Another wedge blinks into the light

[bezzabsa]

spotted on FB do you have this one @vulgalour ??

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10220628948513025&set=pcb.10160890372899652

[vulgalour]

That's a new one to me, ta!

I'm being so useless at getting the Wedgister publicly updated too.  Got to find time to get on that, I've just got so much other shit going on here it's ridiculous.

[captain_70s]

That the one that @Angrydicky just nabbed?

[Pieman]

On this subject - there's a beige Ambassador at a house alongside the A38 near Burton-on-Trent, but I've only seen it while driving and haven't been able to get the reg number, do you have that one in the records?

[Datsuncog]

Blimey, despite the cynical abuse of the term, that looks like an actual barn find!

Great to know there's still some jewels hiding out there...

[vulgalour]

2 hours ago, Pieman said:

On this subject - there's a beige Ambassador at a house alongside the A38 near Burton-on-Trent, but I've only seen it while driving and haven't been able to get the reg number, do you have that one in the records?

Dunno, doesn't ring any bells.

[Angrydicky]

18 hours ago, captain_70s said:

That the one that @Angrydicky just nabbed?

Yeah it’s mine. The barn find pictures were taken two years ago, it looks a lot better than that now and isn’t that far off being roadworthy.

Not that I needed another project but it’s just so original. 40k from new and always lived in the next village from me.

 

 

 

 

 

[Angrydicky]

Pictures from when it was removed from its 27 year layup in 2022. 
 

[Angrydicky]

The story with this one is that it was owned by an elderly farmer from Mareham le Fen, who used it up until his death in 1995. It was just left in the garage and his son inherited it but just left it in there. He used to store bird food in the boot while it was parked up, this is evident because rats have chewed the bottom of the rear screen seal on both sides trying to get into the boot!

Goslings of Mareham was a former BL then Rover dealer that closed early 2000s I think. The old showroom and workshop are still there, for the time being anyway. The site is now owned by the garage owner’s son who is a big classic car enthusiast and uses it to store and work on his own projects.

Over a year ago, I was driving past and the workshop doors were open. I did a double take when I saw this vision in brown inside, and stopped and wandered in for a closer look. Chatted to the owner, had a perv and was amazed at how original it was. Local car too, still with the Goslings sticker and tax disc holder in it. He remembered his dad selling it to the last owner from his BL dealership, he was only 15 at the time but already car mad and always liked the 18/22 series. I loved the car and left my phone number in case he ever wanted to sell it.

Last week I got the call. We discussed price and it seemed reasonable, so I went and had a look, made an offer and bought it. 

The main and most pressing issue with this car is that the clutch is completely worn out, it’s sky high and slipping badly. The elderly owner must have ridden the clutch every time he went to Boston or Coningsby. However the seller did manage to drive it the four miles back to mine ok.

The hydragas displacers are hard so I’ve booked it in with Ian and Dawn Kennedy to sort out in September.

It’s not running very well, seems to be a knackered manifold gasket causing an air leak or possibly a cracked manifold. Richening it up improved things. I’ve ordered a new gasket so I’ll try that first.

The last owner has done loads of work on it already including a new fuel tank and pump, new alternator, cambelt, points, new clutch and brake hoses etc etc. It’s not really that far off being a useable car which is good. The drivers seat has sagged badly and needs a new diaphragm I think, but on the plus side the underside is like new, it has never been welded and doesn’t need any either.

I’m very pleased with it, I’ve wanted a wedge for years so it’s good to finally scratch that itch.

[High Jetter]

Good find, well saved - but you say the clutch is worn out, and that the PO fitted a new clutch? Am confussed.

[jonathan_dyane]

New clutch hose 

[jonathan_dyane]

Looks lovely 

[Christine]

My elderly farmer landlord  ,with dementia ,  did 9 clutches and flywheels in his L200  in 18months , then his farmer son took the truck and hid it ...because it was him paying a grand every time..  The old boy used to come in the forge and ask me if i'd seen his truck as he'd forgotton where he'd  left it .... Then he'd run up to the sons farm  a mile up the road , on the countax mower ... 

