Hot and Cold

I have brought the Beast to work this morning which seemed like a good idea at the time as no rain is planned and I haven't used it for about two weeks. It was very cold! Whilst spluttering and kangarooing down the road, I came to some traffic and a Chav in a dungy Corsa, which has probably cost a great deal less than the Beast to "do up", kindly and happily informs me that my reverse lights keep coming on, which I had honestly completely forgotten about!

By the time I got to work all those 1.5 miles away, the temp guage was edging slowly to 3/4, so I am not convinced that I'll get home now without either blowing up or getting nicked for dodgy wiring/switches. And I've never driven it in the dark before!

And an old MX5 was a couple of cars away just to rub it in a bit. Although the big girl didn't have his roof down!

S & S Preparations

I have just emailed them for much needed assistance. If they weren't so far away, I'd let them keep hold of it, but as I can barely get the 2 miles to work without it getting to exploding temperature, I do not think that would be a good idea.

Wiring, Thermostat, Needles and Clonking

Best part of another 2 days spent in the garage this weekend. The needles went in. I presumed that the carbs wouldn't need fiddling with again as the seats, mixture and idle screws would not have moved. I now have high revs. Although still with the choke pulled out. It's all still very wrong at low revs though. So it's the timing then? Or is it simply time to set fire to it?

The new thermostat is now in. I took Lionel home which is probably about 0.2 miles away. The temp shot up to just below 3/4 again. Even with the fans on. And with plenty of water in it. So that didn't work either.

Lionel's main mission this weekend was to get the tacho working. After many hours of stripping the trunking, exposing wires which didn't go anywhere and trying to wire up the old dashboard, it was found that: the wire from the tacho to the coil wasn't wired up; that it is never going to work unless an electronic distributor is fitted; and the SD1 ballast resistor is needed because the TR7 tacho runs off 6v not 12v; and that a brown and white wire that was going nowhere is for the oil pressure warning light.

Paul reckons that the teeth sensitive metallic clonking noise is because the rear diff has got no oil in it. We shoved it over his pit and found the diff bolt plug. It was rounded off and stuck. Something fcuked on this car, what a surprise!

T R D C

Monday last, the boys at the club suggested two things that may be the cause of the spluttering: timing and needles. The needles thing was because big K&Ns suck in lots of air and thus the needles need to be tapered to compensate and thus flush through more fuel. Another £20 "investment" required ...

Overheating (Saturday ii)

With the radiator full of water, and the fans secured and working, I drove to Blakedown (about a mile up the road) with the fans turned on ... all was well, in fact it only just got to a quarter. On the return journey, I turned the fans off and it started drifting up to a half. At home I left it to idle where it quickly approached three-quarters+. When the fans were turned back on, it very slowly dropped back down. I then took it round the block, and it dropped back down to about a half again. I still need to fit the thermostat, but all would appear well. Why's that then?!

Although, I still can't get over 3-4000 revs, so we are back to where we were 2 years ago!

£4111.82

I have finally done the sums for the nail. I have added up all of the receipts that I inherited, and added them to the money I have also invested/thrown away.  He spent £2668.84 including head gaskets, welding and resprays. I've spent £778.33 on an MOT, fuel pump, carpet and lots of other bits.  This doesn't include the cost of the car, tax, insurance or tools.  And it still isn't very good!

Overheating (Sunday)

Time for the thermostat to come out. Why is the water in the block still green? Now I know why! When the water in the block gets too hot, the thermostat lets the water out and through the radiator.

The thermostat was tested in some hot water and found to be buggered. So, without that in, the water should all mix up together nicely and the engine should be cooler? Alas no. It was still at 3/4 although, it took a while longer to get there.

What next?

Overheating (Saturday)

It was a long day and unfortunatly not the most productive...

We visited a scrapyard to get another fan. This was removed from it's plastic surround, the blasdes cut to size and then placed in the TR's fan holder cage thing.

We then drained the radiator of all of it's rustyness, reconnected and refilled with tap water only.

And then started the car again. I went up and down the road a bit. It got to 3/4 again.

Lionel tested the temperature guage by doing something electric to the original clock console. The temperature guage was exactly the same - stuck on 3/4.

The fans were not connected, but that shouldn't make any difference as I hadn't even been anywhere.

