Tommy's A-series Misery - Building an A-series engine

[Tommyboy12]

Yesterday I learnt that if you plan to remove window tints you should heat the tint as you go otherwise you end up with a window covered in glue that has to be scraped off. Thankfully I learnt my lesson before I did the drivers side which went much more smoothly and left no residue. I do however now have to spend several hours scraping glue off the passenger side.

[N19]

39 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Yesterday I learnt that if you plan to remove window tints you should heat the tint as you go otherwise you end up with a window covered in glue that has to be scraped off. Thankfully I learnt my lesson before I did the drivers side which went much more smoothly and left no residue. I do however now have to spend several hours scraping glue off the passenger side.

Get some acetone (or nail varnish remover which includes it) that should dissolve it if left on for five minutes or so?

[Tommyboy12]

Ill give it a go. The girlfriend suggested something similar but soaking paper towels in it and leaving it on the window for an hour or two. She has her uses as I would have never thought of that 😅

[mat777]

48 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Ill give it a go. The girlfriend suggested something similar but soaking paper towels in it and leaving it on the window for an hour or two. She has her uses as I would have never thought of that 😅

It will certainly work as acetone will merrily dissolve the glue, however I would do it with a cloth so you can rub at the glue - doing it with a tissue will just make the paper crumble and roll up as the glue resists. 
Be careful not to get any acetone on the rubber window seals (as it will attack them) or the interior trim (as it may discolour it)
 

[Talbot]

Best stuff to get is pure acetone.  Can be got from anywhere that works with glassfibre or similar resins for cheap.  We use it at work by the tonne, so I nab a litre or so every now and then.  Dissolves just about any plastics/glues/residues etc.  Also very flammable, so care is needed.

[EspenO]

Any citrus-based cleaner will work fine, and will go easier on both you and the car  

Eg. 3M Clean200, other brands are available  

[Tommyboy12]

Thanks guys. Appreciate all the options. I will investigate. Im pretending to ignore the passenger window at the moment 😅

[Noel Tidybeard]

its a shame the manta tailpipe is straight unlike the cavalier kinked one

[dave j]

I used thinners to clean off window tint glue before, could be worth a try.

[Tommyboy12]

A productive day on the Cavalier at last! I managed to not only fit the brakes but bleed them and take it for a little 200m drive round the street.

Hubs off first.

Thankfully these all came out successfully. It's funny what having the right tools does to the productivity of a job.

Hubs are not an interference fit with the disc but they are a tight fit. Not helped by years of rust. They came apart eventually though.

Screws back in.

Brakes on.

Interestingly and a first for me. The wheel bearings are only torqued to 20ftlb then backed off until you can get a feeler gauge between the nut and washer. Basically finger tight!

Then I treated myself to a drive up the street! It drives lovely. The gearbox release bearing isn't happy but other than that it's very quiet and pulls well for it's relatively low power. That being said I've only been a few hundred metres!

Next up one of my Minis has had an intermittent starting problem that has been driving me mad for a while. I was tryin to trace wiring, test earth points, strip and clean wiring joints. Turned out it was this...

So now...

Then finally I continued poking my track car by fitting a louder exhaust. It must add at least 50hp! But it also weighs a good 10kg less!

[Tommyboy12]

Cavalier needs a service. So I fitted a radio of course.

Brand new in the box since 1993

I forgot these old completely removable radios existed. I haven't seen one in years.

As was pointed out in another thread the slot in a Cavalier is not full depth so unfortunately the radio sits proud. However, it's better than an empty hole in the dash. I *may* get a shallow depth stereo at some point but for now this will do.

I fit a couple of banging 6x9s in these butchered speaker holes that were clearly measured by Stevie Wonder... Now I know why there were some bits of carpet covering the holes which have been put back in place over the speakers. I think I'm going to find a scrap of brown carpet to cover the whole shelf!

[Tenmil Socket]

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Cavalier needs a service. So I fitted a radio of course.

Brand new in the box since 1993

I forgot these old completely removable radios existed. I haven't seen one in years.

As was pointed out in another thread the slot in a Cavalier is not full depth so unfortunately the radio sits proud. However, it's better than an empty hole in the dash. I *may* get a shallow depth stereo at some point but for now this will do.

