Seicento Project FS Sei

[M21MFS]

Another Saturday up at the shed. This is getting to be a familiar weekend activity now lol...didn't get as much done today, for various reasons, but still - all the hours will soon add up.

Worked on the yellow sei today, not that we're neglecting FiaSco but we're ultimately going to continue stripping it down to a bare shell.

So - clutch cable re-routed and adjusted. Pedal then sat abnormally high, so that was un-adjusted and now the pedal sits level again. It's still not great, but then the handbrake is still sticking on so once that's freed it may be a bit better? Also, the car hasn't run properly in ages so it maybe just needs time to settle/bed in??

The sei has a water leak which is a tad concerning but hopefully just a seal. It's not pouring out, just a regular drip. Topped up coolant for the time being.

Oil light flickers on and off. The Oil pressure cable??? seems to be running over the top of the engine. Not ideal, and we've got another kicking around so that's on the to do list. Re route and swap over, if need be.

Haven't cut wiring off of FiaSco for the o/s sidelight yet, would have done that today but no crimps. Will do that next Saturday.

Also next Saturday I'll finish painting the underside of the car. Started with the hammerite tonight but ran out of time sadly so had to finish half way through.

On top of that we also made a fair bit of progress stripping parts off of Fiasco. Headlights and indicator lenses are off. I started stripping the bumper bolts but ended up snapping the head on one bolt and the other is already rounded. It'll be an interesting problem to solve We've also removed a helluva lot of expanding foam from the back of the car. Still a ton of that to haul out sadly, but the rear slam panel is just about visible again. Maybe we'll be able to start cutting and welding before the bad weather hits.

 

[M21MFS]

Fair bit of progress this week on both motors

On Friday night a couple of us headed over to the lock up so that I could give the underside of Yellow a quick coat of Hammerite. The floorplan is reasonably solid however, with the sea air up here, it wouldn't stay that way for too much longer. Hopefully we'll keep tinworm at bay for a few years!

Saturday was a bit of an early start and quite a bit done to both motors. FiaSco had more parts removed - the perspex rear window was removed as moisture was trapped in between the metal and plastic and had begun to rust. The moo horn sounder was snipped (and kicked across the yard!) and the ECU and a bit of wiring (sidelight & holder) removed. At the back of the car I've taken off the shocks, which we'll put on Yellow, and with a bit of help from lewisp got the rear brakes stripped down.

Yellow has had the sidelight wired in and indicator/light refitted, some of the engine wiring was tidied up and a few other odd jobs carried out - from memory the washer pump was swapped, handbrake adjusted and water pump leak sorted - with the aid of some rad weld. With hindsight, I gather this probably wasn't the best solution but there's no point in dwelling on it. I'm hopeful there won't be any issues as a result!

We still need to get the bumper fitted, which will probably involve drilling out some old, snapped bolts. Fun.


Quite a bit done and a sense of pride as I've been involved in a fair bit of the removal of things from the cars. I'm not mechanically minded, which I'm sure shows, but the more we work on these cars there more I'm leaning and the more confident I'm feeling. Still lots to do, we think the CV boot and some ARB bushes may need replacing, but all in good time. Lots done this weekend and hopefully we can think about the MOT date soon!

 

[M21MFS]

As winter is on the way we're working flat out to get the Yellow sei running so that we can concentrate on the longer term work that FiaSco requires. The last few weeks have been a bit manic, but in a nutshell...

FiaSco
More parts robbed, to help get Yellow going. The rear brakes & shocks were removed, ditto the sunroof - all now transplanted onto yellow. We've aquired a generator and a grinders been bought, so that we can start cutting and buffing back the bad metal.

The removal of expanding foam at the rear of the car continues apace, don't think we'll be done clearing that crap out before xmas

The front wheels have been removed and treated to some acetone (sp) to start removing some of that hideous pink paint...

Here's how we leave FiaSco currently...