What next ?

F F S

I hoped that the euphoria of having the Beast back might have lasted longer than a day. But alas. On Saturday, I gave it a clean inside and out and then took it round to see Ed, (a 20 second journey), then to ma's (1 min), then to Line's (30 secs). I then decided to go for a bit of a run. I went down the famous Husum Way, turned right to see if the house I want is still for sale, and stopped. The temp guage was at three quarters. It used to stop nicely at half. Thus on Sunday, off came the fans as I know that the right hand one doesn't work and needs replacing. And here they are ...

So what's the problem? Any of these then ...
1. The temp gauge
It is the one from the Teabag. How do I know it works properly? I don't! It needs testing, or changing back again with the original one.

2. The sender
The sender is new. How do I know it works properly? I don't!

3. The radiator
Is it blocked inside? Might be. I did put some rad weld in. Could it have welded the whole radiator?! It needs flushing. It may need replacing? I know it is the TR7 rad but I am not replacing it with the v8 rad at £250+

4. The rad fans
See above, there is only one. But it worked with only one last time it was on the road, two long years ago. BUT, we rewired it when we did all of the wiring. It pushes and pulls. Is it supposed to push or pull, have we got it the right way round?

5. The thermostat
I haven't changed this. Do I need to? Does it just operate an electric fan - which I haven't got? Or does it just operate one of them viscous jobbies - which I haven't got?

6. The ignition timing
I got this off one of the sites off the net. Apparently, if the timing is about 4-5° off you will get an overheating engine. I've been told that the carbs are worn and need replacing. It has been set to get through the emissions on the MOT, but still plays up at 3000 rpm+. Could it be this then?

I REALLY am getting fed up of this crap now. Hobbies are supposed to give pleasure. This doesn't!

It's Back !

It's back! I picked it up today. It's much much much better and is driveable. BUT it still plays up at high revs.

The failure list this time was:
01) n/s fr position lamp not working
02) o/s rr position lamp not working
03) fr windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid
04) driers seat insecure
05) n/s fr wheel nut missing
06) n/s fr floor body or chassis has excessive corrosion (in a TR? Can that be?!)
07) as 6) but o/s rr
08) fr brake application uneven
09) parking brake efficiency below requirements
10) exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content excessive
11) exhaust emissions hydrocarbon content excessive

Anyway, the final bill included;
MOT, 2x front brake hoses; 4x front brake pipes & ends; 2x bulbs; washer pump; fuel (!); 3 plugs; seal & repair rear fuel; remove an drepair front seat; strip and free front brakes; strip and free rear brakes; strip andc lean carbs; Travel Gas to fiddle with the emissions.

The garage's suggestions included: new carbs as the current ones are worn; an oil and filter change

The MOT advisory was: Offside outer track rod end joint cover split

Nearly Done!

Should be back tomorrow!

Another MOT Update

Top Tip: Never say to your mechanic: "no rush mate as I am going on holiday for 2 weeks during August". 

This is now week 5, although some progress is being made. The stopping starting was a combinatkion of no fuel and me forgetting to tell him that the fuel pump works off a dashboard switch! I found out today that it was much worse than feared. I walked in to find the drivers seat out of the car, to the side, still smoking where he'd had to weld the back back together (yes it was broken but I quite liked it as it tilted back nicely thus helping ease in my lardy torso) as it was around the seat belt anchor and thus MOTable. 

The lack of brakes was down to virtually seized rear drums and front calipers. Some of the brake pipes and brake hoses have been changed as they were either leaking or rusty. Phil now says that when the pedal is pressed, you can feel some bite AND the pedal comes ack up properly, ie, the brakes come on and go off again! That has to be an improvement!

And there are now 8 cylinders and the carbs are balanced. I wait to see how it goes with my foot to the floor.

I will pay another visit on Monday as we appear to be nearly there. I fear the bill now mind.

MOT Update

Errrrrrrrr, it's still there, and I have been promised it working by Friday. It's still got broken emissions and it failed on the brakes again.  Also, since leaving my cosey warm garage, it has sprung an electic leak in one of the lights and in the washer wiper motor jobby. Oh, and there is also a small hole in the rear drivers floor!  And it's stopped starting too. Another update on Friday then ...

Uh oh!

