Topic

Decided to change the drivers door for the non dented one off the Blue VVC donor ........................................ bad mistake that turned out to be............................................... what looked like a simple swap over has turned into a total nightmare. Got the later door fitted onto Blue's hinges then tried to adjust the window to close. After nearly a day it just would not go and then jammed. Yep turns out it had jumped the front stop. Luckily it did not rain over night. Got that sorted but still no joy in getting the glass to close as it should and when it jammed it broke the rear die cast alloy sliding clamp.

So ended up taking to one out of the old door and swapping it then eventually swapped the entire door glass and voila it fits and adjusts easily. There must be a difference between the 97 vintage glass and the 2000 vintage sundim glass. However now the alarm keeps going off. Seems there is a problem with the lock itself now which am still trying to trace and fix. Tried locking the door with the key instead of the fob last night and the indicators did not flash. Tired several times then there was a click and someting dropped so either some thing has come adrift or something has broken ........................ time to strip it down yet again.

Still have no working stereo as what they did to the wiring loom has confused the heck out of me. So need someone familiar with modern stereos and wiring to sort that little lot out. However did get the centre console and tunnel painted and fitted:-

Along with the air bag blank and binnacle face so they all match. The binnacle face and centre console had been painted silver and in fact they came out of "Elsie" originally. Whilst it did break up all the black the silver just did not look in keeping with the rest of the interior which is cream leather with dark blue piping. This at least to my eyes is more harmonious although I suspect some will not like it. Shame the paint is gloss a matt or semi matt would have been better.

Also here are the coloured air vents:-

Silver

and Broom Yellow

The splitter:-

Am wondering if this should also be painted to match the air vents and calipers and caliper carriers?????

Need to hoover the interior as there grass cuttings everywhere. They claim the colour of the paint is Sand Beige yet it's come out cream...................... weird.

Oh I think the Broom yellow is winning ................................................. am wondering how the splitter would look in broom yellow with all four calipers painted the same and the side vents ......................................... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Went into the boot to get something and found this:-

Bloody Mice have gotten in and chewed my nice Cream Tonneau cover. I know there is a hole in the fllor as I made it when scraping some rust bubbles but did not expect this nor the water in there.

It's obviously been wet and leaking for a long time so now we have to discover where it's leaking. From the look of the boot carpet it might be the O/S rear light so that's where we will start by removing the light and checkign the seal then re-sealing it.

I had the same annoying wet boot, see my post about 11 months ago, thanks to suggestions only here (detailed in post) cured the problem with resealing rear lights first then panel joints of rear wing to boot crossmember and so far remaining dry, (1st option of resealing lights alone hadn't cured the problem).

Hmmm I have a tube of body sealant so perhaps it might be a good idea to run around the seams inside the boot anyway. Am having the floor repaired and welded up so perhaps bring that forwards and then seal the seams and the rear lights. Was going to wait and gett eh floor done when re-spay is being done but that might not be the option now as this water ingress has to stop let alone the damend rodents!

Mice are a damned nuisance, chewing anything and piddling over everything too.

Yes it's an annual problem after the harvestng. have just awoken, fell asleep listening to music earlier , so when let the mutts out checked in the boot and found one deceased Mickey. So removed it and reset the trap.

Think I might have to consider changing the handle to .................................................................

Mr Jinx ............................................. of "I hate mices to pieces" fame ................................. for those old enough to remember .

Would you beleive it got in "Blue 33" to move her out of the way so could get "Elsie" on stands to do the rear arm bushes and the blasted wipers would not work. Looks like we have a poor connection in the switch but will have to check it all though and make sure the wiper motor is not flooded.

Caught yet another micey in the boot....................................... so another down with several million more to go

Got to get the wipers sorted as she is going back onto the road in November......................... hmmm have other jobs I would like to do as well so best get cracking and have alok and see what can be done. her rear discs are not very good although they passed the brake test I would prefer new ones so will see what we can do on that score.

Oh yes and have decided that I prefer the yellow vents but with new S/S grills fitted so that's another job to be done at some point.

Turned out is was just muck build up in the wiper motor. A good flush out with DW40 tye stuff and then a good wipe down and all speeds on the wipers work as they should .

