I'll get round to it at some point - XM: Reckoning Day is upon us

[brownnova]

5 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

Thanks mate, it's done me a turn to be fair as it's really brought my mojo back which is unusual for winter! I'm besotted with it, easily one of my favourite cars I've owned to date and it's only been here a week 😅

It is absolutely one of my favourite cars I’ve ever owned. It was tough to move it on, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it justice! 

[Fumbler]

8 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

With a fully charged battery I was able to do some tinkering last night.

the parasitic draw is 30 milliamps which I think is reasonable? I tried all sorts of scenarios (doors locked, doors ajar, rear central locking unit in/out, main locking switch in locked/unlocked position) and it always sat at 30 milliamps.

I then gave up, refitted the battery leads and went to investigate how the liftgate central locking unit works. It looks like I was wrong, it's not a magnet in there - you can hear gears turning if you move the pin backwards and forwards. I've unplugged it for now and I will drill the rivet out and investigate what its guts look like, as it's obviously fucked currently so it's not like I can make it worse. Probably.

My thoughts then moved to interior lighting, for which I would need my power probe... Could I find it? Could I fuck. I spent about 30 minutes looking for it, at which point I decided it would be better* to just order another one rather than spend more time looking. Multimeter it is then.

I checked the offside door switches and they are all ok, couldn't check the nearside as the Lexus was blocking the door. I forgot to check the tailgate, which having been disturbed a lot recently is probably a worthwhile place to start looking.

Seeing as I wasn't going to get anywhere fast with just the multimeter, I decided to start on another pressing job - the info screen in the roof storage console.

I can't see that it tells you much of use, but I'd like it to work for reasons.

Like all roof mounted things in old vehicles, it looks like water is the enemy.

The roof panel above makes incredible amounts of condensation. Come the apocalypse and the water mains turning off (unless you have a green godess; available from a shiter near you) then I'll be alright, the Pontiac will provide. This is a nuisance currently though, as it's dripping onto the circuit board.

It's starting to look like my ballbag, wrinkly and green. I'm not sure if this is alright?

This definitely isn't alright:

3 capacitors have shit their pants. I'm fairly sure the magic juice they contain is bad for circuit boards? I'll have a bash at replacing them though, they're all 100uf which I think is a fairly standard component.

Some corrosion as well, but if it's better than the Land Rover and we all know how well* that came back up.

Not pictured: I did break a couple of bits of brittle plastic. Luckily they are hidden, and they also responded well to a dab of super glue. I didn't even stick the broken bits to my hands, which shows that my skills are definitely improving.

For now I'm going to fit the console back in the roof, and get on with enjoying driving it.

Capacitor juices do nasty things to circuit boards. Give the board a wash with some isopropyl alcohol and you should be all good. Don't be too alarmed if your replacement caps are physically smaller and look a bit funny on the PCB. I don't know what voltage yours are rated for, but I've got a few 16V 100uF capacitors and they're bloody tiny!

[Rust Collector]

50 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Capacitor juices do nasty things to circuit boards. Give the board a wash with some isopropyl alcohol and you should be all good. Don't be too alarmed if your replacement caps are physically smaller and look a bit funny on the PCB. I don't know what voltage yours are rated for, but I've got a few 16V 100uF capacitors and they're bloody tiny!

I’ve got some IPA sat around so I’ll give it a wash down once the new caps arrive and the old ones are removed. Hopefully it’s not too far gone!

Cheers for the offer, the ones on there are rated 35v though - luckily I can get some that are specified for automotive use and they’re only about a tenner for a handful. As you say, they look noticeably smaller than the old ones, but I guess the manufacture/design of them has just become more efficient since the 90’s!

[Rust Collector]

I went for a drive this evening and the heater fan has self healed and is working on all speeds. Ditto the rear fan.

It now has me wondering if it was ok all along and I imagined that it wasn’t? 🤔

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

I went for a drive this evening and the heater fan has self healed and is working on all speeds. Ditto the rear fan.

