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Post by Bilbo on Aug 27, 2021 13:26:57 GMT
it has a horrible exhaust blow that is only getting worse, need to sort that. sounding like a malian exhaust then? ie. dreadfull  Rich. Haha not quite that bad, got rid of my Malian very quickly once I had ITBs haha, at least I can hear them now. |
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Post by Bilbo on Aug 27, 2021 13:28:17 GMT
So I got the Bluebird home with the vacuum advance unplugged, ran completely like normal, temps good, no coolant leaks. Really strange having to bleed a car with rad cap on, then just opening the cap and topping up after. No bleed valves open or anything, just felt weird to me, but the temps were great all the way home. Just need to change the plugs and air filter, and fill with coolant not just water. The coolant has been flushed 4 times so is way less gross and brown now.
Should also have an MOT today or tomorrow depending on when I get it booked in.
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Post by Vindi (Russell) on Aug 30, 2021 8:26:18 GMT
Nice work, looks like a really cool car!!
Russell
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Post by Bilbo on Aug 31, 2021 8:57:48 GMT
Nice work, looks like a really cool car!! Russell Thanks mate, it's not. š Hopefully it will be, I have some plans for it. |
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Post by Bilbo on Dec 13, 2021 14:34:33 GMT
Not been on here in a while! Not much happened with Bluebird. It kept overheating, and it turned out to be the carb trying to idle really high, sorted that out by removing and re-fitting, and spraying with a load of carb cleaner. Works well now. Still gets 22mpg but hey ho. Did a 0-60 test, 15 seconds. Hilarious. Anyway I finally got around to fitting the mk2 Golf coilovers I bought for it a while ago. It's not quite finished yet but some progress. The fronts were pretty simple, remove old shock, compress springs, remove center nut, disassemble, put top mount on coilovers, tighten it up, widen one of the lower mount holes by 2mm, and they fit nicely:  Fronts now done, hubcaps will do for now but will be getting some nicer wheels for it in January:  Onto the rears. So the right side I have done so far everything came undone easy, bar the brake union on the drum of course, bane of my life brake unions. Anyway getting it all off was simple:  Unfortunately, as with some old cars, the rear struts are welded in from factory, into the hub itself. A real ball ache!  Lots of holesawing, chiseling, hammering, sawing, and this one is almost done, just needs to be widened about 1mm more for the new shock to slot in:  A truly hateful job! Didn't enjoy a second of the rears. Got more holesaws on order for the other side as well as some aggressive grit barrel sanders to get the inside of the first one finished. Should only take another day or two, and then I can have it sitting lower and looking a bit nicer. The paint on this car is not getting any better, as you can see the boot and tailgate are very sad:  We now have a ramp installed at the workshop, it's a game changer! Got the Bluebird in the air, and bar the exhaust and some heatshields, the underside looks super clean, strut tops are mint, sills look original and aren't rusty, arches are absolutely spotless. Not bad, I will be painting it to match the 5 in the new year! I'll make this car cool yet, at least that's the plan.  |
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Post by wannabe on Dec 13, 2021 15:06:35 GMT
Nice work! Not sure I could bring myself to irreversibly modify bits that are unobtanium lol Worth underselling the underneath and the arches while it's still not that salty out?? |
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Post by Bilbo on Dec 14, 2021 1:03:38 GMT
Nice work! Not sure I could bring myself to irreversibly modify bits that are unobtanium lol Worth underselling the underneath and the arches while it's still not that salty out?? Yeah some bits are hard to get but those rear hubs I wasn't too concerned about really, is what it is, and if the cartridge shock inserts are anything like the fronts were then you can just push them in and they stay in haha, very tired, though they look to have been changed recently, and a previous MOT issue with leaking rears makes me think they have been changed. Anyway the coilovers will be an alright addition I reckon. It looks to be undersealed, though perhaps a little old now. I'll probably do the potential problem areas at some point soon. |
