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Aug 12, 2023 13:46:08 GMT
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Having a couple of these I feel marginally obliged to stick up for them. The red V6 saloon is an early Mk1 190+ so it has all the toys, and averages 30mpg. It could really do with a 6th gear. There is a short ratio and "long" ratio gearbox for them and I've no idea how to tell which is which. I find it an excellent handling car, spacious, reliable, comfortable, well balanced and still handsome. It's not quite quick enough, needs "driven on" to get the best out of it, and yes it eats front tyres. The bodies are not prone to rot, but the suspension parts are. There is very little shared componentry with BMW although everything looks very similar to an E46 in design. I've also got a diesel tourer for daily duties to and from work. The M47R is a reliable unit, heavy and low on power but adequate. Because the car handles, I can still push on (relatively) in this, but it is nose heavy. However I did invest in some brand new front strut assemblies as soon as I got it, which were several hundred quid each, but that is a weak point on them. Brakes on all models are vastly under-performing - the V6 190 is the only one with decent brakes, but they are hard to get. The rear spring perch arms rust like mad, are bolted into a captive nut in the subframe (which also rots). Can be sourced new (MG7 ones). Exhausts rot, but thats just old cars. Tourer bootlids rot, and the grab handle fails - BMW things. Diesel lift/inline pumps fail because they are strained with a stupid heater/cooler element that blocks up. Many cars have died because of failing lift pumps, which still make noise and pump, but not at high enough pressure. Not like other cars where it would just stop. They are a heavy, but solid, well built car, that handle well - but are often neglected, so then they don't. Keep the ECUs dry (clean drain holes), re-seal your rear lights (careful as the tabs holding them on like to break for fun), maintain the car and it will be a good thing in your life.
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Aug 12, 2023 12:53:44 GMT
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That’s cool. Look like ronal wheels (off of Audi coupe etc) Don’t like to be grammar police but seen this a few times on here, the word is piqued not peaked. You're right, except I meant it in the way that it's reached a high point. I mean you can't get much more car/bike/trike than that!. I think that's right anyway.🤔 In this instance you are completely correct; your interest was at first piqued, then after you peeked some more, you then peaked.
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That foundry looks all sorts of the right kind of grubby. Guaranteed no millenials work there... erm, guaranteed they do. And zoomers. They have an apprenticeship scheme. It was only a tongue in cheek comment anyway, but that's really good to hear. Hate to see old skills die away and apprenticeships are almost a thing of the past. I also have no idea what a zoomer is (and don't care to know!)
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That foundry looks all sorts of the right kind of grubby. Guaranteed no millenials work there...
I'm sure Daimler owners must get very tired of explaining why their car isn't a Jaguar and no it wasn't used in "Morse".
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The purple 106 is probably the one that sticks out the most for me. I expect it also has a bangin' ICE install.
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Alright to wrap up everything else that's happened over the first 5 months of 23, car related anyway... Cadillac needed moved. It's been on axle stands for absolutely ages (years we're talking) and suspension pieces were out. Much arguing later they were re-installed and the Caddy was rolling again. Well, scuffing. The rear wheels are too wide for the (current) arches. I don't want to start into bodywork on this car right now. It needs some work: don't...poke... Argh! And floor: But to chop out the rear (inner) arches and clearance them for the 11j wheels, as well as likely a lot of arch rolling on the outer skin, is just more than I want to tackle currently. So, I had a long think, then went looking and found, in Latvia or somewhere over there, a set of adapters to go from 5x5" to 5x4.75" which will make my Caddy into Chevy/BMW fit. And I have LOADS of wheels that size with different offsets, so maybe I can have a play and find something that'll fit for now and still look good. In the meantime (SIX WEEKS!) while waiting on those I did the long overdue trans lube change. Erm, yeah. Cleaned that up I really like how GM thought this through as well... And by the magic of television forum posts, the spacers are now here. Wheel Trials! No No No Nooo..maybe? Fixed the very annoying broken check strap on the Bini AND sunk several hours into the door latch because the central locking didn't work on the drivers side either. The alarm would set and the other door locked but because the drivers door nub then didn't retract, I managed to open the door and set off the alarm EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. So I changed it. Now the Mini is better as it also doesn't try to amputate me every time I get out. The Mini is my daily now because the E91 is a dirtbag and broke down too much (see 2 posts up) so between the Mini Cabrio during the week and the Camaro at