Nods news , A fixorage happened

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Fri Mar 25, 2011 5:13 pm

Ive spent the whole afternoon going right through the Singer in anticipation of the MOT tomorrow and apart from topping up the washers I can find absolutely nothing amiss whatsoever

If it fails il give up

I have cleaned and polished the whole car though so not a total waste of time

Oh and Duks piccys arived today , they look FAB

kilty · Post by **kilty** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 6:16 pm

[quote="Noddy I even polished the inner wheelarches

[/quote]

Is there a concours class at Sherborne?

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:32 am

Passed with no advisories , Garage is doing a buy one get one free on MOTs ATM for £45 so the Vuskys MOT is already paid for

super66 · Post by **super66** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 12:48 pm

/\ haha. Glad it passed fine, not that anyone ever expects anything different for you Noddy!

ImpManiac · Post by **ImpManiac** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 3:51 pm

Yes. Well done, Noddy.

None of us doubted you, though!

IM

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:21 pm

Thanks everyone for your confidence in my work

, Im definitely proactive and not reactive , if stuff need doing / fitting / welding it gets done at the earliest possible moment , dont like backlogs of loads of stuff to do , dont want my cars to look like this because ive not done anything

V

Commer van GFX 51E my supply of panels / rear wings / wiring loom for many years , now sadly swept up with a dustpan as the owner of the yard has passed away , prevention is better than cure

My entry for the worlds most rotten Imp , Vusky owes its continued existence to this van , without it donating just about half of itself to the cause it would be bye bye Vusky

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Mar 26, 2011 8:56 pm

Oh and took the Singer for a blast to see Prometheus of this very parish , big discussions on fitting new rear wings and sills on his black beauty , look like when my two are finally finished theres some work to be done

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sun Mar 27, 2011 5:56 pm

With the Singer freshly MOTed and running like a swiss clock it will soon be time for the Vuskys MOT , Before all this however theres one thing that really needed sorting , for many years now the gearlever has wobbled and rattled over a certain speed , this has gradually gotten worst over the years and now does it
all the time in forth above 40 MPH , used to be over 60MPH , so much so ive been driving with one hand permanently on the gear lever

.
Investigation today has revealed the cause , The ball at the base was fine but it turns out the top dished washer effort has been gradually wearing itself and the gear lever away meaning there was a 1mm gap between its hole in the centre and the lever , hence the rattle
So today ive wrenched out the old lever and replaced it with a less worn one , there was still a bit of a gap with this one so ive notched the lever slightly where this cupped washer sits so its now an interfierence fit on the lever , Ive also replaced the rear nylon control bush on the shaft with a NOS one ,
Result is a rock steady and silent grearlever at all revs / speeds , slightly stiffer than before which isnt a bad thing but stilll as smooth as a cashmere codpiece .

Going to rest a while from all things mechanical until the garage sends the MOT reminder .

Prometheus · Post by **Prometheus** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:38 pm

Mmmm. Everyone has a price..... Mr. Imp.Sport what is yours .????

Fancy chipping in Baz. Could be a great film for the projector at National

.

bazzateer · Post by **bazzateer** » Tue Mar 29, 2011 8:57 pm

Don't worry. A little bit of detective work with the Beeb should get results.

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:12 pm

A really crappy pic of My Singer and the MG on the Esther show c/w Mrs Rancid herself

, you now know what make of TV we have at least

kilty · Post by **kilty** » Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:44 pm

Anyone checked to see if the MG is still on the road.

Prometheus · Post by **Prometheus** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:27 pm

^^^

Is this the gearbox internals lamp that you made Dave?

.

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:31 pm

Prometheus wrote:^^^

Is this the gearbox internals lamp that you made Dave?

.

Yes , thats the one , perhaps i should post a piccy

Yer tis , made over a 6 month period in 1989 , lots of machining needed so the cable ran between the gears and the main shaft , double insulated cable , earthed all over the shop and tested and aproved by a qualified sparky , This sits in the living room and is on most nights as background lighting whilst watching the box , Plaque says " A change of light " 09 / 89 .
Oh and the gears ARE out of order , looked better like this somehow

bazzateer · Post by **bazzateer** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 6:17 pm

Now that is cool, shame I didn't see it when I called round a way back.

celyn · Post by **celyn** » Fri Apr 01, 2011 6:45 pm

Now that... that is COOL!

