Today I mostly .....

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

Post by Zelandeth » Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:57 am

Hoping to get the Trevi dropped back with its owner tomorrow. So I gave it a bit of a once over this afternoon planning to take it for a bit of a longer test run.

It still wasn't running great, especially at idle but was a lot better that we started with. Though I discovered something rather interesting when I was doing a "what works, what doesn't" test this afternoon.

https://youtu.be/obVlyO2zhSA

I was manually holding the revs at about 3,000 rpm there, the switch I'm messing with was the switch for the heater blower. When it was turned on the engine ran worse. Like way, way worse.

Yeeeeahhh...it appears that in addition to a dead coil (the cause of the original breakdown), an intermittent ignition amplifier, utterly ruined distributor cap, some awful modern HT leads that weren't made properly, an intermittent connector between the distributor pickup and the wiring loom and an incorrectly sized third party rotor arm, that we also have been fighting a high resistance issue somewhere on the supply to the coil.

I did try jumping straight to the positive of the coil a while ago - but it made no obvious difference. However I've fixed a bunch of other issues since then so there is less to mask it!

Having had plenty of experience with Lada electrics this to be honest doesn't really surprise me. With the greatest of respect to Lancia, the Lada fuse box and wiring connectors actually seem better quality than the Lancia ones. I'm guessing we probably have slight issues in the fuse box itself *and* ignition switch. It's just resulting in excessive volt drop. It's worth noting that the dash volt meter basically drops to nothing when the heater blower is turned on, though the actual battery voltage doesn't droop excessively at all.

Simple enough to work around here for now - I've hooked up a (properly fused) direct feed to the battery from the coil ballast resistor via a relay. The relay is triggered by the original 12V feed to the coil, so all that is now having to do is energise the relay coil. That's taken around 5A of draw off the ignition switch etc and has ensured we have a nice solid 12V to the coil (well...the correct voltage after the ballast resistor). I couldn't get a solid reading on what we had there with the engine running as my digital meter had a fit because of the electrical noise there.

I've hooked up this wiring and just need to label things and to trim some cable ties then I'm going to call that done. The car sat idling quite happily for a good hour I reckon while I was tidying other things up. It's very obvious that the throttle response seems sharper from idle...so we might have improved things a lot.

Idle is still very lumpy, but I'm not at all convinced that's not entirely carb related. You can't hear spark dropping out now which you originally could

Turning on every electrical device on the car now has no effect on the running of the engine, which is an obvious improvement. It's noticeable that the voltmeter in the dash now just reads low then rather than basically nothing like before.

I will have a quick look and see if I can easily find where the 12V feed to the ignition amplifier itself is. If I can I will tap that into the same relay feed as that not getting a solid 12V could cause all sorts of nonsense as well. I'm not going to go hacking things about too much, but I'd like to get a solid power feed to there if I can as it would eliminate a lot of question marks over that side of things. If we have a weak point in there any "weight" I can take off the ignition switch etc has to be a good thing too.

Hopefully get it home tomorrow though... I'm slightly nervous to take it out of the neighborhood though as I don't really trust it yet on account of having had to push this car more times than any car I've ever actually owned!
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:14 pm

Moderately busy day today. It started out helping a friend carry some parts for a car they were having delivered today. The Caddy is supremely useful at times like this.

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With that car deposited it made sense to also pick up something I've been waiting to have delivered for quite a while now as it was dropped off at the same location.

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Which magically materialised at my driveway 15 minutes later.

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My original plan had been for the BX to move on first, but transport for that is still pending a confirmation date so we now have an excess of beige.

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This means I now have the car somewhere where I can start working on improving it.

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The missing tailpipe will be a simple enough fix for now. I had this bit of pipe still sitting around from when I was messing around with the system on the Jag.

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Which happens to be exactly the right diameter, length and even has a swadged end so I can clamp it straight on the existing pipework. All I need to do is add a hanger and then this can stay as it is until I track down the correct silencer. It does actually sound quite pleasing at idle but I suspect it will be boomy when actually driving.

Sadly with the weather forecast this week being in the 30s for the rest of the week I can't see me getting much done.

While I was out and about a couple of packages arrived for me.

The first contained this.

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That is an original Sinclair QL power supply. I had been looking at coming up with a modern solution, however this popped up on eBay cheaply enough it just wasn't worth the hassle.

The second was also for the QL, but this time a modern replacement keyboard membrane.

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You can clearly enough see where the original one has cracked where the cable flexed.

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With the new membrane fitted and the power supply hooked up we do now have a working QL.

