Progress, the lack thereof

The car will not run.

It sits on the drive mocking every attempt to make it work. I had a plan of action. it was as follows; simply
1) get the car running
2) change the fluids
3) sort the brakes
4) take it for an MOT.

I know it will fail but then I will have a list of things that need to be sorted to get it on the road.

To this end I have done the following, Learnt the principle operation of a carburettored car and bought the following

Brake bleeding kit
New oil
Brake fluid
New tool set including sockets various, screwdrivers, spanners and pliers.
Car creeper
Trolley jack and axle stands
Torque wrench
Compression gauge
Mig welder (not yet arrived)
Angle grinder

Yet I'm still at step one

I have also done the following
actually, I'll start by explaining what I've learned so far vis a vis mechanics.
A car requires the following to run, Fuel, Ignition and compression.

Fuel must be fresh without contamination. When it is no longer volatile enough It smells of varnish. This is bad.

Ignition can be test by removing the ignition leads and spark plugs, be careful when removing as a poorly positioned socket may break the plug resulting in a trip to Halfords to purchase a new plug Where you'll be sold the wrong one by a spotty oik who knows less about cars than me and you'll have to drive back there when you realise the thread is too long. Copious research and trawling through the shop led to me finding some that works NGK BP6HS fit and are in the Motorbike section in a single plug box.

Sorry, remove the spark plug, reattach a cable and place the plug onto the rocker cover to earth it. Turn over the engine and you'll see a spark in the gap if the ignition is fine. A weak spark can be caused by old plugs, a weak battery, or carbon on the distributor points. The distributor is the black cylinder the the ignition cables attach to, if you take off the top remove the rotor arm (you can also check this is rotating freely when you turn over the engine) the points are 2 discs between a sprung plate under the rotor arm. Scrape these with a screwdriver to clean.

Compression can be checked using a compression gauge. the instructions on the packaging are pretty self-explanatory.

Fuel
I removed the cover from the float chamber on the carburettor. The fuel was contaminated, I drained the float chambers, added fresh fuel and attempted to start the car. The car ran for a few seconds then stopped and refused to start.

Ignition
I now know that because the car ran for a few seconds I had proved that the ignition was fine but back then I removed all the plugs, wiped the fuel off, let them dry and reattached them. I also cleaned the points on the distributor. I also spent some considerable time making sure the leads were on the right plugs referring to the workshop manual before I realised that there are notches on the side of the distributor numbered 1-4 for each cylinder.

Compression
Compression was fine on all the cylinders, within the green band on the gauge.

The car would still not start.

By this stage I had had quite a few interested people coming over to have a look and offer advice. We've narrowed the problem down to the carburetors. Most Likely a blockage caused by detritus in the fuel line. We stripped them down (one at a time so we had a reference) cleaned them with petrol to remove the carbon and put them back together again. The car ran for 30 seconds then cut out at idle and wouldn't restart.

I have ordered a carburettor service kit so the next job will be to fit that when it arrives. Also on order is a MiG Welder and an Angle grinder. But today the weather is inclement and I'm having a day off. I'll try again on Monday.

Stop press

New toys have arrived, am the proud owner of a MiG welder. Which I have no idea how to use.

A Car Arrives

Every time a lorry goes past I rush to the window in the hope that my car will be waiting on a trailer outside. I had used an auction site for car deliveries and was impressed by the price, £150 from Nottingham to Hampshire.

The car arrived that evening. I asked if I could assist with the offload or if I would just get in the way. The latter was insinuated so I retired inside to a coffee and my Haynes classic car restoration manual.

Within 30 minutes the car was sitting on the drive and with much eagerness I retrieved the keys and went outside. As I approached the car I realised what I had taken on. It would be unfair to say the car looks a mess. From several hundred yards away and squinting it actually looks ready to go but the reaction of people as they wander over to have a look is probably more telling

'Nice car', 50 metres away

'Thanks'.

'I haven't seen one of these in a while', 40 metres 'I remember it used to be on that TV show didn't it', 30 metres.

'The Saint, yes', 20 metres.
'They're good looking......',10 metres 'cars..... ',5 metres 'usually. This is a lot of work'
Cue me, enthusiastically saying that is is a lot of work but that I plan to have it running by Christmas.

'Have you done anything like this before?'
'Nope'
'It needs a lot of welding, done any welding?'
'I bought a welder'
'OK'

They usually walk off then, glancing over their shoulder to make sure I'm not foll0wing them.

Back to starting.

Keys in, ignition turn. sans response. Bonnet up, no battery. To Halfords.
Buy battery, attach battery, turn key, car clicks.
Google 'car clicks', discover that a flat battery or poor connection is the cause.
Charge battery, tighten terminals, turn key, starter turns over, hurrah, engine doesn't start.
Check light levels, getting dark, neighbours peering through curtains at the madman, go to bed.

The purchase

There is a psychological construct which states that a man, away from home for more than 2 months without access to Starbucks coffee, a PS3 or a bar will, without exception, make an unnessasary purchase on the internet.

Such was the case when I was deployed to Afghanistan. I had always entertained the idea of buying and restoring a classic Volvo P1800 and now was my chance. Without seeing the car and trusting the sellers description I bid on and won a 1967 model which needs 'some' work doing.

While I was away I also saw an identical model for sale as spares so bought the boot and bonnet knowing I'd need them in the future. I now only had to wait until I got home and I could start work.

I was limited by a lack of mechanical knowledge and ability. The most ambitious car project I have previously embarked on was changing the brakes on my Mazda 6. A job from which I never disembarked. The brake discs were stuck fast and no amount of WD-40 or swearing would shift them. I had every confidence that I could gain the skills passively, through reading, and actively, looking mournfully at my car when anyone with mechanical knowledge walked past, hoping they might help.