jonathan_dyane Posted January 20 Posted January 20 Good point, much easier to find a Talbot Express rocker and shaft!
meowmeow Posted January 20 Author Posted January 20 59 minutes ago, cobblers said: That engine looks mega familiar from when I had my Talbot Express!! Quite pleasant old lumps. Do these suffer with mega warping exhaust manifolds like the talbots do? Be worth putting a straight edge on it before you bolt it all back together. The iron is v soft, I lapped mine flat with a couple of sheets of emery cloth spray glued to some 22mm mdf Yep pretty sure they're the same, or at least very similar, XM7 is the engine code Thanks for the suggestion, I did check the manifold back when I was replacing the studs and it seems ok so that's good 54 minutes ago, jonathan_dyane said: Good point, much easier to find a Talbot Express rocker and shaft! For some reason I read that as "much easier to find a Talbot Express than a rocker and shaft" Don't think I've got space for anything else haha jonathan_dyane 1
DSdriver Posted January 20 Posted January 20 If your cam followers are shagged don't buy new chineseum but source some reusable old ones. The new ones that were used on my DS engine rebuild only lasted a couple of weeks before the tappets were rattling like the notorious skeleton enjoying itself. I think they must have forgotten to case harden them or something.
captain_70s Posted January 20 Posted January 20 39 minutes ago, DSdriver said: If your cam followers are shagged don't buy new chineseum but source some reusable old ones. New ones for Triumph OHV lumps are also known for disintegrating rapidly and sending swarf through the engine... DSdriver 1
Zelandeth Posted January 20 Posted January 20 Looks like that engine had had about as much care given to it as the one in the Merc S123 I had a few years back. Lubrication in that had been neglected to the point that the rear end of the camshaft and followers had eaten each other and the camshaft had ground its way a good millimetre down into the head. It's astonishing what neglect can do to an engine - and in this case how well it can still run despite the damage. The only real sign of trouble I had here was that the top end clattered like an 1100 Fiesta the whole time. Hopefully you're not going to be finding quite this level of carnage! I'd have liked to pull a bearing cap or two off the bottom end of this engine to see what state that was in but it turned out not to be possible without at least partly removing the engine because of a cross member being in the way of the sump coming off and I didn't have time to take the engine out. I'm guessing the answer if I had got things apart would have been "not pretty" given that the warm oil pressure wasn't great and I was sure it was knocking a bit at higher revs. meowmeow, Bear and N Dentressangle 1 2
meowmeow Posted January 20 Author Posted January 20 1 hour ago, Zelandeth said: Looks like that engine had had about as much care given to it as the one in the Merc S123 I had a few years back. Lubrication in that had been neglected to the point that the rear end of the camshaft and followers had eaten each other and the camshaft had ground its way a good millimetre down into the head. It's astonishing what neglect can do to an engine - and in this case how well it can still run despite the damage. The only real sign of trouble I had here was that the top end clattered like an 1100 Fiesta the whole time. Hopefully you're not going to be finding quite this level of carnage! I'd have liked to pull a bearing cap or two off the bottom end of this engine to see what state that was in but it turned out not to be possible without at least partly removing the engine because of a cross member being in the way of the sump coming off and I didn't have time to take the engine out. I'm guessing the answer if I had got things apart would have been "not pretty" given that the warm oil pressure wasn't great and I was sure it was knocking a bit at higher revs. jesus that doesn't look great I did pull the cam followers out today to have a peek at the condition of the lobes on the camshaft, and they looked totally fine, but then again I can't turn the engine over with the head off as it'll probably unseat the liners One of the next jobs on the list is to take the sump off anyway to knock the dent out of it, so might get a better look at things then. Weird as it's just the one rocker that's knackered, all the others are fine . The wear looks like it was running like that for a while, so either just a blockage or maybe design weakness?