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Will need to take some time to get to know the machine when I get a chance. It's probably the single one I'm the most actively curious about that I've come across for a long while.
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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 » Fri Aug 12, 2022 11:21 am

Time to take a little look at the Cavalier.

First up, I of course have my priorities right and had to fix this.

Before:

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After:

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Doesn't that look so much less neglected now?

Some further observations.

[] Stereo wiring. This is going to require some immediate attention before it makes me tear my hair out.

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Especially as I've ascertained that several of those wires are live.

[] Those tape holders need to go.

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They just look wrong in a 70s car to me. Likewise the 80s gear knob and gaiter. The gaiter I can probably live with, but the gear knob is just wrong and looks totally out of place.

[] Heater fan is non functional. We knew this going in. It is drawing power so is probably just seized up from sitting. Access is okay it looks like we it's all in the engine bay.

Also on the subject of heating, the temperature slider is seized.

[] Dash lighting looks to be 3/5ths working. We have 50% of the instrument panel and the heater controls. Half the dash, rear window defroster switch and the clock are currently not working.

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Speaking of the rear window demister switch, I was kind of surprised to find that the indicator tab on the switch to show it's on is purple...I was expecting white, maybe orange or green...but not...purple.

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Random detail, but it pleases me.

While on the topic of colour, my camera really can't pick it up but the main beam light on the dash is a really nice ultra saturated deep blue. In fact all of the lights on the dash are very, very vibrant (in a way that sends CCD based cameras running screaming in terror). It's pretty much useless trying to photograph the red ones, they just turn out magenta.

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Yes I'm going to geek out over the dash... it's an aspect of automotive design I've always had a big interest in and I greatly enjoy seeing examples like this where a designer has managed to inject a little flair into what is actually a very basic panel that could have been utterly boring and still worked just as well.

[] Ignition light is intermittent. Just a poor lamp holder contact it seems as tapping the dash gentky always wakes it up.

[] Windscreen washers don't, and the wiper blades are precisely as wrecked as you'd expect.

[] Clutch release bearing (or throw out bearing to our American readers) is really rather noisy. Yes, this is how easy this car starts.

https://youtu.be/2GVH6mRdBt0

[] Rear parcel shelf. Some very 1980s carpet covering the speaker holes. I will be wanting to put some decent speakers in there anyway...so the fact someone has already hacked some holes in there in my mind is a really good thing given it means I can do that guilt free.

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[] Door dents. I've had a couple of suggestions for folks who might be able to improve this situation so will see where that goes.

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I've picked up oil and an oil filter for it...that amounts to the grand total of what my local factors can get for this car in terms of service items, so I'll need to do some online shopping it seems.
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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 » Fri Aug 12, 2022 10:20 pm

Quick job today was to bridge the broken bit of the vent line from the fuel tank. Oddly just one bit had gone crispy and shattered, the rest of the tube is perfectly pliable. So just stuffed a bit of fuel line to replace that little part.

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Apparently this worked as the boot (and by extension the entire interior) no longer stink of fuel.

I have also got into the back of the heater blower and drowned it in penetrating oil. I suspect I need to pull it to bits and clean up the bearings directly, but will see if this helps tomorrow.

I notice that I'm missing the cover from the back of both headlights. Anyone still got any of these floating around in a box somewhere?

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I noticed something...or rather noticed the absence of something in the cabin. Not actually missing, rather something the car just has never had.

Here are the grand total of your driver controls.

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Nothing down here aside from the radio if it was still there.

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Figured it out yet?

No rear fog lights! Welcome to 1978 I guess!

While they are all holding air, the tyres definitely won't be going anywhere near the road beyond possibly a walking pace trundle round our block.

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Changing these was already on my plan, immediately below "make the brakes work" anyhow so no surprises finding that perishing.

-- -- --

Cleanup of the QL is underway.

Keycaps and latterly plungers all removed.

Fun fact, keyboards are gross.

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Was surprised to find that the key caps are reverse moulded rather than just being black plastic with a silk screened legend on. Given Sinclair's usual approach to cost savings I hadn't expected this.

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Soon enough we had a pile of bits ready to carry downstairs to get a good old scrub up.

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Before:

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After:

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Likewise over the other side.

Before:

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After:

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All just waiting to be thoroughly dried out now before it gets reassembled.

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Should look like new once it goes back together.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:40 pm

QL is now back together and working again.

Does indeed look like a new machine again. Plus the gritty keyboard action has been resolved. Don't get me wrong, it still wasn't ever going to have IBM worrying about the sales figures for the Model M, but it's entirely usable.