the weekends I have almost got a functional fleet. But neither are any good as a work car or for carrying anything or in any way useful and I am trying to rebuild a house at the minute so I need a diesel estate in working order... re-enter the MG ZT-T CDTi. Why am I not using it? Well, it made way for the BMW E91 as the MG had an MOT coming up, and a brake caliper started to seize up. Not for the first time - actually the same one that was previously replaced. And ZTs are notoriously under-braked anyway, and I have a spare ZT 190 (that's the early V6) which had mahoosive brakes on them, sooo... Fast forward to May. A very small task (I'm being sarcastic, it took ages) to get the 190 out of the field, wherein it was stuck. After trying to drive it out (noooo) I ended up pulling it out with my little tractor, with whom I am well pleased... It was tough enough getting the brakes off with fairly rusty bolts and not much space to get at them And after all that... it turns out that some tube has replaced the front brakes on this 190 with the standard small ones! The black discs are some new 190 ones I ordered a while back for my "good" 190 which needs a bit of love too. It needs brakes, some suspension bits refreshed, and a full paintjob. So in the meantime the new discs can go on the blue ZTT. So my donor brakes are too small. Well, the rears are at least correct, and had been replaced with new calipers previously so they are very fresh. The front calipers, well they are BMW 330d ones turned upside down, so actually right now I have some of those "in stock". The carriers are not the same though, I tried... BMW 330 carriers do NOT fit! So I asked on the MG FB pages and got a set of carriers ordered. Once they are here, I can build up a set of 190 brakes on my diesel tourer, and will have a reliable daily chugger again that maybe, this time, will actually be able to stop! (Genuinely the brakes on these things are quite poor and with a heavy diesel estate that's driven fast, often loaded up or with a trailer on, the brake upgrade is a necessity.) And then the penny dropped. I won't be able to fit my 16" winter wheels over the big brakes, so now I need to put the 18"s back on. So I also need four 18" tyres for the "cheap" parts-hauler. Sigh.
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Alright we're on page 23 and talking about the events of early '23 and to begin with here is a picture of a familiar engine bay. You'd be forgiven if you saw an orange engine bay with a 1.2 SOHC iron head motor in it and assumed I was still talking about my S110R - but no, actually, this is an entirely different Skoda. THIS ONE! I have at long, long, loooong last procured a Super Estelle, and let me tell you how. Because my car finds ALWAYS have a story... 'ping' my phone tells me someone has sent me a message. I'm busy but a little while later I take a look. A friendly purveyor of chod has sent me a link to a facebook ad. I open it up. I gasp. I frantically begin messaging. The seller first, who doesn't respond until the next day. The chod-finder, who tells me a mutually known lover of old British tat was at the seller's yard the day before trying to buy a very rusty Mini, and saw the Skoda there. So I move on to texting him (instead of calling like a grown-up), because, y'know, millenial or whatever. He's quick to respond and says the car is desperately rusty, and sends me a couple of pictures that he took. The seller's single picture in the ad is directly of the side, taken using a C&C Lemonade bottle dug out of the garden as a telephoto lens, and I can't see if it's a plastic bumper model or not. These new photos confirm that it is indeed a plastic bumpered Super Estelle 120LSE with the double headlights and also that it's an original NI registration - something I'd never thought I would find. Eventually the seller responds - the only time they do so - and says the car is for spares only and too rotten to restore. Hah! (well actually he was right). But never responds to me again. Apparently, this was because he had too many people asking too many questions about it (I heard later) and just wanted it gone with minimal fuss. He'd only bought it as part of a joblot, to get hold of several rusty Minis on an old farm, one of which may have been a Mk1 Cooper. Anyway. So I returned to the JLR+M admirer and asked him if he wouldn't mind awfully hitching his trailer on and just going round to this guys yard and wave some cash at him. Which, actually, he did, the very next morning. And because those two had already met, the seller was congenial with him, knowing he'd already seen the rust, the holes, the areas that only paint held together, and the general lack of metal. Having then agreed an even lower price, the car was easily winched on and taken straight up to me, where it was easily rolled back off. Because, funnily, there isn't so much as a hint of a seized brake. Or door latch. For being absolutely rotten, the two most common things for sticking shut, are absolutely fine. So the car rolls around really easy! I was presented with all the original log books, confirming it as an N.I. supplied car, and because of a small mixup on another car deal ages ago, the transporter of said rusty orange heap refused to take any payment from me for all his efforts. And so I became the custodian of a Super Estelle 120LSE. Perenial item #1 on my dream car list. And I didn't even have to lift a finger (just several thumbs when texting of course.) Cool. Or whatever.
