Mikes 2.0 Gls

[Cavalier342]

Oh right fair play. Well at least that's one back on the roads then...

[Mikebmth]

Oh right fair play. Well at least that's one back on the roads then...

Yours must be next??

Need to get it back on the road before the dreaded damp and cold get to it mate, know you talking about a scooter but you know once you have the Cav mot'd and taxed again you'll not be able to resist

[Cavalier342]

I don't know mate, I ran mine up and down the road today, everything still works on it after 2 months of hibernation which to be fair is fantastic, but car costs in general are flipping ridiculous in the long run. Soon as I get some cash in, come the warmer months, I'm getting on 2 wheels either way.

[Mikebmth]

Not updated this in weeks.....

Project Cav rebuild is nearly complete at long last but it has been a pain in the arse in many ways really both sourcing bits which you would of thought would be available to more techy stuff some will say is a piece of p*ss but not to those of us who don't have access to a garage or even a quiet road to work on!

So today finally after much searching and FB'ing I finally found someone competent who has sold me the door mouldings that the car needs and after the weekend the splash guard for the N/s Foglight which I found was missing!! Explains the foglight constantly misting up!!

Still had major problems with the Tracking and components but hoping today after a argument and threat of legal action against Kwikfuct that the car is sorted, must admit the rock solid G-max ride aint helping the old girl either but cannot afford to splash out on Bilstein or equivalent at the moment.

Just been hit with a £200 bill by Dorset Police for driving without due care and attention apparently after my accident 3 MONTHS ago, needless to say I have to do a driver improvement course which is Boll*cks as I drive everyday and on occasion upto 300 miles a day with 2 accidents since passing my test I'd say I am a fairly safe if not fast driver..

Anyway

Been having fun with her again and attempted a Clutch change with me good ol' mate John on Saturday only to find this motor has the early flywheel on it instead of the later design that it should have being a 1994 (M-Plate) car so back down to Chichester on Wednesday to fit the other kit after we were fkd about by 2 parts suppliers

The Audio system will also be near finished soon too with a custom box being built, know its not everyones thing but I like my music and like it loud from time to time

Still got the 16 inch Imolas with centre caps etc that I need to sort out, been undecided about putting them on but may refurb them then see and if I don't like them I know they are worth a few quid as I didn't pay much for them.

Hoping to get the old girl finished for the 2nd time in coming weeks as plans afoot to do PVS this year as never been, Beaulieu is also on again this year so will be down there.

Will get some pics of the cars current state on Wednesday when we fit the right clutch......

[Cavalier342]

Sounds like the typical thing that would happen! Good luck with the clutch, nice of John to swap his with you!

[Mikebmth]

So a few pics.....

Clutch was a complete nightmare of a job with the car turning out to have the early flywheel instead of the later version meaning the box came out the first time much to my mate John and my annoyance and waste of a days work!!

Feels a different car now with the new clutch and still not stalled it yet but John warned me I will sooner or later as the biting point is about 2 inch off the floor, perfect traffic light grand prix style.....lol......

Anyway also changed over the Rocker Gasket as it was fubar and leaking but you know what non Vauxhall parts maybe cheap as this was at £1.50 but they are a complete waste of money, now the gasket has been change for a genuine Vauxhall one at £12 as the 3rd party item ended up with Oil all over the engine bay!! Twice!!



Good Gunking session:



Old clutch plate and New one..





The ol' boat jacked up:



As you can see there is still LOADS to do before it is anywhere near a standard for show season again and as I plan on doing PVS this year I want this car looking mint but unfortunately I may yet have to replace the front bumper and o/s wing again as it has a scratch I had hoped would cut out of it but its split the laquer and ruins the lines of the car



I shall also have to re-laquer or replace the wing mirror covers as both have issues with them





Still so Pi**ed off excuse the language about the accident, the car was at such a spec it was near my idea of completion and now even though people tell me how clean she is I still see all the problems it has, I am now severely low on funds and have contemplated selling her on but cannot in the end face loosing all the time and money I have put into this car.

Hopefully once I sort a couple of the jobs bodywork wise I will start to really enjoy the car again..

[Cavalier342]

Mate, I feel for you dude. Things don't always go to plan, but just remember, it'll be alright in the morning!

[vauxhallnutter]

Mate, I feel for you dude. Things don't always go to plan, but just remember, it'll be alright in the morning!

What Andre said mike, hang on in there chap it will be how you want it one day! Just may take a little longer than you thought

[Cavalier342]

Mate, I feel for you dude. Things don't always go to plan, but just remember, it'll be alright in the morning!

