Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[norustplease]

Replaced all the rubber fuel hoses on the Traction with E5/E10 resistant fuel hose. Involved a few acrobatics under the rear of the car to get at the electric fuel pump plumbing. Managed to drain the fuel tank by using a home made pump kit comprising an old electric SU fuel pump and some fuel hosing to transfer the contents of the tank into fuel cans.
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1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Rootes75]

Spent some time cleaning down manifold surfaces this morning, removing all the crud and accumulated gasket remnants. Will fit new gaskets tomorrow morning and refit.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[MikeEdwards]

I'm working on another Vauxhall project, and it's been badly repaired. I was trying to remove the poor chassis repair by grinding off the welds, so that I could see what the original was like. However, I got fed up with how long it was taking, so I just took the cutting disc to the whole lot. Much quicker, I'm part-way through making the replacement section already.

[Rootes75]

New manifold gaskets fit a treat. Next problem is the downpipe nuts have no thread left at all, no wonder they came off easily without a socket! The stud thread is fine its just the brass nut thread gone.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[peter scott]

For very temporary fix try putting them on the wrong war round.

Peter
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Rootes75]

More time spent working on the Commer this morning. Still having issues but am ticking things off the check list of probabilities.

It ended up the the battery gets drained very quickly and the solenoid simply clicks. We have taken the starter off to give it a good clean and inspection.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[MikeEdwards]

Still welding the front corner footwell back together, now I'm trying to figure out where the actual corner will be. If all else fails I'll have to lift the Firenza up and take some stuff out to get some measurements, but I've got an idea to try first.

[badhuis]

Some work on an 1994 XJS I sold. Fitted a remote central locking. These cars had these when new, but the key fob was missing. A cheap universal module was easy to install. New automatic antenna.
Repaired the interior lights - they did not work using the door switches. This needed a few hours deducting what was wrong. No simple electric diagrams for mid 90s cars.... Having a bad copy of a workshop manual did not help either! In the end I found a faulty relay which was easily replaced.
Fitted new floor mats, and adjusted the passenger door. The bottom of the door was a little to the outside. Easing the hinge bolts and then adjusting did the trick. Was quite a bit of work because the door panel needed to come off.
Also installed a new thermostat. The temp gauge never read more than just off the C, now it is pointing to the N.
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[badhuis]

My own 1985 XJS (3.6 manual) had an interesting add-on by the previous owner. It was an on/off switch located under the steering wheel padded panel. I had no clue what it did, or not.
The plastic surround around the steering column for the indicator stalk and wiper stalk was loose - you could turn it a bit to the right and the left. This had the effect that when you used the indicator to the right, and the self-cancelling mechanism returned the stalk to its main position, the plastic surround moved as well. This in turn caused the wiper stalk to move upwards, so the wipers got working. Funny for the first few times but annoying in the end.
I removed the surround and saw that the plastic clamp which kept the stalk mechanisms on the steering column, was broken. I more or less fixed this with a strong tie rap (I should have used super glue!). It is now much better although the mechanisms can still move a little bit but not so much it will move the wiper stalk.
I was driving the car, it started to rain, and the wipers did not work!
Aha...
Flicked the mystery switch and hey presto - wipers working again!

So the PO, instead of fixing the loose stalk mechanism and column surround, inserted an extra switch to switch off the wipers. I bet he was fed up seeing the wipers go on every time he made a right turn!
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a car stops being fun when it becomes an investment

[Bitumen Boy]

Previous owners... don't you just love 'em?

[peter scott]

When I had a misfire due to a faulty interference suppressor I had swapped my nice old ignition coil for another "nice old ignition coil". I recent times I have noticed a misfire during acceleration and initially thought in terms of dirt in the jet wells so I cleaned them out (there was nothing there) and the misfire was still present so I swapped my original old coil back in and that's sorted it.

I then thought I'd take her for nice long run so I filled up with petrol only to find that when I got to the cash desk I left my wallet in my old clothes. After a bit of form filling, a trip home then back again I was at last sorted and enjoyed a 70 mile tootle around the back roads of East Lothian.

Peter.
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http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Ray White]

The P38 again sailed through the M.O.T. with no advisories. The tester gave me a sideways look when I told him I had replaced the steering box seal. I think most people just give up and either replace the box with a second hand unit or take the car to the garage where they will, presumably, have a powerful pneumatic impact driver.

I expected the car to fail on the silencer which had started to blow. I can't feel the leak as it is behind the heat shield - but I can hear it. Cheap pattern parts are available but I would like, if possible, to find a genuine Land Rover part as the build quality is vastly superior. The one on the car is original and has lasted 90,000 miles in 20 years. The tester opined that "it's not bad".

He knows I look after my old cars and has always been fair. He asked for £45 but I gave him £50.

[Rootes75]

Well, more time spent on the Commer this morning. Different result though, we finally got her started and running!!

I will update the feed in the Mechanical section as to how we did it.
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Various Rootes Vehicles.

[MikeEdwards]

The daily needs an MOT soon, so it has a small service and inspection before that. Last year I got an advisory on rear brakes pipes which were looking a bit crusty, and this year they hadn't got better. I also had a sticking rear caliper, which explains the plummeting MPG figures recently. So yesterday and today I swapped the brake pipes, rear calipers and pads. I didn't do the discs, and I should have done, I'll come back to that. I've also got a broken rear spring, so I need to source a replacement.

Last year I dropped on an ex TT owner who had the proper brake pipes for sale. They're an awkward design, a combination of hard pipe, flexi and another short hard pipe. I'd thought of doing a DIY job with a separate flexi because the genuine parts are difficult to get, until I saw the ad. I met up locally and bought those, and a full set of calipers, pads and discs. For various reasons, i haven't got around to fitting them until just now. Once I motivated myself to do it, it went really easily.

[alanb]

Went for a short run in the Morris yesterday about 15 miles just to make sure the anti freeze I put in the other week was circulating well although I did mix it first. Today a quick dust over with the “Californian duster” and covered her up with the dust sheet, it maybe a few weeks before the next outing, not much fun in the wet wind or cold with no roof ( I suppose I could always put the hood up)
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old tourer


Morris 8 two seater