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Topics - Nick W

Pages: [1] 2 3 4
1
General Car Chat / What's the engine?
« on: 03 October 2022, 23:11:23 »
Watch the video(which is hard work ;D ) and see if you can tell what engine is fitted.


LINK



The bloke in the video is wrong; they're definitely messing about ::)  and any guesses are likely to be very wrong.




2
General Car Chat / Bolt in LS replacement
« on: 10 September 2021, 10:33:28 »
LINK


Which would be tempting if considering a top-end LS crate motor.


But it's only doing the easy bit which is fitting the motor. You're still on your own sorting big, heavy, expensive batteries that require a lot of fussy engineering to work, let alone work well.

3
General Car Chat / Morris 8 Project
« on: 22 August 2021, 21:25:02 »
This isn't a new project because it's been abandoned in a friend's garden for many years.


I've resurrected after several conversations with friends about building a Locost type car for something to do for little cash. The snag is that I'm not really a sportscar fan.



My original plan was to build a four cylinder hotrod using Sierra parts out of this:





I have the chassis, all four wings, the grille shell and bonnet tops. The £150 I paid for all of this over twenty years ago also included the doors(which were unusable below the colour split) but I've lost them somewhere along the line. That's annoying but not a huge problem. It's all very rusty, but is still saveable.


This is a tiny car; 2300mm wheelbase, and is only 1400mm across the wings.


I don't have vehicular access to the bottom of my garden, but I reckon we can lift that body over two of my neighbours' fences, and everything else can be carried up the alley. This makes building it at home feasible.


I have NO budget at the moment, but there is work I can do for 'nothing'


I realised a long time ago that I don't like lots of power, and there's no room to fit it if I did. The more we talked about it, the more I realised that some out of the box thinking would allow the use of certain parts in stock instead of having to buy lots of expensive stuff. Originally I'd have used Cortina front uprights(which I did have) but they're now at least £150 a pair, or some of the aftermarket kitcar equivalents nut that's a good way of spending nearly £500. I still have a Capri axle which could be narrowed to suit, but it is missing the brakes(there's easily £150 there) needs a rebuild and would have to be hung on a really short four link.


Doing Richard's front wheel bearings last month I realised that the Metro/MGF front suspension is basically a double wishbone that works well in small light cars. All it would take is the fabrication of new wishbones copying their geometry using the spare parts I already have. Fabricated steering arms will be needed to attach to a Capri rack I have. I want it on small 14 and 15" wheels, so that's easily accommodated. Then I realised that building rear uprights and wishbones for an IRS using the same hubs, bearings and brakes could be done for about £150 all in. Plus the diff. I'm thinking Freelander for that as it matches the other components, is cheap, easy to mount and is available with usefully tall ratios.


Richard has a k-series that is surplus to requirements, which only needs to be collected. It's small, light, makes 120hp, comes complete with decent management and is free. It will need a RWD gearbox; MX5 or Omega are the current choices. Either will require a custom adapter plate, but that's easy enough. I was surprised how big the Mazda box is, an Omega would be easier to fit, but the clutch plate will probably need to be custom.


Which led to this virtual mockup in Fusion 360





Which is to be made from 100x40 and 40x40 box section and various laser cut flat parts. That's the third iteration so far, and is intended to be easy to build on a flat surface. Some of it, particularly the actual height off the ground is dependent on a physical mockup with the 5.5x14" front wheels(stock MGF spares and will be scrounged) and 6x15" rears which will probably involve fitting some of those centres in other  rims.


I'm also thinking that Hydragas displacers(which we have) could be used in place of the usual coilovers. Those are the gold cylinders in the picture. That will save a considerable amount of cash too. I do need to fiddle about with the suspension geometry, but that's easy enough in CAD




I currently have no money to spend on this, but if I can get the body and chassis in the garden, I can square up and repair the body as a start. It needs both sills replaced, the structural wood is rotten and will be replaced with steel, there's a big dent in the rear C-post and there's lots of other rot to repair. That's just work and £20 of steel.


The car is intended to be fully legal - there isn't enough to use a log book even if I had one - so an IVA test is required, and properly finished as I can't stand the rat-rod 'style'. It will be painted black and blue as you see in the picture.