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:09 pm

Glad a few people like it

, It has been a talking point over the years in our house , Ive thought about engine block tables etc but im not sure an Imp block would look good , lamp had never been done before ( or since looking on google for car related furniture
Mrs Nods seems to think the other lamp was won by the Dutch contingent , probably weighed in for scrap by now as she remembers they didnt look to pleased with it

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Apr 02, 2011 6:41 pm

Only today I posted a new MOT ruling that does possibly include wiring , then the Vusky starts playing up

, well the rear lights to be exact , MOT is due soon and although I cant really be bothered ATM thought Id at least check the lights on the thing , NS brake light not working , that would be a bulb then

WRONG

, Turns out the connectors for the rear lights were quite corroded especially the battery side ( NS lights are connected to the O/S lights here ), I remade the loom myself in 92 so was quite surprised to see this , anyway Ive replaced all the solder on " bullet " connectors and all the single and double rubber sleeved connectors these go into , lots of crud around all the connectors , probably from the engine / road at a guess

Oh , and cleared out part of the shed and found 100 or so shims id completely forgotten about

kilty · Post by **kilty** » Sat Apr 02, 2011 6:48 pm

Lucky bleeder, all I found in my shed was a 1000 or so wood lice!

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Sun Apr 03, 2011 6:40 pm

/\/\Brilliant idea! They make very good pets, too. Just don't pick them up by their tail as it'l snap off

We have a canal just 100 yards away so no shortage of critters...

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:56 pm

Talking of rats ive just busted the interior mirror in the Vusky trying to clean the crud off the windscreen , convex glass jobby too
RATS

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Fri Apr 08, 2011 3:48 pm

Someone on here has asked about return springs on Twin SU carbs , cant remember who but heres mine.
This looks complicated as there are 4 in total , so if your still reading heres the explanation .
The two running parallel at the top are connected directly to the throttle spindles , SU carbs have no built in spring so rely completely on these to shut the throttle down , these are genuine SU springs which are quite weak efforts and normally have quite a stretch on them to get some pedal feel , unfortunately the inlet manifold on the Singer is quite a bit narrower than the Vuskys C @ T one , some 20mm in fact , on the Vusky this extra distance gives enough stretch to get the required pedal feel , not on here though , pedal felt almost disconnected from the carbs , lovely and light but not good for driving in traffic , Ive added one other which is the larger of the two at the bottom between the air filters , this is connected to the throttle cable connecting bar and gives me the feel required without adding any extra strain on the spindles thus reducing wear significantly , this throttle bar floats in between the throttle spindles and is only connected via two finger prongs on the ends of the spindles so in rest position have no effect on the carbs whatsoever , the smaller one at the bottom is an additional choke return spring ive added , this isnt necessary as the carbs have one built in , so just a precaution really .

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Apr 09, 2011 2:40 pm

Just got an indicated 96 MPH in the Singer

, not totally flat out but close , not bad for an 875CC L4 with a +20 rebore .

SUs RULE

although the 175/60/13 tyres might explain this , so - 2.3% , il push for a ton next time , private test track of course

kilty · Post by **kilty** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:04 pm

I reckon it`d be a ton sans rollcage!

kilty · Post by **kilty** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 5:24 pm

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:15 pm

If you fly the plane a bit higher before pushing the car out you can get 120mph guaranteed

Amazing fuel economy too

And I'm sure Mrs Noddy would have been more of a help than hinderance once you factor in the 'showing off' aspect

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sun Apr 10, 2011 3:47 pm

Rear window on the Singers leaking , noticed it the other day when it hoofed it down , thing is is hasnt leaked before and its also getting a pain to shut , so thought id have a looksee today in detail , Ive always known the window just never looked right since i fitted it and now i know why , ive a balmoral grey rear window off a 64 car so thought a comparison would be an idea , ive seen slight variations in size so worth checking . Removed mine .
Size is the same but my window is twisted , to top this off the O/S hinge is also at a different angle than the N/S one ( some 7mm

)
So ive fitted the Balmoral one , fit is much better but it remains to be seen if it leaks or not
Im now left with a rot free rear window thats scrap

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:19 pm

Would possibly be fixable , not sure on the twisted bit though , if all else fails il keep the bottom part of the frame and bin the rest ,
Will have to get some paint now for the other rear window

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:19 pm

Good news indeed! How's the old one twisted?

kilty · Post by **kilty** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 6:31 pm

Has anyone-to your knowledge-looked into getting the rear hatch frames remade? They`re a great thing to have on an Imp but can be a real pisser when they go pearshaped. I reckon there`s some old geezer in a shed somewhere with all the right gear to knock up a few. Or is that called wishful thinking?

bazzateer · Post by **bazzateer** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 10:51 pm

Get yourself a satnav Dave, differences in tyres/gearing etc won't affect it. If your test track has a nice long straight you'll get a more reliable indication of speed - that's how I got the 98.4mph for LNK.

