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So, It's been a while since I did some major surgery on this... I was never comfortable with the JB Welded oil pan, it as only ever going to be temporary fix. And it started to leak again... I had my doubts that the oil pan would come out. But, I tried anyway. I raised the front of the engine until the oil filter housing mashed the firewall. All I got was about two fingers more between the crossmember & oil pan. And that was all it needed. I had to remove the center steering link & damper, the hoses runing to the transmission cooler - and it slid right out. With ease actually! Woohoo! Upon closer inspection, I found that the cylinders are sleeved. And there are punch marks on the bearing caps and block. I can't say for sure, but I think there's a possibility that this engine actually had a rebuild... I proceeded the install the new pan - which went in just as easy. Since I only had a Turbo oil pan at hand I used it. Which increased the oil capacity from 7.5 to 8.5l. Next task was to remove the injection pump. To replace the o-ring sealing it to the engine block. And the seal of the bottom pump cover. The latter was leaking really BAD. And not surprising, the rubber seal was brittle as a biscuit... Come reinstallation of the pump, I had a bit of a nightmare to get the timing right... It always jumped out of alignment, putting the timing far beyond anything reasonable. But 4th or 5th try I got it right. Barstard! Took a bit of cranking to get it going again, but it runs well. Phew. And to prevent future oil pan misshaps, I reinstalled the blöödy heavy bit of steel that is the factory sump guard. Glad that is over. And so far no leaks. Milegae: 1.084.000 Cheers, Jan
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Jan 27, 2019 20:40:08 GMT
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Shock horror!!! Something stopped working The wiper suddenly came to a dead stopp on the autobahn today. Though the fix was very simple, would have been possibly with the original tool kit. Just the main nut came undone. It's just a friction fit between the wiper gearbox input shaft & the linkage from the motor. Probably my fault, I used no thread lock. Thread locked, tightend - done. All working again. And that is - all. Cheers, Jan
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Jan 22, 2019 20:57:52 GMT
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Well you've got a point there...
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Jan 19, 2019 19:22:36 GMT
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Today I had the car up on the lift at work... Stuff to do: maintenance. In particular: gearbox oil change. So out with oil, of with the pan and out with the oil filter. I always have a good look at everything, since it's so infrequent that the oil pan comes off. Good sign number 1: Transmission fluid crystal clear, like new. Good sign number 2: Spotless oil pan. Not the slightest hint of dirt or any large particles. The spots are just defects in the coating of the oil pan. Good sign number 3: Nothing inside the oil filter, not even the "usual" fine dark-brown slush/dust from clutch abrasion. Good sign number 4: Only very, very few very smal particles inside the oil filter mesh. I'm not worried about these, they are quite regular. The clutch material is rather brittle and this gearbox has probably done about 300.000km. I was actually expecting more bits of clutch material. So, all in all: the gearbox is still in impressiv good shape. Nothing to worry about here. Compared to what I found in a customer's gearbox the other day - mine looks like new Filter close to being clogged with steel shavings and bits of clutch material. and large chunks of metal & clutch disc in the bottom of the filter. The gearbox oil was brown and had a nice glitter effect to it. ^This is what happens if gearbox oil changes & fluid levels are ignored. Much to my surprise, this gearbox is still functional.... But I guess not for much longer. Anyway, glad mine has always been taken care off. And I will continue to do so. In slightly less exciting news; the wings start to rust, just like on any W124... Come spring this will be adressed, amongst many other spots. This winter had been rather warm - and very salty. Not a good combination... Current milage: 1.075.000km Cheers, Jan
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Dec 22, 2018 15:34:04 GMT
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So, I have some very sad news... I had to swap the old girl for a new car. Less then 8000km on the clock, literally brand new. But, it's got all the latest emissions tech, even though I had to sacrifice 3 cylinders and 2/3rd of the cubic capacity. Also runs on gasoline and the gearbox needs manual operation. But apart from that, this has the potential for a real economic commuter. Fortunately, later that day I could swap it back for my beloved Taxi. I finally found a car glas shop owner who sounded trust worthy on the phone - and in person. They gave my a spare car which I didn't even have to refill (though I did anyway). They kept me on track via WhatsApp, almost live. Finally a good experience with car glas guys. I was late - and someone was waiting for me to arrive, so I could collect my car the same day. Very nice, very kind. About 20 minutes after I collected my car it was on the ramps at the next TÜV station. And I finally got a new sticker for the rear license plate. Two new years of road-legallity. Current mileage; 1.070.000km. And this year I broke my record and put on 50.000km - and the year's now over yet... Next year I can apply for historic plates and cut taxes in half. Also the car will be allowed into emission zones. But... There's going to be some welding & painting required for that. The rules for historic plates are getting stricter and stricter. But I'm positive to get them. Though there's visible rust to cure first. Anyway, have a couple of nice days! Cheers, Jan
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Dec 16, 2018 15:23:19 GMT
