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

Thanks for the replies fella's!

Yes, the support bars on the door are the wrong way round. This is due to how I had the door on the floor when I put them on and not paying careful enough attention after some hours on this job. Well spotted! I will probably flip them round before painting the thing, or add the same bars on the other side of the door but then correctly... I'm not overly concerned about it sagging though. I have used three extra long heavy duty hinges that mean that the door is supported over much of it's surface, not just the first few centimeters from the side and then left to gravity. The frame is attached to every beam of the door on both sides and front and back, adding resistance to the sagging as well. But this has to hold up for 20 years or so, so I was planning on fixing it properly.

Well, we are the young'ns on the block! Most houses on my part of the street are populated by retired folk. I guess they're not the type to climb a ladder... Some more houses were slightly decorated by X-mass time though. Although one simple tree with lights was nothing compared to our decorations/lighting. One neighbour did a nice job and together our houses added character to the area. But I'm a big x-mass fan (being born the 26th of December might have something to do with it or the fact my parents always tried to make it a cosy period) so I tend to enhance the feeling in this way.

I saw that LG tv this week. It's very much out of my range. And also it's not suitable for my purpose. I need my tv to be hidden away, but when in use to be 90+ cm above grond at the bottom of the tv.

The tv stand lift system is also an expensive thing though. This is a heavy duty, remote controlled (with safety switch backup) one that can carry even the heavy flat tv's and that is around 350-400 euro's. As I felt that to be crazy numbers I did a clever thing 5 years ago. I bought a ready made TV kabinet that had the lift built in for less then half of that. I used that cabinet in the old home although I modified it to turn the tv lift around as the kabinet originally was meant for a living room wall and I was to use it as a front for our bed. But from the bed you don't want to be looking at the back of the tv... Anyway, the cabinet was too big to get out of the house so reluctantly I smashed it to bits, after removing the lift system naturally. The alternative was a 200 euro bill for some mover to get the thing out via the dormer. But then I'd also have the same problem of getting it in the new house on the first floor. Anyway I digress. Easiest option was to make a custom one for the new house as you don't find them second hand in the right dimensions or even new, and of course if you do, it's at a premium. If I was a real woodworker I'd probably use official joints etc. Now I just used countersunk screws to build the frame. I like screws as they make things easy to undo and if the lift ever goes wrong I need to be able to get access without damage. It's going to look the part though when finished!

Anyway, the thing will be finished when I have added three little shelves on the sides. Hopefully this weekend.

I'm currently pondering chancing an MOT. As long as it runs it can only fail on the power steering I think. There's fluid loss, but it's not immediately evident. Given a good wipe before hand should see it through.

So an MOT would help get the car back home, meaning monthly savings on the hired garage and a chance to rip out the steering rack and send it back to the rebuilder as I think (pretty sure actually) it's filling up the bellows again.

So why the pondering?? Well it hasn't been road tested since it's starting issue. And testing it legally is only possible on the way to a pre-arranged MOT. And if it does fail on that test, well the MOT tester will see mee coming cancelling another MOT at the latest moment. But any other testing can't really be done on public roads and will need to be close to home if things go wrong...

So what to do?

Hi Alex, realistically, whats the chances of it failing? you know its in good shape. I can recommend an APK station thats, err, "relaxed" shall we say

I would book it in, if it fails then at least you can take it home and work on the list of why.

Give me a "M"
Give me an "O"
Give me a "T"

What'da we want.....

>>>>> "APK"! <<<<<<

You know there is no point in delaying Alex. A lot of lifes issues can be overcome by letting a weird fellow with greasy fingernails touch your beloveds body for an hour!

PS I've taken on the 'door lock mechanisms' defence and we'd like to enter a plea of Not Guilty m'lord. See you in court stool pigeon

Hey Paul, you've lost me there mate!

Well another update is due.

Time was an issue lately so I never made it to MOT. So last week I thought I'd make some room by planning a day off work for this week so I could take the car to MOT after all.

