Cossie update part 3

Well you haven’t heard a peep from me since November, and a lot has happened since then. The last you heard was that the car had returned from Harvey with a Group A head gasket, Spec-R oil breather kit, and some polybushes fitted. Unfortunately, Harvey did inform me that he wasn’t prepared to fit the rear beam mounting bushes, as it was noticeably rotten around the mounting area. It was with this in mind that I took the car to AVPM on the Rackheath Industrial Estate (well recommended), to have this area of the car cut out and welded.
That was 3 weeks ago. I dropped the car off on a Monday, only to receive the dreaded phone call on the Wednesday – “Mr Nathan – we think you best come and have a look at the car.” I made my way down there on Wednesday afternoon with Mike, to find my car up in the air, and Ivan with a very sorrowful look on his face. On further inspection, it turned out that the rot under the car was far more widespread than I could possibly have imagined, and that some of the brake lines had rusted. He also took the opportunity to point out that the rear callipers were very ineffective, but more about that later. However, I told AVPM that I would have to take the car away, as they informed me that the bill was going to far exceed the original quote, due to the large amount of extra work.
I decided that I would therefore drive back to London, so my father and I could strip the car down to assess the state of play. Left Norwich nice and early in the morning, and I was flying down the A11 until the car just cut out, and stalled at 85mph! I managed to get onto the end of a lay-by, and push the car back in, whereupon I looked to the sky, and made some fairly abusive comments regarding the car. As if in some sort of godly response, the heavens opened, and I had to investigate the problem in the pissing rain! It was very similar to the problem Mike had suffered a few weeks earlier, so I tried all the things we had been recommended to do then. However, it is a little difficult to check for a spark whilst turning the engine over, with the bonnet up in the pissing rain on your own. As such, I called the RAC out, and then put in a call to Danny, as I was fairly local to Thetford. Danny answered the phone with a grunt, which clearly meant he was still in bed, and I informed him to get his “lazy punk ass” out of bed to come rescue me. It turned out that this was the best thing I could have done, as the RAC man turned out to be fuckin’ useless!!! I will be officially complaining to the RAC about his behaviour, as he was totally unhelpful, and more concerned about stuffing his face with a ‘Rat Burger’ from the roadside van than helping me fix my car. However, he did win ‘comment of the day’, since when he and Danny pulled up in the lay-by at near identical times, he amusingly asked Danny whether his car was “supposed to have flames coming out the exhaust?” Danny however, was an absolute life-saver. After we had checked all the fuses and relays, I had the idea that it might have been a fuel pump problem. I crawled underneath the rear of the car to find the positive feed for the fuel pump hanging loose. Before I could get out from under the car, Danny was there with a pair of crimpers, and a couple of connectors. Two minutes later, still freezing cold and pouring with rain, Danny had fixed the problem, and we retired to the roadside restaurant (Rat Burger van) for half a pound of sizzling shit in a bun. One coffee later, we parted, and went our separate ways. I cannot stress how helpful Danny was to me in that situation, and I owe him big time. So, if you see him at the meet, go up to him, and give him a hug, just to let him know we all appreciate him. Seriously though, Danny – thanks mate. I’m thinking about paying you £120 per year instead of the RAC as this is getting to be a bit of a habit! Once again – cheers mate.
That calamity over, I got back to London some 3 hours late. The next day, my father and I cleared space in the drive, and jacked my car up to see what the underside of the car looked like. After removing the wheels, and not being able to see an awful lot, we decided that if we were going to do it properly…… so we decided to drop everything from the rear end of the car. We secured the car with 4 axle stands, 2 jacks, and 2 ramps (can’t be too safe!), and set to work removing parts from the vehicle. Off came the calipers and discs, followed shortly by the hubs. The rear bumper was removed, along with the rear number plate surround, rear light clusters, spare wheel, and exhaust. Whilst the brakes were put to one side, we could really go to work dropping the suspension. Not quite following the Haynes manual, we dropped the trailing arms off whilst still on the car, disconnecting any brake pipes on the way, and obviously removing the dampers and springs at the same time. With these out the way, the main beam, diff and driveshaft assembly was free to drop off the car. The fuel pump cradle literally disintegrated in my hands (yes, that rusty!), so all the fuel system was removed including the tank. With this out the way, the anti-roll bar could be dropped off, and we were left with a virtually clear underside.
