vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 11, 2021 16:30:50 GMT
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A coolant flush/backflush and new thermostat will help, and probably resolve the issue. I'm still going to make the muff anyway because it'll be a fun project and might help. Also, should the Lanchester need one then I'll have the necessary skill to make one for it.
It's unlikely to cause overheating issues because the Maestro has a massive air intake under the bumper, by covering just the top silver grille I'm not blocking out that much airflow.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 11, 2021 19:26:24 GMT
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A neat photo opportunity from a recent shopping trip.   |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 12, 2021 17:54:27 GMT
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So much for using the leftover vinyl for making a muff, it turned out to be the most impossible material to sew and generated two very failed attempts. I found an alternative solution, when I've tested it, I'll report back on the efficacy.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 12, 2021 19:09:36 GMT
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Verdict on the solution: adequate. Car warms up at a more normal rate, but doesn't get quite as hot as I'd expect, so it'll do as an interim solution.
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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2021 19:10:44 GMT by vulgalour
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Used to see cars with cardboard covered in foil blocking grilles off.
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Jan 14, 2021 23:24:48 GMT
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my landrover is fine in kent, thats with 10 litres of water in the system and a radiator the size of the bellagio. they are usually the bastions of ici fertilizer bags and hardboard
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,204 
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I doubt it will overheat. I used to have to blamk off most of my mini grill in the winter, otherwise it suffered from icing on the weber chokes (and that was with a water heated inlet manifold) never had a problem with it overheating and it certainly was driven at speed   |
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Last Edit: Jan 15, 2021 1:36:12 GMT by jimi
Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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Jan 15, 2021 11:00:26 GMT
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Doesn't a mini draw it's cooling air in from the wheelarch?
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,345
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Jan 15, 2021 11:33:41 GMT
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Doesn't a mini draw it's cooling air in from the wheelarch? Yeah, I thought that the only thing that came in the grille at the front was the water to drown the distributor if you went out in the rain? 😉 |
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 15, 2021 17:15:12 GMT
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New thermostat arrived today and cured the cold running issue. That's one job down. I've got a video coming on that to go into more detail, I got very lucky and did not have to employ a single hammer! Car now gets up to temperature quickly and sits at 1/4-1/3 on the gauge and there's enough heat coming into the cabin now that I don't have to drive with gloves on.
Exhaust blow has been found! It's what I assume is a join right underneath the engine, the bit where the springs go on. I only saw it because it was cold enough to make plenty of visible vapour. That also goes a way to explaining why the smell of exhaust gets into the cabin at idle sometimes but not when moving.
The water leak now seems limited to the passenger door seal and the tailgate glass seal so I'll be ordering some new generic door seals and another tube of Arbomast to hopefully solve those. For once, there was no water in the driver's footwell.
I'll go over some of this in better detail once the new video goes up on Tuesday, this is more just to remind me of what's going on and to give you a quick update.
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Jan 15, 2021 18:53:44 GMT
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Given the rain we had yesterday that doesn't sound too bad.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 15, 2021 19:39:47 GMT
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We have had some proper downpours lately, everything is just horridly squelchy outside.
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jimi
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,204
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Jan 15, 2021 23:17:14 GMT
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Doesn't a mini draw it's cooling air in from the wheelarch? Yeah, I thought that the only thing that came in the grille at the front was the water to drown the distributor if you went out in the rain? 😉 Air flow on the original mini's is in through the grill, through the rad and out into the wheel arch |
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Black is not a colour ! .... Its the absence of colour
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 19, 2021 16:05:40 GMT
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Time for this week's video. Had a few odds and sods of footage so it's a bit Woolworths on this one. The Maestro still has its original radio, so we give that a bit of a whirl and hopefully don't anger the copyright gremlins.  I deal with the rattling passenger head restraint, caused by the missing trims/guide tubes. With mixed results. Annoyingly, after having to buy three guide tubes for this because of my own ham-fistedness, I found a listing (which has since been relisted) on eBay for less and naturally now I don't need them nor will I ever be likely to.    Figure out how to remove the air filter box lid, which is much more involved than it really needs to be.  And just general nattering. I'm still getting used to recording video and doing pictoral updates. As much as I'm enjoying putting the videos together, I do keep forgetting to take photographs as I go along. I just have to get into the habit of recording jobs twice as I go through. I'll get the hang of it eventually. If it ever stops raining I'll be able to do the headlining job, bit bored of moving the roll of fabric out of the way now. |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 22, 2021 15:00:27 GMT
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Minor fleet update for you all.
