Today I mostly .....

Any topics of general interest (not lada related), post them here.
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Tom.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Tom. » Sat Jul 28, 2018 7:47 pm

Removed not one but two pitman arms from RHD steering boxes for a forum member. No need for heat or bashing when using the correct dealer tools designed for the job. :)
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Neil Chowney » Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:49 pm

Tom,

Well done, I should know this but what does the correct tool look like?

I've always had to have mine pressed off by a hydraulic press.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Wed Aug 01, 2018 8:25 am

Finally, finally got around to buying a whiteboard for the garage. Will give me a fighting chance of actually keeping track of stuff - and actually getting servicing noted down in the spreadsheet before forgetting about it.
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Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Tom. » Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:35 pm

Neil Chowney wrote:Tom,

Well done, I should know this but what does the correct tool look like?

I've always had to have mine pressed off by a hydraulic press.
When I get time I'll get a steering box out and take some pics of the puller attached to the box. Its just a heavy duty puller, by design it holds the pitman arm and box in place so nothing can move. ( box doesn't even need to be held in a vice ) You then attach a 3ft solid steel original Lada spanner to it and wind the arm off, all the force and pull are on the joint and not the box. I've now used it to remove three arms without any problems.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:43 am

More to eliminate it as a possibility than out of actual hope of success, I decided to swing by the main Merc dealer yesterday as I was virtually driving past it anyway.

Getting anything for a near extinct 28 year old van would be a stretch I figured, but meh...worth a shot. Half expected them to treat me like an alien given I'm a scruffy sod who can't be bothered with fancy clothes.

No. They treated me like royalty from the moment I set foot in the door. Even bigger surprise, they had the parts located in seconds. Their parts lookup system is ace - and the gent on the desk knew how to use it.

They were massively apologetic that the parts would have to come over from Germany and they couldn't give them to me there and then. I couldn't quite get across to the guy that I was staggered they could even get them at all, having to wait a few days really wasn't a problem.

So the list, the little rubber boot that covers the sliding propshaft joint, a tiny little plastic bush that seats the throttle cable on the fuel pump arm, and would you believe it...a replacement lens for the indicator warning light on the dashboard?!?

Cheaper than anywhere online as well (not that I'd been able to find the lens anywhere anyway!).

I'm staggered...never expected to find anything on that list at the dealer.

Realised just as I pulled out the car park that I meant to ask about a headlight switch too as mine looks like it's been used as a chew toy. Will ask about that when I grab the last lot. Will see what they can do by way of body panels too...as that could be really helpful if they've got much...

If this is the sort of parts service that I can expect, I should have got my T1 years ago! Though granted the main reason it took me so long was the same as why it took me so long to get my Riva. Parts availability might be good, but it took me decades to find the actual car!
LOZ: Oddball cars, lighting information, and anything else I remember to upload!
Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Andrew353w » Thu Aug 02, 2018 4:26 pm

I'm not surprised about the customer service you've received from Mercedes Benz. Companies like this really DO care about their customers, regardless of their age (in a vehicular sense, as opposed to the age of their customers!) Many years ago I needed some parts for an ancient (to my way of thinking!) Mercedes and had the same favourable response and service. They weren't cheap, but once again, I was happy to pay the price for the parts, considering the speed of delivery (the parts had to come from what was then WEST Germany) and the consideration I had been given by the dealer. It reinforces the old adage "you pays for what you gets"!
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Sun Aug 05, 2018 9:53 pm

Mostly started to piece the last few bits of services back together.

Not least sorting out this mess cable tied to the rear cross member.

Image

Have found a specialist locally who should have the stuff I need, so will be grabbing a load of water pipes, gas pipes and more fittings than you can shake a stick at tomorrow. Hopefully next update will see a working water system at the very least...
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Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:47 pm

Been running around getting the plumbing bits and pieces together...however turning into the drive I suddenly lost throttle response. I'll bet the screws I wedged in the throttle control arm when the bush cracked have fallen out.

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Yep!

Nothing in stock to fix it in an elegant manner, though a larger bolt, some big washers and a lock nut will do for now.

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I did get it to sit better after I took the photo, and added a lock nut to make sure it stays put. I'll get the bush replaced in due course, but this should do for now!

Hopefully will get most of the plumbing finished tomorrow.
LOZ: Oddball cars, lighting information, and anything else I remember to upload!
Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Tom. » Wed Aug 08, 2018 9:30 pm

Bought these for my 2107 Sport, manifold and airbox are new old stock.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Wed Aug 08, 2018 10:06 pm

Tom. wrote:Bought these for my 2107 Sport, manifold and airbox are new old stock.

Image

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Nice!

That will bark nicely when you hit the throttle, shouldn't have any breathing issues with that on.
LOZ: Oddball cars, lighting information, and anything else I remember to upload!
Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Tom. » Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:31 pm

Bought a load of Lada parts yesterday that came from a former Lada dealership in Leeds. RHD headlights, MPH speedometer, tools etc. Today I travelled to Nottingham and bought what Lada stock was left from the former dealership there. Place is still selling parts for all cars, repairs and MOT's. Owner is retiring and came across all the forgotten old new Lada stock while having a clear out, RHD lights, UK spec badges, Rear 2104 parcel shelf, Riva grille, door skin, Niva wheel carrier, Original Niva 1700 door mirrors, Weber carb, original Lada wheel trims with Lada logo on them, glass, Niva wheel arch set, Books galore, tools, anyone needs an original blank service book let me know I think I've got a load of them. Way too much stuff to list. Most items are times seven. I filled a van to the brim. Take me a week or two to fully go through it all. Anyone looking for any FSO parts let me know and I'll put you in contact with the guy, he's amassed a lot of stuff over the years. :)
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Mon Aug 13, 2018 5:56 pm

Well done Tom!