Just may take a little longer than you thought

Understatement of the millennium!!

[Mikebmth]

Understatement of the millennium!!

Yeah true, no forgetting this car hates me and everytime we fix something then something else breaks on it....

Got to love it though, I guess..

Off out to pick up some bits off a mate this weekend with the good ol' Cav so may try and get some half decent pictures of how it currently stands as not got any decent pics in blimmin ages!!

[Lowrider Dave]

Good luck mate, I'm here if you need a hand/tools/etc

[Mikebmth]

Good luck mate, I'm here if you need a hand/tools/etc

Cheers mate...

Well just fixed my audio system temporarily as will be a expensive upgrade coming in the next few weeks and in fact the day before the Southern area meet, is a big step but hey I love my music and having a top end system in the car is something I had always planned to do.

As for the car, im so friggin fed up of it right now.....Actually considering selling it on as just cannot be arsed with the constant problems!!

Even Jap motors starting to become very tempting or that Astra Coupe I have always fancied.....

Anyway whats up....

Saturday, nice drive in the pouring rain to Brockenhurst to collect some bits for the audio system, all seemed ok until the drive home then severe vibration from the front n/s wheel, unknown reason at the moment but everything seems tight so either Tracking fuked again or Bearing on the way out which means its easier to put in a new front leg..

This car hates me!! And I am beginning to Hate it too!! So fed up of spending money on it

[Cavalier342]

Strange... Wonder if it was just a wheel balancing issue? Or could be a hub or bearing I suppose.

[planetc]

Cv joint?

[Mikebmth]

Strange... Wonder if it was just a wheel balancing issue? Or could be a hub or bearing I suppose.

Cv joint?

Everything tight as, jacked it up this morning at work again and checked for any movement of which there is none!!

Only started since Clutch change when shafts were out but was fine on the 70 mile drive home until the other afternoon I turned hard right into my road maybe going a little quickly and seemed to loose power to the front n/s wheel, wonder if shaft is damaged or something similar?

Only seems to start having problems at speed though so 70 plus which is even more worrying as don't want to really loose a wheel on the motorway!!

[Hayward691]

Just wondering... You said you have the old style box with the inspection panel...
Why would you need to take the shaft out :S

Could be a number of things...
Get you ICE sorted... Turn it up LOUD and you wont notice it through the audio... lol

[Mikebmth]

Just wondering... You said you have the old style box with the inspection panel...
Why would you need to take the shaft out :S

To be honest mate I don't know, not the most mechanically minded of people..

I asked John to do the clutch for me as he has done a few apparently, first kit as it is a late plate car we assumed it would need the box moving away from the engine to do the change but even though the car is a 1994 (M) it has the early flywheel so assume its been built from the parts bin as a lot of the late plate cars were..

On the subject of the vibration / loose wheel syndrome I took a drive last night about 10-12 miles from home and once I got to my destination I called the godsend that are the RAC, they had a driver / mechanic out to me within 25 minutes at peak time so well impressed and on arrival all the joints were checked and lower arm bolts etc checked which were all perfectly secure despite the feeling the car had given prior to being parked up??

Chris from the RAC took the car for a 3-4 mile drive with me in the passenger seat and couldn't find a fault which is typical, so last night on my way home late I took the fast roads and nudged 85 without any issues what so ever and no vibrations etc which is bizarre, Chris from the Rac could only put it down to a wheel weight / very slight out on the tracking or maybe a CV joint starting to fail but the CV boots etc are in perfect condition so its a mystery really which really gets my goat in one way and kind of pleased in another.

Going to run her locally for a few days and maybe in Aldershit this weekend so a run up the motorway and back should find any issues, just wondering if something had come loose and had managed to reseat itself like a Driveshaft???

Know that I am seriously considering moving the Cav on now, lost my love for it since the accident and want something else so am looking around but will probably do the summer and the shows before I change it..

[Robsey]

Loss of drive? -
My mind says one of two things..

A- Driveshafts or Joints?
Worn CV (constant velocity) joint or joints.
Drive shaft not secured into a joint properly using a good or new circlip.

Is drive lost in any particular direction?
Always on left turns?
Or always on right turns?

Was there a history of "crackling knuckle" type sounds when turning tightly in one direction?

B - Clutch Mechanism.
cable mal-adjusted.
release bearing / actuation fork sticking.

Output shaft properly inserted through the clutch splines and held securely via it's circlip.
correct clutch plate fitted - Good close fit between splines on shaft and splines through clutch plate.

Logically road speed should not make a difference.

