Laser 1600

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Jasonmarie
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Jasonmarie »

Looking good and you have been doing a great job :beer:
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Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Jasonmarie wrote:Looking good and you have been doing a great job :beer:
Cheers, keep forgetting to take photo's though.

Spent the afternoon fixing the indicators mounts with brass strip and plastic, the epoxy should be dry tomorrow but I'm working so they'll have to wait. Bumper got a bit of wire brush treatment and is ready for rubbing down and painting.
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

A messy afternoon in the garden, and I now have a shiny bare metal front bumper. Bit rusty behind the overriders, so now wrapped in clingfilm with a bit of DEOX Gel on it, likewise the mounts. Should be good for paint in the morning :)
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

For a change I remembered a piccy. Waiting overnight before stripping the clingfilm off. I think that will happen outside the conservatory, there's only so much the good lady will allow :lol:

Image

Mounts are getting the same treatment and sat in a plastic bag.
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

With the clingfilm removed and the bumper + mounts washed off, only a small amount of surface rust remained in places not treated. I gave the rear of the bumper and the mounts a couple of coats of Hydrate 80 rust converter which seems to have worked well. Of course this needs 24hrs before painting, so something else to do instead. Apparently that involved the hedge trimmer, so after gardening I moved onto the indicators.

Both units have suffered the usual broken tabs, and last week I made up some brass strips with plasticard and glued in place with Devcon epoxy. As I discovered today when drilling through 7mm holes for the clinch-nuts, that doesn't stick well to the plastic moulding despite it having been well cleaned and keyed. My thoughts turned to super glue, but cyano doesn't work well with vibration, so I tested hot melt glue on the back of one of the units. Stuck like the proverbial, so onwards.

The end result, not hugely pretty, but very solid and functional. The units will be held in place with M5 bolts. I have since painted the brasswork matt black so the bits you can see (if you're laying on the floor...) don't stand out.


Image

Image

Getting nearer the road now. Need to sort the sunroof as it won't close fully, a minor issue if it's raining..
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Jasonmarie
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Jasonmarie »

Yes that’s great , also no one will know the tabs are broke and also a lot stronger then them plastic tabs .
She really is coming on thanks for the update . And well done . :beer:
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Brooksy
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Brooksy »

Coming on v nicely :cool:
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Well a productive day so far. Cut the primer back on the bumper this morning, and in between coats of paint (on both bumper and the bedroom ceiling), I tacked the boot lock.
When I got the car it came with 3 keys. One of them works in the ignition, one opens the petrol cap. The other serves no purpose as yet. I picked up a pair of door locks a few weeks back on the cheap, and fitted those yesterday, so I can lock the doors now.
Boot lock removed after using the screwdriver & hammer technique to knock the 34mm nut round. Took most of the day to strip the lock into it's component parts, and I found the tumbler 'pins' all stuck in the unlock position with 30 odd years worth of grime. Pulled them all out, and the tiny tiny little springs, all got a good clean, the pins a quick rub with 1200 wet 'n' dry. All back together, and the ignition key now locks/unlocks the boot. :D

Maybe I'll have a fiddle with the old door locks, they may just be seized stuck too :?: :?:
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Jasonmarie
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Jasonmarie »

Cosmicbike wrote:Well a productive day so far. Cut the primer back on the bumper this morning, and in between coats of paint (on both bumper and the bedroom ceiling), ?:
Have this image in my head of a rear bumper in the bedroom with a coat of Matt black and your bedroom ceiling in Matt black .
Also I did add a mirror in the bedroom :lol:

Sounds like your quite the dab hand with the painting
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Jasonmarie wrote:
Have this image in my head of a rear bumper in the bedroom with a coat of Matt black and your bedroom ceiling in Matt black .
Also I did add a mirror in the bedroom :lol:

Sounds like your quite the dab hand with the painting
Already have mirrored walls so I could add more I guess :lol:

My ceiling has gone better than the bumper. Black has a way of showing all the little imperfections, and despite a rub down before hand, the slightest brushmarks from the Hydrate 80 are just visible. Still, looks 100 times better than it did and really it's a temporary until I take it off the road for a couple of years to do the bodywork. If I can bring myself to do that after a Summer of using it.....
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by D366Y »

Cosmicbike wrote:If I can bring myself to do that after a Summer of using it.....
If you enjoy it half as much as I do I don't think you'll be able to bring yourself to it :beer: :burnout:
A wise man once said... "you can never have too many capris - buy another" :beer:
It's me, I'm the wise man.
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Well today saw the bumper go back on, and the indicators fitted. Grille etc refitted, and I've put the drivers side seatbelt back together. Taxed online just now, so tomorrow will be first trip out, likely as far as the petrol station and back. Apparently there's decorating to be done so I sense a short trip...
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Brooksy »