It now has me wondering if it was ok all along and I imagined that it wasn’t? 🤔

First rule. Don't question these things. Just accept them 

[High Jetter]

56 minutes ago, Matty said:

First rule. Don't question these things. Just accept them 

You sound like my Mrs! 🤣

[brownnova]

10 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

I went for a drive this evening and the heater fan has self healed and is working on all speeds. Ditto the rear fan.

It now has me wondering if it was ok all along and I imagined that it wasn’t? 🤔

It was always a bit intermittent. I remember writing in the advert about it not working on all speeds, then driving it shortly after and it did! 

[Rust Collector]

The replacement air filter arrived today, so that’s gone in. The new one doesn’t look as good quality as the old one but will do for now.

4 plastic wing nuts and you’re in and done, nice and simple.

I’ve put the seats back in after using it as a van to move some stuff out my mate’s toolshed. This was mainly because my mrs kept mentioning that they were in the conservatory. I’ve test fitted the pram and some bits in the boot space behind the third row - this works way better as a 7 seater than the Land Rover, it should be perfect for when we have family visiting.

[RichardK]

On 24/11/2023 at 22:00, Rust Collector said:

I went for a drive this evening and the heater fan has self healed and is working on all speeds. Ditto the rear fan.

It now has me wondering if it was ok all along and I imagined that it wasn’t? 🤔

It did that to me as well. I think it might be haunted.

[Rust Collector]

Well, it turns out I’m a twat.

Whilst sitting in a carpark with engine idling and sidelights on (it’s not what you think @High Jetter, I promise I’ve stayed away from high and over), I noticed that on the dash light intensity slider there is a symbol that looks suspiciously like a dome light.

I always have my dash lights on full intensity for maximum night blindness. Little had I realised that the top notch of the slider activates the cabin lights.

Thats the ‘cabin lights always on’ fault fixed then.

With this slider clicked back a notch, and the roof console switch on, we now have interior lights that work with the door switches. This many lights to be precise:

The dome lights needed help;

I measured the weird American bulb, and spent less than £2 at halfrauds. After bending the tabs slightly as they’d gone slack, we had this:

Thats much better. It’s only a small thing, but it’s made the cabin a nicer place to be.

I still need to sort the driver’s footwell light, the sliding door light and the cargo lights but at least the main lights are working now.

Other things of note are that it runs quite cold, so I’ve ordered a thermostat. I’ll fit that once it lands and hopefully it’ll sit at a decent temp when running.

I’ve also ordered this, as my mrs asked what I wanted for Christmas and to be honest it was all I could think of. Not because I have everything, more because I lack imagination:

It was about €30 from Germany, and should be a nice addition to the car as the book pack is missing.

I’m still waiting on the liftgate handle, although you can just poke your finger in the hole (snigger) and flick the latch to open it now, which in my opinion is perfectly workable and acceptable. I’ll order some gas struts for it soon as propping it up with my head is getting a bit tiresome - just need to figure out how to replace the fittings as I’ll be making up my own struts from universal parts. WCPGW.

In other fleet news, the merc hit a screw and has been rewarded with a part worn Chinese death ring:

And I’ve been told by my mrs to order a starter for the Lexus, so expect to see me enjoying* that job soon.

[chodweaver]

Well, it turns out I’m a twat.
Whilst sitting in a carpark with engine idling and sidelights on (it’s not what you think [mention=27866]High Jetter[/mention], I promise I’ve stayed away from high and over), I noticed that on the dash light intensity slider there is a symbol that looks suspiciously like a dome light.

