Vehicle preps

Logistics and Transport
User avatar
unsure
Posts: 1365
Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 11:53 am
Location: st.helens , area 9

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by unsure »

metatron wrote:People always want these big 4X4 and fancy things, there is something to be said for buying a cheap 1980's Mini Mayfair where everything is super simple and using it as a project car, stripping it down and then rebuilding it. Everything is small enough that no expensive tools are really needed and at the end you own something that is a classic (keeps its value), that you know inside out.

i have an 83 sierra and 94 land rover ,, are they old enough :lol:
YES i walked away mid sentence , you were boring me to death and my survival instincts kick in .
metatron

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by metatron »

unsure wrote:
metatron wrote:People always want these big 4X4 and fancy things, there is something to be said for buying a cheap 1980's Mini Mayfair where everything is super simple and using it as a project car, stripping it down and then rebuilding it. Everything is small enough that no expensive tools are really needed and at the end you own something that is a classic (keeps its value), that you know inside out.

i have an 83 sierra and 94 land rover ,, are they old enough :lol:
I tend to think if you need an engine crane and two people to work on something it's probably not a great starter project. Great thing about old Mini's is anyone can fix one, Land Rovers are fun, but as a first project, doing everything yourself with no outside help, I'm not sure.
defender130
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 5:24 pm

Vehicle preps

Post by defender130 »

A cheap ish tax exempt 70's series Landrover is one of our back up vehicles, free road tax multi vehicle insurance policy so it doesn't cost anything significant other than an mot each year to keep it sat around as a spare incase it's needed

Any given that between mots each year it probably never does more than 100 miles it usually goes straight through although the chassis is starting to look a bit ropey in places, think it must be time for a nice new galved one and a full overhaul this year, although I can't really grumble as we have had over 8 years from it as a standby vehicle after finding it in a garage it had rested in for 10 years and buying it for only £300

Think I got a good buy there


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

yorkshirewolf wrote:
Yorkshire Andy wrote:Image

Guess what I'm doing at the moment.....
Thinking;

'I really wish i hadn't started this...'

:D
:lol: that's the one... .

Generic po300 fault code really didn't help but started with the simple things checked the HT Leads and one fell apart in my hands so £11 on leads... Still missing .. Well swap spark plugs £12 ish in case one has a crack in the insulation... Nope still the same.... New coil pack £20 nope so dropped £22 on a compression tester and very low compression on cylinder 3&4...

2 hours later and head was off...

Been this morning and had a engineering place to check the head for any warping... Straight as it could be parment was some beer as he didn't want any money :-)


Gasket kit from euro car parts £68... A marque specialist spares place £28 ;)

£11 for new head bolts...

Ordered a new thermostat cambelt tensioner and water pump whilst I'm at it £50 the lot

So awaiting the postman

Just need to pick up a tube of rtv gasket compound and a new angle gauge as I can't find mine grrr
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

preparedsurrey wrote:Getting a cylinder head skimmed and hoping the block is ok?

It is good when the fault is obvious though :)
As above it wasn't obvious till I'd ruled out all the other things including testing the ecu


And captain darling

Mmmm 3 light bulbs I could use the gasket as a frame ;)
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
User avatar
yorkshirewolf
Posts: 341
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 11:52 pm

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by yorkshirewolf »

Yorkshire Andy wrote:
yorkshirewolf wrote:
Yorkshire Andy wrote:Image

Guess what I'm doing at the moment.....
Thinking;

'I really wish i hadn't started this...'

:D
:lol: that's the one... .

Generic po300 fault code really didn't help but started with the simple things checked the HT Leads and one fell apart in my hands so £11 on leads... Still missing .. Well swap spark plugs £12 ish in case one has a crack in the insulation... Nope still the same.... New coil pack £20 nope so dropped £22 on a compression tester and very low compression on cylinder 3&4...

2 hours later and head was off...

Been this morning and had a engineering place to check the head for any warping... Straight as it could be parment was some beer as he didn't want any money :-)


Gasket kit from euro car parts £68... A marque specialist spares place £28 ;)

£11 for new head bolts...

Ordered a new thermostat cambelt tensioner and water pump whilst I'm at it £50 the lot

So awaiting the postman

Just need to pick up a tube of rtv gasket compound and a new angle gauge as I can't find mine grrr

At least it goes back together faster than it comes apart, seized bolts, rounded heads, god forbid - snapped bolts....
angry.jpg
angry.jpg (9.27 KiB) Viewed 4266 times
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

That's where 2 days a wire brush and plus gas comes in

4 soaks of the manifold studs (twice a day) and a good attack with a wire brush saved lots of heart ache :)

Think I'd have had issues should I have gone mad at it without prepping it for dismantling ;)

Today with the head out I cleaned the block..

Cleaned the starter motor and alternator cables and connections and greases then all up

Got 2 arb bushes to do once I get it running too
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
preparedsurrey
Posts: 544
Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:33 pm
Location: Area 3

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by preparedsurrey »

May as well grind the valves in and fit new valve stem oil seals while the head is off.

Being tight most of the time you can refit the end onto the plug lead, if you save the longest if the old ones you will have a replacement for any of them in future.
Apologies if you already know this but:
Checking for a spark with a plug out could have tested the coil pack without replacement, pulling the leads off one at a time while it's running (using an insulated glove and insulated pliers) would have narrowed down which cylinder(s) it wasn't running on then swapping over the plugs from the 2 good cylinders to the 2 bad ones would have eliminated it being a bad plug for free.

ECUs are pretty reliable (unless your neighbours have a habit of creating an EMP) 90% of the time an ECU fault will go away simply by cleaning all the connections.

Those parts prices seem pretty reasonable, what engine is it?
If guns are outlawed then only the outlaws will have guns....
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

I've got neon testers but in the past I've had plugs sparking but without knowing I had a poor weak spark. And a simple new spark plug solved it... Likewise a defective coil breaking under load yet it runs fine on the bench


Failing coils can take the ECU on these engines

Its a Fiat 1.2 8v 188 FIRE lump which is safe as no valve piston "meeting" can occur..

Not bothered with valve stem seals and new valves they look happy enough and it wasn't pressurising the rocker top or using oil and feeler gauges show that they don't need reshimming ..

The oil spray bay really does its job well on these lumps
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Vehicle preps

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

well the stuff came today and then mrs andy insisted i went to dinner tonight at hers :roll: blokes and their new shiney things hate been pulled apart

so since the gasket kit came with new stem seals it seemed a waste not to put them in so tonight i wound up buying a valve compressor (since the one i borrowed from work was WAY TOO BIG )

all valves were taken out cleaned up dipped in oil and old seals were pulled out with pliers and new ones tapped in using a socket as a drift (a 10mm britool 1/4 drive was a perfect size for the job)


well thats all i planned on getting done.. however ignoring my need for shut eye ive just walked into the house with a bottle of larger to celebrate also "rebuilding" the head (re gasketed the inlet manifold and fitted that, fitted new thermostat, fitted new water pump to the block , replaced cam shaft oil seals , replaced coil carrier and checked the tappet's using feeler gauges all are within tolerance after the rebuild since i mixed the cam buckets up :oops: ..


all been well tomorrow the head is going to be bolted back onto the block with the new head gasket, using new strech bolts new timing belt and tensioner. refit injectors, plug in all the wiring, fill and bleed coolant and get it back on the road :D
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine