In prep for the Europpo meet in March...

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
12/28/2016 at 19:12 • Filed to: None

...I thought I should actually get a car into a reasonable enough condition for a road trip. So, swapped the old rusted exhaust system for a full stainless one (only Ł280 including a 4-2-1!), and this pic is the newly installed polybushes in the rear (only Ł60 for a car set!). Love how cheap bits are for this car :)

The only negative reviews I’ve heard of for these polybushes are general squeaking and one or two counts of the crush tubes corroding into the bush, causing the whole thing to seize up and fatigue the wishbone (on an MX-5, but same company that makes the bushes). However, whenever these complainants post up pics the bushes look like they’d been pressed in bone-dry so no wonder they get problems!

These probably have about half a kilo of copperslip on them so we’ll see if that’s the trick ;)

Still to do are front bushes, swap in a TF rack (less vague in the middle and slightly shorter ratio), replace a balljoint at the front, swap the tyres and replace the O2 sensor (turns out, if you’re a moron and accidentally clamp the wires inbetween the manifold and the head, they don’t work so well anymore...).

DISCUSSION (19)

crowmolly > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/28/2016 at 19:15

If you used the white grease that came with the bushings you will probably be OK for a while. If they are not serviceable it may be a pain to re-grease later.

Stuff looks good!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > crowmolly
12/28/2016 at 19:54

Didn’t come with any grease! Might be part of the issue for the amateur polybusher.

My thinking was that proper polybushes come with copper grease, and I’ve got a big tub of that so we’ll see if that works :)

DutchieDC2R > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/28/2016 at 21:05

Im having a bunch of things done in the next weeks as well. Cant wait!

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/28/2016 at 21:36

Nice! What car is it?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time
12/29/2016 at 04:26

Thanks man :) it’s a 1998 MG F VVC that we picked up for Ł150! Great little car, and outsold the MX-5 here in the UK. It’s a real shame it never made it to the States. I understand that it was fully intended to be a reintroduction of MG sports cars to the States, but when BMW took over they didn’t want the competition for the Z3.

Kinja'd!!!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > DutchieDC2R
12/29/2016 at 04:28

Good stuff! Are you the chap with the Integra? Tricky to remember who’s who from the group!

If so, we were thinking that you’d definitely be one of the faster guys on the ‘ring ;) hence all the work to the MG F ;)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/29/2016 at 11:24

I’ll add the TF to the list of cars coming to oppomeet that are faster than mine haha.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/29/2016 at 11:52

Hah :) no offence but that’s not much of an accolade ;)

Which one are you taking, the Twingo or the Bimmer?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/29/2016 at 13:03

The Twingo, the BMW is too thirsty for my current finances.

twochevrons > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/29/2016 at 15:59

That’s got me thinking... It’ll only be a couple of years before the MGF becomes eligible to import to the US. I’ve always quite liked them.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons
12/29/2016 at 20:16

So you’re right ;) first cars are 1995.

They are great little cars :) easy to work on too, and parts are cheap (if you don’t mind postage to the States I suppose).

Anything you want to know about them when the time gets closer just let me know :)

Oh, how’s the Triumph treating you? ;)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell.
12/29/2016 at 20:17

Less likely to spit you off the track with snap-oversteer too ;)

twochevrons > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/29/2016 at 23:11

I’m getting well used to the parts-postage issue dealing with the Triumph! It’s laid up for winter – the roads here get salted to the point of getting a white crust on them – but I realised recently that over the summer, I put more miles on it than my Golf GTI. Having been exclusively driven by old people for many years, I think that it’s benefiting from some rather more enthusiastic driving. The only hiccup was a rather spectacular wheel bearing failure on the highway, which is not an experience I care to repeat. The upside was, it happened on a car club drive, and one of the other drivers took pity on me and let me drive his MGB GT V8 for the rest of the trip!

Kinja'd!!!

Just because the Triumph has been put away doesn’t mean that my hare-brained automotive schemes have gone into dormancy, though. I recently acquired an Audi A6 Allroad with collapsed air suspension. I’m not entirely sure how – somehow an offer to tow it ended up with the car entering into my possession. The suspension was an easy fix (though I’d take hydropneumatic over air suspension any day), but a timing belt and valve cover gasket job took three weekends, a significant amount of blood sacrifice, and many many naughty words. Audi really don’t mess around when it comes to stuffing a lot of engine into not a lot of engine bay. Still, a remarkably quick luxobarge with genuine off-road competence can be forgiven a few flaws ;). I’m just waiting for a decent snowfall in which to put it through its paces.

Hare-brained scheme number two involves a trip back to New Zealand. My parents are retiring and moving to the other end of the country, so I thought that ferrying one of their cars would be a good excuse for a visit home, and a road trip. It’ll probably be in a slightly ropey Toyota MR2 that has been off the road for a couple of years, so it ought to be an adventure. Failing that, I’d have a Citroën BX 16v or an Alfa 156 at my disposal, and no end of amazing roads, so I think I’ll enjoy myself no matter what!

How’s the rest of the fleet treating you? I’ve been following the Spit6 project with great interest, and that XJ6 of yours left quite the impression. If it weren’t for the Triumph, I’d definitely be looking for one now.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons
12/30/2016 at 07:04

Loads of stuff happening with you! Glad the Triumph’s getting a lot of use. They do tend to enjoy being more active than most people keep them :) that wheel bearing thing sounds terrifying though :S was it a full-on ‘part company with the wheel’ or more of a ‘suddenly the wheel won’t point straight’?

