green 820 Sterling? coupe S358LAN

[Bert3]

Well, another two days of hammering, drilling, and skinned knuckles, but at least now all the bolts/cables are off, and from now on, it's (hopefully!) a case of putting things back together. The neighbours will be pleased.

The two bolts holding the h'brake cables to the lower suspension arms were the worst - no room to get above them, and if the job came up again, It'd be a lot quicker to remove the suspension arms and drill out the rusted bolts on a workbench - hey ho, done now ...... had to chisel one of the bolt heads off as even the bolt grips just chewed it up without budging the thread, then drill the thread part out with increasing sized end mills ....

I'm just waiting for the end of all this to be, I get the car on the road and the missus will do an Andy and say "I don't like it" Ah well, at least maintenance will be easier for the next owner .....

[Bert3]

Two more jobs ticked of the list ......

That's not going to rust (soon, anyway)



..... and those plastic caged bearings are not staying in that diesel box ..... Quick shout out to Bolton Bearings - SKF Explorer 6208's (steel caged diff bearings) for £16.80p a pair delivered

[Bert3]

Wire brushed, daubed with Phos acid primer, then stonechip, and 2 coats of B&Q Fortress (still solvent based!) ...... should outlast the rest of the car, especially with a coat of underseal to finish it off once in place ....

[vito]

Look good, £17.54 delivered on Amazon at the minute.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Irwin-Bolt-Grip ... t+Grip+Set

[deano]

Hi,
nice story,
did you get the car thru the MOT after all ???
I been doing a similar project and the other half dont even know i bought it yet...lol

Yours is a sterling with a manual box isnt it ?

I thought they were all Auto Gearbox

[Richard Moss]

Certainly the 820 Sterlings were available with manual boxes

[Bert3]

Yes, it's a factory manual Nasp, yet Sterling spec. They are out there, but rare. It's for when I'm in 'comfort' mode so power wasn't an issue, not that the T16 is a bad engine, even when hauling 'round an 800, and my preference for manual transmission over auto is well documented! Using the diesel 'box instead of the standard (which was in need of a rebuild anyway) should give me that little bit extra in the relaxed cruising department, knocking approx 500 revs off at 70.

It just needs some trim re-attaching properly and It'll be going in for it's MOT; definitely sometime in August as the 200 Diesel Donkeys' MOT is up then and that's finally showing signs of terminal rust ...... not bad after 16 years with only minimal servicing.

[Bert3]

Well, I can't find anything else broken so booked in for it's MOT tomorrow afternoon.

[Richard Moss]

Well, I can't find anything else broken

That won't last!

[Bert3]

Boooo ..... but in a way, yay .....

Failed on
(i) Nearside & Offside Handbrake ineffective, and offside footbrake efficiency low ..... tester said pads were loose in the caliper so winding pistons back out would probably get it through, as it seems pads aren't seating properly because pistons are too far from discs.

and

(ii) CO levels too high at idle (0.82% against allowable 0.5%)

HC was ok and got lower (66ppm vol against allowable 200)on repeat test. Advice from tester (given the car's been sat around for a while) was to give it a good blast, let the ecu sort itself out, and it should give lower figures.

[Dickie524]

Well done, that's almost a pass in my book! Funny, I got the exact same fail items a month or so ago too!

Rears, I freed up the adjusters, wound the psitons in and out, and got new pads and discs with much greater total thickness - so much less automatic adjusting to be done.

A pass, and also the benefit of a trustworthy handbrake!

(My CO level was entrusted to a local LPG place who adjusted the mixture down for near-identical bhp - and I now get an extra 40 miles form a full tank too!!! - max is 342 miles from 48 litres at 69.9p/litre, which makes for a petrol equivalent of about 55mpg!)

[Bert3]

'Yay' for real ...... thought what the heck; as I'm checking the brakes may as well slap in some new mintex pads - and whilst fitting them discovered the reason for the original failure was a stuck guide pin in the o/s rear caliper carrier which was stopping the caliper sliding, and so preventing the handbrake pulling up any further!!! All sorted - and after cleaning plugs, fresh fuel, and going for a 10 minute blast at 4-6,000rpm (and being pleasantly reminded of how well a nasp T16 does at hauling such a big car around), idle CO down to 0.05 % vol and 0.28% at 'fast idle', with HC's down to 25 ppm. Should get even better as the cat get's used a bit more ........

So, taken a lot more time/effort than I originally thought (don't all 'easy' projects?) but another coupe saved from the scrapyard .......

[Richard Moss]

Good news - especially as it sounds like the MOT fixes didn't cost too much

[rovercoup]

Nice to see your hard work and efforts have paid off Bert, well done sir.
You will have to give the old girl a treat out to the BMC show next year so we can admire your handy work first hand. In the meantime enjoy the luxury of a owning and driving a Sterling Coupe

[Bert3]

Good news - especially as it sounds like the MOT fixes didn't cost too much

Totted everything up last night and I've spent more on tools/consumables (nut removers/spanners/penetrating oil/rust cure/drill bits/bolts etc) than on car parts

Including buying the car and transporting it home, the whole thing still stands me at less than £500 including the MOT (which would just about buy you a set of tyres for a Mondeo), although I'm not sure how to 'cost' extra grey hairs & skinned knuckles, and there's a fair few pounds gone into the swear box