MadaboutKitcars

And here it is back together and out of the garage:



I know some of the lambo nerds out there will have spotted a few things i still need to address i.e. re-seat wing mirror gater, move side repeater poistion, line the front wheel arches, and most annoyingly - fix the chip in the front middle of the spoiler! (don't worry, i'm my worst critic!)

But as well as those there is also now an interesting blue 'thing' you may have spotted!



Basically I had to improvise the routing of the piping when fitting the new Renault5 Turbo rads. And as i still didn't know if the new cooling system was going to work i took the approach of getting it in and working and then i can make it tidy later.
So seeing as i had to chop a bit of the grill away (for now), i thought that i could at least make it a feature rather than an obvious 'flaw'! So rather than using a normal pipe joiner and tap a bleed nozzle into the hose (which was still being moved and re-routed) i've used a blue anodised aluminium thermostat housing to join the pipes for the moment, which also doubles up as a bleed nozzle while i test things!

I know it'll annoy the purists, but this is a KIT CAR and i'm as proud of that as i am that it looks like a Countach so for the moment at least anyway

So i took it out for a good drive on Sunday and managed to notch up 20 miles Including through some rain, which was an experience!

Obviously with the new cooling system in place I was mainly focusing on watching the temperature and as i haven't finished boxing around the rads yet i knew that the airflow on the move wouldn't be optimal.

That said the temp stayed at just over 1/2 and you could spot the fans cutting in occasionally, but only ever for 1 min or so and then it would go a good while before they came back on. So i'm more than happy that when i put the ducting in place it'll never use the fans on the move, which is ideal!

But.....

When i got home and parked up on the drive, it was ticking over for a few mins while i did some more checks and then the engine stopped.
<groundhog day>
I swore LOTS!

Electrics were fine this time and loads of electricity left.
Cooling was fine.
So it had to be fuel. and right enough i could hear the fuel pump ticking away but nothing was coming through

Then it started again, i started it up, reversed it into the garage and that's where it stayed until tonight.

<more to come later>

Cheers matey,

I've just come in from the garage and after an inspection of the fuel system i noticed a few things.

1) It is set-up with a return feed to both fuel tanks, in-line from the feed to carb 2. odd and unnecessary as i'm running carbs but easily changed to be how i want it.

2) There is no breather on tank 2. This would explain why only tank 1 is filling and then the level drops quickly when running, as there is no breather on tank 2 for the fuel to self-level and then it levels out from the fuel return when the pump is running.
Again this can be easily fixed and i'll sort this out when i also sort out the carb feed.

3) The fuel from the tanks goes to the fuel pump first, then the filter, before going to the carbs. Easy to sort by swapping two pipes around so that the filter protects the pump as well as the carbs.

So i decided to take the pump and filter out and clean them before starting on the pipe-re-routing and i think I've found the cause of the fuelling issues.

This is what i found when i took the end off of the pump!



Basically _so_ much cr@p that it has deformed the little filter in the pump and was throwing everything out of kilter!

With the filter removed it was clear i'm not able to just give it a clean as it's been completely deformed by the goo!



And what was left inside just aint nice!



So that's what happens to a fuel pump if you fit it before a filter and don't clean the system through thoroughly after not using the car for 10 years!

But with a load of goo in there i was hoping that the filter would be clean.
silly me.... It just caught the finer particles!




And boy did it catch them, the filter itself is well gone



So i'm now going to have to buy a new pump and filter, but i'm also going to buy a cheap, clear, in-line fuel filter to use for a few trips just to make sure that i have now de-gunked the system fully!

I think i may also whip the carbs off and check the floats and jets while it's all apart.

2 steps forward, 1 step back....

<sigh>

New fuel pump fitted, this time with a cheap plastic filter just before it "for now" and the piping to the carbs re-routed so that fuel goes into them rather than just round in a circle!

I've also boxed in around the rads and taken it for a quick 15 mile run and the engine runs smoother than it ever has and the temperature was rock solid on just-over-half. Happy days!

So I was going to take it to the Thornfalcon gathering tomorrow, but some other minor niggles with the clutch juddering, a rubbing from the rear drivers side wheel and odd things happening with brake pedal pressure mean that I'm going to scratch that as I don't want to show myself up

So with the cooling sorted and the fueling sorted, its onto the brakes and then the clutch.

I'll take the back end apart and see what the rubbing is/was and then take it from there.
Ho hummm.... So unless its sorted for Exeter, no shows this year. Which is good in a way as I am very self conscious about the condition of the bodywork, so I'm going to keep it to local trips until I get the brakes and clutch sorted and then possibly attack the piant during the winter.

I've finally found a local company who were able to colour match my paintwork and it turns out that my car is painted...... Triumph Motorcycle Red!

I pick up the exact matched spray cans later in the week and hopefully i can touch up the more obvious scratches and chips well enough for now so that i'm not quite so self conscious when i go out-n-about

It's been nearly a month without update and this is mainly due to a new addition to the family!

