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Polar White and Rust - a restoration epic, can it even be done?


IanMc
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21 minutes ago, Jessopia74 said:

What product do you use for the rust?

As its literally only surface stuff, I used Hammerite Kurust. If it was anything more serious, I would probably have cut it out and welded new metal in anyway.

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An update and (hopefully) successful outcome to this small search.

I am pleased to report that the correct part has arrived. Hope fully the details below will not only help Julian, but maybe somebody else in the future.

The first two or three photos are of the packaging of the cable, the rest show the end fittings and finally the overall length of the cable for my car (even though the packaging says 76 3/4" = 1949.45 mm).

Its also interesting to note that it says that this cable will fit some manual Manta's and Ascona's?!

 

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The speedo / dash end:

 

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The auto box end:

 

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And lying next to the old one on the garage floor - they match!

 

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Just need to fit the bulkhead grommet to the new cable and then all I have to do is fit it  :lol:

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The inner wings had a second coat of paint this evening. I think that will probably be enough but I will take another look tomorrow night though, then decide.

 

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Have a good evening peeps.

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Small update on Domino:

- left eye is still full of blood and it doesn't seem to be draining away...

- now into the third day of blood pressure meds and generally he seems brighter.

- his next trip to see the Vet is tomorrow.

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A productive evening:

1) Fitted the new throttle cable that I found on Ebay. I will keep the old one as as spare - you know, the way you do...  :lol:

 

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2) Then fitted the new speedo cable - as yet untested... and refitted the dash etc:

 

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3) Refitted a few bits and pieces under the bonnet - more to do here tomorrow evening:

 

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Have a good evening everyone.  :thumbup

 

ps Domino update:

He continues to be brighter/more like his old self. Back to the Vets tomorrow to have some checks and tests - fingers crossed!

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On 05/08/2019 at 18:23, IanMc said:

An update and (hopefully) successful outcome to this small search.

I am pleased to report that the correct part has arrived. Hope fully the details below will not only help Julian, but maybe somebody else in the future.

The first two or three photos are of the packaging of the cable, the rest show the end fittings and finally the overall length of the cable for my car (even though the packaging says 76 3/4" = 1949.45 mm).

Its also interesting to note that it says that this cable will fit some manual Manta's and Ascona's?!

 

Project images are available to Club Members Only, Click to become an OMOC Member.

 

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The speedo / dash end:

 

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The auto box end:

 

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And lying next to the old one on the garage floor - they match!

 

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Just need to fit the bulkhead grommet to the new cable and then all I have to do is fit it  :lol:

That's brilliant Ian, because it now confirms what I have been wondering for some time, and that is the spare new GM cable that I have been hoarding for many years is a genuine part for my car, which as you know is an automatic, maybe I will never need to use it, but it's there if needs be!!  Those photos will also help other auto owners. Cheers Mate.

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Some more progress tonight:

1) Got all of the under bonnet gubbins removed for painting reinstalled.

2) Reinstalled the headlights and connected them up - see below!

3) Reconnected the indicators - all working fine.

 

So this is what it looks like under the bonnet now - still some work to do, but fairly tidy I would say.

 

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Now to the problem with the front light. Basically nothing works - no side lights, no dip beam and no main beam... brilliant. The back lights are absolutely fine though.

But strangely when the light switch is turned to either position 1 or 2, the main beam indicator light glows - please see below photos:

 

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I suspect that something behind the dash is wrong, remember I had to take this out to do the speedo cable.

Any ideas guys?

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5 minutes ago, 1200bandit said:

The is a big plug on the left of the dash have you plugged that one in 

The is on a manta 

Yes I did.

To be honest, if I didn’t, I don’t think the rear lights would work either.

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Morning all,

Two small updates for you.

1) The issue causing the problem with the front lights has now been identified - see here: 

 

2) Domino update. He went to the Vets yesterday for some checks. 

a) His eye is a little better, but still not cleared of blood

b) His second blood test has been confirmed as all good/normal on everything.

c) Despite the Vet saying it would take 1-2 weeks for his blood pressure medication, it had fallen by 35 points in just three days. So he has gone from having critically high BP to it being on the VERY high end of normal. Hope another few days should see that down to normal. The only problem here is that they don't know what put it up in the first place. Naturally they offered a range of tests and scans to determine this, but with a 15-17 year old cat, there is no way we are going to pay out (an estimated by the Vet) £250-500 on top of the £250 we have already paid to get to this point. Of course its a dilemma, but you have to try to be sensible with the thought process I am afraid. Plus the fact that he hates going to the Vets, so that would all be a massive deal for the old fella at this stage too.

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This morning I set myself the task of finding out why I seemed to have mysteriously grown a few inches over the last 10 years...

Basically my head now hits the headliner, whereas on all my previous Coupes it never did. Several thoughts have gone through my mind over the last couple of days:

- After having the seats out to patch up various parts of the floor pan, perhaps I had put the seats in wrong somehow, making them sit higher than before - is this even possible? The seats fitted back in OK and go backwards and forwards as they did before. Perhaps it is possible to put the little plastic sleeves back wrong on the front bar?

- The headliner had dropped.

This morning I took a look at the easier of the two things, the headliner. It certainly does seem to have dropped over the years (sounds familiar  :lol:) - see below:

 

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I did laugh when I saw that bizarre image of my left hand pushing the headline up to try to show the difference in height - my little finger really does like something else entirely :lol:

As you can see the whole headliner really is in a bad state anyway, but before replacement over the Autumn/Winter (as part of Phase 2 - the interior project), I wanted to try to improve the headroom temporarily.

After a bit of Googling and exploring of a popular online auction site, I stumbled across these little fellas: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100pcs-Headliner-Twist-Pins-Kit-For-Upholstery-Fabric-Sofa-Chair-Repair-Crafts/352543263731?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=621866928359&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

After getting all excited and ordering them - you know how it is, I'm now wondering if they might be too long or perhaps there is not enough, or indeed any, material stuck to the roof Steel for them to even try to corkscrew into. Any thoughts folks?

Then in an attempt to finish the 'under bonnet project', I quickly masked up in a rather bodgy way  :rolleyes: and sprayed some Matt Black over the rocker cover and radiator top rail. This was after cleaning off the vast quantities of sanding dust, tiny bits of White over spray and other general accumulated crude that that descended in the last 18 months or so since I last did it.

Before:

 

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After a lick of paint:

 

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Once it has dried, I will take another photo with all the paper etc removed, so you can get a bette ridea of the overall effect we have under there now

Have a nice weekend everyone.   :thumbup

 

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Today I have made a start on the underside of the bonnet.

After removing it, thanks to some help from my Son, we placed it on the grass in the back garden. As you can see, it had some surface rust, old oil and 40 years of general crud on it...

 

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After a few minutes with a wire brush and some 120 grit paper, followed by some Hammerite Kurust

 

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This is certainly the worst area, but I think that even this should look OK once we are finished with this panel

 

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Have a nice day everyone.

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This afternoon I have a load of trees and bushes to cut back, so time has been very limited on the Cav today.

However, I did grab half an hour a short time ago to do some more prep work on the underside of the bonnet.

Hopefully later I can hook up my compressor and blow out/off most of the muck created by sanding/cleaning then get some primer on the bare metal areas.

 

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