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I once had a car fail because of the Magic Tree air freshener (Hanging from Rear View Mirror) He actually issued me a failure and said once you have removed it, bring it back within 7 days for a re-test. He wasn't kidding either - I had to rebook for the following day! I had the exact same failure just back in June, Magic Tree hanging from rear view mirror. Couldn't believe it, glad it happened to someone else, I thought I was the butt of some MOT joke! |
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Aug 31, 2019 14:08:56 GMT
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Not a bad fail at all.
To adjust the service brake you just need to go under the car with a 1/2" spanner and tighten the adjuster on each Rear wheel until when you spin the wheel there is a little bit of resistance.
Brake pipes you will need to use the hardened steel lines.
Damper ball joint is a big job as you need to take the whole front damper out and the springs are packing some power! A guy at work a few months ago just started compressing one and he turned the compressor about half a thread somehow got his thumb in the spring cup and the spring took the end of his thumb off.
You need to compress it on the car with the special tool, it's not like a normal strut. If it isn't compressed and you somehow undid the bottom ball joint and lifted it out of its seat the damper would shoot off and blow up. They also don't like being compressed (go figure) and so you can blow the damper seals by doing it properly!
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Aug 31, 2019 18:19:55 GMT
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A full day of Bentley was had today. First on the list was the ignition coil. I had noticed on long inclines in France the power starting to drop off and then recover with less throttle. Having given the carbs a careful check and found nothing wrong I decided to check the coil wasn't starting break down and fail to provide the higher voltage needed for a spark under heavier load. When I got back I took the coil off and inspected it on the bench which revealed that the resistance between primary and secondary windings was down suggesting a break down in insulation. The original coil is a Lucas DLB198 which is the same coil I am running on the Metro with similar Lucas electronic ignition. I had a bit of bother sourcing a new coil for that and quickly had to replace a new Chinese unit sold as new old stock in an old box... Not wanting to repeat that I did some research and found Viper coils being sold by Powerspark. I've always found the Powerspark components to be pretty good and these seem to have a decent reputation. Interestingly they are resin filled rather than oil which should be an improvement. The VCE has the same electrical properties as the DLB198 so I went for that.  The wiring to the coil was also looking rather suspect with hardening and frayed insulation and highly corroded contacts so I renewed that while I was there.  Self soldering butt connectors are a wonderful invention!  With the wiring sorted and coil fitted the engine fired first turn from cold which is a first for me. Until now it has always taken a few cranks to get going when cold. Winner. Next up was to get the car in the air and look at the brakes.  On the right hand side are the offending lines.  And that is the rustiest spring. Much rust. So advisory. The brake pedal was pumped until the pressure warning lights came on with an additional 10 pumps for safety. The lamps came on after about 25 pumps rather than the advised 60 suggesting the sphere's are tired. New ones are on order. With the system depressurised I opened the bleed nipples to ensure there was no residual pressure in the lines and set about removing them. Access to the fittings and fasteners is somewhat lacking, it is quite clear that this part of the system was assembled to the body before the engine and subframe was fitted, so it took some time! That said everything came off just fine, even the screws holding the p-clips on undid without any fight which was excellent. With the steel lines off I used them as a template to bend the new lines. I used electrical tape after each bend to keep the two pipes aligned which worked nicely. I went with 10/90 Cupro-Nickel line rather than steel based on a lot of research and reading on the Rolls Royce clubs where it is the standard replacement. I was concerned that the car may need special high pressure pipework but was unable to find anything to support this. The pumps operate at a maximum of 2500 PSI which is comparable to normal brakes and the flexi-hoses are nothing special. The line I used is rated to over 3000 PSI with a burst pressure that will exceed that by a long shot.  A few hours later and the pipes were fitted, p-clipped and the system bled. With the car in the air I went over the front wheel bearings again and inspected the ball joint. There is possibly a little play in the bearings but it's pretty hard to say! The ball joint also seems fine to me which is nice, changing that looks like a right barrel of laughs. What an amazingly stupid and dangerous design! www.bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/remove-front-road-spring-damper/Testing revealed the brakes working just as well as before and an engine that is running even better. Tomorrow morning I'll be looking at the service brake. 360beast - thank you for the advice, I did not deliberately ignore you regarding the brake line, I had already done the work by the time I saw your post. As I said above, I've not been able to find any reference to the need for steel lines for the brake circuit. James |
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,922 
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Nice careful progress.
Some thoughts - wheel bearings on older designs often need a small amount of slack to allow for expansion with heat. Modern non adjustable units don’t do this but older adjustable designs do. I’d be tempted to leave well alone if only an advisory !
