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kevin s's blog
Re: kevin s's blog
I have been on a shopping spree, firstly the radiator on the landie sprung a leak after the kids spent an afternoon driving it around some fields, so after parting with 115 pounds I have this to fit.
Secondly I have bought a proper airbox to replace the k&n on the mx5.
Finaly I picked up a 1098 engine for the minor for the grand sum of 31 pounds, it was cheap because it was seized, but after pulling the head there is only a very minor dusting of rust, soaking in oil and a tap on the pistons has it turning over, it looks like new rings and bearings should be all that are needed.
Secondly I have bought a proper airbox to replace the k&n on the mx5.
Finaly I picked up a 1098 engine for the minor for the grand sum of 31 pounds, it was cheap because it was seized, but after pulling the head there is only a very minor dusting of rust, soaking in oil and a tap on the pistons has it turning over, it looks like new rings and bearings should be all that are needed.
Re: kevin s's blog
been playing with the Mazda today, firstly cleaned up the airbox in the dishwasher.
but before I could fit it I had to look at the rust patch, I cleaned the area up and it and the root cause is the front 18" of the car has been replaced I assume after crash damage, It is in front of all the engine and suspension mounting points so not really of any major consequence and appears to have been done very well with a series of neat but welds. The problem is to make it invisible they have covered both sides in filler, in time moisture has got into it and begun to rust the metal, fortunately there were only a couple of tiny holes which welded up easily enough, the rest was mild surface rust which cleaned up easily with a wire wheel , so it has now been primed with zinc rich paint and sealed with seam sealer, next step will be stone chip the underside and tidy up and topcoat the upper side, later in the year I will be waxing the whole car. On the good side I cant find any other rust (pretty rare for one of these) and I have also noticed it has bilstein suspension.
After this I fitted the speakers which came with the car to the headrests, they are some sort of pioneer aftermarket set up designed for the mx5 which replaced the standard front panel and tattered square speakers with a new front panel which carries a pair of round speakers, a bit of wiring was required to get them to connect (the original wires were not long enough) but it works fine now and sounds much better, I also removed the centre console as some of the additional wires previously used for the speakers were trapped under it, this highlighted another common problem I will have to look at later, the gearshift boot is split, fortunately not to expensive or difficult to fix (parts are around £30).
On the minor front I have now rust treated and primed most of the underside, over Easter it will get it stone chipped and I can finally get the TR out, I may even leave the Landie at work and get it out before then. Both it and the Landie need an MOT in the next month, I doubt there will be much on the TR as it as does so little mileage. I did check over the Landie though, the only things I can see are the steering relay seems to have a lot of play (was replaced 5 years ago) and I obviously need to replace the leaky radiator.
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After this I fitted the speakers which came with the car to the headrests, they are some sort of pioneer aftermarket set up designed for the mx5 which replaced the standard front panel and tattered square speakers with a new front panel which carries a pair of round speakers, a bit of wiring was required to get them to connect (the original wires were not long enough) but it works fine now and sounds much better, I also removed the centre console as some of the additional wires previously used for the speakers were trapped under it, this highlighted another common problem I will have to look at later, the gearshift boot is split, fortunately not to expensive or difficult to fix (parts are around £30).
On the minor front I have now rust treated and primed most of the underside, over Easter it will get it stone chipped and I can finally get the TR out, I may even leave the Landie at work and get it out before then. Both it and the Landie need an MOT in the next month, I doubt there will be much on the TR as it as does so little mileage. I did check over the Landie though, the only things I can see are the steering relay seems to have a lot of play (was replaced 5 years ago) and I obviously need to replace the leaky radiator.
Re: kevin s's blog
Had 3 or 4 hours today, firstly I painted the area I had repaired on the MX5 with stone chip, the engine compartment side will need rubbing down and top coating eventually but to make this look good most of the inner wing will need doing so this will have to wait, as shown n the picture is the welds with brush able seam sealant and then black stone chip.
Then I fitted the land rover radiator, this was made difficult by the electric fan which uses the same bolts, I had to cut some metal off the brackets to get it to clear.
and some of the holes did not line up, if any one else is doing this I would recommend enlarging all the holes by 1mm before you start to give a little more room for manoeuvre.
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Re: kevin s's blog
finally a picture of the new minor engine, I have measured it and it is definitely a 1098, and the last thing I did which was to replace the missing rivet in the rear dorr post of the land rover which takes the door slam load with 3 more for good measure.
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Re: kevin s's blog
Not so much on the cars this weekend.
On the Landie I fitted new matching switches for the heated seats and cooling fan, the second position on this will control the coolant pump, the radiator seems fine but I do need to fir a new overflow hose.
On the minor I have tidied up the garage and put the old engine / box in the pit, the new engine is also turning quite freely now, all the areas I want to stone chip are painted and seam sealed, I have next week off and one of the tasks is to stone chip the minor underside. I also cleaned upand painted the steering rack as it seems in perfect condition.