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Had a free saturday and noone else was expected to be in the garage. Time to put the Clubman on the little lift and get going. In for replacement of the balljoints and a torn steering rack gaiter. It's been a while since I have seen ball joint with this amount of pitting and corrosion. But all went well, 4 new ball joints and one 2nd hand steering rack gaiter. I decided against replacing the steering rack. The track rod joints are just fine. Though I replaced the outer ball joints. Also tried the 4th or 5th new Lucas flasher relais... And finally gave up. Established a new ground wire from somewhere behind the dashboard and wired in an electronic relais. Now the indicators work absolutely flawless. And that should be it. I think it's ready for a second try at the TÜV station Cheers, Jan
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Nov 26, 2018 21:33:38 GMT
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Yes, same here. The area is actually pretty small. But... If one's in, it's in
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Nov 26, 2018 18:08:37 GMT
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+++NEWS+++ Couple of days ago I noticed that the seat belt didn't block when you gave it a jerk, only every now and then. Which is basically like russian roulette in case of a serious - or even minor - accident involving a sudden drastic reduction of the vehicle's speed and following rapid acceleration of the driver. Scary stuff! God knows for how long I wore a broken seat belt... It got replaced almost immediately. Since replacing the seat belt means removal of the b-pillar cladding, I got a look at the headlining. Errr.... Always though it was pretty clean... Well, it's not. In other news; I took the car to TÜV today. It failed. But only on one thing; a cracked & chipped windscreen. I already knew it would fail on this. But now I know it's only this I need to replace, everything else is spot on. Including emissions. So basically it's a pass. Only not. But I'm still chuffed that nothing else made it onto the report. Sooo... My plan was to do it myself, instead it's going to the professionals and hopefully insurance will cover it. Cheers, Jan
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Nov 19, 2018 18:29:59 GMT
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Drove it into the sunlight... And with natural light I'm starting to really like the beige wheels! Only some minor things left to do... Like replacing the steering rack & ball joints. Couple of days ago I replaced the steering rack on an Innocenti 1000 - boy was it fiddly to get the U bolts back in. I hope the rubber mounted subframe will drop a bit more and make it easier. With a solid mounted frame it was slightly less than entertaining... Cheers, Jan
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Nov 15, 2018 18:01:03 GMT
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I think that's better then silver...
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Nov 15, 2018 17:32:30 GMT
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Today after Feierabend I quickly unbolted the wheels again. Let the air out and masked them off. And spray painted away...
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Nov 12, 2018 19:10:27 GMT
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I'm not saying it's impossible, there are many extensively modified road-legal VWs on the road. Might be a good idea to seek help in a german VW forum, I guess someone might be able to point you into the direction of a TÜV engineer who knows it's way around VWs. Thing is; TÜV engineers are held responsible for the tsuff they certifie. So many are very reluctant to approve stuff. Some are less. The latter you need to find. And usually they are known to a "scene". But me - in this case I'm no help, since I'm a mile away from the VW scene rr69h - it does! A difference like night & day.... Teehee. Cheers, Jan
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Damn, too late... Just bought a set of those...
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I actually got a set of those with the car. But I fancy the older chrome caps
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That's all sorts of cool! I do like me a nice Clubman Estate
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Soooo.... This is a set of freshly painted 5x10" ATS wheels with brand new A008 tyres. Which I bolted to the Innocenti today. Magnificent, I think they look superb on the little italian. And finally the arches are a bit stuffed, the stock 3.5" wheels looked incredibly terrible with those arches... Not ATSs for the Clubman. But... There was a set of 3.5" steels with good 145 tyres left over. Whilst it's a bit boring, it's so much better than the 12" Rover wheels. Off to hunt for a set of hubcaps as a finishing touch. Cheers, Jan
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Updating much.... Next task für TÜV: the headlight leveling thingy was broken. I fixed it by adjusting the headlights. The reflectors are actuated by vacuume. Without vacuume they drop down to the lowest setting. So I just turned them back up and left it. Today I finally examined what might be the issue... I assumed a broken actuator - and my assumption was not far off. One cracked hose inside the headlight unit. Whilst I had it out & apart anyway... Why not glue in fresh lenses and install brand sparkling new reflectors. The old ones are well past theyr best. And I had new Hella ones on the shelf, waiting to be installed. Quite a difference! ^I replaced the whole housing since I had one with the main reflector missing and a brand new fog allready in place... Leveling is working again and the light is much brighter than before. Reflectors were 45€ each, plus 15€ per glas/lense. Pretty cheap way to get basically brand new headlights That's all for now. One job left; replacing the windscreen, since it's cracked... I might give this into the hands of an professional, realistically I don't have the time. But I need a backup car either way... Cheers, Jan
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