I felt like I was getting dangerously close to being able to MOT the thing and get it back on the road, so, instead I decided to pull the rear end out… Basically the whole thing is now derusted and rustproof and renovated all the way from the nose, to the front of the rear arches, so this is the final stretch of that. Stripping, derusting and polybushing, plus Meister Rs and basically refurbishing everything that could possibly want it. There’s some pretty bad rust in places but it’s just short of needing welded, got to it just in time. Though one side of the boot floor is so thin now you can almost see through it
Not today, but I forgot to update… The 2.5 swap was giving me some trouble, the car had a brutal vibration and almost metal-on-metal noise, and was absolutely gutless, and tbh I jumped in the wrong direction and assumed I’d ****ed something up while dong the swap. So I was chasing vacuum leaks, worrying about the cam springs and timing and all that, and really suspecting some major issue… And just generally took a big knock to the enthusiasm.
Finally got round to properly troubleshooting, instead of just assuming the worst and being down about it, and it turns out that all it is, is a bloody fuel injector had decided to die coincidentally while we were doing the swap. and the noise is just what a 2.5 sounds like when it’s running on 3. Wee ■■■■■■■.
Just waiting to hear back from Fab9, as I’m using their versatuner tunes, as to what to do next (probably a full set of bosch 550c injectors assuming they can provide a suitable map) but I think fingers crossed and probably I can call that all good. Bit anticlimatic!
Upper & lower shift boots replaced. Both appear to have been original and were badly torn, so that should hopefully reduce the heat coming up from the transmission into the cabin.
What to Do for the Love of My Life on Valentines Day
Nah…Don’t Be Daft
Full Service and Battery Check [and bless my non-specialist mechanic for his appreciation of me trying to save me pennies for sorting her surface rust and respray and keeping his costs down not much more than I paid for her last full service]
The charger leads make regular charging over winter so much more convenient. I also had them fitted to my 2 Ducatis. You can also get the same lead with led green, amber and red lights which tell you instantly when your battery needs charging. Very useful!
Spanked it round Oulton Park all day. 119 miles at 16.8mpg. Now absolutely filthy.
Also crossed the 50k mile mark while in a nose-to-tail train with my mate in an NC, probably on opposite lock at the time given how sketchy the track was all day.
Love this little car! The 1.5 is such a peach with the right tweaks pretty much bang on the same straight line pace as a track prepped NC2 with BBR185 kit and a 4.1 diff, which surprised me.
Some purchases for my 2004 NB today. Found a second hand Sony unit to replace some Argos single unit that came with the car.
I cannot believe how much that unit has improved the standard speaker setup! Easy enough job, had to run to Halfords for some keys to get the unit out.
Yesterday and today, dropped the rear subframe out and removed everything which has consented to be removed, which by the end of today was everything except for the driveshafts from the hubs, and also the bottom linkages (the ones with the pressed-in pinch bolt). Not entirely convinced I’m going to get any of those apart, they are impressively stuck together. But good progress for everything else, just need to drop out the petrol tank and I can get busy on the last section of derusting and painting. And start rebushing arms and such.
Really does feel like the home straight now, still a ton of little jobs but that was the last big sort of milestone of dismantling at least.
I’ve as much surface rust as I can from the rear suspension components and subframe (without doing any major disassembly), treating with Bilt Hamber hydrate 80, coating with Epoxy Mastic and then under sealing with Dynax UB. I’ve also filled the sills with Dynax S50.
It’s not perfect, but I’m hoping it’ll do the job for the time being until I have the time/ability to strip it down and do a more thorough job in the future.
Reversed the car back into the garage and it gave out a mournful moan from the rear. With engine off in neutral it was the same. Nothing going forward.
I’m assuming it’s brakes related or a cry to get taxed next Friday
