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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:43:37 GMT
Been wanting a new project for a while, my best mate Mark (Zephyr6Boy) mentioned he would like to do a joint project so we have been looking at various cars for the last month or two. Not found anything that appealed, until this popped up:     We both decided we wanted it pretty much straight away... Its one of the last air cooled ones, its very solid (cant find any rot!), the interior is mint, and the speedo reads 20,000 miles - believed correct. Its been off the road since 1997. The current owner has had it running and driving in the last 5 years, but a stripped spark plug thread and a sticking centrifugal clutch meant the engine was removed. These issues have been fixed, but the engine needs refitting. There is also a problem with the vacumn diaphraphm on the variomatic transmission, parts to fix are coming with the car but not sure how much of a job it will be. Hopefully everything to reassemble it is there... brakes, suspension and steering will need checking out, and 4 new tyres. Planning to NOT paint it, its got a faded charm we both like, although it will be properly rustproofed to preserve it. Hopefully getting it trailered home from Mytocon Land next weekend.. Matt. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:44:21 GMT
Cant do anything on the car at the moment as the garage its in is full of my mates furniture while he moves house. Car just fits in, but no chance of working on it... Luckily, the engine was laid in the boot, and as it was a nice day i could work on it outside.  Basic engine. Its an 850cc Twin - DAFs own design. We had never heard it run, although the previous owner had partly rebuilt it, but never finished the job.  It rotated smoothly enough, so we decided to check everything we could without stripping it again. New points and condensor in, ignition timing set, new HT leads, cleaned up cap and rotor arm  Head bolt torqued, valve clearances reset, new spark plugs.  Fuel pump cleaned out and checked, new fuel lines attached  No proper oil filter, just a gauze in the sump, like a VW engine. Removed and cleaned - although it was already pretty clean.  New fanbelt, oil cooler unions tightened up. Started to assemble the complicated puzzle that is the air ducting and shrouds.  More shrouding  Fan....  Carburettor cleaned out, attached, vacumn lines puzzled out, air filter and new element fitted, and exhaust attached. With some oil in, a slave battery conencted up, and some fuel.. It ran! And sounded lovely. We ran it for a good 30 minutes on the floor, no knocks, rattles or smoke, and no oil leaks. Very happy with that - seems like we have a good engine!  Next job is to start removing the Vario unit from under the rear floor, so the split Primary diaphram can be replaced. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:45:06 GMT
Starting to clear the decks ready to drop the Vario unit. Fuel tank was first to go, it was in the way, rusty, and full of stinky ancient petrol. So i dropped it down, cleaned it out, rubbed it down...  It came up pleasingly well, no serious rust at all! Ive given it a thick coat of black paint, not the best paint job in the world but it will protect it for years to come, and probably end up covered in waxoyl anyway...  With this done, i then removed the dozen 13mm bolts that hold the Vario covers on, giving me my first proper view of the system:  One hell of a fan belt! The driveshaft gaiters are split, brake pipes rusted - and they go over the top of the Vario. Access to the diaphram looks tight in situ... and a new drivebelt is needed as its pretty worn. Pulleys need cleaning up - theres some surface rust. I think im doing the right thing by dropping it all out - got to be far easier to work on it out of the car? More to come, after this weekend (BEAULIEU!!) |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:45:36 GMT
Spent the day on the DAF today with Mark:  Driveshafts removed  New gaitors needed!  Vario unit removed  This is the "primary" unit - it has a rubber diaphram inside which we were told had failed  And this is the drivebelt - large! We will be fitting a new one while its off.  With the snapring prised out and the outer cover removed, we could see the diaphram. It had not failed, but the centre seal had - luckily both parts had been supplied by the previous owner, so we simply changed both.  New parts, genuine Volvo!  This is the vacumn side of the vario, stripped right down so everything could be cleaned and checked. Everything is balanced, so everything was marked up with scribe marks.  Outer drum & vacumn chamber  Belleville spring  Centrifugal governor  Assembled into outer drum  New diaphram - its upside down! Luckily Mark noticed...  New inner seal - this had to be modified as the centre hole was too small. ATF fluid was poured into the drum to act as a lubricant.  Back together, after a mighty struggle to refit the snap ring!  This is the "secondary" unit - its much simpler, and is basically just a diff and sprung pulley. No work needed, so we just drained and refilled the smelly old oil, and cleaned some surface rust off the pulleys. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:46:21 GMT
Bit more progress on Daisy Daf:   Driveshaft stripped, cleaned, and rebuilt with new gaitors. Ive still got the other one to do, when i get ten minutes...  Rear brakes completely stripped and rebuilt - new cylinders came with the car, as did 2 sets of brake shoes. Sadly the shoes were incorrect, as were the set that we picked up at Beaulieu! They looked familiar, and i finally sussed they were Escort Mk2 - just over £15, off the shelf...  And the other side:  Next job is to make some new brake pipes - all the rear pipes are very rusty, and most of them broke on removal. So i get to play with shiny copper again... Mark has ordered a new drivebelt so that needs to go on and be set up, then we need to clean back some surface rust and rustproof the rear underside before the Vario, driveshafts, and fuel tank can go back. After that, no reason why the engine cant go back in really? |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:46:56 GMT
