vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Sadly, Princess has been evicted from the unit again and is sat outside with a cover on. Until I get a gas bottle for the welding we need the space in the unit for customer cars to come in and out so needs must and it probably is unfair for my old wreck to be hogging a parking space indoors. Did I mention I'm open for new artwork commissions? HINT HINT LE BUS OIGNONFirst thing I noticed this morning was there was a spot of fresh water on the parcel shelf in the Xantia...  A quick inspection revealed it was coming in through a hole where there should be a trim screw.  I wonder if this is how water is really getting into the boot. Happily, there is no additional water ingress into the footwells so it looks like sealing the windscreen trim has resolved that water leak and soon the carpets can go back in. I'll see what happens after some really heavy rain. NUGGETToday, Mike removed the starter motor from the car. There's some minor wear on the teeth you can immediately see so we're going to inspect the flywheel for damage to the teeth, it's pretty likely that's the cause of the weird noise at start. The starter motor itself is a good Valeo item that looks new-ish. The main reason the car was being worked on is that the weather was a bit milder, we had a bit of space (Princess evicted to outside and a cover again) it was decided to crack on with paint rectification. First up, clear the mud out of the arches.  Have a good look underneath. Front crossmember is in very good condition and the underside of the car is very tidy indeed with no work required. There's one spot on the front chassis leg that could do with some fresh underseal but other than that it's very tidy underneath.  Mike had previously given the engine bay a quick degrease which improved things rather a lot, looks very tidy and will be an easy task to get it up to spec.  On with the paint. I'd already poked the flakey stuff off and found the metal underneath was pitted but solid, no holes. Return lip on Corsa bonnets always rots, something about the design of them, so it all got blitzed with the flapwheel before getting a couple of coats of primer. I was going to put top coat on this and found that the nozzle on the can is utterly borked so I need to get that exchanged for a new can. Annoyed me a bit too because today I was all set to finish the paintwork on the car.  Tidied up the scratches and got the touch-up kit out to prime the deeper scratches that weren't so evident in previous pictures. You can just about make them out here.  The flanks of the car aren't perfect, but they are very, very tidy. All of the doors have paint nibbles on the very edge that's taken the top paint off but left the base coat intact. A fiddly repair that's time consuming. There were a few stone chips but very minor and infrequent.   Cleaned back the driver's door corner. Metal was very pitted but also solid with no holes. Rust converter after cleaning it all out and a couple of layers of primer were order of the day here. A very minimal skim of filler or even just high-build spray primer will resolve the surface which I'm really pleasantly surprised by as I was expecting the door to be a bit worse.  Trailing edge of the sill looked a little tender, when it was taken back the problem was a loose scab of underseal with again solid but pitted metal underneath. This has since been blitzed, rust convertered and primed ready for stone chip, top coat and underseal to make it all good again.  At the front I found the only rot hole in the bottom of the driver's front wing where mud had sat and rotted it out. The sill behind is completely solid and a neighbouring mechanic is happy to weld this up for me for a very agreeable price as I've got no welder gas at the moment. Not worth replacing the whole wing, not that Caribic Blue panels come up that often in reasonable nick.  The other wing bottom is nice and solid. Again, under the paint scab was rough metal but no rot to speak of. As with the other areas this was cleaned, rust treated and primed ready to go.  Finally, same again on the trailing edge sill passenger side. Really solid again with no issues on the sills. Lovely.  I'm really pleased with this, I knew there was a chance I'd blitzed the scabs and find holes everywhere but instead I found solid metal. What's caused the problem is a small stone chip that's let water to get in under the paint and make a mess of things, metallic paint making it look far worse than it was. Progress on the paint is swift, touching in stone chips is fiddly but easy, well within my skill set. I've yet to flat them all back and polish up and it looks likely that the repairs will be invisible as the paint is a really good match to the original. I've got to finish the bonnet, the B pillars, front passenger wing and have a good look around the door shuts to check for anything I might have missed. You can't really see it in the pictures, but in person it's such a big improvement to see bodycoloured door edges instead of nibbled paint back to primer and to see the tiny white dots on the flanks filled in. I'm really pleased about this progress. |
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Last Edit: Feb 5, 2015 17:02:37 GMT by vulgalour
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Comfort is a constant problem for me in a car. Hereditary back problems are not fun, so I need a very specific set up. I had thought the Xantia was reasonable until I completed a 100 mile trip non-stop and found afterwards I was in quite a lot of pain. Until then I'd done longer distance drives but it wasn't until I thought back that I realised I never did more than 60 miles in one go due to aches and stiffness.
