The Pursuit of Happiness

[straightSix]

On 4/1/2022 at 2:36 PM, Carl1981 said:

The boot lock trim was looking tired (up close)

so I fitted the new one…

what a faff, the boot liner had to come out. So did the number plate lights. The rubber between the trim and the boot lid has a life of its own, so you need about 7 hands to do this quickly! Took well over an hour in the end.

so final prep is a quick wash…

and now it’s snowing 🙄
 

a satisfying day of tinkering though!

I think the xj40s are possibly my favourite Jaguars. Did you used to post over on xj40.com? Feel like I recognize the car

[bezzabsa]

nice to see another Yam Yam on here......

 

 

[Carl1981]

9 hours ago, straightSix said:

I think the xj40s are possibly my favourite Jaguars. Did you used to post over on xj40.com? Feel like I recognize the car

Yes I did, still do occasionally but the forum is pretty much dead these days. It’s a great technical resource still though.

What was your user name on there?

[Carl1981]

7 hours ago, bezzabsa said:

nice to see another Yam Yam on here......

 

 

There’s no getting away from us is there! 🤣

[bezzabsa]

Just now, Carl1981 said:

There’s no getting away from us is there! 🤣

too true....

better than being a Brummy ay it

[Carl1981]

Just now, bezzabsa said:

too true....

better than being a Brummy ay it

‘tis ar! We’m bay as bad as them!

[bezzabsa]

yo cor beat a bostin day in the black country.....

gooin up the cut and lookin at the osses

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

12 hours ago, straightSix said:

I think the xj40s are possibly my favourite Jaguars. Did you used to post over on xj40.com? Feel like I recognize the car

I recognise the car from XJ40.com as well, it is in beautiful condition.

[Carl1981]

It's been a while since I've updated anything on here, but there has been much car activity over the last couple of months...

First thing is the VW, we've managed a couple of holidays in it so far this year, one of which was the Jubilee weekend, hence the wifes  bunting on the awning! Kids still love it.

Ran out of fuel on the way home from the last trip, the fuel gauge has never worked but I've always got on OK using 25mpg as a figure and then calculating the mileage vs what fuel has gone in. Double checked my maths and it appears that I can still do maths, I conclude the van is using more fuel for some reason 🤔 

I cast my mind back to getting the van out of storage and doing my usual fix everything that has broken itself through the winter  trouble free and most enjoyable first run out. The fuel lines had been leaking near the carbs, perished rubber. So I replaced the fuel lines from the tank all the way back, I've had a few aircooled VW's and dodgy fuel lines are known to bring an early end to many cars lives, so it really wasn't worth only replacing a small section.

Its was a good job I did look at the whole system as iirc the fuel line is 6mm and there was no fuel filter fitted. But, the main run through one of the chassis rails was a rigid plastic pipe shoved inside the normal rubber just after the tank and running the length of the van to the fuel pump. 'Strange' I thought, then I measured the pipe, it was only 4mm. I replaced the lot with rubber and thought no more of it.

The van seems a bit perkier (bear in mind its an old VW, so it's pedestrian at best 😂), perhaps the engine was struggling to get enough fuel through that old pipe I thought? Anyway, she struggled to pass the emmisions at the MOT test (running rich) and seems to be flooding a lot and my maths says she's using more fuel than she normally does, so my working theory is that the carbs have been set up to cope with the limited fuel coming through and now the fuel lines have been replaced it needs setting up again.

I will get booked at rolling road services and see what he thinks.

Other than that, the van is great, 8 years we have had her now and she's tax and MOT exempt next year which reduces the pain of the running costs somewhat!

[Carl1981]

The next update is the Jag, my favourite on the fleet.

We went to XJ40 day at Gaydon as mentioned in a previous post, we had a great time amongst all the other '40's that showed up.

Next opportunity to get out and show her was a JEC event in Shropshire. It was good day out and to my surprise my car won its category, much silver ware, well glass ware, was received!

 

A picture of the winners line up, very proud indeed. I've had this car since 2009 and it's always been a case of preserve rather than restore, nice to have all that effort recognised and by the JEC no less!