I always have my dash lights on full intensity for maximum night blindness. Little had I realised that the top notch of the slider activates the cabin lights.
Thats the ‘cabin lights always on’ fault fixed then.
With this slider clicked back a notch, and the roof console switch on, we now have interior lights that work with the door switches. This many lights to be precise:

The dome lights needed help;


I measured the weird American bulb, and spent less than £2 at halfrauds. After bending the tabs slightly as they’d gone slack, we had this:


Thats much better. It’s only a small thing, but it’s made the cabin a nicer place to be.
I still need to sort the driver’s footwell light, the sliding door light and the cargo lights but at least the main lights are working now.
Other things of note are that it runs quite cold, so I’ve ordered a thermostat. I’ll fit that once it lands and hopefully it’ll sit at a decent temp when running.
I’ve also ordered this, as my mrs asked what I wanted for Christmas and to be honest it was all I could think of. Not because I have everything, more because I lack imagination:

It was about €30 from Germany, and should be a nice addition to the car as the book pack is missing.
I’m still waiting on the liftgate handle, although you can just poke your finger in the hole (snigger) and flick the latch to open it now, which in my opinion is perfectly workable and acceptable. I’ll order some gas struts for it soon as propping it up with my head is getting a bit tiresome - just need to figure out how to replace the fittings as I’ll be making up my own struts from universal parts. WCPGW.
In other fleet news, the merc hit a screw and has been rewarded with a part worn Chinese death ring:

And I’ve been told by my mrs to order a starter for the Lexus, so expect to see me enjoying* that job soon.

That sort of arrangement is in Chrysler Voyagers too - a thumbwheel that has a potentiometer part to its travel and two switch positions. And it annoys the shit out of me, that they have mixed up a control for instrument brightness with overall control of the courtesy lights, with two troublesome consequences:

1: with a desire for dimmer dash lighting at night and in shit weather, the driver winds the control all the way down, then none of the interior lights come on when a door is opened, and not driver nor passengers can figure out why

2: with a desire for the brightest level of dash lighting, the driver winds the control all the way up, into the second switch position, putting all the interior lights on, and leaves it in this position on exiting the vehicle, so that the eight dome lights stay on after the car is locked and they kill the battery overnight

Two controls that it makes zero sense whatsoever to combine into one...

[chodweaver]

PS Binge read this entire thread over the last four nights (on holiday, so starved of distractions/entertainment) and the ups and downs of chod bothering mojo, fleet reinflation and budget bodging* has kept me riveted amd and raised more than a few chuckles.

*With much greater skill and success than i can muster

Keep up the bothering and the updates!

[Rust Collector]

9 hours ago, chodweaver said:

That sort of arrangement is in Chrysler Voyagers too - a thumbwheel that has a potentiometer part to its travel and two switch positions. And it annoys the shit out of me, that they have mixed up a control for instrument brightness with overall control of the courtesy lights, with two troublesome consequences:

1: with a desire for dimmer dash lighting at night and in shit weather, the driver winds the control all the way down, then none of the interior lights come on when a door is opened, and not driver nor passengers can figure out why

2: with a desire for the brightest level of dash lighting, the driver winds the control all the way up, into the second switch position, putting all the interior lights on, and leaves it in this position on exiting the vehicle, so that the eight dome lights stay on after the car is locked and they kill the battery overnight

Two controls that it makes zero sense whatsoever to combine into one...

I really don't think it's intuitive when you've driven loads of other cars where the dash dims slightly when the sidelights go on, and the 'click' position at the brightest setting locks the instrument lights on full brightness regardless of the sidelights. Glad it's not just me!! Although very happy that it was an easy fix* for the cabin lights.

9 hours ago, chodweaver said:

PS Binge read this entire thread over the last four nights (on holiday, so starved of distractions/entertainment) and the ups and downs of chod bothering mojo, fleet reinflation and budget bodging* has kept me riveted amd and raised more than a few chuckles.

*With much greater skill and success than i can muster

Keep up the bothering and the updates!

Thank you, I really appreciate that as sometimes when all the other motivation has disappeared, the compulsion to make some content to share here is what gets me out tinkering 🙂 Hope you're enjoying your holidays!

