Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: MrRon on 14 September 2015, 23:56:50
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May the check List Begin......
Since November 2013 my Omega has been sitting waiting patiently to be recommissioned, but as my previous job included a van, so there was no need to keep her on the road. :'(
At lease once a month I'd connect the battery and fire her up and she'd always sound perfect, which made it more difficult for me to consider selling.
Early in the new year on another start up two things was noticeable, the exhaust was louder and the engine was running on 5. :(
THEN a few months ago I was made redundant, which meant my Omega was now in line to be sold. :-[
Just after being made redundant I made the sacrifice and asked a mechanic to prep her for the M.O.T and £60 later........ I'll need to buy a coil pack, 4 new tyres, a complete rear exhaust and an estimate of £560. This was 8 weeks ago.
I've managed to survive and not to sell my Omega just yet & now today I've just started a new Job :D
I'm now in negotiations with the wife if we could put the Omega back on the road, the question I cannot answer is that after nearly two years off the road what else could go wrong?
My list so Far (which I can achieve myself) :-
Replace the Coil Pack.
Replace the Rocker cover Gaskets (they are leaking).
Fit new or 2nd hand exhaust.
New Tyres (recommendations?)
Both the remotes don't work.
The air bag light is on (The fault is the front passenger seat heater was left on)
I've got a 'W' Plate Star Silver Saloon, 3.0 MV6 Elite.
Anything else I should consider, whilst achieving these jobs?
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Ahh, I can give you the experiences of getting my old Lady back after 7 years!
Without going into the teeny details, and there was lots of expenditure which was 'unecessary' (ie: painting suspension, grinding off rust as and when I found it and repainting, replacing ok front shocks which would have scraped through another MoT or two, and so on)
Wishbones
rely on rubber, rubber decomposes, you may find after a few miles these 'crumble' a bit and your tracking's consequentially off. Unless you knwo these to be all in excellent order, worth changing the lot. (as droplinks etc can't be far behind)
Brakes
Could be fine. Underneath, thorough check over. As I did, smear grease all over and massage into the lines. This isn't intended to hide rust from the MoT man, but preserves them and also shows the tester you care about your car. Hoses may be 'iffy' - check. Mine were all ok, changed the fronts, the rears are original GM from the 90s.
Coil pack / ignition
As you state, you're doing this, good one
Rocker gaskets
As above, yes, worth it. I'd add get the breathers fully cleaned out. The car's not been driven for 2 years, so they've not clogged, but in doing them you'd be starting with a 'clean sheet of paper' so to speak.
Tyres
A hundred threads on here. Personally found Vredsteins and Enduros good. I'm running on old (matching, new, never used) spare wheels. All Michelin HX, there was a torrential downpour last night, and I 'tested' them on a quiet, empty road, well-lit road with not even a blink from the TC light.
Battery
I'm surprised this is still ok, but worth factoring in a new one (About £70)
Engine Vac tubes/elbows
Again, rubber, you may find some bizarre hunting or bad idle issues, which is down to a vac leak, most likely here.
Remotes
Can be re-synced by switching on ignotion, then pressing the lock button. No reason for them to have ceased functioning entirely, they should just need 'reminding' which car they are programmed to, worst case it's a trip to a Tech2 OOFer, but until then you always have the key. While you're at it, the Tech 2 can solve the airbag light, too
Factor in an oil and all fluid change, and fingers crossed you're about there.
Also, I can see you're on a budget, and the lower the £ helps you persuade the boss that the car is viable to be resurrected. So, as with all things, there's two ways to do things. For four tyres, exhaust, coil pack, exhaust (minus cats) cost me total of £163. The bargains are out there :y
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As you are on a budget:
Used coil pack £20 ( which side? I may have one that may work for postage cost)
Bag a set of used wheels with tyres from someone on here or 4 x partworns £ 80?
Cheap ebay gaskets.....they do actually work in the main £15
Exhaust..hunt the scrappies £20
Remote resync £0
Airbag light ..sympathetic OOfer with the device that can reset it £0
Either this or start a crowdfunding thingy ;D
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Oil change wouldn't go a miss if its been parked up for a while.
What's the Cambelt history like.