This problem has been identified, after much discussion and measurement of the car, to be down to the seating position. When the seat is perfectly set and the distance from the pedals suitable I find the steering wheel is 2" too far away for me to reach comfortably. This in turn means that driving the car I'm constantly having to lean forward just a little which is not a good idea. Bringing the seat base/back further forwards to meet the steering wheel doesn't help, that makes the pedals too close and causes different back pain, so I'm not going to discuss further what needs to be adjusted.
What this means is that I'm on the lookout either for a suitable steering wheel that's 7" front to back as opposed to the current 5" and is at least 15" and no more than 18" in diameter for maximum comfort. An additional bonus would be a seat with better knee support and/or a tilting base. I expect there are new and used steering wheels that are appropriate for this, I'd love it if something like a white DS wheel fit the bill, but I'm sure it won't.
I'm not sure how you stand with changing an air bag wheel on a car legally and practically, it's the first car I've ever had with any air bag fitted as standard. My 1997 Maestro had no air bags so I imagine legally I'm safe to remove the one currently fitted.
The other thing I'd like to do is change to a single wiper conversion. I'm considering using a BX or ZX wiper motor for this. I really miss having a single wiper, it was one of the most satisfyingly quirky bits of the BX I owned.
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,341 
Club RR Member Number: 160
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I'm not sure how you stand with changing an air bag wheel on a car legally and practically, it's the first car I've ever had with any air bag fitted as standard. My 1997 Maestro had no air bags so I imagine legally I'm safe to remove the one currently fitted. You can remove it, just make sure the SRS light isn't on when presented for MOT (ie, bulb removed) and there is no issue other than potentially telling your insurer. |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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I will be sure to tell the insurer, they seem fairly relaxed about changes I've been considering making so it shouldn't be too difficult.
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Siert
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,107
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I'm not sure how you stand with changing an air bag wheel on a car legally and practically, it's the first car I've ever had with any air bag fitted as standard. My 1997 Maestro had no air bags so I imagine legally I'm safe to remove the one currently fitted. You can remove it, just make sure the SRS light isn't on when presented for MOT (ie, bulb removed) and there is no issue other than potentially telling your insurer. Once again you guys get away easier then we do, over here the light also has to come on for a couple of seconds after switching on the ignition. Of course that's still not proof the SRS system is actually there... |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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I wonder if there's such a thing as a steering wheel spacer, like you use for making wheels fill arches better. that would be a nifty solution to my particular problem and I don't need to find a steering wheel then. Though I do really fancy fitting a white metalflake Mooneyes item...
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aftermarket steering wheel boss would do it (ones like you would use to fit a sparco steering wheel or similar) would also make history for adapting an adapter back to standard  |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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so, I'd have to adapt and adaptor so it wasn't an adaptor any more? I've written adaptor so many times it no longer looks correct as a word.