[cort1977]

 

9 hours ago, chodweaver said:

That sort of arrangement is in Chrysler Voyagers too - a thumbwheel that has a potentiometer part to its travel and two switch positions. And it annoys the shit out of me, that they have mixed up a control for instrument brightness with overall control of the courtesy lights, with two troublesome consequences:

1: with a desire for dimmer dash lighting at night and in shit weather, the driver winds the control all the way down, then none of the interior lights come on when a door is opened, and not driver nor passengers can figure out why

2: with a desire for the brightest level of dash lighting, the driver winds the control all the way up, into the second switch position, putting all the interior lights on, and leaves it in this position on exiting the vehicle, so that the eight dome lights stay on after the car is locked and they kill the battery overnight

Two controls that it makes zero sense whatsoever to combine into one...

It seems like that's an American thing then, because mid '00s Mustangs are the same.  So all the big three are at it.

Keep up the good work, Dustbusters are ace things.

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, cort1977 said:

It seems like that's an American thing then, because mid '00s Mustangs are the same.  So all the big three are at it.

Keep up the good work, Dustbusters are ace things.

Now that I know that it does it, it is kind of handy having a switch in reach to turn all the lights on.

I'm really pleased with what a practical car it's turning out to be. It was the novelty appeal of a Dustbuster that drew me in, but it turns out that they actually do the job of being a useable family car really well. Whoever would've thunk it 🤔😂

[Rust Collector]

I had a bash at replacing the capacitors this eve.

I removed those three capacitors, cleaned the board as best I could and soldered 3 replacements on:

Still not working though. Tested the other capacitors and there’s a short at the terminals of this one:

but I’m unsure if that’s to do with the microcontroller.

I removed a capacitor to look at the board damage again:

I think I need to solder a jumper wire between these two tracks:

It’s possibly too far gone to save, but I’ll still give it another go.

[MrBig]

I do love a dustbuster. Fond memories of seeing loads of them in the car park on my first trip to Disneyworld as a kid. I suspect my lottery win garage would feature one alongside my Pontiac Aztek 🤪 It a shame such practical shapes are out of fashion now in favour of SUVs.

[Rust Collector]

Vehicular usage update:

This weekend we had a goal - buy a Christmas tree. Saturday was the elected day, and the weather was suitably wintery.

This is a win, because it means that dicking around driving shonky old cars also counts as family time:

Looking like bedraggled lumber jack, once again I have insisted that we follow our family tradition of getting absolutely shafted for the novelty of cutting our own tree down.

Things were off to a promising start as random farm shite was spotted.

Things continued to fall into place as we enjoyed a glass of mulled wine whilst showing our son the farmyard animals, and I was bitten by a donkey.

Mission successful:

With an innocent tree captured and netted and my pants firmly down around my ankles we headed home.

The next task was to move all the furniture from room to room (my partner's main passion in life) and put the tree up. Keen as I was, I elected to duck out for a couple of hours to visit my mate Rupert. This did not end well, as on the way home the Pontiac had an FTP. Whilst driving down the country lane back from my mate's house, the car was struggling to rev up. Conscious that it would be better to leave the car in a layby on the country lane than on the main road in the dark, I pulled over to see what was what. Once stopped, the engine revved freely, and putting it in gear it pulled happily enough up and down the layby. Righto, only a couple of miles home so we shall proceed. And proceed we did, for about another 20m to the main road junction, and then 100m down the main road, at which point the engine stalled out. Bugger.

If I recall correctly, I think it was @twosmoke300 who identified the Automotive Trope that drives a Discovery and is desperate to give anyone and everyone a tow. Lo and behold, a Discovery 3 approaches, stops, the driver's window rolls down and a bloke shouts 'need a tow, mate?'. Yes please!

