Yes, Norway !

[BIG_MVS]

BALLS !!


and bushes and bright shiny things .Car almost done and on schedule for collection this weekend .
Changed gear just fine but not for much longer I fear .Luckily I still have a batch of my balls in stock .Clutch looked OK but swapped out anyway ,alt ,GAZ fitted and all new fixings all round .

Where are these located and how much are the parts? Think I may be wise to look at mine unless you know different from when you had the car?

Trevor.

Pretty sure I changed the bush and your balls were OK Trevor

Are you having selection issues ? They both live on the end of the gearbox ,bush in the selector rod in car ..this is yours when it came out .

I can deal with niggly faults so long as the big stuff's ok, which it all seems to be.
It could have been MUCH worse !

Will have a proper play with it at the weekend, but a bit of a wiggle test and some scientific thumps with a closed fist might suggest there's electricity escaping somewhere in the wiring to the centre console.
I think there might be a bit of a loose wire situation.

Given it a quick wash, now about to have the great reveal to everyone !

:RATS

Glad you're home safe and sound Bob .
Probably the longest run it's had in a few years so good to hear it all went without issue apart from the above .Speedo was a bit intermittent but usually the rear screen on/off sorts it out .Blower might just be dodgy earths and radio .........
Keep using it and it'll probably fix itself ..

Couple of pics..........

Outside the museum of flight..........



Meeting the rest of the fleet for the first time.................

Lee,

No selection issues, was thinking precautionary works. Are these the linkage parts that I have heard of fail on a couple of cars on the Maccon trip? Thats why I asked and you did say the black car was shifting fine even in that state.

Bob,

Congrats on your car, they're excellent classics.

Trevor.

Bush is the bit that fails and leaves you with no linkage .....I'm sure I changed yours as it's one of the no brainer jobs when the engine is out , 2 mins and 3 quid item ......The balls will eventually cause selection issues but you should still be able to shift until they totally f off

Ok that's sounds fine then, I'll find something else to occupy me.

Trevor.

bigger.
Took it out for a drive last night and on the way back, the temperature was creeping up a bit.

Nociced a suspicious drip from the front, so it looks like early familiarity with bumper removal is in order !
It doesn't look a biggie, so hopefully just a hose needing nipped up.

I admit I'm tempted to throw in a bottle of Bars Leak and hope for the best..........
Would that cause lots of problems on these, or is it spitting in the wind, with the sheer length of the pipes ?

Has the level gone down much ?
I flushed the main pipes and rad through again whilst the engine was out but not touched the front end as it all looked in good order .Water ran clear after about a minute so I was pretty happy that it wasn't full of shite .....Rad fan should and did cut in just above the 90 mark .
It may be that someting has woken up .....it had sat for a good few years before I got hold of it . Have a nose at the rad and flexi pipes .You can get to them quite easily with the front jacked up a bit .

It took whatever was in that can you gave me, so 2 or 3 litres, I reckon. After that, it was perfect again.
Not sure how long it's actually been dripping for, a couple of litres per 500 miles isn't deadly.

Gonna get it jacked up at the weekend and have a check over, retorque everything, so I'll have a gander at it then.
I can't really use it (legally) here much until it's registered here, so plenty time to fettle with it.

Nice new Alpine radio ordered, so the old 80's tastic one can go in a box in the loft, with all the other old radios I have which "might come in handy".............................

Sods law ...still, can't be anyting major as you say .
I've put nylocs on everywhere I can so nothing should have moved but always best to double check after it's all been apart .Longer bolts in the rear top arms as well to suit the nylocs .The std bolts are spring washer/std nuts and only show a thread past nut when fully done up .....

Gonna get it jacked up at the weekend and have a check over, retorque everything, so I'll have a gander at it then.

Bob, Just be a bit careful with jacking up the front of these Alps. There is no real strong spot under the front where you can place a jack without risk of damage. For the front, I always do one side at a time, or use ramps if I am not taking the wheels off.
What I would do if confronted with your problem is jack up the offside first, remove the front wheel and you will be able to see the rad, the rad switch, and the hose on that side, . If all OK there, I would do the same on the near side and you will be able to see the hose and the rest of the rad.
Hope this helps.
BTW, what year is your Alp ?
John

Thanks.
Lee was like a human owners' manual when I picked the car up.
To be honest, I'm glad he told me about the jacking points, otherwise I admit I would have made the mistake........

Car's an '87.
It's been on here a while as RATS test mule.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6599

Gonna get it jacked up at the weekend and have a check over, retorque everything, so I'll have a gander at it then.

Bob, Just be a bit careful with jacking up the front of these Alps. There is no real strong spot under the front where you can place a jack without risk of damage. For the front, I always do one side at a time, or use ramps if I am not taking the wheels off.
What I would do if confronted with your problem is jack up the offside first, remove the front wheel and you will be able to see the rad, the rad switch, and the hose on that side, . If all OK there, I would do the same on the near side and you will be able to see the hose and the rest of the rad.
Hope this helps.
BTW, what year is your Alp ?
John

I've been a bit quiet of late, been a bit busy !
Seems the car set out it's stall from the get-go that it was going to make me work !

My introduction to Alpines quickly looked like this.




Including my personal favourite..............