N19's fleet - very slow Capri progress

[junkyarddog]

I've bought oil filters for a viva from that very shop!!

New dizzy cap and rotor arm for my Capri came from there too.

 

[uk_senator]

1 hour ago, N19 said:

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

 

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.

Loctite mirror glue from Halfords, used it in my Punto (+ a broken mug handle), worked beautifully, wont be wasting my time with sticky pads again.

Looking at your sig, seems your in my neck of the woods now. Look forward to spotting you!

A neighbour texted me last week telling me there was a minty Bluebird in white parked up in EN5, could go to see it, then the next day I had the guy from the local old skool motor factors (could well be the one you got the torch from) calling me asking the value of Bluebirds (as he knew I had the Bluebird estate & that I`m a serial shite hoarder), as he had a customer there with a bloke coming down from oop naarth to buy his tidy but not mint 88 hatch in beige for £3k.. Obviously I told him to bite his arm off. No idea if it happened, I`ll ask next time I go in.

(edit: saw the price sticker, no, its not there! My local factor does have some in-car 8-Track tape holders, about 6 of them, in his bargain bin, if anyones interested...)

[N19]

1 hour ago, uk_senator said:

Loctite mirror glue from Halfords, used it in my Punto (+ a broken mug handle), worked beautifully, wont be wasting my time with sticky pads again.

Looking at your sig, seems your in my neck of the woods now. Look forward to spotting you!

A neighbour texted me last week telling me there was a minty Bluebird in white parked up in EN5, could go to see it, then the next day I had the guy from the local old skool motor factors (could well be the one you got the torch from) calling me asking the value of Bluebirds (as he knew I had the Bluebird estate & that I`m a serial shite hoarder), as he had a customer there with a bloke coming down from oop naarth to buy his tidy but not mint 88 hatch in beige for £3k.. Obviously I told him to bite his arm off. No idea if it happened, I`ll ask next time I go in.

(edit: saw the price sticker, no, its not there! My local factor does have some in-car 8-Track tape holders, about 6 of them, in his bargain bin, if anyones interested...)

Yeah, got some glue now. Will try it this evening.

I'm in EN5 now yes - I've only the one bluebird but someone I know in Potters Bar has 5... Or maybe more now. If you're in need of any bits which might be acquired on a scrapyard trip let me know.

Which factors is that? I normally go to Apex Corner but also go to BMF from time to time, and to the one in East Barnet and to Midnight's in Watford occasionally. All charming!

[uk_senator]

19 minutes ago, N19 said:

Yeah, got some glue now. Will try it this evening.

I'm in EN5 now yes - I've only the one bluebird but someone I know in Potters Bar has 5... Or maybe more now. If you're in need of any bits which might be acquired on a scrapyard trip let me know.

Which factors is that? I normally go to Apex Corner but also go to BMF from time to time, and to the one in East Barnet and to Midnight's in Watford occasionally. All charming!

I know who you mean! I`ve no longer got my bluey longroof, sold it a few years back after getting it minty, then a year or so later a tractor reversed into it after selecting reverse instead of first in traffic... Not sure if he`s fixed it yet (he did have a spares donor or 2).

I`m talking about Falcon in East Barnet, Dave his name, top bloke, & his bargain bin is something to behold... If you need a head set for a Talbot Solara diesel, he`s probably got one on the shelf! Its that kinda place!

My Bluey being purchased:

[N19]

Yes, been to Falcon a couple of times. Went in once for a can of paint and came out with a battery tester for your fag lighter... I'm easily parted with my money when in a factors.

[N19]

This morning I headed up to Wisbech with a friend and an empty car to raid a stash of Bluebirds for parts. Story was, a bloke absolutely hoarded cars (and many other things!) and when he ended up in prison (!) the fleet was put up for sale. A chap bought the batch to sell on for banger racing after getting the parts stripped. In fairness, they are pretty much all quite far gone.

 

 

That's about 1/3rd of them, that were there, another 20 odd still in the forest.

 

I'd hoped to swap over a manifold for one without the heat shield fixings sheared, but they all go in the same place really, so that didn't happen. Still, a nice haul of working radios, trim, a door channel, central locking unit, interior lighting unit, and other odds and sods.

Oh and an original manual:

 

All should make my Bluebird a bit more complete in time for FOTU next weekend!

 

 I now smell of old musty car and have to go out... oops.

[N19]

A little bit of preparation of the parts picked up yesterday.

Window channel rubbed down and de rusted.

 

Mudflaps cleaned up

And cassette player cleaned, mechanism oiled. Only works on the radio function at the moment. Could be that the issue with it is purely mechanical.

[Fumbler]

Just wondering if the motor belt is still present? They do like to turn into goo.

[N19]

Motor belt is still present but I suspect may be stretched. Applying 12v to the motor directly turns it, except when loaded with a cassette. These are the fancier end of tape decks, and feature snazzy circuits to automatically change direction etc, which is completely stuck on changing direction - presumably as nothing moving with the motor going is the same as the end of the tape.

Now, I have another identical one which was faulty (not turning on at all, previous to that no radio reception at all) but the tape mechanism seems to work fine when 12v applied to it. I think some form of transplant may be in order to make one good out of two duff ones!

[N19]

A bit of soldering later, I have one *mostly* working Clarion cassette player. I think the azimuth needs adjusting slightly though. Still, nice to have the original radio back.

I stripped the other player down and the belt was indeed stretched. New belt put on, need to reassemble and test.

