N19's fleet - Capri's second test drive (sans odometer, but now with added cassette tapes)

[N19]

I'm more worried about whether the sidewall has been weakened. Hmm. 

[Essex V6]

On 6/8/2021 at 6:45 AM, N19 said:

The return trip via the Slug Road involved a nice stretch of 70, officer, along the straight bit. Always a lovely drive. I did realise a little further on that the brakes weren't quite doing what they should... Got down into Stonehaven and you could smell them strongly. Had a low speed pootle around then parked up for a bit to let everything cool. Fortunately normal braking resumed.

Passed some other Capris... 

The last couple of days have been spent catching up with friends around Edinburgh. Tape player was getting crackly and dull, so cleaned the heads up in an Asdas carpark. Fluids checked, a dash more DOT4, ready for the trip south tomorrow. 

Also, saw a Belgian registered rhd Capri S in black in Bruntsfield, nice surprise, mutual thumbs up. 

That will be Larry’s place

[N19]

New nsf tyre on the Mondeo, to be on the safe side. And ordered up a new drive belt for it which will be fitted on Saturday, see if the A/C issue is a simple one. It won't be, because life.

The Capri has been resting since the trip away, should probably give it a run out over the weekend.

[N19]

No tinkering today, but had a good tidy up of the garage in preparation for the hopefully-soon arrival of the roffle win lift. 

Also installed another tool holdery thing. Trying to give the commonly used tools their own homes, without having to fart around looking for them all the time. 

Good excuse for a photo of the Ford contingent of the fleet. 

[N19]

Belt changed, now for gas. Maybe we'll have working air con...

 

... no we won't. Clutch on compressor is kaput. Better get parts-ordering.

[N19]

Good news. Bluebird is (finally!) on the ramps at the local garage to have the gearbox looked at. Let's wait and see how that goes.

Mondeo brakes are on the list - lots of WD has been sprayed on some rather rusty looking bolts. I really do NOT want to start on this job until the Bluebird is 100%, for fear of something shearing and leaving me stuffed.

And tomorrow, an exciting arrival at the lockup...

[Cord Fourteener]

Drum roll! Exciting. 

[N19]

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win @95 quid Peugeot's roffle for a tilting lifty thingy. Having the day off work, I popped up to Stanstead area this morning to pick it up. Ooo this is exciting.

It went together easy enough, although I'd need to use the smaller centre pieces for the Capri.

Quick test on the Mondeo followed. I haven't got the top bolts tightened up properly as I need to borrow a larger socket, so I only lifted slightly in order to prove it worked.

Quite a lot of wrist action required, found it easier to use a 13mm socket on a ratchet than the official bar. I may invest in a better drill.

Still need to work out exactly where I'm going to keep it in the garage. I think when I've converted it to the smaller format (which is what I'll probably be using most of the time) it'll go nicely along one of the walls, perhaps with some straps to make sure it doesn't go anywhere.

 

In other news, Bluebird gearbox can't be repaired... parts unobtainium. Looking at a couple of leads for a second hand box. Lucky I got a reasonable amount of overtime this month...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

14 minutes ago, N19 said:

.... Bluebird gearbox can't be repaired... parts unobtainium. ...

Manual or automatic?

[N19]

2 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Manual or automatic?

Manual. Apparently the parts to recon a box aren't available anymore so if it did get done, it'd just have secondhand bits anyway.

Luckily found one for sale that I can get to the garage for Tuesday morning. Progress!

[95 quid Peugeot]

Fuck it,  all the bolts are at home in a pot

[N19]

6 minutes ago, 95 quid Peugeot said:

Fuck it,  all the bolts are at home in a pot

No worries mate - I've got a good selection here which I put to good use assembling it! I assumed they'd been misplaced somewhere along the line!

[N19]

Converted the lift to the narrower size, and it will fit in the garage quite nicely

 

I'm not sure if there's enough wiggle room to get it under the car as it currently stands, or whether I'd need to pull the car out, lay the lift down, then bring the car back in.... or something. For another day.

New tax disc on the Mondeo (thanks @cort16's fantastic tool again!).

[cort16]

14 minutes ago, N19 said:

Converted the lift to the narrower size, and it will fit in the garage quite nicely

 

I'm not sure if there's enough wiggle room to get it under the car as it currently stands, or whether I'd need to pull the car out, lay the lift down, then bring the car back in.... or something. For another day.

New tax disc on the Mondeo (thanks @cort16's fantastic tool again!).

Looks good!. How did you perforate the edges?

[N19]

21 minutes ago, cort16 said:

Looks good!. How did you perforate the edges?

I'd love to say I have a secret method... I actually just cut it very slightly too small and then slipped it in front of an old disc!

[N19]

Having changed to the narrower format and finished replacing the bolts on said lift, I gave it a trial run today. This is about 1/3 to 1/2 way up.

Featuring el cheapo rattle gun from Amazon (£75, with battery and charger). Doubtless chinesium won't last forever, but who knows. Positioning should be more forward. Proved incredibly useful for an exhaust hanger repair and a bit of top-up underseal just now.

Getting it underneath a car in the garage looks a bit tricky. It won't go sideways (not enough clearance). I will have to see if the Capri rear wheels etc will clear it, so I could leave it underneath and drive in/out - although I'm not sure it would. Hmm. The other alternative is to jack the front of the car up on a trolley jack high enough to slide it in. But then it's a bit of a faff!

A double garage would be lovely, wouldn't it? The only one for rent in the area is about 4 miles from me and, at £400/month, is far too expensive. 

[N19]

Bluebird gearbox acquired. 

