Land-Barges 3.0 CDX estate

[Dave the Builder]

Blimey ! the tin worm had a feast there,
good luck re metaling it 

[mapblue]

First time I've read this post from the start,Lots of respect for the amount of work you've put into this one to keep it going.

Once you get this lot done it should keep it going for years,Top job.

[Land-Barge]

Just a little update, the barge now has a nice new chassis rail



and I've found some more rust









No wonder these 3.0 estates are so rare they just rust away

Senator is now off the road for good, currently having its guts ripped out, am borrowing this at the moment



not a bad little car but it ain't no Carlton

[Alex_FC]

what diameter are your BBS wheel on the Carlton?

[Land-Barge]

They're 15inch senator rims, I've got plans for new wheels though

[Land-Barge]

The new engine is now out of the senator, and the old one has been dumped back in, so I can take it to my workshop and strip it.  The slam panel was carefully unpicked as the 2.0 one is too much hassle to fit.





RIP senator

Engine loom and ECU is now out and ready to fit, unfortunatly I've found more rust

[flash911]

fooking hell 

[stealthstylz]

Thats a fair bit of rust. It's always a bit scary finding rust like that but there's not much you can do than get stuck in and chop it out.

Matt

[merlin]

think of end result and keep at it ,had a canny discussion today regarding older cars . guy reckoned made sense to get rid of older car that spend couple hundred quid year on and get new car . couldnt see he be spending that on repayments every month and still have faceless boreing rep mobile .some people cant see past nice shiny new number plate lol

[Land-Barge]

Got the barge back yesterday, engine in, welding done, still alot to do though



huge improvement now with the new slam panel on, no more wonky headlights



just gotta finish her off now, spent most of the day painting and undersealing the welding, which prevented me from doing most of the wiring jobs but that'll be done next week.  Tidied up the wiring that runs along above the spark plugs to the alternator etc and just general refitting of parts.

Still got to change prop bearing carrier and refit exhaust and fit engine loom (hope to get that done next weekend) to get her running, still got the dash to do and put interior back

[Land-Barge]

Time for a progress report, the barge is now up and running, been running her about waiting for bits to fall off or break and so far apart from a leaking oil cooler and a rough idle (lambda wires broken) all is well




Currently running on the senator steels, I must admit it looks and drives better with these on, will be replaced by new wheels soon



Had the front bumper sprayed with special textured paint to match the rest of the trim, headlight wiper holes filled too, looks the part now, rear bumper is going to be modded and given the same treatment

Fitted the new dash in, couldn't remember how the wires went but got it all in eventually, broke the bloody screen tightening the top bolts luckily it's on the passenger side but I will have to replace soon

 



still got to fit heater controls, new stereo and immobiliser to finish off, looks nice at night with the blue LEDs



DOH

Also fitted new propshft centre bearing and a limited slip diff from a 24v, bloody nightmare fitting it as one of the hex bolts on the driveshafts each side refused to budge so I had to remove one of the trailing arms to get the driveshafts off, and to do this I had to drop the rear subframe.  When I took the shafts out and looked inside it had the crossed pins which means i already had a LSD (never worked though) but after a quick call to Carlton_mad I decided to carry on with the swap.

 

not sure if it works yet, planning on replacing the diff oil before giving it beans

As you can see from the pic I have a mad max exhaust at the moment that's because the senator mid boxes don't match up to my estate exhaust, not to worry though

 

Got this GSi 24v stainless system to go on instead not sure what make it is but it's in good nick and i like the tailpipes, having it modded to fit on Thursday

[Dave the Builder]

Excellent work 

[Ferret]

you been busy

[Land-Barge]

Got the exhaust fitted today, sounds lovely, not loud when running around town but gives a nice roar when you boot it




not too happy with the position of the tailpipes at the moment but because the back box is so long it had to go at an angle to clear the rear shock absorber, once the new bumper is in place I'll have them adjusted to suit

[Scatmancraig]

Fair play for your effort on this car.  I know a Senny had to die for the cause, but the engine was good!! 

[Land-Barge]

Fair play for your effort on this car.  I know a Senny had to die for the cause, but the engine was good!! 