On brake pipes my understanding is that steel is the oem as the rigidity helps installation in the factory and they are cheaper than cupro-nickel . Copper is the one to avoid by all accounts as it work hardens too much.
James
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Sept 1, 2019 10:21:18 GMT
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jamesd1972 - my thoughts entirely on both counts. I never have and never will use copper for brakes, or anything on a car if avoidable, it is the wrong material for the job. I am not sure why it is so commonly available in the UK given that it isn't even legal in a lot of other countries! Wheel bearing wise I checked the rears this morning and am happy to leave it as is. I've also adjusted the service brake as per this guide: Adjustment was a doddle. The 'biting' point on the pedal is higher and a lot more positive so fingers crossed. I gave the linkages some love with a wire brush and grease while I was at it. Now I just have to wait for the retest which is looking like Wednesday... In other news I now have another set of new tyres after a long and painful debacle with an online tyre seller. Summary is I have an additional set of CT8s with no chance of a refund. Come and get them at a knock down price! forum.retro-rides.org/thread/210872/brand-new-nexen-roadian-emsworth?page=1&scrollTo=2533521James
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Last Edit: Sept 1, 2019 10:21:46 GMT by metroman
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Tamber
Part of things
Shattered. Held together by spite and tape.
Posts: 342
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Sept 1, 2019 19:04:12 GMT
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I never have and never will use copper for brakes, or anything on a car if avoidable, it is the wrong material for the job. I am not sure why it is so commonly available in the UK given that it isn't even legal in a lot of other countries! Copper is entirely the wrong material for a brake line, but cupro-nickel (Otherwise known by Kunifer/Cunifer) is a different beast; despite containing, looking like, and often being referred to as copper even by people who should know better.  |
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-< Welder. Allegedly a mechanic. Bodger of Things >-
* 1958? Bedford RL - Progress: Glacial.
* 1994 Skoda Favorit - It's baaaaaaaack!
* 2018 Herald Classic - Gone!
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I once had a car fail because of the Magic Tree air freshener (Hanging from Rear View Mirror) He actually issued me a failure and said once you have removed it, bring it back within 7 days for a re-test. He wasn't kidding either - I had to rebook for the following day! Sounds like a proper tool. Have you ever been back?
Err Nope!
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96 E320 W210 Wafter - on 18" split Mono's - Sold :-(
10 Kia Ceed Sportwagon - Our new daily
03 Import Forester STi - Sold
98 W140 CL500 AMG - Brutal weekend bruiser! Sold :-(
99 E240 S210 Barge - Now sold
02 Accord 2.0SE - wife's old daily - gone in PX
88 P100 2.9efi Custom - Sold
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Sept 3, 2019 10:12:44 GMT
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Happy days, passed the retest. No budge on some of the questionable advisories which is a shame.
James
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fer4l
Posted a lot
Testing
Posts: 1,497
Club RR Member Number: 73
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Sept 3, 2019 16:56:48 GMT
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Top work on the pass !! It's unreal re advisories nowadays - a little while ago I put a 911 in for MoT with a friendly local garage before putting it up for sale... went through the car to make sure all was OK beforehand and sure enough it passed - but with an advisory for a minor oil leak The engine was dry as a bone so I called them to ask 'What oil leak, there wasn't an oil leak yesterday?' Their reply (and bear in mind a potential purchaser viewing the MoT history online would see this as a potential £10k bill) 'You're right, sorry - our mistake - but no we can't delete it from the history, sorry about that' Unbefeckinlievable ... made me properly Victor Meldrew, I can tell you Anyway, apologies for the further thread diversion - as you were !!  Cheers Matt |
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Sept 3, 2019 17:04:30 GMT
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Good result on the MOT. These cars can cause a lot of trouble but looking at the cars the previous owner sold recently, he had a good touch for decent cars. Enjoy it!
Peter
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Sept 3, 2019 18:53:54 GMT
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Congratulations on fresh MOT. Will you drive it whole winter or put it away for the worst part or do you even get that bad weathers?
