Massbads GX - Up for sale again £2100

Massbad69 said

I ordered the carb service kit, whether its needed just now or not.

Funk is just finalising the list for the fuel and cooling system, then I will hopefully get the parts next week.

1st question, can I just blow air through the fuel lines from the tank sender end, to check for blockages ?

2nd question, I dont have a compressor so could I use a tyre with a something attached or is that not high enough pressure ?

Cheers

Take the fuel feed pipe off under the bonnet and just blow down it,i usually get the mrs to do it for me……………..while I drink tea  
Bert

Good progress Chris, glad the relay worked  

So mate says he will rebuild my carb sometime with my new service kit I got :-)

Had it running for a while tonight much better with the re routed vacuum pipes, new swirl pot with return fuel line re connected and it runs fine for a few mins the dies.

Just to top it a coolant hose split as well so cut that out and re fitted it and luckily Funk has a new one coming for me anyway :-)

Funk, Matt have been great help and I've to try bottles of petrol to bypass the back end fuel system to see what happens.

Got a few bits today, Weber service kit, vacuum hose, fuel hose, swirl pot, V5C, misc clips and longer wheel bolts.





 

Great progress on this car Chris - you have to be commended for your efforts on this wee motor. Keep up the good work when sorted you will be one happy man!  

Cheers Hugh but its baby steps.

Gonna try the milk bottle thing, running it at high revs for a while, might try and actually drive it round the estate ??

Then I can do no more mechanical stuff til all the stuff comes from Funk soon I hope ??

Hopefully going to vax the interior for a first pass this weekend and change wheel bolts over to correct length ones for alloys.

Poss start cleaning down the inside and removing broken speakers for replacing.

Found 2 replacement window winders with the chrome rings as original, so they are coming.

So I was too busy at work and then gardening to do much.

Got a new Karcher K4 with the patio thingie and its epic, 4 hrs doing the full way round the house.

So the car engine is back to standard and it runs ok but then suddenly stalls ??
It is then really interesting to restart then the same happens again ??

Cleaned up the front washer bottle





Couple of wee bits

Nice job on the washer bottle Chris. What did you use to clean it?

And those small fuel line clips with the 'ears.' How do you fix them exactly?

That sounds like fuel starvation. There is a valve in the top of the Carbs float chamber, it's job is to cut off the fuel once the chamber is full. I bet it is sticking. Your car runs until the float chamber empty. Then trying to start again loosens it and the float chamber fills again.

Ade that sounds very promising :-)

Thanks a lot I will pass that onto my mates who know carbs :-)

Hairyarse said

Nice job on the washer bottle Chris. What did you use to clean it?

And those small fuel line clips with the 'ears.' How do you fix them exactly?

Sand and Gunk shaken vigoursly for a while then tent peg with cloth attached on end like a bent giant cotton bud.

Couple if rinses out with bug and tar remover and job done.

I think the clips are just crimped on ??

Well that worked really well  

I guessed they must be crimped, I've just never used them so curious!

lhasadreams said

That sounds like fuel starvation. There is a valve in the top of the Carbs float chamber, it's job is to cut off the fuel once the chamber is full. I bet it is sticking. Your car runs until the float chamber empty. Then trying to start again loosens it and the float chamber fills again.

This guy is totally on the money with what he says - and if it is that, then hopefully the carb rebuild should fix it (I believe the kit includes a new needle valve?). However, I'm still concerned about the state of that filler neck and the possibility of rust in the system. Have you checked the pickup from the tank? If you've got lots of rusty sediment in the tank then this can be sucked up and block the pickup completely, therefore cutting off fuel supply and causing fuel starvation akin to what you seem to be suffering from. Then of course once the engine (and fuel pump) are no longer running, the suction stops, and bits can drop back down, opening the passage once more. Of course it isn't long once the engine is running again until they get sucked back up again and block the fuel flow once again.

Judging by the state of your filler neck your tank will need a good clean out, and the pickup will certainly need it - it has a small filter on the end, which thankfully should prevent large chunks of rust from lodging themselves deep down in the fuel pipes under the car somewhere or worse making their way into the engine. However, the filter is easily blocked by small bits of rust, and looking at your neck you must have had plenty of rust of all shapes and sizes dropping into that tank!