Next job on the list was to have a look at her rear discs as they look a bit rough:-

Looking at "Blue 33" whom will be un-sorned at the end of the month her rear discs are ..................................... shall we say a bit rank:-

I know she has been standing while other things have been sorted out but it's clear that nearly 1/2" of the outer edge of the oustide face is not being used and the inner face is worse and this is not helping with her braking. The discs should look like this:-

When in use. There is still a small band around the outside diameter that is not swept and used of course but it's not all crusted and pitted. Oddly enough when "Elsie" arrived her rear discs worked well, those are the clean shinned up ones in the photos, so decisions have to be made as to what to do here.

1) do we replace with std discs and pads?

2) do we get better discs and pads?

3) do we upgrade to 260mm or possibly 280mm discs with good pads?

The problem is of course if we upgrade then the fronts will need upgrading too.............................. hmmmmm

Meanwhile a job that has bee waiting to be done is change teh under floor pipes for new S/S ones which have been standing in the garage for several months now:-

Ne beside old:-

scabs .................................. though not through ........................... yet but it was only a matter of time. Final bleed and check for leaks following day. Then re-fit belly pan if all is well.

Whilst she is up might as well do an oil and filter change weather permitting. This has not been done since the HG was replaced last February so although little mileage has really been covered it's in fact over due.

Another job waiting in the wings is tyres especailly on the front. Her Pirelli P600's are showing signs of age cracking ............................................. plenty of tread, but age cracks appearing. Checked the date code and is 2106 ................................. hmmm they are getting on a bit now it seems ......................... Ho-Hum more expense.

Might have to slap on a set of the Le Multispokes until can afford a set of tyres.

Oil and Filter now done, bled all three bleed points of the cooling system, engine needed to be hot so did the bleed first then drained the oil whilst hot. As access panel is removed thought might as well swap the Air Filter assembly for the TF 135 one that has been laying in the garage waiting to be fitted. Hmmm bit of a swine of a job IMHO due to the metal pipes that cover the brackets screws. Used new stainless bolts to attach the bracket to the body. Not got it all finished when the heavens decided to open so rain stopped play.

So still need to get air filtr body into place on it's bracket. Also need to get under her and refit the belly pan before I can get her down onto the ground and do final level checks for fluids.

No mice where i am, but the number of spiders i have had to forcibly evict from various rooms in my house is getting beyond a joke. SS underpipes and new brakes all around are both on my to do list, so will be interested to see what you decide to ref brakes.

Well am feeling a bit daft right now. After rain stopped play once it cleared up got outside to do some more. Got underneath and fitted the belly pan then noticed a bit of broken wire by the boot hinge so cut a bit from the Dnor VVC and spliced it in the used the plastic ribbed sleeving from the donor to protect it. Then of all the stupid things put the engine acces cover back along with the sound proofing an carpet but forgott o fitt eh TF 135 air fitler box tot eh mounting bracket that i fitted before the rain .

Brakes I am still thinking of fitting larger ones but due to the costs of buying a kit ready made will have to have a go at knocking up the adaptor brackets my self. Am looking at calipers with a slightly large piston which should increase the braking effort I beleive. There is an old set of Rover 75 discs and aclipers in the garage but I fear the calipers are too large. They are great hulking things by ATE. Am thinking that the Rover 820 or 623 caplipers might be better size wise. Just if I can make somethign up to take the carriers and fir them to the hubs and get clearance for the wheels.

Hoping to get across to the breakers and get a couple of old discs and possibly a caliper to play with before getting something new.

Would you believe it while lookign at making some brackets for the rear calipers I looked ......................................... really looked this time at teh rear discs on the hubs that came off the VVC donor and blow me down if the rear discs are not almost new. No wear so to speak just some rust from laying around. So have cleaned them up and have painted the bells and rims so can fit near new standard rear brakes as even the pads are near perfect.

OK it's not the upgrade I was hoping for but discs that use all the surface area are going to work better and more than discs that only use a little in the midle. They are going to brake better surely.

Now can concentrate on improving other areas and look at upgrades for the front. Will clean and paint the calipers whilst the wheels are off for the fitting of the discs. Going to phone a couple more breakers and see if can get some MGZS or Rover 45 calipers, carriers and discs to play with. MGZS 180 with 280's would be good . Windley's have one but not sure if they are the 280's or not but thay want over £70 for the set up and that means driving over there and it's not exactly local. Found a couple in Boston which is closer so will phone tomorrow to check what they have and how much.