell the week before and STILL won't make it 😆.

Can't wait to see the car built back up in a fresh coat of Aquamarine.

[grogee]

Am I right in thinking that engine is non-standardly large for a wee Corsa? And the wheels and ride height a little... provocative? 

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, grogee said:

Am I right in thinking that engine is non-standardly large for a wee Corsa? And the wheels and ride height a little... provocative? 

Having seen it in the flesh, I can confirm it's the stuff dreams* are made of.