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May 20, 2023 14:02:56 GMT
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Oh, in the intervening months, I have as well finally fixed that inoperative window regulator in the Regata - I came across a NOS unit on ebay, in Spain, and jumped on it. for adjustment purposes, I was pleasantly surprised how accurately this cheap set of folding pliers fitted! So that fitted, the Fiat was water-tight again for the unrelenting but intermittent (the WORST combination) rain we had here, meaning progress was almost zero. Oh, I did tick off the TOP #1 first priority most sought after dream car above all others...! However it is, umm, well, stinky. It has no floor.
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May 20, 2023 13:47:54 GMT
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I loaned the MG daily to my receptionist over new years while her car was broken/being fixed, and when it came back she said the rear wheel wasn't sitting straight. Well that resulted in me cutting a hole in the rear subframe... Because of this captive nut, which is a major design flaw on the 75/ZT and holds in the spring perch arm, which is notorious for rotting. Thankfully I had a very good condition spare. The drivers side will need done soon too... Shortly after that, I noticed a seizing caliper on the front. I parked the MG up for a while as I wanted to do a brake upgrade anyway. The V6 models got good brakes but all other models are known for being inadequately braked. I have a spare V6 car, so, makes sense. In the meantime I started using various work cars. For starters was a 2005 118d in "unwashed for a year" silver. This was great until I found the rear axle was rotten hence why it was a bit wandery under heavy cornering (which happens a lot with me on backroads in £400 cars..). Further to that I lent it to one of my staff for an evening and as he pulled up into the yard, a front spring snapped. Of course it went straight into the tyre as well. I got in a damaged 2008 530d MSport, which I fixed one evening so that I could drive it home. It annoyingly only does 24mpg at the MOST so it was untenable. A p/x deal saw me with a 2007 320d Msport touring, which seemed the perfect daily. And it was fine, other than being butt ugly, until it's fuel system starting acting like a tit. One day it quit and wouldn't move (at work). A couple of days later it started again and I was halfway home before it starting cutting out again and messing around. Got it back and the next day it wouldn't start. So I ended up getting "involved". So that was an entire Saturday spent stripping at it only to find it was the HPFP sensor, which I didn't have there. I got it recovered to work, where it was messed around with for a full day, to no avail. Later that evening one guy and I stayed on and went through it again. We found bad diesel in the system, but fresh didn't fix it. At the end up I pulled the injectors to see if the bad fuel had damaged them, and they were very sooty and didn't look healthy. I threw another set in, and it fired up. So that was pressed back into service. It lasted, ohh, 3 days? then the EML came back, the stuttering came back, and that actually got worse as I went to go home. I turned around, went to my storage unit, and dumped the E91 outside and fired up the Camaro. The E91 hasn't started again since, and can I be bothered? No, not really, I'm sick of it. And I have a yellow V8 to drive now.