For all it's flaws it really is quite a smart looking machine I think.

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I think this is probably one of the machines I've had in terms of how well it came up with a clean.

Just need to round up some software for it now so I can try it out. This is one case where I probably *will* wind up going down the SD card based storage solution for as it's otherwise a bit of a pain to interface with - especially as it formats microdrive wafers differently to the Spectrum so I can't just use that as a bridge. Plus they have never exactly had a reputation as the most reliable storage medium.
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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 » Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:58 pm

Had a spare hour this afternoon so got a bit of tinkering on the Cavalier done.

Surprisingly the heater blower motor had freed up while it was stewing in penetrant, so I quickly threw that back together for testing.

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This was then left to run under careful observation for half an hour or so. The bearings are a bit grumbly so I think it will want replacing long term. It's definitely working on both speeds though and seems to be shifting plenty of air on both speeds.

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While staying in the vicinity to keep an eye on the blower to ensure it didn't burst into flames I was successfully able to free off the temperature blend flap in the heater box, so the temperature control now also works properly.

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I've confirmed that it does actually supply hot or cool air properly depending on the position as well rather than just the lever moving and doing nothing. The action has come back pretty good actually, which I wasn't banking on as the linkage was quite crusty.

Didn't even get much by the way of junk out of the vents.

I think a new set of heater hoses should probably be on my shopping list.

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Mmm...crusty. Though after 44 years I think we can forgive that and say they've done their time.

Think in the interests of reliability I'll be looking to change all of the coolant lines. I need to pop the aux belt off and check to see how the bearings in the water pump sound, as something is making a bit of noise, most noticeable when the engine stops. Reckon it's either the water pump or the alternator.

Spotted this light in the boot somewhat at random.

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Initially this caused a bit of head scratching as I couldn't immediately find the switch. Turns out to be quite a tiny little thing hidden behind the nearside hinge mount.

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It's a little normally closed switch which is pressed by the hinge as the boot lid is closed.

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Initially this was resolutely dead. Turned out we had a poor contact on the power supply lead, in the lamp holder itself *and* at the switch. Once all of these had been cleaned up we had a working light.

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Of course having established the light worked there was a very important test to then be made.

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Excellent, yes the light does actually turn off when the boot lid is closed.

While not massively bright it is actually useful.

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Upgraded with an LED lamp like I used in the boot of the Jag I reckon that would work pretty well.

While the windscreen washers did very briefly work, they immediately died. This turned out to be because the reservoir was full of slime. No surprises there then.

This was left soaking for several hours with a dishwasher tab in.

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This didn't really do anything so it's been left with some bleach in to see if that will do anything to it.

I have also bolted my temporary tail pipe on, just need to come up with a hanger for it and I can tick that off the list of things I need to worry about for a while.

An order of about £200 worth of miscellaneous bits and pieces has gone into Autodoc. Given that none of my local factors could find anything beyond the oil and filter (or bother to actually pick up the paper catalogues) so the internet it was to be. Beyond this order the items I'm aware of still needing to pick up before we can think about taking our first tentative, 10mph test run round the block will be a pair of front brake calipers (or at least a rebuild kit if I'm really lucky), a set of tyres and I think I'll just plan on replacing all of the coolant lines.

Sure we'll find plenty more things to add to that list once we start digging!

Oh...wiper blades. See? Told you I'd have missed something.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:54 pm

Not been much to report lately as I've been rather busy elsewhere. Simply put, trying to unearth the room we refer to as The Purple Room. This is a room which juts off from the side of our lounge (it basically is a second lounge). It's always been something of a dumping ground, but with the move to working from home over the last couple of years it had turned into a complete and utter disaster. You literally couldn't walk from one end of the room to the other, much less use the space for anything. Given we need to have two adults staying in here for a week and a bit IN a week and a bit, we needed to sort it!

It took a whole lot of work...and has resulted in approximately half the rest of the ground floor now being a complete disaster, but the target of our efforts now looks like this. First time it's really been a usable room in about five years.

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No prizes for guessing why we refer to it as The Purple Room.

There's now room to fold out the futon (which only folds out to sleep one person despite being wide enough to be a double - daft design) and to put out the camp bed currently propped against the far wall and still walk around. I also put the curtains up as we'd never got as far as doing that before. Putting up the curtain rail in the bay windows was an utter swine of a job.

