So, my 88"...
I got this back in 2004 as something knackered. I did a fair bit of work to it (most of which appears to be blocked from memory
). I do remember I painted it, with a 4" roller and a 1/2" brush for the edges - using kitchen/bathroom paint - it was only intended to be a temporary 'tidy up'.
As these temporary things often turn out, it was anything but
Anyway, in 2008 we moved to france - the 88 took us there and here she is enjoying a relaxing time being a 'garden car':
Looking pretty good for 3 year old indoor paint!
A year-and-a-bit later and we moved back. Unfortunately there was no room in the budget to bring her back so she had to stay behind and guard the house while it was for sale - reasoning it shouldn't take too long to sell we'd get her back over then..........
Best laid plans and all that eh? Nearly 4 years later the house finally sold and the 88" got carried back in January '13 - this was the first time I'd seen her in over a year
My poor baby! First order of business was definitely a wash (there is even a bucket on the roof in that pic) - I tried being gentle but it seems she likes it a bit rough, to shift the green I ended up using scouring pads... Let's see how that roller applied kitchen paint likes that!
It didn't really care much as it happens - a few areas went a bit on the thin side but not exactly noticeably so. I'm quite impressed with that paint (especially considering that before I slapped it on the LR it had been sat outside for at least one winter).
And that was that for a bit - other things happened and somehow she was always a lower priority - then the Disco cambelt went. I reasoned that she was going to be quicker and cheaper to get on the road.
First I had to see if/how she ran. Well, she didn't no spark. So the points got cleaned and the spark returned, but still no starting.
Fuel then.
Now, the fuel had been sat in the tank for getting on for 5 years - suffice to say it had gone off a little. A little being that I couldn't set it on fire using a lighter.
Drain the tank and the carb, stick in some new fuel and hand pump it through (that little lever on the engine mounted fuel pump is quite handy) and.... Success! I replaced the indicator lenses with some spares I had about as they had gone nearly white, gave her a quick check over and booked her first MOT since 2007............
Straight through - nice.
Not so nice was on the way home the heater stopped blowing and she started to run really roughly - the running was caused by the fuel filter collapsing. When I drained the tank she was on a bit of a side slope so it seems there was still quite a bit of crud left in the bottom of the tank which got stirred up by movement and adding fuel, then dragged into the filter. This made the next job a clean of the entire fuel system. Oh, and the heater not blowing any more turned out to be the fan had totally shattered (I'm still looking for a fan or complete blower unit, just not looking very hard).
Since then, I've rebuilt the carb (I reckon it's now as good as it can get - all new internals and lapped the body) so it'll do until I can source an SU and I went all electronic with the ignition - the original distributor was quite bad - the vacuum advance was completely seized and the centrifugal springs were very slack, there was also play in the shaft. A completely electronic brand new dizzy was less money than I could rebuild the original for so on one went - I can heartily recommend them now.
There will be more to come - there always is with a series. As I think of or do things that may be interesting I'll post them up.
I got this back in 2004 as something knackered. I did a fair bit of work to it (most of which appears to be blocked from memory
). I do remember I painted it, with a 4" roller and a 1/2" brush for the edges - using kitchen/bathroom paint - it was only intended to be a temporary 'tidy up'.As these temporary things often turn out, it was anything but
Anyway, in 2008 we moved to france - the 88 took us there and here she is enjoying a relaxing time being a 'garden car':
Looking pretty good for 3 year old indoor paint!
A year-and-a-bit later and we moved back. Unfortunately there was no room in the budget to bring her back so she had to stay behind and guard the house while it was for sale - reasoning it shouldn't take too long to sell we'd get her back over then..........
Best laid plans and all that eh? Nearly 4 years later the house finally sold and the 88" got carried back in January '13 - this was the first time I'd seen her in over a year
My poor baby! First order of business was definitely a wash (there is even a bucket on the roof in that pic) - I tried being gentle but it seems she likes it a bit rough, to shift the green I ended up using scouring pads... Let's see how that roller applied kitchen paint likes that!
It didn't really care much as it happens - a few areas went a bit on the thin side but not exactly noticeably so. I'm quite impressed with that paint (especially considering that before I slapped it on the LR it had been sat outside for at least one winter).
And that was that for a bit - other things happened and somehow she was always a lower priority - then the Disco cambelt went. I reasoned that she was going to be quicker and cheaper to get on the road.
First I had to see if/how she ran. Well, she didn't
no spark. So the points got cleaned and the spark returned, but still no starting.Fuel then.
Now, the fuel had been sat in the tank for getting on for 5 years - suffice to say it had gone off a little. A little being that I couldn't set it on fire using a lighter.
Drain the tank and the carb, stick in some new fuel and hand pump it through (that little lever on the engine mounted fuel pump is quite handy) and.... Success! I replaced the indicator lenses with some spares I had about as they had gone nearly white, gave her a quick check over and booked her first MOT since 2007............
Straight through - nice.
Not so nice was on the way home the heater stopped blowing and she started to run really roughly - the running was caused by the fuel filter collapsing. When I drained the tank she was on a bit of a side slope so it seems there was still quite a bit of crud left in the bottom of the tank which got stirred up by movement and adding fuel, then dragged into the filter. This made the next job a clean of the entire fuel system. Oh, and the heater not blowing any more turned out to be the fan had totally shattered (I'm still looking for a fan or complete blower unit, just not looking very hard).
Since then, I've rebuilt the carb (I reckon it's now as good as it can get - all new internals and lapped the body) so it'll do until I can source an SU and I went all electronic with the ignition - the original distributor was quite bad - the vacuum advance was completely seized and the centrifugal springs were very slack, there was also play in the shaft. A completely electronic brand new dizzy was less money than I could rebuild the original for so on one went - I can heartily recommend them now.
There will be more to come - there always is with a series. As I think of or do things that may be interesting I'll post them up.