Still, I’d say it’s worth the effort repairing it given that you got to drive a V8 MG B! Jammy git ;)

Nice catch on the Allroad, although I have heard horror stories about how tight the access is on Audi cambelts :S I must pick up something AWD myself for the rare occasions it snows here too. Sounds like a lot of fun pulling 4-wheel drifts ;)

Very jealous of the cross-New Zealand roadtrip! Especially given the cars available. BX 16v, 156 or an MR2 (even if it’s slightly ropey) sound like the perfect options :) remember to take some pics ;)

Yeah the Jag’s a hell of a car :) it’s utterly superfluous to my requirements, but I’ll be damned if I’m selling it :) it’s currently awaiting it’s time in the limelight after the MG F’s done. I think it’s got a leak somewhere in the coolant pipes, and when my dad was driving it it overheated and popped the head gasket :S now that we’ve got a proper indoor garage workspace it shouldn’t be too difficult to get that fixed (and sort the diff and fit lowering springs too!).

Unfortunately, the new garage being heated has spoilt me slightly :S haven’t done any work on the Spit recently as it’s been below zero for most of the evenings for the past week or so! I’ve rather got used to being able to feel my fingers when I’m working on things ;)

All in good time though :) fix the F first, then Jag and Spit :)

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/30/2016 at 07:26

I would almost certainly crash the e36 haha. Id definitely need to replace the subframe bushes before it saw a track.

DutchieDC2R > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/30/2016 at 16:58

Yeah, the black one. The thing with being the ‘fastest’ one is, you cant really test it on the ‘ring. Its a tricky track with tricky drivers and zero rules.

Honestly, I cant wait because I wanna have some fun with you guys. Proper, car-related fun! :D And on top of everything, from the convo’s in the group, you all seem like awesome dudes, so it should be a great weekend alltogether!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > DutchieDC2R
12/30/2016 at 17:47

Yeah my and a mate who might be tagging along have dug out my copy of Forza 4 so we can have a bit of a refresher on what the track’s like (not that that’s in any way decent preparation, but it can’t hurt!). The main thing that we’ve taken from it is that it’s a bloody difficult track! So many places that just spit you off with a moment’s notice...

I was just thinking that same thing :) gonna be a great weekend :)

twochevrons > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
12/30/2016 at 22:21

That wheel bearing failure was the strangest thing. For the last couple of hundred miles, there had been an intermittent high pitched squeal from that corner that I’d put down to brake pads. Nothing like typical wheel bearing noise at all. Then it just seized up with almost no warning. Thankfully the wheel remained attached the car, but it was still pretty hairy. I feel a bit foolish for letting it get that bad, but I’d never come across a failing wheel bearing that squealed like that.

The MGB wasn’t quite stock, which made things all the more fun. Surprisingly, the GT V8 wasn’t ever officially sold here, but there were a bunch of period conversions done with the Buick 215 V8, of which this car was one. Even better, the owner rode along with me and kept on goading me to drive it harder. A very memorable drive indeed.

Funnily enough, access wasn’t so much the issue with the cam belt on the Audi. After removing the bumper and a bunch of other stuff, you can slide the radiator support (and everything attached to it) out a couple of inches, giving ample room to work. It’s perversely brilliant, but still a bit of a job to get to that point. It was the valve cover gaskets that were the real nightmare – it’s a very wide engine in a remarkably narrow engine bay. Can’t say I would recommend working on it as a recreational activity, but it’s an amazing engine when it’s running.

I’m a bit sad that I didn’t have the Audi on the road a few weeks ago, when we got 8" of snow overnight, but it looks like there might be more on the way. I’ve never had an AWD car before, so it should hopefully be a bit of a revelation. I just have to find an empty car park somewhere ;).

I think that my Audi and your Jag fill similar niches in our fleets. Surplus to requirements and a bit temperamental, but far too much fun to part with. Also, very cheap because people are scared of them ;). Do I remember hearing that you’ve got a limited-slip diff waiting to go into the Jag? That ought to be fun.

I feel you on the garage situation. I do most of my work in my father-in-law’s garage (mine can barely fit a modern car in it, let alone have space to work!). He’s got a small wood-burning stove in there that helps keep it warm, but with the winter temperatures here (we saw -30 şC a few weeks ago), it has a hard time keeping up. A properly heated and insulated garage is definitely on my wish list.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > twochevrons
01/01/2017 at 17:57

Ooh that is strange :S concerning really as the Alfa’s got an intermittent brake squeal... Definitely atypical for bearing failure.

Very nice :) I’ve always thought that not selling the B V8 in the States was one of the most criminal mistakes BL made. Even if it couldn’t compete technically with the 240Z, it had a V8 and RWD and would have been cheap. Sell it as a mini-muscle car to all the people kicked out of their Mustangs and Camaros by the ‘73 fuel crisis and rising insurance and you’ve got a winner :)

I believe you on the Audi, but it doesn’t bode well when the first sentence is ‘once you’ve removed the bumper...’ ;) although saying that, I did have to drop the front subframe on the F yesterday to get the wishbones off. In their infinite wisdom, MG decided to make the bulkhead too close to the subframe to withdraw one of the wishbone bolts. I can see why they did it as they basically used 2 Metro front subframes pretty much unchanged in the front and rear of the F so changing the specs would ruin their economies of scale, but it’s slightly unkind to the amateur mechanic...

Definitely sounds like the Audi and the Jag are of the same breed :) I’ve got an LSD in it at the moment, but when I changed the diff unit over I hadn’t read up about shimming it properly to get the teeth to mesh just right. So it was howling while I was driving it, but because it was the only car on the road for a while I had to keep driving it :S so, I’ve sourced another diff with a hopefully not knackered CWP to swap the diff unit over to but do it properly this time around :S

Ouch. -30 is insane! I shall stop complaining about the -5 we’ve been having :S