Friday 25th August. Where is that resonating coming from?

 I have to admit to being slightly disappointed when I collected the Green Cortina from having its custom made exhaust fitted at Scott and Hayward. Not at the quality of their work, they've done a great job, but the resonating that I've been getting at around 3000 revs was still present. It's like having an angry wasp in the car! I'd become convinced it was where the original exhaust was sitting too close to the axle and had spent many days over the past year or so underneath the car trying to discover the cause. 

On the drive home from Basildon on Wednesday I unclipped my seat belt and leaned forward when I knew the car was going to make its 'angry wasp' noise and listened intently. I now wondered if the resonating could be coming from the engine bay. 

So, today before work I carried out a full inspection of the engine bay to see if I could spot anything that could be causing it. I couldn't see anything untoward first of all, but then I noticed what I first thought was a bit of silver paint on my strut brace. (And wondering how the hell that had got there!) 

Closer inspection revealed that it wasn't silver paint at all, but that the air filter has been rubbing on the strut brace and had worn the black powder coating away! I knew that the gap between the two had been close, but had no idea it was touching. Obviously the engine is moving the most at 3000 revs and causing the two to connect. I removed the strut brace and with it off of the car I could see the full extent of the rubbing and how much it had been connecting.

Could this be it? Could this be the cause of the resonating that I'd had ever since I'd bought the car?  Could this be the reason I'd spent many days laying underneath it and playing with the exhaust in the hope of curing it? To be honest, the strut brace was one of the first things I bought for the car and I fitted it straight away. In fact I don't think I'd even driven the car before I fitted it, so the resonating has always been there. (It was delivered to me on a recovery truck and I'd never driven it before buying it.) 

It was a lovely day, so I decided to use the Cortina to go work. I was quite excited at the thought that I might have cured an issue that had been bugging me for so long. Sure enough, with the strut brace removed my resonating has finally, finally gone.  With the new exhaust in place as well there is no longer and any banging, rattling or knocking from underneath and the car is now a pleasure to drive. I couldn't be happier. There's something about this car that I really love and I've spent a lot of time and money trying to get it to drive as I would like. I have to say it feels like I'm finally there now and I'm more than happy. The only job left on my list now is to replace the incorrect rear bumper, but I have the replacement all ready to go on. (It's currently wearing an estate bumper instead of a saloon one) 

The drive to and from work was thoroughly enjoyable and I arrived home with a sense of achievement. Not something I've felt for a while!