On Monday, I limped the TR to the doctors as everything we can do with her has now been done. It was a very unpleasent journey, thankfully Simon followed behind, as did a couple of hundred other cars. I managed to get into 2nd gear a couple of times and once hit 20mph! The V4 didn't sound too happy. Simon enjoyed informing me that when I changed gear the reverse lights flashed on! That'll be the switch then.

I went to see the old girl on the way home from work. It wasn't there, it was at Travel Gas where the v8 man was having a look at it before the MOT. Phil had managed to get it running better, but reckoned that it was now a v6, and that there is something fundamentaly wrong somewhere. That don't sound good!

Good job I sold that Rover! Anybody out there got any more crap that I can sell on eBay!?

Tackling the coil springs

So, one of the MOT failures was due to the springs popping out of place when the car is jacked up. Solutions that have been suggested include using garden twine to hold them in place, cable ties or a clamp and bolt set from the likes of Rimmers, although SprintMan fromn the TRDC has suggested that these don't work.

Enter Paul. And his seat belt idea. Get 4 seat belts, cut off the bit that anchors the belt to the car body and join them together to make 2 straps. Whilst the spring is in it's I am about to fall out position, measure the shock and drill holes in the body to attach the strap too. The other end will fit on the bolt that holds on the bar thing that lives by the diff. 

This might help:

See the hole in the top centre? That's the one end.

This weekend, Simon and I also had a fairly good go at balancing the carbs. Paul then strobed the distributor. It doesn't backfire as much as it used to!

Rewiring the fuel pump switch

It was decided that the fuel pump switch needed to be off an ignition feed rather than simply hot wired to the battery. Makes sense really. During the process, the chief electrician decided to rewire and snap away useless or not used wires. This took longer than expected as he must have knocked another of the Beast's dodgy earths! Following are pictures of the process and of the mass of wires removed.

M O T

Sod it, I thought, I'll take it in and see what else is wrong. We have done all of the things that we knew about. The original TO DO LIST all that time ago is now complete or defunct and thus it is time to work on another. To do that, I needed to take it to MOT man. To do that, I had to part with £120 for insurance. I limped it up the road to the closest one a few hundred yards away called TyreSales. 

Oh dear! I knew it wasn't running well and needed a tune, but decided that rather than spending £s getting tuning done, I ought find out what else was wrong as potential big bills would mean another year in the garage. I was rather light headed at the end - the whole of the unit was clogged with rich v8 petrol fumes. I think the tester let me off a few things as he was slowly being poisoned!

The failure list then:

1. o/s/f brake application uneven
2. o/s/f brake binding
3. n/s headlamp not in good working order affecting beam image
4. n/s/r coil spring not correctly located
5. n/s/f coil spring not correctly located
6. o/s/r wheel nut missing
7. exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content excessive (5665 against a limit of 1200!)
8. exhaust emissions hydrocarbon content excessive
9. front brakes inbalanced

Next time I have a mid life crisis in another life in an other world, please encourage me to buy a Mazda MX5?

Bloody Wiring Part 3

I forgot to mention, look at my new switch panel! Behind is the new switch box of tricks thing and the relays. I can't add anything else now as there is no room left! And here is a picture of a new fuse that powers all of the new stuff. Don't the gold terminals look pretty?!

Bloody Wiring Part 2

The amount of wires wrapped around here and there in the engine bay was quite frightening. It would appear that whomever did the v8 conversion used the SD1 wiring, mixed it with the TR7 wiring and was too scared to throw anything away. Also, lots of the wires were joined here, there and everywhere, with various crimps and connectors of all shapes and sizes. It was a mere miracle that anything worked at all. Once the tape was removed, this is what we were left with:

The unnecessary wiring was removed completely. The joined 15 times wire was removed and replaced properly. It was then all wrapped up nicely in some plastic trunking stuff. Much better! Below is all the crap that was removed, Lionel's new little helper, and the finished work:

Reverse Light Switch

Also fixed was the reverse lights. It was decided that the switch must be at fault as the resident electrical genius managed to get the reverse lights working by adding feeds to various cables in the boot. I really ought pay more attention. So how to get the old switch out? Crawling under the car proved impossible, although Line was able to confirm that the wires from the loom to the switch were ok. We need a pit then. This is when we recruited a Paul.