Worth asking on Retro Rides and Autoshite as there's a lot of love for the FSO models there it seems.

I'd personally love a Polonez, but the nigh on non-existent parts supply was one of the main reasons they've been a long way down the list.

As far as badges are concerned, does that include the little "Riva" ones that were on the rear quarters of the Riva Estates? One of mine is missing quite a few bits of the lettering.
LOZ: Oddball cars, lighting information, and anything else I remember to upload!
Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Tue Aug 14, 2018 10:15 pm

Following my mad scramble to get it habitable, we were away for a weekend in the van.

After being essentially in mothballs for the best part of a decade it's finally getting used as intended again.

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Still a lot of stuff to do, but I managed to duct tape enough stuff together to make it a reasonably comfortable place to stay for a weekend.

She didn't miss a beat (even if the hole in the exhaust has got a little bigger!), nor was a drop of oil or water used. Astonishingly an average mpg of 26.3 was managed over the 440 miles travelled... that's pretty much double what I'd been expecting.

One obvious shortcoming though was the lack of an audio system made this century. If the original head unit had still been there I'd have looked for a discreet way to implement modern connectivity, but it wasn't...so I wasn't bothered about binning the cheap Sendai head unit that was in there and getting something more useful in its place.

Like this nice little JVC.

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The thing which has really surprised me the most is the clever stuff this is able to do with DSP thanks to how powerful the computing hardware behind this is these days. You can program in to the system the type of vehicle, the size and location of the speakers, and even what crossover types are fitted where appropriate. It then sets up baseline equaliser settings accordingly. The result being that even using ancient, tiny Radiomobile speakers it's managing to sound halfway decent.

One of them in the cab is buzzing a bit though so will need to be changed. Finding a modern upgrade may be a little tricky though on account of the limited depth available in the speaker boxes. Will have a rummage around tomorrow afternoon and see if I've got anything in stock.

Have a trip out in the morning though, to pick up a VCR to replace the one my parents erroneously chucked out during a clearance of the loft a few years back (they managed to keep everything I told them to chuck, and chucked everything I said to keep!). Then I'll have the fun and games of seeing if it will come back to life gracefully (like the one it replaces) or if it will put up a fight. If it does the latter, it will probably be set to one side until I've more free time available.
LOZ: Oddball cars, lighting information, and anything else I remember to upload!
Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Tom. » Wed Aug 15, 2018 9:13 pm

Zelandeth wrote:
As far as badges are concerned, does that include the little "Riva" ones that were on the rear quarters of the Riva Estates? One of mine is missing quite a few bits of the lettering.

Zel I've not got that badge, if I do come across one while you still own the car you'll have first shout.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Fri Aug 17, 2018 11:45 pm

Cheers Tom. It's really low priority though so don't worry about it. I forget about it until each time I wash and polish it, then turn the garage and loft upside down looking for the one I know is in a box somewhere.

Today I fitted two new speakers in the van to go with the new head unit I installed day before yesterday. One was buzzy, so had to go.

I though with them being triaxial speakers that they were likely later replacement, but apparently not. Branded Radiomobile like the enclosures, and made for Lucas apparently! Didn't remember that style of speaker setup even existing as far back as 1990.

Still, grabbed a pair of Fli Integrator 4's to replace the front pair. I've used Fli gear a few times now and have always been impressed, especially for the absolute bargain basement price it's usually sold for by Halfords (I reckon as a loss leader hoping you'll buy a load of overpriced other accessories - £20 for an ISO wiring harness?!?), I mean why would I faff around online when I can drive a quarter of a mile and pick these up for £15?

Unfortunately, they're about 5mm deeper than the speaker boxes. Balls. Guess I'll be making some spacers tomorrow then.

Will look at moving the nearside speaker while I'm at it. Currently it's attached to the trim panel above the passenger's foot well. This is sub optimal for several reasons - mostly though that the panel isn't entirely rigid, it's way too far inboard for good stereo separation, and that the fuse box rattles.

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The panel is a swine to get to sit right even without a speaker hanging off it, and the screw sticking out the back means I can't screw down the rail the rail the relays are meant to clip to - see also most likely *why* the fuse box rattles.

What also bugs me is that the driver's side is set up differently - like so.

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Now I can't perfectly mirror that because of the bonnet release, but hopefully getting closer to symmetrical will improve the sound a bit. Even with the new speakers, it's still a bit thin sounding, and nigh on impossible to get sounding balanced properly.

I'm half considering moving the pods to the doors as I'm sure that's by far the best idea in audio terms - I'm just really loathed to mess with the door cards as they've survived 28 years unmarked! I do like my music though, and we're going to probably do quite a few long trips in this vehicle, so maybe it's just a bitter pill that I need to man up and swallow. That of course also opens the can of worms as to whether I should just buy a slightly bigger surface fitting box (I'm not cutting massive holes and recessing them in the doors, plenty of clearance for them surface mounted) and throw a pair of 6x9s in there...would look far more conspicuously modern though I think.

Plus I know these speakers can sound pretty decent as I've used them in other cars.

Will probably stretch to a (small!) sub tucked away somewhere too at some point. Reckon there's probably space in the battery box under the driver's seat forward of the leisure battery for a compact one. Doesn't need to be anything earth shattering, but it's a big old space to fill and having a sub to help the bottom end will make things easier for the other speakers.

The original ones are still in place in the back, where I'm really surprised by the audio quality, hence why I'm sure the cab can be better.
LOZ: Oddball cars, lighting information, and anything else I remember to upload!
Current fleet: 02 VW Caddy 1.9SDI, 90 Mercedes 208D Autotrail Navajo, 85 Sinclair C5, 78 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6GL, 73 AC Model-70.

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