WITW - Barn-find Final Edition

[MikkiJayne]

Quite a small update today since it was a lot of work for not many pictures.

The LHD wiper motor it had on the left, and a RHD motor on the right. Just a mirror image of each other, except the LHD version doesn't actually fit the RHD mechanism.



I then spent the next hour sorting through wiper racks to find a good set of parts, and then a further hour assembling a working rack.

Before fitting it I made a start on cleaning the rain tray / scuttle area. The crud below the electronics box is an inch deep



I don't have time to take the electronics box out right now so I'll have to vacuum up as much of this as I can, then get the rest when I do Botang's hole and the noisy hvac pump.

43 hours

Parts used:

PS hoses (refurb, £200)
PS hose brackets (used)
NSF upper rear arm (used)
NSF lower rear arm (used)
NSF wheel bearing (used)
CV boot (£12)
Suspension brace (used)
Boot lid (£150)
FE wheels (£500)
Window motor (£50)
Headlight level arm joints (£15)
Radiator (£300)
Belt idlers (used)
Accessory belt & idlers (used)
Snub mount (£60)
Air filter (£6)
Wiper mechanism & motor (£120)

[Ronin]

I thought my wiper motor was bodged with some black sealant, I see it was a factory process just like the garden hose for head light washers

[tintin]

Originally Posted by HPsauce

As for the rest of it, there's a hint of "can I build a complete S8 from all the bits I've got lying around"...….

If anyone can, the D2 Doctor can. To be honest, that's a contributory factor to me keeping Herman, having a fairly high degree of confidence that MJ can sort it.

It also reminded me of this funny/desperate "looking for" post on my Panda 100HP forum:

"Hi has any one got a driver and passenger seat. Steering wheel. And gear knob. Hopefully in the south of England.

Also looking for unicorn. Rocking horse poo. And a large dragon."

The joys of maintain old cars

[steamship]

Originally Posted by tintin

It also reminded me of this funny/desperate "looking for" post on my Panda 100HP forum:

"Hi has any one got a driver and passenger seat. Steering wheel. And gear knob. Hopefully in the south of England.

Also looking for unicorn. Rocking horse poo. And a large dragon."

The joys of maintain old cars

They missed out on the hen's teeth to complete the set.

[MikkiJayne]

I finished cleaning all the detritus out of the rain tray, or at least as much as I can with the ECU box still in place, then put the wiper linkage back in



Then on to the engine. I cleaned up the plastics, and replaced the airbox trim and intake duct, then its ready for the front panel to go back on.



Front panel and radiator back on and hooked up. Its amazing how much better (quieter) the engine sounds with all the worn out accessory drive rollers replaced. The alternator is a bit noisy but that can be tackled when the engine comes out later.



Getting through the list. Still a bunch of jobs to get an MoT though.



47 hours

Parts used:

PS hoses (refurb, £200)
PS hose brackets (used)
NSF upper rear arm (used)
NSF lower rear arm (used)
NSF wheel bearing (used)
CV boot (£12)
Suspension brace (used)
Boot lid (£150)
FE wheels (£500)
Window motor (£50)
Headlight level arm joints (£15)
Radiator (£300)
Belt idlers (used)
Accessory belt & idlers (used)
Snub mount (£60)
Air filter (£6)
Wiper mechanism & motor (£120)
Air box trim (£10)
Intake duct (£10)

[MikkiJayne]

The headlights on the FE were ok, but not great. The murple however had a pair of fairly new and very nice headlights (literally the only parts on it that captain carnage hadn't ruined) so they were donated to the cause, and fitted with new screws.



The murple will get the FE's old headlights since the exterior of that thing is a disaster area already.

The remains of the AC condenser is just cable tied to the chassis leg for now. I will replace the condenser and reinstate the AC later, probably when the engine comes out.



I built a good bumper from the bits of the three donors



Arch liners, wiper trim and wipers, ecu box lid and undertray tomorrow and then it'll come home to sit on the driveway for a bit while the next project is in. I still need to change the brake fluid, calibrate the ESP and headlights, and fix some interior stuff like seat belts before the MoT.

[RICKY D]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

The headlights on the FE were ok, but not great. The murple however had a pair of fairly new and very nice headlights (literally the only parts on it that captain carnage hadn't ruined) so they were donated to the cause, and fitted with new screws.



The murple will get the FE's old headlights since the exterior of that thing is a disaster area already.

The remains of the AC condenser is just cable tied to the chassis leg for now. I will replace the condenser and reinstate the AC later, probably when the engine comes out.



I built a good bumper from the bits of the three donors



Arch liners, wiper trim and wipers, ecu box lid and undertray tomorrow and then it'll come home to sit on the driveway for a bit while the next project is in. I still need to change the brake fluid, calibrate the ESP and headlights, and fix some interior stuff like seat belts before the MoT.

Great progress.

For a used set those headlights do appear to be in extremely good condition

[MikkiJayne]

A vexing day today - 6 hours to change the F125 It would have been considerably easier if I remembered to do it when I had the front left suspension off, but I didn't.

Started by pulling off the driveshaft that I just put back on the other day



Gearbox mount moved to the left of shot, and there's the F125



The downpipe needs to be moved to the side a little to get to the rear F125 bolt. This clamp is just a solid lump of rust, which would come back to bite me shortly. In the meantime, I just cut through the bolts to get it apart. The downpipe can be rotated slightly just by loosening the two lower exhaust manifold nuts which then gives enough clearance to get the switch out.



I wanted to replace this mess with proper sleeve clamps so might as well do that while I'm under here



and about now is where it all went wrong. I couldn't get the stumps of the bolts out of either the downpipe or the cat. No amount of heat and hammering would get them off the downpipe, and I didn't want to hammer the cat otherwise it would break the matrix so I had to change both parts



The cat is easy to change, but the downpipe was a total arse. Its extremely difficult to get to the top manifold bolt, and once off, its even harder to get the replacement lined up on the studs. I wasted about 2 hours just on that, tore my arms to shreds reaching in to awkward places, and was too busy swearing to take any pictures.

Cat out and the exhaust (left) and driver's side downpipe ready to clean up for the new clamps



Replacement cat and downpipe attached with new bolts



New clamps



I forgot to take a pic of the F125, but it was the usual burned contact so I cleaned it up, re-greased it and bolted it back together and it worked fine.

I fitted some boot grommets and then stopped for the day. On the bright side, at least I didn't have to take the engine out to change the F125 like I did on Big Red!



I need to put the arch liners, undertray, and wiper trim panel on tomorrow, then it can come home for a bit while the next project is in.

[David's8]

Jeez, I know that working on c20yr old cars brings its own issues of corrosion and reluctance to come apart neatly but you seem to have had a few stinkers lately, MJ.

[MikkiJayne]

This particular job was uncharacteristically difficult for this car tbh. Its in poor condition, but thus far everything other than that flange has actually come apart fairly easily.

I can recover the original cat and downpipe using the laser-cut steel replacements, and so they'll go back on when the engine comes out, but I needed this done today so just had to swap good ones on instead of waiting.