[N19]

A year since the Mondeo joined the fleet - 

Now a gaffer-tape free zone! After a few reliability issues on first arrival, it's been a very good purchase with a phenomenal load-lugging capability mixed in with extreme comfort.

Bluebird gearbox in the process of going on. Clutch caused some confusion as the listed part was wrong. The clutch itself isn't too bad, but as the box is being replaced there's little point in not doing the clutch kit too. 

[N19]

Gave the new lift a proper test in situ today. 

A single garage is a little cramped, but usable. I had to pull the Capri forward, then slide the ramp onto the floor behind the car, and push it back. 

That's about halfway up. Problems identified so far are that some bolts I used were too long and scraped along the flooring tiles, and the nsf wheel pin has come out hence the wheel has collapsed. Oops. Will have to sort that. And the lift should be further back for proper balance.

It's probably easier when you're not working after a manic day at work, in a shirt, with children kicking a football against the other garage doors, so I'll have another fiddle tomorrow. 

Definitely much easier to do work on the car than axle stands - higher, and there's less in the way up front! 

[N19]

Bluebird came back from the garage today complete with a new gearbox. Drives like a dream now. The old one must have been totally knackered and clouded my memories! 

I don't suppose there's much point keeping the old box, other than for curiosity/hoarding/nosiness. 

Nice test run including sections on the motorway, followed by a wash. It'll be back in semi regular use from next week. 

Regrettably I've had to dispense with some of the flooring in the garage. It just doesn't work with the new lift, being foam based tiles, and boarding just causes more issues. Today I managed to half shred one tile and get it mangled up, and ended up having to jack the Capri up to get it clear and out, slipped off the jack and pranged the rear valance, balls.

Still, a bit of tidying up did get done. 

[N19]

With the Bluebird back on the road, I could relax in the knowledge that I have a fully functioning fleet once again. Or I could start pulling something else apart. 

 

Discs and pads. WCPGW. Everything came apart like a dream, except the bloody disc being seized on. Levers were happily moving the entire car around so I imagine it's very heavily corroded on. A small* quantity of WD sprayed onto the back, now I'm going to find a bigger hammer... 

[Stanky]

On 08/07/2021 at 21:07, N19 said:

Regrettably I've had to dispense with some of the flooring in the garage. It just doesn't work with the new lift, being foam based tiles, and boarding just causes more issues.

Only just spotted this - I can heartily recommend old carpet as floor covering, my (very similar) tilting lift is easy to move around on it to get into position, and it doesn't ruck up when you raise/lower the lift at all. It also makes moving the lift around a lot less noisy than on solid concrete floor. Ideally one single piece rather than many offcuts if you can.

I'd suggest something with relatively shallow pile given the choice - a Persian rug might be a bad choice, but regular household carpet is great for these sorts of things.

Its also useful when you're working under the car to cushion you, and warmer than lying on concrete.

Watch out on freecycle, it doesn't matter how old it is since if you're like me it'll be covered in scorch marks from griding and old engine oil from when you drop the oil filter into the full washing up bowl of drained oil AGAIN within a few weeks anyway.

[N19]

28 minutes ago, Stanky said:

Only just spotted this - I can heartily recommend old carpet as floor covering, my (very similar) tilting lift is easy to move around on it to get into position, and it doesn't ruck up when you raise/lower the lift at all. It also makes moving the lift around a lot less noisy than on solid concrete floor. Ideally one single piece rather than many offcuts if you can.

I'd suggest something with relatively shallow pile given the choice - a Persian rug might be a bad choice, but regular household carpet is great for these sorts of things.

Its also useful when you're working under the car to cushion you, and warmer than lying on concrete.

Watch out on freecycle, it doesn't matter how old it is since if you're like me it'll be covered in scorch marks from griding and old engine oil from when you drop the oil filter into the full washing up bowl of drained oil AGAIN within a few weeks anyway.

I actually used to have a carpet on my old garage floor. Good shout. I picked that one up from a local carpet shop offcuts for a donation to their beer fund. 

I'm pondering putting a message on a few local groups seeing if there are any double garages going for rent. That would certainly tick a few boxes. 

[N19]

Sometimes, all you need in life is a bigger tool... And a time in the middle of the day to twat it plenty without neighbours to twitch curtains at the noise. 

All back on now and time for a test drive down to the pharmacy. The rears need doing at some point, but that can wait a little while. 

[N19]

Fudge, brakes binding. Must have missed something. Hmm. 

[N19]

Right, all sorted and back together and.... oh flip I've managed to cross-thread one of the slider pins. Today is not my day.

[N19]

A bit of wizardry by the garage in return for pink gin, and the bracket can be refitted, hence brakes again. There's a good feeling when you have brand new pads and discs and notice the difference! 

Too hot to wash today, hence filthy. 

[N19]

Took the Capri out for an evening run, including the stop at the iconic corner... 

Meanwhile, the heat has managed to melt the adhesive that holds the Mondeo rear view mirror on. Oops. Refixed with a 3M pad, hopefully itlll hold... 

[N19]

3M pad didn't last. Maybe the heat.

Anyway, took a trip to Sheringham yesterday in the Capri :

with appropriate sounds :

 

there's a little old school motorfactors in the town, which I stopped at to pick up some mirror adhesive. And ended up buying some 80s tat accessories in the bargain bin...

Going to try and re fit the mirror tonight when it's cooler.

Also got a trip on Friday to pick up some bluebird parts from cars being stripped for banger racing. This may* sort out some of the niggles with mine, like the lack of central locking working, drivers window, missing trim etc.

[Liggle]

That Capri is a beauty