Project ARJ...Part 2

Visited East Kilbride today and was very impressed with the standard of cars on show at the SARR. Makes me realise just how much I have to do to ARJ to bring it up to the required standard. I think if I had gone there today with the Rover I would have won "worst in show" without any trouble.

On a personal note it was good that I could see things on other owners cars that weren't perfect. That isn't me being critical of everyone else, it was just a wake up call to me that the car doesn't need to look 100% perfect before I take it anywhere.

The challenge I have set myself is to take it next year. Regardless of any mechanical issues that means a full respray with a lot of welding. Fingers crossed. :)
 
brannigan said:
Visited East Kilbride today and was very impressed with the standard of cars on show at the SARR. Makes me realise just how much I have to do to ARJ to bring it up to the required standard.
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The only "required standard" is the one you are happy with. Yes there were some stunning, perfectly turned out cars there but I always tell people that it's more important to get your car on the road and driving around than making sure the engine bay is pristine and gleaming with chrome. We want to see cars of all conditions at events because we like to look at them all. Remember, these events are about more than bagging a trophy so we'll see you next year then :wink: with ARJ in whatever condition it happens to be in on the day :D

Dave
 
You will get there, I remember back to my first show I attended whilst Poppy was brush painted primer and a fair bit off MOT. You see the shiny cars and think you will never get that condition but it just takes time.

I always like to get a car A1 mechanically and then try and make it look pretty. Nothing more embarrassing than your gleaming Rover breaking down and getting a recovery home.

You will find a happy medium between usability and looking good.

Colin
 
Hi Paul i could have given you a lift down could have done with a wingman incase anything went wrong but thankfully there were no issues :D
And don't worry about perfection i think i'll be taking the wooden spoon for the next few years untill I learn some mechanicall skills or come into some money :oops:, but i'm not to worried i enjoy the driving and the friendly banter at the shows.



Cheers Tam.
 
Can't believe I posted in January that I needed to change the thermostat and coolant and took till today to finally get round to it. In my defence it was seriously cold in the garage so working on DIY in the house was the warmer option.

What I nice feeling to take the car for a drive and watch the temp gauge sitting steady as a rock and not heading towards the red with worrying speed. Turned out it was an easy job and the thermostat bolts came off without any trouble at all. Had to drill a bypass hole as the thermostat didn't have one.

Next job is to try and steam clean the carpets. Don't want to replace them just yet as I have so much to do to the car. Hoping that a good clean will make things a bit fresher.
 
a scrubbing brush, some daz powder and a bowl of water works well if you get the carpets out of the car then let them dry out in the sunshine!
 
The sun is shining on Dundee for the first time in weeks. I'll have to take it as a sign that the carpets should be washed. (Can't last for long)

I'll try some experiments with steam cleaning and shampoo and see which turns out best.
 
Been a while so I thought I would post up a progress report.

I've finally got round to looking at the brakes. The flex hoses and front discs were listed as an advisory at the last MOT so I thought it best to take a look at swapping them. There was also a squealing noise which I thought was coming from the front passenger side.

Been trying to remove the front calliper bolts for a week and finally managed tonight with a 3 foot bar. The discs are in a shocking state and the callipers don't look much better. The rust on the disc has started to shred the pads and the squealing is clearly from driving with the brakes not releasing properly.

Long story short I have new pads, discs, flex hoses and bearings for each side. Also now thinking I will swap the callipers for reconditioned ones.
 
I've been moving at a snails pace due to work commitments and various other weak excuses but here are the front brakes, bearings and callipers all rebuilt and back on the car. Have taken it for a couple of miles to check all is ok and fingers crossed it seems fine.
 
:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: very good I remember them being on hundreds of cars he must have done well :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

BTW nice work on the brakes :)
 
HEY hope that aint a dig at me :LOL:

Glad you got the brakes sorted will be better than they were last year when I first drove ARJ.

Who did you get to do the refurb? Did you have trouble sourcing the V8 discs? I heard a while back they were in short supply.

Colin
 
No dig intended Colin. Honest. I'm pretty sure Mr Daley was a major dealer in London in the 70's and he will send Terry round to sort anyone out who says different. :)

The discs and pads were from JR Wadhams and everything else was from Wins. I've renewed the caliper connection pipes, flexi hoses and also the wheel bearings. The calipers are a swapped part. I send the originals and received these swapped ones back. They look great with new seals, pistons, etc..

Its been a bit of a task to be honest as this is the first time I've done anything like this but I'm pretty pleased with the results. The only problem is that the driver side brake wear wiring plug is wrecked so I need a new one. Suspect this won't be an easy part to source.

I'll probably have to swap the rear flexi hoses as well but I'm not looking forward to lying on back under the car trying that job.
 
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