Tommy's A-series Misery - NC500 prep!

[Tommyboy12]

On 18/06/2025 at 09:40, wesacosa said:

another thought on the Panda poor running, the brake line repair was right next to where the gammatronix ignition module was located, I wonder if one of the connectors was disturbed 

Started it up today to move it for work on the Reliant. Four cylinders straight off the bat. I took the cap off and cleaned up the contacts. Perhaps that helped.

This morning I worked on finishing up the Reliant for its road trip.

Tweaking the mixture and ignition timing until it ran just right. I also adjusted the tappets which I did before I fit the engine but they were a little bit too tight. There's something very satisfying about adjusting points, mixture screws and setting the idle so it purrs. I intend to do this on the Panda too but it's probably not going to be for a couple of weeks as I'm off to the US on Saturday for a week.

I also fixed* my RH rear indicator which wasn't working. My power probe suggested the positive cable was broken somewhere between the bulb holder and the indicator stalk as I got power at the stalk but not at the bulb holder. I couldn't find the source of the break. I definitely* didn't* just splice into the loom and run a wire from the stalk to the indicator at the back, cable tieing it to the loom running under the car. This method does mean my hazard lights won't work still but in fairness I don't plan to break down (famous last words).

 

[wesacosa]

ah good news. Hopefully the run and the cap clean have done the trick 

It will definitely need a little tweak on the timing and mixture as I set it all up to the book values but haven't done any fine tuning based on actually driving it on the road 

 

[Zelandeth]

I do love the old Pandas.  They're nothing exceptional on paper but are one of those cars which to me at least are just such *fun* to drive.  In my experience they're one of those cars which just gets cranky in a plethora of often strange ways if not used regularly, so hopefully just getting some miles on it and a good Italian Tuneup will help a lot.

[Tommyboy12]

I can't take credit for this but my girlfriend took the opportunity in the heat today to wash the seats for the brown Mini. Brown seats obviously. They don't look to bad but they smell and the water coming off them was nearly black.

They're going to need several more goings over before they're done but the colour and material is well preserved considering these seats will be 40 years old now.

Said disgusting water after the *second* scrub!

 

[Matty]

Bloody hell they've come up like new!!

[Tommyboy12]

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

[wesacosa]

37 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

brilliant news. glad to see it getting more miles in the last month than in the last 18. Glad its running well now too

Its had a rad, coolant flush and thermostat on it since I got it and always seemed to hold temperature well but yeah today is a good test for it. 

[sharley17194]

i often wonder what your work think 

On 30/06/2025 at 14:49, Tommyboy12 said:

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

 

[Tommyboy12]

First proper outing for the Reliant with it's new* engine today. I went to Kimbolton Fayre which a fairly local car show to me. Usually about 1,000 cars.

I went to the effort of giving it a wash and a wet vac to the interior. It smells so much better

Then drove the 30 mins or so to be on a stand with a club I help run.

I am getting down to the nitty gritty now. I'm thinking about dealing with the white paint that's been used in various places and machine polishing it off.

[Tommyboy12]

I'm calling the Reliant done!

The paint is actually shiny underneath!

Turns out the scratch underneath was just paint transfer so whoever painted it was being super lazy

Worst of the spray off

White paint off

Paint gone

Definitely done enough now. I need to move onto other things

[sharley17194]

On 16/07/2025 at 12:34, Tommyboy12 said:

I'm calling the Reliant done!

The paint is actually shiny underneath!

Turns out the scratch underneath was just paint transfer so whoever painted it was being super lazy

Worst of the spray off

White paint off

Paint gone

Definitely done enough now. I need to move onto other things

You are clearly bored…buy another car! 

[Tommyboy12]

Did some tinkering on the Panda tonight. I fixed the heater fan first. That was a simple case of a new fuse and the fan sprung into life.

Then I set about the washer pump. Rear worked but the front didn't. After some testing I found that the front pump was dead. They're both the same pump and were both clogged up which will not have helped. So I took them apart and cleaned them and swapped them round. A front pump is far more useful and I now have a working pump.

Front pump

Rear pump

Also scored my first blood injury on the Panda so it's officially been christened 

I also took my Reliant to work today and parked in definitely a parking space*. That got a slight tweak tonight too. It needed a new temperature sender which I fitted this evening too. I now am only missing a fuel gauge. Which I probably won't fix as a sender is very expensive and virtually always unavailable.

 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

On 30/06/2025 at 15:49, Tommyboy12 said:

One of the hottest days of the year so far is perfect weather for taking a non-air conditioned car to work right?

It is running really nice now. I tweaked the idle ever so slightly as it was sometimes cutting out at idle and it's running great on all four cylinders now! Perhaps the Italian tune up of 80mph down the motorway was all it needed 😅

It held steady at 90°C despite the 33°C ambient

Looking at the edges, the little Panda looks a prime candidate for Lanoguard (or similar). 

[wesacosa]

1 hour ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Did some tinkering on the Panda tonight. I fixed the heater fan first. That was a simple case of a new fuse and the fan sprung into life.