Bmwdumptruck Posted January 20 Posted January 20 I reckon sump off is a good idea. Wet liners are a pain, a couple of bits of angle iron bolted across the tops would let you turn it over. Dj_efk and mk2_craig 1 1
meowmeow Posted February 4 Author Posted February 4 tiny bit more progress stingy me not wanting to buy a new bonnet release cable, pulled the old snapped cable out of the stopper, drilled it out and whacked in some new slightly thicker wire seems to actuate the latches fine Removed the rear seats and panel covering the back edge of the boot floor to check how far the rust goes answer: weirdly not as far as I was expecting Stops just after the downwards bend so I should be able to do this without dropping the rear suspension more dirty dirty cleany cleany Got sick of hitting my head on the tailgate every time I squeezed past it to get out of the garage, so decided it was better I just remove it - got a rust-free replacement that'll be going on at some point anyway First step, hairdryer: Idea here being soften up the brittle headliner so it doesn't split when I peel it off the lip surprisingly actually worked Moral of the story, don't try and remove a 504 tailgate by yourself - it is heavy even when I acquired assistance it still fell on my head Oil filter housing off, ready to be cleaned: and new gasket cut out: eh, close enough rinse and repeat with the oil filler thingy: Worth mentioning that the reason this is taking so long is that, for the most part, I am incompetent, case in point: Thought I'd ring the local Peugeot dealer and see if they could get me an oil filter. Did I check the part numbers? No. Did I check the dimensions? No. Did I even bother to check the old filter that was on the car? Also no, of course I just threw it in the bin. They gave me a filter that matched according to their parts database, I thought great, looks ok to me, let me order another one since I'll be doing a few oil changes in succession once I get the engine running to make sure everything's clean. Finally actually bother to see if it'll fit the car, and quelle surprise it does not. Dimensions are correct, but the thread is M18, not M20 as it is on the filter. Fine, silly me, I'll just look online to try and find the correct filter. But what is this? Apparently the M18 variant is a pain to get a hold of and the Puflux equivalent is NLA. Hmm, let me fish that old filter out of the bin, maybe I can get a part number off of that? Ok, well I mean it must've worked but not really ideal. Either way I can't read the part number off of it anyway so back in the bin it goes. After cross referencing filters for several hours, it turns out that the filter for a late 90s Astra 1.4 is near-enough identical to the correct Peugeot filter?? The Purflux part number is LS206, but isn't listed as compatible for some reason. Bought one anyway and it's perfectly fine. So ordered some cheapo crossland equivalents as well: So, conclusion: any money I saved repairing the bonnet release cable was blown on oil filter shittery. Well done me. Guess that's how you learn innit Anyway in that time the replacement rocker arm and shaft arrived so that got assembled: At this point the guy who sold me the car kindly notified me that one of the cylinder liners had popped loose when he was freeing up the engine. Time to test that theory: Ah yep, ok everyone out then... Took the one liner out and cleaned it up to assess its condition; not too bad, they'll probably go again. New set of rings ordered, and aluminium liner seals on backorder, so haven't taken the other liners out just yet. Bought a stereo, meeting the main criteria: 1. Be period correct, late 70s early 80s 2. Have cassette and radio functionality 3. Be less than £30 but not sound like shit Had a look inside, belts need replacing, interestingly has a Lenco mechanism - never seen one of those before Finally, time to sort out the car's wonky face. As a reminder here's what we're dealing with: Needs pushing forward a bit for the bolt holes to line up: After pissing off all my neighbours for a few hours, we had this: Not perfect but nobody's gonna see it under the panel, so long as it all lines up. Test fitting the body panels: Ok, but the gap between the top of the headlight and front panel was still a bit too big for my liking, so a bit more manipulating and: That'll do for now, though all this does create some new tolerance problems regarding my ability to close the garage door and I haven't even put the bumper on yet... Hopefully in the next update I'll have sorted out the new liner seals, pistons and whatever's going on with the dented sump. junkyarddog, Wibble, greengartside and 28 others 31
