1986 Toyota MR2 - get kicked into the weeds.

I have seen guys glueing sandpaper to a pane of glass, like a coffee table, and sanding there using the weight of the head as you describe. I certainly wouldn't sprayglue the paper to my workbench, its fooooked! The head would end up like a banana!

I turn the head upside down and use the sandpaper wrapped around and stapled to the wooden block.

The WRX head was loosing coolant passed the gasket, but I realised before the head got any heating.

If you want rid of pitting etc, yeah go for the skim, it'll be worth it.

If in future you think a head is flat enough to get away with wet&dry, set the steel rule across the length of the surface and look for daylight gaps between the rule and head. If they're very minor they can be sanded out. Whats better than a ruler, is if you can get a length of 40mm x 10mm flat steel stock, and have the narrow edge machined flat by the head skimming machine. Then you've a perfectly flat ruler to use which shouldn't deform.

So, maybe leave it to the pro's in manila if you're not sure whether you'd like your head rubbed wet or dry

I'm not sure how this is going to play out with Mrs Sweetpea.

"Ah, dearest, this girl person from the Philippines is a specialist in head work. She's going to show me some serious polishing action. We'll be in the garage for several hours a couple of minutes."

I can't really take up this suggestion of personal attention from Manila's finest Customer Care Assistant. My head issues will just have to be looked after by a sweaty bloke with a big machine.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Plans to drag my cherished classic back home suffered a major setback today when some prat dumped a ton of scrap on by drive.




Oh sorry. That is my cherished classic! Better give it a wash then.




Actually, despite the photo, it still looks utterly awful. Definitely needs a polish.

Do you think it's too late to call the previous owner and tell him I've changed my mind?

It makes me wish I bought a black over gold one when I was 19 now, and my dad talked me out if it!

I did eventually get an MR2 but it was the next model an sw20GT, great car, that I could never find where it used all the water from, and then the gearbox started groaning and it went.

Thanks oukie, I'll shout when I get stuck!

The other fan is now finished. Look, a pair!




I'm really quite chuffed with them. They are painted in Halfords "gloss black" which is a total fib. It's not gloss. It's satin really. So as much as it annoys me that it's not gloss and the tin says it is… It is a good match for the original.




I think it looks fan-tastic. Sorry. Amused by my own little jokes!

Anyway, the shrouds are having a bath…




…in the electric derusting machine. Annoyingly I couldn't find a tub big enough to submerge the whole thing. But I've been doing other stuff while they've been boiling so it didn't really matter. More of them another day.

We just need a radiator. Here's one that came off the car.




I know it has a hole in it because it leaked water when we jacked the back up 3 years ago during the assessment.
A bit of poking about revealed this.




It actually looks like it was hit with a stone. Could that have been what killed this car 6 years ago? One little stone?
Apart from that the rad looks in good condition. I've seen a lot worse over the years.

So, cleaned up and…




…and… Look. I know what you are thinking. I really do. And soldered.




Now just hold your tongue a minute. I really do know what you're thinking. It's more or less this.

"What is this complete dimwit doing? What sort of stingy lunatic would reuse a blown radiator on a mid engined car where the cooling is critical. He's a complete bell end and needs his head looking at." At least that's what Project Manager Portia the cat said. More or less. Cat swear words don't translate easily to English.

I'll explain.
Let me introduce you to the water pump.




Thermostat anybody?




Which, by the way, is jammed shut. I'm constantly surprised that the car was running well enough to blow up.

See the problem? As much as I'll flush the system I don't know how much of this crud will be left in there. I'm especially concerned about the heater matrix being full of muck.

I definitely don't want it in my expensive new radiator (which is in a box in the front room). So the old one is going back on for a short while to give all the crud a chance get mobile. Assuming it holds water anyway.

Speaking of boxes in the front room, look what the postie dropped off.




Which needs to go in here somewhere.




Shame it's such an oily bog 'ole. I think there is the rotting foliage of a small tree in there.

James

What a great thread. Subscribed

And we've still got weeks of his extended leave to come.

Bookmarks? This, until very recently was the bedrock, the very foundation of mine!



Yes, it's a bit like a low budget version of johnnybravo's thread!

C'mon James, keep it going. Your audience awaits!

Morning all,

Well, except George where it's the afternoon. And Grenade where it's night time. Hmmm. This train of thought is getting messy. I'll quietly abandon it and hope nobody notices.

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement. I promise I'll get my finger out soon. Project 2 is taking priority while the weather is good. I have to say my time away from work is slipping away quicker than I'd thought it would.

Just to add a bit of extra jeopardy over the state of my cooling system I've found another photo of the water pump.




Hmmm.

You'll have to excuse me today as I've a chimney to climb. (No not a Fred Dibnah job, the one on the side of my house. Bloody high enough though.)

James