On the MX 5 I had a look at the air con which seems to have little gas in it and have an electrical fault, the compressor and fan work fine though so I may fix the electrical isssue and take it to Kwik fit for a leak check / re-fill. Also tried to losen the wing bolts to sort out the gap to the wing but one sheared off and the front one needs the bumper off so that will have to wait, the other task next week is to dye the seats and door trims.
kevin
On the Landie I fitted new matching switches for the heated seats and cooling fan, the second position on this will control the coolant pump, the radiator seems fine but I do need to fir a new overflow hose.
On the minor I have tidied up the garage and put the old engine / box in the pit, the new engine is also turning quite freely now, all the areas I want to stone chip are painted and seam sealed, I have next week off and one of the tasks is to stone chip the minor underside. I also cleaned upand painted the steering rack as it seems in perfect condition.
On the MX 5 I had a look at the air con which seems to have little gas in it and have an electrical fault, the compressor and fan work fine though so I may fix the electrical isssue and take it to Kwik fit for a leak check / re-fill. Also tried to losen the wing bolts to sort out the gap to the wing but one sheared off and the front one needs the bumper off so that will have to wait, the other task next week is to dye the seats and door trims.
kevin
Re: kevin s's blog
Managed to stone chip the repaired areas under the minor and re-fit the suspension temporarily so I can move it off the ramp and get the TR out.
we also purchased some new parts for the MX5, a dash (the one on the car has holes drilled in the top) and a black carpet set from a Mk2 (better quality and fits straight in a mk1).
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Re: kevin s's blog
Only a short time on the cars today, I got the TR out after it's 4 month lay up, It needed a jump start from the landie but fired up pretty easily with this and seems to drive fine. I washed it and vacumed the interior, everything seems to work OK even the headlamps, I will take it for a longer drive tomorrow once I have re-fitted the corner of the front bumper. It has aquired a couple more paint chips but these will touch in easily enough.
The minor is now of the ramp and in the corner, this means I now have more room to work I need to get fit the interior parts to the MX5 and get the TR and Landie ready for the MOT not too much work mainly changing the steering relay on the Landie, after this we will start on the remainder of the minor body repairs.
Of course there are other pressues on my time, work aside, the washing machine bearings are going and I have been tasked with building a new greenhouse to make a parking space for the MX5!
Kevin
The minor is now of the ramp and in the corner, this means I now have more room to work I need to get fit the interior parts to the MX5 and get the TR and Landie ready for the MOT not too much work mainly changing the steering relay on the Landie, after this we will start on the remainder of the minor body repairs.
Of course there are other pressues on my time, work aside, the washing machine bearings are going and I have been tasked with building a new greenhouse to make a parking space for the MX5!
Kevin
Re: kevin s's blog
Grrrrr...washing machine bearings
Not my favourite things, especially as these days, even Bosch and Miele are bonding the spider into the back half of the drum. This I discovered when I agreed to fit the new bearings that a colleague had bought to fix her machine. They'd have been grand had the chassis number been about 50 earlier than it was but then Zanussi/Electrolux started with this crazy new way of removing time, cost and common sense from the production process. The only way would have been to replace the entire back half of the outer drum, the cost a whopping £340 for this part. Her solution, as endorsed by everyone with half a brain cell to spare: New Samsung with five year warranty and various other attractions - £270.
Sorry, I still feel my face turning green at the very thought of the words washing machine bearings.
The underside of that Minor's looking most attractive now.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: kevin s's blog
When the ones in my hotpoint broke, I found they were not an available part so I called hotpoint and they offered an £80 fixed price fix no matter what was wrong with the machine. they do write to me at least once a quarter offering me an extended warranty for £100 per year but I think shredding one extra bit of junk mail is worth the saving on a new machine 
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: kevin s's blog
Not sure how big a job the washing machine will be, it's a hoover, the bearing kit was only £27 so I figured it will be worth a try, I know there is a spider bolted to thed back of the drum which carries the bearing, which is not to expensdive either. The last one was a bosch, the bearing also went in this after 6 years but it was unique to bosch, so cost well ove £100 and the whole thing was cliped together plastic. Writing it off.
The bearings have not arrived yet so I have been playing with the cars, the focus has been pulling the trim out of the mx5 to vinylkote it so all the colours match.
The good news is the spotless floors, not bad for an 18 year old car (the brown marks are leaves)
.
I then noticed a mark in the transmission tunnel, closer inspection revealed a 2 inch long crack!
So I had to crack the welder out, fortunatelly welding a small crack in sound metal is a lot easier than patching rust, picture shows it welded up, I made the weld quite wide to make sure any cracks around the edges were covered.
The carpet is also now in and looks much better, hopefully the colouring will be done by the weekend.
Kevin
The bearings have not arrived yet so I have been playing with the cars, the focus has been pulling the trim out of the mx5 to vinylkote it so all the colours match.
The good news is the spotless floors, not bad for an 18 year old car (the brown marks are leaves)
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I then noticed a mark in the transmission tunnel, closer inspection revealed a 2 inch long crack!
So I had to crack the welder out, fortunatelly welding a small crack in sound metal is a lot easier than patching rust, picture shows it welded up, I made the weld quite wide to make sure any cracks around the edges were covered.
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The carpet is also now in and looks much better, hopefully the colouring will be done by the weekend.
Kevin