Zelandeth Posted February 4 Posted February 4 Only thing to be aware of when swapping oil filters around is that some have non return valves in. So long as you're not trying to push oil the wrong way through it if there is one you'll probably be fine though. N Dentressangle and meowmeow 2
Dj_efk Posted February 5 Posted February 5 Just discovered this thread - what a delightful old bus and kudos to you for saving it - it would almost certainly end up as Irish bean tins eventually otherwise. Agree with the advice re: oil filter - I’m sure you will, but just be careful to turn it over with the plugs out when the lump is all back together and check that oil is getting to the top end visually and the light goes out in good time (within 4/5 seconds) and if so, it’ll be areet. meowmeow 1
meowmeow Posted February 5 Author Posted February 5 2 hours ago, Dj_efk said: Just discovered this thread - what a delightful old bus and kudos to you for saving it - it would almost certainly end up as Irish bean tins eventually otherwise. Agree with the advice re: oil filter - I’m sure you will, but just be careful to turn it over with the plugs out when the lump is all back together and check that oil is getting to the top end visually and the light goes out in good time (within 4/5 seconds) and if so, it’ll be areet. Thanks! Yep that's exactly the plan 👍 Dj_efk 1
meowmeow Posted March 12 Author Posted March 12 sit rep - am still waiting for cylinder liner seals so more silly little bits this time. Ran new wiring for the headlights, park lights, indicators and horn Connected the battery and as expected it behaved very french - Got indicators, oil temperature and fuel gauge, but nothing else. I had hazards for a bit but then they got grumpy too. No dash lights, no wipers, park lights, headlights (controlled by the same stalk), no interior lights. Interestingly both tail light bulbs were blown when I opened the housing, so who know's what's been going on. Think the heater fan works but it's seized - will sort that when I do the heater matrix. Did turn the key too far by accident and found out it turns over on the starter fine though... Had a quick lookie, cleaned the grounds and the blade connections on the fusebox, alas nadda Five fuses and one relay vs one human bean with no automotive electrical knowledge. I'll come back to this later Went to remove the rear wheel to weld up the last bit of the o/s sill and Right that'll be a pair of axle seals then o/s sill repaired: infinitely grateful that the guy who sold me the car found a sill repair panel for this bit n/s however is going to be fun... Top bit's slightly wobbly admittedly but will be covered by chrome trim so shhh Very limited clearance between car and wall to remove the half shaft, so had to dolly the thing across the garage even then only squeaked out with about 3cm to spare... Someone's been in here before, and somehow split the washers Manual says there are meant to be paper gaskets, so let's make some: New oil slinger as the one in there looked quite sad Measured depth and used a variety of genuine Peugeot special tools to fit the new slinger: 1. Freezer (for shrinkage) 2. Various plumbing fittings that happened to be the right diameter 3. Return of the terrible Amazon cheapo puller 4. Finely crafted block of wood. Still managed to twat the side of my index finger with the mallet and probably caused a hairline fracture swelled up like a balloon and couldn't move it for 3 days, still hurts now 3 weeks later and I can't set the choke on the Golf without crying ffs Took the half-shaft to get the old bearing and lock ring driven off, then fitted new axle seal: Seal is new but the bearing and lock ring are ancient Found that everything new I buy for this car is shit quality, so NOS stuff or repairing what's on it seems to be far more sensible Now to pre-heat the oven to 250 degrees Pressed on new bearing and lock ring which was a pain as couldn't for the life of me remove the studs from this bit so had to stack all kinds of weird things in the press to get some clearance More grot welded and painted: Read somewhere that you can fully disassemble and unravel the crankcase ventilation scourer pad thing good thing i did as following the theme it was disgusting Brake light switch was jammed in the off position, so removed, disassembled and cleaned up: Interestingly the pedal doesn't seem to 100% line up with it, so will have to look into that at some point New ground wires for the strut tops Time to investigate the wiper motor, presumed seized Step 1 remove the leaves Yep, pretty jammed up in there Cleaned up the spindle as best I could, it was quite rusty unfortunately, but seems to operate and spin nicely now All re-greased and reassembled But of course can't actually test it on the car as happy days there's no power getting to it from the stalk Lastly while rummaging in the dashboard I found some free chewing gum! and a parking ticket from Watermouth Castle - a fair journey considering the previous UK address it was registered under was in Hayes, and before that Twickenham Also, the £1 kitchen is now looking like a solid £20 kitchen thanks to some snazzy wallpaper sdkrc, Sunny Jim, IronStar and 19 others 22