Thanks guys

Right the car is running way better and had it running without stalling for ages, still not driven it out my estate but it is much better.

So its def in the right direction.

Plan now is as follows.

Get all the parts of Funk soon hopefully and then remove the filler neck. Then fish the tank and blow through fuel pipes.

Then connect it all back up with new filters etc and pipes where reqd and see how it is.

Then next stage to the garage for a full service and timing belt change, at the same time fit my new rubber rocker and sump gaskets.

Then when home I will change the thermostat and old coolant pipes.

Once all that is done, I hope my mate will rebuild the carb once I've done a few miles and changed the fuel filter again.

Then hopefully it might be ok after that.

Then its a full engine bay clean down but not replacing anything at this stage.

Big surprise today is my original painted GX has already had a lower half respray, which I noticed after removing the side trims :-( Its an excellent job though as I would never have known, so because of the rust on the doors, rear valance and one arch and also the chips on the tailgate, I think I will get the same paint job done again.

Full lower half and tailgate, I will take advice whether that's right or not, or whether I should do more or less ??

My son and I vaxed and scrubbed the interior and it came up alright, the vax water was black, so I will do it again in a while.

I am going to keep the black Sebrings on it and lower it -40mm I think.

Need new front speakers and an aerial fitted.

Big question is - am I capable of removing the engine and box etc later on and doing a proper bay clean, paint and as good as new job ??

Seats came up well enough :-)

Seats look mint. I wanna steal your drivers seat. I'm thinking of having mine retrimmed but I don't know if you can get the grey fabric for the sides? I've seen black fabric for the GTi for sale but never seen the grey. And I don't really want to have to retrim all the seats, both for the sake of destroying their originality and for the expense!

campwitte said

Seats look mint. I wanna steal your drivers seat. I'm thinking of having mine retrimmed but I don't know if you can get the grey fabric for the sides? I've seen black fabric for the GTi for sale but never seen the grey. And I don't really want to have to retrim all the seats, both for the sake of destroying their originality and for the expense!

Agreed

I've never looked for material so don't know if u can get the grey ??

My rear seat is mint, the passengers is apart from the seat base material is a wee but stretched.

The drivers seat does have a couple of stains which I will keep vaxing, the bolster is squashed a bit and the base material is also stretched but it's still good.

Massbad69 said

Big question is - am I capable of removing the engine and box etc later on and doing a proper bay clean, paint and as good as new job ??

I would go for it, its not a big engine to remove with a engine crane thingy, when i say go for it what i mean is try give the engine mouting bolts & driveshaft bolts a crack then make a decision based on that if the bolts are going to need heat its a bigger job. I always use a hex skt set & good quailty alloy key or spline tool for driveshafts etc cheap rubbish tools will just give you a world of pain, you also need a big bar to crack the wheel nuts on the front wheels but they can take it.
Again lots of WD before even attempted to crack any bolts

does sound easy!!!!!!! ha ha im not sure.
Enjoy easter
cheers
baz

Chris the seats look superb my friend.  
I think your beginning to enjoy this car now and so you should, it's a cracker mate!  

Interior looks spanking!  

Go for the engine/box removal, it's just nuts and bolts mate, you'll not struggle  

bazmk1 said

Massbad69 said

Big question is - am I capable of removing the engine and box etc later on and doing a proper bay clean, paint and as good as new job ??

I would go for it, its not a big engine to remove with a engine crane thingy, when i say go for it what i mean is try give the engine mouting bolts & driveshaft bolts a crack then make a decision based on that if the bolts are going to need heat its a bigger job. I always use a hex skt set & good quailty alloy key or spline tool for driveshafts etc cheap rubbish tools will just give you a world of pain, you also need a big bar to crack the wheel nuts on the front wheels but they can take it.
Again lots of WD before even attempted to crack any bolts

does sound easy!!!!!!! ha ha im not sure.
Enjoy easter
cheers
baz

 Cheers Baz

I wouldn't do it until either this winter or next ??

Happy Easter to all if you as well

See you soon :-)