Yep, that's buggered alright! :)
I still miss my E30 :(
but you can't go back....
The Duchess has passed her acceptance trial from SWMBO! After replacing most of the front end she now actually steers. At sodding last! OK, she's no E30 but she no longer throws you towards oncoming traffic at random intervals.
All I need to do now is get back to Marty for the driver's door latch because I got myself locked out again today - like an idiot.
Time to get a valet key cut, and a strong magnet. Luckily I have a large stack of dead hard drives at work. I'll hack into one of those and get a decent magnet there.
The only other thing I can think of is the tailgate itself - but if the boot carpet is dry then maybe not?
Surely that's just a conduit for water that is above the headlining? There's no access to the outside world via the interior light.
I'd suspect the sunroof again, or possibly the windscreen seals?
Mine does like to drip from the sunroof tray after heavy rain, I've rodded the sunroof drains (at summer camp) but they were clear. It's not a huge amount so I've sort of ignored it, but I might have to put it on the list if it gets worse.
Hahaah, that sticker made me laugh. Quality Sledging :)
Very nice!
Don't forget to install EAS ;)
Thanks mate!
Listerine eyeball doesn't sound like a picnic lol!
Great news! And I hope your foot is fixed too..
Did you ram a nappy up the gap?
Gilbertd wrote:
RutlandRover wrote:
I'd love an XJS.
I've had an XJS, you wouldn't........
True. A mate of mine loved his V12 XJS but eventually it broke his heart and he had to sell it.
Bearing in mind this is a guy who runs a fleet of vintage tractors, a boat, 4-5 modern "daily drivers" and didn't blink at paying someone to do a 2 year nut and bolt restoration on a Ford Dexter tractor worth about 50p, the commitment required to run an XJS must be immense!
Fixing the car! well, as long as I'm not stranded on a motorway :)
I've got eye piles, basically. My right eye had a blister under the retina* a few years ago that caused some vision loss, now that damage has had a blood vessel pop through it. They're trying to shrink it back with an injection of something called Avastin. It probably won't restore any vision but should stop it getting worse, which is a bit crap really as my right eye now has a very pronounced "Hall of Mirrors" filter.
Anyway, it was a bit less fun that I thought and now I've got a bloodshot and weeping right eye. I can deal with that but what I wasn't ready for was I'm not allowed to wear my right contact lens for a week and I can't do anything potentially mucky (ie crawling under a muddy P38 and whacking it wtth a spanner) for at least three days.
So, I'm sadly frustrated because I want to get in the Duchess and see if the Viscous has made a difference!
*Central Serous Retinopathy
The syringe was really good for a tenner. The only spillage was when I squirted the ATF in a bit quick and didn't give it time to flow into the guts of the transfer case. She was also a bit down at the stern on the stands which won't have helped with the measurement.
I'm having an eye injection today, so depending on what state that leaves me in I might pick up a litre of DexIII, fire up the EAS and measure again.
Having looked at rave again I should have used hylomar on the drain/fill plug threads. Bah.
And She's back together :)
Sadly I was a bit short on ATF. I did 4x500ml syringes worth but the ATF didn't come up to the fill hole and it's not like it's a super accurate process so I'm going to get some more fluid before I drive her, frustratingly.
I'm very glad to have the Duchess back on the ground, with only small divots in the tarmac due to the weight and hot weather. Oops :)
There may have been some titivation along the way ;)
Victory!!
Or progress, at least :)
The nuts are off, the nut extractor thingies are worth every penny and the 16mm one grabbed the 15mm nuts and didn't let go until they were off. It took a good 30-40s on Full Rattle to get them off and my ears are still ringing but it's done.
So, for the cross member my neighbour and I used a pair of pry bars to get into the tube at the end of the crossmember and levered it down halfway. (this would work with one person, but would just take a lot longer). That gave us enough space to finally wiggle the B'Stard Vicious viscous unit onto the ground where it was pounded with a hammer over a couple of bits of wood until it fell out of the case. The bearing was in perfect nick so I've no qualms about re-using it.
A press would have been ideal but frankly, a soft blow hammer and some protective wood and the new one was in after about 5 minutes so all good there.
Now I've just got the remaining nuts and bolts to re-fit before the test of my RTV skills when I refill the TC with my brand new 500cc syringe. I've got three nuts/bolts in on each side of the cross member so I was happy to remove the jack supporting the gearbox. As long as the RTV holds I've got the front prop to re-fit and then I'm feeling optimistic for a test drive this week. So, I'll finally know if The Duchess will actually handle like a car or continue to steer like a narrow boat in a cross wind!
Thanks for the help and messages, I'm a very Crap Mechanic and work at the pace of a snail so every reassurance is muchly appreciated! :)
Time to get your green flag upgraded to full recovery.....
Thanks Simon!
Thankfully the 2 month delay in getting an NHS referral after the crappy work BUPA scheme failed to pay up hasn't cost me anything. I'm getting some injection into my eyeball on Thursday which stands a very good chance of preventing any further damage and a small chance of reversing some damage. Guess I'll just have to wait.
In the meantime. Nut Extractors!
I've managed to buy two sets which don't have a 15mm option. They skip from 9/16 (14mm) to 5/8 (15.8mm labelled as 16mm)
Seeing as I've never used on of these before, how important is it to have the exact size? If I can smash one of the two 14mm onto the nut is that OK?
Thanks again from numptyland!
BTW, I didn't buy these
https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B07RNZBT3F/ref=acr_dpproductdetail_text?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
but I probably should have done - except they don't seem to have a 15mm either. Is it a magic gap in the Imperial measuring system?
Nowt wrong with Comma! They're suppliers to many better known brands.
I use 10w40 in the Duchess. She does many short trips and cold start protection is better with a 10w.
FWIW opieoils recommend 5w40 but they don't list the ZDDP levels in the specs
https://www.opieoils.co.uk/f/2354/15137/2001/engine-oil.aspx
I haven't had a full geekout for the rover V8 yet but I'm currently using this https://www.commaoil.com/passenger-vehicles/products/view/232 which i picked up in a hurry because it matches the handbook and has decent zinc levels for the old school valve train.
I'm not really a modeller these days but this is amazing!
If you can play Youtube in 4K and you've got a few spare minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPHASpKgRtQ
Wow!
The flange is off but I can't for the life of me get the VC out, I was there for more than 15 minutes although I was probably held back by wearing safety glasses and not being able to see properly*. Basically, I just don't have your skill or perhaps I wasn't using the right words although I did try a lot.
I can't get the VC and cover back onto the transfer case, and I can't get it to disengage from the spline either so I can only go forwards with the cross member now!
I've bought a set of nut extractors which should do the job. Well they would apart from skipping from 14 to 16mm - AGGH!!
I popped into Screwfix on the way back from ToolStation and they'll have these in for me tomorrow:
My neighbour has very charitably left me with his brand new impact driver and an offer of help so with luck I'll have the last two nuts off tomorrow night.
*in other news, it seems I'm losing the sight in my right eye (Hospital appt. tomorrow) so I'm a bit paranoid about getting crap in the other one.