Grange Auto Services

Grange Auto Services Vehicle repairs. Clutches, Timing Belts, Head Gaskets, Brakes. Suspension, Bearings, Welding, and servicing.

07/11/2016

Got the ignition problems sorted, for now. It sounds angry

Slow progress, it's been cold. Managed to probably over engineer a throttle cable bracket. Exhaust is made, just got to ...
19/10/2016

Slow progress, it's been cold.

Managed to probably over engineer a throttle cable bracket. Exhaust is made, just got to make up some hangers.
Ran perfectly for about 15mins, sounded a lot more civilized.

Now won't start again.

Still aiming to have it done for winter.

Don't know why I was bothering trying to get the points type ignition to work. Bought an electronic conversion kit for £...
02/10/2016

Don't know why I was bothering trying to get the points type ignition to work. Bought an electronic conversion kit for £40, took ten mins to fit and now there's a lot less to worry about.

Also made a prototype rollcage bar that fits with the new roof, just waiting for some tube to make the finished items.

Need to make an exhaust. It's running on 7 cylinders in the video because I forgot to connect a plug lead, i'm an idiot

Been a while.Haven't had much time to spend on the Landy. Engine bay is getting cramped, front half of the roll cage doe...
19/09/2016

Been a while.

Haven't had much time to spend on the Landy. Engine bay is getting cramped, front half of the roll cage doesn't fit with the pickup roof. Wiring is 95% done. Roof needs paint. Need to make an exhaust

It even started briefly, until the distributor started playing up.

Finally made a start stripping my Alfa.It's been sitting outside smashed up for about two years now.A lot of work went i...
17/08/2016

Finally made a start stripping my Alfa.
It's been sitting outside smashed up for about two years now.
A lot of work went into it, quite depressing to look at it now.

Well it's one way to finish a project. First photo is from 2008!

That's the bulkhead done. It's not a brilliant job, but at least it's not hand painted.Didn't do a good job masking it u...
10/08/2016

That's the bulkhead done. It's not a brilliant job, but at least it's not hand painted.
Didn't do a good job masking it up, I stopped caring after it blew apart during priming. I can paint the lower half black again later.

It is very red, I knew the rest of the paint had faded but I didn't think it was that extreme.

Engineers still got my bits, I can't do much else until they come back. I suppose I could paint the pickup cab, I can also put it off until it's the only thing left to do though

Nearly missed this, somehow, I don't know how. Reverse idler is worn so bad its barely a gear. Would have been very emba...
29/07/2016

Nearly missed this, somehow, I don't know how. Reverse idler is worn so bad its barely a gear.
Would have been very embarrassing for my rebuilt gearbox to lose reverse, probably the first time I use it. At least with the power of a V8 it could probably drive over/through whatever's in the way anyway.

Also got a new layshaft, and some bearings and stuff. Input shaft is at the engineers with the flywheel, as soon as they come back there's nothing stopping me putting it all together.

I might have a finished Landy before the end of summer, its getting itchy, V8 itchy. Need to keep it together, it's tempting to rush it, paint it with tipp-ex and hold everything together with elastic bands and paper clips

Another common thing seen with poorly serviced cars, bad handbrake cable adjustment. If your handbrake doesn't work very...
18/07/2016

Another common thing seen with poorly serviced cars, bad handbrake cable adjustment.

If your handbrake doesn't work very well, adjusting the cable isn't going to help, unless the cable is actually loose.

The picture isn't very clear, basically the handbrake cable is so tight that the lever is on the stop. The actual fault is with the supposedly automatic adjuster inside the drum. This caused the shoes to wear unevenly as well as having little to no handbrake.

The car was apparently serviced regularly, but obviously they didn't want to take the time to do it properly.

Should have done this ages ago. I was putting it off because I hate doing it, but I can't progress until the bulkhead is...
15/07/2016

Should have done this ages ago. I was putting it off because I hate doing it, but I can't progress until the bulkhead is painted.

Cut the old metal out and welded in Zintec steel into the holes. Zintec is steel coated in zinc to slow down rust. Ground the welds flat and then a thin skim of filler.

Pulled the gearbox out. I'm going to regret not putting a bolt on crossmember on, but i'm too tight to buy one, i'll jus...
11/07/2016

Pulled the gearbox out. I'm going to regret not putting a bolt on crossmember on, but i'm too tight to buy one, i'll just rip the floor out every time I blow the gearbox up.

Gearbox is actually tiny with the transfer box and overdrive removed. It kept jumping out of first. There's wear on the layshaft, and the bearings feel rough, apart from that it's in ok shape.

Don't know how well it's going to handle around triple the power it originally had going through it, but I can't afford a stronger box yet

Fairly quiet week, had time to get some paint on the bulkhead. Two heavyish coats of rust encapsulator, seam sealer arou...
01/07/2016

Fairly quiet week, had time to get some paint on the bulkhead. Two heavyish coats of rust encapsulator, seam sealer around the joints, and then a heavy coat of underseal.

Not looking forward to the rest of the bulkhead, the rest is going to have to look tidy because it's all visible. I'm not very good with bodywork and I don't really like doing it

No Landrover this weekend. Got the Vectra back together, sounds better, still a slight misfire but that's probably coil ...
26/06/2016

No Landrover this weekend.

Got the Vectra back together, sounds better, still a slight misfire but that's probably coil pack or plugs.

Then there was a massive fuel leak due to the state of the fuel filter, looks like the original.

I think this shows how important it is to service your car regularly. High pressure fuel pumps are sensitive and a common failure on this engine, and not readily available, even from Vauxhall. I'd say the majority of this cars problems are due to lack of care.

Service is quite a loose term. As a rule if you're paying less than £50 then all your usually getting is an oil and oil filter change. There's nothing wrong with it, but their are other service items to consider and they should be replaced at the correct intervals, or at least before they rot away.

Address

Cwmbran
NP448HQ

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+447896218241

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