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Post by Bilbo on Dec 21, 2021 1:07:09 GMT
So I got the coilovers finished on the weekend, finally. The rears were a hateful experience haha, lots of cutting and welding to get the new coilovers in. Here's the coilover prepared and ready to be welded into the hub after the old strut was cut out:  We set the height fairly low but still usable, fronts are almost maxed out but the rears have plenty of threads left. After realising the ultra skinny wheels and balloon tyres were rubbing the rear coilovers a mate gave me some 5mm slip on spacers and we got it finished. I left a brake union slightly loose on the rear, so on the test drive around the industrial estate I had no pedal and a load of brake fluid go everywhere haha. That's all sorted now. Looks pretty cool even on standard wheels and hubcaps:   A mate has a set of Advan ADA's for sale, they're a slightly more obscure retro Japanese wheel. Weak sizes but these arches don't actually need massive wheels to fill them so should work nicely. I have done a Photoshop to see what they'd look like and I quite like it:  Also did a Photoshop with some A3As, though to be honest if I got some of these in red they'd be going straight on the 5!  So anyway, onto potential issues. I heard some stuff before about this, but since posting the car up on the Bluebird FB page I've had a few more conversations and it has become apparent that the mk2 Golf coilovers on the rear are not ideal. The standard struts have a shock insert, the piston rod for those shocks has a diameter of around 15mm, so fairly thick shock shafts. The Golf coilovers have a diameter of around 10mm. You can see where this is going. So basically over time these thinner and therefore weaker shock piston rods can bend, and even snap. I've seen several people saying this has happened to them, one guy has even had it happen 3 times (though his Bluebird is SR20 powered so probably sees a lot more abuse than mine does). Anyway the plan is probably to get hold of some OE hubs with struts still in, maybe fit a custom lowering spring to that on standard shocks, or alternatively Impreza GC8 rear coilovers are meant to be much better in this application as the rears have a much thicker piston rod, much like the OEM Bluebird ones. I probably should have researched a bit harder before putting in all the work, but it is what it is, I'll see how the car gets on, if they snap then I'll just drive the car to the workshop with a gangster lean and sort it out haha. Oh I'm also planning to paint the car the same colour as the 5 in the new year, I have the paint left over, the workshop space, the compressor, just need to get myself a paint gun... |
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Post by wannabe on Dec 21, 2021 9:28:33 GMT
What's that saying about measure twice, cut once?  lol Looks good, though  I'd leave it on standard paint for maximum retro survivor kudos  |
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Post by Zed. on Dec 21, 2021 17:13:51 GMT
I'd leave it on standard paint for maximum retro survivor kudos ^^This. Rich. |
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Bluebird
Dec 22, 2021 0:55:01 GMT
via mobile
Post by Bilbo on Dec 22, 2021 0:55:01 GMT
Hmmm maybe, that would be cool, just thought it'd probably help to be painted when I do come to sell it.
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Post by wannabe on Dec 22, 2021 8:38:17 GMT
Sell??  I thought an engine transplant was on the cards I'd love something retro like this that was also a stupid-fast sleeper lol |
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Post by atlex on Dec 22, 2021 17:35:59 GMT
Looks completely bad-ass on the A3As. I like that paint. Don't stress about it.
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Post by Bilbo on Dec 23, 2021 14:47:21 GMT
Sell?? I thought an engine transplant was on the cards I'd love something retro like this that was also a stupid-fast sleeper lol Did think about finding a CA18ET, the single cam turbo engine from that era, would be period correct and a decent enough upgrade, but it'd be a fair outlay of money as they're not exactly common these days. |
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Post by zoona on Jan 5, 2022 22:55:17 GMT
If you wanted to make a boring 80s car more modern and boring, you could do this:
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le sigh
Jul 15, 2023 20:03:52 GMT
le sigh
Jul 15, 2023 20:03:52 GMT