“Trust me, this is way better than a Mazda 3”, #378 (Steve)

[378S2]

Thanks Fred John, really hope to get time today. The Snapon one is a delight, but a lot more expensive and I really cannot justify snapon tools for my level of usage.

[378S2]

The short version of this afternoon is that I’ve tested it every possible way, connected it directly to my compressor on full pressure, and with the coolant reservoir filled to the brim so there was no chance of missing a bubble... nothing.

So that’s a good thing, but I haven’t forgotten that the most my compressor can provide is an order of magnitude lower than full pressure under running conditions so I will watch it closely and get ready to do the work when / if I need to.

But for now, I’ll finish the brake refresh, fit the stainless hoses and take my kids out for a drive (one at a time).

[378S2]

I don’t want to be too quick to declare victory... but I think I have solved the mystery of the bubbles (with help from a few of you on here, especially FredJohn) and the source does not seem to be the head gasket but an airlock in the cabin heater.

What a relief! Half a bottle of water wetter (which is just a surfactant), parked it nose up on a steep hill and I have both hot air and no more bubbles. Just a short test drive tonight, during which I got smoked by an Audi R8 but I’ll put some miles in over the weekend to convince myself.

And yes, I am a dumbass but I try hard.

[HJ2]

Good job!

[378S2]

Some big changes to update you all on. Tremendous changes - some people are saying the biggest changes.

1. LED lights all round, except the headlights which I think are pretty good and I’m not sure what the fuss is about. The replacement flasher for the LEDs doesn’t click, and now that I’ve done a few kms I wish it did, I’ll either get another one or wire up an external sounder.

2. Momo tuner steering wheel - it came with the car along with two original S2 steering wheels, but I took it off in favour of the original fairly soon after owning it. But now that I’ve had the car a little while the momo is definitely a better feel

3. I pulled the stereo out to have a look because some old service history notes made me suspicious... and sure enough it needed a bit of love to get it up to standard. I’ve spliced the aftermarket connector in properly with lashings of heat shrink. There’s only one area of modified wiring left for me to check - the immobiliser. I am 90% sure I’m going to find some more gremlins there.

Then lots of kms in the sun. Got a bit sunburnt yesterday coming back from Fremantle - sorry to rub it in for all the UK owners with their cars wrapped up for winter.

Update - I imported one of these from Classic Car LEDs, they’re a good bunch and very helpful. Works, clicks, no hassle.

[378S2]

Quick trip down the road with my youngest tonight.

[TorqueHorse]

[Simon_P]

Sunset rarely disappoints on the west coast

Ice Cream while watching the sunset on Cottesloe beach?

[378S2]

Ice Cream while watching the sunset on Cottesloe beach?

Almost! That’s Burn’s Beach though, I’m up in the northern suburbs with all the other English people, it’s like a sunny version of Brighton but with sand.

Another huge mystery solved - 2020’s most unanswerable question, “Why doesn’t the heater matrix valve close on full cold?”

With the glovebox removed you can see where the control rod and metal flap thing hit the vacuum micro switch, it wasn’t applying enough displacement to close it. I didn’t want to pull the dash apart, and I didn’t want to try and bend it without access so I’ve put a strip of adhesive felt pad on there, works perfectly now.

[TorqueHorse]

That's funny, I guess it must be heater matrix micro switch fix season . I had the exact same issue and I don't know about access on the RHD, but the LHD isn't great. So after trying to beef up the thickness of the paddle, I ended up knocking off the micro switch activator pad by mistake. Good news is that seems the easier way to fix. A toothpaste lid ended up being the perfect diameter to make a friction fit and extend. Top tip: a sheet of cardboard or similar, to catch your inevitable dropped bits, before they are lost forever behind trim is helpful.

What was easier to apply to in the RHD, paddle or pad?

[378S2]

Is your engine back in? Otherwise how did you know your valve isn’t working?

On RHD, with the glovebox out it was just about possible to reach. The pad was the only option I saw, tried using forceps but they were no good. In the end I taped the adhesive pad to my index finger and wrangled my way in there. I will take some photos next time the glovebox is out and update the original post.

Someone is going to find that toothpaste tube lid in the future and wonder how the hell it got there!

[TorqueHorse]

Sadly, the engine isn't back in. But I was able to test the integrity of my vacuum lines and reservoir as part of the check-up process. The heater valve was a perfect test indicator.

And from your description, I expect your reenactment photos to be nothing short of the Creation of Adam

[378S2]

Major catastrophe here in Australia - I’ve lost a wheel centre! Can anyone recommend the best ones to get? The ones on are from SJS but they’re cheap and don’t fit well. Recommendations most welcome.

[Saltire]

Last time I looked (a couple of years ago when I had the same problem), S2 wheel centres were completely unobtainable. They’re a different diameter from those on the SE wheels, which you CAN get hold of.

After pursuing several fruitless avenues of enquiry, I eventually went for four of the SJ centres, which are actually Elise centres. They are a fraction small, so can be a bit of a loose fit, but some double sided tape or a smear of sealant will sort that out. Certainly mine haven’t worked loose subsequently - I checked them when I checked the locking wheel nuts only recently.

[378S2]

Classic Cars & Coffee here in WA today, quite an amazing turn out of cars, perhaps 700 including some really high end stuff - but also a brace of TR7s!

We are very lucky that our covid numbers are basically zero here allowing this sort of thing to happen.

[378S2]

@H2J - thanks for the advice, here’s a photo. I don’t think that it is too bad, no noise etc. but I’d love to know what you think.

[HJ2]

Looks a little scaffed indeed, but not scrap yet. I have seen worse. If there is no noise and you want to save a few pennies then you could try re-using it.
Perhaps fold / force the real sharp edges smooth where there is damage.

Anyway, my 2 cents

[TorqueHorse]

What causes this? Bad air filter?

[378S2]

I think so - we have a lot of sand and dust so it wouldn’t take much. I bet the filter was mis fitted for a while.

[cliff]

Hi,

looking good but as you can see, I am a little biased, mine is an SE with S2 wheels, white dials as well.

I also started out doing wiring on military aircraft as an aircraft electrical instrument fitter, not really a fan of soldering though and use Aviation grade water & oil proof inline splices, much easier, something like this:

https://www.onlinecomponents.com/en/te- ... lsrc=3p.ds

One of the most annoying things about buying an old car is repairing other people's bodges, I think I took out 2 old alarm systems and a serious mess of wires, looks like you are getting well ahead of the game on that one, well done.