The car is now sorn'd again as I won't get chance to use it now until September 🙄

[Carl1981]

I previously mentioned that we have Jowetts in the family too, another small break away in May at the annual rally.

My lad is 6 now and hasn't been in Grandad's Jowett that he can remember (because Covid), so this was a real treat for him! Picture below, with Grandad, clearly having defeated the Jowett 😂

[Carl1981]

Finally, the Metro...

I still love this car, gingercators and all! But she's proving to be hard work, I've had her just about one year now and have made many improvements in that time, but she hasn't been running properly, the MOT has expired, she's had to have a tickle with a welding stick and she's been overheating!

It got that bad, I sent her to the naughty corner (MIL driveway) and forgot about her for a couple of weeks months whilst I tried to get my Metro mojo back.

Welding in the rear arches is sorted now, Whilst finishing that job, I cleaned the arches out properly to ensure we'd found and repaired all the rot properly. I was pleasantly surprised by the condition...

I've now touched up any chips or damage and painted the welded areas with the same zinc primer, stone chip, body colour similar blue and then two coats of black dinitrol.

So I'm fairly confident she's solid now, and protected from the elements a little.

Next on my list was the rich running and lumpy idle, unwillingness to run without a bit of choke etc. Fearing all my symptoms could be OMGHGF, I consulted my big book of knowledge...

Took a brave pill and told myself I'm already a couple of grand into this car, she's not completely rotten, must be worth saving and a bit of effort, come on man get a grip!

I thought I'd start by cleaning the carb as I have already replaced all the electrical service items within the last 300 miles. Cleaned everything I could get to without completely dismantling beyond the point of my confidence to re-assemble again. Whilst putting it back together I consulted the haynes manual for cause of rich running on these, the Haynes manual made reference to a vacuum hose and also a breather hose that if blocked can cause rich running.

I checked the breather, fine. Started the car, it was better but not 100% and still wouldn't idle warm without a bit of choke. So disconnected the suggested vacuum pipe and the car settled down, this vacuum pipe goes from the carb to air filter housing and from what I can make out there is a temperature operated switch in the air cleaner housing that should switch vacuum between cold air from the filter and warm air from the manifold, the switch must be past it's best as the car tries to stall if you put your finger over the disconnected vacuum pipe and if you reconnect said vacuum pipe to the air cleaner housing. It's running properly better now, but some further investigation required here I think.

Next up, overheating. I started with a drain and re-fill on the cooling system. I had to fit a new expansion tank cap a couple of months back as it was hissing when the engine was running and whilst cooling down, which I think was letting air into the system. I hadn't been able to bleed the air back out properly so a drain and re-fill seemed a good start point. Flushing through with the hose didn't see anything untoward flush from the system, and the rad was replaced just about 2 years ago, so I was fairly confident to proceed to refill.

One thing I noticed when the car overheated last, just before coming off the road, was that the fan wasn't coming on. It works if you short the wires, so i suspected a faulty switch (or an air lock in the system). I decided the safest thing was to install an override switch in the dashboard. So if the temperature does head for the red I can switch the fan on if it isn't working automatically for any reason.

All these jobs done, I started the car, ran it up to temperature and left it to tick over. It ran well, didn't need much choke and none when warm. Doesn't smell like it is running rich anymore. Fan cut in on its own when temperature reached 3/4, so I'm thinking it was an airlock, but I'll keep my eye on it.

MOT is booked for Tuesday at 11:00, fingers crossed we can get her through and get back to a bit of metroing! I may even be able to get miles on it at last 😲

[Carl1981]

I’ve started another post about thinning the collection down a bit…

but the Metro is the other car that needs some consideration, it’s currently off the road due to (I think) the thermostat not working properly.

after the last post here, she did successfully pass the MOT, a bit more rot was identified in the rear cross member / rear valance area, but nothing terminal.

However, continued kettle series maladies and lack of time means in the last 12 months, it’s spent about 3 months playing up and hasn't covered many miles at all. It hasn’t turned a wheel again for a month now!

