Hairy's gone all floppy!!

Bronze said

Only just saw this thread. Wow what a bargain! Looks great, you must be really happy with that  

Well chuffed mate, couldn't believe I got to it first!  

richievr said

Hairyarse said

Ah cheers for that Rich - save me doing some damage!! You are right on the types.

That's scuppered me for fixing it this weekend then I guess, if they are too long. Other option is the bolts that were used on the P-slots? They're the right length - I can't recall if shoulder is radiused or not?

if it still has the factory bolts they will be radius. they certainly should be..
99% of factory wheels and bolts are radius, and about 90% of aftermarket wheels are flat taper type…
the RA's ( and RM's) are both radius as they were factory wheels.  

Brilliant, thanks for the info Rich, hopefully I can get the rear drums checked over and bolts changed when I'm home tomorrow afternoon  

Well I'm all sorted on the wheel front now! I took the rears off and checked out the brakes. The (minimal) damage was to the auto adjuster, the wheel bolts had scuffed against the front edge, scraping it and bending it slightly;



After a good look around and checking the action, I decided not to strip this - given every job so far has been jinxed!    It all seems to do what it should and after a test drive the brakes were all good.

I fitted the bolts from the Azev's, along with a few from my P-slots. Turns out they're both radiused shoulder. The ones that were too long were also flat angle/chamfer so not good. Lucky I only did about 100 yards with them and slowly!

You can clearly see here the longer ones that were no good - no wonder they caused problems;



I fitted new bonnet lifters as the old ones were so rusty. I haven't swapped the old mounting points for new though yet as they're badly seized and didn't want the grief today! I've never really been a fan of bonnet lifters but love working on the engine with no bonnet stay in the way so I'm liking them now!

Finally, after laughing at the English version of the instructions, I fitted my Bodi XL wind deflector. What a cracking product - great quality, only took a few days to arrive and it fits like a glove;



I then went for my first top-down drive. WOW!!!   I love it!! I get it now, the Cabby rocks  

The car rides nice on the RA's too, I just need some bolt covers for them

The wind delfector is a must for the top down - makes a huge difference.  

'The cabby rocks' is a classic line….      

Shughy said

The wind delfector is a must for the top down - makes a huge difference.  

'The cabby rocks' is a classic line….      

no actually I don't think it is a must for top down…. I ain't got one and my top is down whenever it's not raining (even 2-3am drives if I am out with ma telescope!!) just turn the heater up full bore!  

kamikaze cabby said

Shughy said

The wind delfector is a must for the top down - makes a huge difference.  

'The cabby rocks' is a classic line….      

no actually I don't think it is a must for top down…. I ain't got one and my top is down whenever it's not raining (even 2-3am drives if I am out with ma telescope!!) just turn the heater up full bore!  

You have a heater that works!  

My wheel bolt caps turned up today. Bit of a bargain for £6.49 and good quality too



Not so good is I have a fuel leak!    I filled up the tank on Monday and afterwards smelt fuel. Today coming home to the car parked on the drive, within a couple of metres away there was a really strong smell of fuel. So after digging around I've had the back seat out and removed the tank cover - all looks ok under there, it's dry and you can't smell fuel if you poke your nose up to the top of the tank.

There was a small damp patch under the rear of the car, about 100mm dia. This was directly under the centre of the tank portion that's in front of the rear beam. I jacked the car up and this part of the tank was wet with fuel and so are both sides and side flanges of the tank - it's like the fuel has spilled down from the top of the tank and ran down. All pipes I can see are good, I took the OSR arch cover off and again the pipes are all good so I'm a little lost - I'm thinking it may have to be a tank out job to know for sure.

I'll drive it and hopefully when the fuel goes down a bit there's no more leaking as it wasn't before I filled up, then add this job to the list  

I forget, is there any way to get the tank out without removing the rear beam??

Sorry to hear that but there's no way without taking the beam out :-(

Looks like I'm going to be doing something similar with my tintop as the fuel system is full of rust from the filler neck :-(

At least we're not alone then! Although I'm sure we'd rather not be doing this at all!

The only upside was under the car is really tidy - no issues at all so hopefully (famous last words!) everything will come apart easily!    

Aren't old cars great?!  

Yomp said

Aren't old cars great?!  

Especially floppy ones!  

golfcabrio said

kamikaze cabby said

Shughy said

The wind delfector is a must for the top down - makes a huge difference.  

'The cabby rocks' is a classic line….      

no actually I don't think it is a must for top down…. I ain't got one and my top is down whenever it's not raining (even 2-3am drives if I am out with ma telescope!!) just turn the heater up full bore!  

You have a heater that works!  

yup sure do…    why don't they normally??

Did u get you XL via ebay mate, could you pop up a link, wana get one before drive to AGM, they make so much difference :-)

I did Rich - here's the link

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190588247705?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I was amazed how there's no turbulence in the car at all with it! It's the same price on their web site so cool to buy through ebay. Only took a few days to arrive too  

Brill cheers mate :-)

I've been kindly loaned a new MFA stalk (thanks fonzooorooo    ) to see if that will sort my non-functioning MFA. It has worked once on all functions so assume it's the switch causing the problem.

I thought I could simply plug in the cable to test the theory before even switching over the whole assembly but I can't quite see how to get to the plug. It this cable/plug;



I removed the lower column cowling and can see the wire, from under the dash with head in the foot well I can see the wire as well but can't see the plug, or reach it or feel it! I'm at a loss how to get to it now - I'm not up on cabby's so didn't know if I remove the trim off the knee bar if I'll then have access space - but can't see how that removes either!    

Any advice appreciated!

You might  be able to see down if you whip the clocks out.

I was thinking that's the best way John - was just trying to avoid the hassle!! I think it will have to be this way unless my arms get much longer and thinner overnight!  

Glad you got your brakes sorted out Andy. If the tank is leaking higher up, just try and keep it below the leak, not very good on a long run but better than being tied up on the drive for a while.

yeah now damage done but the brakes aren't great - the discs at the front are quite scored. I've got some Mintex discs and pads for £39 off ebay which I thought was good, just need to get them fitted!

Hopefully not filling up so much will take care of problem for now, I guess at some point I'll have to drop the beam and tank for a proper look but that's for another day.

Dave… Mfa plug… 
Take that lower cover off (the one round pedals) and look up at column, the plug will be cable tied to the column somewhere.