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,971
Club RR Member Number: 29
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I'm not sure how you stand with changing an air bag wheel on a car legally and practically, it's the first car I've ever had with any air bag fitted as standard. My 1997 Maestro had no air bags so I imagine legally I'm safe to remove the one currently fitted. You can remove it, just make sure the SRS light isn't on when presented for MOT (ie, bulb removed) and there is no issue other than potentially telling your insurer. I thought that they have to check that the light comes on then goes off if it's there, there are much more knowledgable people out there re MOTs but I would think if it came with an airbag you need to keep one. |
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,341
Club RR Member Number: 160
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You can remove it, just make sure the SRS light isn't on when presented for MOT (ie, bulb removed) and there is no issue other than potentially telling your insurer. I thought that they have to check that the light comes on then goes off if it's there, there are much more knowledgable people out there re MOTs but I would think if it came with an airbag you need to keep one. No, if the airbag is obviously removed and the lamp isn't on at the time of test then it's a pass. To be fair I think an SRS lamp not working at all is a pass and advise. I'd need to check the manual on that. |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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In theory, if there's no visible air bag presence - and they're usually marked - in the car, no air bag light coming on when ignition is turned on and the car is old enough to not have them you wouldn't go looking for them, I think. In theory.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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So I'm idly browsing about wondering if there's a single spoke steering wheel I can fit when I find this picture of an early XM wheel fitted to a Xantia.   It's not perfect, the cowling needs an extra bit of trim adding to it but it looks like it has a bit more depth to it and I'd stand a chance of actually seeing the instruments. XM steering wheels are surprisingly easy to obtain so this could be an easier solution for me. |
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Last Edit: Feb 6, 2015 22:57:23 GMT by vulgalour
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Siert
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,107
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The XM wheel may be a bit massive for a small car though? A GS wheel would be funnier:  (Note that the spoke pointing to 7:30 is the straight on position) A GSA wheel may be more plausible/suitable:  Still I'm guessing getting either of these to fit may be difficult. |
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Last Edit: Feb 7, 2015 7:48:46 GMT by Siert
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,971
Club RR Member Number: 29
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I thought that they have to check that the light comes on then goes off if it's there, there are much more knowledgable people out there re MOTs but I would think if it came with an airbag you need to keep one. No, if the airbag is obviously removed and the lamp isn't on at the time of test then it's a pass. To be fair I think an SRS lamp not working at all is a pass and advise. I'd need to check the manual on that. Rich, From the link you posted to the MOT documents, wouldn't it come under; "...1. As far as practicable, check that all airbags fitted as original equipment are present and not obviously defective..." I suppose the get out is "as far as practicable...". I'm sure I read, in a PPC article, that the rules had changed that the SRS lamp had to come on with the ignition and then go off (to get around the people taking the bulb out ruse). Not wishing to cause trouble but interested. Mark |
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,341
Club RR Member Number: 160
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No, if the airbag is obviously removed and the lamp isn't on at the time of test then it's a pass. To be fair I think an SRS lamp not working at all is a pass and advise. I'd need to check the manual on that. Rich, From the link you posted to the MOT documents, wouldn't it come under; "...1. As far as practicable, check that all airbags fitted as original equipment are present and not obviously defective..." I suppose the get out is "as far as practicable...". I'm sure I read, in a PPC article, that the rules had changed that the SRS lamp had to come on with the ignition and then go off (to get around the people taking the bulb out ruse). Not wishing to cause trouble but interested. Mark I did go look but didn't get time to post back. I think intentional swap to an aftermarket wheel is considered passable, I'll ask my testers Monday. That link is also as up to date as you can get, if it's not there, it's not per test.  |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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The XM wheel may be a bit massive for a small car though? Skinny wheels of 16-20" are my favourites, the Xantia has a chunky 15" wheel which is okay but it doesn't make me happy. A bigger wheel does look a bit odd in smaller cars to some, but I build for comfort rather than performance and for that, a larger wheel makes more sense. Earlier Xantias didn't have airbags and the wiring can be removed if need be, found some info on this courtesy of RR over here: retrorides.proboards.com/thread/85167/1994-citroen-xantia-water-upgrades?page=1 I shan't be swapping the wheel out until I know I'm okay to do it. |
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Last Edit: Feb 7, 2015 11:53:37 GMT by vulgalour
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Siert
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,107