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Bloody hell!! I've just realised.....that's what I've been doing for the last eleven years :o when does it end? ::)
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Do my eyes deceive me?Someone not only proposing pattern but e-bay pattern cam cover gaskets at that :o Surely on here that's a hanging offence minimum
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Do my eyes deceive me?Someone not only proposing pattern but e-bay pattern cam cover gaskets at that :o Surely on here that's a hanging offence minimum
Haha , come and try it you phiillistines ;D
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Anything involving any nuts and bolts, give them a good soaking in Plusgas or similar, over a few days before you start trying to undo them. A wire brush in a drill also works wonders.
I have been experimenting with Bilt Hamber Deox C gel, on all the potentially rusted fasteners on my MV6. Given the above treatment, the only thing thats broken has been a brake pipe... And that needed replacing anyway...
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Some very good points to consider, and I shall be doing the mandatory checks on the brakes and lines.
The Coil I need is the main distributer cap type?
The Cam belt is within the guidelines.
All I'm aiming to achieve is to pass the MOT, so I don't need to borrow my wife's 2cv ::)
The list is getting longer.....
Replace the Coil Pack.
Replace the Rocker cover Gaskets (they are leaking).
Oil change (I bought the oil and filter at the same time as the Rocker Gaskets)
Cleaning the breathers.
Checking the Engine vac tubes and elbows.
New Tyres (recommendations?) I'm in Bury St Edmunds if anyone has a good set of 4
Both the remotes don't work.
The air bag light is on (The fault is the front passenger seat heater was left on)
My birthday soon, so I'm hoping for a few items :y :y
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After 2 years, I'd be making sure all the brakes slide on the pins and regreasing/cleaning where needed. I'd also consider a brake fluid change and possibly a coolant change. Maybe not necessary for the MOT, but piece of mind. I'd also clean up and reset the handbrake. Maybe consider gearbox and diff oil at a later date.
Personally I'd get it MOT'ed and then the rest is pretty much 'routine' maintenance. My Omega was off the road at least 6 months before I bought it and it flew through the MOT. Not that I haven't/won't be checking most of the car anyway. It all depends on how much you can do yourself and how much you need to pay a garage to do.
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Though I spent about 6 months getting my V6 back to MoTable standards, there were a few niggles which I'd have rather had sorted on a car that wasn't a daily driver. If you have the luxury of a second vehicle this may not be such as issue, as you've got means to 'just nip up the road to ---'
The handbrake / brakes is a good point. My rears were checked and greased, the fronts were stripped down to bare metal, repainted, and good low mileage slider pins etc were fitted, plus replacement discs and pads. That full 'as-new' caliper refurb cost £40, and that includes new hoses, stainless steel banjo bolts :) Of course a grease up and check over costs nothing :)
Standard practice as with anything, wire brush and soak in penetrating, then leave, then attempt removal with a bang-on fitting socket etc. Can't stress this enough, and I've 'scrimped' on this in the past - don't. It really is a case of 'more haste, less speed' here
Option 1 is of course get it through as cheap as possible, on the bare minumum of jobs, then look at everything else as and when
Option 2 is spend as little money, bu on as high-quaoity as you can, and take you time, with lots of preventative maintenance, and use the time you have, as the car's SORN'd you have time to do a very good job. MoT when, and only when the car's in very good order.
Neither right or wrong, but whichever's best for you. Whatever you do it's about how clever you spend, not how much - in my humble - walking into the main dealer, buying £500 of stuff which you could get from ebay (and often from a main dealer elsewhere in the country having a clearout, lots of them about now the Omega stuff is becoming NLS) for less than half that. Also getting good second hand vs brand new pattern. And we're here to advise as best we can
Link to one progress diary of mine...
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=126439.0 (http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=126439.0)
another...
http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=126671.0 (http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=126671.0)
Oooh, found the list of things I did to my Lady for MoT from an old thread...
exhaust
new flanges welding onto old cats
heat shields
dampers
springs
drop links
track rods
O/S hub
wheels
tyres
sill cover
coilpack
vac tubes
plenum
breathers
ICV
N/S caliper
seals & boots on both front calipers
Brake caliper banjo bolts
discs
pads
brake hoses
cam belt and tensioners
drive belt
battery
HT leads
wishbones
ball joints
poly front bushes
Vx rear bushes
N/S arch liner
fuel line
Hand brake pins/mechanism
Don't let it daunt you, though! That was sitting for 7 years up the drive of a seaside town, and you'll notice lots of those on the list aren't MoT failure items, but clearly things I'd want doing soon, so was worth doing them there and then. :)
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Bung some fuel in, check the bulbs and rag the living shit out of it on the way to the prebooked MoT. Job jobbed :y
If it passes, wash it and then consider a service/the advisory list :D
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Bung some fuel in, check the bulbs and rag the living shit out of it on the way to the prebooked MoT. Job jobbed :y
If it passes, wash it and then consider a service/the advisory list :D
This was the same philosophy I used with our T2 camper, to my surprise it passed with no advisories! :o
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Thank you Diamond Black Geezer for your lists, I'm sure they'll come in handy as a reference point or just inspiration. :y :y
I'll take some photos of my Omega (as is) ;)
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She's surely not as bad as this... :)
(http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm240/leflemmy/DSC_1730_zps5lvxhmkg.jpg)
That was at the start of the year.