So i am proud to introduce you all to Cassie........


the camper van!



SWMBO had been hinting and hinting for a few years that she'd like one, and when i spotted this one in a state where it's mechanically sound but in need of some TLC i snapped it up!


But back to _my_ car

The paint i got mixed up was spot on! and while I've not had the time to do proper paint corrections, just getting some colour on the scratches/knocks/chips has made it look a whole lot better!

I've also had the master cylinder off and ordered a repair kit, but had all sorts of issues trying to replace seals! It turned out to be a Morris Marina master cylinder which apparently was commonly used on older kits? and getting a replacement isn't the easiest thing in the world!

So I did a bit of digging and a lot of reading of Morris forums (bless em!) and i found that a Series III Land Rover master cylinder is a direct fit for my Servo. But as it's a very slightly bigger bore it will mean that i've got greater stopping power earlier on, which will be good as the Granada brakes I've got fitted are bigger than OEM Marina ones anyway!

So that's turned up today and hopefully i can have it fitted this weekend and possibly, maybe just possibly, i'll be at Exeter! Or failing that i plan to at least get to the Bristol Classic Car car restoration show at the Bath & West show ground the weekend after! Where hopefully i can also pick up some bits for the VW!

Cheers
It has been decreed that it will be "a blue one", well.... white top with light blue bottom half!

But seeing as _my_ car lives in the garage and that isn't going to change any time soon! i'm going to copy the approach that Tony (amongst others) took to painting their Sammio's and i'm going to look for a cheap gazebo to put up over it!


Back to the Lambo, the new master cylinder fitted a treat and i'm just waiting on some brake line fixings from CBS as the unions are 2 different sizes. so fingers crossed that i'll be back on the road next week

After a little blip due finding out that Landrover master cylinders have 2 different size brake line fittings, and a quick order with CBS later, it's in!
(ignoring the state of the wiring that's still very much a to-do!)



But i'm too tired to fully bleed and reassemble everything tonight so that will have to wait for later in the week!

That said, a quick aside for all those of you reading this thread who want to build/own a Countach kit and are in the day-dreaming/planning phase that i went through for many years.

Yes... you can own / build one in a 'normal' single garage, and if you want something bad enough then you can do anything.
But!!
Just be aware that it's not all plain sailing and you do have to be prepared to work for it and make compromises. e.g. in order to jack the car up and remove the wheels inside a single garage it takes a bit of planning, some accurate positioning, a bit of nimbleness and quite a bit of swearing! Especially with the width of the rears!

And so i find that the bleed nipples are in less than ideal share and one is completely rounded off and not going anywhere!
<grrr>
So i'm going to replace all 4 of them while it's up and on axle stands in order to be thorough. Plus they're so cheap it would be daft not too!

Hopefully they'll turn up tomorrow and the road-test will be over the weekend as Exeter is getting really close now and I've still got the occasionally squeaky rear brake lingering at the back of my mind....

I need to remember that deadlines and kit cars simply never go together!

Here's the reason i didn't get to Exeter. The two old rear bleed nipples that have now been replaced after a not inconsiderable amount of hassle and swearing!



So after bleeding the entire system i took the car for a spin and the pedal is quite hard and not just because of the new slightly larger master cylinder
So I've done some investigation and reading and i think that it's as simple as an air leak on the servo which i probably knocked when i was changing the master cylinder. ho humm..

But on the positive side i had set the timing, cleaned out the carbs and finally got them balanced! although i still need to scrounge a colourtune in order to get the mixture checked. The result of which is that the engine is running a LOT smoother now!

Note for others, a mirror and some cable ties makes making adjustments and especially setting the timing a whole lot easier!



But even though things are progressing, everything i do feels a bit 2 steps forward one step back and i will admit that i'm having a bit of a low about the car atm

I find this weird as i've always, always wanted one, but somehow it just isn't turning out to be as much 'fun' as building and running my Sammio. (insert the told-u-so comments here) I had a think about _why_ the other night and i think it's because just about everything i do has to be done in a set way as it's a replica and i'm working towards making it all look right and there's little room for creativity and individualism.
I'm almost at the stage where if someone made me a decent enough offer (or an interesting part-ex!) then I'd seriously consider it!

When you say "pressurised water system" I'm assuming that it's not meant to be that way?
TBH i had the same due to a head gasket leak. One set of head gaskets later and it's all tickety boo


Update on my brakes. I had a very productive visit to the Bath & West Classic car and restoration show and a discussion with one of the brake specialists up there resulted in me finding out that my Master cylinder and servo are actually Morris Ital and not Morris Marina as i'd originally thought!

Sadly the Ital parts are like rocking horse doo-doo, but when i mentioned that I'd already picked up a 22mm internal Landrover master cylinder i was advised that while it was similar it needed a different servo and wouldn't work with the Ital one. Which explains some of my issues last week as i was working on guidance that i had a Marina Servo!

After discussing prices for refurbishing the Ital bits , we decided that it would be cheaper in the long run to stick with the landrover master cylinder and simply change the servo for something a bit more modern as well.

