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Author Topic: My jobs to do this winter/spring  (Read 12419 times)

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LC0112G

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My jobs to do this winter/spring
« on: 04 January 2018, 15:59:16 »

Was going to wait till it's a bit warmer, but have now got a miss-fire so have had to swap to something else. Whilst the car is in the man cave, there's a long list of jobs that I'm going to tackle. So treat this more as a blog than a request for help at the moment. However, if you think there is something I should tackle that I've not mentioned, do pipe up.

FWIW 2001 Y reg Omega B Elite saloon, RHD, 3.0 V6 auto.

1) Front Suspension. The handling is frankly shocking - steering wheel adjusts the angle of lean rather than the direction of travel.
1a) New Shocks. Will ask at Vx, but even if not NLS I suspect price will shove me firmly down the Bilstein B4 route.
1b) New Springs. If not Vx then what's recommended? I suppose I could use LC spec springs :-)
1c) New Top Mounts. I think these are standard Carlton so I should have these in the stash.

2) Steering/front end
2a) Re-furbed wishbones (I'll probably strip and powder coat some old ones).
2b) Poly front bushes - From?
2c) VX verticals
2d) New ball joints
2e) New track rods
2f) Replacement wheel bearings. (MOT advise and I've got dozens of ex Carly ones in the cave)
2g) May throw a new set of brake disks pads and calipers at it too. Calipers are pretty mankey.

3) Anti Roll Bar stuff
3a) New ARB bushes - Might have these if Carly ones fit, if not then Powerflex or similar.
3b) New drop links. All German?

4) Rear suspension - have previously replaced rear springs and shocks with OEM, and rear disks and calipers.
4a) New rear donut bushes
4b) New rear track-rod arms (one is bent) All German?
4c) See if there is any oil in the diff  ;D
4d) Work up enough enthusiasm to replace the oopsing fuel filter.

5) Windscreen wipers
5a) Replace wiper arm assembly - excessive travel and play in sweep. Scrapyard.

6) Engine : Would like to rebuild my old engine, but need a replacement crank so that can wait till summer. In the mean time, need to fix the misfire. Have got oil in the drivers side plug wells, so...
6a) New cam cover seals
6b) New spark plugs all round
6c) Possibly new ignition leads if 6a/6b don't cure it
6d) Possibly new ignition coil pack if 6a/6b/6c don't cure it.

7) Cooling
7a) New main rad.
7b) Replace heater matrix pipework with new (already bought).

Ho hum. Wish me luck.

Cheers
Malcolm
« Last Edit: 04 January 2018, 16:01:27 by LC0112G »
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terry paget

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #1 on: 04 January 2018, 16:12:30 »

Good luck!
I had a gardening pal like you - best part of his year was December and January, when he would browse the seed catalogues, order his seeds and dream of how they would look when they all came up.
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TheBoy

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #2 on: 04 January 2018, 16:55:40 »

Poly bushes - Powerflex, availabel from just about anywhere. Use GM rear bushes (if its a GM wishbone). Use genuine coppaslip on the polys, as the stuff powerflex supply is inadeqaute and washes away (like cheap copper grease). I'd only change balljoints if old ones are shot.

Front ARB, if the old bushes aren't shot, keep them. Polys seem to squeak like crazy, irrespective of greasing.

Springs - Sach if wantings std. If you want lowered, probably eibach are only choice now. Rear of car does not lower too well.

ARB Droplinks - Meyle HD seem to last well IME, available from multiple places, such as AGP etc


Keep us updated with pictures of progress :y
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Kevin Wood

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #3 on: 04 January 2018, 17:28:54 »


Agreed, so much aftermarket stuff is poor these days that It's not worth changing original parts that aren't MOT failures, IMHO.
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LC0112G

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #4 on: 04 January 2018, 17:32:04 »


Agreed, so much aftermarket stuff is poor these days that It's not worth changing original parts that aren't MOT failures, IMHO.

