1986 Vauxhall Carlton CDi, Daily use of a 38yr old car.

[sutty2006]

Morning all.

you already know what this is. Eagerly waiting to find out it’s fate? Probably not. The last one I had was a lovely car, had lots of attention but no love when I needed to part with it. 
 

but who cares right? I’m a sucker for punishment and miss owning one. But gone are the days of me hooking a trailer up and setting off at 5am to collect a potential project. I have called on the services of mr Ceri, (no idea how we tag folk?) but he’s currently strapping it down for a journey North. 
 

on arrival…. It lives in a large barn no doubt! 
 

 

I might set up my camping chair at the end of my drive and wait for it to arrive….. 😆

[eddyramrod]

Huggy?

 

And tagging people is easy, just use the @ and start typing a name, you'll get a drop-down list of suggestions.  Thus: @sutty2006

[sutty2006]

Unfortunately not huggy, although I wouldn’t mind another yank in my life @eddyramrod hey it works!!!!! Thanks! 

[worldofceri]

Not  sure if I’m allowed to give the game away, so I’ve disguised it as a Land Rover.

[sutty2006]

No, people know me as a bit of a Carlton licker, and I can tell the suspense is KILLING people in here, so here it is, or was…. It’ll be on the M6 by now if thinks are going well. 

[bezzabsa]

spoiler too......ooooooooooooooh

[worldofceri]

Leaving Somerset.

[worldofceri]

Frankley (My Dear I Couldn’t Give A Damn) Services.

[sutty2006]

Such a handsome motor 🥰

[AnnoyingPentium]

Levels of jealousy are beyond belief right now.

[eddyramrod]

19 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

Such a handsome motor 🥰

They are, aren't they?  Probably the best of their period, at least in their class.

[sutty2006]

ITS HERE!!!!!!

 

bonus pick of Ceri ass. Sorry. 

[sutty2006]

Work has already begun. Just couldn’t help myself. 
 

firstly need to check if it turns over. So I’ve pulled the plugs out and fired some motor mystery oil (3 in 1) down the bores to allow the rings to free up just incase. 
 

 

letting that settle while I convince myself I did the right thing 🤣

[bezzabsa]

2 hours ago, worldofceri said:

Frankley (My Dear I Couldn’t Give A Damn) Services.

could have waved..i can (sort of) see Frankly from my balcony

[sutty2006]

With the plugs out, and a healthy amount of lube down the bores, she turns over on a spanner. 

 

time to put a battery in and see what occurs. Wow. An unrotten battery tray. 

 

rare.

 

battery in, king lead off, let’s go. 
 

[sutty2006]

[Lord Sterling]

10 minutes ago, bezzabsa said:

I can (sort of) see Frankly from my balcony

My condolences. Frankly is errr....yeah....

Nice Carlton Sutty! Lucky man. 2200?  Also, whats the interior look like, large soft velour armchairs?

[sutty2006]

Started doing a compression test on cylinder one. 150psi. Started on number 2 but smelt petrol, so pulled the plug. Need to pull the fuse for fuel pump as expected, all the injection pipes are split. 😆

[sutty2006]

2 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

My condolences. Frankly is errr....yeah....

Nice Carlton Sutty! Lucky man. 2200?  Also, whats the interior look like, large soft velour armchairs?

The comfiest seats you’ll ever sit in. 

[bezzabsa]

4 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

My condolences. Frankly is errr....yeah....

yup I agree...luckily its about 7 miles as the crow flies from me..

[sutty2006]

So I pulled the fuse for the fuel pump. And carried on. Compression test on number 2 is 125 psi. Not good. However the battery I am using has gone flat, so that won’t help matters (it’s the old battery off next doors Skoda roomster diesel) I’ll leave that on charge for an hour then try again. In the mean time……

 

late 80s sharp tape player. Epic. That’s definitely staying in. It’s even got paperwork!

 

while I was looking through the paper work I wanted to see if there was any details of its selling dealer. Unfortunately the service books been wet, but that doesn’t stop the hunt. 
 

something welch ltd? 
 

time to crack open the dealer network book 

 

and bingo. We have a winner. Welch LTD. Anyone know anything about that dealer? 
 

[Dan29]

48 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

Welch LTD. Anyone know anything about that dealer? 

Became Drive Vauxhall at some point, and then closed a year or two ago. Was here: 

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4505323,-2.5770608,3a,75y,83.09h,76.53t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sZgefelc7eVj3P1y2lwHVbg!2e0!5s20210301T000000!7i16384!8i8192

[sutty2006]

With a fresh bit of juice in the battery it’s run 150/155/153/160 so for now I’m happy with that. Even scores 

[sutty2006]

More digging. 
 

Looks like more options were ticked when new. Air fed rear shockers were not uncommon on these and later mk3 Carltons. Found a bundle of service history, which mentions rear shockers being replaced a few times, I wonder if original air ones have been used. 
 

 

and the spoiler that I couldn’t identify? A genuine GM part for Rekord E. so it’s genuine alright! I’ll be leaving that on too! 
 

[Wibble]

Fantastic! I bloody love these, Dad had an A reg estate company car one of these in the early 80s. Best company car he ever had. Look forward to seeing this one progress.

[Bren]

I remember somebody I went school with got dropped off in her father's 2000i on an A reg.

[Zelandeth]

If it's been sitting a while anywhere north of 100psi I'd not worry about until it's got a bit of heat into it to free things off and burned the crap away from around the valves.

[sutty2006]

With the plugs out it turns over very well indeed. So they weren’t massively stuck. These CIH engines are very robust. The 2.0 I refreshed for my B series last year had been sat 30 odd years and it runs sweet as a nut. 
 

unfortunately I’m working for the next 4 days so won’t be able to tinker until next week. 

[cort1977]

5 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

while I convince myself I did the right thing 🤣

 

Well I'm convinced you did anyway.

Lovely looking things these, my Dad had two of the later ones but these are the best lookers I reckon.  

I know it's probably sacrilege on these pages but I would be very tempted by some reversible lowering and wheels treatment to this fine machine.  Sorry, I'll get my coat.

 

[sutty2006]

1 minute ago, cort1977 said:

Well I'm convinced you did anyway.

Lovely looking things these, my Dad had two of the later ones but these are the best lookers I reckon.  

I know it's probably sacrilege on these pages but I would be very tempted by some reversible lowering and wheels treatment to this fine machine.  Sorry, I'll get my coat.

 

The estate I bought years ago had been cut with a grinder. I could have throttled the c**t that did that to it. It made it poor to handle, constant under steer, but also hard to find replacement estate springs. Wish this was an estate really. Could get dog in the boot then.