Yes that room is as odd a shape as it looks. There is not a single 90 degree angle on the floor plan. It used to be a lean to containing a combined heat and power unit when the house was built, before being closed in and turned into a room back in 1986 (when I reckon the carpet dates from). The fireplace is where the gas supply to the generator unit used to be.

Star has decided that she is a big fan. She doesn't like going into the main lounge (she has serious anxiety issues), however she seems happy in there and definitely approves of there being a sofa where she can actually spend time with me. I approve of not having to be sitting on the floor to do this.

Happy face.

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Aaaaand *zonk.*

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If she's somewhere she can glue herself to my side she's happy.

With 95% of the weekend having been consumed by that job I was determined to get half an hour spent on car things. So I went and sat in the Cavalier and looked around for an easy quick job. Decided the semi functional dash lighting was a good target.

Once I figured out how to get the rear window demister switch out (there's a recess to hook something behind above the symbol, then it just pulls straight out) it was pretty obvious why that light wasn't working.

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Simple lamp replacement had that back up and running.

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Photo makes it look far brighter than it really is.

Didn't expect to see the symbol change colour to show when the switch is on on a car of this age. Nice touch. The camera hasn't really caught the colour right, but it's a kind of magentaish colour rather than red or amber, matching the marker on the switch. Camera has made it look more orange than it really is.

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I've confirmed that there is no facility for illumination of the symbol above the headlight switch, so we're not missing a light there.

Next up will be the instrument cluster. We're missing the offside panel light and the ignition light has a touchy contact. As it's a bit of a faff to get into because of how the heater controls are built into the dash cowling I'm probably just going to replace all of the lamps in the dash and the heater controls as a batch. There's no lamp actually in the heater blower switch, it's lit from above by the one in the lower end of the heater controls via a little window.

Reckon the next task I'll have for this car will be an oil and filter change. The oil isn't that dirty, but it does smell quite fuelly so I'd rather get it changed sooner than later.
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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 » Fri Aug 26, 2022 10:49 am

A box of goodies arrived yesterday morning for the Cavalier.

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Which despite the best efforts of Yodel who judging from the condition of the outer box had defaulted to "drop it from low earth orbit" as the preferred delivery method, all appeared intact.

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In here we have:

[] Air filter.

[] Front brake discs.

[] Brake pads.

[] Rear wheel brake cylinders.

[] Distributor cap and rotor arm.

[] Thermostat.

[] Spark plug set.

[] Fan belt.

The thermostat hasn't given me any indication of issues, but I've had mixed luck with them sticking after a while in cars which have been laid up so changing it feels like cheap insurance against that happening on the first long run the car does.

Things started out well...predictably.

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Distributor cap: Wrong.

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Rotor arm: Wrong. Though to be fair the one on there looks pretty much new.

Of course being from Autodoc there's no point in even trying to return them.

The air filter was at least correct.

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The one that came out wasn't too dirty but had been thoroughly squashed and was a loose fit in the housing. Reckon someone had put the lid on without properly seating the filter element in the past.

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Fan belt was slightly longer than the one already on the car but was well within range of the adjuster, so that was a nice simple swap.

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Neither the bearings in the water pump or alternator feel bad. There's a tiny bit of play in the water pump, but we're talking really tiny. Think I'm going to need to find something to use as a stethoscope to see if I can more accurately pin down where the noise is coming from. Failing that, wait until it gets a bit louder and becomes easier to track...

I've been pointed at a couple of marque specialists who look to have some parts I'd not yet been able to track down in stock, plus things like the correct ignition system bits. So reckon there will be an order heading their way soon.
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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 » Fri Aug 26, 2022 8:54 pm

Today was the day of waiting for tradesmen who were meant to be coming to do survey/quote work. Out of the four, one turned up. So I was left with a day where I couldn't really go anywhere or do anything major as I was waiting for them. Of course the one who did turn up did so within two minutes of the end of their 2-4PM window.

This meant it was a day of small jobs on cars etc.

First up was an oil and filter change on the Cavalier. The oil which came out was a lot dirtier than it looked on the dipstick and reeked of fuel, but there was absolutely no metal in it and while it was dirty there weren't any chunks in it.

Filter was well and truly stuck on there but eventually relented and came off.

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That's definitely been on there a day or two and had very nearly rusted through around the base.

Can't say I'm that thrilled with the replacement.

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I've never had any issues with Napa stuff personally, but a filter that's been sourced from an OEM so cheap they've not even put any form of markings on it save for a wonky plastic label just doesn't instill confidence. Methinks I'll be buying the next one from elsewhere so it can be a Mann, Wix or Bosch one. Takes the same filter as the Invacar I now know which is helpful as it minimises the difference things I need in stock.

