Richard Moss's 1990 Sterling

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:11 am

In addition to replacing the balljoints (see above), I also replaced the rusty front bumper armature with the good one off my dead blue mk1 820.

The old:

The new (with coat of silver Hammerite):

I also replaced the broken lower skirt with the one from the dead car - not as easy as it sounds given that every srew and bolt was rusted to hell.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:13 am

10th Sept

Just arrived from the USA:

I need to get some of the double sided tape used for attaching the badges but it will make my car a little different.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:13 am

13th Sept

I changed all the locks this afternoon. I was fed up with having one key for the doors and another for the steering lock. I nabbed the set from the green one I'm breaking and, luckily, I have a buyer for the old ones!

I did have to modify one of the locks. For some reason, although they both use the same key, both the door locks were "lefts" (the locks are handed). Someone in the past had just rammed a left into the right hand door handle and damaged the handle.

I also fitted my recently acquired "Sterling" sill trims - I hope to do the boot and bonnet badges tomorrow.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:14 am

20th Sept

I did a couple of big-ish jobs today - tappets and side skirts.

Ever since I've had the car the tappets have sounded an explosion in a nut and bolt factory and oil changes haven't sorted it out (sometimes it's just gunge in the hydraulic tappets). So, following Tim Hewitt's excellent guide http://dotslashslash.netfirms.com/Car/H ... appets.htm I decided to take a bash at them.

It was a couple of hours of back ache but as well as resetting the tappets I was able to reseal the leaky tappet covers and clean the spilt oil off the exhaust manifold heat shields. Hopefully, that will make the car less smelly.

It still taps every now and then, but is a hell of a lot better. I didn't bother taking photos because Tim's guide does it pretty well and there's no point duplicating the effort.

I also fitted the side skirts that I bought from a member of www.rover800.info/forum almost a year ago. They took a LOT of fettling but I've got a decent enough fit now. They're currently just trial fitted but will be stuck down properly once painted. Some people won't like them, I'm keeping an open mind for now but reserve the right to remove them if I decide I hate them! Obviously they clash at the moment, I'll be interested to see how they look when painted.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:15 am

21st Sept

Here's a better shot of the skirts, now colour coded.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:18 am

Sterling badges now fitted:

A couple of other jobs have been attended to. First was the intermittent wipe which, no matter where I set it, would only work on 3 seconds interval. The intermittent wiper control box is under the dash, on the relay panel which sits where the CCU is located on a mk2.

I nabbed the delay box from my mk1 scrapper, installed it and found no difference. The only other thing I could think of was the wiper stalk - so I took that off the scrapper and that did the trick. I can only assume that the stalk switch was faulty - but I now have a range of about 1-10 seconds sweep so I'm happier (especially with the weather we've had these last few months).

The other job was the continuing saga of my fast idle speed. Having previously suspected the Electronic Idle Control Valve (EICV,) I discovered (thanks to perusing the workshop manual) that there is a separate Fast Idle Valve (FIV) on the car. This one is thermostatically operated, and sits in an awkward position, tucked under the throttle body and the EICV and is not easy to get at.

The FIV is heated by a water supply which runs from the inlet manifold, to the FIV and then on to the EICV in series. God alone knows why Honda felt that this was a clever setup, especially when the whole system is above the water level of the rest of the engine, and therefore prone to airlocks.

I removed the FIV (not easy) and dismantled and cleaned it out and then found that there is some adjustment to be had, so screwed it right down to minimise airflow through it. Once refitted and bled the results seem positive - but I'll need a proper cold start tomorrow just to be sure.

Of course, after struggling to remove the damned thing, I discovered that you can remove the top of it (two screws) and screw down the collar inside to adjust it!

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:18 pm

Just a little thing but it gives me pleasure!

No, not that - I'm talking about mirror covers. The originals were badly scratched and scuffed so I sprayed up and lacquered a couple of spares and the results are very pleasing. Mind you, I did forget to take a photo after fitting!

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 12:06 am

Here's a better shot of the sideskirts. Because my drive isn't flat, it makes them look a lot lower than they really are. This shows that the ground clearance is still pretty good (they also passed the speed hump test!)

I fitted the rear TWR bumper today but, having to attend to Phillippa's cabrio's roof first, I didn't have tome to get the front one done nor get a picture in daylight. I'll take another when both are fitted.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:04 am

dodgy pics (the light was going) but you get the idea. I'm still undecided about what colour to do it. I'll either have to match the bumpers to the present Azure blue/Storm grey scheme or do the whole thing in one colour (either Caribbean blue - like Mrs M's cabrio) or Atlantic blue (which is similar to my Jag):

I'm going to have to change the grille - this one appears to be warped.

richard moss · Post by **richard moss** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 11:42 pm

Whilst fitting the skirts I discovered a badly worn track rod end on the left hand side. I changed it after work in under 20 minutes from getting the jack out of the boot to washing my hands afterwards qualifies as straight forward.

Unfortunately, when I grabbed the new one out of the shed, I realised that I had two spare right hand ones, not one of each. Luckily I'd fitted a new one on my mk1 breaker some time back, so robbed it from there. Does anyone want to buy an new, unused RH track road end?

It's cured the wheel wobble that I was experiencing, making it a much nicer drive. It was OK in June at the MOT but must have gone down hill a long way since.