To prepare for that, this Sunday I had a little time slot dedicated to the Granada. It was superb weather for the time of year and the car was doing a good job of looking great and impressing people with its looks.

I had decided to do some test runs after the non running issue it had developed after washing under hood. Inpsired by it staying running for over half an hour on one of my previous visits I felt I should have at least some confidence in the old girl and set of....

So I hooked up the spare battery, jumped the car to life and rolled it out of the garage. So far so good. I noticed a few droplets of fluid left and right on a piece of insulation I had under the front subframe. This sort of confirmed my suspicion that the steering rack is indeed leaking again. Still I set of for some driving.

Ouch, that did not go as expected. The car was responsive enough from a standstil, but when trying to make haste, it would backfire and pop in the exhaust a bit. Ok, the engine ecu was probably also still learning from having been without juice or a while but still. A bit more driving and I felt the car could be faster, but only after having gone through that popping fase. And it still didn't feel quite as quick as usual. I parked and checked the engine at idle and it revved through the range quite ok, although it did sttle at a slightly uneasy idle shown by some movement in the block and the air cleaner. So I set out on another run, but again, under a bit more load to make some real speed it popped still.

I parked again and read the ecu. The P 1351 Ignition code was stored again. So that at least matches the situation. But why is it throwing the code? Still I felt I could make it to and from the MOT station and as pre 1973 cars do not require emissions testing I felt the car had a good shot at passing. That is....until I went to change the battery for a different one as to negate the need for the jumper leads and I saw a nice circular drip pattern on the street matching the turn I had just made into my parking space and a little pool where I had been standing to make the turn possible. Also after just standing there for 3 minutes with the engine running, there were also drips left and right under the subframe on the ground. My heart sank a bit. This magnitute of dripping and pooling would never make it through an MOT.

CURSE WORD!!!!!!!!

I guess I'm just not meant to enjoy this car as a car anymore.... it's always throwing curve balls preventing me from enjoying it as the fun car it is (I felt that even on the rough running engine and from the responses of other people).

So I'm at a crossroads. I'm not sure what to do just now... I want to be able to enjoy it in march and april as the season starts but with the rack having to be rebuilt again or possibly replaced that is unlikely to happen. March is coming at lightning speed.

Current thinking is something like:
- empty out the home garage ASAP
- find a mate with a trailer to help me transport the car home ASAP
- drop the rack and send it out ASAP
- strip the inlet and change over the wiring loom on engine and box
- fix temp gauge
- try and fit adapters for oil pressure gauge
- improve readout fuel sender/gauge
- MOT it

That would be it for this car I think to finally be able to enjoy it fully.

I just don't really know how to do that given the other things in life I need to get on with. Like finishing some things in and around the house which although relatively short is still a bit of a b..ch list with some tougher items on it.

I'm feeling rather ambivalent about it all at the moment. I feel pressure to do it all but it's just not possible all by myself. And still, as much as I hate having to dive into the car again, I also know I love it to bits (sunday's little drive proved that no end). And I want to do it and myself justice by prevaling and fixing the little niggles.

I'll try and find out if the one person I know with a suitable trailer even has time to help me move the car. I think that's the start I need to make anyhow.

I can't hate the car as some shakedown issues are to be expected, yet I'm pained by things lik ethe expensive steering rack rebuild failing within 1000 km's (although over a three year period).

As you like pics and vids I'll ad a video of how she's currently running. No pic this time as I was preoocupied with the running side of things.

If it is anything like the mk2, non-assisted racks are available, but are arm twiddling amounts of turns and also shorter. So they require a difference steering shaft too And there isnt a huge amount of room for the Corsa electric motor to hang from the side of the column

Nice idea though

You beat me to it by minutes. But you share some of the same concerns I do. I think it's opening it's own whole new can of worms. But the potential is there and it would be relatively care free as knowing how prone to failure these power racks are it will always be a concern.

Thanks Sam, I think it's time to actually take you up on your continued offering...

Working on getting the car moved as we type. I'll see how that develops.