Project Rouge - 1985 GTL

[GTXTRA]

Been running a little bit 'pulsy' still - crack in the downpipe so resurrected one from the original BRM car and this one looks repairable too.

Passed the MOT but running lean and quite high HC's..........needs a tune.

Annoyingly kerbed nsf wheel today - half an eye on on some daft bint in an R reg Polo speeding onto a roundabout next to me and I tagged the kerb on exit at about 15 mph. Lucky it wasn't one of the more precious wheels......Damn annoying though.

Good excuse to fit one of the others sets then.......

[GTXTRA]

GTL acquires another set of wheels....been saving these for a while , the recent kerbing incident prompted me to get the RH Toplines I bought years ago refurbed and put into play.....

[Mrgarf]

These wheels suit the car lot better IMO

[Ryan]

Looks great - Spacers for the rear?

[GTXTRA]

Still been running a bit oddly.
Passed the MOT but was running lean but with very high hydro-carbons.

As I pulled into the Phirm on Saturday Dr Tim came straight over and informed me I was driving a 3 cylinder Rocco...so it was.

After all the usual checks to rule out expensive stuff looks like I had fitted the wrong plugs 4 months ago based on halfords listings...........and combined with a vacuum hose connector leading off the servo being split.

Once all reconnected, changed or secured it was showing a CO2 of.............11............all quickly brought back under control.

So - running like a sewing machine again and with some nice new wheels - a good weekend for Rouge.........

[GTXTRA]

Trouble free on two consecutive weekends in the NW - including 750 miles in three days last Fri-Sun during which this milestone was reached.



Got a new steering rack to fit - small bit of play on current one - but all set for a trip to the Grotto this weekend despite being totally filthy.

[GTXTRA]

Rouge is back on the 6.5'' x 15'' Castellets now - headed to the Phirm yesterday to get the new Meyle steering rack fitted and it has to be said, even though the car felt good previously, the transformation a fresh rack brings (narf narf) is amazing. After 29 years and 112k miles on this one I must admit that the 16v could probably benefit from a similar refresh.........

Did an oil change while car was up on the ramps and Tim was making up the rack - low cars do not make oil changes at home a nice experience.........

An old shot but this is how she sits at the moment back on the 'casties' .

[GTXTRA]

The Rouge has been playing up a bit ever since the National Meet where I had to be AA'd from in the end.

There is clearly a fueling issue - random of course.

After new filter, carb cleaner and some redex on the fuel tank all was well until a run to Oxford in October where I had to keep the choke on for the entire journey home.

Ditto on another recent run back from Eastbourne - had completed other journeys without a problem in the interim.

I know I'm building up to the usual crud in tank but, given it's a 30 year old car that was laid up for 8 years before I got it, I'm also going to check the fuel vapour separator (looks original so have ordered a new one anyway plus have a new fuel pump sitting in the garage 'just in case').

I'll also pop the sender/level out of the fuel tank at the weekend to check the plastic filter and see what the tank looks like inside, throw some more magnets in I think!

Filler neck feels solid, nothing creaking/squishy when I was under the car last weekend - coated it in hammerite whilst there. Have NOS spares but think I'll be able to keep nicely stowed away..........

Just the sort of stuff I would've like to work through with the boy Croucher.............

[GTXTRA]

So - looking at the tech help section there seems to be a glut of carbed cars experiencing running issues too.

After the last instalment I checked the tank (clean and dropped some more magnets in) and blasted the in tank filter with brake cleaner.
Fitted new vapour separator - cheap as chips from Heritage.

Took the car out for a run - all was well for first 3 or 4 miles, then it died as I accelerated uphill out of a roundabout. Cue an AA recovery call........... AND a GTL ignored completely over the holiday period.

Today - fitted a replacement ignition module.

Warmed up and took out on short test run - the problem has only manifested itself once warm. As soon as I got properly underway in third gear it was spluttering like a good'n again, needed to pull the choke out to get it home.

Hey ho.

[MikeH]

Carb cars playing up at this time of year is often carb icing. What sort of hot air feed have you got to the carb? Is the pipe from the exhaust manifold intact, and using the standard air box?

If it's a spark issue you can diagnose it with a spark tester or inductive timing gun - attach to each plug lead in turn to see if you can find a plug that's not firing, or only sparking intermittently. Sounds more like fuel to me though.

[GTXTRA]

Carb cars playing up at this time of year is often carb icing. What sort of hot air feed have you got to the carb? Is the pipe from the exhaust manifold intact, and using the standard air box?

If it's a spark issue you can diagnose it with a spark tester or inductive timing gun - attach to each plug lead in turn to see if you can find a plug that's not firing, or only sparking intermittently. Sounds more like fuel to me though.

Hi Mike - one thing I forgot to say, did check the warm air flap working fine on standard airbox.
The pipe you mention doesn't SEEM to have any cracks in it but I will check again tomorrow.

Plugs changed within last 12 months, leads two years ago.

[GTXTRA]

More fiddling with this - blown down fuel line from filter end - with and without the lines off the sender sender and they all seem clear.

Short test runs when warmed up - same 'breaking down' stuttering, surging - all leading to the pump based on my various reading around.

Have a new pump to try - hopefully that'll do the trick.

[GT Matt]

I've had similar to this with one of my old ones. That turned out to be the distributor itself, s/hand one fixed up good and proper. Kept dying after a few miles but would restart and need choke afterwards.

Also fixed one a week or so ago that died when the fan came on, leave it 10 mins would start and run great again until fan cut in. This turned out to be the coil but now once again running fine.

What carb is on it Sean?

Weber - just looked at some older photos!! Have seen a few of these with worn/faulty needle valve after a few years of use, they seem to stick shut. Banged an overhaul kit in each of these (£22) and fixed them all. Symptoms here were cutting out when coming to a stop then difficult to restart and needing a bit of choke to assist it running to keep revs above idle.

[GTXTRA]

Now running beautifully again - it turned out that it was the good old mounting gasket.

Despite not showing any change in revs when I sprayed the base with car cleaner - the usual method to test on the car I'm assured - the car was still missing badly once warmed up and under load.

On a recent test run a smooth driving with a small bit of choke worked for a while, then with zero or low choke I was able to provoke the problem with just a bit of firmer throttle action.

Armed with a new FEBI Bilstein gasket mount and a Weber service kit I headed to see Tim - with the new gasket available we were able to manipulate the existing gasket enough to reveal a split on the off-side.

When I got my Weber it had been on a car for a short time prior and didn't have a new gasket with it - this meant Rouge was still running the original 1985 factory gasket based on the part number I discovered yesterday so off that came and I took the opportunity to get the man to strip and service the carb.

Also made up a small bracket extension to keep the front of the airbox in a more secure position and less likely to put any stress on the new gasket.

Checked the fuelling - 2.74 so bang on.

Low and not so Slow Rouge is back - it has to be said I took the long way home (missing the start of the rugby) having not had a chance to really give the old car some beans since before November.

[mr.brown]

Good to hear it's sorted
Nearly a year and no pics though