IanMc Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 Last night was another late night in the garage, I went up to bed at about 03:00 in the end, then got up again about 08:00 to crack on I have made some pretty decent progress though: 1) Last night I got the new thermostat and gasket fitted. 2) Topped up the cooling system again. 3) Reset the carburettor to (exactly) every dimension/setting in the Haynes manual and any other reference material I had available. 4) Reconnected all vacuum hoses, linkages, cables etc This morning I fired here up and I can report: a) The exhaust blow has definately gone b) the exhaust knocking/rattling on other components has all gone c) The engine starts and runs sweeeeet! - much better than before - I am VERY happy with that work! This mornings task was to continue working through the 'snagging' list. The one I have been avoiding was the boot lock. You may remember that my 'eyelid' was missing: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. I inherited a couple of Manta door locks with this cover on, so I set about trying to take one of those apart to see if I could transfer the bit I needed across to the Cav. A bit of brute force and plenty of ignorance gave me this. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. This is the part that I needed: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. I discovered that it was pressed on and seemed to 'snap' over a ridge on the lock cylinder/barrel. Some careful and well placed taps with a hammer and a panel pin nail, got it off: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Then I soon discovered that the hinged 'eyelid' was under the cap and consisted of three parts: a spring, spindle and the window itself: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Next I discovered that the Cav's 'aperture' for the window was about 0.5 mm smaller than the Manta's, so I had to file a bit off each of the pin retaining holes on the window itself to make sure it would sit in and move freely - fast forward about an hour after all that faffing around and we have this: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Of course the final piece of the jigsaw is to fit the outer top cap back on. I found this quite easy to do as I used my vice to ensure a slow, steady and 'square' push: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Final test: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. And what we set out to achieve at the start: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Will pop out to put it back on the car after lunch. Please Note! The amount of effort you have to put into this job, probably isn't worth the end result... kind of satisfying though Have a lovely weekend everyone 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 Did a bit more 'snagging' today. 1) Replaced the petrol pipe flexi from the mechanical pump outlet to the rigid carb feed. This was a new piece of over braided hose that I had fitted a while back, but I kept catching a whiff of fuel whenever I went to the front of the car, so decided to investigate. Basically the hose was damp along its entire length, so I'm guessing that it wasn't really suitable for 'modern fuel'. Anyway, I changed it out for a new length of rubber reinforced fuel hose and now the smell has gone. 2) I did a bit more fine tuning of the carb today. This included checking and resetting the throttle stop screw, which according to the reference document that I was given by a very kind member of the OMOC), should be drawing a vacuum of 10 mbar at idle. After finding some conversion tables, I managed to work out a reading on my vacuum gauge and then plumbed it in to the vacuum outlet on the side of the Varajet II Amazingly, I had almost got it right by 'ear' and it only needed about half a turn (in) to get the 10 mbar reading required. This then allowed me to get the idle mixture (using my old faithful Gunsons Colourtune kit) and idle speed sorted out. 3) However, I discovered another little head scratching problem. Basically my oil pressure gauge is doing weird things. I have posted a request for help in the Basic Technical Help section, but this video shows what it is doing: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Answers on a postcard please 4) Finally I noticed that the speedo isn't working... No great surprise I suppose after such a long period of inactivity. I'm guessing that the cable has rusted internally, then snapped? My first job though is to try to work out exactly what is at fault. I was planning on disconnecting the cable from the gearbox end then putting the drive in my drill and seeing if that gave a dashboard indication? If it did that would mean that the gearbox output was at fault, if not, it is very likely that it is the cable... Any other ideas here? Cheers all, have a nice evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Ian, careful, just watch with your drill, you could snap your speedo needle, Wrong direction on drill could snap needle. You could remove dash pinacle and disconnect speedo, behind dash. Hopefully the cable is ok, as hard to get. Thats a great technical write up on boot lock, it would be great to get a write up on setting carbs, with pics and timing adjustments. I had a guy that could set carbs by ear, but sadly passed away, old skool guys are getting thin on the ground. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 25 minutes ago, ®evo03 said: Ian, careful, just watch with your drill, you could snap your speedo needle, Wrong direction on drill could snap needle. You could remove dash pinacle and disconnect speedo, behind dash. Hopefully the cable is ok, as hard to get. Thats a great technical write up on boot lock, it would be great to get a write up on setting carbs, with pics and timing adjustments. I had a guy that could set carbs by ear, but sadly passed away, old skool guys are getting thin on the ground. Had something similar passed down to me years ago by an avid mk2 rally chap who was friends of the family. balancing and setting of idle on twin dcoe carbs. Problem is now I would not trust my hearing ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 45 minutes ago, ®evo03 said: Ian, careful, just watch with your drill, you could snap your speedo needle, Wrong direction on drill could snap needle. Cheers evo, that’s a very good point - I hadn’t considered that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MANTAMAN Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 1 hour ago, IanMc said: If it did that would mean that the gearbox output was at fault, The Getrag 5 speed manual gearbox suffers a bizarre fault, a circlip becomes detached on the speedo worm drive inside the rear of gearbox allowing the worm drive to slide along it's shaft and disengage with the speedo drive cable, The bizarre bit is if you reverse the car the worm drive re-engauges and the speedo works again until you brake and the worm drive slides out of engagement again !! The speedo being a similar design on auto boxes means this may also happen to them though I have not heard of any instance of this myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 21, 2019 Author Share Posted July 21, 2019 16 minutes ago, MANTAMAN said: The Getrag 5 speed manual gearbox suffers a bizarre fault, a circlip becomes detached on the speedo worm drive inside the rear of gearbox allowing the worm drive to slide along it's shaft and disengage with the speedo drive cable, The bizarre bit is if you reverse the car the worm drive re-engauges and the speedo works again until you brake and the worm drive slides out of engagement again !! The speedo being a similar design on auto boxes means this may also happen to them though I have not heard of any instance of this myself. Intriguing, sincere thanks for sharing that Mantaman. I do hope it isn’t that though lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 Inspired by Graeme's (HOOBBY) Make and Mend Manta thread, I decided that this evenings mini project should center around the fuel tank screen. I changed things slightly by using Duck tape for the broken and weak 'hinges'. I tried to double up and reinforce wherever possible. This was pretty straightforward as one thing that Duck tape does stick to even better than most things is itself (and me, but that's another story ) So this is how things progressed: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. This is what we started with: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. And what we have now: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Just need to get myself some carpet in there now and we are good to go. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 There will be no update this evening I am afraid, I’m slacking off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 33 minutes ago, IanMc said: There will be no update this evening I am afraid, I’m slacking off... Well deserved break for sure🍷 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 24, 2019 Author Share Posted July 24, 2019 Back to the grindstone this evening. To be honest it was so hot in my garage that I struggled to get motivated to do anything, but that kind of attitude isnt going to get this car finished, so I forced myself to do something... That something was a measly cleaning of two chrome side trims. These were covered in a mixture of masking tape residue, mucj and dust and a timy bit of overspray here and there. When I started: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. After about half an hour with my trusty Autosol: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Cant see much difference?, no, nor can I looking at those photos - I guess you will just have to trust me then 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Anytime used to knock a job off the list is good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 Another hot one in the garage, but managed to bear it long enough to get a few more bits of chrome cleaned up. Front bumper and under light trim strip Rear bumper OS rear window trim and guttering Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Stop press, its just started raining here - booooooo! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 Today was all about getting all chrome and trim strips etc cleaned up. As usual, I ran out of the vital thing that I needed after about 15 minutes - namely Autosol metal polish. However, I remembered that we had some Brasso under the kitchen sink (just like the rest of the world does ), so decided to give that a go. Surprisingly it would really well and I can thoroughly recommend it for cleaning and polishing up headlamp exterior glass - try it and see! The main reason for this is because the old girl is venturing out tomorrow - she has a tracking check and adjust session booked. I do have a Trackace laser jobbie in the garage, but the tracking is so far out I cant even get a reading with that... Naturally I will let you know what happens, its booked for 10:00 Oh yeah, I almost forgot - before the cleaning started, I popped over to the other side of town to get the spare wheel/tyre looked at. It was/is a decent Goodyear tyre with 6-7 mm of tread on it, but it just would stay inflated. They took the tyre off, wire brushed the rim, refitted it all back up again, valve, balance etc and now its great. And they charged me a dirt cheap £10 all up for this! So obviously one less thing to worry about if the worst happens... Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoobby Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Looking good Give us a toot on the way past tho I'll be asleep...work tonight . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200bandit Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Looking good , when are going to get it on the road , or you just waiting for no tax to pay (l know what’ll would do) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, hoobby said: Looking good Give us a toot on the way past tho I'll be asleep...work tonight . Ha ha, will do matey. Its actually booked in (done online) at Kwikfit, which probably means that I will end up to ‘escorting’ it in an out like an expectant Father. I did pop in there earlier today to see if there (Hunter) machine had the necessary setting stored in the database - much to my surprise, it does...! Fingers crossed it all goes well. Take it steady tonight mate. 3 minutes ago, 1200bandit said: Looking good , when are going to get it on the road , or you just waiting for no tax to pay (l know what’ll would do) Well don’t tell anyone Wayne, but it IS already on the road... It was taxed and insured last week and it’s MOT exempt status means I am good to go. However.... I still have plenty of ‘snagging’ to do - for example the speedo cable and the tracking of course, so I want to get those sorted first before putting it in for an actual MOT. On that basis, I imagine that by perhaps the end of August I will be booking that MOT. Edited July 27, 2019 by IanMc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Just out of curiosity thou I would try it afterwards with your tracking gauge just to see. I've had so many problems over the years with tracking at Various places being hit and miss that I trust no one now but do it myself. i Remember once getting the tracking done at a place who said it was miles out.they adjusted it but it then felt wrong and steering wheel was off straight.i called back and they put machine on it again and said it was miles off,sorry and reset it. driving home it still felt wrong especially on roundabouts so went back.thay put machine on it again and said it was miles out so reset it. driving away it felt wrong again so they checked it again. Thay checked all joints,bushes etc bearings for faults and all was well but way too much toe. They reset it again but I think you can guess the outcome ! i went to another tyre shop who went through all the same checks,said it was miles out and reset it. Steering wheel was now straight again and drove better but still squealed a bit on roundabouts. Called back and had a word. They checked it again and you guessed! Miles out ! this was getting stupid so after a fair bit of googling and reading up on methods etc I went to another tyre shop who had no problem letting me watch closely whilst they did it. They put a 3 legged support on a front wheel with the laser head on and another 3 legged support on the other wheel with the mirror on. They adjusted the tracking to give total toe of 3mm.as he came out from under the car he touched the support on one front wheel and the measured reading jumped to a much greater toe in reading!.whoops said he and proceeded to push the support a bit. The result was all over the place and suddenly all made sence..so in theory the tracking measurement was as accurate as the accuracy that the operator had fitted the stuff to the wheels.not located perfectly on the wheels meant that it didn't matter in the slightest what the reading was . so the moral here even with the more expensive 4 wheel alignment machines is that any discrepancy in mounting to the wheels will ruin any chances of accuracy full stop. This makes the track rite gauges and even the older string method much more accurate in theory.and the reason why I wouldn't trust a garage anymore . try your afterwards and see what your gauge says Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 You guys are spot on with the assessment of the wheel alignment issues. How many of the technicians are actually put on the right courses for the equipment they use? Not many. It’s usualy the depot manager that takes the freebi. Then as ppl leave etc, it just is accepted that is how things are done - it’s also a massive annoyance for me. However, they say you only get what you pay for, and the only places that will spend the time to setup the equipment properly prior to starting adjustment are those shops that do race preparation. Anything else you take you chance with and hope it’s adjusted within tolerance after the mess with it. Had many a moment of a Arhgghhhhhhh🤯 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200bandit Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Jessopia74 said: You guys are spot on with the assessment of the wheel alignment issues. How many of the technicians are actually put on the right courses for the equipment they use? Not many. It’s