Rotten suspension, falling off exhaust and heat shields, cracked windscreen, non-runner.
A fair whack of graft later, and one MoT with three advisories, only. :)
here's an example of before and after...
(http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm240/leflemmy/DSC_1532-2_zpsg5dclmfl.jpg)
No pretty shots of shiny Autoglym'd bodywork I'm afraid, as that was low priority, I made sure all the mechanicals were as sound as possible first. Driving down the street she looks like a ropey old dog of a car, but underneath I'd pitch her against a 3 year old car anyday!
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By heck! I thought I did well with a bit of Deox gel and a tin of Hammerite! Looking well, I shall be aiming for that with my ex plod. And the Mercs.
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Ah, it took a fair bit of
graft and bleeding knuckles love, but basically visible in that picture is...
Brand new Bilstein B4s
replacement brake disc shields off a 37k scrap car, wire brushed and repainted
stainless steel machine screws (about 4p more expensive than mild steel)
original bearing with 175k on the clock, just wire brushed
original steering knuckle - wire brush and repainted
replacement low mileage wishbones - clean and repaint
replacement camber bolts off 37k scrap car, dipped and repainted
B4s, brake shields, steering knuckle received 'Rustbuster Epoxy 121' which is like a cross between Paint and Araldite. Two parts, mix together 50/50. Used a lot in classic restoration now, due to thick coat and high chip resistance. £40 a tin, but per liter it's actually cheaper than a 750ml tin of Hammerite at my local Wilkos.
Wishbones have Vauxhall rear bushes and ball joints, and Poly fronts. One side of the car is coated with Tetrasyl aerosol stone chip paint, then final coat of satin black spray, the other side solely with the 121, as a long-term experiment.
It's all doable, and I've done it with my limited skill set, so anyone can :y the whole mini-'restoration' has been an experiment, in answering the question how far can my car be restored using the bare minimum of money, whilst maintaining the highest standards feasible?
Penny pinching at every corner, saving 20p here, to £100 there, with many parts coming off OOF.
Case in point-
the shiny silver camber bolts...
Simply...
-get 37k bolts from scrap car
-Strip paint and rust using acid (- White distilled vinegar 44p Asda)
-paint silver (tin of hammerite-alike paint £1 local discount trade store)
-all the bolts that came off were treat in the same way, and the total cost has been £1.44 for a dozen as-new nuts and bolts on wishbones, calipers, hubs, dampers etc. Like I say, it's not how much £ you chuck at it, it's how wisely you spend it. :)
I've lots more horror stories tales to tell similar! :D
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So Bilsteins can be painted? I'm terrified that my new B6s are going to be bright yellow...
I'm also debating painting the new springs black, again, red is a tad too showy for me. Since it only does 2k a year I'm thinking just black Hammerite, and treat it as a service procedure...
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Made a good start today :)
This is my MV6.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fmvebam8kn7ke6k/DSC_0161.JPG?dl=0/
Engine bay ready.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/vwkxk3yxf6917fj/DSC_0138.JPG?dl=0/
Disassembled.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2uo490hqz1j55u0/DSC_0198-1.JPG?dl=0/
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qj0qxtft962nwhn/DSC_0203.JPG?dl=0/
Apparently from a leaking rocker cover Gaskets, I think this might be why only 5 cylinders!
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qleqs747aotf4fx/DSC_0196-1.JPG?dl=0
Guess I'll be getting the credit card out then. ;)
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Good work! :y Like the 2CV's. 8)
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So Bilsteins can be painted? I'm terrified that my new B6s are going to be bright yellow...
I'm also debating painting the new springs black, again, red is a tad too showy for me. Since it only does 2k a year I'm thinking just black Hammerite, and treat it as a service procedure...