Did notice something less than ideal when crawling around for the drain plug (which is quite awkward to get to because it's towards the rear of the sump and the engine is a long way back already).

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While I'd poked several bits of surface rust in the vicinity of this bit, apparently I totally missed this crispy but of chassis rail. It's absolutely not the end of the world, it's a simple rectangular box section so pretty easy to reconstruct, could have done without it though and I'm irked with myself for not spotting it before.

I did wonder if it was historic damage from jacking improperly or something, before I realised the cause.

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That damage lines up absolutely perfectly with the centre of the dent in the nearside door and the slight kink in the exhaust. Was clearly caused by the telehandler fork when the car was picked up (though it's obvious the area was weak before so would have needed work sooner than later anyway).

It's just never nice when you find structural bits that have turned crunchy.

Also noticed while changing the oil...I suspect I may need to come up with something more durable than duct tape to cover this unused PCV port in the rocker cover.

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Though it's clearly been on there a while and is well and truly stuck...guess it's a good demonstration that this engine doesn't have much blow by...

The oil is now looking rather cleaner, to the extent that it's kind of hard to see on the dipstick even after letting the engine run for half an hour or so.

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Was really quite surprised how little oil it took, pretty sure including the filter it was just under four litres. Was expecting nearer to five.

I get the impression that a new set of shock absorbers probably wouldn't be a bad idea. They're kind of crusty, though do seem to be working for now at least.

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Well nobody had showed up by then so I got the vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies out and went after the interior.

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Pretty sure this must have had a going over when it arrived with the previous keeper as aside from being a bit dusty it really wasn't bad. Though the plastics are basically just drinking the conditioner, which is why the dash top currently looks patchy.

Once the seats and carpets have been shampooed it will pretty much look like new in there I think. Even as it is, for a 44 year old car you can't fault how that's come up.

I really don't understand why car makers insist on making interiors so dull these days, what was wrong with a bit of colour? Is there some unwritten rule which says we can't make an interior look warm and inviting any more?

I did notice today that one of the headlights has previously been used on a higher trim level car at some point as it has a scratch on it from a wiper which this car has never had.

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Moving on from there I went and checked the various fluid levels on the rest of the fleet, checked all the tyre pressures, topped up the steering box on the van, and paired all my socks. Still no sign of contractors.

Turned my attention to the recently acquired bike. Main thing it needed was a fresh set of tyres. The ones on it were quite badly perished and were more off road focused than I wanted. An easy change.

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That quite predictably made a huge difference in how it rides - the difference in rolling resistance is truly remarkable.

Then gave it a bit of a wipe down, peeled some of the already disintegrating stickers off and replaced the smashed up rear mud guard.

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Need to investigate the play in the front fork top bearing and tweak my previous adjustment of the gear shift as I over compensated slightly when I moved the limit screw on the front gear set when I adjusted it last week. I'll also need to put a new rear reflector on, the original would have been totally obscured by the rear mud guard, so I'll swap it out for one on the seat post. I'm not too bothered about lights as I'll never be riding on road save for a couple of hundred yards to the cycleway here or after dark at all. If that changes I'll obviously fit a decent set. It's just something else to break/get nicked otherwise.

At this point the last of the four people who we were expecting actually appeared so I had to down tools - then get a whole day's worth of errands run after they were left in about an hour.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Mon Sep 05, 2022 8:22 pm

Unsurprisingly not been much going on over the weekend between initially having guests arrive then immediately being plunged into isolation when one of them tested positive for COVID on the first evening here. Not really the weekend we'd planned.

This afternoon I escaped outside for an hour though determined to do...well...anything useful.

So targeted the fuel system on the Cavalier. The main tank to front line on this is nylon and is in fine condition so I see absolutely no reason to disturb that. The rubber line from the tank to that nylon line has already been changed (it was leaking back when the car was at it's previous home), however the front end lines haven't been touched any time recently. The one that goes to the carb was way too long as well and would get in the way of the (missing) warm air duct from the manifold. This car has worn a plethora of carbs when a historic running issue was fought with so that may well explain why the routing seemed odd.

A quick careful reshape of the steel line and a shorter length of hose made things far tidier on that side.

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The other side of the engine is a little more awkward as the fuel pump from the engine bay is totally hidden by the alternator - access from underneath is fine though.

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I've replaced the inlet side hose there, outlet will have to wait as I don't have any more fuel hose clips the right size and don't want to reuse those jubilee style ones.

