A quick rush home from work on Friday evening saw me get stuck into the removal of the Red Shed's cylinder head. As it had been off only recently there was none of the usual heaving, pulling and swearing that there normally is and it came off quite willingly.
The old core plug was then beaten into submission until it popped out and the area cleaned up before the new core plug was given a liberal coating of Wellseal and then tapped into place. I then replaced the head, water pump housing and some hoses before calling it a night as it was now gone midnight.
Saturday morning, I continued and refitted the carburettors and by 11am she was running sweetly and not leaking water as before ( Not bad considering I hadn't woken up til 9.30! That's really late for me!) I then had other engagements to attend to so the other outstanding jobs were put off until Sunday morning.
Sunday morning bright and early (sort of) I then changed the coil, repaired the choke cable, and fitted a new thermostat. (82 degree in this weather. I would have rather fitted a 78 degree but the car shop never had one.)
I also managed to repair the overdrive that had mysteriously stopped working. This just turned out to be a loose wire on the solenoid. While I had the jack out and was laying on the floor, I decided to drain the oil out of Gertie, replace the filter and carry out an oil change.
By now it was the afternoon and the temperature had risen so it was a good time for a test drive in the Red Shed and see if any of it's recent overheating issues were still present.
The first test run was up to South Woodham and back via Rettendon, South Hanningfield, Billericay and Wickford town centre. Back at the house, no problems or issues were evident, so another test drive down to Southend and back took place. I'm pleased to report that she gave me no problems at all and was quite a pleasure to drive. The temperature gauge never ventured above half way and she never felt like she was getting too hot. She has a bit of a noisy layshaft on the gearbox but this can wait for the time being. I want to get a few more miles on her first as she needs to convince me she can be reliable.
To be fair I had the same thing with the estate when I first bought her. She was a real nail! I'm thinking about doing the 2014 Round Britain in the estate, but when I first got her I'd have settled for getting round Wickford bypass without the bloody thing breaking down!
The next job for the Red Shed will be to fit new steering rack gaiters and then maybe get some music in the car. I need to drown out the sound of that layshaft!
No comments:
Post a Comment