1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Still going... 14-10-2024

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Well, I used the car again... I'm not having much luck with the weather since my vacation started so it's not been all that productive yet.

There was an event for oldtimers not too far away, yet far enough to be a bit of a test for the Granada. It was a late afternoon, evening car meet at what seemed to be a nice location near the water. As I love water and the opportunity to get my car close to it, I thought I'd go. All day it was like, shall I go or shall I not as the weather was so bad all day. But around the time the meeting started the air cleared and the sun even came out a bit. So I made the call to go. I was climbing the walls with boredom anyway. So I drove about 50km mostly motorway to the meet.

The car behaved fine, but I wasn't too relaxed behind the wheel yet. Engine and fuel wise it seemed to do precisely what it should. It didn't hesitate, ran nice and stable at 100-110 km/h on the motorway. I did feel it felt a little bit light on the steering with the car wanting to drift right when I let go of the wheel. That may be something to look into again. It's been aligned not too long ago. It could also be that the tires feel different in the rain on the wet motorway... As on the way back, I was caught in a massive downpour. The car got a wahs for sure lol. All dust now gone. The rain-x on the windshield worked well and I hardly had any benefit from the window wipers.

The meeting itself was smaller than expected, but probably because of the weather. I was also surprised at the lack of conversation. Most people just walked by the cars talking among themselves but not so much interacting with the owners... I got some red capet pics that I still need to receive, but the idea was nice.

I had a few conversations, waked around a bit among quite a range of oldtimers. I still have trouble menatlly seeing a BMW 5 series or a volvo 850 estate that technically are of age but have nothing really classic about them yet. Nice cars in and of themselves, but to me a bit out of place. But then again, it does make for variety and the ones there were definitely well presented.

I had a good time for a few hours and then started back home. I bought some cheap gas as technically it was in Belgium, and had a pretty uneventful trip home apart from the downpour. I even turned on the radio showing I was a bit more comfortable again.

But when I turned it down as I got near home I heard a weird noise from the back. So again something to look into. I think it is either a cv joint going bad or more likely the circlip on the end of the drive shaft coming off and making contact inside (as I've had that happen before). Shouldn't be too difficult to investigate and fix. Although I really hope I don't have to find new cv's as my car has the more rare bigger ones. As well as the cost it would mean downtime again and I'd planned to enjoy the car a bit the coming weeks...

Anyway some obligatory shots!

Does sound like the shoes. Were the shoes "centred" after the drum was put back on - basically as I understand it by stamping on the brake pedal after getting the wheel turning by hand? The brakes shouldn't be dragging.
Can the adjusters be assembled incorrectly? Is the handbrake too tight?

The noise is almost timed with the spokes of the wheel faced down, but not quite.
You say its from the rear, and nothing obvious on the rear brakes.
Is it the propshaft catching on something near the differential extension housing?

Or even possibly the drive flange behind the rear wheel bearing catching something?

One easy thing you can try is swapping the brake drum and wheel from side to side.

Well for now the noise seems cured… the remark about the handbrake made me check that. It turned out to be out of spec. But it also turned out there was no room for getting it in spec either. It seems the cable is a little short. Although specified replacement…

So I adjusted it back as far as I could giving the lever a little more throw and after some tests it has been quiet since. I’ll have to monitor it for a bit.

In the process I also fixed my door not always closing well. I suddenly noticed the lever that hooks on the catch not coming up fully. It was a little sluggish. Some penetrating oil soon fixed that. The simplest of things really, but oh so satisfying… you wouldn’t believe…

I also noticed a bit of play in one rear wheel that I could eliminate by tightening the hub but. It’s one of those things that have to be super tight, but with better tools now there was room for just a very slight nip up. But it was just enough…

So if she remains quiet, I think she’s good to go for a while longer.

Gave the car a little wash as a thank you for cooperating, lol.




And some from a little drive I did in the past days while investigating the noise issue.

Saw some nice stuff which is probably meant for auction but I can’t be sure.

Made me chuckle

Looks good

So a few weeks have passed and the Granada hasn't seen much use after fixing the noise in the rear. A few short runs at best. Until last weekend that is.

Weather was predicted to be fine and there were several oldtimer events. So I asked a coworker I consider a friend if he was in for the ride. I chose an event that I knew would have a long tour to drive with some puzzle questions included. My friend said hell yes, so I prepared (cleaned) the Granada a bit and filled up with fuel (ouch!!). Parked the car for the day after...

At 8 o' clock I had put the Granada outside and was ready to leave. A few drinks, sandwiches and some sweets for along the route and I was off. Of course, as I was driving to my friend I started hearing the rear noise again. Well I'll be damned! Why?? And why now? The only thing I could think of was I had used the handbrake the day before on the drive for a second. Maybe that was just enough for the self adjusters to throw things off again? A bit bummed about that I picked up my friend anyway. I had made the assesment that not only has this sound emerged and disappeared once before in 2021 (page 108 I believe) and also it had come and gone of late. So I figured that although it is obviously undesireable it didn't seem to be anything that I would expect to break catastrophically. Like wheels falling of. And even if so, I'd have recovery...

So away we went. At first talking and driving, later with the radio on as well. As it was nice and hot outside (and the engine adds it's own heat), the sliding roof was fully opened, the side windows fully opened and even the rear side windows were flipped open. I'd never used them once in the past 7 years and this would be a good test for my not so pretty but hopefully very effective rear window brackets. These locate the window in a short U-shaped track and I always figured it be hard for them to escape from that and fall out. This would be a proper test. This also seemed to show that the noise from the rear was either overpowered or just simply absent at higher speeds.

It was a 35 minute drive to the event and we were there by 9. We were car number 4 so we hoped the turnout would be better than that. Slowly but surely the street filled and it allowed for some nce conversations about cars. I even got to sit in a 1931 model A, a first for me and something that brought me a huge smile although I'd never go for one myself.
















After some good fun with other owners we set off for the tour at 10:45. Me driving, my friend navigating with my aid. We both enjoyed this very much and after a while we pulled off the route for a little stop, taking pics along the way. 









Turned out we were heading to my birthgrounds...













We toured for about 4+ hours with a bit of a break for lunch, which my friend was kind enough to provide.

The car drove lovely and despite te noise being there for sure at low speeds, I was more and more relaxed in the car. I wasn't thinking so much about every heistation or vibration or stuff like that. I was truly enjoying the surroundings, the nature, the sound of the engine and exhaust en just the full experience on this lovely day. I think the engine runs nice enough for the moment.

I took my friend back home and by late afternoon I was back at home as well. No prizes as that would have been a three hour wait which even with live music was a big ask. Also many of the cars left soon after finishing... So I don't think it was a big party anyway.  



Obviously I need to investigate again the noise. I'll start at the handbrake. Next I'll see if I can get confirmed that the drums are still nice and round. And as the other side has a bit of  a creak in it, I think I may swap the wheel bearings to be sure.  But I must admit, this noise is elusive. Given all the things previously discounted and rechecked recently I just hope it's one of those two. The cv's I don't expect as the noise was there before when the drive shaft was disconnected from the wheel stub.

If I get stuck I'll ask for help or opinions. The biggest question now is... Will i do another trip on 24th of september or not. I guess that depends on if I can get rid of the noise.