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Sept 3, 2019 19:12:38 GMT
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The MOT advisories are annoying but it is easy to show that the advisories are not exactly pressing. I took the car to work again in celebration and am really impressed with the new ignition coil. The engine was good up to about 75% throttle and flat over that but now it really flies! The trouble is I am not sure where to go next with the car. The bodywork is holding it back now but I have neither the time nor space to sort it out. It isn't getting worse but I am concerned that a winter outside will be less than ideal for it. The other projects including fully refurbishing the house(!) haven't gone away either and are in just as much need of time and attention as ever. Worse still is I am currently having to park one car under a tree on the front lawn which is less than popular with my very patient girlfriend! It's not the car, it's just that the time is wrong  With a very heavy heart I am going to be putting the supercharged MX5 up for sale at the weekend to make space but am wondering if the best course of action would be to move this lovely old machine on as well to make space for an estate, which was what was meant to happen a few months ago. A derv Mercedes W124 wagon would make life easier. I wouldn't be sad if it didn't sell because there is always LPG and the train (a 64 mile daily commute soon adds up!) and I can always find storage. That does come with the risk of it being left to sit and cars like this need to be used. It feels wrong putting it up for sale after such a short time, I think my shortest custodianship of a vehicle to date has been a year but I don't want what has been a wonderful experience to be marred by the car becoming a burden rather than an enjoyment by getting in the way of more pressing matters. That said, if it was to sell it would certainly be bought back / replaced with another as soon as is practical, without any doubt. I am 100% hooked. I won't be making a decision yet as I need to mull it over but would be interested in your opinions. This is by far the worst part of owning the Bentley to date! James |
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Sept 3, 2019 19:52:25 GMT
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Understand, on both cars. Having had few, a good, non rusty NA's aren't as common as they used to be, but with Bentley you can always upgrade to Turbo R as your next one. Did you spend time in NUTZ pages?
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Last Edit: Sept 3, 2019 19:53:45 GMT by samulis
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vader
Part of things
Posts: 425
Club RR Member Number: 93
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Sept 3, 2019 20:01:18 GMT
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You don’t want a diesel Merc, far too practical, keep the Bentley and be different, I’m sure the boot is as big as a 124 estate!!
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Triumph Stag
Ducati Supersport
Shanks’s Pony
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Sept 3, 2019 20:25:45 GMT
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samulis - the MX5 is a rust free NB that was restored and fully rebuilt just before I bought it. I feel a bit bad for having modified and daily driven it because it was concourse but it's been excellent. I did a build thread over on Nutz for the supercharger build www.mx5nutz.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=384843. I don't know about the Turbo R, it's obviously a dream car but I found out that I am allergenic to K-Jetronic injection. I would probably look for a T-Series or Shadow because they are beautiful. vader - you aren't wrong! It's a sensible car I think I can tolerate because it's kinda retro and OM603. This would be ideal  Or this in a less gopping colour  James
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Sept 3, 2019 20:52:43 GMT
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My RR and Merc V8 where both cars that found me, rather than went looking to buy and therefore I had not looked at others before buying. Both cars had problems, and I got round them while using them. I spent quite a lot of money on them to get them usable and reliable, yet I knew with out spending much more on them, they would never be like the really mint ones displayed on the owners club stands. I let them go to new homes as it made more financial sense to buy ready restored cars.
I viewed a few more RR and Bentleys, and never found the one. The Merc was replaced, the car was much tidier, I worried about it a lot more, and in the end decided it was just a weekend car. Eventually I sold it due to lack of use.
I don't honestly know how many cars I've had, but out of the 5 or so I would dearly love to have back, the Rolls would be on the list. The reason being the way I used it, made memories in it and also the satisfaction of knowing mine is well and truly sorted. Yes people may have better paint, no visible rust and straight bumpers, but they have restored the character out of their old cars and half the time, don't get used very often.
The best car is the one you already know. Unless you particularly want something else and don't want to keep both, I really would not sell it. Make the most of us being able to use these big engines out in the wild.
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Gopping? Only other people I’ve heard use that are ex squaddies.
I quite like the brown actually.
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Sept 4, 2019 20:56:10 GMT
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Hey James. Friend of mine just sold he's H1 Hummer and we have been pondering what weird, fun and different (read stup.. senseless) he should get next (wants an other H1 but we have all learned that they are Huge piles of junk). And all of suddently, out of nowhere I remembered your Bentley and that you are in middle of hard decision. Said it out loud, magic name of Bentley and he got excited, I took it step further and show'd pics and we all got very excited (I think you might know how good friends help and pour in some good old 98 octane for good ideas). So if the end come is that you are letting it go, he (we all) might be interested.
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Last Edit: Sept 4, 2019 22:05:33 GMT by samulis
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Sept 9, 2019 12:09:59 GMT
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ignoring the hind site afforded by being back at my PC, apart from being the wrong year, not quite the right colour, not quite the right model and "long shot" but possible geographical proximity.....i thought i spotted you today. still worth sharing anyway   |
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Sept 9, 2019 12:30:42 GMT
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Yup, could see how easy it is to mistake an Astra estate for a Bentley Eight. Sorry, if it wasn't me, it would be someone else! |
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