I will do the thermostat when the weather cheers up a little, but I think the metro may have to go to support the thinning of the fleet and I promise not to buy anything else for a while immediately to replace the 2 car gap I’ll have in my automotive landscape!

I need to focus on the T25 and the ‘40 and everything has got really expensive over the last 18 months, I’d rather have two or three good (ish) cars than a fleet of knackered cars I can’t afford to fix 😂

my question is this though, what do you guys think a 1994 metro might be worth? I was thinking £2250, but looking at what is available it’s really hard to tell if I’m pitching it right?

[Carl1981]

With a sale now agreed on the T5, I’ve moved focus onto the Metro…

Regarding the T5 though, why is it when I'm buying a car there is none available and they are worth huge sums of money, but when I'm selling no-one wants one?!? Perhaps it's just my taste in cars 🤣

As I mentioned previously, the Metro overheated about a month ago and had to be helped home by the nice people in those yellow vans. We were only 2 miles from home when she overheated, so a top up of water and nurse it home was deemed the best plan of recovery. The Metro was immediately banished to the naughty corner which this time was street parking in a quiet little road around the corner from the house, where I used to be on good terms with the neighbours 😬😂 Then my normal approach to this sort of thing... pretend the car doesn’t exist for a while whilst I decide what to do with her!

I decided the most common fail (apart from OMG HGF) is the thermostat. So I ordered a new OE part from Rimmers and after looking at it for a fortnight, decided to get off my arse and fit it.

After reading in the Haynes manual that the thermostat isn’t an easy part to get at… I first tested the new part in a pan on the hob, definitely working and opening at 88degC so I’ll press on. It is an understatement that these are not an easy part to get to, it’s almost as if Rover started with a thermostat and then built an entire car around it! It took nearly four hours, lots of swearing and quite a bit of skin off my hands, but shiny new part fitted by mid-afternoon Saturday.

Unfortunately a month of being unused had knocked the life out the battery, despite being on charge since early hours Saturday, there wasn’t enough life to spin the engine over, damn. Back on charge then…

Sunday morning, my CTEK charger says the battery is back up to full health, so back on it goes. I checked the coolant level again and started her up, a bit spluttery to start with but once she’d cleared her throat she was fine. Seemed to warm up well so I headed off to the farm shop for gardening supplies. “I used to have one of those” said the guy in the farm shop, “Did yours ever work properly?” I asked 😂

The car appeared to be working well, I drove it home and gave it a wash. Checked the coolant level again, fine. Right, I leave it to run until the fan comes on then. Nope, just getting hotter and hotter. Top rad hose hot, bottom cold, hmmm 🤷‍️. So I tested the old thermostat on the hob, damn, that seems to be working OK too, so it probably wasn't that then.

I know you shouldn’t really, but I then ran the car with the expansion tank cap off, to see if there was any movement of coolant around the system, it looks a still as a mill pond. I confess, my understanding of this coolant system is very limited, but to my mind if I have no movement in the system I could have a duff water pump?

So I’ve decided to banish the Metro again, this time to the MIL driveway a couple of miles away. I can’t put it back where it was, I think it had out stayed it’s welcome outside my now former-mates house!

It’s a shame to banish it again, because the car drives really well and feels like a cheerful and willing little thing and it really does get loads of positive attention. But, the decision I need to make is whether or not to carry on messing about with it, I've had it nearly two years and haven't had it working properly and reliably much in that time at all, I think my love for the Metro has waned 😔

I’ve not got the motiviation to change the water pump and I’m certainly not confident to tackle the worst case, could it be HGF? I’m well aware that people call this engine the kettle series for a good reason!

So I either farm out the work to a garage for diagnostic and whatever comes next, or I sell the car as is. I think I’ve done enough to save her from the scrappy, perhaps someone with a bit of experience on the K-series engine (or just a bit better with the spanners) could finish this off and enjoy a Metro that works properly!

I’m provisionally posting a spares and repairs sale ad, see what interest (if any) we get.

[St.Jude]

I’ve come here based on the for sale thread. So accept my apologies that I can’t buy the car that I might be teaching you to suck eggs.