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Yeah I had one of those non-airbag wheels in my dreadful Xantia.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Larger than usual update today. First of all on the subject of the airbag wheel, a couple of other people in the Real World (tm) that know the regulations and whatnot better than I do concur with Rich's interpretation of it being perfectly legal to remove the air bag providing the light and other systems are also disabled. When or if I find a suitable steering wheel I shall then inform the insurer but there's no point to doing that as I've not changed anything. For the first time in too long the Xantia got a wash by me, not a full clay and polish as I didn't have enough time for that but it is at least looking better. I was worried about the repaired arch going rusty but when all the rust came off with cutting compound and left no trace behind I was very confused. I was going to spend today at the unit so I attacked things with sandpaper and found that the paint was flaking off in really localised patches. This is the same thing I was faced with before I did the repair, as though the paint just doesn't want to stick to the metal which is itself in really good shape. Gave it a fresh coat of primer and paint after cleaning it all up and lacquered it to keep the water out. It needs going back to at a future date because the finish is pretty poor but it is at least weatherproof and looks nicer than orangey stains.  The main reason I was heading in was to make use of the mild weather and make some progress on the Corsa. I was hoping to get the machine polisher to do its magic but the lambswool bonnet has gone missing. It didn't mean I had nothing to do, there was still some lower door de-tarring action to undertake and I swear I removed enough tar to protect the Mary Rose. I tidied up the stone chip repairs I'd already completed, one or two will need redoing but the majority have disappeared into the paintwork as I hoped they would. I also gave the sides of the car a go over with cutting compound by hand since I couldn't use the machine polisher and it's helped bring the paint up brighter than I'd expected. I'd already cleaned up the sill ends and got them primed, today I cleaned them up again and put the tiniest skim of filler on to smooth out the slightly pitted surfaces. Top coat of metallic and lacquer saw them looking smart enough that you wouldn't know I'd even done the work.  I need to re-black the sills properly now to finish the job.  For a Halfords rattle can, the colour match and finish is really good, I'm actually quite proud of this.  This is the sill end that looked quite rough but wasn't, with some fresh matching paint it looks excellent now.  The other end of the same sill needed virtually no work before the top coat went on. The wing bottom isn't painted as it is going to get repaired first.  This inner sill had worn through to the white basecoat, careful application of paint saw it blended back in nicely.  You may remember the B pillar was very badly scarred when I collected the car. Plenty of careful sanding and masking saw all that in the past. The matching damage on the driver's door got the same treatment.   The driver's door corner was the ugliest bit of bodywork on the car. You wouldn't know it was even an issue now.  The return lip on the bonnet was finished too. I couldn't do more on the bonnet without bringing the car down off the ramp so I'll tackle the rest of it later. I also need to do a little extra sanding on the top side of the bonnet to make it look a bit smoother. All in all, not a bad effort.   I couldn't do much more on the Corsa today and wanted to make use of the last few hours of decent weather. Finished the satin black on the Princess bracketry and took the worst picture of it.  Finished off my 'lazy Sunday' by cranking the Princess round to TDC before stripping all the ancillaries off and removing the head.  PHEW! This has been a super day, I'm dead chuffed with what I've achieved. |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,287
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Feb 10, 2015 17:07:37 GMT
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I'm getting better at taking this engine apart and putting it back together. Removed the perfectly fine head gasket and cleaned the block face before dropping the rebuilt head in place. Torqued it all down as per the book, fought with the cam belt and got that on and tensioned up and spark plugs back in. Then fought with the stupidly designed manifold and eventually got all the bolts in and tightened up, this should hopefully completely eliminate the minor chunter the car has always had. The donor car offered me a better and more complete heat shield for behind the the carburettor and a full set of proper spring washers to replace the mismatched assortment the car has always had so those went on along with the carburettor and air box.   I removed the spacer block for the mechanical fuel pump from the old head but couldn't budge any of the rocker cover bolts to liberate the cambelt cover bracket so the replacement head doesn't have that luxury at the moment. The fuel pump spacer block wasn't leaking where I thought, it was so firmly attached to the head it couldn't leak while the pump side of the block was quite wet, I have no idea how to resolve that which is why I'm planning to switch to a remote electric pump. I'll have to refit the mechanical pump in the meantime and just keep an eye on it. The front of the block got a degrease but wasn't that bad, it looks worse than it is due to really thick lumpy black paint that's starting to flake off so that's a job to sort one day. Later I'll get the battery and expansion bottle brackets refitted, a new O ring seal for the distributor before that's fitted and then it's a case of popping the coil on, radiator and refilling with coolant before first fire. I'm happy I've got the head swapped over, it's one of the bigger jobs. Getting the rest together and the engine running shouldn't cause too much of a headache. |
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Feb 10, 2015 18:50:45 GMT
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Great work on the Princess  Regarding the airbag, it is right you can remove it but must remove or disable the rest or the system, done this very thing on my Disco 1 offroader, my argument being airbags are not practical on an offroader incase they deploy by accident, still have the airbag wheel but just covered the SRS sign with a square of Vinyl (and a Land Rover badge on the passenger side), no problems at all. Also did the same with the ABS, all traces of the system removed, same argument, ABS not practical on an offroader (even though the most offroad it see's is ASDA car park :  , but truith is the system was faulty and not worth fixing. |
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold  86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold |
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, but truith is the system was faulty and not worth fixing. 