488 replies to this topic

[fezzasus]

New Rad


There are plenty of guides on the forum describing how to do this; i opted for the wheels on approach and moving from lock to lock to access all the bolts in the wheel arches.

As well as fitting an all-aluminium radiator, i fitted an uprated horn. Two things to keep in mind when doing this are that the horn takes more current and will need a higher amp fuse, and the original wiring isn't long enough. I made a 10 cm extension cable for the wiring.





Sorry about the lack of pictures, the work took all weekend with the number of slightly-less-than-captive bolts.

Hardtop


also fitted one of jonnyboy's hardtops. Have yet to adjust the drivers side window

[techieboy]

Did you stick some wire mesh over the inlets in the bottom of the crashbox for the heater though? Means 99% of crap is filtered out before it gets to the heater and no flow sapping filters upstream of the heater box.

[fezzasus]

Did you stick some wire mesh over the inlets in the bottom of the crashbox for the heater though? Means 99% of crap is filtered out before it gets to the heater and no flow sapping filters upstream of the heater box.

no.

But that's only because the tow mount is essentially dust and will need replacing, so i'll be sorting out the heater along with it.

[Mandarin Mart]

No mention of your able assistants I see...or the time taken...

[fezzasus]

No mention of your able assistants I see...or the time taken...

yeah, ^^^ he might have helped.

[fezzasus]

Shocks swap


Rear shocks were leaking, and the collars all around were looking badly corroded. As this car's a daily drive I didn't want to change to anything harsher/lower. I ended up buying a full set of shocks and springs from southpaw. The car has also been pulling to the left under breaking which lead me to think a NSF ball joint needed changing.



New shock vs. old shock, you can see the old shock is looking pretty bad; corroded springs, damper and a bad leak. I have also replaced the collars with new anodised aluminium parts.



State of the old shocks

Boot support


Some numpty had managed to rip the boot support out of the fibreglass. Fixed this by sanding the area to remove soft spots and give the P40 something to grab, then filling it with P40 and claping oiled wood to each side.

[fezzasus]

New work.

The heater control wasn't turning properly and the fault was at the cabin end, so since the dash was out i decided to seal up the vents and tidy up the nasty silver plastic.

[2.2_na]

i decided to seal up the vents and tidy up the nasty silver plastic.

I hope you have sunglasses.

[fezzasus]

I hope you have sunglasses.

hey, it's a silver car - need something to look at

[GiGo]

Looking good, not sure on the orange either, but each to your own . Looks much better than when Carl had it! Bet it rides a bit nicer now too.

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

one of the best mods i done was change that silly massive rear view view mirror out for a smaller one. A sun strip will help massively this time of year with low sun

[fezzasus]

Looking good, not sure on the orange either, but each to your own . Looks much better than when Carl had it! Bet it rides a bit nicer now too.

Thanks, I agree it's not for everyone but it's easy to change. I was originally going to go down the dark leather/suede route like everyone else, but decided since it's not a sensible car, i can't go for a sensible colour.

Massively better ride quality; as well as the dampers, i've found the rear lower wishbone mount was loose, tightening that up has made the back end feel much more connected.

[fezzasus]

one of the best mods i done was change that silly massive rear view view mirror out for a smaller one.

A sun strip will help massively this time of year with low sun

I've always just sat lower or higher to use the top of the windscreen as a sun visor, pretty budget!

[fezzasus]

Decat


10 years old and no one has done this yet.

Downpipe out



Precat out



Used the same approach as everyone else; lots of drill bits and lots of force. While the exhaust was out I used the chance to adjust the positioning of the Larini; when it was fitted the cat and backbox were rubbing, now there's an inch clearance.

Gearbox oil change


there's a guide somewhere that lost it's pictures, so i thought i'd take a few for this.

Oil: should be 75W-80. Look for API GL-x, where increasing x is increasing protection; 4 is general applications, 5 is high torque. I bought the cheapest one I could find with both sets of claims.

Step 1. Remove the undertray

Step 2. Locate the filler bolt, accessed from the top of the engine bay under the coolant tank - loosen with a 8 mm hex head (in picture), but do not remove completely yet



Step 3. Locate the drain plug on on the gear box from under the car; it's under the drive shaft going from the gear box to the NSR wheel.



Step 4. Undo drain plug with 8 mm hex head.

Step 5. Drain oil. Measure the volume that comes out

Step 6. Clean and refit drain plug

Step 7. Attach a length of tubing to making filling easier.



Step 8. Remove the filler plug (Step 2) completely, insert the tubing and start to fill.



Step 9. Get a tea (takes about 10 - 20 minutes per 1 L to fill)

Step 10. Once you've added the same volume of oil that came out, refit the filler plug.



(same volume in as out)

That's it, done!

Edited by fezzasus, 09 October 2011 - 03:14 PM.

[Andrew aka Stuwy]

great guide, your tyre looks a tad low btw

[fezzasus]

great guide, your tyre looks a tad low btw

Cheers,

Yeah the tyres were all 2 psi under what they should be - all sorted now though!

[fezzasus]

Sealing heater box


Before it gets any colder I thought it would be a good idea to seal the heater box. In total this took about 6 hours including faffing around while the sealant cured. Here's the step by step:



0. Remove piping from the heater matrix to the intake.



1. Remove the washer bottle by sliding it up. The water pipe and connector to the pump will both need to be disconnected. Photo shows the plug.



2. Disconnect the battery. Start with the negative terminal. You will need a 10 mm spanner.

3. Remove the battery retainer; this has three bolts fixed into the bulk head - all 10 mm heads.



4. Cut the zip ties holding the wiring onto the radiator surround, move the wires so they sit on the radiator

5. Remove the battery.

6. There is a large plug coming off the wiring running along the back of the radiator that can be traced to the heater matrix. Disconnect it

7. Remove hoses running to the matrix, plug with cork or similar. They are not under pressure so placing the ends higher will also stop fluid coming out.

8. The heater matrix is held in place with two 10 mm bolts fixed into the bulk head. One should be visible, the other is under the brake servo and will require a 10 cm extension bar on a ratchet to reach.

9. Once loose, pull matrix towards the space where the battery was and lift out. The attachments for the cabling running around the radiator surround may catch on the vent, consider drilling the mounts off and re-riveting on reassembly.

10. Seal the matrix up, The area around the mount on the fan side had cracked and I repaired it with P38.



11. Reassemble.



I also insulated the feeder pipes and sealed as much of the dash heater assembly as I could.



(view is behind washer bottle - remove the cover over the motor wiper for a better view)

[snotvomit]

Good guide for heater - I'm going to see how mine goes for the next few weeks, but may need to look at doing this. I didn't enjoy last winter at all

[kingwowns]

Great guides mate. If you're interested, I looked at insulating the heater pipe as it feeds from the engine to the heater matrix.. http://www.vx220.org...ng-improvement/ Mine's a daily driver too, so looking to make it as comfortable as poss too!

[slindborg]

You can speed up the fill of the gearbox by stabbing the bottom of the gearbox oil bottles just dont do it to ones that you want to keep