jim89 Posted March 12 Posted March 12 17 minutes ago, Supernaut said: Why do strut tops need ground wires...? Static cling innit
Rustyrotavator Posted March 13 Posted March 13 Hey the work, on the car is amazing ur far better than Daytime TV. Just realised uv got a 70s vibe going looking at the kitchen and what looks like a queen of the cookers -Parkinson Cowan- colour so redolent of the era . A real quality make. Carry on , I'm so enjoying your struggles , ingenuity and successes meowmeow 1
meowmeow Posted March 13 Author Posted March 13 55 minutes ago, Rustyrotavator said: what looks like a queen of the cookers -Parkinson Cowan- colour so redolent of the era . A real quality make. That's exactly correct, found it in the basement where i used to work and nabbed it before it got scrapped gotta say it was bloody awkward dragging up the flight of stairs though
Dj_efk Posted March 14 Posted March 14 A word of advice - even if they look fine, I would replace all fuses, you may find more of the electrics magically then fix themselves. meowmeow 1
meowmeow Posted March 14 Author Posted March 14 2 hours ago, Dj_efk said: A word of advice - even if they look fine, I would replace all fuses, you may find more of the electrics magically then fix themselves. ah forgot to mention that was literally the first thing i did, a couple pretty much fell apart in my hand I've got to take all the connectors apart and have a look under the dash as if I wriggle the loom with my hand the relay sometimes clicks on and off, so something's a bit loose by the sounds of it Dj_efk 1
Dj_efk Posted March 14 Posted March 14 Or possibly the connections need a tickle with some emery - unlikely to be something’s worked loose unless there was an intermittent fault when it was on the road, I’d have thought? Just my way of thinking anyway.
meowmeow Posted March 14 Author Posted March 14 47 minutes ago, Dj_efk said: Or possibly the connections need a tickle with some emery - unlikely to be something’s worked loose unless there was an intermittent fault when it was on the road, I’d have thought? Just my way of thinking anyway. good point, will have a look at this once i've recovered from contorting myself into weird shapes to get under the dash Dj_efk, mk2_craig and Low ontime 3
meowmeow Posted March 26 Author Posted March 26 more electrical bits was discussing with the guy i bought the car from about replacement connectors, and he just said look I'll send you the whole section of the loom from one of the 504s I'm breaking touch! very sound guy he is, sent it up to NI to be posted to me avoiding customs checks from ROI got rid of my wiring (which incidentally was correct), and spliced in new section of loom with the correct connectors for the park and indicator lights Went back over the rest of the wiring and cleaned all the grounds and connections i could find There are 3 grounds in a ridiculous location up on the firewall, that you can see with the clocks removed, but need child hands to get to. so ended up removing the heater box (and associated mouse nests and leaves) to get to them from underneath. good chance to get the heater matrix out, minding I don't damage the delicate spiral thingy some kind of thermostatic control for the valve in the matrix inlet i think? No pictures of the grounds because even with the heater removed it was a massive pain in the arse to wriggle my way between the seats, gearstick, dash frame and transmission tunnel to clean them but not in vain as after doing so the choke tell-tale light and heater fan came back to life. Test rigged up the fuel gauge, and disassembled the brake fluid level sensor to clean it up Next opened up the relay and cleaned the contacts cleaned everything else some more still not working Spent days checking all the switches and wiring to and from the fuse box with a multimeter, it's all testing good? am i just this bad at troubleshooting electrical problems? scanned the wiring diagram from HBOL so i could look at it clearer on my computer screen noticed this: main power wire (1) to the relay from the.... positive battery terminal hang on a mo pretty sure... ah fuck sake. connected it to the negative terminal didn't I switched it