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May 10, 2018 10:15:57 GMT
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Good point, I do read a lot of similar stuff in various Viva and Firenza related groups, and it's often the case that just getting the brakes working properly is sufficient unless power increases are involved. Rear discs is another common one, and I've always thought that if Old Nail doesn't need discs on the back, then it's probably OK to leave the drums on.
Though I sometimes forget I'm on RR and not a restoration board...
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May 10, 2018 10:10:23 GMT
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That locking tool sounds a little different - the one I borrowed seemed to push against the front engine mounting, but it's a long time ago. Has to be done with the engine in the car (in my coupe, anyway) because with the damper in place, the engine won't clear the front panel.
Mine's an '86 KV engine, though, which is before they had the good sense to make it possible to change the water pump and cam belt without removing the damper. On mine, the water pump is behind the timing belt rear cover which won't come off unless the pulley is removed, and the bottom section of the cover is the casting on the front of the oil pump. I am thinking that lopping 10mm or so off that casting won't affect anything and will let me get the belt off, and I'll get the dremel on the rear cover plate for access to the pump. I had a later engine in an Audi 100 which certainly had a mod like that for water pump access.
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Last Edit: May 10, 2018 10:13:55 GMT by droopsnoot
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That looks like a certain North West "Crafts and Antiques" (and definitely no overpriced tat) emporium.
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I'm not sure about FE, not least because some of them are metric, but I know on the Magnum you can fit a P16 caliper in place of the standard one (which might be a P14) as the caliper mounts are the same. Maybe an M16 would go on, perhaps that's what the VX4/90 or VX490 has. Would a Cavalier have had bigger brakes?
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On the Audi i5, the front crank pulley also has a heavy harmonic damper, presumably to smooth out the effect of the odd number of cylinders. I am no expert but that seemed to be the main reason that quattro gurus used to emphasise the need for the high torque.
I've got a bottle of a very strong Loctite (220? something like that) which I bought in error and now has "No! No! Not this bottle!" written across it in big letters, as I might like to undo the crank bolt at some point in the future. Quite why I've kept it is another matter.
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I had similar issues with the crank bolt on my Audi i5. At the time I managed to borrow the proper tools from the local dealer - a crank locking tool, and a torque multiplier. Unfortunately I neglected to keep in touch with them, and wasn't anywhere near when they disposed of them some years back.
Similar warnings applied though - the transmission isn't up to the job of dealing with that level of torque, so sticking it in gear and having someone press the brake isn't recommended. I suspect the chap who'd done my water pump the previous year had just done something like that, or done it up with a rattle gun, although it ran fine it came apart quite easily when it was time to remove the engine.
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You can't yet, because the exemption hasn't come into force yet. The DVLA web site always deals with the current situation, and will probably have the relevant stuff on it come May 20th.
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Bolts rusted into suspension bush tubes rarely come undone without heat, which of course means a new bush. Turning it will just split the tube from the rubber. Although my experience is on 40+ year old Vauxhalls. I've used a hacksaw blade in a handle before now, where there's clearance between the wishbone and the subframe sides, and cut through the bolt flush with the tube. Maybe once you did that, you could drill out enough of the old bolt to salvage the bush, if there's clearance in the first place.
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You could have a look at the catalogue at coh-baines.co.uk, presuming it's rubber trim you are talking about. They have quite a range, not sure how much of it is available off the shelf though.
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Apr 29, 2018 17:53:38 GMT
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I always found that with the disposable bottles, they'd lose pressure / content when left unused, which I put down to the decreased pressure in the bottle doing less to hold the internal valve closed. So I'd start one, leave it a week or two, then come back to an empty cylinder.
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From 1976 (or 77, I forget) the application for a new registration by a dealer included a confirmation that the car was new. Hence some people who are going for VED exemption on the basis that they can prove their 1979-registered car was actually built in 1977 but sat around for a year or two unsold are finding that they can get VED exemption, but get a new (well, old) age-related plate to make things correct.
So there was some attempt to tie down the relationship between age and registration prior to 1983, at least for cars sold new in the UK.
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Apr 23, 2018 17:46:10 GMT
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I stand to be corrected ...as always... but as far as I can recall up to about '82-'83(ish) you could , if you so wished and with the appropriate "donation" to dvla , re-register your car every year on a "new" registration letter. it was around this time that the whole age relate thing came around which put the brake on such fun and games. I've never heard that. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I've never heard it before. That time (82/83 ish) was when imported cars stopped getting a new registration and started getting an age-appropriate one. So the end of early 70s 911s wearing X-suffix plates.
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A contender for "the eye of the beholder". Do I like this dashboard? No, not at all, despite having several spare sets of indicator / wiper stalks for it: Would I like to have the car it's in, a Towns Aston Martin Lagonda? Yes, I think I would. A lovely thing in many ways, perhaps it could be driven with a sheet over the dash. It's not as if it's likely to still be working anyway. To (hopefully) redress things a bit, after you've all been out for some Optrex, my Firenza dash, which I quite like
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Is there enough to be able to graft a new bit of pipe on using something like an Araldite glue, to get around the hassle of welding?
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The £50 welder is proving elusive though, I thought I was doing well getting a Clarke 90EN for £50, never mind anything better. Right place, right time, obviously.
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Usually, from what I've seen the very cheap MIG's don't cut the current when you let go of the button ( just stops the wirefeed ), which makes it pretty useless for Wahferthin sheet, IMO. The used one I bought was precisely to get away from that, and I can't agree enough on how much "better" everything got when I could place the torch against the workpiece without it striking all the time. And the next was when I bought my auto-dimming helmet. Sounds as if I was just lucky on the one I bought, though it's still well below the spec / description that most of you seem to use. thing is unless you have used new generation inverter mig welder of professional quality you can't really compare it to the cheap 15 year old Clarke / SIP / No name welder - Inverter MIG's of a good quality are available new from £250 if you hunt around a little - they are step less which enables you weld the thinnest of metals - spend a little more money £350 + and you will obtain a Inverter MIG Synergic and it will virtually do the welding for you - They are easy, quick & simple to use - treat it has an investment and not has something that will just get you out of the situation that you find yourself in at present. If I had another big project to do, maybe I'd look at upgrading. It sounds great.
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And don't forget the option of used MIGs to get the price down, my recent project was done almost entirely with a £50 MIG.
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