What did you do to your Marina today?

[balmy]

I use a ring spanner, put the half shaft nut on to keep the spanner on and a gentle tap with a hammer and it slides out easily.

[da55ter]

Pretty sure all NZ utes got the wood trim and tonneau cover.

Mines South African built, and it only had the wood trim.

[david painter]

Charged the battery of my Brown Coupe at the weekend go her going found the brakes and clutch were all free Time to give her a service now grease the suspension and a good cleaning ready for some early spring evenings soon
Dave

[JubileeNut]

Fitted new leaf springs which has raised the rear by about 30mm and springs are not flat now and all poly bushed. The old rubber eye bushes were starting to split which is not surprising. Greased handbrake cable, fitted new steering rack gaiters (12 years old and were very perished). Polished brake lines. Next week adjust upper RH ball joint as MOT said there was play in it. Still lots to do including MOT.
What torque does everyone else do their wheel bolts up to?
Car handbook states 38 to 42 Foot pounds. Could not see a torque in the workshop manual. I normally do them up by hand and say that's about right but I did rear wheels up to 38 and seems high!

[balmy]

I always do wheel nuts by hand.
Haven’t lost a wheel yet……

[MarinaCoupe]

Fitted new leaf springs which has raised the rear by about 30mm and springs are not flat now and all poly bushed. The old rubber eye bushes were starting to split which is not surprising. Greased handbrake cable, fitted new steering rack gaiters (12 years old and were very perished). Polished brake lines. Next week adjust upper RH ball joint as MOT said there was play in it. Still lots to do including MOT.
What torque does everyone else do their wheel bolts up to?
Car handbook states 38 to 42 Foot pounds. Could not see a torque in the workshop manual. I normally do them up by hand and say that's about right but I did rear wheels up to 38 and seems high!

38-42 lb/ft is about right, never more as the studs are only 3/8" diameter UNF thread and the safe limit on a 3/8" unf bolt is around 46 lb/ft. So these Gorillas using top settings on rattle guns are working towards broken wheel studs. You can't hear a stud crack over the noise of the rattle gun.

[JubileeNut]

Cheers for the replies. Yes I normally do them up by hand to a Nice tightness but thought I would check the torque and had trouble finding a torque and only in the handbook. I think judging by how tight the nuts were to remove they were probably only at 30foot pounds. Now at 38. definitely would not go any higher as this seemed tight. If you keep over tightening the steel wheels then the built in curve of the stud hole flattens out and that is the natural spring in the rim that keeps the wheel on the car.

[Mandator]

Bit late in posting but.....
Got Kermit back from the Mechanic on Saturday. As mentioned in the 1300 A Series Engine thread, have had the head skimmed, new Exhaust valves fitted and seats recut.
Took Kermit down to Felixstowe on Sunday as I was marshalling the Commercials, so I thought I would stretch his legs and check out the engine. Running a lot smoother and a lot less noisy in the valve department.
Photo of Kermit appears in the "great car" thread - with thanks to Ramiroflores.

[Mandator]

As Kermit is the only car I possess with a Tow Bar, my Mondeo having expired last year, he has to work for a living.
Last Monday, used Kermit to collect 200 second hand Paving Blocks. Should have been straightforward enough except.....
when I got to the vendor they were the type used to block pave roads, so about 1.5 x the weight of standard jobbies!
Duly loaded up the trailer, the boot, and the passenger footwell with the blocks in the rain.
The vendor questioned whether an old car would cope? Of course he will!
Kermit coped well enough BUT on entering the main road into town was followed by a Police Van. Taking it steadily at 30MPH all was fine until a set of lights decided to change amber on approach. Foot on the brake and.............. nothing. Well something - Kermit wanted to stop but a combination of the wet, greasy road and a heavy load pushed Kermit forward. Nothing for it but to continue on through the amber lights expecting the Police van to pull me over. That the Policeman didn't was a bit of a surprise, especially when I got home to find I had forgotten to re-fix the Numberplate after some repairs to the Trailer. Still wondering if I might receive a nasty surprise in the post!
Anyway, yesterday Kermit was again called on to do trailer duties hauling 4 Pallets and an IBC from work to a friends and later in the evening, a small greenhouse to the same friend. Life's never dull with a classic car.

[Mandator]

Doesn't anyone want to post here anymore?

Anyway Kermit has been in trailer action, paving blocks, again.
Picked up 304 from Thorpe Le Soken to transport to Ipswich.
Loaded up and set of for the return. No issues at all. Lovely day and 40 mph through the back roads without issues. Who say's cars of a more mature age cannot cope with work? For a second time the seller asked "will it cope"?
Luckily the load weight was a lot less.
Now the nicer weather is beckoning time to fit those wheel trims Josh sold me, replace the broken Fog light glass and fit the Air Horns bought to replicate my younger "Hooli" days!
Trouble is they DON''T work. A replacement set on order! Grrr.

[JubileeNut]

They do post on occasions, most seem to be on Facebook which I find impractical to use as a thread and find any meaningful information, pretty useless for anything worth knowing about. I read the posts most days so if I can help anyone I will. this is the best place to post. But I know what you mean. It is very quiet on here now and be a shame for it to close because people abandon it for a platform that does not work for an information reference.

[Mandator]

Indeed I should post more but it is surprising how quickly time flies past as I get older!

[KwS]

I still pop in, but don't have a lot to post myself and there isn't usually a lot new to read here. Can definitely agree forums are 100% better than facebook for information. Most of my time on here I spent reading and searching old threads. Facebook is just about instant gratification.

[Mandator]

Kermit, AKA the green baby sick machine by my neighbour, was in trailer action again at the weekend.
More paving blocks to pick up. By my calculations these blocks being thinner by 10mm than the last should have weighed less.
340 loaded into the trailer, 700 Kg by my calcs , but once loaded seemed a lot more! Pottering up the A12 at 40mph seemed stable at first but very soon a fishtail occurred. Frighteningly so, to the point I thought I might lose the trailer, BUT reducing speed to 35mph got stability back and rest of journey uneventful.

Doing a little research sic: "There are two main reasons why a trailer can fishtail. The first is when the trailer's wheels lose contact with the road surface. This can happen on a slippery road, or if the trailer hits a pothole or other object in the road. The second reason is when the trailer's tongue weight is not properly distributed".
As neither of these scenarios are pertinent can only assume too much weight!
Anyone got any ideas?
Only other time I have had a fishtail was when I loaded the trailer with a very light but high load, that set up a pendulum effect!



Got replacement Air Horn set so will try to fit at the weekend!

[Mandator]

Last weekend picked up the last of the blocks with the trailer unfortunately reversing the trailer in a tight spot caused the trailer to make contact with the bumper. No real damage but the n/s plastic quarter is a little worse for wear!
Air horns fitted on their own bracket and operated through a relay on the existing Horn wiring. Now my Marina sounds like the Marina I had in the 80s.
My day car (Ford Fusion) failed MOT on Tuesday so for the rest of the week Kermit has been doing the daily work run.
Noticed the gears a little more difficult to engage (clutch seemed a tad lazy) and today clutch finally gave up. Dunno if it is the clutch itself although it was supposed to have been replaced just before I bought it. Receipts show this is so ......so, I am assuming it is the cylinders. Have had slave cylinders go before. Will investigate over the weekend!