I fit a couple of banging 6x9s in these butchered speaker holes that were clearly measured by Stevie Wonder... Now I know why there were some bits of carpet covering the holes which have been put back in place over the speakers. I think I'm going to find a scrap of brown carpet to cover the whole shelf!

Christ, whoever fit those speakers must of been pissed!

Could you make a new one with MDF or something?

Cars coming along great BTW.

[wesacosa]

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Cavalier needs a service. So I fitted a radio of course

 

 

I always thought those RHD cars with a LHD position handbrake was more modern day bit of penny pinching

cool car though and great progress 

[High Jetter]

Not driven an E-type then?

[Tommyboy12]

There's a list of maintenance items growing across the fleet. So instead of doing those jobs I went and finally picked up my MG. @sharley17194 kindly helped out with a tow vehicle and I hired a trailer.

We then proceeded to have a trailer blowout on the side of the M6...

The company we hired it off clearly hadn't checked the spare which was both bald and not round. It was also a different size!

We then discovered that these two tyres are a completely different size to the other side of the trailer!

This mornings job is arguing with the trailer company about the £280 I had to spend on tyres at the side of the M6 to make it safe to tow... Bald spare. Mixed sizes across an axle. Very much a liability...

 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

There's a list of maintenance items growing across the fleet. So instead of doing those jobs I went and finally picked up my MG. @sharley17194 kindly helped out with a tow vehicle and I hired a trailer.

We then proceeded to have a trailer blowout on the side of the M6...

The company we hired it off clearly hadn't checked the spare which was both bald and not round. It was also a different size!

We then discovered that these two tyres are a completely different size to the other side of the trailer!

This mornings job is arguing with the trailer company about the £280 I had to spend on tyres at the side of the M6 to make it safe to tow... Bald spare. Mixed sizes across an axle. Very much a liability...

 

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion that no one can do a job properly anymore. They just want your money 

[Tommyboy12]

Its very frustrating and quite frankly dangerous. We could have been quickly on our way if the tyres were all correct and legal. Instead we sat in an emergency stop area of the smart* motorway for 3 hours. Thankfully the trailer company has paid for the tyres but they argued that it was our problem!

[Matty]

10 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Its very frustrating and quite frankly dangerous. We could have been quickly on our way if the tyres were all correct and legal. Instead we sat in an emergency stop area of the smart* motorway for 3 hours. Thankfully the trailer company has paid for the tyres but they argued that it was our problem!

In what fucking world was it your problem? The only way that'd be true would be if you rung up and said "can I borrow a fucked un roadworthy trailer please".

[Tommyboy12]

45 minutes ago, Matty said:

In what fucking world was it your problem? The only way that'd be true would be if you rung up and said "can I borrow a fucked un roadworthy trailer please".

Well exactly. It was dangerous realistically and the fact the spare was illegal means it really wasnt my problem. The threat of trading standards soon helped them realise the error of their ways!

[hairnet]

Do the vosa and trading standards on them anyway 

[EyesWeldedShut]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/light-trailer-compliance-report/light-trailer-compliance-report for some VOSA stats... (only 50% of trailers found to be dodgy  )

[High Jetter]

I wouldn't get too heavy, after all it was you who was driving a trailer with mis-matched tyres and an illegal spare. I know they shouldn't have allowed it out like that, but it is the driver's responsibility, shirley?

[Tommyboy12]

I'm not going to chase them up on it. At the end of the day they now have a legal trailer and I'm not out of pocket for tyres which is all I wanted. More importantly I have my MGF home and another project to work on!

[sharley17194]

That's why the trailer company was arguing its our fault for not checking, they are still liable either way due to the fact it was defective but we should have refused the trailer. I think the trailer company just realised arguing was pointless because if we did drag it through trading and VOSA they would have a lot to answer too, plus if anything else is found to be defective they would be in deeper dodo. The trailer company T&Cs are shocking and don't actually state its our responsibility to check the condition, or that damage is chargeable or anything really,, they didn't even include that we couldn't bring a liable case against them for defects not spotted during handover....if it went to court i don't think we would have any issues winning. 

19 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I wouldn't get too heavy, after all it was you who was driving a trailer with mis-matched tyres and an illegal spare. I know they shouldn't have allowed it out like that, but it is the driver's responsibility, shirley?