over and whaddya know everything's behaving itself now Except the wipers, which are permanently on in the 1st speed. Noticed when i got the car that the stalk was in the on position, and I couldn't twist it to get the second wiper speed - guessing as the wiper motor was seized, when our guy was turning the engine over on the starter it probably fried the switch, which receives direct power, not from the relay The connectors did look a bit melted. tested the switch and the pins for the wiper operation are shorted New switch ordered from switzerland New base for the interior light as the old one had disintegrated: With that sorted, went back to investigating why the pedals are all weird. Turns out the brake pedal was bent, so pursuaded it to bend back the other way and now lines up with the brake light switch and doesn't foul on anything: Got the arm for the clutch pedal out, and that too was looking a very odd shape Ordered a new arm, slightly different, but can see here how messed up the original was (on the left) and everything clears properly now, instead of the arm bumping into the brake booster when the clutch pedal is depressed: Apparently the liner seals are still in France, as the guy didn't fill the customs paperwork properly and has now gone on holiday till 30th March... AnnoyingPentium, rainagain, High Jetter and 18 others 21
Tickman Posted March 26 Posted March 26 There is all kinds of wonderful stuff going on here. Excellent to see the revival of stuff rather than just trying to order a replacement. Matty, tooSavvy, Cluffy and 2 others 3 2
meowmeow Posted March 26 Author Posted March 26 14 minutes ago, Tickman said: Excellent to see the revival of stuff rather than just trying to order a replacement. to be fair half the time i don't really have a choice as the parts are either NLA or stupid expensive haha but also there's definitely some fun in trying to get decrepit old rubbish to work again adw1977 1
meowmeow Posted May 4 Author Posted May 4 alright, welcome back to my world of self-inflicted pain First thing, replacement column stalk (from Switzerland because of course there are about 4 different types of stalk, and that's the only place I could find the correct one for my car) fixed the wipers - good stuff Rad and heater matrix were taken to be re-cored and pressure-tested respectively. Which meant I had to venture into the depths of Croydon to drop them off, so the ULEZ people got a lovely photo of my ASDA bag (pending thermostat replacement) I really should sort this thing out it's starting to look terrible Nice re-con'd radiator, and small patch on the matrix (big up Aaron Radiator, and sorry for taking so long to come and pick them up) Dash was pretty rusty, so sanded off the worst bits and resprayed it Still need to sort the ashtray door, but the rest looks alright now: Had the black paint out so thought I'd replace the wiper arms as well Took what was left of the old arms off, of course the seal was shagged and the spindle was just wobbling around: Luckily one from a 2CV fits, and is only £2 Painted around the spindle with some colour-matched paint, but forgot to take a pic. Replacement arms repainted and installed: Somehow forgot to remove the blue paint from the plastic covers Sorted a hole And replaced the grease nipples, regreased the lower ball joints Unfortunately can't actually take them apart as these have a really weird specific 3-pronged ball-joint socket that seem to be like hen's teeth Good news! After four and a half months, the liner seals finally arrived Ok, drop the sump first Clearance is ridiculously tight in that you have to unbolt and drop the oil pump to wrestle the sump out between the front cross-member and the bottom of the engine. As usual, sludgy times ite everyone out of the pool Ok new set of shells it is then Thankfully the crank is actually ok Wire wheel time on the block, and cleaned up the liner mating surfaces Unfortunately the rear-most liner was toast But a new one was all of £20! (excluding postage from France) Rings on 3/4 pistons came off ok, but the piston from the dead cylinder was playing it very stubborn I don't have a blow torch, so in you go: This surprisingly sort of worked Rings still put up a bit of a fight New rings which was a pain as the one of the oil control rings was properly the wrong size (I've read somewhere that goetze rings can sometimes be a bit shit, but they're the only ones I could find for this engine) and caused the securing rings to jam up in the liner of piston 2 ended up re-honing the liner, cleaning the best of the old oil control rings and reusing for that piston - finger's crossed eh? Cleaned the block surface and popped the liners back in The