The Pontiac was duly dumped unceremoniously in the nearby pub carpark

My son had just been put to bed and my partner was suitably unimpressed at the idea of waking him up to rescue me and so I thought fuck it, I'll walk up the hill. Luckily my hi-vis coat was in the Pontiac and this encouraged me that I was definitely making the right* decision. To walk up the main road. That's national speed limit. That is unlit. That doesn't have a pavement. That has a steep embankment on one side and impenetrable overgrowth on the other. Luckily I could use my phone as a torch for the first 5 steps, and then the battery duly went flat. fun stuff.

Predictably this was a miserable experience, and fortunately there wasn't much traffic and I only fell into the carriageway twice. I should've just sat in the pub and got my mrs to pick me up. Lesson learnt (probably not).

Once home safely (more or less), I remembered something that happened when I first got the Pontiac home. I parked it on our sloping drive in the evening, and despite the fuel gauge sitting just above the reserve, I couldn't get it started. Starting with the simplest problems first, I bunged a gallon of fuel in it that I had laying around and it then started happily enough.

So I grabbed the BIG fuel can from the garage, purchased two gallons of fuel and went to revisit the Pontiac. Again, the fuel gauge had been just above the reserve, but she wouldn't fire. 2 gallons of petrol added and she was running again.

That's me feeling like a twat then.

I spent Sunday licking my wounds (I would've felt better if something had genuinely borked itself and I had to trailer it home. Possibly.) and picked it up in the evening with the assistance of my own Discovery 3 and unhappy partner.

Note to self then: don't let the Pontiac get near the reserve end of the gauge again, keep it perpetually topped up from now on.

On to actual progress then. Sort of.

I tidied up the absolute shit tip that was my garage, and organised all the tools, consumables, parts and other assorted detritus that had piled up. Invigorated by this, I went back to look at the Proton last night. It was too wet to weld so I had a look at the rear brakes instead.

The Big Bastard (tm) puller got some use:

And the contents were revealed.

I have new cylinders and shoes for it, but I paused here as the brake line nut was rounding off - the 10mm flare spanner feels slightly too big but the 9mm flare spanner is too small. I need to see if it's just rust fouling it or maybe my 10mm flare spanner is fucked. That's a weekend job for when the rain and darkness isn't adding to the misery.

Let's look at the XM then. The accumulator sphere needs replacing, and somebody suggested a chain wrench. The garage clear up has caused my chain wrench to resurface, so last night seemed as good a time as any. Off into the darkness I go, looking like I'm off to snare some vicious animal:

The battery in the XM is of course flat, and the key spins sadly in the driver's door lock, splendid.

Access to the passenger door looks like this:

That is not happening.

Through the boot it is then.

Do I fit through this space?

Do I fuck. However, I breathed in and wiggled as hard as my lardy arse body could muster and I reached the rear door lock. I then wiggled back, and for anyone watching it must have looked like I was being reborn out the back of a fucked French hatchback.

With the car now unlocked, I worked my way through various doors and got the bonnet open.

Ignore those tissues, they're just from mopping up my tears.

Whoever suggested that a chain wrench will work on an accumulator sphere is possibly onto something, however just as I got purchase the chain slipped, popped off the extension and disappeared into The Void. I could see it, and I could get my arm in, but I couldn't do both. Defeated for the night, I gave up and went inside for a beer a glass of lemonade as I'm temporarily giving up alcohol for some unknown fucking reason.

I'm going back out tonight to strip off the battery tray and some inlet hoses for round 2. If I can get this bastard sphere replaced then I'll be trying to sort the fuel pump and get it in for an MOT this month.

I'm making shit all progress in this weather and the cars that need sorting are starting to get on top of me. I need to get back into the habit of getting a small job done each evening and hopefully I'll start getting somewhere again.

[wesacosa]

if you want to borrow the chastity trousers Sphere wrench I can pop it in the post for you

 

[Rust Collector]

46 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

if you want to borrow the chastity trousers Sphere wrench I can pop it in the post for you

 

If the chain fails me then I may have to take you up on the offer - if nothing else I can put them on and tighten the screw down, which is probably marginally less painful than accessing the accumulator sphere on this car.