Should have mentioned that it's a 1936 Morris 8.






4
General Car Chat / Gearbox dimensions wanted
« on: 10 August 2021, 14:24:15 »
Could anyone help with the dimensions of a manual Omega gearbox? I can't find my notes from when I had one handy.





I need to know


overall length A to C,


Length of the bellhousing A to B


Length of the gearcase B to C


Diameter across the bell housing


Height of the gearcase above the red centre line




It's to go in this:





Which is a project I bought the body for about twenty years ago ::)

5
General Discussion Area / It just doesn't end...
« on: 03 August 2021, 17:03:27 »
My sister dropped her kitten off on her way to work this morning, to go to the vet for an examination. I'm taking it with ours to save some time. And I've had enough of wiring her broken catbox together, so I made a couple of new latches for it when we got home. And this time, the vet put the correct cat in the correct box so I didn't unload the wrong cat(they're virtually identical) at the right house this time


So, Deb arrived to collect the box on her way past, and presented me with a broken door handle off her car. A quick look on Ebay turned up several used passenger side ones, but no OS. I've ordered a new one for each side from a Chinese supplier for £11, ETA at least a fortnight.


Which means I've got to patch up the broken handle in the meantime. I think some 6mm aluminium plate, 3 or 4 screws and some Araldite is tomorrow's side job. The main job is finishing the bathroom repair, which I've been dragging out because it involves two things I particularly hate: finish woodwork and tiling.

6
General Discussion Area / (Almost) A normal week
« on: 19 June 2021, 17:36:50 »
So after 13months of virtually no social contact, the last week had been better:
last Saturday was a friend's fiftieth birthday party - Covid was a good excuse for not making a fuss of mine last year ;D
I spent Tuesday evening teaching a group of Guides how to do underbonnet checks and change a wheel safely
And this morning we actually rang some real bells rather than doing it virtually over the internet. On leaving the church, a passer-by told us "it was good to hear the bells ringing again" which was another boost

7
General Discussion Area / Does anyone fancy a new hobby?
« on: 15 March 2021, 15:09:54 »
Anvil shooting looks fun:


Youtube video

8
General Car Chat / Nipples!!!!!
« on: 26 January 2021, 16:45:51 »
Now I've got your attention, your car should have four of these:





or something like it. That is a rubber cap for a brake bleed nipple, and it is more important than it looks.


If you don't fit them, water and other grot makes its way down the centre hole and into the seat. That makes them difficult to remove, because the hole, seat, bottom of the thread and the nipple rust together. Here's the one I eventually extracted from the rear caliper of my sister's Hyundai, with a £0.60 new one:





You can clearly see the marks from getting out(I clamped it in the vice and worked the caliper to and fro to get it moving, finishing off with some mole grips), the grot at the working end and the damaged threads.
This wasn't the reason I removed the caliper from the car; that was to free off the piston and handbrake mech. It is the reason I've just ordered a new caliper,  because the seat the nipple is supposed to seal against and the mating threads are equally grotty and it leaks like the Titanic >:(


While there are some things I could have attempted to rescue this, the rest of the caliper isn't brilliant and isn't worth the time when  a new one is £66 delivered.




So to the point:


If yours are missing, I would recommend you get some and fit new bleed nipples while you're there. That's less than £1 per caliper and could save you a lot of grief and expense.

9
General Car Chat / A proper city car?
« on: 09 December 2020, 11:46:11 »
THIS looks like one to me.


But I do expect to be ridiculed at length ;D

10
Omega General Help / It's only a small hole........
« on: 21 September 2020, 19:33:38 »
We didn't take a picture of the damage, as it wasn't too bad:





the circle is roughly the size of the hole, and the square is where decent weldable metal started. I had to do a small repair to the top of the chassis rail which wasn't helped by the A/C pipe in the area. While I was doing this, Amba picked away at a tiny flake of underseal on the other, good side.
 


Some gentle digging by hand with the little chisel you see in the picture revealed this hole:





There's a little more, but you get the idea.


The important thing to remember, is that this side looked good, the underseal was complete and almost unmarked. This is a smart, tidy looking, well-looked after car that is used everyday. I've suggested before that worrying about scabby sills or wheelarches is not as important as a proper poke about on the front chassis rails: I hope this explains why, as this car looked no worse than any of the others I've seen before.


