More Spare Parts

Drove to York and back today with a friend who also has a Superspec and picked up some spare parts for our cars that we bought off a chap who is changing the engine in his Superspec for a Mercedes V8 (Wow!!) .  

Here was the back of the Volvo when we got back :-)

Basically we picked up:
A complete Rover engine with only 2000 miles on it
Clutch
Gearbox
Adaptor Plate   (Unobtainable now)
Alternator
Input Manifold
Throttle Body
Injector Rail
ECU       
Starter Motor
Exhaust Manifold 
Catalytic Converter and Silencer   
Radiator  Complete Engine Wiring Loom    
Coolant bottle 
The 3 Engine Mounts   
Propshaft   
Fuel Tank
Quick Shift Gear Mechanism
Water Pump
Power Steering Pump
Coolant Hose
 
(Originally we intended to have the differential and drive shafts as well, but it turned out they were off a disc brake version rather than our drum brake versions, so would not fit)


(And on the way I picked my replacement speedo cable from Mansfield)

I dread to think what these parts would normally have cost, and so many of them would be unobtainable anyway.  The chap was going to put them on E-Bay and had originally estimated the total cost at well over £800.  In the event he let us have it all for £500 (£250 each).   Very pleased.
 
Just have to find somewhere to store it all. :-)

New Exhaust Shield

The original heat shield was beginning to look a bit scruffy, and it was a bit of a misnomer as it wrapped tightly round the silencer so was actually at the same temperature.   So time for a change.

Here is the new heat shield fitted, and also an extra guard over the catalytic converter, as that was now exposed. 

Apart from looking very good, it also has all those holes and about 1" clearance from the silencer so the air flow keeps it relatively cool.   Hopefully no more burnt legs.

Tyres

When I replaced the tyres a year ago the primary reason was their age (13 yrs+), although I had noticed that the outside edge of the front nearside tyre had quite a lot more wear than the rest of the tyres.   This time my mechanic pointed out a similar, almost imperceptible, wear pattern on the new tyres, but this time on the outside edge of the front offside tyre.

Neither of us could come up with a decent explanation.   It can't be tracking as you would get the same wear pattern on both front tyres, and it can't be the inflation as you would then get the same wear on both sides of the tyres.   I had wondered about camber, but that doesn't explain why it happened on the nearside tyre for the last set and the offside tyre for this set.   I guess it's just a warped chassis  (Robin Hood built the chassis without a jig, so it's not surprising)


Solution is pretty simple.  Each year, just after the MOT I will swap tyres.   So today I swapped the two front wheels.   Next year I will shift the rear wheels to the front and year after that swap the front wheels again.   Looking at the wear I think I can do at least 4 times before the wear becomes noticeable.   So they should be good for 16 years.

Cooling again

Back home from holiday so first day since the MOT I have had a chance to check her out.  The pleasure of getting through the MOT was tempered a  bit by the fact she overheated again on the way back home.   So first thing to do was check that.   

 

Soon found out why she overheated, she took 4 ltrs of water/antifreeze to fill up :-) My overflow bottle was also full of water.   So I emptied that back into the expansion bottle and then took her on a 20 mile run out to see what happened.   She behaved herself but the temperature profile didn't seem to be 100% right.   Back home I checked and the overflow bottle had some water in again.   Now she shouldn't be overflowing at those temperatures so the first suspect has to be the pressure cap on the expansion bottle.   So compliments of Amazon overnight, got a new cap this morning and fitted it.   Now need to see how she goes on the next trip.