Maestro - you know how that's going, it's been the centre of attention just lately.
Princess - Still waiting for me to pull the engine out. It's a job I have to do outdoors and the weather being what it is means I just haven't been able to. I have decided to send the engine away for someone else to inspect and rebuild, it's going to be more expensive but I just don't want to do it and happily know at least one person who is willing to do it and a good bit more skilled than I am with this sort of thing. Suspension is still on the wish list, but that's a huge chunk of spend and a very big job, it also really needs to be done after the engine is sorted since part of the process is driving the car about to settle the suspension out afterwards. I'm toying with putting interconnecting pipes back on the car, the trouble is they aren't available so it's a custom item and I don't know anywhere that makes the original style steel pipes, only the modern flexible hydraulic lines which are difficult to fit around the air box. Ideally, this is another one of those jobs where I need to give the car whole to a hydraulic pipe place and have them fit new custom pipes to the car. I can't do anything with the paintwork either, so it looks pretty poor right now on that front, I've got the materials waiting and ready to go I just can't get it done because of the weather. I'm aware that I could 'just do X' and get the Princess up and running again adequately but I really want to do things right and that means spending a fair amount of cash I just don't have right now.
Lanchester - also a victim of the weather. We've got the new wiring loom (which looks lovely and much better than we could have DIY'd) and the refurbished interior bits to go back in, but with the weather being what it is lately, actually getting the car outside to do these jobs has been impossible. This time of year, not having a big enough garage to work in is something of a hindrance. We will probably use the engine crane to lift the engine enough to fit the waterpump and new fan belt, we haven't found the correct engine mounts yet to fix the sagging engine issue. Because of Covid etc. we haven't sent the radiator off to be repaired either. There's a lot of work lined up for the Lanchester, very little of it actually requiring money being spent, and all of it hampered by the lack of workshop space.
So for now I'm enjoying only having the expense of running the Maestro and working through its issues. I'm actually really enjoying Maestro ownership, it has all the good points of my old Ledbury, and none of the bad points. It's a very good fit for what I need right now and I have, against my better judgement, ended up getting attached to it. I'm rubbish at winter beaters.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,345
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Jan 22, 2021 18:24:22 GMT
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This is a difficult thing to type, and please don't think I am doing it lightly.
Bin the Princess. Do it now, before you spend any more time or money on it.
Seriously. It's going to be like the Forth Bridge. You are never going to get on top of the never-ending issues while you're simultaneously fixing up the Lanchester, the house, the garage and the Maestro.
Sort the Maestro out as you want to, to get it properly daily-drivable, then concentrate on the Lanchester.
The Princess has been epic, but it's the kind of car that only works if it's your sole classic.
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Jan 22, 2021 21:12:49 GMT
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Bin the Princess. Do it now, before you spend any more time or money on. I was thinking exactly the same whilst reading Vulgalour’s update. Sometimes hard decisions have to be made... |
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Ich habe kein Geld!
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 22, 2021 21:41:37 GMT
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yeah... but you don't have the responsibility of ownership so what's it to you? I mean really?
I love the Princess. I know it's a problem child. I've spent too much time and money on it already, what's a couple more grand on top of that? When it's all working it brings me a lot of joy, even when it's not I just like having it, I like looking at it, I like sitting in it, and none of those things cost me any money.
It's my mistake to make and I'm happy to make it.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,345
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Jan 22, 2021 21:57:13 GMT
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I may not have the responsibility of ownership, but I do have the clarity of vision that a bit of distance gives, and I’m not throwing it at you like some random off the internet (I hope), but like someone who feels a mate is stretching themselves a bit thin.
Fair enough though. I have an Austin lorry I just sit in making brum-brum noises, so you probably shouldn’t listen to me anyway.
Please let’s not fall out over it, it wasn’t my intention to offend, and my sincerest apologies if I have.
PS. I knew you’d fall in love with that Maestro. 😃
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,280
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 22, 2021 22:34:00 GMT
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Oh, I'm not offended. Water off a duck's wotsit. I've just had 9 years of people telling me to get rid of the Princess for whatever reasons they personally have. It's been with me through a lot, and seen off a lot of other (arguably better) cars so it's just going to hang around like a fart in a doorway for a while yet.
I mean, if we're doing 'clarity of vision' here, I should just catch the bus. But where's the fun in that?
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