My fat fingers were usless here so (just for a change) Lionel and Paul did the job, Lionel in the car and Paul underneath. It was switch then as we now have reverse lights! However, whilst messing with the reverse lights, it would appear that we disturbed some ore of th wiring in the engine bay as the car only started with a wobble of the mass of wires that were enclosed in tape. Which now brings us on to Bloody Wiring Part 2

Bloody Wiring

Whato. Yes I have been working on it and no I haven't been blogging much. So an update ... the wiring isn't very good. I have had my favourite car electrician person around every Sunday for weeks now fixing things. Just as we fix one bit, something else unfixes. The pics below show the front fogs, repeater lamps, side lights and indicators being completely redone.

A selection of the crap that was removed

Lionel also hooked up the front fogs too. So now we have front and back fogs all working nicely. Similarly, the side lights and cruise lights are all wired up properly.

Also since we last met, he has sourced a magic fuse box thing. It has been wired to the battery via a groovy fuse (I'll get a photo of that too). The idea is that the stereo and rad fans have a separate feed and relays so as to ensure that the car doesn't set on fire. Or something like that. This fuse box has been installed behind the switches, which is quite spectacular as there is not a lot of room behind there. The new relays are also on show.

Twiddling The Distributor

There wasn't too much time available this weekend for a great deal of playtime with the Beast. I took it out of the garage to make some room for a clear out and had no real intentions to mess at all. But, after revving a few times and shooting even more flames up the road, I decided to have a bit of a play with the carbs - armed with a screwdriver and a bad printout off the interwebnet. I looked at the SUs, had a cup of tea, looked at them again, gave up and then undid the nut holding the disributor in place. A twiddle to the left later and things sound much better! A quick run up R Road was completed without a splutter nor backfire. Groovy! Although between last weekend and this, the fans have decided to stop. Ungroovy!

Another Update

It's still in the garage. It still don't run properly. I still can't be arsed. The 75's doors are still broken. And now so is the tumble dryer. Summer 2011 at this rate.

Hangs head in shame...

In all of the excitement of trying to get this ornament started, I had forgotten that it is a v8, and as such, it likes drinking. The noise that I had heard was a very dry facet fuel pump. Thanks Paul! Oh, and by the way, for no good reason at all, the indicators have now decided to fanny. Great.

What's that chuffin' noise?

After another break last weekend, and all day wasted trying to fix the car doors on the 75, I thought I might just see if the old girl would start. She did, no problems at all. I let her run for a while to get nice and warm. For some reason, there was no green leaking although it was nearly dark so I couldn't see a great deal in the engine bay. I let off a bit of choke and it still ran ... bit more ... excellent! She is ticking over beautifully. Higher revs always result in backfires but it is soundin better than ever. Sounds a little fast though so I need to get the tacho going to make sure of the tickover speed.

Due to the darkness, I killed the engine. It was then that I decided to have another go just to see. What's that chuffin' noise? It sounds like the fuel pump is about to explode! So why has that suddenly decided to play up?!

Catch Up ii

Alright alright, I am getting slacker with the updates so this is for Anonymous (Paul?). Thus, latest news is that due to the cold and my ever increasing lack of interest, I have rarely been in the garage other than to get the odd box of Christmas lager. Two weekends ago, it started nearly first time but was still spluttering very badly and shooting flame up Rosemary Road at any more than 3000 revs.

It was at this point that I armed myself with downloaded images of SU carbs, a scredriver and a Simon. We twiddled the mixture screw right down until the engine died and twiddled a quarter turn until it started again. The plugs were removed and cleaned for the 86th time.

The result was a much better sounding engine that when slightly warm (can't tell how warm as none of the instruments work), ticked over nicely at about 800rpm (probably as the tacho don't work either). At low revs all is well. At higher revs, you still don't want to be standing behind it, unless you have a marshmallow on a fork.

Next? If it starts and runs ok this weekend, it will be insurance and MOT time. The pre MOT To Do List includes: drivers seat screwed down properly, dials working, oil flush and change. The post MOT To Do List will probably be very long.

Oh, and I still have a green leak. F knows where that is coming from. Looks like it's the port on the head. So does that mean a buggered manifold gasket that I didn't change? Or something more serious?