Thread: New P38 owner

Hi Mate

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Steve

Hello again. Just thought I would let every one know how I'm progressing with the new car.
So far most of the issues have been resolved.
The head lining was one of the first things to be done while I was waiting for some parts to turn up. I ended up doing most of the work myself, I removed the head lining panel and sun roof panel, and let the trimmers remove the old material and glue the new stuff in, I then refitted it all up. I went for black roof with the cream pillars. ( I had all pillars done in felt to to make it look nicer, including the very rear ones. ) it still cost me $550, so not really sure how much I saved.
The steering drag link was next as both ends were extremly worn, I mean how the end did not fall off I don't know. But easy job, and steering wheel is straight again. The abs accumulator was also replaced, again, a very quick and easy job, and now the abs & tc lights stay off.
I then next fitted a new heater matrix, and new hoses as it had been bypassed for good knows how long, this was not a pleasent job, and took almost a whole day mucking about. While some of the dash was removed I have discovered that most of it has broken, and is missing large chunks of plastic where the screws would attach it to the rest, so at the moment it just sits there rattling around, and not actually secured in any where. Also the stereo wiring was wired very badly, and incorrectly, battery power directly to the speaker amps, which was causing some noise as you could imagine. It took a while to go through the wiring diagrams and work out what was what, but all good now. I intend to fit a rear sub, and amp in the back, as I do not have the original. I also went through the cruise control wiring, and have retro fitted a later cruise module behind the dash, I just need to splice the wires permently as I took a safer option before cutting the old plug off, I wanted to make sure it worked. Once it was done I could hear the clicking, and replaced some vacuum hose today, and have working cruise. The ac was looked at, at the same time as the heating, I found the clutch was not engaging, the quick fix by removing the shim has solved the problem for now. At this time my battery went flat, and I found I had an alternator problem, traced it to the main power lead, so have installed a new large ( old starter cable ) directly between the alternator and battery, and back in business with 14volts. As the dash went back together and finished off, the heater was working, but the ac only one side, out came the dash again, twice again in actual fact, to have a look at the blend motor, as this did look suspect while I done the heater. ( I had to remove it when I done the heater, and there was a hole in the side. Any way after taking it apart, losing all gear positions, directly powering from the battery, and checking the potentiometer, I put it back, and now working. I have to say the heater duct is absolutely the worst thing to deal with. I had a few bulbs to replace, and need to replace a few in the cruise & eas switches, I replaced some in the dash to read the LCD display too. Yesterday I took it out with Gary and gave them a run, they went well, and even got my 235/85 mud tyres on now.
So long story short, most of the jobs have been done with very simple fixes, the front prop was removed, no faults found, so greased and refitted.
So far quite happy with it, although I really would like to get a front diff lock in there, and finish off the little jobs. I am waiting for the rear seat buckle. I hope it will be here before the team w4 challenge, or I'm not sure how I will secure the baby seat.

Great work fella. Very satisfying and great to pick up the intimate knowledge of the car.

Well done mate fantastic news!

Steve

Another true believer has arrived!! Great effort!

The plastics are a real bugbear. I do have a crude fix however..

I've discovered that the two part epoxy "JBWeld" can provide a very strong backing. In most cases I have patched a backing "plate" on the cracked part. For screw tabs, where a piece has broken away, I used the adhesive on the remaining section to attach a washer of the correct size as a substitute tab.. works very well. 24 hrs is the recommended time for proper curing and max strength before you put strain on the join. My experience is that at least 18 hrs is needed and 24hrs to be really certain.

In some cases where there is a hairline crack, a thin layer of JBWeld over the length of the crack and a couple of mm each side, will form a very strong bond and stop the crack spreading.

For other cases for example where the screw tabs are cracked but still in one piece, I patch them from behind with a square tab made of sheet metal as follows:

Drilled a series of 5.5mm holes in a line, 20mm apart and 12mm in from the edge of a sheet of 0.5mm -1mm thick steel plate (salvaged from a junked VCR casing). Cut the plate 25mm in from the edge such that the holes are central in a strip about 300mm long and 25mm wide. Then cut the strip crossways into 20mm pieces (across the mid point between each hole) which yielded a collection of rectangular tabs 20 x 25mm with a hole in the centre. These tabs, having been trimmed with a file to get the correct contour, are fixed as reinforcement backing with JBweld over the cracked screw tabs on the plastic fixtures.

I have used this technique on the instrument binnacle, the central facia containing the clock, and various switches etc. Very effective.

It is critical that in putting the fixtures back, that the screws are not overtightened!!

As I mentioned in a rant in another thread, cracking plastics are not confined to P38s. A local second hand parts supplier of Rover/Jag/RR-Bentley bits tells me that it's becoming a real problem to source non-cracked plastics, even from low mileage vehicles he imports for parts...