THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[Pete-M]

I've spent yet another Saturday fettling the Rover.For some reason, the tickover screw still doesn't do very much at all. As it's an air bleed channel it really should, otherwise there's air getting in from somewhere. Try as I might, I can't find where. Hey ho. It's idling at between 500 and 850 depending on mood, but it doesn't cut out or misbehave other than if I engage drive at 500.. then it isn't happy. Never drops below 500ish rpm when I'm sitting at lights or whatever in drive, so it could be worse. I'm just being fussy.So, with it idling semi-sensibly at 800ish I decided to plug it into a gas analyser and see if I could do anything its about mental fuel consumption. Last weekend it averaged around 12 mpg and the exhaust stank of fuel, so today was my first opportunity to fiddle with it.First reading, at idle, was 3.5% co. Bugger me, that's insanely rich for a Rover V8, they normally idle at 0.5% in a well set up Rangie, and the book figure is 1.5% for an SD1 vitesse. So, tweak the idle mixture screw a couple of turns out. No difference. Couple more turns, 3.4% and it continues, eventually it's about 14 turns out and idling happily at 1.7%. As the injectors are the size of trans-continental pipelines I settle for this as it's close enough to Lambda 1 to be about right. HCs stayed steady at 350-400 hc which I find acceptable, the MOT pass is 1200 ppm and it's an engine tuned in the '80s.. emissions weren't top priority when it was built, and less so when it was tuned.It seems a bit happier now, exhaust is a fair bit quieter when cruising in it, induction hiss is a bit more obvious, still sounds the absolute bollocks when given some gas, and the fuel gauge didn't do its normal "DIVE DIVE DIVE" on the way home. Hopefully it'll manage about 20 mpg on the run to Cholmondely. My old Vitesse used to pull 30 mpg on a run, but that was manual and had the legendary intergalactic 5th. This is auto and if anything, a bit undergeared.

[Lukas]

The Pajero V6 is on ebay, I hope it goes for reasonable money, the Galloper is broken again and will get sold the next week too but thankfully the Camry works perfectly like a 22 year old Toyota should!

[Mike D]

Today i did my first ever bit of welding! After the Capri getting stoved in and then the repair garage knacking me about, it prompted me to buy a welder and the necessary mending gear instead and have a go myself. I had a bit of a play with wire feeds and power settings on some bits of steel, then cracked on and buzzed up the small split in the capri wing. It's now got its 2nd skin of wag after my mammoth pry bar and crocodile jack un-bend-athon the other day.I R well pleased with myself

[Pillock]

£36.50 isn't bad for a low profile tyre like that Pillock. The inside of the tyre sounds like a classic case of 'run flat' and would have needed replacing before it blew out so probably just as well you had a puncture in some respect.

I did think I'd been lucky in that respect, so didn't begrudge thirty odd quid... leaving work one day couple of weeks ago my mate a few cars behind just happened to notice the tyre looked flat so phoned me, but by this point I'm in the outside lane at a roundabout so had no real option but to drive half a mile to a petrol station to pump it up from 7psi.....Since then it's been into triple-mph-figures a few times and been wragged around the twisties so yeah, finally getting the slow puncture fixed could well have saved me from something worse.They offered me a Pirelli for £50, half price, but since the rest of them are all budget it didn't seem worth it. I've been on an blezz around the twisties today and it's been fine.

[The Moog]

Well, Bedford's sold to Moog of this very parish. Hope you enjoy her mate! Top old bus, despite (or perhaps because of) appearances!

Now the proud owner of Dollywobblers colourful van. When i say proud according to the GF, it hasn't got enough rainbows on it! So Rainbows will be added. Will try and make it as wind and cold resistant as possible before venturing to outer Hebrides in August Worked on Carlsson on Sunday removing the slave cylinder for the second time. Looks like the seals have gone so ordered a new one with release bearing thrown in for good measure. Also been given a Pug 205 from my brother that needs some minor fettling before flogging on. 1.1 carb so is excellent on fuel and pokey as a pokey thing. Needs a good polish and bumpers spraying black.

[Mr Lobster]

Lobsta_Fleet >>>>Serviced the R4 on Saturday, everything looks ok enough so hopefully will be good for MOT on Friday. Doesn't stop me being nervous though.

[Minimad5]

Yesterday i payed a sum of £8.50 for a pair of Mirrors - BARGAIN !They also looked quite good on the Mk1 Feista, although i could see absolute nowt out of the passenger side ... So instead i repaired the old ones, and it looks "Bob-on" I just need to fit the drivers side.

[Cavcraft]

Golf left my possession(sp?) about 40 minutes ago. Love has not been lost.Negotiations now under way to land myself some more Griffin badged old bollocks.

[Guest]

The horn broke on my Amazon.

[Minimad5]

The horn broke on my Amazon.

I blame Warren ! , he tried pressing it at the show Did you fix the Dynamo - It was loose ?

[Guest]

The horn broke on my Amazon.

I blame Warren ! , he tried pressing it at the show Did you fix the Dynamo - It was loose ?

Horn only works with the ignition. I reckon the horn's silence and the loose generator might be connected (ho ho ho). It's a pity too, because the horn has a pleasing NY Taxi FUCK YOU YA FREAKN MAYNIAC tone.And no, I haven't fixed it yet - I plan to tackle it and the window wankness in one foul swoop using voodoo tools and local poultry.