It was then that things got pretty ugly! Out came the screwdriver and hammer, and we just started digging to find the rot and rust. And find it we did! Both beam mountings were completely rotten through, both spring locators had rot and rust forming, and both sills were rotten for about 8 inches along their length. Fortunately, my father knows a specialised chassis welder, and after we had cut back as much of the rust with an angle grinder as possible, he came and plate welded all the sections. His work looks superb, and you wouldn’t even know it had been done. It would appear that we got most of the rot out the car, even if parts of the chassis had come away like papier-mâché! With that all done, the task of undersealing the car was taken out, so we purchased a spray gun, hooked it up to my father’s compressor, and are, as I write this, sealing the whole rear end of the car to prevent as much rust returning as possible.
The task was then left to us to replace what was faulty, rotten, or broken. At this point, we had a look at the rear callipers, and decided they were knackered – handbrake mechanism seized, and pistons immovable! - so replaced them with 4x4 calipers, and discs, sourced from the North London RS Centre. In fact, nearly everything was found there, and they were extremely helpful and cheap in providing bits for the car. My father had some pads lying around that happened to be for my car, so result there! He was also able to make up the metal brake pipes for the car, and with that, we had to replace the compensator and t-piece as they had both rusted beyond salvage. Braided hoses were sourced from Mr. Rainbird to replace the original rubber ones, and the handbrake cable was salvaged as it was in good condition.
Next o the agenda was suspension, or more specifically, the bushes. Whilst Mike had supplied me the complete set front and rear in poly, bar the trailing arms, I decided that I was going to replace the trailing arm bushes with poly as well. These were ordered direct from Superflex, and not Powerflex, as they have slightly more give in them with their lower ‘Shore’ rating. The rear beam mounting bushes were replaced with Ford rubber ones to give a less abrasive ride. On this note, there is some debate as to vibration caused in saffs by putting polybushes in the rear. From extensive arguing with people, I have come to the conclusion that rear beam mounting polybushes can make the ride too hard, but trailing arm bushes in poly will have no negative effect. It was good that I decided to replace these, since it is probable that they haven’t been changed in 15 years, and when investigating their condition, one of them pushed out by hand. Upon further inspection, I noted that the passenger side trailing arm was in fact bent some 20 degrees out, so a replacement was sourced. Both arms and the beam were then placed on the workbench, and taken back to bare metal to remove surface rust, and then sprayed with several coats of black hammerite for protection. The same process then was applied to the fuel tank strap, fuel pump cradle, and anti-roll bar.
Investigating the fuel system meant finding out that the fuel filter was knackered and had to be replaced, and that the fuel tank had a leak from one of the seams. The tank was pressure tested to confirm this, and a replacement tank was sourced. All the hoses were changed for new on the fuel system, and all electrical connections were checked and re-wired where necessary. Shock absorbers were fine, as were the springs which were recently purchased. The driveshaft and diff combination was left well alone, although the driveshafts have seen better days, and will need replacing in the future.
On a more positive note, I managed to get the tyres for my 17” alloys. They are 225/35 Goodyear Eagle F1s, and I’ll tell you what they’re like when I’m at the meet. The alloys do need a 3mm spacer to clear the front callipers, but that is ready to go on, as are the ½” longer studs that I need to get sufficient turn on the wheel nuts for peace of mind. However, as I’m sat writing this, the majority of the car still has to be put back together, and it may be a close call for the meet. If I’m there, you know it’s all finished, and I’ll be a happy chappy.
So, close to £1000 spent over the past couple of months, and the car’s no quicker, and no prettier. But, it might actually go round corners without rear wheel steering…. which is nice. Plans for the next month include stripping down the front end, and replacing the steering rack, alternator, power steering hoses… the list goes on. Also on the cards is a respray, brakes for the front, some more Spec-R stuff, and an interior transformation including ridiculous gauges!! In preparation for the respray, I’ve sourced four de-locked doors from another Saff, and a new rear bumper, new fog lights, front indicators, side repeaters, new rear lights and number plate surround, and other little touches.
But for now, I’m mostly broke, but at least the car is beginning to come together. Deadline to have the car ready for show is May 13th (my birthday), so I best get a move on and earn some more money. Laters J!