[wesacosa]

im trying to think if removing anything gives better access. I don't remember moving the battery tray cleared up too much useable space for me. gap between block and rad was the critical factor for me 

[Rust Collector]

My chain tool has been eaten by the space between the LHM lines under the accumulator and the engine block, so to get my arm in I need to take the inlet hose off - to get the inlet hose off I need the battery tray and associated crap out the way. This should then give me space to manhandle the chain around the sphere properly and hang off of it, as before I was having to poke my arm around the bits above the sphere to try and line the chain up.

RE radiators, I have a transmission cooler as well taking up space - it's really shite access.

[wesacosa]

once you crack them they spin off pretty easily but they can be a pain to crack off it they have been on a while or were tightened up anything but hand tight 

[Rust Collector]

Time for a two part special.

This evening I planned to work on the XM, but the thermostat turned up for the Pontiac so I decided to set about that as a warm up. It’s been running cold which isn’t ideal for winter.

So far, so good, as it looks like the right part

Access was a piece of piss

all those plugs disconnect and the wiring comes away happily

Nothing feels brittle which is good.

The bolts for the thermostat housing were seized cock solid. A few gentle* taps from a hammer and drift freed them up no problem.

As I was undoing this, I was expecting loads of coolant to vomit out. This did not happen, which means there’s some* coolant missing.

At this moment I also found out my thermostat did not come with one of the gaskets I needed. Bonus.

With the thermostat out, a distinct lack of coolant was apparent.

Oh dear.

play was off at this point as I was missing the gasket needed to put everything back together, so let’s look for a leak instead.

That looks like it could be coolant. It smells like coolant. It tastes like coolant.

Im going to go out on a limb and say that the water pump has let go. Not great timing with Christmas round the corner and money tight. I also don’t need more broken cars sat around, so there’s only one solution; park it until after Christmas and sort it in the new year. Fingers crossed there isn’t worse damage, but we will find out once it’s got a new pump on it.

Like a twat, I then decided to move it forwards to create more space for working on the XM. And was then wondering why it was bogging down and stalling out... All together now: ‘you unplugged all the sensors around the throttle body, you wanker!’

Fuck it, that’ll do.

[Rust Collector]

The XM then.

This is what we are up against

That intake pipe could do with not being there.

Looks like to take it out I’ll have to take the battery box out. Which needs the air box out.

No mice living in this one for a change.

The battery tray was a bastard to figure out so I left it in and was able to juggle some other bits around to remove the rubber hose. The hard plastic pipe is bolted to the engine somehow. There is so much shite going on that I can’t see how it’s bolted on, I need a mirror on a stick. You can just about see the chain hiding in there though

Once I got the chain out, it was apparent why it had slipped off

Fucker.

Ive left it like this whilst I rally myself and lick my wounds

@wesacosa I think the chastity pants may be the way forward, if you let me know what the postage would be then I may need to trouble you for a loan if that’s ok. I’d suggest I come up to that they’re Lundun in person but all the reliably running cars I have currently would attract a £12.50 charge for the pleasure of a visit in addition to the fuel sadly.

[wesacosa]

10 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

The XM then.

This is what we are up against

That intake pipe could do with not being there.

Looks like to take it out I’ll have to take the battery box out. Which needs the air box out.

No mice living in this one for a change.

The battery tray was a bastard to figure out so I left it in and was able to juggle some other bits around to remove the rubber hose. The hard plastic pipe is bolted to the engine somehow. There is so much shite going on that I can’t see how it’s bolted on, I need a mirror on a stick. You can just about see the chain hiding in there though

Once I got the chain out, it was apparent why it had slipped off

Fucker.