 

 

 

apologies I think the fan might have been my fault. I noticed the rear lights were not working when it was on the drive a few weeks before selling so I swapped the fuse around to get them working and I may have forgotten to replace the one I swapped 😬

[Tommyboy12]

11 hours ago, Dick Cheeseburger said:

Looking at the edges, the little Panda looks a prime candidate for Lanoguard (or similar). 

Its on the cards once it's had a tickle with the MIG. I'll certainly be doing it before winter.

11 hours ago, wesacosa said:

apologies I think the fan might have been my fault. I noticed the rear lights were not working when it was on the drive a few weeks before selling so I swapped the fuse around to get them working and I may have forgotten to replace the one I swapped 😬

Ah well. Its working now

[Tommyboy12]

Today I did some welding.

I've been putting this off for a while as it involved removing the rear subframe which will disable the car until I reattach it.

First job was removing said subframe.

This was a pig to get out. Eight bolts hold it in. 2 snapped, 3 rounded, 3 came out ok. So I had to cut three bolts but access isn't great.

The only ones that came out...

I then set about assessing the corrosion. It isn't great but I knew this. Most of the heelboard that wasn't already cut out fell out. The saving grace is the floor that rests on the subframe wasn't rotten and neither was the frame.

Time to get cracking! First up I had to cut out more of the seat base and closing panels. This exposed a big glob of silicone and bog in the quarter panel. So no I need to repair that too now.

Then time to start glueing it back together. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I procured an offcut from another car including the rear of the floor, heelboard and seat base. So I will be using sections of that for a lot of these repairs.

The panels alone would have been about £500 for these repairs. The off cut cost me £50.

Another little section added

I'm using some CAD to get this done. Best way to do it

Then in with a closing panel

Next up the heelboard and floor panel

This came fitted with rust around the drain plug. But easier to repair while not attached.

A little patch

Then in with the panel section. Unfortunately I mismeasured ever so slightly and have a slight gap to fill at the top. I didn't take into account the kick inwards of the panel. Next steps will be to fill that gap, finish the heelboard and inner sill. Then I'll need to repair the quarter panel. Then I'll need to rebuild the sill reinforcing panel and fit the companion bin. The rest of the seat base which was cut out by the previous owner will go in after I've finished the other side of the floor as access is easier without it on place.

I did lash it in the finest brown hammerite but forgot to take a picture.

Its getting there.

[schonker]

Please don’t paint this when it’s finished

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, schonker said:

Please don’t paint this when it’s finished

Absolutely no intention of doing so!

[Tommyboy12]

I've alluded to it many times but part of the reason I've been putting so much into the Reliant is that @sharley17194 and I are doing the NC500 in three wheeler's!

Were leaving on Monday!

We've had months of notice, loads of time for prep and buying and rebuilding cars! I've been toiling hard to get my car ready. New engine, new brakes, new everything!

Simon? Oh he's picking his purchased sight unseen on ebay Robin up from Bournemouth on Sunday... Driving it home then hopefully driving it to Scotland the following day. What could possibly go wrong... 😂

Its got a Starsky and Hutch brush-painted paint job though. Dats mint innit m9👌

Meanwhile I took my Reliant to the local car meet that I run last night

I have no idea on our route, no idea where we're stopping overnight (original plan was car camping), no idea if we will make it! How exciting!

[Matty]

As always bonne chance. Sharleys a  fucking maniac though. Although on the other hand, the less you know about a car means less to specifically worry about 😆

[sharley17194]

I resent that!

I did also spend a large amount of time out the country, plus rebuilding an AX i never planned to.....and my work has taken off massively! but i do get i've been tardy. I only purchased this one because i couldn't take the kitten

if anyone wants to buy a robin hit me up, in a weeks time it'll be foresale....well used!

I also now own 3 Reliant Robins, so anyone wany a [project let me know!

[sharley17194]

have we met 🤣 I'm a perfectly sound individual!

7 minutes ago, Matty said:

As always bonne chance. Sharleys a  fucking maniac though. Although on the other hand, the less you know about a car means less to specifically worry about 😆

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 minutes ago, Matty said:

Although on the other hand, the less you know about a car means less to specifically worry about 😆

That's why my wife does not trouble me with questions when I come in swearing and covered in oil.

 

45 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

Dats mint innit m9

It's so bad that it's awesome (and it also makes a refreshing change from 'Trotters Bollocks Trading ' plastered all over them.
Plus - bonus points - it's an easy to spot colour from a CoastGuard Rescue helicopter (thinking gale force winds, Cape Wrath, cliffs - you'll be fine).  

[sharley17194]

Tom failed to mention an attempted was made by myself not just the 11th hour…here’s the proof! 

[Matty]

17 minutes ago, sharley17194 said:

have we met 🤣 I'm a perfectly sound individual!

 

Absolutely. Just with balls of solid titanium 🫡

[Tommyboy12]

1 hour ago, sharley17194 said:

Tom failed to mention an attempted was made by myself not just the 11th hour…here’s the proof! 

You had 10 months notice and yet here we are 😂

[sharley17194]

You gave too much notice that's the issue...look I'm taking a car, last time this happened i took an Escort on a mini trip...

2 hours ago, Tommyboy12 said:

You had 10 months notice and yet here we are 😂