"ah,  it's  ok it's not far ...dunno where my truck is " 

[vulgalour]

Since the clutch is slipping I'm with you on the diagnosis there, not a terrible job to do, just a bit weird because of the gearbox in sump stuff.  If it were slave cylinder or clutch hose you'd have trouble finding gears rather than it slipping so it's probably not those (but get spares if you can because they can sometimes be hard to find).  Rough running can be the carb spacer gasket as well as the manifold gaskets, cracked manifolds are generally pretty rare as a thing.  Also check the brace for the downpipe is still attached to exhaust and gearbox, if it's gone missing it'll want to break the manifold to downpipe join all the time.

You've been getting some excellent scores lately.  If you find yourself in the position that you're getting copies of the front-to-back pipes made please give me a shout, I'm still trying to find a template to work from so someone can make me a set and without buying another car (stop it) it's proving difficult.

[artdjones]

Nice car, I had a T Reg, white HL Automatic from 1986-87, bought for £250. I scrapped it for £20 at just under 9 years old, as one of the gearbox bands was slipping and I couldn't find a box, as it was one of the first O Series models. I realised after that a box from a B series would have fitted, years too late. 

[Angrydicky]

8 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Since the clutch is slipping I'm with you on the diagnosis there, not a terrible job to do, just a bit weird because of the gearbox in sump stuff.  If it were slave cylinder or clutch hose you'd have trouble finding gears rather than it slipping so it's probably not those (but get spares if you can because they can sometimes be hard to find).  Rough running can be the carb spacer gasket as well as the manifold gaskets, cracked manifolds are generally pretty rare as a thing.  Also check the brace for the downpipe is still attached to exhaust and gearbox, if it's gone missing it'll want to break the manifold to downpipe join all the time.

You've been getting some excellent scores lately.  If you find yourself in the position that you're getting copies of the front-to-back pipes made please give me a shout, I'm still trying to find a template to work from so someone can make me a set and without buying another car (stop it) it's proving difficult.

Thanks. There’s definitely an exhaust blow in that area but I can’t quite figure out where it is, the tried and tested method of holding my hand around (but not touching!) the manifold to downpipe joints failed to reveal any blowing.

It’s got a full nos exhaust system on it, hate to think how much the previous owner spent on that. He said he’d spent about £1500 on bits but hadn’t kept any of the receipts.

I haven’t driven it on the road yet but I’ve gone up and down the drive in it. First and reverse are a bit difficult to select but it goes into second gear nicely. I’m fully expecting to have to rebuild the clutch master cylinder and slave even though they’re not leaking yet, they will as soon as it’s put back into use.

Drivers seat is very saggy, are replacement diaphragms available?

With the clutch, is it just a matter of taking the end cover off the side of the engine to gain access or is it more involved than that?

[RoadworkUK]

2 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

Drivers seat is very saggy, are replacement diaphragms available?

Dunno, but a pair of bright blue Corbeaus would look hilarious in there.

Also: Utterly magnificent purchase. Very well done.

[vulgalour]

3 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

Thanks. There’s definitely an exhaust blow in that area but I can’t quite figure out where it is, the tried and tested method of holding my hand around (but not touching!) the manifold to downpipe joints failed to reveal any blowing.

It’s got a full nos exhaust system on it, hate to think how much the previous owner spent on that. He said he’d spent about £1500 on bits but hadn’t kept any of the receipts.

I haven’t driven it on the road yet but I’ve gone up and down the drive in it. First and reverse are a bit difficult to select but it goes into second gear nicely. I’m fully expecting to have to rebuild the clutch master cylinder and slave even though they’re not leaking yet, they will as soon as it’s put back into use.

Drivers seat is very saggy, are replacement diaphragms available?

With the clutch, is it just a matter of taking the end cover off the side of the engine to gain access or is it more involved than that?

