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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 2:05 pm 
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Location: Highley, Shropshire
Even changing the trans oil and filter and the tailshaft seal has proved almost insurmountably problematic due to unavailability of parts.

There is no trans drain plug, so both sumps must be lowered to get all the oil out, necessitating new gaskets. A 2 hour scouring of ebay found a filter for £14, a seal in Germany for £24 plus a gobsmacking £45 carriage and a 3 week wait and no gaskets at all, ANYWHERE. A phone call to the local Vauxhall dealer revealed everthing for this trans to have been declared obsolete, got a few useless part numbers but that was it!

Then Harvey got back to me, bless him for the hero he is! Whilst unable to help with the fault, not having experience with this trans, he recommended a company called JPAT for the parts and they are supplying all the bits I need with 24hr turnaround for a mere £57 including carriage. I should have them by Saturday!

This was the best news i'd had all week and was promptly followed by more. I went out for another short run just now and the trans didn't fault once!

The fuel pump noise is now getting seriously loud, I can barely hear the stereo above it's whining drone! This may be today's job!

Steve

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'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:39 pm 
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Today's update.

Changed out the pump and the noise is exactly the same, ie deafening.

But it's weird insofar as I can feel vibration in the PIPE all the way to the front of the car, despite the usual 3 or 4 rubber sections in it and the noise is louder at the filter, which is more or less under the driver's seat, than it is at the pump itself. It's like a sympathetic resonance that amplifies with distance. The pump itself is rubber mounted, some of the pipe is secured to the body with factory plastic clips and some rubber insulated P clips. But the pipe vibrates merrily through all of them. I really don't know what to think of this. Suggestions recieved gladly!

I've traced the lack of radio signal to a duff (brand new) arial extension lead and fixed the reversing camera which wasn't working, turned out i'd left a wire unconnected.

And now i'm partway through the exhaust realignment. this has involved swapping out the over-axle section, I had to cut the original which would NOT part from the rear silencer despite heat, WD40 and much judicious use of a Brummagem Screwdriver. In my efforts to shift it, I eventually knocked a hole into the bottom of the pipe where it enters the box. The pipe tends to collect condensation at this point and, being mild steel, was a bit rotten and paper thin. So that was the end of that. By a happy chance, I already had a brand new Rimmers stainless sports cross axle pipe in stock, It was bought in for another project but heigh ho, however, the front end is about 40mm shorter than on the mild steel one, if I get it far enough into the centre pipe for it not to blow, it hits the axle at the back! May end up having to get the front box and centre pipe from Rimmers too, so it all matches! CURSES!!!

The exhaust is my usual combination of bits from many sources, the downpipe is a cut and modified Omega original, don't like doing this as I will have to "adjust" another in a similar manner if it ever rots out, but needs must. Then the front box and centre pipe are mild steel sports items sourced from Alun, as was the over axle pipe, now replaced with a Rimmers stainless item. Finally, the back box is an old, Stainless, Falcon twin tail pipe unit which Tony gave me. Love that thing! But it looks like my cheapskate approach has come back to bite me on the bum and i'll need to bite the bullet and do it right.

More tomorrow, no doubt!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 9:44 pm 
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What type of fuel pump is it Steve? No chance it's drawing a small amount of air in and cavitating to make it so noisy?
Otherwise good progress on your "to do list" keep it up!

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2021 10:41 pm 
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Quote:
What type of fuel pump is it Steve? No chance it's drawing a small amount of air in and cavitating to make it so noisy?
Otherwise good progress on your "to do list" keep it up!
It's a generic high pressure inline pump Sam, TBH it does sound like it has cavitation, but I don't know HOW it would get it, as it's under the front end of the boot floor and therefore below the bottom of the tank, which, in any case, is over half full. This idea obviates the need for a swirl pot (works on TR6s) I did have a minor weep from the unions on the fuel prefilter which is between the tank and the pump, but that has been fixed and all is bone dry now. If no petrol is getting OUT, I don't see how any air can be getting IN!

I have a similar arrangement on the Carledo, the pump on that is actually ABOVE the boot floor, so a few inches higher. I get round that by never letting the tank go below 1/4 full. You can hear the pump running but it's only a faint whine that doesn't really intrude on your consciousness, my brain soon blanked it out! And the pipes, most emphatically, do NOT vibrate!

I'm just wondering now if the tank pickup pipe could have some muck stuck in it that is partially blocking it and making the pump work too hard to get sufficient fuel through. Though the pump isn't getting hot or anything. May have to investigate this possibility more thoroughly tomorrow!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:02 pm 
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Took the tank sender out today for a look and the area surrounding the pickup pipe was thick with crap crud and rust. Plus the bar magnet I dropped in there to attract this muck was 3 times the size it was when dropped in, looked like a shipwreck lying on the bottom of the tank and had been sucked right up to the pickup.

So I drained and pulled the tank and fitted a spare one, my last good spare!

Hard to tell how noisy it is now as only about 1/3 of the exhaust is currently present, but the vibration in the pipe around the area of the filter is almost gone.