Load from engine through the clutch / gearbox and road wheels - such as hard driving style would hint towards clutch issue.

Loss of drive when turning hints towards CV joint or worn drive-shaft splines.

New CV boots could simply mean that a previously fitted boot was split.
Split boot could have allowed grease out and / or grit in to the joint.

Fitting a new boot could simply be a matter of getting the car through the MOT.
It does not mean that the joint has not already been allowed to wear due to lack of grease or grit ingress.

How many people - apart from me and a few other pedantic (read as anal) people would clean, inspect and then repack a CV joint before fitting a fresh boot.?

[Mikebmth]

Robsey,

Driveshafts were put back in on same clips, there is a slight noise on turning the wheels but sounds more like a spring and Rac seemed to think the same tbh..

Clutch as far as im aware was fitted fine, drove perfectly on the way home from my mates down in west sussex so quite a way to my place in Bournemouth and was fine until the loss of drive the other day but its only happened once on a righthand turn, down into 2nd gear and just seemed to loose drive..

Seems fine today although did take off a bit quick from some lights earlier on and there is certainly something lose somewhere as sounds like everything up front moving if you try to take off quickly, always been a bit the same tbh but as for the Cvs I had both replaced a while back although that was probably a year or two and boots are sound on them with no leakage but have had front legs off 3 or 4 times since with suspension changes and repairs to other items like a bent front leg after the accident I had.

Think its just going to be one of those annoying issues, got it booked into MBE Autocare next week for a proper check over by qualified mechanics as a mate runs a proper garage working on modded cars etc and has said he will do a proper check over, track and balance it up properly for me in a couple of hours so taken him up on letting his mechanics have a look over her.

Suspect main issues are possible CV on the way out and as for the movement I suspect most of the buses bar the lower arm ones are fubar as never been changed on it!!

Oh and my lead right foot doesn't help...

[Mikebmth]

So the mystery has not been solved but on Wednesday I took my car to a mates garage (MBE Autocare) who has modified cars himself and understands that things go wrong on them and knows where and how to look properly unlike these fly by night high street garages, after explaining what seemed to be happening he ran through all the usual checks and only thing he / we could find was the o/s track rod end had excessive movement in it..

Considering Kwak fat supposedly put 2 new ones on it at the re Mot after the accident they have both since failed and looking over the parts off of the car it seems they charged me for new ones and never put any on as the joint was rusty as buggery!

Could go chase them for the money but hey can't be arsed, my mate at MBE has said to run it for a week or two and take it back and he'll run through a check and check the retracking is still spot on as well for free.

Big drive this weekend to Chichester to finish the audio system and see if we can get bump strips on o/s done prior to owners club meet on Sunday so lots of motorway driving to come and we'll see what happens I guess but feels a lot more solid now..

[Cavalier342]

Good stuff dude, sounds like it's in fairly good hands now. Fecking Quick Feck, what were they thinking??

[Mikebmth]

Good stuff dude, sounds like it's in fairly good hands now. Fecking Quick Feck, what were they thinking??

Same as they always think, how to make money and do f*ck all it seems, found they had stripped one of the bolts a few weeks back and bodged it in on like 2 threads!!

Hopefully get it near enough finished Saturday..

[Cavalier342]

Sue them down to the ground mush, if they sheared a bolt and bodged it together, that "could" be your handling issue the other week. Claim that it made the car handle dangerously as a result of their work. Total cowboys!

[Mikebmth]

Sue them down to the ground mush, if they sheared a bolt and bodged it together, that "could" be your handling issue the other week. Claim that it made the car handle dangerously as a result of their work. Total cowboys!

CBA with the hassle...

Just proving they live up to the Kwik fit standard of work, ie absolute sh*te..

Got to have a look at my fuel lines etc which were advisory on the Mot whilst in my mates garage and you know what they aint that bad, probably a light rub over and some sealant and happy days really, did find the front pipe is only connected to the Cat by one bolt though so could be a big reason for movement on acceleration..

[Mikebmth]

Felt it was time for some pics....Oh got my install done too but prefer not to post pics of my audio system online, too many thieving tw*ts out there so it is all in stock positions bar the boot install....

April 18/04/2015........Beautiful sunny day in Bournemouth and car was treated to a Valeting session by my onsite car valeter Dial-a-shine...



Seriously considering getting rid of the front spoiler soon, probably be replaced by a Laguna one or similar..







And finally the engine bay after it was Gunked the other week to within an inch of its life, could do with the manifold coming off soon as its crusty as hell but plans were to put a 4 branch on this but have never found one in decent condition at a price I am willing to pay..



Roll on summer!!