I added an inline fuel filter as well as there was no evidence of one having been fitted anywhere before.

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The suction side lines that came off are branded GM. Makes me wonder if these might even be original.

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I'd have expected fabric covered lines probably given the age, so reckon they're replacements off a later car - quite prepared to be proven wrong though. Not in terrible shape but they were just starting to go.

Managed to get the traditional oily handprint somewhere.

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Very much looking forward to getting the engine bay in this car...getting fed up with getting covered in grime every time I touch 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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Zelandeth
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Thu Sep 15, 2022 9:10 am

It's been a little while since I've had time to do an update so time for a bit of a catch up.

Giving the engine bay a bit of a clean up had been very much on the wishlist since the day the Cavalier arrived. It really wasn't bad given the age of the car, but nevertheless was grubby enough that whenever you touched anything in there you got covered in gunk. It needed a clean.

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Especially down here.

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The underneath of the bonnet was pretty unpleasant too.

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A not insignificant amount of degreaser was deployed and left to soak for a bit while the pressure washer was dug out and set up.

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After 20 or 30 minutes things looked quite a bit better.

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It's not perfect but has got rid of most of the major grime and will make working on the car a lot less unpleasant. I was really surprised that I didn't even need to crack out the WD40 to get it started after the cleaning, it just started up as though nothing had happened.

I did give the rest of the car a once over while I had the pressure washer out. Difference isn't that dramatic from a distance.

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However if you looked up close before and after the amount of moss, lichen and general gunk that was blown out from the gutters, around badges, under trim etc was quite impressive.

The amount of surface grime that was blown off the paintwork was also actually visible.

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Will still need some major attention with the polisher before it's actually shiny, but at least it's vaguely clean now.

Other paintwork issues included this blue overspray on the nearside rear quarter.

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I wanted to see whether this would just buff off with some cutting paste. Turns out the answer is yes, which also gives us a glimpse of the actual colour the car will be once cleaned up.

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I would have liked to finish that panel but it decided to start raining then which meant I had to abandon it right after that photo was taken.

For a normal family car from the closing years of the 1970s there is a surprisingly large amount of brightwork on this thing, all of which is quite dull. Unfortunately there are dents in both the front and rear bumpers, but the chrome work itself seems in good condition. I hit one little spot on the rear with some Autosol polish to see how it would clean up, the results are encouraging.

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Getting that all polished up will make quite a big difference to the car I think. Yes by the way, that did actually happen before the cleaning at the start of this post, hence all the gunge you can see under the trim on the rear quarter.

Work on the braking system has now commenced. Before I could do much I needed to confirm exactly what type of calipers I had fitted. Knowing they both need attention (or replacement) I figured pulling one off the car for inspection was a good starting point.

Based on prior experience on other cars I was expecting this to be quite a war, likely involving several hours of me smacking myself in the face with breaker bars and swearing at the car. The caliper to hub mounting bolts are (for good reason) generally very tight, and given the low mileage of this car quite likely have never been removed before.

I was thrown a bit of help on this one though as I have enough room to get the impact gun in there.

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This rattled the bolts off in a few seconds each, so I had the caliper off the car and in my hands in about ten minutes, including jacking the car up.

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The inboard piston retracted quite readily (thankfully as there's quite a lip on the discs so I'd not have got it off otherwise), the outboard one however is quite firmly stuck. I know the discs are shot which is why new ones are already in the boot.

I need to have a look around and find out whether these calipers are readily available for sane money or whether I need to look at rebuilding these ones (or getting a professional to do it for me). I'd probably opt for replacement as my first choice as it gives me a good "it should just work" solution without me needing to buy any more equipment I don't already own. I do already have new wheel cylinders for the rears in stock, though I'm giving those the chance to work before I condemn them as I've generally had pretty good luck with them before and this car has not been sitting *that* long in the grand scheme of things. I'd rather not wind up having to replace all the rear axle hard lines (which from memory look to be in good shape) if I don't need to because I'd tried to remove a wheel cylinder that turned out to work just fine.

Once the brakes are sorted the main thing between it and a careful barely above walking pace trundle round our estate will be getting this previous welding repair that has failed sorted. Given the proximity to the subframe mounting I'm not willing to drive the car until that's been sorted.