The transmission parts arrived this afternoon, so that's tomorrow's job! And the exhaust bits are due tomorrow, so that's Sunday taken care of!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:10 pm 
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Location: Filey, North Yorkshire
Some great steps forwards!

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 27, 2021 10:40 pm 
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What size is your exhaust,when i was making mine i bought the wrong size over axle pipe for my needs,the one ive got i think it is 40mm or 45mm


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:18 pm 
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Quote:
What size is your exhaust,when i was making mine i bought the wrong size over axle pipe for my needs,the one ive got i think it is 40mm or 45mm
Mine's bigger than that, at 48mm OD. Whatever, it's standard Rimmers Sports system size, which just tucks nicely inside my Omega downpipe! Probably better for gasflow if it had gone outside, but hey, you use what you can get easily! Don't think i've lost too many horses from it, the thing goes like stink!

Dropped the trans sumps today, cleaned everything thoroughly, changed the filter and fitted the new tailshaft seal. Not refilled it yet, it needs to be running to top it up full, as there's only an open downpipe ATM, i'll wait till the new exhaust is on!

What I found:-

On the plus side, there wasn't much muck in the sumps, no bigger bits of debris at all and the oil was still a pinkish orange, not black and burnt. Nor did it smell bad as a burnt oil tends to. On the downside it was more than a little milky, like it had been contaminated by water. I suppose this is possible from condensation whilst standing, it HAS been stood still for an awfully long time (8 years) and not always in a dry place! Anyway, i'tll have 6 ltrs of fresh oil in it soon and we'll see what happens. Trying to stay optimistic!

The exhaust bits came today, so that's next on the agenda. I have to cut the No2 Lambda sensor adaptor out of the old front silencer inlet pipe and drill and weld it into the new one. Life's never simple is it? Plus, of course, it's Rimmers Sports bits, so will fit where it touches (or touch stuff, however I fit it) and need a few hours fettling!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 9:52 pm 
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Location: Highley, Shropshire
So was back on it's wheels this morning, trans oil and filter changed, tailshaft seal replaced, front silencer, centre pipe and over axle pipe now all stainless, number 2 Lambda probe replaced and finally I have clearance twixt pipe and axle, pipe and n/s/r shocker and a handfull of other spots. There's still a small graunch somewhere, on the bigger bumps in my local roads but i've yet to identify exactly WHERE!

I've made the brackets and fitted the passenger seat, James' design doesn't work with the slightly wider MGZR seats, i've had to do a rework thats rather more complex, but they are in and firm and very comfy. The drivers seat (with height adjustment) is a tad high even on it's lowest setting, simply because the height adjustment mechanism takes up space. I'm working on a re-re-design to drop it another inch or so, but it might have to wait.

So to a road test and the bad news is the trans still missed it's first and second shifts to 3rd gear and had to be persuaded to engage. After that though things got better and by this evening and another 30 miles or so under it's belt, it was shifting faultlessly. Think I might have cracked it, just needed using!

Moving it from my drive to my neighbours this morning the fuel return pipe (12mm R6) in the boot split and dropped about 2 pints of petrol into the boot and on the floor! This pipe was new last year. So it's all true, R6 is a waste of space and money and could cost you everything! I can buy Gates Barricade in this size, but only, it seems, in large quantities, like about £100 worth (10m?) But if that's what it takes....... All the smaller 8mm hose is genuine Barricade hose.

So to the REALLY good news! Took it for its MOT at 2pm and it passed without any advisories. My tame tester was very complimentary about my attention to detail, which was gratifying! After the emission test and brake test, when it was a trifle warm, it deposited a small amount of coolant on the floor (marking it's territory) but that my fault, I forgot to tighten the rad cap the last time I took it off. Other than that minor hiccup, I had a very enjoyable ride out, i'm slowly getting the hang of the thing!

Image

Steve

PS, Today was the 43rd anniversary of it's date of first registration and the first MOT it's had since 1994!

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


Last edited by Carledo on Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:05 pm 
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Nice one Steve:thumbsup:

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:15 pm 
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MOT'd and ready to ROLL! Great news.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:37 pm 
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MOT'd and ready to ROLL! Great news.
Just as well really, yesterday was the last day I could bail from the RBRR and still get my money back! So now I am committed, sh1t or bust! Mind you, there are those would say I should have been committed years ago!

Actually, of course, i'm like a dog with 2 tails, not knowing which one to wag! I'm chuffed to bits with the car, early signs are that, once thoroughly debugged, it's going to be everything I planned, swift, comfortable, civilised, reliable and fairly good on fuel. The emission test passed CAT standards on CO and HC and only missed the lambda limit by a few points, considering it doesn't actually HAVE a CAT, that's close enough for me!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 9:38 pm 
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The "to do" list is growing again!

There's a water hose that is joined together with a bit of 15mm copper pipe below the expansion tank. One side of the rubber hose gradually slides down the pipe till it falls off explosively and dumps lots of coolant. At first I thought it was just insufficiently tightened the first time, but though I've winched it up as tight as a genuine "Jubilee" clip can stand, it's still slipping. Engine pressure isn't too high, it doesn't overheat and the rad cap is working fine. It's not beating the cap and there are no sign of HGF. I'm going to try sweating an olive onto the pipe to give it something to grip on. Plus, there appears to be something like underseal on the bit of pipe that is letting the hose slip off. Don't know why, it's probably an old bit from somewhere that I had lying around! Possibly just cleaning this off will do the trick.