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May 20, 2023 13:31:14 GMT
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Looks like a few months updates are due. Let's start with S110R. After finally getting nice wheels sorted out, I then elected to try to move it. I just wanted to get it indoors before winter actually, so I was going to drive it over to my storage unit ~10 miles away. For some reason it would start and then cut out again. It could idle but it wouldn't rev at all, and usually died when the throttle was pressed. It was taking a lot of cranking so I eventually had to rig up an auxiliary battery system... Good Mini. It sat there at ~3k rpm for ages. Here's a smattering of pictures of the carb on the Skoda as I eventually had to ask online for help and was advised that it was running only on the secondary, and to clear the main jet on the carb. That worked. So off I set. I got it about 2 miles before it started sounding very poorly indeed. I should ahve turned back, but work was only one mile further so I hoped to make it there. Nope, it conked out. I managed to nurse it to a petrol station just a little bit ahead. Here's the smattering of pictures from that session: The keen eyed will notice that the carb here is full of coolant. Coolant that spurted out when I tried to start it. I walked to work and drove back in another car armed with tools. I took out the plugs and cylinder #3 emptied out about 293.5cc of coolant. Major sigh. So I dried them all off and tinkered some more and actually managed to get it to run enough to make it over to work. From there it was trailered to storage where it awaits a head gasket replacement. Hopefully that's all. But at least it looks pretty now, right? It was dark by the time all that was finished, so you'll have to trust me on that.
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May 20, 2023 12:54:35 GMT
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Sadly the car of my dreams is a De Tomaso Pantera, so I'll need to sell my house before I can afford that. Sell house, buy Pantera. Post pics.
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Yep I have one very rotten E10 for parts. Will have a look if that bracket is there.
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I've had enough of immobiliser/no-start/rust issues on all of these, so breaking them all. P38 D2s
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Jan 15, 2023 16:44:20 GMT
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Use kunifer, not steel. The only reason they were ever made out of steel is it was cheaper, not any strength consideration. A decent Sykes set will do 5/16”. Mine does 3/16”, 1/4”, 5/16” and 3/8”, and has re-lined many a car. On a full build I’ll typically do a fulls at fo brake lines, full fuel lines with return, Proably some autobox cooler lines and properly power steering pipes too, so it’s a worthwhile investment. Easily available second hand on eBay. The one that looks like a g-clamp is the best one. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385349494695?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=u-lu-sylsh-&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=C7YL9ifOQj-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPYThey’re more than than they used to be, you used to be able to pick them up for £30-50 but the internet has alerted everyone to the fact they’re miles better than any other type. Resale is strong though if you don’t intend to keep it. I should have been clearer sorry - where steel is concerned, that would be say a section of OEM pipe that is OK that I would then flare to join a rubber hose or kunifer pipe to (suitable connector pending) - I wouldn't be looking to make new steel pipes. On some cars I work on, they have a steel pipe over the rear axle that then is rusty or broken where it travels along the floor of the car, and I would retain the over-axle piece and cut off the bad bit, and need to join that safely. Like you I do enough of this that the cost of the tool is negligible relative to how often it will actually get used and the value of the jobs it's needed for. It's worth enough to me to invest the time researching and trying to find suitable tools and supplies so that I can do this reliably on many cars over the next few years, and make a good, permanent job of it.
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Jan 15, 2023 16:39:35 GMT
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on my rally car i have copper fuel pipes, the central heating stuff with the plastic cover one it and its fuel injected so high pressure. On my pipes i basically rammed a screw driver in the end and enlarged it. For me i thought its quite important, the clip isnt just there to hold the pipe on, its there to "crimp" it to the copper pipe the olive or flare is there to stop it comming off. I agree, the reason I want to flare it is so that it's unlikely to leak or come apart, and provide a safer and more secure fit. I'd love to have metal compression joiners everywhere like brake pipes have available, but even if not, I'd still flare pipes for fitting rubber hoses to.
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Jan 15, 2023 16:37:16 GMT
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Does fuel line come in copper (bad) and Cupro-Nickle (OK) as well ? Have been careful to make sure always got this rather than copper. But not sure if this is still OK for fuel ? Is nylon a thing in the aftermarket ? Lots used as OE ? James Copper is fine for fuel and there's no adverse effect, but my issue with it is that it will crack if twisted enough - and "enough" isn't all that much. So it's not strong enough IMO to be used for a highly flammable ignition source. I'm not all that keen on it for brakes either tbh but it's not nearly as high risk - there's much less chance of a brake pipe getting caught and ripped off, and it's not as likely to ignite. It may seem like overkill but again, I want things done well, not just OK.
