Grogee's spannering (Maestro , Corsa & Avensis). MAESTRO DEGREASE

[grogee]

12 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

umm you do know the fan switch works at about 101/102℃

I didn't realise that, it sounds high for the radiator part of the system 

[Noel Tidybeard]

how high did gauge go?

 

[grogee]

Moar Honda egg-whisk surgery.

I had an issue where the clutch actuation arm was not actually actuating anything - the lever would move freely and clearly wasn't contacting the clutch centre inside the crankcase.

Pulled it apart and ended up buying new springs, new friction discs and plates and a new bearing.

I managed to confuse myself a bit because the disc set I bought contained six sets of plates and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to use them all. After a bit of experimenting it became clear I only needed five. I'd also assembled it wrong - one of the friction discs is slightly different to allow for the operation of the 'anti judder spring', a pair of steel rings one of which is angled axially to provide some springing.

Anyway after a fair amount of pissing about I got it assembled to the point that the clutch arm 'bites' about halfway through its travel, I'm not able to move it with my fingers at that point but I can use an adjustable spanner on the arm and it's moving properly and will be fine once connected to clutch lever and cable.

Not totally clear why it wasn't working although the old set of discs could be simply worn out. My vernier calipers showed they were worn but the total thickness of the old five sets of plates vs new was probably only about  0.4mm x 5 = 2.0mm. Apparently that's enough to prevent the clutch arm from engaging.

The friction plates sit in an aluminium 'basket' and @Dave_Q recommended filing the edges of these where they become indented by the friction plates. Did this, finished off with 320 grit W&D, gave it a good clean and reassembled.

Has to be said that the condition of all the gears, shafts etc inside looks brand new - really well engineered.

Unfortunately I bought an old NOS gasket set for the engine and the one gasket I needed (LH crankcase) was split/torn. Tried to make the best of it by using sealant but the split was right at the bottom and I just know the oil would find its way out of there. So I've got another one coming, after which I should be able to mount the engine in the frame.

I've also fitted and bled the front brake caliper. Unfortunately I broke off the bleed nipple of the 'better' caliper but I made a decent assembly out of two second-hand ones and the brake seems to work now, new pads fitted too.

[grogee]

@Cluffy gave me a hand lifting the engine back into the Honda frame (happy birthday to him). Along the way I've dislodged a pipe from something, not sure what yet. Anyway it's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to reassemble, cables and pipes everywhere. I'll have a look tomorrow if it stays dry. 

I know there's an oil feed to the little pump that doses the oil in every time you twist or let go of the throttle. That also has a connection to Y-shaped throttle cable, the other end goes on the carb. There's the carb itself with fuel pipe, then electrical connectors to main harness and temp sensor. Clutch cable to connect, and coolant pipes to and from radiator and coolant bottle. HT lead onto spark plug... And that's it, maybe. 

I think I've noticed that I routed front brake pipe wrong, hopefully I'll be able to remove caliper and thread it through the right way without having to break fluid connection which would require a re-bleed. 

I'm going to take rear wheel off to check bearings and maybe replace 'cush drive' bushes. I'm hoping rear brake won't be too painful to assemble. 

Then I put Maestro into winter mode, by putting the steelies back on with the crappy scratched up plastic covers (I do have a NOS set but there doesn't seem any point using them for winter storage).

[grogee]

Having lifted the bonnet on the Maestro yesterday, I was annoyed about the oily ooze on the front of the block. 

Of course it's pretty trivial but it might be nice to find out where the oil is coming from, and maybe it's no longer an issue. 

It looks to have wept down from the HG but avid readers of this thread will know I'm now on the fifth or sixth gasket and this one appears to be holding fluids in. 

Alternatively maybe it was coming out of the filler pipe that mounts to the block. 

Anyway there was plenty of gunge there. I gave it alternate doses of Gunk and scrubbing, repeated many times until I got bored, then wiped up with a sacrificial pair of pants. 

It's better, not concours but as good as I'll get without dismantling all the bits on the front of the block. 

Maybe I should have left the Gunk to soak longer but it didn't seem particularly efficient at dislodging the grot. In the end I was using a soft brass brush to try and shift it. 

Having done all that I retired it to its lockup. I think I'm going to declare it SORN for the winter now. October is going to be busy for me and I'm unlikely to be wanting to use the car in the damp autumn gloaming.