usualy the depot manager that takes the freebi. Then as ppl leave etc, it just is accepted that is how things are done - it’s also a massive annoyance for me l work for a main dealership when we had a 4 wheel alignment it all depends who did it (some do not care) We no longer have it because it was a money loss Had many a moment of a Arhgghhhhhhh🤯 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 I know what you all meaning about those people who are given the job of checking and adjustable tracking, I've had some 'interesting' visits myself before. However, I hope that on this occasion things will go well as the equipment that will be used is all computerised. That was the reason I popped in yesterday to make sure that they had the required settings on the Hunter database. Now all they need to do is to use the colour coded data on the screen to get each corner 'in the Green'. They is a also a secondary display in the waiting room, so I can see what they see. The only thing that I haven't done, which I will be doing when I get there, is to make sure that there database figures match my Haynes manual figures. What could possibly go wrong?! I will let how know later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200bandit Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 I did upload some photos of the Manta settings a few years ago had a look but can’t find it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 this is one of the issues thou. "in the green" can be such a wide margin .some cars run better with different settings . for your cav ian with standard suspension and tyres the stock spacer position shouldnt need altering for caster and the top balljoint the correct way round should be fine for standard camber results. both mine are set to around 3mm total toe in and have no issues. these cars are not overly sensitive to a slight variation either way (say 2mm to 4mm) and dont usually have issues with tyre shoulder wear. my omega on the other hand IS quite fussy and demands less camber than the book and only a small amount of toe.any variation here seems to wear tyres and is a known issue on those cars. this is why i do my own. its an interesting subject "to me" and not difficult to do at home albeit you can spend all day levelling up and setting up the gear but i love it . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanMc Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 (edited) Ok, so we (that's me and the Cav) arrived a few minutes before they threw the doors open and found myself a spot next to some much newer and posher metal... Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Then up she goes on a lift for the first time in about 20 years: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. At this point I did hear a few mutterings along the lines of "look at that old car" and "what is it?" etc lol Then a Lady who was sat next to me must have worked out it was my car and asked if I 'knew about cars' as the fuel cap on here 2008 Clio was stuck closed and she had no idea how she was going to get to work tomorrow as it was now breathing fuel vapour and everywhere else was closed... Knowing I would have a little wait for the Cav, I decided to take a look and after about 10 minutes of removing boot trim and generally grappling around the OSR inner wing area it was open. The Kwikfit guys seemed as pleased as she was to be honest, maybe because they didn't know how to help her and it saved them a job/time/potential embarrassment? Anyway, by this time the Cav was ready to go and this was the initial reading: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Oops! Oh well, that's why it was there after all, so crack on please. Then cue the oxy-acetylene torch as one of the track rod lock nuts would only move forward and not back. To be honest I knew this - one of the reasons I booked it in there in the first place... My blowtorch and days of Plusgas would see it move at all. Luckily the Boss man had it moving after a few minutes - and without a hammer in sight too! So after setting it up, he back it off the ramp and drove forwards and backwards around the yard, but he wasn't happy and put it back on the ramp. 15 minutes later, we had this and a straight steering wheel: Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. After shuffling around the yard again, he was happy to hand me the keys to go for a test drive. ps he had a good look around underneath after I had given him the short story of all the stuff that had been done and he said "it looks mint under there!". Perhaps not how I would describe it, but his kind words of were appreciated all the same. The car is now transformed, no more dragging tyres around and it runs straight and corners well. I'm a happy Bunny Edited July 28, 2019 by IanMc 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1200bandit Posted July 28, 2019 Share Posted July 28, 2019 When l got the wheels balanced on my last Manta, did not get charged The chaps that that balanced the wheels spent more time looking at the Manta than doing the wheels When waiting in the car park a car come rushing in a brake heavy behind the manta,driver jump out a said Thats one hell of a manta can l have a look ( l thought it was going to be a problem) Then spent 30 minutes talking and showing the manta, only stoped because the chaps had to do the manta Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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