First and reverse can be very stiff when the oil is cold or if someone has put 20w50 in instead of 10w40.  If you're not noticing an improvement when things are hot, try an oil change if you haven't already.

Finding the exhaust blows can be a bit of a bugger if you're not getting sooty witness marks, the manifold to downpipe one sometimes shows up in that gap between the manifold and the engine where it's dangerous to put your hand when it's hot.  You'll soon find out where the money has gone if previous owner has spent it, things like a NOS exhaust for the O series can be quite hard to find, the E series is better catered to for some reason.

For seat diaphragms, since you describe yours as saggy you may be in luck.  They did two types, one is the big rubber square which I think is the same as Triumph, and are sometimes available in various places, and that might be what you've got if there's an even sag.  The other type is rubber bonded to fabric, these aren't available and as I learned, pretty hard to recreate/repair.  The latter type tend not to sag, when they do go they go all at once as I found when mine did this.

So I made a new one with Parker Knoll seat springs and fabric which so far has been fine, though I think some cable ties to reduce the amount of drop might improve the comfort a little.

For the clutch, you will need to drop the engine but that's not too tricky since the engine mounts are all easy to get to.  This is because you can't get the end plate off with the engine in the bay.  The end plate is just a bit too deep to clear the clutch and believe me, Mike and I tried every which way to avoid dropping the engine, it's that close a fit.

Once you have dropped it, replacing the clutch is very straightforward, then you can button it all up and put the engine back in.  You don't have to disconnect the exhaust at the manifold to do this if you're careful but you may have to drain the coolant since the top hose I don't think stretches far enough from the engine to the radiator.  This was 6 years ago so I'm a little fuzzy on the specifics, but the user manual is really good for illustrating what you need to do and it's not a terrible job, if a little frustrating due to having to drop the engine to get the cover plate off.

[Angrydicky]

Some really helpful information and pictures there Angyl, thank you so much for taking the time to give me that.

Seat diaphragms- I’ve just had a look at mine and it is the same as yours, the hessian/rubber type. I can’t see any obvious tears in it and it is still supporting a driver’s weight it just feels saggy. I’ll have to take the seat out and find out what’s going on.

Ive got the new manifold gasket now. I didnt think about the carb gasket so that’s well worth checking, thanks.

New clutch is also here. Bit of a bugger about needing to lower the engine but it’s not the end of the world, I have a ramp with a jacking beam so it doesn’t really look too bad. At least there’s no heavy gearbox to haul out and back in again (I’m used to rwd stuff)

Engine oil is a bit of an unknown. It’s new, but way overfilled and I have no idea what grade it is. Previous owner is into minis so I’m assuming it’s 20w50 he’s put in it. First and reverse don’t get any easier when warm. I thought it was the clutch that was causing the selection problems but maybe not, I’ve got nearly a full can of 10w40 left over from doing the Laguna, but obviously the princess takes more so I’ll get another can ordered and change it, then at least I know it’s the right grade.

[vulgalour]

You're very welcome.  Sometimes the hooks that hold the diaphragm in snap, that might be a cause of your sag, and the foam tends to turn into breadcrumbs which doesn't help.  The other thing is you've got the HL interior, the seats are a bit saggy compared to the HLS partly due to the fabric being flimsier, and I think they have a bit less foam in them too.  For the oil change you'll need 6 litres of oil, which seems like an insane amount, but remember you're doing engine and gearbox all in one when you do an oil change which is probably one of the reasons you rarely get problems with the manual boxes on these old boats.

Anything you need to know just ping me and if I know the answer I'll be happy to help.  Since I'm in Lincolnshire too these days I might even be able to help in meatspace if it comes down to it.

[Angrydicky]

Had my first drive of this, around my private test track last night.

It actually feels quite good on the road, steering is nice and light and positive, brakes are good and the suspension doesn’t feel as bad as I’d feared.

If I’m very very careful with my acceleration I can avoid the clutch slipping but it’s really bad.