Originals are riveted in though aren't they? If I want to powder coat the arms then they've got to come out. I suppose if I can get them out without damaging them then they could go back in again (with bolts).
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Kevin Wood

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #5 on: 04 January 2018, 17:39:57 »

Yep, I would have thought you'd be able to bolt on the old ball joints. They certainly won't take well to being in a powdercoating oven, and, actually, I've used the bottom ball joints from cheap wishbones without any problems.

I also agree that the bushes are worth doing, and definitely polybush the front one.

For other parts that are just bolt-on replacements, I wouldn't bother.

I just seem to be in a position at the moment where only a few of my original suspension parts have required replacement, at 216k miles and 15 years old, yet any replacement parts seem to last a year or two. I've had several sets of drop links last a year at most (Meyle HD on now, and lasting better), I have a B4 that's leaking after a year, etc.. It speaks volumes about the difference in quality between what was factory fitted and everything available in the aftermarket.
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LC0112G

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #6 on: 04 January 2018, 17:40:52 »

Poly bushes - Powerflex, availabel from just about anywhere. Use GM rear bushes (if its a GM wishbone). Use genuine coppaslip on the polys, as the stuff powerflex supply is inadeqaute and washes away (like cheap copper grease). I'd only change balljoints if old ones are shot.

Front ARB, if the old bushes aren't shot, keep them. Polys seem to squeak like crazy, irrespective of greasing.

Springs - Sach if wantings std. If you want lowered, probably eibach are only choice now. Rear of car does not lower too well.

ARB Droplinks - Meyle HD seem to last well IME, available from multiple places, such as AGP etc


Keep us updated with pictures of progress :y

Thanks. Hoping to do the front end strip down Sat AM before the mighty YTFC thrash Bradford in the FA Cup.

Springs - Sach if wantings std. If you want lowered, probably eibach are only choice now. Rear of car does not lower too well.

I want everything as near to standard as possible. Will go for Vx springs if I can get them and the price isn't too silly, but ATM I can't make head nor tail of EPC - I think it may be  P/n VX90509080 or VX90541754 (haven't got my chassis number handy). If Vx are NLS or too pricey I was looking at some Bilstein B3's from the same place as the Shox though they're about £55 each.
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Mr Gav

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #7 on: 04 January 2018, 17:44:15 »

Last time I bought dampers for the MV6 there were £155 for all four IIRC and they are made by Sachs, not sure if they`re NLS now though  :-\
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Nick W

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #8 on: 04 January 2018, 18:04:01 »

I would completely overhaul the front end: new shocks, bearings, top mounts, bump stops, springs, wishbones(but with poly front bushes), droplinks and track rods. I would consider, but probably not bother with, the idler arm and centre track rod. Refurbing Vx wishbones in my experience is pointless. I'm not hung up on brands for any of this stuff; my car has shocks, top mounts and bearings bought from All German, the bearings claim to be SKF, and the shocks were Sachs. Everything else is unbranded stuff from ATP; the front springs raised the car 30mm and restored the ride over the 190K knackered originals and were about £30 the pair. I've never regretted changing shocks and springs on any car I've owned. Leave the anti-roll bar bushes; they never seem to wear out and new rubber ones are about £5 a pair.


Wheel bearings are only worth changing if they have play in them.


Discs and pads are simple consumables to be changed when required. You'll know what your requirements are: some of us get ten-times the wear out of these than other members here! Same applies to wipers, but your reported sweep problem is a replacement linkage - used is the way to go.


At the rear, new donuts are a worthwhile and cheap. New tie rods as yours are damaged. The diff mounts probably warrant investigation. You'll be looking at refurbing those as new ones have been NLA for ages. My diff got a lot quieter when I 'topped it up' with a litre of oil :o  Budget £20 for new handbrake shoes at some point.


Fuel filter: take some MTFU pills and just do it. It won't need doing again.


Misfire: It will be ignition caused by the oil in the plug wells, so fix that and replace the faulty stuff that isn't normal consumables.