The more I strip that senny down the more rust I find, sills, inner arches, rear chassis legs, all shot, so no big loss, only good for spares

[Scatmancraig]

Fair play for your effort on this car.  I know a Senny had to die for the cause, but the engine was good!! 

The more I strip that senny down the more rust I find, sills, inner arches, rear chassis legs, all shot, so no big loss, only good for spares

I knew that as soon as i got it home!!  It had a long test on it though!!  Don't forget that the lower arms were fairly new, can't remember if the steering arms were replaced too?? 

[Jimmy]

and LB asked if i wanted to buy it, haha, no fanks...
but glad you got the 3L armchair running with it tho, i think thet angle of the exhaust looks pretty good tho

[Land-Barge]

and LB asked if i wanted to buy it, haha, no fanks...
but glad you got the 3L armchair running with it tho, i think thet angle of the exhaust looks pretty good tho

You said you wanted a Senator, you didn't say it had to be roadworthy lol

Problem with the angle of the exhaust is that it'll get in the way of the new bumper, I'd rather prefer it coming out straight, looks alot neater.

[Jimmy]

ah see, yeh straight is better then bent 
well hope is works out ok and look forward to the finished product, gonna be desurved i think, you've done alot to it, true Carlton head 'respect'
Think iv found a Senny, but thanks for the offer, but al least i know someone who will have some spares a? 

[Land-Barge]

Time for an update on the barge, i was tarting her up to sell but now shes slowly coming back together i kinda want to keep her now, i want to finish what i started

Recentley i have fitted remote central locking which means ive been able to delock the drivers door



If the remote conks out i can still get in via the boot, i do like not having to use the key to open the doors

Also been finishing off the interior, fitting my stereo with ipod connection and adding some guages from an Audi 80 i broke (literally )  Ive wired up the voltmeter just need to find the right adaptors to fit the oil temp and pressure sensors



Looks really nice at night all lit up in blue



Just waiting for new heater controls.......................................

MOT is coming up soon and there are a couple of bits that need doing, mainly the windscreen and the exhaust, windscreen im doing on the insurance, the exhaust....................well i did have a lovely Scorpion system to fit but the back box was way too big, so ill have to finish off the one thats on it, just not sure whether to fit the square tailpipes or go for a different style, as im planning to mod the rear bumper with the bottom half of a GSi rear bumper.

Recentley ive been having problems with overheating, engine is fine so i tried replacing the thermostat and then flushing the rad but still no joy, everything pointed to a duff waterpump so this was next on the list



Was easier than i thought to take off just needed the help of my dad to lock the flywheel while unbolting the crank pulley



As you can see the little water wheel bit has broken in two, why they make it out of shonky old plastic ill never know



while it was apart i decided to ditch the viscous fan and replace with a leccy one, works off a switch at the moment but i will be adding a proper fan switch one i get the adaptor that fits in the top hose

So thats another item ticked off the list, more to come

 

[stemo]

Looking real good. Just read your entire build thread as well, thats dedication to a car. Definitely worth it all in the end, nice work  .

[kevinfourlegs]

And? What's happened since?

[Land-Barge]

And? What's happened since?

Loads and loads of stuff, just aint got round to updating it

[man of kent]

You have had quite battle to keep the car roadworthy with all the rust bug. Its a job well done.

Having had too many cars for too many years, like about 50 of each, I've found the best way to keep the bug at bay is just oil, if it has not got to the stage of needing welding. A friend of mine has a Jowett Javelin (I had many) and many years ago he plugged all the chassis rail holes and poured a pint of old oil in each sidemember. He left it for a week (oil drips everywhere). On inspection the oil film had spread everywhere including through the built up mud in the wings. He now has the MOT and every year the tester says "same as last year".

The first time you see a rust bubble, oil. preferably before you see it. My club has had plenty of oil inside the sidemembers just in case. Also anywhere else I can find ahole to get it in. I have some rust just starting along some of the door lower seams and just oil it every few months. Rust just stops! Or use supertrol to prevent rust after welding.

PS wifes and girl friends do not appreciate oily clothes!