Practically Classics Forum

It does straight onto the ramps.....just! Coming down has to very gentle mind

Well, I appear to have cracked it, phew. Zeb' is purring once more. Not been for a spin yet, stopped for grub!
He had a hissing noise & rough idle on start up, but that was tracked to a small white vacuum hose that I'd knocked off below the idle valve.

Not sure if I've routed the pipes exactly as they were before but all seems well. That white pipe on the manifold in one of the pics looks out of place?


Manifold nearly off...

Off and wedged, do you reckon that bit of wood was up to the job:nah: lol

Old oil trap.

New oil trap.

And back together again - here you see the pipe that looks out of place?

It's not there on your under bonnet pic on page 1. Is it the sort of thing that could melt if left in the wrong place?

DOH! Why didn't I think of that lol. No I don't think it's a 'melter' & I think it ran parallel to the manifold, but under the metal cover, so would've been neater. Should be able to sort it though.
Just been on an 18 mile blat and all seems good.

Isn't it a good feeling when you fix a fault and go for a drive. all is well in the world.
until you get back and the mrs gives you a list of other things to fix

I just love the sound of those Volvo 5 cylinder engines, very burbly but smooth.

Well, we are a week on now. Has the work been successful? In terms of general running, I cannot honestly say that there is not any real difference. Zeb' is just as smooth and burbly as he was
However, fuel consumption had dropped to a solid 26.4 before doing the work. Since and having done about 250 miles, with the longest 'run' being around 35 miles we are showing 28.3.
IIRC, before it 'dropped' Zeb' was returning about 28.6 on general running about, so we are not far out & I reckon it was worth while

Zeb has settled at 29mpg on running around, chuffed with that!

So today after a good clean inside & out, I decided to try some Linseed Oil on the bumpers & plastic trim. I'd read about it on another thread on here & thought, not a lot to lose....

Zeb's bumpers were almost bleached white:




So went onto applying the stuff with a soft cloth:


Then left it for a while whilst I sat in the garden with a coffee, then I 'polished' off the excess with a clean soft cloth:





Quite chuffed with the result, no idea how long it'll last but only takes a few mins to re-do as & when

The bumpers on that Peugeot 205 that I posted to illustrate the miracle of linseed oil in the Corsa owner's thread are still clean and fresh-looking and it's now some two Months or more since it was applied. Saying that, the North East coast doesn't enjoy too much in the way of destructive sunshine, so possibly yours will need treating again at some time out there in sunny France but hey, the stuff's cheap and environmentally friendly so it's all good.

Bumpers still looking good, maybe the slightest signs of fading once more. That said I do consider the Linseed Oil a sucsess .
Only other stuff to report is that simple service has been carried out.
Zeb has new plugs, dizzy cap, rotor, air filter, oil and filter also fresh coolant

Coolant was what was in him when I bought him so thought it high time for a flush through and new stuff. Surprisingly the radiator ran clear very quickly, so hopefully that means it is still pretty good internally.

The rest of the items were changed probably earlier than needed ( though I do tend to do the oil a 5-6k rather than the recommended 10k interval) in preparation for a bit of road trip that begins next Wednesday