So after some pondering, we figured out that with the extra braking force from the 22mm cylinder over the 18mm cylinder, i should be able to get away with a slightly smaller servo.

So I've picked up a Ford (Escort i believe, the tag dropped off at the show! ) servo and with a minor mod to the mounting bracket it looks like it should do the job fine.

Although Plan B, is that if this doesn't have enough ooommmpphh, then i can now upgrade the servo to a Capri one which is as-near-as-damnit the same size as the Ital one and means i can still use the more modern master cylinder.

So all a bit nerdy and all a bet theoretical, but it only goes to show that Google is no substitute for actually taking to someone with actual real experience! Plus i may be able to get a few quid for the Ital bits on e-bay!

New Servo and master cylinder are in and working and i took it for a quick blat down the road and it works a treat! The brakes have a different feel to previously, but they are equally as effective at stopping the car!

I am finally putting things back together:


The squeak/rubbing from the rear drivers side wheel is still there though , so that's the next job along with fitting the other boot release i have, as one of the cables snapped when i was opening the engine lid and the existing one simply snapped in half! I put it down to old brittle plastic!

As i just posted elsewhere, I had a quick run-out the other day to double check my wheel rubbing issue.

I got home and jacked it up and there is no play that i can feel, but when i took the brake drum off i could see where it was rubbing, i just don't know for how long that's been a problem?
So i've smoothed down the rough area, painted it black and i'll do another run and then re-inspect.

Here's a pic of what i'm talking about. note that this was taken after i'd smoothed it down. The shiny area on the brake backing plate was much smaller, but quite rough.



I'm wondering if this isn't caused by a number of problems, i.e. slight bearing play, plus wheel alignment, plus?

I must admit, that while i do like working on my car, i am getting a bit fed up of this view and would reliash a chance to just drive it for a while!

hummm...... i have toyed with the idea of replacing the hubs, but i haven't had chance to look into exactly what i need yet.

Hey Scottie, I'll chuck a reply over on your build thread now in order to keep all your info in one place

I reckon you'd be OK for the heat shield.
But for the windscreen surround I'd say you've got to drill through and use load spreaders on the back! My Sammio wind deflector was only light but still needed a load of bolts with large washers on the back to spread the load, so I think you'll need something more substantial for what you're planning. Which does look very, very pretty BTW!

Hey Scottie, no worries. I'll admit that I'm learning new things every day as i work- on <cough>play</cough> with my car, so i was interested in what you were planning.

I'm over towards Burnham-on-sea btw.

Hey Mac, thanks for the offer and if you don't need to get rid of it right away i may take you up on the offer, but not until the new year as I'm completely out of storage space atm as i currently have bits of the wife's VW camper taking up every spare nook-n-cranny!

Unfortunately i came to the realization that i just don't have the space to enjoy working on it &#55357;&#56862;

e.g there are only a few minor jobs to do on it to make it 100% but i don't have the space to do them indoors nor the weekend time to do them outside.

ho humm &#55357;&#56862;

I've been away the weekend, but now I'm back I thought I'd post an update as to what is going on.

Basically as i said in my last post I'm finding that now the nights have drawn-in i simply don't have enough room to work on the car indoors in the evenings and even small jobs are a pain in the backside with the limited space i have.

e.g. i fixed the brakes, went to open the engine cover and the plastic on the release catch shattered as it was brittle due to age:



And even thought I've got a replacement (shown below), it's been a right royal pain to do in the garage and i simply have no time at weekends to get it all outside to do so i've put it off and off

And as I bought the car to work on it exactly this way. i.e. tinker! and I've built up a large parts collection of minor things to potter with, every small job is a right pain with such restricted space and i have to finally admit defeat.

e.g. my stash of parts built up over the years that i wanted to upgrade / replace :



New sidelight/indicators, air box to modify, the small Countach/Fiat vents ready to fit in the back cabin wall, New side repeaters ready to be fitted when i relocate them, 2 new interior door releases i bought 'just in case', the 'proper' Raid 2 steering wheel i bought and has sat in a box for ages!, the new boot/engine release catch ready to repalce the ones that's just shattered, a new ashtray, Maserati switches ready for the centre console overhaul, some spare door locks/strikers to see if it could add central locking and a few other bits-n-bobs!

But sadly I've had to admit to myself that each one of those small tinkering tasks that i was so looking forward to is actually going to take me ages given the facilities i have and so I've done less and less on the car over the past few months and now is the time to move it on to someone who will do it justice!

What i am going to do is post a ton of pics of it as it is _now_ in order to wrap up my time with the car and and hopefully whoever has it off of me can carry on a restoration/upgrade thread?

I am going to miss all of this lovely leather!





The centre console is not 100% authentic, but was certainly getting there and is at least 100% functional!



I will have to admit defeat with my ongoing fight with the existing window winders and whoever has it off of me can either get these working or rip them out and replace the mech's with the Fiat/wire ones!