An issue with the K Series (apparently) is the location of the thermostat. The thermostat is located where the cold water from the radiator comes back. Land Rover came out with a PRV (think that’s what it’s called) upgrade which means the thermostat is operated on the water leaving the engine block, so that the water is cooled down in a better way without leading to thermal shock.

It’s something to think about.

[320touring]

@Carl1981 it sounds like a waterpump not moving fluid. 

 

I don't imagin an a- series pump is particularly complex to fit - maybe worth a quick browse of YouTube to see if there is a step by step guide?

[Carl1981]

Just now, 320touring said:

@Carl1981 it sounds like a waterpump not moving fluid. 

 

I don't imagin an a- series pump is particularly complex to fit - maybe worth a quick browse of YouTube to see if there is a step by step guide?

That was my thought, the water pump isn’t moving the fluid around. 

Im not keen on getting into a big project at the moment, I’ve got plenty of other crap old cars that need my attention unfortunately. I’ve never seen an a series fitted in a rover metro, but the a-series was a good little engine.

when I’ve got some time later in the week, I’m going to ring a couple of garages and get some thoughts and prices on swapping the water pump. It’d be easier to sell if it was working properly!

[M'coli]

1 hour ago, 320touring said:

@Carl1981 it sounds like a waterpump not moving fluid. 

 

I don't imagin an a- series pump is particularly complex to fit - maybe worth a quick browse of YouTube to see if there is a step by step guide?

K-series...😉

[320touring]

17 minutes ago, M'coli said:

K-series...😉

Ah fuck🤣

[Carl1981]

1 hour ago, 320touring said:

Ah fuck🤣

I read that as you were suggesting putting an A-series engine in 😂🤦‍♂️ Probably be more reliable!

[320touring]

27 minutes ago, Carl1981 said:

I read that as you were suggesting putting an A-series engine in 😂🤦‍♂️ Probably be more reliable!

More just my trying to forget the existence of the Rover Metro/100🤣

[M'coli]

If you fit metro diesel engine mounts it'll take most of Peugeot's TU family of engines, I'd imagine.

[Carl1981]

I’m having a great week!

metro - still overheating, fuck

camper van - started lovely after winter storage, but won’t move, no pressure on the clutch pedal, fuck again

Jaguar, fuelling issue, FTP, broke down 2 miles from the lock up 🤬

I've just spent 6.5 hours waiting for recovery, just got in, missus has kept my tea warm and made me a cuppa, lovely.

I’ve just realised that I’ve left all my non car keys (house, office etc) at the lock up where the Jag has been recovered to, half an hour away! FML! 
 

Off I fuck back down to the lock up then 😂

[Carl1981]

I’ve not updated this for about three weeks…

I got my keys back!

The Metro is now having the head gasket done at a local engine place, they seem to know their onions so 🤞 that will soon be back and working properly.

The FTP Jag needs the footwell fuse boxes refurbishing, a mate in the owners club does a lot of this sort of thing so I’ve removed those and shipped them off to him for an overhaul.

Parts have arrived for the camper van, actually they arrived last week. I did try to swap the slave cylinder out last week but my attempts were futile, I couldn’t even undo the hydraulic line for fear of rounding the bolts / fittings.

so I’ve ordered some flange spanners so that I can apply more force. I’ve left the whole lot soaking in penetrating fluid over the last week.

back down the lock up for more knuckle grazing spanner wielding frustration enjoyable tinkering tomorrow, I need this fixed pretty urgently now as we’re supposed to be away in this van on the south coast in a fortnight! 😬

[Carl1981]

Oh yeah, the daily Jag (XE) also decided that it wanted some attention, so it shit it’s dynamic engine mountings.

another job farmed out as that one is way too involved for me and I can’t afford to be without a car for work…

there was a time I enjoyed messing around with cars, but it gets a bit testing when they’re all in various states of brokenness!

[Carl1981]

I’ve had some success with this van today 😃

headed off to the storage in the Metro, because the head gasket is fixed and I rarely get chance to use that car. Buzzed along happily, nice exhaust note , whiney  little transmission (the soundtrack of my childhood 😃), great handling, made me smile and put me in the mood to sort the van out!