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Jan 15, 2023 16:32:49 GMT
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If you get the right size hose and slide it over the pipe around 100mm and fit 2 hose clamps (NOT jubillee) you wont have any issues. The other (cheap) option is to buy some 8mm compression pipe joiners from a plumbers. Fit these on the end of the pipe to get the olive to bite & then undo & cut the nut off. Instant flared pipe I've been sliding hose on as you suggest for a while now but it's just not a finished job on a resto - fine for a fix on a daily but not how I want restored cars to be... The olive idea is a good one though. I'll look into those compression fittings...
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I am fairly stumped - or at least I was, until I tried a second car.
2 cars, parked next to each other, haven't ran for approx 6 to 8 months. First car is a carb fed manual choke mechanical pump petrol. I threw a gallon of super into it before trying but then found it very difficult to get started. I checked all the spark and fuel circuits and everything is fine but eventually just before I started to cry it coughed, and I persevered until I got it to start and run. However, it will not take any throttle at all, any applied just makes it bog down, stutter and conk out. I've run it up to temperature a couple of times, no difference. After a while it is now hard to start again, runs worse, sounds like it's off a cylinder and won't run for long. I have to keep playing with the choke to keep it just so, and touching the throttle will kill it.
I was perplexed until I also started and moved the car next to it, a moderner injection petrol. It also sounded rough and wouldn't take a rev. After a few moments idling, badly, it would take a small press of the throttle but not very much. It doesn't die out, it just peaks at 1500rpm and won't go any further even if the throttle pedal is pressed more.
My question is this, do you think these symptoms could be caused by stale fuel?
I have had stale fuel before but not as bad as this, although if they unfortunately had E10 put into them by accident it would explain it. I also think that I should have burned through most of what was in the tank on car 1 as well, so it should be running better by now. I'm confident the cars are both essentially working correctly and nothing is broken but my hunch is fuel now and I'm asking if any of you have seen similarly awful effects from recent stale fuel?
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Jan 12, 2023 23:46:08 GMT
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I seem to be missing some vital information about restoring stuff.
I need to replace some original steel fuel pipes, or at least a section of it.
What I cannot find is a flaring tool for 8mm/ 5/16" Pipe other than cheap tools for copper, and I've no intention of using copper for fuel line underneath the car. Nor do I want to run a 2 metre length of rubber Hose either for that matter.
So what I cannot find is: A flaring tool that will do cunifer or steel in this size Joiner fittings to mate metal sections together
Original pipes come with a flared end where the rubber Hose sections are clamped on, and I'd want to recreate that. It's had a previous repair with a rubber Hose replacing a steel section and the end of the steel wasn't flared, and so it's still leaking.
All of this stuff is readily available for 3/16 brake pipes, so why not for 5/16... or am I indeed missing something obvious?
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What’s the 80s Camero like? As a Capri driver I’ve always wondered. I've driven an 85 2.8 Special (a good while ago now) so I have some comparison. What is similar is the low slung feel, the reclined seating position, and the bonnet that goes on forever. It's the same quite of squirrely rear one-wheel-squeal feeling. The inability to park in a normal space due to the size of the doors, the atrocious steering lock, and the roar when you mash the go pedal. In many ways they are very alike. People react the same to either and being that both are thirsty 80's coupes, you end up in the same place (Esso) about the same amount, and you get the same waves or stares (not all happy stares!) in either. You get an equal amount of snarky comments from Greenpeace subscribers. The differences are few and probably centre on aesthetics. The Camaro is that big bigger, growlier, and left-hand-drive-ier. Imagine a MK3 Capri that's even harder to park, has the steering on the wrong side, and has a V8 rumble. That's a 3rd Gen Camaro.
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