Car SOS - New Series!!!

[Phil P]

There are a lot of us about. Even the Queen..... I'm actually a clone or is it clown both words sound very much alike in the Black Country! I'll have to watch WD to see who he is.

I saw a programme during the week were an E type was restored using a set of shockers that came out of a skip! We only use brand new genuine parts or like the brake calipers have then professionally overhauled.

The 'flexi' Porshe, it really was bad. Apparently the 911 of that period suffered from serious corrosion in the sills because they were not treated from new. Later versions used 'Zintec' or similar rust proofed material. I am told that the heater boxes that run through the sills sweat and cause the whole structure to rot from the inside out. Obviously that is bad news for the rag top models and not too smart on the tin tops!. The 911 on the show could be made to flex by pushing down hard on the rear end. We had to substantially brace the shell by welding box section between the A and B posts before cutting out the sills, lower B post and floor sections. On some of the shots you can see this. It obviously did the trick because after the new sills, lower B post and floor sections were welded in the doors fitted perfectly and when it was lifted up on the ramp there was no movement in the shell and the door 'shuts' never changed. This was confirmed by opening and closing the doors both on the body lift and when on its wheels. The closing and body lines remained the same. We had to do the same on the Rover P6 in Series 1.

The electric's were best described as 'of the period'. Mounting electronic bits and pieces under the seats are never clever in my book. The carpets have a greater chance of getting wet than any other part of the interior. The passenger seat in a car driven by a nutter is a close second I suppose!

Next Monday 14th April at 8-00pm is the Mk I LandRover. The wiring was horrendous. It was that bad I thought I had wired it up.

I am going to the Practical Classics Show at the NEC on Sunday. I am paying to get in, unless somebody wants to pay for me or give me a free ticket.

Hmmmm.........better get my wallet out!

I took my 1942 Ford GPW engine block into be rebored and new valve guides fitted on Wednesday. Yesterday I had the news that the block is badly cracked and can be welded etc BUT the man at NatWest is going to have to OK it!! Bloody Fords. I have a rusty Willys block that will have to be taken in to see if that is ok. I don't have any main caps for that so the GPW ones will have to be machined to fit and then line bored. It's only money. At least I don't have to get it finished in 3 weeks.

[Phil P]

How good did that Landie look. Welding wise it didn't take as much effort as some of the others but there was a lot of mechanical work to be done. Mainly brakes but the electrical work was something else. Finding out what was working and what didn't coupled that that had been rewired with the non working still in place was a challenge. My S-I-L Rob Heath spent a whole Sunday rubbing the body panels down to bare metal so that Nathan Barber. he was the guy shown spraying, could lay on paint. Paul Betts and Richard Ball did the prepping and knocking out the worst of the dents. We had to leave some so it kept some of it's originality. All in all another great project that was much appreciated when it was handed back. Next week .................. another great restoration. While that was on on C4............

I know, Rajay turbo chargers are still manufactured in the US. Cummins Diesel I believe still use them or did.

[SirTainleyBarking]

Landrover electrics. Minimalism by Jos Lucas, combined with dodgy earths and previous owners bodgery.

Always a fright to behold. My thoughts on it : If you get the opportunity, rip the whole -kin lot out, rewire with proper cable and throw a load more fuses than the 4 that my series 3 has (And that is well fused compared to earlier versions)

That reminds me, I have to get a MOT on mine and make use of the new free road tax for '73's

[TerryG]

It looked good for a land rover, lol. You can get a car restored to factory spec anywhere, keeping the quirks is what keeps it a land rover. I'm not keen on a 2.5 diesel in a series 1 though, it sort of takes away from the series 1ness but it's not my car so as long as the owner enjoys it, it's all good

[Phil P]

I totally agree about wiring looms. If we do another series I think that should be something we do. Looms are available for most classic cars. Bodged wiring combined with some of the 'Prince of Darkness' best components is a recipe for disaster. The owner and vehicle are then joined by a common word, gutted!

Fords from the early 60's up to the late 80's and later had that horrible copper coated steel stranded cable in the loom. The Anglia in Series 1 had a problem in the charging circuit that took hours to find. It was traced to a broken wire in the loom behind the speedo but not be before the regulator had been changed and tested and so on. The Cortina GT had it's share wiring problems.

Did anybody see the rusty Rover P6 shell at the PC show at the NEC? Why couldn't we have had one that good!

[TerryG]

I did see the rusty oxford, when are you doing that? (or is it one for a PC restoration, I think they have recovered from the jag now)

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You could say that it has some rust issues.

[UKJeeper]

The show didn't seem to spend any time on the engine, which was strange as they were so worried about what the turbo may have done (extra PSI. oil leak, etc). I did think WTF Fuzz was on about when he went on about the engine hydraulicing due to the oil from the turbo. Going by the exhaust smoke, i doubt that would have been an issue. Were there any piston rings in there?

[Phil P]

Most of the oil smoke was the oil that was still in system burning off. It did clean after a good run. The engine oil pressure was ok so an oil and filter change was carried out on it. The Turbo didn't put out a massive boost. The problem Fuzz was referring to was the amount of oil going through the turbo. If left to stand and it filled up one or more cylinders then it would hydraulic the engine. The turbo was full of oil as was the inlet pipework. We had drained it out before the 'first' start up.

[DoloMIGHTY]

I have to admit I too was a little concerned about that Turbo, if the original (leaking) seals had been put back in then surely the same oil getting into the head will continue, I am not critising but maybe Tim wasn't the right man for the job with that one as his flippant attitude about jokes about buying lemonade and Brandy may have had the effect that it wasn't to be taken that seriously as a being the urgent job it really was(??)

Of course I could only see what I could see but the turbo installation did look distinctly home made, if so, could not another similar sized turbo not have been added in place that leaky original with additional pipework to suit?

Wasn't too impressed by the series 1 "expert", when his own example was obviously out for the count with a massive great cobweb across the dashboard!!

But of course, I am being picky - I apologise. Phil it seems you are now called "Workshop Phil" so I hope this new title won't go to your head!!


And if there was another show on at the same time as SOS then I wasn't going to watch it (why have stale bread when you can have cake?) and then there might of been another show on afterwards where a Maserati appeared in a workshop...but I fell asleep in that one.

[UKJeeper]

Think the show spent way too much time focusing on the turbo and other things like John 'anorak' Craddock whinging about the mods. Its not stock, it's used, with decades of history in every bit that was bolted on. He totally missed that. Reminded me of hardcore MB/GP owners!

This all took away from other bits, like the engine and the bodywork (barely a mention, even after Fuzz put his head through a hole in the floor).