A trickle of coolant was inching its way down the road and a nasty smell of hot oil hung in the air. The Wreck was very sick indeed.
OK, so what's up? Oil control ring on number three cylinder, a knackered head gasket, and now I have an unreasonable suspicion of the water pump.
No worries, I've been here before. Engine out, fortunately easy on a Wreck, then have it to bits and do what's needed. Last time I did this I had the option of another engine, but the supply of Wrecks has dried up in the two decades since. A call to the World Authority on Wrecks is in order.
Why do this? If you have to ask, you won't understand.
I won't ask then but I do understand.
ReplyDeleteShirley Anne x
These as the times when i ask myself why we do this (like when i get expensive calls from my dad saying he found something else wrong on my wreck that i need to replace :P )
ReplyDeleteAnd then I remember that the cost of that thing is the same as, say, two tyres on the V70... On the more expensive calls, otherwise it's a tyre...
Stace
Well, I can understand loving a car so much that you beggar yourself keeping it on the road, and I've done that, but DIY mechanics don't appeal. I do however admire those with the skill and grit and doggedness to fix an ailing machine, and will happily keep them supplied with cups of tea and biscuits and encouraging noises.
ReplyDeleteLucy
Surely Stace could lend you the engine from her wreck whilst she is not using it...
ReplyDeletePerhaps not a god suggestion, would a get well soon card be of any use?
I wonder how long my engine would actually run??? It needs new big ends and mains (my dad knows what they are, thankfully! I only *think* I do :p) and a new fuel pump. It makes a rather worrying noise when cold and hasn't been started since about 2007.
DeleteBut if you wish to give it a try Jenny you can go to Scotland to fetch it I suppose! (Would a Dolly 1500 engine fit in a herald??? I assume so, but have never tried!)
Stace
Stace! now you are just being girly! From what I remember you just lie under the car and curved bits of metal fall out and new ones are stuck in and you have new big ends... The other end of the connecting rod is bolted to metal coffee mugs which pump up and down, or sometimes inclined or horizontally in more exotic motors, inside the engine and all this noise goes into the gearbox to push the car along. All very boring really, the shape and colour of the bodywork is far more important...
DeleteHey! ;p
DeleteI have replaced the suspension, gearbox, diff, brakes, starter etc on the Spit, and in the past I have replaced (with a lot help) the valve in my Pug 205 when it disintegrated on me. And lots of other stuff on my Fiesta before that.
I'm just not great in the jargon! I assumed it was the bearings between crank shaft and con rod and the con rod and piston :) But I like to put disclaimers in my text in case I say something stupid! ;p
Stace
Hmmmm it really is a labour of love ....or distraction!
ReplyDeleteI wonder which one of your commenters has been on holiday ......such good humour!
Sounds to me like this is something to contemplate over some sweet, hard cider.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad, but not that bad. Missing piece ot head gasket, though it turns out I had the wrong gasket anyway. The copper one I had is for low compression versions of my engine, the higher temperatures in mine killed it.
ReplyDeleteWhy have it? It's curiously relaxing spending an afternoon in the sun taking the head off an engine.
Would Stace's engine fit? Yes, but the extra horses would crack my earlier chassis at the rear. Never have v1.0 of a car.