298 replies to this topic

[gingerjon]

Sooooo, with renwed confidence and pile of metal and plastic that was finally begining to resemble what it looked like before i began to "Sort a few small issues out"....the next batch of parts arrived. How expensive is black liquid, pink liquid and a battery!!!

 

 

First job of the day i went and popped all the brake pads in place as i hadn't done this last monht, i also managed to sort out the slight twists in the braided hoses on the rear. 'm sure you are all bored of pictures of suspension and brakes so i'll leave that to the imagination!

 

I put the new heater (Just an interim before a Fez heater is aquired), it needed a couple more rivets but apart from that was in a much better condition that the one i took out! Thanks Fab! Battery in next and the hole that has been empty for about 12 months was once again full!

 

 

 

A few rogue bits plugged in and also the blanking plate fitted to the engine and the EGR cheater installed.

 

 

I had removed the header tank bracket as it was minging, a rub down and a rust treatment before a coat of hammerite make it look a lot better!!

 

 

 

[gingerjon]

Then begins the lead up to a momentous occasion......

 

 

Oil in. At this point, no water / coolant or brake / clutch fluid and i wanted to check the engine was going to work.

After a check and clean of the spark plugs, a lot of rolling back and forth to prime the engine......i re-connected the new battery.......

 

 

1st success....the interior light works. Phew.

 

Also my Clifford Alarm proved that not even a couple of years dormant could quieten down the howl of the the noise when it goes off!!

 

A Click of the key.......the dash lit up.......The fuel pump primed.....and the engine clicked.........The Time had come........

 

<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1336.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo653%2Fgingerjon1383%2FVID-20130914-WA0002_zpsdf7f8aa3.mp4">

 

Undetered and already smiling that she was at least trying to come back to life.....a check of various connections and tighten up of the battery terminals...

 

Then, time to press the button again......

 

<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="" flashvars="file=http%3A%2F%2Fvid1336.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fo653%2Fgingerjon1383%2FVID-20130914-WA0001_zps4fb7ba52.mp4">

 

SHE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!!!!

 

After 2 years and a heart transplant she fired up 1st time!!!

 

Obvioulsy i didn't run it long with no coolant inside but i was almost overcome!      

 

Not wishing to tempt fate, i left it there this weekend. I have the water system to bleed and the brake and clutch system to follow, tighten up all the lambda sensors and exhaust connections (That'll be the real test to see if i did actually put it all together properly)......  Then, i may even try and select a gear and press the right pedal.....

 

2 looooooooooong years, a fair bit of money and hell of a lot of learning (Insert massive help from forum here) and the first major hurdle has been cleared. There is a long way to go, but christ......today was tense!!!!!

 

Bring on next summer!

 

Jon

Edited by gingerjon, 14 September 2013 - 03:03 PM.

[Goosenka]

You really are ginge I still can't believe you aren't a real spanner head to do all that. Amazing work.

[gingerjon]

Haha, i have no idea to get these damn video's to work!!

 

 

 

Edited by gingerjon, 14 September 2013 - 03:58 PM.

[CHILL Gone DUTCH]

No

[Captain Vimes]

Works of you follow the link to photobucket. Sounds like it has no exhaust on. Well done getting it this far. Shame you're going to have to wait until next summer to enjoy it. After all the work the wait over winter is going to be tough.

[gingerjon]

After last weekends joyous occasion and hearing...albeit briefly....the sound of the engine, this week was time to "simply bleed the clutch, brake and coolant sytems and fire her up to run up to temperature.

 

How wrong can a person be......

 

I had bought an Ezibleed and a quick scan on here gave some good instructions. Up she went and both wheels off to make it easier

 

Ezibleed all connected up the process begins.

 

Passenger rear - Check

Drivers Rear - Check

 Wheels back on, car on floor

Passenger side front - Check

Drivers side front - bugger.....Nipple Issues

The nipple wouldn't sit properly and wouldn't seal so was constantly leaking fluid under pressure

 

Cue a drive back out to some motor factors.....all of which responded  "you can only get them with the calipers" back to the drawing board. I had a blocker rather than a bleed nipple so i put this in place for now so i could bleed the clutch.

 

Then the real problems began.

 

After nearly half a bottle of fluid, something wasn't right. By this time the brake pedal was pretty solid but the clutch pedal was still really soft.

 

A quick look under the car revealed my worst thoughts...a brake fluid river streaming out of the bottom of the gearbox housing

Pot and clean up "Kitty Litter" in place and the thinking begun

 

No matter how much i thought around it, i knew the answer really.....the engine would need to come back out

Undetered and knowing that was the only way to do it....i begun undoing everything to get the engine out.

 

I did it with all the ancilleries attached this time, which did make it a lot more difficult to remove so they'll all have to come off again when it goes back in.

 

Engine out and a quick push on the clutch pedal with the system pressurised....fluid flew out of the Slave Cylinder. This is the new one i fitted along with my clutch a few months back.

I took it off to reveal the while thing had disintergrated leaving half of it attached to the gearbox......stranage as its never been used since fitting.

 

 

I put the old one back on and begun to re bleed but with the engine out. It took a while but we got there.....unfortunately i didnt know we had "Got there".....and pushed the pedal too hard, popping the old cylinder and sending another litre of brake fluid over the garage floor.

 

At this point i am now suicidal. All the work over the last 2 months is ruined, the engine is out, nothing is connected, i need more parts and i've still not managed to start the car properly to bring it up to temp.

 

I left it with the engine on the floor next to it, who knows when it will get finished.

 

I'm absolutely gutted to say the least.

Edited by gingerjon, 28 September 2013 - 04:52 PM.

[XXX]

sh*t that is bad news! Jon, think of how far you have gone so far - don't give up!