I've made a start on the repair, which will be done tomorrow.


And I'll do the hole in the rear floor that started this 'little job'




Amba included this pic too, but don't look at it.....





 :o


 ;D


 :)


 :y

11
General Car Chat / Go Pro inside a tyre
« on: 03 August 2020, 09:43:13 »
The title says it all, I thought this Youtube link was interesting.

12
Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / Wanted: Manual gear linkage
« on: 10 February 2019, 13:44:36 »
As the title: I need a gearlinkage from the box, to the gearknob for a manual gearbox.
I've sold my V6 and manual box to  mate for his MGB, and he'll need these bits which I don't have.


Cheap, obviously :y


Thanks

13
Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / F/S V6 plug leads
« on: 03 September 2018, 10:40:37 »
I bought these some time ago, and as I no longer have the car they're surplus to requirements.


Brand new set of leads, numbered and each side in tubing.


Never been out of the bag, £25 posted

14
I bought this for project that never happened, and it's surplus to requirements.


3.0l engine, complete with all manifolds, wiring and ECU.
Manual gearbox is still bolted to it, so the flywheel, clutch etc is present but I don't have the gearlever. I might have the prop.


I bought it like this from someone who removed it from a driving MV6; I've never had it in a car.


It's in Chatham, Kent.

15
Cars for Sale & wanted / FL 3.0l Elite estate £350
« on: 20 August 2018, 15:27:11 »
I've had it 8.5 years, but have barely used it since I got the Metro done so it's time for it to go.


2000 3.0l Elite estate in silver with dark leather. It's done 198,000 miles, but is smooth, quiet, pulls well and the gearbox is good. I've never had any qualms about just getting in it and driving anywhere;


The good bits:


Cambelt is due next summer or in 25k miles
Engine is oil tight(I know, I find it hard to believe too!)
Oil, filters and plugs were changed about 2500miles ago
4 new standard road springs fitted 10k miles ago
Front discs and pads fitted about 10k miles ago
New self-levelling shocks have about 24k on them; the system works.
Front shocks, top mounts, bearings, wishbones, droplinks, idler arm, track rods and centre track rod have under 40k miles, some a lot less. Wishbones are poly bushed.
Rear subframe donuts have been replaced, as have both rear wheel bearings. Diff mounts refurbished
New heater matrix fitted last year.
New windscreen fitted last year
New radiator fitted this spring
3.2 exhaust manifolds fitted, SAI and EGR deleted
Head gaskets replaced 4 years ago
Aluminium adjusters in the headlights, new HID bulbs fitted last November
The complete exhaust system was replaced some time ago, and so was the collapsed N/S cat.
It's had all the usual service/niggles dealt with as they occurred: crank sensor, filter housing, top hose, DIS pack, plug leads, thermostat, battery, expansion tank, handbrake cable, handbrake shoes, HBV, ABS ECU&valve block(which I think was the only used part on the car), gear selector switch cleaned etc etc.
There is a matching 17" alloy wheel as a spare.
It has a fitted rubber boot mat, along with the load cover, cargo net and dog net(both genuine). I have a pair of roofbars that will go with it, but they're not GM
Tow bar with both plugs
I rebuilt the driver's seat with passenger foams; it's as good as new and all four heated seats work. The factory floor mats are in decent condition
Aftermarket reversing sensors fitted with the display discretely in the rear roof


The bad bits:
The MOT has expired.
The sills are crusty, although I don't think the tester can see that. I have a pair of sills to fit, and are included in the price
It needs a pair of tyres.
It needs a new rear brake disc.
Airbag warning light is on from moving the seat; I can't get "My Naff Code Reader" to connect with this computer so can't reset it.
A/C works if regassed, but leaks over the winter. It's got enough in it to engage the compressor, but not enough to do much.
It's 18 years old, has had paintwork and has all the usual small marks but it does look respectable with a polish
I replaced the CCR2006 with a double-DIN headunit and wired around the BOSE with new speakers, this won't go with the car but a replacement will just plug in.


The car is in Chatham in Kent

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