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The other two sides of that box section feel fine and access is decent with the wheel off so I'm hoping this won't be the worst repair to do. As far as I'm currently aware this is the worst bit of rust on the car, and it's not a surprising one as it's a very common place for these cars to go from what I've read. The other welding needs doing before the car is used in anger, but it's nothing which concerns me for a sub 20mph trundle on very quiet roads, that bit though is firmly under the "it ain't going nowhere unless it's on a trailer/transporter until that's fixed" category.

Which brings us up to date I think.
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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 » Wed Sep 21, 2022 10:57 pm

After a certain amount of patience, brute force, swearing and assistance from compressed air (seriously, how did I function without having compressed air on tap in the garage?) we have had some success getting movement out of the caliper I've taken off the Cavalier.

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That piston is moving relatively freely. I reckon once it's cleaned up it will probably be okay. The other piston is moving pretty readily for a few millimetres, but nothing beyond that. Most likely because there's a rust ridge we need to get past. I ran out of time when I was working on it on this occasion but we'll get back to it soon.

TPA has been out and about again doing normal car things. Realising that as we're getting further on in the year probably won't be all that long until she's tucked up for the winter. So taking advantage of the decent weather to get her out for a good run.

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Figured as it's been absolutely forever it feels like since I really did a proper inspection of the drive system it was about time I did.

I finally seem to have pretty much got the knack of installing and removing this cover.

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Usual slight misting of oil from the gearbox output shaft but it doesn't seem to have got any worse. The level has never dropped between me checking and changing the oil so I'm not worried about it. It only takes a tiny amount of something as sticky as EP90 to look horrendous.

So let's take a closer look.

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Belt looks to be holding up just fine. This will have probably somewhere in the ballpark of 3,500 miles on now I think. I'll need to look up the logbook to confirm the exact number. Definitely is a bit of wear there but nothing which alarms me.

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Pulley surfaces are looking fine.

Primary:

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Secondary:

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There was some slight surface tarnish on that when it went on, doesn't look any worse now.

What I did find however was that the bolt on the primary had backed off slightly. There was no actual movement in the pulley itself (it's a very snug fit on the gearbox output shaft), but that washer behind the bolt was free to rattle around. I was able to get maybe 3/4 of a turn out of it.

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Used an extension bar to lock the pulley in place.

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Given that the slightly metallic rattling noise at low speed that I've had for as long as I can remember now seems to have gone away I reckon this may have been slightly loose for a long time. I think I will look at making up a locking tab for that bolt as that coming properly loose at speed Would Be Bad. Though I think you would get plenty of warning as before it could come out the bolt would hit the inside of the service hatch I think, so would make all the noise ever.

In the meantime it's been done up Quite Tight, and a decent blob of Loctite has been applied.

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This is a good example of why preventative maintenance is a good thing. I have checked on the belt visually from the engine bay regularly, but it's well worth getting right in here now and then to check on things.

Also found a ball joint where the metal clip holding the dust cap on has rusted away. Otherwise seems fine still so will just replace the clip if I can find one the right size. Failing that I do have a full set of replacement ball joints in stock if necessary.

Something I want to try is a little bit of experimentation with drive pulley spacing. The only thing I've noted with the HP2020 belt versus the standard one is that it drops into "overdrive" slightly earlier than the book says it should. Given the dimensions are essentially identical I'm guessing the difference there is in the actual weight of the belt. It's a very low priority task and is only really noticeable when accelerating from a standing start on a gradient, but now it's stopped being a million degrees outside I might be more inclined to try tweaking it a little. My guess is that we need a fraction more tension on the belt.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Andrew353w » Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:45 am

Although the system used in Invacars differs from that used by Dafs the principles are the same in that there should always be some tension on the belt, even when at rest. To achieve this the secondary pulley should always have a slight gap when in "low" ratio and this is 1mm in a Daf 33. This should be checked Avery 3,000 miles and adjusted if necessary. Dafs use ATF to lubricate the pulleys and changing this regularly helps, too. Given your experience with Invacars I expect you'll be doing these checks already!

Invacars don't use the engine vacuum to control the ratio and I've followed both your and Hubnut's experiences with your cars with interest. I wonder if a vacuum controlled "Daf" system could ever be fitted in place of the Invacar system.....
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Thu Sep 22, 2022 11:27 pm

Andrew353w wrote:
Thu Sep 22, 2022 7:45 am
Although the system used in Invacars differs from that used by Dafs the principles are the same in that there should always be some tension on the belt, even when at rest. To achieve this the secondary pulley should always have a slight gap when in "low" ratio and this is 1mm in a Daf 33. This should be checked Avery 3,000 miles and adjusted if necessary. Dafs use ATF to lubricate the pulleys and changing this regularly helps, too. Given your experience with Invacars I expect you'll be doing these checks already!