 

Can't give you any mechanical advice - such as why your slave cylinder failed - but I am sure it can be sorted without too much pain.

 

The engine will go in much easier 2nd time round and this fcuker will run again soon! Keep the faith!

[Hammy of hamhouse]

You can with care push the piston back in the cylinder

[vocky]

you should NEVER press the clutch pedal with no engine bolted onto the gearbox, you will just force the slave cylinder to pop apart, but as above you can rebuild it - the centre clip can be awkward to stay in place.

 

Are you sure the clutch leak wasn't just the crappy 10p seal in the alloy block on the clutch hose connection to the gearbox ?

[Nev]

Oh dude, my heart goes out to you, it is terrible when the bloody slave cylinders leak for one reason or another.

 

Just walk away from it for a week and come back with renewed vigour when you actually feel like it.

 

Best of luck.

Edited by Nev, 29 September 2013 - 04:45 PM.

[gingerjon]

Cheers Guys,

 

Hammy, thanks, i didn't know you could do that!!

 

Vocky, yep,  I know that now...i think my frustration got the better of me so i would test ti just "one more time!....schoolboy error.

 

Nev, i threw the clams back on, covered it with a sheet and locked the workshop. Still hacked off today, but more bits already on order so i'm doing  my best to keep the faith....as tough as it is!

[gingerjon]

Sorry, Vocky, yep pretty sure it was the new cylinder as when the old one went back on, before i popped it, the system was pressurised with no leaks. then i ruined it for a 2nd time!!

[oakmere]

I know the feeling. I tried to bleed the clutch slave cylinder before fitting the engine. I was very carefull not to put too any pressure through only bleeding with the valve open to remove the air and check for leaks. Then I caught the clutch pedal and pop, it went back together with no leaks but didn't trust it so £100.00 for another gutted.

[gingerjon]

Yep, im going to order a new one and hope for the best. Just puts everything back a few weeks. Oh well, it would be boring if it was easy........or something like that!

[gingerjon]

Well, after the utter diaster of last week i did what was recommended and got straight back on the horse....oh how i wish i hadn't.

 

I bought a new GM slave cylinder to replace the one i broke last week, and perhaps optimistically i bought a shiney JK seat of JJJ and a Harness and Bar set from Turboluca. I also picked up some bits for the interior, switches and a few odds a sods for a coupleof idea's i had.

 

I got to the work shop, replaced the slave cylinder, pressurised the system...hurrah no leaks. So back in went the engine.....man thats difficult to do on your own!! Then began to pressure the system once again but this time being able to also use the clutch pedal as all was now reconnected. I had half a clutch pedal after about 5 mins and things were looking good. Then suddenly.....nothing.

 

The pedal went back to how it was before and after a few large intakes of breath i looked underneath.

 

There is was, all that nice new fluid coming out the bottom and all over the garage floor....again. Ground hog day.

 

I'm confident if anyone has done anything like this to their car as i have then you will know how low my heart sank when i saw it. Undeterred (Thats a massive lie....i was totally dejected!!) I call Jez at BOT for some advice. They have looked after the car since i have had it and even though its not been up for 2 years, as soon as i mentioned the orange wheel rims, he remembered......funny that.

 

He told me about a O-ring in the top connector which could be causing issues, i have cleaned, greased and refitted, after another 45 mins of trying to get the pressure back i gave up with fluid still coming out of the bottom once the system was seemingly getting some pressure, a push of the pedal then emptied it from somewhere inside!!.

 

And that was that. I have decided to get the car picked up and taken up to BOT this week. I will organise with Jez to sort out what ever the issues are and then get him to fill all the fluids and get the car working mechanically before it it returned back to me so i can do the interior.

 

I'm pretty gutted as i have managed to do so much on my own but i suppose there is always a point where a professional is needed. At least i started her up the week before last so i haven't missed its 1st breath.

 

Could be a while till it comes back depending on BOT and my work, i'll put some pics up of the interior bits i've picked up once they have arrived.....maybe i'd got a little too carried away and should have waited. No doubt it will turn out i end up needing those funds for the gettting the damn thing started.

 

Jon

[techieboy]

Got the correct clutch/cover and flywheel fitted?

[oakmere]

I think the clue is in the text. You pressurised the system with no engine attached. You must have the engine and flywheel in place before putting any fluid through the slave cylinder.

[vocky]

something wrong with that clutch cover, the 'fingers' are way too far in

 

did you measure the installed height of the clutch covers and have you bled the clutch and tested it works - I always check the clutch works as soon as two bolts are in the bellhousing.

 

I suffered repeated clutch slave cylinder failures with the exact same clutch cover, it went to the tip

 

Got the correct clutch/cover and flywheel fitted?

 

see my above comments

 

I think the clue is in the text. You pressurised the system with no engine attached. You must have the engine and flywheel in place before putting any fluid through the slave cylinder.

 

I usually bleed the clutch with no engine fitted, however I use the reverse method*

 

*Which is - open the bleed nipple and push the slave cylinder in, close the nipple and let the slave cylinder suck the fluid in, repeat until no air comes out the bleed nipple. Works very well.

[gingerjon]

Hey everyone, Vocky, i remember you saying about thr clutch cover and measured it with the original and was the same. Which is really frustarting if it turns out to be that! ill take the original clutch cover up with me too. Did you say you can re seal the slave cylinder? i doubt its popped inside the housing, but it was a brand new GM and annoying to waste? Techie, yep bought the correct kit but as vocky is mentioning, could be a mistake. Oakmere, i merely bled the initial aie iur to ensure the pipes were connected correctly....it was when the engine was back connected that it really went wrong!!! thanks for all the input chaps, really appriciate it, ill get there....eventually! how long till next years National :-)