Cosmicbike wrote: Sat May 04, 2019 8:29 pm Well today saw the bumper go back on, and the indicators fitted. Grille etc refitted, and I've put the drivers side seatbelt back together. Taxed online just now, so tomorrow will be first trip out, likely as far as the petrol station and back. Apparently there's decorating to be done so I sense a short trip...
:cool:. Hope all goes well with the petrol station run.......and the decorating of course :goodluck:
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Well that was fun :D
1/2 mile to the garage, £15 of V Power in and the long way home. A not impressive 5 miles, but as a little shakedown run not too bad. Brakes work like 30 year old ones should, it goes well enough and all 5 speeds work. Bit of a whine from either the gearbox or diff but nothing too bad, of course with all the interior re-fitted I may not hear those noises...
Home to find a few little issues including a minor leak from the power steering rack, likewise the water pump gasket has a minor trickle. Biggest one for me is the alternator belt rubbing the bottom radiator hose, looks to be historic but it's quite a way through!! Don't want that to fail out and about as it's a tow home job.
Happy chappy, few minor mechanicals to sort and should be good for the Summer. Now, off to spend some money, again :ebay:
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Jasonmarie »

I bet you had that Capri smile all the way :cool: I think the thermostat leaking has happened to all of us this year as I had to change mine and the housing .
Yes fan belt on rubbing on bottom hose is a norm also the jubilee clip on the fan with the top hose.

But glad you made it home .
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

The fun continued this afternoon. I found the original radio rattling around in the back of the car whilst I was stripping it out when it first arrived. I also found lots of bits in the glovebox, and as I discovered today that included all the knobs for the radio/cassette. After realising the facia has to come off to fit the radio I set about removing it. Not too challenging since in the past somebody else has done so, and broken most of the securing clips, nevermind, something else to fix.
With a new fuse fitted, and a bit of soldering on the back of the radio to give me a spade connector for the permanent live it was testing time.
Radio.jpg
It lives!! Radio works fine, as do the presets etc. Aerial I need to look at, likewise speakers etc as it's only working on the drivers side. The under dash fader works though, so that's something.

Anybody know what the twiddly knob to the right of the radio is? It didn't have a knob top fitted, instrument cluster dimmer?
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Since I've removed all the lower dash panels on the drivers side, I'm veering towards taking the glovebox out and having a look at the heater, which perhaps unsurprisingly doesn't work.. Am I opening myself to a world of pain? Should I leave it until Winter when I take the car off the road? Or should I just man up and get on with it.....
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Peter-S »

Cosmicbike wrote: Sun May 05, 2019 5:14 pm
Anybody know what the twiddly knob to the right of the radio is? It didn't have a knob top fitted, instrument cluster dimmer?
Yes, a dimmer. Not sure who would wan t o dim the lights on a Capri dash but that's what it does!
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Brooksy »

Cosmicbike wrote: Sun May 05, 2019 5:14 pm The fun continued this afternoon. I found the original radio rattling around in the back of the car whilst I was stripping it out when it first arrived. I also found lots of bits in the glovebox, and as I discovered today that included all the knobs for the radio/cassette. After realising the facia has to come off to fit the radio I set about removing it. Not too challenging since in the past somebody else has done so, and broken most of the securing clips, nevermind, something else to fix.
With a new fuse fitted, and a bit of soldering on the back of the radio to give me a spade connector for the permanent live it was testing time.

Radio.jpg

It lives!! Radio works fine, as do the presets etc. Aerial I need to look at, likewise speakers etc as it's only working on the drivers side. The under dash fader works though, so that's something.

Anybody know what the twiddly knob to the right of the radio is? It didn't have a knob top fitted, instrument cluster dimmer?
Great that you have the original ESRT 32PS and the know knobs too.
As for removing the heater/fan, it's not too bad just a bit fidly and requires you to be a bit of contortionist within the footwell.
I replaced my dash top, replaced the instrument bulbs, checked the heater matrix/resister/fan motor, lubricated the bowden cables, checked and adjusted the ESRT 32PS cassette play speed/checked the drive belt. Glad I did it all whilst the dash was out! :goodluck:
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Well since I have to drop the coolant again soonish to change the water pump gasket and bottom radiator hose, I guess I'll continue the dash strip out in readiness for doing the heater. I'm not very bendy, but I do have 2 kids who are :lol:
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