Discovered that as well as the fuel gauge, the speedo doesn’t work either. 
I found the blow was coming from the n/s downpipe joint so I remade that last night and it’s a lot quieter now. Also discovered a missing nut from the four that hold the carb on and the other three weren’t tight, so replaced the nut and got it all nipped up tight.

Cleaned up the HT leads and set the points gap, it’s running a lot better now.

Someone’s snapped off one of the distributor cap bolts so I’ll try to remove that. Dizzy cap contacts were quite burnt and the carbon plunger fell out, also the new condenser looks like a cheap Chinese one to me, so I’ve ordered some nos ignition parts for it.

I got it up on the ramp yesterday for the first time. The underside is immaculate. It’s never been welded and doesn’t need any. The only rust is cosmetic in the exterior panels. Makes a nice change!

[yes oui si]

That's absolutely gorgeous @Angrydicky - top purchasing

My minimetro had Princess seats in the front for some reason, I found them a bit saggy as well... A bit of 1/4" ply above the diaphragm made them perfect. Edges rounded over with sandpaper to minimise any abrasion. 

[artdjones]

Mine didn't look that good in 1987!

[vulgalour]

Dead speedo is almost definitely your speedo cable having come unseated or the plastic bit that plugs into the back of the gauge having shattered.  It's an easy job to replace, but not a fun one, since most of it has to be done by feel if you don't want to take the dash out.  You don't want to take the dash out, trust me.  Do you think most of that £1500 the previous owner spend was on underseal?  Damned good idea really, especially when it's all original under there.

[Angrydicky]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

Dead speedo is almost definitely your speedo cable having come unseated or the plastic bit that plugs into the back of the gauge having shattered.  It's an easy job to replace, but not a fun one, since most of it has to be done by feel if you don't want to take the dash out.  You don't want to take the dash out, trust me.  Do you think most of that £1500 the previous owner spend was on underseal?  Damned good idea really, especially when it's all original under there.

Did you have to pull the driveshaft to lower the engine down?

[vulgalour]

No, I don't think I did, from memory there's enough angle available *just* to leave them attached.

[vulgalour]

Oh wait... er... is the driveshaft question in relation to the clutch?  If so that's my answer.  You wouldn't need to touch the driveshaft to do the speedo cable, it screws in to the back passenger side corner of the gearbox and, runs under the airbox and in through the driver's side of the bulkhead, then goes further across to the driver's side to meet the back of the speedo.  It's one of those plastic connectors with a tang you press down to release and should just pull straight off, it's the plastic connector bit that usually breaks and/or comes unseated.

[Angrydicky]

Yes, sorry it was in relation to the clutch!

Thanks.

[Angrydicky]

Check out these sills!

[Angrydicky]

Been fighting with the clutch today.

What a total bastard it has been so far.

Many thanks to Vulgalour who kindly rang me after I was having a bit of a meltdown as I couldn’t figure out how to get the clutch cover (the big aluminium housing) off. He also sent me some scans from the factory manual (I need to get one of these) top bloke.

There is a big nut which holds the sprocket that comes out of the gearbox which needs to come off. Obviously the manual says to lock the ring gear but as the clutch is slipping so badly, all it’s doing is pulling the clutch around rather than undoing.

It’s 1 11/16” AF or 1” BSW apparently, and despite my hundreds of sockets and spanners I couldn’t find anything that went near it. Cheapest socket the right size on eBay is £40!

All I’ve got is a big adjustable. I wedged a piece of copper pipe in the gears but it’s bloody tight, I wasn’t really expecting it to put up much of a fight as it had a lock washer, which I’d already bent down.

Hope it isn’t a lh thread, but the manual makes no mention of that. I’ll have another play with it tomorrow.

I’ve just bought a nos clutch shaft seal  on eBay. This is the only thing stopping oil getting onto the clutch, and as it’s both slipping and juddering maybe that’s the problem. Either way it’s false economy not to change it while you’re in there.