|
Post by mistersocks on Mar 29, 2014 11:34:39 GMT
Looks like Mrs Socks won......... LINK TO EBAY SALE. Looks nice and a sensible price, Rich, shame you're not keeping it. I wonder.......... Faulks is looking for a car.............. Chris. Hi Chris! You're right, Mrs Socks put her foot down. I tried my best but even I couldnt come up with a convincing argument to own three crabs, plus two 1300's, a tractor and six motorbikes..... Thanks for the comment on the price too, I really dont want to sell it, and its doing sterling service as my daily driver while my supposedly reliable modern car is up on axle stands again! I shan't be too upset if no-one buys it, although have just spied a rather nive looking ERF LV truck on ebay, and its just down the road from me.... Cheers! Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Mar 11, 2014 20:56:30 GMT
Thanks for that Chris, New manifold gasket ordered, and I'll be replacing the hose from the manifold to servo too as its fairly perished. Cant remember any whooshing noises when I removed the hose but looking at the state of the manifold gasket it wouldnt surprise me if there was no vacuum. Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Mar 10, 2014 21:45:00 GMT
Hello All, At last there's some sun in the sky and I've got an hours daylight upon returning home from work, so I found some time to do a bit more to the Morris. Pulled the vacuum hose off the inlet manifold and gave it a suck and stuck it to the inside of my cheek (the cheek of my face by the way...). it stayed stuck there with no noticeable loss of 'suck', does this mean the servo could be ok? next step was to remove the manifold assembly. amazingly, everything came apart as if it had only been done up yesterday, when removing the manifold, the gasket fell to bits. my thinking is this - maybe the manifold/gasket was jiggered and sucking in air (i couldnt get the carb set up proper when trying to tune it up and the inside of the xorst was white/grey), so the extra air meant running super lean and no manifold pressure therefore no brakes? could this make sense? cheers! rich.
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Mar 3, 2014 21:08:15 GMT
Hi All, Many thanks for the advice, I'll try and find time to get under the bonnet at some point this week and find out what type of servo is fitted. I'm not too fussed as far as originality is concerned, and a quick search on ebay shows lockheed type servos available for around £75. Dependant on the price and the amount of swearing and skinned knuckles involved, I'm leaning towards a new servo rather than rebuilding the original one! Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Mar 2, 2014 10:01:47 GMT
Hi Andrew, The fluid level has stayed at maximum and I haven't noticed any smoke, I wondered whether the vacuum hose was collapsed but it seems ok? Cheers Rich.
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Mar 2, 2014 9:09:31 GMT
Hi All, Well, it seems that being put into everyday use after a 17 year lay up have proved to be too much for my crab. I think its a possible servo failiure, but I thought I'd run the symptoms past you all first. The brakes work, the brake pedal is not sinking to the floor, but you have to give the pedal a real hard push to get anything out of the brakes. Also, when applying the brakes with the engine idling, the revs drop and the engine stalls, also the vacuum gauge on the dash drops too. I noticed the two central nuts on the inlet manifold were loose and tightened them hoping that was the cure, but the problem remains... Any ideas/ suggestions very greatfully received! Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 23, 2014 21:51:49 GMT
Hi All, Well I've spent the last few weeks racking your brains in the technical section of this forum, so I figured it was high time to introduce the new car properly. I spotted it on here, and at the same time on the barn finds facebook page. It was known on here as the Bath crab, as that was where it was in the country. A stupidly low offer on ebay later and it was mine! I'd originally bought the car to break for spares to enable the completion of my other two crabs, but when it arrived i was pleasantly surprised. It was also a nicer surprise to discover the interior and boot were rammed with loads of spares, many of it NOS! Anyway, it was a lop-sided non runner with stuck brakes and a stuck clutch, so as it was dumped outside the house work started straight away to keep mrs socks happy! I've drained the fuel system, rebuilt the carb, gone through the starter circuit and fitted a new battery. I found a new air filter, oil filter, plugs, leads, distributor cap, condensor and rotor arm in the boot, so only needed an in-line fuel filter, engine oil and points to get the engine running. Even though the car has been parked up since 2002, the rear brakes and handbrake were all fine, but I have rebuilt the front calipers with new seals, and new seals in the master cylinder. The clutch took some freeing off, I rebuilt the slave cylinder and fitted a new master cylinder, then tried all the tricks in the book to free the stuck clutch. Eventually driving round the village in 2nd gear accelerating and braking made it let go, and it feels fine. The biggest job was replacing the front displacer. I was a bit nervous about undertaking this particularly as I've been working outside evenings and weekends in less than favourable conditions. Thanks to everyone here who gave help and advice regarding that, I did feel proud when I pumped up the suspension again and the car stayed level! All the electrics with the exception of the hazard light switch worked, and a bit of fiddling got that working, then it was off for MOT, which it passed with no advisories on friday. I think that the MOT testers father owning several crabs years ago, and the tester learning to drive in an 1800 probably helped a bit! Theres lots more to do, mainly cosmetic (polishing, cleaning and detailing the engine bay, making and fitting new carpets) and one bigger job of fitting rear seatbelts. I'm looking forward to putting some miles on the clock, and keeping my fingers crossed that there arent too many teething problems to iron out! More photo's when the weather is less thretening. Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 23, 2014 21:29:09 GMT
All sorted. Fitted a new fan belt on Saturday, re-tightened the thermostat housing bolts (which weirdly were only finger tight), then did about 40 miles in the car. Temp stayed good and the coolant level remained the same too so it seems I was lucky... Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 21, 2014 18:50:26 GMT
Hi All, Well my latest crab sailed through its first MOT for 12 years today, so I was looking forward to the drive back from the test station. Having fitted a new fan belt I thought all was well. Until I glanced down at the temp gauge to see it almost at the top of tghe scale... I'd driven about 5 miles in total and only noticed as I arrived home. Switched the engine off immediatley and opened the bonnet. Fanbelt was nowhere to be seen, I could hear gurgling from the expansion tank and noticed some very faint bubbling round the thermostat housing. Ive left the engine for over an hour to cool down and have just checked it now. Oil level was fine, radiator took about a pint of coolant to fill it up. I'll be fitting another fan belt tomorrow and taking it for a test drive (keeping a close eye on the temperature gauge!) Basically, anyone have any thoughts on what (if any) damage I may have done, how to go about testing, and how difficult would repairs be? Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 20, 2014 20:23:32 GMT
Excellent! Thank you very much for that Chris. I'll hopefully be able to get one sorted tomorrow morning. Cheers Rich.
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 20, 2014 19:26:20 GMT
Hi All, Just a quick request for some info if anyone could help please? Took my latest 1800 for MOT today but the fanbelt gave up the ghost on the way there. Does anyone no a part number or a width and length for the 1800 fan belt? Its not got power steering (otherwise I would have borrowed a belt from one of my other 2 crabs!). I'm thinking if I could get any manufacturer part no's or a length x width then the local motor factors could source one tomorrow. Wish me luck on the MOT Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 20, 2014 19:22:05 GMT
Wow! Thanks guys so very much for all the info. I'll hopefully make a start on that particular project over the weekend. And Tommy, I'm all for originality too but mrs socks has said that not having rear belts is a reason for not keeping my third crab.... back in the 70's my dad used to take a trailer load of grass cuttings to the tip behind his 1800, with me sat ontop of the pile, it was my sunday afternoon treat! thanks for the link Nick, i'll do a bit of trawling and see if i can come up with a pair of securon belts, or look forward to a weekend trawling the local breakers yards! and Tony thats a very interesting picture and shows just how tough the landcrab shell can be! Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 15, 2014 10:34:31 GMT
Hi All, Many thanks for all your replies, its very appreciated! Sorry I havent replied sooner, my daily driver (MG ZT-T Cdti) has put the final nail in its coffin over the last week. I've spent every evening this week working on it (sticking rear calipers, non opening passenger door, non working in tank fuel pump, sticking rear calipers again, non opening drivers door and finally maf sensor failiure after a week and a £160 bosch replacement). So the 1800 will be my daily as soon as its mot'd.
I work as a welder fabricator so will be fitting seatbelts to the rear of my crab soon, am I right in thinking that I could get a set of rear belts from a breakers o would they have to be model specific (such as those offered by Quick Fit seatbelts)?
When I get round to doing the deed, I'll pit up a step by step how to if anyones interested? (and assuming I'm able to actually do it!) Cheers Rich
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 9, 2014 20:07:26 GMT
Hi All, As the title of my post suggests, I would very much like to fit inertia reel seatbelts in the back of my 1800, (the 3 point type as in the front of all modern cars). My wife wants me to sell the Morris 1800 as I cant put a child seat in it. My little boy who is 2 is obsessed with "daddys landcrab car" so I'd rather keep it, fit modern seatbelts to the rear and sell my MG ZT. Has anybody done this, or could anyone point me in the direction of how to go about it? Cheers Rich.
|
|
|
Post by mistersocks on Feb 9, 2014 19:58:45 GMT
Hi Tommy, I had one of these recently, although from a different seller it appears to be the same product. It seems all good to me, and the master cylinder put up with the abuse heaped on it whilst I drove my crab round trying to free off the stuck clutch! Cheers Rich
|
|