StrangeRover wrote:
I might get a solid workshop in the future!
Cheaper option is what I do. Previous house had a concrete driveway, this one has gravel so I've got a couple of sheets of 5/8th ply that I put underneath. Trolley jack rolls properly on them and it's more comfortable to lay on too.
Yes, the white ex-plod. Others have come and gone but my daughter reckons they're probably going to bury me in it, I'm never getting rid of that one.
Blimey, I've done more than that in the last week and got another 6,000 or so to do in the next month. Although I did have a head start as mine had 205,000 on it when I got it 10 years ago.
Yeah, but mine is 4 years older, you've still got time to catch up.......
You'll find that when you start torquing the inlet manifold down, it will pull the valley gasket down so the bolt holes and ports line up. Hardest part is getting the first two bolts in (one on each side), but after that the others go in easily. That's why they say to only nip up the end seal plates finger tight and then torque them down once the manifold is properly torqued down.
It left a lot to be desired (and still does, even more so now) which is why this forum came into being in the first place.
Good point, it will wallow around if too high.
The first one I bought was a Eurospares (not sure where from as I bought it about 3 years ago, then adjusted the steering box and only got round to fitting it during lockdown as I had nothing better to do) but that had the play in it when I finally fitted it. LRDirect had a number of options so I called them and asked if the OE one was the original alloy one or the steel one. They weren't able to check and tell me but said that the OE one would be made by whoever made them originally. When that arrived it was another steel one but without the play this time. You do need to do the pinch bolts up with a fair amount of grunt and with the steering lock off so everything is free to move and not under tension.
Yup, you've killed it, new battery time.
Yes, intermediate shaft is the silver one. That is one of the later all steel ones with a hexagonal centre rather than the alloy ones with a splined centre. I bought one of those and there was play in the bottom UJ, the one that goes onto the steering box. I bought an OE replacement and that was the same type but without the play. Check it very carefully.
That sounds fine, as long as it maintains that pressure when you rev it.
+1 on the intermediate shaft, particularly as it's the only bit you haven't changed. The tiniest bit of play in either UJ or the rubber coupling results in a lot of play at the wheel. If you get someone to wobble the wheel you should be able to see where the play is.
Not the BeCM draining it then. Has anything got wet recently?
2 minutes exactly. Switch everything off close the door and wait 2 minutes. If the tell tale next to the gearchange doesn't go off, it's staying awake.
Get a decent passenger seat, bases are interchangeable and the passenger seat usually has a lot less wear.
Boge were OE but are NLA so some have fitted Bilsteins and had no complaints. Problem is it's much like replacing worn out original bushes with polys. It'll be an improvement but whether it is as good as it could be is a different matter. What you don't want is anything stiffer than original so maybe something adjustable would be best.
You'll need someone who has fitted them really, I probably got the last full set of Boge when I replaced mine about 3 years ago.
DON'T!!!!! They last about a fortnight if you get the soft ones and ruin the ride if you get the hard ones. They are OK on a sports car where ride is of much less importance, they were developed for racing after all, but anyone who has fitted them has found an improvement after worn out originals although nothing like as good as it should be.
You can have an enormous amount of play and it won't be picked up on the MoT. A good example being the top and bottom balljoints on the front hubs. An MoT test won't pick up any play in them as they only test for side to side movement. The way to check them is to jack it up on the axle so the wheel is dangling, then put a crowbar under the wheel and see if you can lift it. If you can, they are shot and have a very marked affect on the handling and steering. Wear in the Panhard rod bushes will allow the axle to move from side to side but again won't be picked up on the MoT.
Sounds more like a steering problem than a suspension one. It could be down to radius arm bushes, anti-roll bar bushes, any number of the bits of soggy 20 year old rubber in there.
If you fit stiffer dampers then the ride suffers (in fact, a few months after production started the dampers were made softer as very early cars were felt to be too harsh) so softer the better. It may even be down to tyres. My car feels a lot tauter than both the Ascot and the 2001 Vogue I've been working on recently. I'm on 16" wheels with higher profile tyres than the others on 18" wheels and 55 profile tyres. Both feel a bit vague but both have the same Goodyear tyres on them.
davew wrote:
Maybe you will get a better chance to video it again at 500K....
If I carry on at the same rate as I have for the last 10 years, that should be in about 5 years time.
Although it's got over 6,000 miles to do in September alone. Trip to Latvia at the beginning of the month (1520 miles each way with a bit of running around while I'm there so that should be 4,000 or so) followed by a trip to France and back via Yorkshire so should be close on another 2,000 miles.