Next up was fitting the new door channel, the old one having rusted away entirely. I'm becoming an expert at removing Bluebird door trim...

Hopefully this is the last for a while, so it went back together with all the clips and surrounds this time. Novelty!

There's still some play in the window, the bottom of the other side channel is also missing, but I don't know what if anything should be here anyway. This is where I regret not stripping even more spares from the yard we visited!

Centre console courtesy light/sunroof switch cluster has been repaired, it doesn't look beautiful as there's some differently coloured plastic in there, and an amount of superglue, but it is functional and is out of eyesight unless you're looking for it. 

Next week I need to fit the rear mudflaps, then give everything a wash/tidy/clean prior to FoTU next weekend. 

[mitsisigma01]

It would be more betterer if the pictures would open.... 😬

[N19]

17 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

It would be more betterer if the pictures would open.... 😬

Whoops - sorry, I took a shortcut that didn't work! Fixed now I hope.

[mitsisigma01]

Ah splendid, I'll now re-read the whole thread 👍

[N19]

22 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Ah splendid, I'll now re-read the whole thread 👍

Just gone back and corrected a couple of others too, cheers for the heads up!

[N19]

On 7/21/2021 at 3:42 PM, uk_senator said:

My Bluey being purchased:

Only just seen the picture but an "aaaaah" moment - I take a shortcut down your road sometimes and had noticed the Unos!

[mitsisigma01]

One more 

[mitsisigma01]

I really need to do an assessment on the Sigma... Parts prices and availability... Me skint and not being able to do much 😕

[uk_senator]

1 hour ago, N19 said:

Only just seen the picture but an "aaaaah" moment - I take a shortcut down your road sometimes and had noticed the Unos!

Oh right! I have seen a red Bluebird go down on my CCTV occasionally!

[N19]

2 hours ago, uk_senator said:

Oh right! I have seen a red Bluebird go down on my CCTV occasionally!

Small world!

[N19]

Lunchtime tinkering today, reinstating the rear mudflaps.

Old fixings rusted to hell, but came out without too much of a fight, cleaned everything up and fitted the new flaps. The rear drums could do with a bit of hammerite at some point. But we're just a wash away from FoTU!

There, that's better.

[N19]

Me: I don't understand why I'm single!

Also me: It being the first of the month, I'd better update my spreadsheet with the fleet's mileage to see the nice graph!

 

Bluebird performed admirably going to FoTU - first time this has been to a show. It definitely looks, err, weathered and I know that @MondeoBlues had some thoughts on the fuel filler overspill marks... perhaps I had ought to give it a bit of attention! 

Capri is going to the Ace Cafe next weekend for the capri day, I'll fire it up one evening this week and have a tidy up and polish. I still need to decide what I'm doing with the welding that it needs, whether to get it through the MoT and then worry about the rest next year? Finances at the moment are quite tight. We shall see.

[N19]

Took the Capri to the ace cafe, which was nice despite the rain.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

On 7/26/2021 at 1:58 PM, N19 said:

Lunchtime tinkering today, reinstating the rear mudflaps.

Old fixings rusted to hell, but came out without too much of a fight....

Would that cordless wrench thing have enough power to undo a steering wheel nut?

[N19]

5 hours ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Would that cordless wrench thing have enough power to undo a steering wheel nut?

Maybe. it's a cheapo one used mainly for lift operation, and running nuts on/off wheels etc. What I've always done with steering wheels nuts is spray WD,twat it a few times to let the WD work in, then put a long breaker bar on it...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

55 minutes ago, N19 said:

Maybe. it's a cheapo one used mainly for lift operation, and running nuts on/off wheels etc. What I've always done with steering wheels nuts is spray WD,twat it a few times to let the WD work in, then put a long breaker bar on it...

Hmmmm.....I think I might need to get to know you better.....!

[N19]

23 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Hmmmm.....I think I might need to get to know you better.....!

You're Hendon area, right? Happy to arrange something at some point...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 minute ago, N19 said:

You're Hendon area, right? Happy to arrange something at some point...

Yes, behind the Raleigh Close synagogue! A couple of minutes with your wrench and my 22mm socket is all I need to find out if the nut can be loosened, as it's actually interfering with the DIRAVI.

[N19]

The weather being substantially less shite than yesterday (in which I did 25mph round the 406, not because of traffic but because of the atrocious rain and spray). Time to get the hammerite out. The drums almost look ok from a distance!

Next jobs up? Mondeo rear discs and pads, Capri sills. Hoping to get the NT at the garage to give his view on whether they'll get another ticket or not. Although the car doesn't need one by law, I want it to have one.

[Spottedlaurel]

On 7/23/2021 at 4:18 PM, N19 said:

This morning I headed up to Wisbech with a friend and an empty car to raid a stash of Bluebirds for parts. Story was, a bloke absolutely hoarded cars (and many other things!) and when he ended up in prison (!) the fleet was put up for sale. A chap bought the batch to sell on for banger racing after getting the parts stripped. In fairness, they are pretty much all quite far gone.

 

Has the banger racer ended up with the 3-door Bluebird that I believe was in the forest, or has that one definitely been scrapped?

[N19]

1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Has the banger racer ended up with the 3-door Bluebird that I believe was in the forest, or has that one definitely been scrapped?

I'm not sure - I think he had the doors from it if I remember correctly.  I can find out.  Most of them were pretty rotten.