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:20 pm

The Nun wrote:
Twisted? hows it twist with a flat piece of glass in it?

i think the drivers side hinge seized up solid , least i couldnt move it by hand once off the car , its freed up now but alas too late

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:27 pm

Remember my tatty seats I bought from ebay for 99p
Some news this week hopefully

bazzateer · Post by **bazzateer** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:54 pm

That's the point Drew, car speedos are usually optimistic. The satnav usually says a lower speed than the speedo. In my old Vectra 80mph on the speedo was 77mph on the satnav. I'm inclined to believe the satnav over the speedo. Needless to say when the satnav said LNK was doing 98.4mph the speedo was way off the 100mph clock!

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 8:58 pm

Don't get me started on cheap prat-nav accuracy...if you want gps to give you a true and accurate speed you need to spend around £20,000.

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:57 pm

/\/\Maybe, maybe not. The good thing about sat-nav is you can transfer it from car to car. However, the accuracy will vary every 10 metres or so dependent on whether you're passing trees, buildings, trucks and so on which will block satellite signals and even bounce the signals giving a false reading (readings are based on time and distance in a nutshell). The good thing about an Imp speedo is that it will give a consistent reading (wear and tear being infinitessimally tiny over a given journey length) so you're best bet is to drive at a constant speed over an accurately measured mile and time it, thus giving you a correction for error. Then go play

£20k gets you gps accurate to within 20mm or so (compared to 10m with Road Angel and other recommended brands) which corrects itself every second, so the aforementioned obstacles will have less effect unless in the way for too long.

Told you not to get me going

Sorry, Noddy

gnatman · Post by **gnatman** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:52 pm

[quote="Meltdown"]/\/\Maybe, maybe not. The good thing about an Imp speedo is that it will give a consistent reading (wear and tear being infinitessimally tiny over a given journey length)quote]

Great if you're happy with a consistantly wrong indication of speed then

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:48 pm

These are now in red vinyl to match the rear restall seat in the Vusky , but you will have to hang on for piccys til i fit them

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:03 pm

From rags to riches

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:52 pm

Meltdown wrote:From rags to riches

Indeed , this is how they look now , camera makes them look brighter than they are , not exactly the same shade of red as the Restall rear seat but the nearest available , done to match the lines etc on the rear seat
What do you all think

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:28 pm

Positively sumptuous for one's posterior

Time to save some pennies to get the rears done so they match, perchance?

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 9:40 pm

/\/\Sorry, thought you said they're not exactly the same shade?

ben · Post by **ben** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:43 pm

Yep they look the bomb... I may go as far as to say they look as good as mine blue and yellow leather piped ones

Dave I cant believe they are the same chair as the before photo

Ben.

Post by **Lars Hagermark** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:58 pm

Wow! IMPressed!

The Nun · Post by **The Nun** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:22 pm

Got a good excuse now for sitting down on the job anyway.

ben · Post by **ben** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:33 am

Dave did you see your Vusky in Classic car weekly last week? it is on page 33 and has prometheus standing next to it

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Fri Apr 22, 2011 7:13 pm

Drivers seat swab stitching has started to let go so thought it a good idea to sew it up before i drop through the bottom , having removed the base cover noticed the ribbed part was very stiff and the foam backing that gives the ribs theie shape were gone on , I kept the back cover from a saloon back seat with minty ribbed bits so today I cut out my old base and sewed in a new one made from the other seat , resuts are brilliant , seat feels softer and is much more comfortable , Il do the passengers seat next useing the other side of the donor rear seat , no piccys doing the drivers seat but could do so on the passengers one if anyones interested I used black shoe thread which is so strong if will slice your finger off if you try and snap it by hand

, should be good enough doubled up then

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:07 pm

Passengers seat now done

Heres the bottom cover removed with the centre ribbed section cut out ready for the replacement to go in , ive photographed the back so you can see the difference in the new and old centres , old ones are brittle , with the foam and cotton back coming off , new bit is white and very flexible

Heres the new bit let in , sewing doesnt look good as I had to do it in short sections or the thread knotted up

Finally heres the finished result

Meltdown · Post by **Meltdown** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:43 pm

Brilliant

We of course expect to see it at the National

(where's the tent gonna go?)

Dave ' Linwood ' Lane · Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:09 pm

Renewal is due on both Imps , Ive put the Singers valuation up to £4000 ( from £3000 ) but left the Vusky at £3000 , hopefully they will be OK with this , need to send in some piccys of the Singer before they say yes or no
Heres hoping