WITW - Barn-find Final Edition

[MikkiJayne]

On to the radiator this afternoon

'just needs a regas' yeah....



The condenser is utterly ruined and just falls apart to the touch so I just cut it off. I will remove the remains and salvage the hoses later on when I fit a new condenser.



The radiator is also very deteriorated



Red 'universal' ATF Cue biblical-plague levels of swearing. I guess I was right to treat the 'refurbished gearbox' with suspicion Assuming it drives ok, I'll do a few oil changes with Mannol AG52 to flush all this rubbish out before I pull the engine and box for the major service. When its out I will open it up and inspect the drums etc



The back of the radiator is even more of a mess



I cleaned up the front panel before fitting the new radiator - this will dry out overnight and go back on tomorrow.



The engine is nice and dry at the front



I was going to fit the missing subframe brace, until I realised the holes aren't there

This is a PF subframe which has obviously been replaced at some point in the car's life, presumably since the original rusted out. This is pretty disappointing since when I first inspected the car I was quite pleased that someone had already blasted and painted the subframe. Never mind - I have spares.



36 hours.

[S81]

As a matter of interest,the panels you swapped out ,is there a difference in colour ( assuming they had original paint)

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by S81

As a matter of interest,the panels you swapped out ,is there a difference in colour ( assuming they had original paint)

Not that I can tell at the moment. They were original paint and the same age so in theory should be a perfect match, but I need to get the whole car polished to be sure, since its all quite dirty and matte. Once its shiny I can have a good look round it in daylight and make a proper assessment.

[MikkiJayne]

Lots done tonight.

I made a new headlight level arm from scratch







New radiator - I decided not to muck about with used ones since I had one in stock and its a pain to do so no point doing it twice.



Front panel prepped for the new radiator



I took the air intake duct off to get to the air filter and the throttle body boot just fell off The hose clamp was tight, but not actually attached to the throttle body. This might explain why it was intermittently very noisy when running (like an exhaust leak), which was puzzling me.



The intake duct hadn't fared much better - there should be a metal ring in here to stop it collapsing when the clamp is tightened.



Oh. There's the metal ring, jammed in the throttle body boot...



Someone has mangled this bracket for the airbox, for no reason I can discern



Pulled the airbox so I could get the screenwash tank out to investigate the pumps. There's nothing quite so vexing as getting the front end back together and then realising one of the pumps isn't working, and since the headlight washer pump was disconnected it was worth investigating



Just... why? I have a donor car of the same colour so just replaced it



Whoever had been fiddling had lost the clip for the screenwash connector



I replaced this rotten rubber hose





While I was in here I put a rivnut in this hole for the airbox trim



Cleaned the screenwash tank and put it back in



I had to break out the special fan pulley holding tool to have a look at the belts while the front end is off. The engine is very noisy which is usually the accessory drive on the front



The fan bearing sounded like a bean tin full of marbles so that was replaced with a good used one. It'll get a new one eventually but this was to hand.



All the timing gear is in really good condition, apart from these idlers which have suffered while the car was laid up. The belt is fine, the tensioner is fine, and the two main idlers are fine, so I'll just change these two idlers for now then it'll get a belt kit later.



Good used idlers in place



The front snub mount was also destroyed



Shims removed and a new mount fitted



The accessory belt is toast, as were the two rollers so these were replaced with good used parts, again just for now.



Front end all done for now, ready for the covers and rad to go back on.



41 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)

[Ronin]

how much for the headlight leveler arm clamp?

[strummagnet]

Originally Posted by MikkiJayne

Lots done tonight.

I made a new headlight level arm from scratch

Are you putting the D2Doctor logo on these items?

[HPsauce]

That clamp looks like a 3D-printer special.
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"...….

[MikkiJayne]

Yes, the clamp is printed hence the bright orange. Thats my prototyping filament since its much easier to see details in bright colours.

I'm not going to be selling these in the near future as I need to see how it holds up to regular use as it is in a very harsh environment. This is something I'll keep in the toolbox for when the metal clamps can't be reused.

By the time the murple is back together I will have effectively built a complete S8 from bits I've got lying around, since the only things which won't have been replaced will be some of the glass, some of the purple panels and three of the tail lights Oh and maybe the fuel tank. Captain carnage doesn't appear to have been near that.

[briang9]

Sounds like a new edition coming up. The TBE......Trigger's Broom Edition

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by briang9

Sounds like a new edition coming up. The TBE......Trigger's Broom Edition

I called it Trigger to a young Polish friend the other day and he was very confused until I explained it Three engines, two gearboxes, its had four sets of wheels mounted and hasn't even left the yard yet!