Yellow however...just about ready to be taken for MOT

So far this weekend we've swapped over the rear brakes and suspension, swapped the sunroof over (Yellow's was rotted around the edges)

Front bumper was refitted last weekend - still a couple of bolts to secure, but shes just about there. CV boot is fine, just needs jubilees in place to secure. We thought the ARB's may be troublesome too, but they've been checked and should go through an MOT.

Tomorrow there are a few last jobs to do, give her a nice clean and get her all stickered up. The clutch bite point is still a little high, and we need to do little things like adjust the idle and check headlight alignment. But once thats done, and the cars had a good clean inside and out, we'll be a lot happier :slayer:

More updates tomorrow - hopefully!

 

[M21MFS]

So yeh....to recap on yesterday

Not sure when Yellow was last washed, but she was treated today!

Last night I met up with lewisp and his mate stuart, our other mechanic for the weekend, at the Torry Jet Wash. I gave the old FiaSco alloys another coating of acitone and jetwashed a bit more paint off. I also washed down the inner arches from FiaSco, which we'll be fitting on Yellow ASAP. Sadly time, and a lack of screws, went against us today

You may recall we bought new oil, an oil filter and plugs...just in case?

New plugs are in - and the idle has been corrected so she sits a lot better. We noticed today that the clutch is starting to feel more responsive, so I'm not sure but hopefully someone can advise - this is most likely the new clutch that ABYSS and MrCento fitted many yonks back simply bedding in??

Lewis had a bit of trouble with one of yellows battery terminals, so he and @msb89 headed off to Halfruads to pick up another. While they were away stuart greased up the CV and secured the boot, whilst I fettled with the bumper again. With the cv done and the new terminal on, the horn proved to be one of the last headaches. With a fixed time deadline today and the clock ticking, we frantically worked to get the horn to sound more than a faint 'b'

Relays were checked and changed, fuses were replaced and new wiring (maybe just earthing?!) was also fitted but in the end we ran the existing cable and switched the replacement horn for the original - it's not perfect, but it's loud enough that it should pass the MOT. Hopefully. Headlights have been alligned so really, there's not much we can think of that it would fail on.

Final job of the day was going to be putting a MK2 'round' badge on the bonnet, but in true style the old bonnet badge just won't budge. We had to settle with the next best thing, an FS tree sticker on the rear window. That'll do for now!

MOT is now booked in for next week, if we get the magic pass then I'll be giving Yellow a nice wee run into Englandshire the following week. No pressure, eh

btw I'd like to say a massive THANK YOU to EVERYONE who's helped work on the cars up until now. We really couldn't have got this far without your help!

 

[blu73]

looks like its come up really nice.. Good luck for the MOT

 

[M21MFS]

Thanks mate. Close up theres a bit of tar and she really needs a good polish but first things first

 

[gadge]

Looking good guys I may be a little late on this but on the subject of the rear brakes on the pick up I have in my possession a set of (two) brand new Delphi rear drums that were intended to go on my sei untill it ended up getting stacked at some traffic lights in coventry...... Boo I had been holding on to them for the unlikely event of my buying another one so if you guys want them I'ld be happy to send them up to you for the price of the postage? I've had them for the best part of 6 years and there just taking up space in my garage and it would be nice to see them being used on something decent and worthwhile IM me if your interested

 

[M21MFS]

Looking good guys I may be a little late on this but on the subject of the rear brakes on the pick up I have in my possession a set of (two) brand new Delphi rear drums that were intended to go on my sei untill it ended up getting stacked at some traffic lights in coventry...... Boo I had been holding on to them for the unlikely event of my buying another one so if you guys want them I'ld be happy to send them up to you for the price of the postage? I've had them for the best part of 6 years and there just taking up space in my garage and it would be nice to see them being used on something decent and worthwhile IM me if your interested

Thanks, really appreciate the feedback. Yellow to be fair has been the easier build. I'm just so glad we did the right thing and rebuilt, rather than brake for parts. Hoping that we'll have that decision backed up next week.