I've decided to leave the CL and leccy windows till after RBRR, also, the remote boot opening. This is just vanity and not needed on the run, it'll give me something to do over the winter! Both the locking and the boot release also work from manual swtches on the console so I knowthe circuitry is OK.

I've ordered 2m of 12mm barricade TYPE hose (still £50) and will change all the 12mm on the car out as soon as it gets here, losing that hose in the boot has scared me to death!

The Voltmeter has packed up, also one of the rear foglights, so that needs fixing. I suspect the vm fault is just a loose connection behind the dash (all the other instruments still work, all are on the same fuse)and the foglight has a slightly dicky bulbholder I noticed when fitting it.

Spent an unhappy hour last night on the radio, the stereo unit worked fine playing CDs, but there was no radio reception, Since i'd fitted a brand new roof ariel and extension lead and accessing the ariel base involves screen out and headlining down, I didn't fancy that! Turned out, after much substitution of bits that the (new) extension lead had a dead short, complicated by me not tightening the allen bolt that holds the ariel base to the mast tight enough. The radio works now! Not brilliant, but it works! Since I rarely listen to radio, i'm not THAT bothered!

Other than that, just fit the doorcards, a few little clonks and silly season jobs to sort. Oh, and the fuel pump is still noisy, but not as bad as it was. I'm starting to not notice it any more. And the boot stinks of petrol, think i'm gonna have to bin the boot mat and fit another!

Steve

_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 9:04 am 
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Coming along nicely!

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 10:03 pm 
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Quote:

I may have fried the autobox ECU by earthing a lead I should have fed.

The guys who fixed my immobiliser said they could fix it (for a rather steep price) and this would be needed because the trans ECU was matched to the car. But I bought a second hand trans ECU off ebay for not a lot and it seems to (mostly) work. Only a road test will tell if it's good enough or whether I have to go, cap in hand, to the expensive guys again!

The "mostly" bit involves the self test on startup. If working correctly, the Sport mode light on the dash should light up briefly when the ignition is turned on, then extinguish once the self test is complete (a few seconds) it doesn't do this at all, but the sport mode light DOES work if you engage sport mode! (which it didn't with the proper ECU in the circuit)

What I am afraid of, is that the mismatched ECU is not compatible and as a result the trans will default into limp mode, which is the "Winter" setting, meaning it will ignore 1st and 2nd when in D and pull off in 3rd gear, slower than a snail on Mogadon! If this DOES turn out to be the case, then i'll have no choice but to spend the money on getting the original ECU (which i've kept carefully, just in case) repaired and put it down to experience. But circa £180 is a bitter pill to swallow! Especially when you consider that if i'd spent the £6 on an interactive wiring diagram a few weeks sooner, I wouldn't have made the mistake I did!

Steve
Remember this from P18?

I'm beginning to wonder if this mismatched 2nd hand ECU is responsible for my transmission woes! Certainly the box itself seems to work, there's no slipping and the fluid is staying clean and red. But the shifting, controlled as it is by the ECU, is erratic at best, there is that false neutral between 2nd and 3rd and lately it has defaulted to limp mode a couple of times too. Switching off and restarting seems to fix it in the short term. Also the "self test" function is still not working.

Now it's all running and driving, I may have to visit the expensive experts and see what they say. They are only in Staffordshire , so not too far away.


The fuel pump is still noisy as a loud thing, but it's still running and doesn't get hot so I'm learning to ignore it (still got a spare in the boot and tools to replace it though!)



Apart from that, the only problem I have to report after 500 miles covered, is that the steering, once more than 30 degrees away from dead centre in either direction, is UNBEARABLY heavy! Everything WORKS, there is no play, the car drives true, even "hands free", it self centres fine, you just need to be Charles Atlas to drag it round corners and tight parking spots are a nightmare. I've tried a bigger, standard Sprint steering wheel but it's no different, even slightly worse as the thinner stock wheel is harder to grip!

Everything in it, with the sole exception of the rack itself, (and the upper column) is either new or nearly so and everything is standard except for poly in the front tie bars and solid rack mounts. The tracking is spot on, tyres correctly inflated. It's not even a "Quick Rack" just a bog stock Dolomite one.

If I had to guess, i'd say one or more of the (new) balljoints is partially seized as the further you turn it, the stiffer it gets. I will need to investigate this, it didn't seem to be noticeable when the car was up on stands. Suggestions anyone?

Steve

PFA

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_________________
'73 2 door Toledo with Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 8v engine (The Carledo)
'78 Sprint Auto with Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v engine (The Dolomega)
'72 Triumph 1500FWD in Slate Grey, Now with RWD and Carledo powertrain!

Maverick Triumph, Servicing, Repairs, Electrical, Recomissioning, MOT prep, Trackerjack brake fitting service.
Apprentice served Triumph Specialist for 50 years. PM for more info or quotes.


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