An hour of fucking about careful spannering finally got the slave cylinder out, although I had to cut the old bolts out with a dremel.

A month of weekly soaking in penetrating fluid saw the hydraulic line to flexi joint finally come free without butchering the union 👍

I have to say I’m proud of my work today I’ve made this job look bloody difficult!

bleeding the clutch took more effort than I’d have thought, seemed to be bleeding it for ages before the clutch actually worked at all. And an age longer before the biting point wasn’t on the floor anymore!

But the van finally moves under its own steam again with a fully functional clutch. I’ve missed her this summer, a week of proper camping in a tent with kids really made me realise how great these vans are 😂

So she’s fully functional, the log book is back from the DVLA and she’s now an historic vehicle and free from the burden of tax and MOTs. 

best get my arse in gear and refit the refurbished fuse boxes in the Jag! I’ll have a fully functional fleet again soon 🤞🏻

[Carl1981]

So the fuse boxes are back in the Jag and that seems to be working again. Starting instantly and running smooth, it needs a good check and some time running to test that it’s fixed properly… but I’m out of MOT!

Onto SORN for now then, looks like it’ll be after the summer holiday before I get onto proving the repairs and getting an MOT on that one again!

My thinking is that I’m better to keep the ones that are currently working taxed and tested, other wise they’ll all slip into a range of sort of working but not road legal, so…

The Metro is booked in for Monday for four new ditch-finders to be fitted. The MOT has about a month left and it’ll definitely need tyres for that!

I’m amazed they hold air! They’ve really deteriorated over the last couple of months! And before I get a load of comments about how dangerous those tyres are, it’s only done about 100 miles in the last six months and they’ve been all at 30mph or less as the fucking thing hasn’t run properly since last year! The last 40 miles have been done since the head work was completed, she’s running well at the moment so tyres are next on the list if it’s going to see any use!

I’ve found a new parcel shelf for it too, although I haven’t got it yet as I want to see it before I part with any cash, I’ve bought ‘perfect’ condition parts before 🙄 often the parts I’m taking off are better! 

We’re off to the British Leyland and BMC day at the motor museum next weekend, so I might finally be able to enjoy owning an old car this year!

I’ll then get it into the MOT man in mid July so that will be OK for another year or ready to be sold etc…

hopefully I’ll go on my summer holildays with 2/3 of the shite fleet working well!

In other news a company car might be on the horizon again, so I’ll be trying to move the XE on at some point, which is a shame because I very carefully selected that car as a long termer 🤷‍♂️

[Carl1981]

Today was reasonably successful, 4 new ditch-finders fitted to the Metro. Should have been fitted this morning having ordered them on Friday, but they hadn’t turned up so I had to take my lad with me after the school run this afternoon, adds a layer of interest to the wait having a seven year old in tow!

new tyres have made a huge difference to the feel of the car, more supple and the very slight wheel shake (which has always been there and I hadn’t really considered anything to be wrong) has gone!

The lack of tyres in the morning, meant I had time to go and pick up the replacement parcel shelf, it is in very nice condition so £40 was agreed. Find another as they say!

I had some time during the day between fetching parcel shelf and doing the school runs, to get the metro prepped for the coming weekend, so she’s had a good seeing to with autoglym super resin polish, which always brings this car up well. She’s looking really nice at the moment and seems to enjoy being used a bit.

the XE had a clean too, also now looking very clean and tidy 😎

[Carl1981]

Good news for once this morning, the Metro now has a new MOT.

Last years advisory on the rear valance became a fail, which the garage knew about and were going to repair today anyway. But now that repairs done the car has a new MOT certificate... Plus a new advisory for corrosion on the front floor, not terrible yet, but needs attention before it deteriorates any further.

So re-fitting the rear bumper and getting the front floor cleaned up, painted and resealed look like jobs for next weekend.

I have no photo's of the repairs yet as I can't get to pick up the car up until Monday, but i expect MOT repair quality welding rather than restoration quality, it's all hidden by the bumper so it doesn't make any difference really!

[bezzabsa]

picky MOT tester if he failed the rear valance......but good to hear its all legal again