 

[High Jetter]

I agree it's 100% their fault for letting it out in that state but if VOSA had stopped you it could have been a tad awkward. Still, they did the right thing in refunding for the outlay, shame about the wasted time though. Glad the MGF got there safe in the end.

[sharley17194]

Yeah, vosa would have slapped me with a fine id happily pass on to the trailer company.

Both MGFs arrived fine actually. I dont want to be out MG'd by Tom so i purchased one on Saturday:

28 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

I agree it's 100% their fault for letting it out in that state but if VOSA had stopped you it could have been a tad awkward. Still, they did the right thing in refunding for the outlay, shame about the wasted time though. Glad the MGF got there safe in the end.

 

[Tommyboy12]

Busy bank holiday so far for me. Plenty of fleet maintenance has occurred.

Firstly I sorted my bike out ready for its MOT. Gave it a bit of a wash over too. It's having a new disk brake fitted on the rear for the MOT this year which I will get the garage to do as this bike doesn't have a centre stand so its difficult to remove wheels. The disc itself is not cheap unfortunately as this bike was only made for 1-2 years with this size rear disc brake. The pads were fitted to numerous other DR models though so they're thankfully cheap.

Then I serviced the Cavalier. Oil change, filter and air filter. I was going to change the sparks/leads but the leads didn't arrive in time for the weekend. The dizzy cap that came with the car is wrong and I haven't been able to identify the correct one yet.

Also cleaned the turbo Mini. I've got a car show to take it to tomorrow.

Lastly I stripped the front end off the MGF. It's had a shunt in the past and had some replacement parts but the front never sat straight afterwards. Turns out it's because it was fitted with a pre-crashed crash bar. So I fitted a straight one.

Old crash bar

New crash bar

New bar installed

Front end sits much better now although it still isn't perfect but it's good enough.

I also treated it to a bottle of injector cleaner as it's got a bit rough running from sitting for so long.

Realistically the MG doesn't need much. The wipers and horn don't work. A coolant hose needs replacing. There's a bulb out and it needs a small patch welding on the sill.

Once I take it to an MOT after that we shall see what it needs then I also want to do some cosmetic work to it. Remove some dents, fit some full leather seats. It desperately needs a cambelt too. I've done them before on this engine bay and it's a hateful job. I'm half tempted to whip the head off while I'm there as I suspect the blown coolant hose can only mean one thing...

[Tommyboy12]

More car related fixing over the weekend. Popped the engine cover off the MGF and ran it up to temp. Bled the three bleed nipples on the cooling system and it seems to be running stable for now. I'm hopeful that I don't need to touch the head. I'm not looking forward to the cambelt change though...

Turbo mini went for it's MOT too. Failed first time around on the handbrake adjustment of all things.

I continue to wince every time it goes on the brake rollers...

Also changed the leads and spark plugs on the Cavalier. Frustratingly I went to move it afterwards and it appears to have burst a brake line as the pedal went straight to the floor with no resistance. I suspect a hard line has gone. Probably the front to rear one.

The white Mini needs a new master cylinder. So I ignored that and fitted a non-budget stereo. Now I can actually hear the music without having to crank the stereo up to maximum volume. I should really do the brake master...

I also got the bike MOTd. Cost me a small fortune to have the rear caliper rebuilt. I've also had to rebuild the Speedo drive but at least it's road legal now.

 

[Tommyboy12]

As the evenings get longer it gets easier to work on cars in the evening so tonight I sorted the brake master cylinder on my Mini.

Anyone that knows knows the pains of removing this clevis pin from the depths of the pedal box. Contortionists are required to fold themselves into the driver's foot well and reach up into the depths of the pedal box to pull the split pin and then get the clevis pin out. Thankfully I put a smaller split pin in last time which can be bent with my fingers rather than a pair of pliers.

Then out with the old

And in with the new

Bled it with an easi bleed. Easily the best tool I ever bought. I will never be able to do the two man method again. Then I gave the car a service with a new filter and oil.

[Tommyboy12]

I've been on holiday for a few weeks out the country so not much to report except the current Montego owner has sent me some recent pics. It looks a million times better than that horrible light blue.