Good news! Hope for Nessy...

[petefarrell360]

LOL! How'd she get on? I take it she agreed to drive it again and vice versa! It was all worth it then getting Nessy sorted.
Pete

[grizlyadams]

Bump. Sadly there's no hope for Nessy any more.....Ruth has driven it properly for the first time....poor car....



cheers

James

so the clutch is fucked and all the teath are missing off reverse??
Griz

[foggyjames]

She nearly got to the point of passing her test almost four years ago, so once she gets over her appalling nerves she's actually ok. We only did a few laps around the block on a local housing estate, but she was doing ok by the end of it.

It is amazing how inconsiderate people become as soon as you put the plates on. I drove back with the plates attached, and was tailgated more than usual. Luckily ye olde B14 does have a bit of poke, so I wasn't being tailgated for long...

The clutch desperately needs doing, as do the stat and alternator. I might do the stat and alt tonight my streetlight if I'm feeling bored.

cheers

James

[5lab]

stat?

clutch and altinator are fiiiiiiiine. trust me i'd be more worried by the fact the transmission fluids not been checked in 25k

[pettaw]

No Hugh the alternator whines like... a whiny thing and the clutch slips if you give it any more than a little welly.

Don't forget its sat rusting for a while since you drove it, as the rust wears off it wears components....the fan belts on the B200E I got from Pete went through two sets of belts before the rust cleaned off.

[foggyjames]

Alternator whines like crazy, and (re: thermostat) the temp gauge more or less points at 'C' if you cruise at 60mph. I'd say they're both totally screwed. Tranny fluids will be checked when I look at the rear-end vibration....it's certainly on the list!

I'd reiterate what Andy's said about the state of play having changed. There are bound to be new problems since you last drove it...as well as the old ones But hey, the engine is tight as a nut now, and the new rocker cover doesn't leak a drop of oil. The engine is slowly cleaning itself up as the old stuff gets burned off and nothing new is appearing to replace it.

cheers

James

[SteveP]

Just goes to show how cars really don't like being unused!

[shimon340]

that altenator whine is interesting. I noticed my car made a slight whining sound above certain rpm... at first it sounded like an air leak or the sort of noise air rushing through a small gap would make... like a whistle noise...

sticking my head under the bonnet and revving the engine from under the bonnet made me realise the noise really was there... i suspect water pump or the altenator... hopefully the altenator as these are easy to fix.

if anyone needs, I have a friend here in manchester who rebuild altenators and starter motors...

it'll be useful to hear the whine noise on nessy to compare to mine.... dunno how we would do that... got an mp3 recorder anyone... hee hee!

the only altenators ive heard that have failed have been on puntos and they tend to make a growl type sound. my dads 240s water pump went but that was a hig pitch noise... this noise on mine is only just starting. if i hadnt driven 1.4 340s for so long ( its like 6 years now!! ) I wouldnt have spotted the noise at all!!

good luck with the work foggy!

shimon

[foggyjames]

This is pretty damn pronounced. When it's going, it's like a whining wailing sound. I'll try to think of a good way to make a half decent recording. I could use the mic in the laptop I guess. I got an almost new alternator from the scrappers for peanuts.

My 360 is making a funny noise from one of the accessories too, but I think it's the PAS pump. It only does it noticably above about 3000rpm, and when it's cold. I know I shouldn't combine those two, but I have to climb a hill out of my place in Devon, and given the combination of hot cam and poorly tuned carbs, 3500rpm shifts seem like the kinder option.

It's also a bit noisier than it used to be up front - probably the PAS pump....but that's more subtle. Maybe the VC fan isn't helping, but it's a LOT louder than Dad's similar-mileage B230FK, and it isn't the carbs doing it.

cheers

James

[MJ]

Just goes to show how cars really don't like being unused!

Oi, why are tou looking at me

[V6 Man]

Update!

After a productive weekend:
brand new tyres were fitted, the wheels balanced and tracking done - the car now drives well with 90% of the vibrations gone (more about that later!)

The alternator has been fitted, and the whining noise has gone.

The thermostat has been replaced - it turned out that the old one had migrated up the top hose and was letting water past it, but as both jubilee clips were knackered and the ebd of the hose was perished the new 'stat was fitted anyway along with new clips and the hose trimmed. All, tight, no leaks and a warm engine!

The interior now has some (not all) dashboard lighting.

Rear bumper now bolted on properly.

And as you may have seen the clutch was changed. A relatively simple job compounded byt the fact that one of the 6 Allen Bolts that hold the rear engine mounts refused to come undone and rounded off. Thus much persuasion with prybar, lump hammer, brute force, ignorance etc was needed to remove the bellhousing. Once that was off it was a simple matter to change the clutch and thrust bearing and refit with new ones. The old clutch had little friction material left, but the main fault with it was the broken spring. Once again more swearing, brute force etc etc was needed to refit the bellhousing. As it was now geeitng dark radical methods were required to continue working....


Work ceased for the weekend with the bellhousing back on, but not bolted in place. A break was needed so we retired for alcohol, DVD's and curry!!

After a late start (!) today commenced with a reassembly of the car during which we finally discovered the cause of the drivetrain vibration. The clutch output shaft is not straight but curved!! However, not having a spare to hand made us continue the reassembley noting to change this out at another date (it's a simple job anyway).

After a completion a road test resulted in one perfectly functioning clutch, and one happy Foggy!

This now just leaves the completon of interior tidying, some paintwork, and the clutch output shaft to change and Nessy is done!

She's now good enough to use on a daily basis, and that surely is the main thing?

[pettaw]

Sounds like you had a time of it, but then again since when was car stuff meant to be easy

Good to hear Nessy is almost well again.

BTW Rupert, you have PM.

[foggyjames]

Curiously, the engine mount allen-bolt was already rounded before I got to it. The others came straight out, and this one wouldn't play from the very beginning I'd like to sort if out at some point, just so I know it's sorted for the future.

The prop vibration seems worse now (or maybe everything else is quieter, so it's just worse relatively?!), but I think it's safe enough for a week or so. I just hope it doesn't rip the clutch apart in the meantime. That would suck. The new clutch bites a bit, I can tell you that much. Also, with the new tyres (at the cost of a very clean 340), it locks the brakes up very easily. I think the biasing might be out somewhere, as it feels to be a rear which is locking. Might just be oily tyre though I guess, since the main incident was only about 200m from where we'd been working.

It's definitely a much happier car now. As you say Andy, almost there (mechanically). Still a few odd noises, including the 'clacking' when coasting in reverse, which sounds to be coming from the front of the gearbox. There's also a curious 'jumping' in the suspension when on full lock, but that's probably just a worn bushing or ball joint or something else that can wait a little while.

cheers

James

[antiekeradio]

I think the biasing might be out somewhere, as it feels to be a rear which is locking. Might just be oily tyre though I guess, since the main incident was only about 200m from where we'd been working


---> sounds like the pressure limiter for the rear brakes went on holidays.
you can change it, they don't fail very often.

[1stRaven]

prybar, brute force, ignorance

Glad to be of assistance!