183 replies to this topic

[Arno]

Be aware that with vacuum bleeders you can get 'false' air bubbles coming from the caliper making you think there's a lot of air in the system.

 

The vacuum in the system can draw air between the screw threads of the loosened bleed-screw and that shows up as bubbles in the hose to the reservoir, so make sure you put a blob of grease around the bleeder or use bleed-screws with sealant on the threads to stop this happening.

 

Otherwise you'll be bleeding the system forever and wonder where all this air is coming from 

 

Bye, Arno.

[D-DAWG83]

Ah thanks for that Arno, makes sense, but would never have thought of that. I may fully remove the bleed nipples prior to bleeding them, and put a blob of sealant on them to makesure that does not happen.

[D-DAWG83]

Eventually got round to replacing the battery terminal connectors last night. I had an issue a few months back where the car had no power, and when i wiggled the +ve connector it came back to life. The connector itself wouldnt fully tighten over the battery. Turns out the connector was slightly too large, and even when fully tightened, was still loose. Ended up using part of the original one, albeit modified, as the new ones didnt have the spade connector on it. Though this still wouldnt fully tighten over the terminal the battery, but only on the +ve side. Using the mighty Dremel again, i increased the slot when the bolt goes through, to enable it to fully tighten over the terminal. Took longer than expected, due to that issue, figuring out what to do with the old connectors, as well as emptying half a screen wash bottle in the front compartment when putting the bottle back on, the washer motor got caught and pulled out. All back together anyway, and well worth it now for peace of mind.
Old negative connector.


I cut the part off that goes around the battery terminal, and used the original connector with the return trimmed down to bolt up to the new connector.

Also discovered that the little black box that is mounted to the back of the engine where the earth strap goes, has snapped its wire off, so need to sort that out also.

[chris_uk]

which terminals did you get? i need some too

[D-DAWG83]

Something like this https://www.ebay.co....tm/391491717655 I cut the original connecters down to bolt to this, and drilled out one hole, (to go over the 8mm bolt). Took 15 minutes to do, including cleaning it up and making it look good.

[Arno]

 Though this still wouldnt fully tighten over the terminal the battery, but only on the +ve side. Using the mighty Dremel again, i increased the slot when the bolt goes through, to enable it to fully tighten over the terminal.

 

That should fix it, but... Umm... You do know that the positive and negative poles (and the clamps) on a battery are slightly different sizes, right?

 

So when you buy clamps you have to get specific '+' and '-' ones for them to fit right. A clamp for a positive pole will be too big when fitted to a negative pole on the battery...

 

Often they have a small (+) or (-) sign moulded into the metal like near the cross-bolt here:

 

 

Bye, Arno.

[D-DAWG83]

Yep, i saw that, and fitted the proper one on each side, but the +ve one was still too big. Hence the slight fettling

[peteslag]

Holy mother of god, you have been a busy boy. I think the sum total of my work on this car was to fit the toe links with the correct collars (turbo collars had been fitted causing the toe links to come loose and nearly kill me) and an oil change.

 

It is surprising how much botched workmanship you are finding on this car, especially as all the work had been carried out by a VX specialist before I'd bought it.

 

The car looks great by the way, keep the good work up!

[D-DAWG83]

Thanks Pete Yes, ALOT of work, and money, has gone into it. Getting there though. Hoping to get a few cosmetic bits sorted this winter

[peteslag]

It will be one of the very best once you've finished, that's for sure. I remember when I took the front clam of my VX turbo to the the radiator. My to do list went through the roof. Once you starting poking round these old girls you find all sorts of things.

 

Having said that, I miss both my VX's.

 

I've just put in planning permission to build an extension that includes a garage...........big enough for a VX............hmmmmm

[D-DAWG83]

Not much happening recently, only real progress is having polished wheel nuts.
Bought 16 new ones from a member, with the intention of polishing 4 of my own up. I polished 4 and compared them to the new ones, and the polished ones looked totally different, so eneded up polishing all of them to get the same finish and shine. You will see the 2 shiny ones next to each other show the difference.
This is one of mine


This is the original one polished compared to the new one.


All polished up and fitted


Need to sort out wheel refurb and centre caps now, as well as other cosmetic bits.

Massive thanks to Matty Gray for helping me sort my garage out, and the car is finally in there for winter now. No huge plans for the car this winter. Try and source a new FTWB, as iv still got one MBR lent me, and get a few bits painted and tidy a few bits up, maybe polish the bodywork.

[D-DAWG83]

No real progress this winter so far, but have now ordered a 2.5" Tullet from the man known at Batman. My Piper appears to be blowing again, and as the car has been neglected recently, i thought id treat it to something nice. Love a nice piece of welding, so looking forward to seeing it and getting it fitted. Also want to get my ITG airbox fitted as well, so another job on the list. Hoping to do the track day at Bedford on the 21st of Jan.

[D-DAWG83]

Well have to say, im massively impressed with the quality of the work from Tullet.
Real piece of art. Looking forward to getting it on the car now.

[D-DAWG83]

Started on the rear clam yesterday. Decided that its probably just as time consuming to take the clam off, than it is to try and fit the manifold in place as is. Means i can also check everything over and spot any issues before the track day.

[D-DAWG83]

Well another track day yeaterday, and another 5am start to get the car finished. Got my Tullet installed, as well as a new race spec harness bar from Jon Betts. The bar proved a little tricky to fit, but once id opened out the main holes by half a mm, it was all good. I really should put more effort in sooner, so i dont have to do these stupid hours the day before or of the track day. Also got the brown and grey boot relays round the wrong way, so had to sort that out once the car was fully back together. Great day at Bedford SEN course, was a nice surprise, as initially looking at the map it looked boring, but actually the straights were decent enough, but the twisty bits were great. Also found the confidence in the brakes, which id been lacking since iv had the car. Basically iv found that the RC5+ pads dont seem to give a huge amount of feel, but the power is immense. I was initially braking quite hesitantly, as i couldnt feel what was going on, and thought that i was on the limit of locking up/braking force, but if you work through that, and just keep pushing, they will stop the car very well indeed. I was braking harder and harder from 120+, and the brakes didnt wilt and the pedal felt the same, and i didnt lock up once. Though i did out brake myself a couple of times, in hind sight, i wasnt braking as hard as i could have, and once id got into a rhythm, the car felt brilliant. I may try some Performance Friction pads at some point, to see if i can get more feel, but atleast i now know i can push the brakes very hard with no worries.

[D-DAWG83]

Double post

Edited by D-DAWG83, 22 January 2017 - 10:35 AM.

[Nev]

Yes, those RC5 and RC6 materials don't give much feel, but they do brake hard (deceptively so IMO).

Edited by Nev, 22 January 2017 - 10:43 AM.

[D-DAWG83]

Agreed on both counts.

[D-DAWG83]

Well its been a quiet few weeks on the VX front, just getting out in it where ever possible. Went for a trip out yesterday, and as soon as i pushed the car into the upper part of the rev range, it started to stutter and fart. Had a look this morning and when i took the cover off to get to the plugs, water came out of it, which can never be a good thing. Pulled the plugs out, (easily thankfully), the one furthest away from the plug that goes into the cover, has some small amount of rust on the top. Here are the photos, starting with the one closest to the drivers side.

[D-DAWG83]

Plugs replaced easily, but misfire is still there, so im suspecting its a coil pack issue. Hopefully find out tomorrow when i can fit a borrowed one and see if it gets rid of it.