[Rusty Pelican]

Changing the wiper wheelboxes and heater matrix on my Commer imp thing , what a fucking job this has turned out to be , seems they start with the wheelboxes and build the car around them

 

[dollywobbler]

Jeepers! Fun job eh?I've just got the BX's brakes sorted out after 8 months of occasional binding and general reluctance to release the brakes properly. Wasn't that bad an issue in the main, which is why I ignored it for so long. Just occasionally, the handbrake wouldn't release properly and as it's so crap, the first you'd know about it is when you got a whiff of hot brakes.Anyway, new handbrake cables has cured that, and the worrying tendency for the handbrake lever to move a VERY long way when applied. On the downside, an anti-roll bar drop link is in need of replacement, as is one of the track rod ends. I also made the mistake of pressing a soft-looking bit of sill. Yup, that's going to need some welding attention!

[warren t claim]

I have spent today holding the Pugs expansion bottle over my head bleeding the airlocks out. I looked like a shite version of the Statue of Liberty.

[Guest]

I'm rapidly going off this car, remind me again why did I buy it?

Because you wanted to go sideways to the hairdresser's?Sorry.

[AnthonyG]

I have been doing some sanding down and spray can painting of some bodywork on the old Mondeo (V reg one). I love the smell of volatile organic compounds in the afternoon!More seriously a friend lent me a little Dremel type drill (JCB branded) to sort out the surface rust with. I am now converted to these and will be looking for a reasonably priced one forthwith.

[whitevanman]

Finished welding up the Onion..tomorrow I smooth her out and refit all the bits I have removed...then book an MOT

[Parky]

Preparing to trash, sell and freecycle all the shite tosh in my garage (cots, beds, a radiator, internal door, mattress, old bikes, etc)Once finished, the walls shall be white and the floor painted grey. The end wall will see the previous owners miserable attempt at a workbench replaced by either Ikea or Big Dug shelving.Tools shall hang neatly on the wall or sit in correctly shaped recepticles. The garage will then be free to install proper shite, although it will have to be small. Yes, I can foresee a future shaped like a Pug 205, Renault 5, Fiat Uno, or early 90's Ibiza.Gonna take time but by christ it'll be worthwhile

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The P100 finally left the fleet this morning, farewell old friend! I shall miss its ability to cane down bumpy fen roads as fast as I dare go, and its skills at dragging the old A-frame. I wont miss its 70mph cruising speed and appetite for starter motor parts however.Rover 220 is now insured and should be hitting the road tonight, I cant wait!

[ChinaTom]

Jag fuel pumps in and tested. So far so good. £522. Actually not so bad if you know what's involved in changing pumps in an XJ40.Next, sills, wings and welding. Then new wishbones up front and A bushes at backThen over to another specialist for a few more horses and foot poundsThen a resprayThen sale of major organs to pay for all of this.

[warren t claim]

I have spent an hour tonight scrubbing my factory fit green seatbelts in a futile attemt to make them look cleaner. I'm really really getting a problem....

[mnde]

A couple of days ago the GSA's speedometer bulb blew so I couldn't see how fast I was going at night. Yesterday I made use of the sunny evening to get the job done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made by Jaeger.

 

 

As a bonus, I also sussed that the bulb behind the left half of the funky GSA diagnostic diagram had blown, and found the reason the fuel gauge backlight bulb was unreliable was because it was loose in its holder.

 

 

Next came the knuckle scrapingly fiddly job of reattaching the end of the speedometer cable to the back of the instrument cluster. No sooner had I popped open the bonnet and started to remove the heater unit (a ballache of a job), it started to rain... Luckily only a passing shower. Here it is after I'd wrestled it into submission and bolted it back in place. You can see where the speedometer cable passes directly under the heater, just by the starting handle.

 

 

By then my hands were raw and covered in muck. Forgot about the latex gloves I had stashed in the boot....

 

Anyway, as this crap little video shows, I'm back to the full complement of pretty lights.

 

 

Although now, true to sod's law, the clock's bulb is playing up, sometimes requiring an Onslow-style thwack atop the top of the instrument housing to spur it into life...

 

That noise in the background is the chatter of my BX's hydraulic pump - I'd started and left the engine running for a bit to exercise it as it hadn't run for a while.

 

 

*Must get it MOTed soon before the VAT hike*

 

Mark.

[Richard]

That looks a delight to work on compared to modern cars. Even the engine bay looks quite roomy.

[Mr Lobster]

Had the R4 in for an MOT today.... Passed without so much as an advisory

[Rusty Pelican]

mnde . I sympatise , just been doing something simular on my commer , tis a pain in the arse , still mines all finished now and by some miracle everything works

[mnde]

@ Rusty Pelican - Excellent! Got any pics?@ Richard - yeah it's more roomy, but most of the engine bay is taken up by the gearbox and inboard calipers (and, normally, the spare wheel). The business end is squeezed right up against the front crossmember and low down for a low centre of gravity with the weight as far forward as possible. Jobs like changing the spark plugs and swapping the alternator/replacing its belt are a pain, requiring waffer thiiin fingers.Mark

[Mike D]

I tarted up my MX6 today, in preparation for tomorrows swappage for a HGF'd Nissan Pao. I changed the drivers seat for an unbolster ripped one, gave it a wash and way, and it's looking quite the lovely thing now. I'll be sad to see it go, whenever i drive it i smile. At least it's a nice trip to Suffolk, working 10 hours before hand and then getting RAC'd home may make it a rather long day though!

[Tayne]

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[Pete-M]

Two blokes today gave the SD1 the "We're not worthy" bow today. I had to grin, but it's unsettling.

[The Moog]

Fitted slave cylinder to the Saab today. Lovely hard clutch ... then oh the pedal is starting to sink. Means that Master has gone so more fun. Still at least I will have a completely new clutch system..