MoT day Thursday: will she pass?

[kiloran]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Congrats on the pass Alan, justifies the investment in the replacement engine now!

Yeah, really delighted. It's been a good day. Found a new car for Mum, got an unexpected bonus from work, and Val's all sorted for another year. They were pleased I'd saved her - same garage that gave me the bad news back in July. I think they just like working on old cars. Commented on how tidy she is underneath. Bonus should mean the rack's paid for, if it turns out to be a PAS leak.

[stephend]

Excellent news! Sorted for another year.

[stephend]

Update on the shuddering problem: it's the prop-shaft centre bearing. I'd misfitted the rubber what-not that goes in the metal hoop, and it's pretty knackered anyway. With it fitted properly, there's a lot of movement, and there's still a bit of vibration - but the dreadful shuddering has now gone away. The bearing itself seems fine.

It'll need doing properly at some point, but that can wait for warmer weather!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by stephend

Update on the shuddering problem: it's the prop-shaft centre bearing. I'd misfitted the rubber what-not that goes in the metal hoop, and it's pretty knackered anyway. With it fitted properly, there's a lot of movement, and there's still a bit of vibration - but the dreadful shuddering has now gone away. The bearing itself seems fine.

It'll need doing properly at some point, but that can wait for warmer weather!

It's always better to buy the complete repalcements (cheaper too than buying the individual bits) and fit those instead of trying to press everything in square yourself. Also after replacing, try finding the speed at which the vibration is worst, return home, crawl underneath or use ramps (DO NOT use a jack ) and slacken the bolts holding the bearing bracket to the chassis by 1/2 turn.

Roll down the ramps and drive VERY gently up to the speed where the vibration occurred - it should have cleared. Return home, back on the ramps and tighten in very small movements and evenly a bit at a time on each bolt until they are all evenly tightened then take it for a test drive.

Usually the first one gets it but sometimes you have to repeat the procedure, especially if the vibration speed has changed.

[stephend]

Thanks, Dave, that's great advice!

Looking at spares on the Brookhouse website, it turns out that the metal ring and rubber donut are supposed to be bonded together as one item anyway. On mine, the rubber has completely detached from the ring - but it is the original, I think, so I guess it's not surprising!

I'll order up a new one and fit it in due course. Probably when the weather warms up a bit...!

ps rest assured, I never go under the car on just a jack: I always use stands or ramps.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by stephend

Thanks, Dave, that's great advice!

Looking at spares on the Brookhouse website, it turns out that the metal ring and rubber donut are supposed to be bonded together as one item anyway. On mine, the rubber has completely detached from the ring - but it is the original, I think, so I guess it's not surprising!

I'll order up a new one and fit it in due course. Probably when the weather warms up a bit...!

ps rest assured, I never go under the car on just a jack: I always use stands or ramps.

You can find the bearing complete with bracket etc on ebay relatively cheaply - it's shared with some Transit, Sherpa and Land-Rover models so is plentiful with several aftermarket suppliers.

The idea about the ramps wasn't in fact safety advice as i know you're well up on that. It was in fact technical advice because if you jack the car (even if using stands) then the bodyshell twists ever so slightly. You can't see it but it can be enough to misalign the prop centre bearing, hence saying to either crawl underneath if you can reach or run the back up on a pair of ramps so the bodyshell doesn't twist while loosening and/or slackening the centre bearing to bodyshell bolts.

You are absolutely right though, you should never go under a car without at least adequate safety supports - having a car fall off the jacks on you isn't pleasant!

[nemesisthewarlock]

Originally Posted by kiloran

Woohoo! She passed! Just an advisory for a minor "oil" leak (well, I guess PAS is derived from dinosaur juice ) and one tyre - which were installed as rim protectors for the wheels I picked up from Luke - nearing the legal limit. £110 quids-worth of BP's finest added and we're good to go for another year.

Still got her quirks - random high idle and haunted ABS - but both of those can wait for the spring.

Well deserved pass

[stephend]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The idea about the ramps wasn't in fact safety advice as i know you're well up on that. It was in fact technical advice because if you jack the car (even if using stands) then the bodyshell twists ever so slightly. You can't see it but it can be enough to misalign the prop centre bearing, hence saying to either crawl underneath if you can reach or run the back up on a pair of ramps so the bodyshell doesn't twist while loosening and/or slackening the centre bearing to bodyshell bolts.

Thanks for clarifying, Dave. I hadn't appreciated the point about bodyshell twist. I'd assumed it was about the rear axle hanging down when the car's up on stands, pulling the rear section of the prop downwards.

[stephend]

It's that time of year again, and the good news is... she passed!

A quick update: since last year, I finally succeeded in changing the gearbox. I had to take the engine and gearbox out complete in order to get access to put heat on the corroded-in dowels. The old gearbox had got so bad that the car was barely usable, and only around town. With the 'new' gearbox, it's a viable car again. For those of you who follow the project threads, this is the M47 gearbox that came out of '50 Shades': a huge thank-you to Luke (aka 360 Beast).

While the engine bay was empty, I cleaned up some scabby bits on the inner wings and chassis legs. Thanks to the galvanising, that turned out to be a lot less bad than it looked: a little bit of pitting here and there, but otherwise just surface corrosion. I put in a new exhaust down pipe, because the old one had rusted through most of the way round the flange where it joins to the middle box. And I cleaned up the injector seats and fitted new O-rings, which seems to have cured the poor idle.

Initially she failed on emissions, but passed on re-test. Other than that, just one advisory on a worn tyre, which I was expecting (n/s/f outer edge). I'm very happy with that!

Still plenty to do, but now that the gearbox is sorted, it's worth persevering, because she's properly drivable again. Happy days!

[Laird Scooby]

Excellent news and congrats on the pass!