Ive left it like this whilst I rally myself and lick my wounds

@wesacosa I think the chastity pants may be the way forward, if you let me know what the postage would be then I may need to trouble you for a loan if that’s ok. I’d suggest I come up to that they’re Lundun in person but all the reliably running cars I have currently would attract a £12.50 charge for the pleasure of a visit in addition to the fuel sadly.

PM me your address mate and I will get it boxed up. I don't think postage will be that much to be honest as its not that heavy 

[Stinkwheel]

I'll at this point offer some helpful* advice on XM fast tick, lack of accumulator doing its job things.

If it still does it after the sphere change, its possibly the regulator internals not seating its ball valve and/or leaking seals  allowing too much flow.

Just to make you aware (and not be pessimistic in any way whatsoever)

Also, i really want the Pontiac. I find this worrying as all my american car stuff has been interesting sports 2 doors or quality* square 70's saloons in V8 flavour, i think i may be old lusting after MPV V6 action.  

[Rust Collector]

13 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

I'll at this point offer some helpful* advice on XM fast tick, lack of accumulator doing its job things.

If it still does it after the sphere change, its possibly the regulator internals not seating its ball valve and/or leaking seals  allowing too much flow.

Just to make you aware (and not be pessimistic in any way whatsoever)

Also, i really want the Pontiac. I find this worrying as all my american car stuff has been interesting sports 2 doors or quality* square 70's saloons in V8 flavour, i think i may be old lusting after MPV V6 action.  

Cheers mate - I reckoned looking at the sphere first would be the easiest option, but yes if this doesn't solve it then the whole thing is coming off and being rebuilt.

The Pontiac is a lovely thing - I just wish it hadn't decided to die so soon into my ownership. Luckily a new water pump is about £40 so not the end of the world.

[Rust Collector]

Today I was graced with the presence of @Back_For_More, who conveniently arrived dual wielding sphere removal tools obtained from @wesacosa.

In short order we had the chastity pants on and the accumulator sphere immediately gave into our combined will. New sphere goodness:

Resplendent with a new sphere and freshly charged battery sourced from The Pile, the XM fired into life (eventually) and lifted up. Excitedly, I killed the ignition and it promptly dropped to the floor again. Bugger. However, firing it up again and telling ourselves that there was probably air in the system did the trick:

It now stays raised up, and it passed the world’s shortest brake test on the 2 foot of drive available behind the Pontiac.

Thanks for your visit today @Back_For_More, really appreciate you taking the time out to come down here and lend a hand - the work flies by when there’s someone else doing it and I can just watch 😅

I’ve since taken it for a risqué drive around the block, as it’s been a while since the neighbours were graced with the noise of an XUD that’s been dragged back to life against its will, and I’m worried that they miss it.

Observations are that it is drivable, but the lazy wiper mechanism needs attention. Also, the car is incredibly slow - the auto box and 2.1 turbo diesel are obviously a winning* combo. Oh, and I should probably sort out the leaky fuel pump as the minutes of laboured cranking are probably even more enjoyable for the neighbours than the clatter of diesel technology from 3 decades ago. And the vehicle stability light is on.

I’m calling it nearly complete!

Enjoy some shots of the velour plushness, taken after I removed all the spare parts from it:

[Rust Collector]

Minor Pontiac update:

Whilst I waited for a water pump I wanted to at least put the thermostat housing back together.

Annoyingly, the thermostat came missing one of the two gaskets required, and it appears to be hard to obtain.

Luckily, we have technology at our disposal and some sheets of gasket paper:

Unluckily, I was too impatient to wait for work on Monday to use the laser cutter, so I got the scissors out from the kitchen instead.

I chased all the threads as they were not great on the way out and as I’ll undoubtedly be back here I might as well make my life easier in the future.

That’s been leaking at some point so I’ll try and find a better clamp for it. The coolant is looking a bit sad as well so it’s probably not a bad thing that it’s all getting changed. Do I recall someone mentioning that one of the B&M style stores was doing Prestone concentrate for a few quid?