Cooling: if the radiator is worn, damaged or leaking then change it. Otherwise, I would leave it and the hoses alone. New ones are likely to be just as old as the ones on the car and are only worth changing if you have to. I've bad experiences of doing this sort of replacement 'for reliability'. A new heater matrix is to be recommended though.
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Sir Tigger KC

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #9 on: 04 January 2018, 18:11:57 »

RE: Rear Track Rods

PartService down in Exeter sell Moog track rods for £43.64 each as opposed to Lemforder from ECP for £96.99!  :y

Maybe they're made of spaghetti, but worth considering at that price and I think Moog are a well known brand?  ???  In the motorsport world?  :-\

http://www.partservice.co.uk/partsearch/part/index/id/6048174/cat/4846/

https://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Vauxhall_Omega_3.0_2001/p/car-parts/suspension/suspension-and-steering/suspension-arm-and-suspension-joints/?622720015&1&5f950f8efd38fd0119425dca4ea2f0858c25e45f&000320

« Last Edit: 04 January 2018, 18:14:04 by Sir Tigger QC »
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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #10 on: 04 January 2018, 18:25:06 »

Bought a pair of rear track Rods for £98 from Germany, Berlin iirc, genuine Lemforder. Also awaiting a load of parts from ATP, but sadly too late for the front tyres >:(
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LC0112G

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #11 on: 04 January 2018, 18:27:19 »

Nick,

Thanks for that. Agree with most/all of it. The car is rapidly approaching 300K miles, and I'm doing 15K per year and AFAIK it's on the original shocks, springs and bushes. I've been driving the Carlton all week I have come to realise how awful the Omega handling is. Same front tyres on both cars (Bridgestone 235-45-R17) and I reckon there is a 30MPH difference in cornering speed on my private test track so in my mind it can only be suspension related. Which is why I've more or less come to the same conclusion as you and am intending to replace the whole front end.

Idler arm was changed (for a cheap one) after an MOT advisory in September.

Rad change is because I've got a very small water leak from either the rad or the pipes that connect to it, or something else (switches, temp senders). I can't see where it's coming from (just a small damp patch on the floor under the NSF corner) and it needs about a pint of water every month or so. The Rad is going to have to come out to investigate, and for the cost of an after market rad I think it'll make sense to replace a 16 year old 300K rad anyway. 

I changed the rear disks and calipers last year and did the handbrake shoes at the same time. However, you have reminded me of another job for the list :

4c) Replace Handbrake cable. The rubber end boots are split and the cable rusts to the sheath resulting in MOT failures each year for handbrake efficiency.
« Last Edit: 04 January 2018, 18:29:55 by LC0112G »
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Nick W

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #12 on: 04 January 2018, 18:40:45 »


Rad change is because I've got a very small water leak from either the rad or the pipes that connect to it, or something else (switches, temp senders). I can't see where it's coming from (just a small damp patch on the floor under the NSF corner) and it needs about a pint of water every month or so. The Rad is going to have to come out to investigate, and for the cost of an after market rad I think it'll make sense to replace a 16 year old 300K rad anyway. 


4c) Replace Handbrake cable. The rubber end boots are split and the cable rusts to the sheath resulting in MOT failures each year for handbrake efficiency.


Mine needs a new radiator, as the slight leak for the last couple of months is now obvious when I turn off the engine; fresh blue coolant drips off the bottom of the bumper. Bloody thing.


The handbrake cable is about £25 and a pain to change. The boots on mine were missing, and it tore out of the brackets when the tester pulled it harder than I do. When I use it, which probably doesn't help. It could be Italian; I've been to several Fiats and Alfas where the cable had frozen solid.
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VXL V6

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #13 on: 04 January 2018, 18:45:07 »

Meyle HD are the only droplinks worth fitting in my opinion. Genuine GM last about 10K now and all the others are utter shite lasting far less.

Meyle HD on daily driver for the last two years (over 70K) with no issue and running on the other cars with lower annual mileages also with no issue.
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Bigron

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Re: My jobs to do this winter/spring
« Reply #14 on: 04 January 2018, 19:04:56 »

Meyle HD are the only droplinks worth fitting in my opinion. Genuine GM last about 10K now and all the others are utter shite lasting far less.

Meyle HD on daily driver for the last two years (over 70K) with no issue and running on the other cars with lower annual mileages also with no issue.

My wishbones were supplied by ATP and came with drop links and track rods (all fitted by Saint Serek); does this mean they will have a short life?

Ron.
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