Invacars don't use the engine vacuum to control the ratio and I've followed both your and Hubnut's experiences with your cars with interest. I wonder if a vacuum controlled "Daf" system could ever be fitted in place of the Invacar system.....
The service manual for the Invacar states that the belt tension should be set by putting the pulleys a very precise distance apart. If everything is working properly it should "lock up" at exactly 45mph. This has always done that slightly too early since the HP2020 belt was fitted, so I've always wanted to experiment a bit with it.

The system works absolutely fine for the type of use the car was really designed. Around town she's actually quite nippy, I don't think the extra complication and weight would be worth it for the gains you'd get maybe by dropping the gearing slightly when you're pulling away from a standing start up hill. At the end of the day she's got 19 horsepower to play with, she's never going to be a racing car.

There's no lubrication on the pulleys on the Invacar beyond what you apply at service time (I usually use graphite so it doesn't wind up contaminating the running surface).

Do admit I'd love a shot of a DAF, I was last in one when I was a kid.

-- -- --

That piston cleaned up not too bad. Some surface tarnish, but nothing too dire.

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This piston moves easily and smoothly by hand, so I'm not going to pop it out for now. That would simply ensure that I absolutely definitely would need to change the piston seal. I've given it a dose of rubber grease, refitted the (cleaned) rubber boot and am leaving it be.

The other piston however is still refusing to move fully out. I'm struggling to get any real force on it and can't really apply heat because I'm having to hand hold the caliper while working on it. This really is one of those jobs which would be a thousand times easier if I had a workbench with a vice handy.

Given that I'm struggling with this one piston already and I know the driver's side caliper is even worse (it had to be split and the pads removed to get the car rolling originally I'm told), I think that I'm going to hand this job off to a professional outfit. Once I've got both calipers off I think they'll be getting sent off to Bigg Red Brakes to be refurbished. I know a few folks who have used them, and have had nothing but praise. That's good enough for me. I'd personally trust a set of professionally rebuilt calipers than some random no-name set from goodness knows where that eBay claims will fit...

Rears at least are simple as the cylinders were readily available for something silly like £6 each for good branded ones (which I already have). Those I'm giving the opportunity to work before I pull stuff apart - I've had pretty good luck with drums before, so we'll see.
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Re: Today I mostly .....

Post by Zelandeth » Sat Sep 24, 2022 9:58 pm

This afternoon I played chicken with the weather. This was rapidly bearing down on my position.

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Mission was simple: Get the offside brake caliper off the Cavalier so I could get the pair sent off to be rebuilt.

In a rare show of organisation, I actually made a point of getting everything I expected to need out in advance and putting it where I could get to it, rather than the usual 15 trips back and forward to the garage.

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Five minutes later, first contact with the enemy.

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I was briefly sidetracked by a sinister looking bit of peeling seam sealer on the inner wheel arch, but thankfully I seem to have caught it in time.

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Really isn't hard to see why these cars have a reputation for rusting.

Thanks to the wonders of power tools, less than ten minutes after picking tools up I had the caliper off, wheel back on and the jack back in the boot.

The little bag the jack and wheel brace live in are even colour coded to the car, how considerate of Vauxhall...

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Yes I know they're just all that colour, but it amused me.

This is where we took a moment of "one step forward, two steps sideways."

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These two calipers are not the same.

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The one on the offside is made by Girling.

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Whereas the nearside one is an ATE.

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Not really surprising that the car has had one changed, but it's rather annoying as it means I don't have a matched pair to send off for rebuild.

I'm also rather alarmed that the pads in each side are a totally different brand with a significant difference in the amount of wear on them...so it seems that whoever changed the nearside caliper didn't bother swapping the offside pads when it went on... additionally the lower caliper to hub bolt was missing it's washer...You remember me saying I was going to test the rear brakes before pulling things apart? Nope...on the strength of this, they're definitely getting properly inspected beforehand now.

Don't suppose anyone has an old nearside Girling caliper floating around do they?

Did spot something I'd previously missed that was a quick fix (well, it still needs a little attention but is a lot better). Spot the difference.

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The valance had been shoved upwards on the offside. It still needs a little finessing and whatever did the damage has broken off one of the tabs where it attaches to the lower part of the wing, but it's a lot better.

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So a little stuck while I decide what to do about the brakes. If I can't track down either another ATE or Girling caliper I will probably just end up buying a new pair, as don't want to hold this up too long.
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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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