Lady G as our lass has named her

Wheels have been sent off for paint and I think I'm going to need a little stretch  

She's going back to the painters on Saturday to be put one colour.

Other than that I've been busy checking wiring but the horn is beyond me   

I remember having problems with my horn - there should be an earth lead down at the bottom of the steering column that completes the circuit. I had to bodge a length of wire and wrap it around the column a few times so that it would allow the steering to turn!!!

Anyway I just fired my motor up for the first time in about 6 years so looking forward to being where you are in a little while!

Its a long time since my last post and even longer since I worked on the motor.  She's finally moved house with me and sports yet again new paint.



Third time shes been painted since I got her and Ive never driven her yet!

Big push to try and get MOT'd in a few weeks ready for my mates wedding

Well here's how she's looking at the moment







As you can see from the last image, I cant get the offside taillight to sit correctly with the tailgate but I guess i can live with that for now

Things completed since last post are;
Window regulators fitted
Door glass all fitted
Door handles fitted (but the drivers side opens when locked cf_emoticons__BangHead
Wing mirrors fitted
Tailgate glass fitted
Rear quarter glass fitted
Door rubbers fitted
Accelerator cable fitted (but might have to make another hole in the bulkhead for it as it sits at an angle)
Clutch cable fitted (a right nightmare)
Changed the oil and filter again after a short amount of running just to get any muck out of the engine
Radiator fitted (had to customise the original brackets to fit)
All water pipes fitted and leaks sorted
Finally got the horn working (was an earth from the steering column to body)
Bleeded the brakes
Had to make a bracket for the fuel gravity thingy to sit in in rear offside arch
Took what seemed like years to get the tailgate aligned and to shut
Modified the tailgate latch and fitted a solonoid with custom bracket to  open boot
Fitted taillights in place (but cant get the offside one to fit flush with tailgate
Fitted handbrake and parking light switch
Re-fitted gear linkages with thanks to the how to section
Got sunroof built up and ready to go on but lost the locator brackets which go at the end of the sunroof

And through all that she's decided to have a hissy fit.
1.  Fuel pump relay not working
2.  Oil light stays on
3.  No digital display on clocks
4.  Offside outer CV boot wont stay on
5.  Offside taillight will not sit flush
6.  Lost the little locator brackets for the rear of the sunroof frame.
7.  Engine sounds far too tappety

I don't think she'll be MOT'd this week 

Love the colour mate.      

Thanks.  I dont think it'll be long now.  Ive had her 2 years which is the longest I have ever owned a car and not even driven her once

Well Ive not posted for ages because Ive been busy working away at it.

I found out the head on my original engine had cracked so Ive bought one off a mate for the time being just so I can use the car.

Booked it in for MOT, went and made a brew, came back to car and the door wouldnt unlock.  Once that was sorted, the bonnet wouldnt close.  cf_emoticons__BangHead:Took it for MOT and it failed on;
brakes incorrectly balanced across an axle
offside headlight stopped working en route
I converted a reverse light to be a fog light but apparently you have to have it on the offside
headlight beam needed adjusting
fuel cap needed a washer
emissions too high (unburnt fuel)

So from this it was a handbrake cable to cure the braking issue
headlight was a blown fuse
fog light re-wired to offside cluster
new fuel filler cap
fitting the vac pipe which goes from the intake mani to distributor sorted the emission issue

So, MOT sorted but the station had messed with the CO2 mixture and I cant seem to get it running right now.  That said I think the timing is all over the place and theres a really annoying ticking noise coming from the engine under loadMaiden voyage to work proved eventful.  Got to work fin but gears were getting a little more difficult to select.  Left over night whilst working, jumped back in and the gears had reversed their positions.  Im not joking either.  1st was where 5th normally is.  5th was nowhere to be found.  Drive back home and coming off the roundabout the engine died.  Jumped it and it started fine but gearstick became a pudding stick and I was locked into 4th gear for the remainder of the journey home.  That was fun.  Turned out my mate hadnt quite tightened the clamp at the end of the shifter rod.

Attention then changed to door cards.  I had to make some more due to changing my mind from having electric windows.  So I made these


Not happy with these either so Im now making my 3rd set.  This time Im using perspex as I have a plan for something unusual.

The plan is to fit the new door cards.  Fit a sub and amps for better sound.  In the meantime Ill get another head 'enhanced' then put the original block in but need to make my mind up whether to go for carbs or not.

For now heres a picture of how she currently sits

Christ, you have had some terrible luck with your project cf_emoticons__BangHead:  But she looks great and hopefully your bad look will soon be a distant memory when you're driving around in her, 

Yeah seem to have all the bad luck. So far three paint jobs and two engines. Whilst I am driving her the temporary engine is irritating me.

Oh i forgot to mention that the poly bush engine mounts were formed from concrete so all vibration was going through the entire car. A jack, chizel, 5lb sledge hammer had them removed in a mere 4hrs

Birtymeek said

Yeah seem to have all the bad luck. So far three paint jobs and two engines. Whilst I am driving her the temporary engine is irritating me.

Oh i forgot to mention that the poly bush engine mounts were formed from concrete so all vibration was going through the entire car. A jack, chizel, 5lb sledge hammer had them removed in a mere 4hrs

I've read that poly bushes for the engine are too hard, and to stick to standard bushes in this area, think you've just backed that up! 

Definately unless your into s&m 

Bad luck with the engine mate. Hope you get it how you want it soon