new liner is level with the others, so that's nice Went through an entire can of brake clean and a third of a litre of acetone to clean the oil pump Knocked most of the dent out of the sump, gave it a lick of whatever paint then sat cross-legged on the floor for 20 mins cleaning bolts like a sad arse Cut the heads off two of the old head bolts and turned them into guide pins for the head Head back on and torqued down Then for a game of bloody buckaroo exhaust manifold gaskets don't hang on the studs, only takes a tiny tap and they all fall on the bloody floor this happened about 10 times before I realised that it's much easier if you use a jack to lift the exhaust into place... Lipstick on a pig, but I am very grateful that they are 13s not 12s like the old ones, as I don't have a 12mm spanner and can't remember ever having to use my 12mm socket on anything else Spacer for the carb, which was actually a bit of a pain to get a hold of And popped the fan back on to avoid losing the bolts Now for big bad problemo When I got the car I noticed that the crank pulley was different to the one it had when I went to view it Asked the guy who sold me the car about it and got some vague weird answer Anyway there's a tiny bit of play in the pulley: https://youtu.be/Ui340_Z_D0E Looks like somebody's been in here many years ago and appears to have welded the nut to the end of the crank? Take it the threads on the crank are stripped, though I don't know how bad The correct thread repair die is £65 I have a new crank bolt, but I'd have to cut the old one off as it won't undo (and trying any more will probably shag what's left of the threads) So Do I 1) Cut the bolt off, try and re-tap the threads, and pray that they aren't too fucked that there's nothing I can do, then sit on the floor and cry because the engine has to come out to get the crankshaft out or 2) Just weld the bugger and send it or 3) Try option 1, and if the threads are fucked, then just put the new bolt on and weld it anyway or 4) Just leave it alone and hope the woodruff key doesn't explode Wibble, Marina door handles, junkyarddog and 10 others 13
DodgeRover Posted May 4 Posted May 4 If the crank pulley was changed between you viewing and getting it dropped off then someone must have had that nut undone, if there is even the slightest bit of play the woodruff key will just fret away, probably wearing the crank and pulley keyways in the process.....lock tight would probably help if you can get it apart clean and back together semi tight. meowmeow 1
DSdriver Posted May 4 Posted May 4 The heater matrix pics which you posted a while back (only just found this thread) look remarkably similar to the DS items except the top mount. The shutoff valve at the top on the DS is plastic and can very easily be leant on and crack if you are doing stuff in that part of the engine so I put a small block under the hose output to support it because even if I am being careful I still manage to lean on it and break it. If your's is under the dash you won't have this problem, on the DS it is on the engine side of the bulkhead. meowmeow 1
meowmeow Posted May 4 Author Posted May 4 16 minutes ago, DSdriver said: The heater matrix pics which you posted a while back (only just found this thread) look remarkably similar to the DS items except the top mount. The shutoff valve at the top on the DS is plastic and can very easily be leant on and crack if you are doing stuff in that part of the engine so I put a small block under the hose output to support it because even if I am being careful I still manage to lean on it and break it. If your's is under the dash you won't have this problem, on the DS it is on the engine side of the bulkhead. Luckily it's under the dash, Here's a closer picture of the shutoff valve, does look similar to that of a DS - I'd better be careful with it as it is indeed made of plastic and I doubt I'd be able to find a replacement easily...
Surface Rust Posted May 5 Posted May 5 Some great work going on there. Curious why after all the work getting in there you didn't replace the other three liners as well, £20 each seems a bargain! meowmeow 1
meowmeow Posted May 5 Author Posted May 5 32 minutes ago, Surface Rust said: Some great work going on there. Curious why after all the work getting in there you didn't replace the other three liners as well, £20 each seems a bargain! I was considering it, but was a bit concerned whether the replacement liners would be of decent quality (turns out they were fine), and the engine only has 70k on the clock so seemed a bit of a waste to replace things unnecessarily tooSavvy, Surface Rust and mk2_craig 3
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