Rear drums sound good - I'll get an IM to you later in the week. Much appreciated

 

[M21MFS]

Just a quick update as we got a little bit of work done yesterday - just finishing touches!

Water jet on the bonnet was acting up - I think one of the last connectors across to the bonnet had been fitted the wrong way round, now fixed. O/S wiper blade wasn't 100% and probably one of those little things that would fail the car, so that was changed. We've also fitted orange indicators, again just to make sure we get a pass!





We even make washer jet adjustment a bit of a laugh

Gadge - will pm you, sorry been a bit of a hectic week!

Mot in two days time - here's hoping

 

[blu73]

she's quite tappy isn't she.. Perhaps it just needs an italian tune-up

 

[M21MFS]

Yeh - not quite sure what would cure that, the engine was given a full rebuild by @abys113 and MrCento before we took over the project...there are a few post-mot tweaks needed, but the engine has hardly run since rebuild so I'm hoping one or two issues will sort themselves out. When we first ran the car, the clutch had no biting point which we think was simply down to the fact it was all new and unused??

 

[fingers99]

Yeh - not quite sure what would cure that, the engine was given a full rebuild by @abys113 and MrCento before we took over the project..

Does sound very tappety on the vid. Sometimes they do. Just check the valve clearances. They're either in limits or not, simple as that.

 

[blu73]

if everything is ok there i would just stick some high octane fuel in it and give it a good thrash, my cinq was tappy when i bought it back but a thrash around the ring road sorted it out. Cento's like to be given a good thrash every so often

 

[gadge]

Gadge - will pm you, sorry been a bit of a hectic week!

No worries mate when ever your ready, there not going anywhere and I won't be giving them to anyone else

 

[M21MFS]

if everything is ok there i would just stick some high octane fuel in it and give it a good thrash, my cinq was tappy when i bought it back but a thrash around the ring road sorted it out. Cento's like to be given a good thrash every so often

You know what, EVERYONE who's driven the Sei has commented on hwo well she drives and the previous owners did a full engine rebuild, changing cams etc. The sei's done next to no miles since the rebuild, so hopefully you're right, a good bit of new fuel and a good run and she'll be right as rain!

 

[fingers99]

I'd not hope. There is no God of Small Engines. I know of no good reason why a noisy engine will suddenly go quiet.

Pull the cam cover. Check for oil flow to head, valve clearances, camshaft end float. It'll cost you about £3 for a cam cover gasket, £6 or so for a set of metric feeler guages and take less than a couple of hours.

 

[blu73]

mine was the injector tapping, you could tell when you stood next to the car it was the injector though. Presume it got a tad sticky from sitting unused :shrug: purrs like a kitten now though and i done nothing to it (well not in relation to the fact it tapped when i first got it back)

 

[M21MFS]

Been to the garage, wont be tested til late morning and I only have a half day off. Already spied a lengthy parts list meaning Ive got that horrible feeling...hate mot time

 

[M21MFS]

Failed

001 Brakes imbalanced across an axle (3.7.a.5b)

002 Horn sound harsh or grating (1.6.2e)

003 Nearside rear seatbelt retracting mechanism defictive

004 Offside Rear seatbelt retracting mechanism defictive

005 Offside front seatbelt retracting mechanism defictive

006 Nearside steering rack gaiter insecure

007 Nearside Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively (works fine?! and clears ok?!)

008 Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle excessive (see below)

009 Exhaust emissions hydrocarbon content after 2nd fast idle excessive

010 Exhaust emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits

Emissions fail

The good news I guess is that things like the seatbelts and gaiter can be repaired/replaced for very little outlay. The emissions is the bit which may take time to trace and rectify.

 

[blu73]

mmm, you could check the timing is not out by a tooth, that could make it tappy as well...

your right though, apart from that not too bad really.