Another productive afternoon:  Old and new drivebelts compared. New one is around 4mm thicker, so it needed replacing.  Primary pulley spread to give room for the new belt  Secondary pulley hooked into new belt and pulled back onto frame. This was a hideous job, involving much leverage and swearing.  Completed Vario unit, ready to refit.  And some shiny copper brake pipes! Lovely. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:47:40 GMT
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:48:28 GMT
Ive sprayed the lower edges of the rear wings with zinc primer and black stonechip. It will protect it for now and can be sprayed over as and when we decide what to do with the bodywork! Mark came over and throughly waxoyled the floor, inner rear arches, and chassis with black waxoyl. I was quite happy to leave it to him - as its a foul job. Ive also fitted some rather nice period mudflaps from my stash:  Next weekend me and Mark can finally refit the gearbox, fuel tank and driveshafts, then turn it round and start looking at the front end. To keep me busy until then theres a nasty scab on the sill at the front that we had both missed. I have a feeling this is the point where our "rot free" project needs a little welding, but we will see. Im still very pleased with the overall condition of this car, for a mid 70s economy car its really very solid indeed. I also went through the glovebox, and found the missing interior light lense - pleased about that - plus some paperwork from the mid 90s for some new brake parts. Hopefully they were for the front end as the back did not look it had been touched in years! |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:49:01 GMT
 Nasty scab on the sill...  ... proved to be just surface rust, the sill is still perfectly solid. Result! Ive left some Bilt Hamber Deox Gel working on it, tomorrow i'll wirebrush again and give it a coat of zinc primer, then stonechip. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:49:41 GMT
 The metal cleaned up well, and proved to be rock solid still.  Couple of coats of zinc primer |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:50:03 GMT
Productive afternoon today with Mark:  Transmission...   ....Driveshafts.....  ... and Fuel Tank refitted and connected. Also the plastic shields around the transmisson. Then the car was turned round, and the front lifted up...  .... so the front inner arches can be undersealed, and some surface rust round the front end cleaned back. We also pulled apart the front brakes, to assess what was needed...  ... which proved to be an easy decision, looking at the brake hoses - everything! The cylinders are seized, and the pipes rusty. Shoes may be reuseable if we get desperate! Still not found any rot... I like this car a lot. |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:50:47 GMT
Lots of progress today.  Zinc primer over the bare bits  Starting point for today. Stripped back plate, ready for new brakes.  New shoes and cylinders (Escort Mk2 with twin leading shoe!)  New hub bearings came with the car, we decided to fit them rather than clean up the old ones.  New flexible hoses. Couldnt get the correct ones, so i had to do some adaptation, but they will work just fine.  Everything repeated on the other side!  There was a creak through the steering which i didnt like. So Mark removed the track rod ends (inner and outer) both sides so we could check and grease everything. One track rod end was a little sticky and rusty, so we replaced it with a new one. The other three were cleaned out and regreased, as was the steering rack. With the track rods removed, each strut could be moved independantly - and they both creaked! The N/S was the worst, and as we only had one new lower joint that was the side we fitted it to. It was a much harder job than it looked, and we had hassle with the speedo cable.... Dont even go there :oops: Pleasingly, after all that the lower joint did have some play in it, and the steering feels better. We will need to find another lower joint for the other side - i like to replace these things in pairs ideally...  Last job was to remove the master cylinder, so we could get at the surface rust below it, and treat it to some new seals. Its just starting to weep, so it could do with some attention. We have also finished replacing all the brake pipes. Did i mention i like making brake pipes? Mmmmm Shiny Copper... |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:51:43 GMT
Leaky master cylinder:  Stripped, cleaned, honed, and painted:  And then reassembled with fresh seals. Surprisingly complicated for a basic car - there is 8 different seals inside.  |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:52:15 GMT
Another productive afternoon yesterday with Mark. Id already fitted the master cylinder back, and spent some time cleaning up and repainting bits of the engine bay, so after the brakes were bled and tested there was nothing stopping us refitting the engine. The bay looked like this after i had finished painting bits - quite smart?  So we dragged the engine out from its resting place in the back of my garage, and then remembered we had not looked at the centrifugal clutch...   Luckily, it was as new and unworn - i suspect its been replaced very recently!  So the engine went in - and with everything bar the exhaust connected up we have a running and driving car! |
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Post by Matt of the Vivas on Feb 19, 2017 21:52:54 GMT
 It has a face! I'll not mention the hours of hassle to reshape the squashed front panel...... Someone stored something on it while it was off the car (or trod on it?) , and it was no longer the right curve to fit the car. Something that was not obvious until it was time to fit it! Bumper is on, a pair of Lucas Square 8s found in my garage seem to suit it? Whats left to do? Fit the exhaust. Sort the NS door latch - its very sticky and the door does not lock properly. Go through the electrics - ive fitted a new horn, and i know the wipers and most of the lights work ok, apart from both wing repeaters. The OSF indicator is broken and hanging loose - but a new one came with the car. Theres possibly a charging issue - i dont think the regulator is working correctly, i'll need to check this... It will need 4 tyres as well. And the OS lower joint has some play - still trying to track down another. I reckon another month, and it will be time for an MOT? |
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