I hope they can be painted! haha, I did mine ;D
As for springs, after a bit of research, the best option is to powdercoat. That's great, and will last 30 years... if you can say your springs will last 30 years without snapping you're a better clairvoyant that I. So I opted for option 2. Cheap spray paint. Apparently just as good in that there's inherent elasticity in the paint, which isn't as present in powdercoating. Hammerite is known as being a bit 'chip-prone' so this is not advised. Great for a garden gate, but a spring flexes, and will eventually cause chunks to ping off.
Must say OEM black was my colour of choice, here's a before and after with my MV6 springs, £5 aerosol and a bit of angle grinder + wire brush attachment...
(http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm240/leflemmy/DSC_1813_zps5r0y1fvj.jpg)
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Got a few prices today, including Vauxhall main dealer ;D
Main Dealer (Bury St Edmunds)
Ignition coil £175.20+vat
Ignition lead set Discontinued
Spark Plug Set £33+vat
Rocker cover gaskets £37.90+vat
Bennetts
Ignition coil £78.06
Ignition lead set £30.19
Spark Plug Set £17.52
Rocker cover gaskets £13.13
However I am thinking of a more performance set of leads and spark plugs ::)
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Right, to help you out, unless anything's changed, there's nothing to be gained with any kind of 'performance' spark plugs, the GM ones are excellent. Also if you buy a Trade Club service kit off Keith ABS you get 6x plugs, air, pollen, oil and fuel filters £29. That's not a typo. £29, or £30 for FL (carbon pollen filter) All genuine GM brand new.
If you do like the idea of performance leads, then again Keith's also your man, with a choice of leads, in a choice of colours. Also keep an eye out for Bosch Vectra V6 ones, they're comparable to the GM/BERU originally fitted, and normally about 25% cheaper than Omega ones. Actually worth chasing up from the Dealer, are Vectra V6 (X25XE) ones still available?
Coil is gentleman's choice. As said, a used one could do you for a decade, and the main issue is making sure your scuttle is leak-free, rather than the quality of the manufacturer. Or, to put it another way, a GM one with page 3 girls glued to it under a leaky scuttle will get rained on and fail, sooner than a cheap n cheerful one kept bone dry.
Rocker cover gaskets has always been 'GM ONLY GM ONLYYY' however, speak to a couple of members here, Webby is one I think who are experimenting with a cheaper brand which are lasting well, by all accounts. I've got genuine GM, and they'll last a decade.
That shoudl bring the costs down a fair whack, without actually losing on quality.
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Just spent a few hours at the workshop, organising everything to be cleaned.
This is the cleaning station.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u6pcjkf2q7on687/DSC_0243.JPG?dl=0
I managed a token start.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5j619s3lalwfc9w/DSC_0245.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8j63rft44u6ykzy/DSC_0246.JPG?dl=0
And more importantly I've bought the items I needed from a local motor factors :)
Many thanks for your suggestions Dimond Black Geezer, how ever as I left it too late it was quicker to buy locally, and not a bad price either.
Ignition Coil (Bosh) £78.30
Ignition Lead Set (Delco Remy) £25.43
Spark Plug Set (Bosh) £24.70
Rocker Cover Set (BGA) £16.21
All set now :y
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Let us know how you get on.. in theory the rocker cover gaskets are the only part on there that's recommended you definitely buy GM, no other make 'will do' - however, Webby and a couple of other have experiemented/taken the plunge with another make (could be the very BGA that you've bought, not sure) so let us know how you get on.
£78 for a coil sounds pretty good, keep up the good work! :y
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Only managed to escape for a few hours today, mostly cleaning various parts but I did manage to complete one side. ;)
Cleaned and removed excess silicone.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y5uijks5ek6hkwz/DSC_0250.JPG?dl=0
Thoroughly cleaned Rocker Cover.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/17n305s9bzflg1t/DSC_0253.JPG?dl=0
Fitted new gasket and applying black silicone as directed then refitted. https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2bl25rg4wm2epr/DSC_0254.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxflnuph4ogxfk1/DSC_0255.JPG?dl=0
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Hello, I thought I'd post an update. The engine is now running a lot better now ;D
I've linked a few photos of various parts during the cleaning process before final assembly.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/k44fjgbk1qizf8t/DSC_0396.JPG?dl=0
Please swipe to the left for more photos :y
This project is now on hold as my last job only lasted 3 weeks, not enough work at present but will call me when (and if) the business improves. :(