Banpei's new TA60 family cruiser

[banpei]

Small update as yesterday I was able to work on the Carina for a few hours.

I went to various toolshops in the past two weeks and they don't feature larger bits than the width of a bit. Also second session of penetrating oil didn't help either. I'm afraid it's no use as I fear the nut is partly covered partly in some rust preventive applicant like Dinitrol and this prevents the oil from penetrating. I'm not in a rush as it's not necessary for MOT, but I'll sharpen my chisel and bring a hacksaw for the next time I have some spare time.

I did manage to fix the brakes. The seal I put in last time had a very tiny fold in it, so it didn't seal a 100%. Out of precaution I took the used one out and replaced it with a brand new one. Cleaned everything thoroughly as the pads, discs and rotors were smudged with brake fluid. The brakes feel equal in strength and on the gravelroad in front of my garage I was able to confirm it's no longer pulling to the left when applying full braking force.

I received the gaskets for the exhaust today, so next time I'll replace the gaskets and work on sanding down the brakepipes and use some rust converter on them.

[banpei]

Another week, more progress!

Today I managed to remove the rust from the T-pipe on the rear axle. There was no other rust to be found, so I guess this part is what they complained about.


I removed the rust with a wirebrush, sanded it down to smooth surface and then applied a deruster. Once it was dry I applied two coats of black paint, for as much as I could reach the damn thing.

I investigated the exhaust and the leak does not appear to be due to the gasket. Back in 2009-ish the exhaust got replaced and apparently it was a TA40 exhaust sold as a TA60 exhaust. This meant the workshop had to extend the exhaust with a small piece of generic exhaust pipe. I think it's the pipe that is now leaking. I'm not sure yet how to solve this myself, so maybe I'll just ask the workshop if they can take care of it.

Final point is that the headlights need adjustment. I tried to find the adjustment screws but there aren't any on the headlight unit itself and none on the bracket. Also both the Carina workshop manual and Carina owners manual don't tell you how to adjust. I'll go through the Japanese workshop manuals and see if I can find it in there...
I found this in the Japanese workshop manual and [1] says there are four screws at the back to adjust. I was expecting them at the front like with the Trueno.

[banpei]

Another week, more progress!

There are two hexagonal bolts at the back of the lamphousing and they do adjust the headlamps. The upper one adjusts the horizontal axis and the lower one the vertical axis. So headlamps have been adjusted now.

I also looked at the exhaust and found it in this condition:

I loosened the bolts and found the metal was in okay condition. The problem seemed to be that due to rust the gaps were bigger and hence it was leaking.

So I applied some exhaust putty and waited for it to cure:

After the third attempt it is now fully sealed!

That means I have crossed out all issues on the MOT list and I can schedule another one!

[Bean]

Well done, hope everything goes smoothly this time around.

[banpei]

Unfortunately things didn't get smooth this time around.
The Carina failed due to imbalance between front and rear. Probably due to air in the system the brake balance between front and rear was off (30-70 instead of 70-30).
I have bled my brakes twice and the pedal felt firm, however after driving to the MOT station I felt the pedal started to feel softer and softer. Most probably this means there is still air in the system, as there is no leaks to be found. This means I have to do bleeding one more time.

[Bean]

I assume that didn't qualify for an advisory.

[banpei]

The Carina passed MOT yesterday, which makes me very happy as now I'm able to move the car again legally.
However, I'm not satisfied with the brakes. This time it passed within boundaries and it does brake well enough. The pedal feels spungy up till 2/3rds of the travel and then all of a sudden increase braking rapidly. This means braking will not happen gradually. Also, when making an emergency stop the rear wheels lock up but the front doesn't. I've also verified this on gravel and the front does not lock up at all. As I'm selling the car it needs to be in good working order. I'll bring the car to a garage on Friday and have them take another look at it as I'm out of options myself...

[Gtsi-R]

good that the MOT is passed

on the brakes, I had an issue with bleeding the brakes of a Golf rear calliper since the bleeding valve was not at the highest point, some air was left into the system. I had to bleed it, with the caliper rotated, and a dummy disk in between to get rid of all the air.

how are the break lines? I assume all calipers are moving free enough? could it be that the master brake cylinder is leaking and catching air e.g. did you check on the brake pads? there are not glazed e.g.?

[banpei]

(06-01-2023 08:58 AM)Gtsi-R Wrote:  good that the MOT is passed

on the brakes, I had an issue with bleeding the brakes of a Golf rear calliper since the bleeding valve was not at the highest point, some air was left into the system. I had to bleed it, with the caliper rotated, and a dummy disk in between to get rid of all the air.

how are the break lines? I assume all calipers are moving free enough? could it be that the master brake cylinder is leaking and catching air e.g. did you check on the brake pads? there are not glazed e.g.?

Thanks for the tips!
Pads on the left side were overheated a few years ago and some glazing occurred, but the ANWB guy removed the top layer and they were fine after. That was also the reason to overhaul the brakes and the pistons move freely. The bleeding nipples on the calipers are the highest point, so bleeding them should be fine, but I could try to mimic your trick and see if that helps.
Master brake cylinder and brake lines are something I can check tomorrow as well.

[banpei]

Problem solved.
Brakelines were in good condition. So I brought it to the garage and they found the issue within 2 minutes.
The problem is that the bleeding nipples don't seal 100% when you undo them. I'm pulling the brake fluid through with a vacuum system. In the open position, I noticed sometimes a few small bubbles appeared and I would leave it to flush everything out. However, it apparently always happened when the nipples were almost in the closed position. So, when I close the bleeding nipple it will draw in a small bubble of air into the system. The garage removed the nipples, put some thick grease on them and inserted them back in again and the problem was solved.

Also, today is the first wash in 5 years!

There is still dirt and grime on the car, but it will have to do for the sale.

Also, the car was running terribly on the stale petrol. I had difficulty keeping it idle sometimes. I did fill up the car with 5 liters last year, but I think I had burnt through most of that already going back and forth to the MOT stations. So after adding 20 liters of fresh euro 98 and driving back to the garage, it ran beautifully again.