Project ARJ...Part 2

I'm sure someone will have a brake warning wire plug even if it's only with a short bit of wire so you have to solder it on .Use heatshrink to cover the join
 
Looking great,

I have used PastParts for refurbish work, looks like Winns did a nice job. the wear wires wont be that hard to sort. Either get a used one cut or you could open the rubber plug, replace the bullets and glue back together.

How is the back end looking?

Colin
 
Love the dealer sticker , remember them from back in the day . Think i've bought a few cars that passed through his work shop :LOL:
 
Never entered my mind to cut the plug and put in new connectors. Good idea. I'll give it a try.

Haven't had the car on the ramps yet to look at the back but hopefully will get a chance at the weekend.
 
Not a great day. MOT Fail!

Some rust and the rear brakes are the problem. I didn't get a chance to swap the flex hoses but it would seem that the back brakes are binding. Not a shock to be honest with the front looking all nice and new and shiny the rears just don't measure up.

Don't see the point in messing about so I'm going to swap the rear discs and get recon callipers.

As for my rusty back door I think the bottom frame and skin repair panels from JRW are the way to go.

Paul
 
rusty back door
Click to expand...

If you want to get it drivable while you get some doors the only reason rust here would fail is if it's sharp from memory.... so gaffa tape is your friend....???
 
MOT tester said getting rid of the sharp bits with some filler would be enough to pass.

The brakes are more of a scary thing. They are a real pain to get to and my hands are big enough that I had trouble getting to the bleed nipple.
 
Undo the 3 bolts holding the diff to the rear support, lower the diff on a jack and it's all easy to get to . You'll need to release the steel brake pipe from it's support though
 
sorry to hear about the fail but not bad overall.

I would take the calipers off as a pair, I have never dropped the diff but can see the merits. what I do is remove the handbrake linkage tuck it out the way. remove the pivot bolts and with the brake pipe disconnected at the first flexi hose. I put the on the same way. i have done this with and without the discs fitted. more room with out them in the way but personal choice.

If you didnt drop the diff what I do is put the rear wheels on the ramps then jack the body up this gives you more access.

if you are doing them yourself and need a hand give me a shout, the first time you take one of these calipers apart it will take you a while to work out how and why it works. They are actually quite simple one you have done about 6 strip downs and refits....


Colin
 
simple one you have done about 6 strip downs and refits....

:( 6. That's why I am not looking forward to doing my rear breaks. I really hope I get through another MOT or two before I have to do any work on them.
 
Operation MOT - Codename "rear brakes"

I have swapped the rear brake hoses successfully. I accept that it may not be the recommended way to do it but I managed without taking the callipers or diff bolts off. The read I had of the workshop manual scared me as I'm very much a learner at this. No blood or pain so I'm quite happy with that.

The brake light is stuck on all the time. It was like that when I bought the car and I'm pretty sure that the brake warning switch on the pipe manifold is the problem. Its a rusty mess so I'm going to swap that before I bleed the brakes. Not an MOT fail but an advisory and besides its annoying me.

Once complete I'll take a stab at the rust on the back door. Just a temporary fix to get it through but a good excuse to try a bit of welding. I need to put something on the door as you can't put filler in fresh air.

Cheers for the offer of help Colin.

Paul
 
good luck,

make sure that the calipers pivot freely and also that the brake pads arent sticking on the retainers.

Given me a call if you need on to check something whilst you are doing them.

Colin
 
P.S I haven't done them 6 times plus on the one P6 but have done them on about 4 different cars. but will own up to having to remove them from Poppy a couple of times and will need to strip them down again after such a long lay up. Though i do have a set which were rebuilt about 12 years ago in the garage which I will probably strip down and reseal ready to go.

Colin
 
Well done Paul :) . You must be quite chuffed - and rightly so. How did you manage to patch up the rusty door? Did you ever get the brake warning problem fixed?
 
The rusty door was an experiment on my part. When I took the paint off with a DA sander all I found was rusty holes and filler. The main problem was that the corner of the door that forms the wheel arch was 95% gone. The only solution was to cut a 6 inch square off the panel and weld in a new section that I made. First time trying to weld the body and it doesn't look too bad but I can see I over cooked it a little and it is slightly warped. Not to worry though as I'm planning on cutting it all off and putting in a bottom half repair skin and door bottom. I know I could probably source a decent replacement door but where's the fun in that? Besides, all four doors need work.

As for the brake light it is driving me nuts. I've replaced everything I can think off. Had to cut the pipes and connect in new pieces to get the pipe manifold off as I was convinced that the rusty pressure switch was the problem. I was wrong :( What I need to do now is test the circuit from the handbrake as I suspect I have a broken wire somewhere which is breaking the circuit.

The main thing is that I can bring it to the SARR this year regardless of how it looks.
 
I sometimes have problems with the plunger switch arrangement on the handbrake lever, and have to realign it from time to time, as the plunger on the switch keeps misaligning with the metal bit that presses it when you let the handbrake off. Took me a while to find that one.. I find if I let the handbrake right off, the warning light stays on, but goes out if I just lift the lever a smidge.
 
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