barchettaman
Kinda New
Opera singer, retroride lurker, from Frankfurt/Main
Posts: 9
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Nice spot, the Vitra museum. I bet the kids liked the giant tower/slide thingy.
I sat in one of the Eames lounge chairs whilst I was there, thought it was pretty comfy, thought I would check the price - €7k. I didn't buy it.
Best of luck shoehorning the 3.0 into the Tiagra!
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,607
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At least you should know not to let the first Tigra back in the workshop lest they breed, even though it does sound like the ideal time to pick up irresistible waifs before deserving examples are gone.
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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Nice spot, the Vitra museum. I bet the kids liked the giant tower/slide thingy. I sat in one of the Eames lounge chairs whilst I was there, thought it was pretty comfy, thought I would check the price - €7k. I didn't buy it. Best of luck shoehorning the 3.0 into the Tiagra! Yes the kids did like the slide - they went over and over again. I went up there once and got a bit of vertigo! Yeah the chairs are pricey but it's nice to go and live the dream and sit in a few design classics. I got most of my furniture from the Sperrmüll - when people leave their unwanted furniture out for council collection. It's incredible what people chuck out especially if you don't mind 50s-70s stuff. As the kids destroy every piece of furniture anyway it's a good option. At least you should know not to let the first Tigra back in the workshop lest they breed, even though it does sound like the ideal time to pick up irresistible waifs before deserving examples are gone. Haha yes. A family group of Tigers is called a 'Streak' or an 'ambush'... so I've got a Streak of Tigras. I bought a second hand Siegfried and Roy T-shirt yesterday : they were doing a Tiger taming show in Las Vegas till Roy got bitten in the neck! You can never tame the beast. Even if you've got style. Roy's heroic sacrifice will help me with my own Tigra taming. Here's a couple of scenes from the wild west. Next I'll get on with the rest of the sorry saga!
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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2017 23:26:07 GMT by düdo
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düdo
Part of things
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Posts: 770
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Mar 13, 2017 23:02:04 GMT
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To be fair to Frank Sintra, we weren't just dumped in it. The engine warning light has been on since I bought it in January but I knew it was the knock sensor on the forward bank. Every couple of weeks I was plugging in the OB2 scanner just to check as I just haven't had the time to replace it yet - I want to do all the jobs at once : cylinder head seals, oil breathers etc so I was waiting for warmer weather. The day before we set off to collect the new Tigra, I plugged in the scanner and got a crankshaft position sensor fault. It's a typical issue on the Ecotec V6 as it sits beneath the oil filter and gets oil contaminated. I thought I'd take the sensor off the other V6 which is going in the Tigra. Problem was that the crank sensor in the Sintra appears to be the original item and its cabling was incredibly well integrated into the loom with various other pipes and lines in the way.. I couldn't even see where it plugged into the loom, just couldn't get access within the limited time that I had before I had to go and collect the trailer. So I thought : let's take a chance and go and collect the Tigra anyway and I'll take the spare used crank sensor as a backup and if necessary splice it in.. assuming it works? ( Edit: it doesn't!) I said to the wife : we might stand by the side of the road tomorrow, broken down. She accepted the risk. It was 120kms down there and we made 75kms back before the crank sensor died. If we had to break down this was the right place : Höllental or 'Hells Valley' Haha We'd come off a 40km autobahn stretch, made it through the congestion of Freiburg and were out on the fringes of the Black Forest approaching a brutal ascent of hairpins ( without any shoulder or refuge) when the crank sensor had enough and we trundled onto the verge. I lifted the bonnet and saw that the cable of the crank sensor had been rubbing on the corner of the block and the insulation was split. There was no phone reception of course in Hell's Valley so the wife set off walking up the road trying to find some while I had a go at bodging the other crank sensor in - almost impossibly fiddly and inaccessible of course - while trying to keep the kids under control who thought it was all really amusing. The ADAC were eventually contacted and sent out a friendly old timer in a pick-up and trailer telling us we'd have to leave the trailer with the Tigra as he could only take the Sintra. When he saw the kids, he got on the radio to the chief who was out training on his racing bike and said ( rough translation) : 'get your rse down here and bring the fat one' So the chief arrived in 'the fat one' still in his tracksuit and saved our skins. Nice road train of 90s Opel curse word! He was only obliged to take us back to his garage but he looked on his Navi and saw we were 55kms from home so he said : 'I'll take you home, otherwise you're up sheet street. Can't leave that trailer there for the pikies, you'll never see it again.' The chief was 65, tanned and toned, unlike any recovery truck driver I've ever seen. When we were underway, we got talking - the guy had been flying military jets in the 80s then afterwards had set up the garage below. Now semi-retired but covering for his son during holidays. When you need a hero... he looked like something out of Top Gun! And he got us back to the barn, let my son operate the remote for the tilt and winch. And helped me push Frank Sintra back into the barn. Worth it all just to meet that dude. Big up the ADAC as well who got these blokes out to us within 30 mins, provided two vehicles and got us through. The chief told me - looking at his computer - that we were the 8,671st breakdown that day since 00.00hrs just in our state of Baden-Württemberg and it was only 16.30. I couldn't believe it. Apparently new cars breakdown as well. My wife and daughters rode back in the pick-up truck and all the kids thought it was a great adventure. I was sat in my studio at 21.00, kids in bed, trailer towed back to the rental place with the R21, all sorted, opening the first beer while the Solid Steel radio show - every Sat night out of London - was starting, thinking : Not a bad day, could have been a lot worse! No adventure without jeopardy.
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Last Edit: Mar 14, 2017 10:30:29 GMT by düdo
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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Mar 28, 2017 14:14:59 GMT
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The monthly update ( feat all curse word not just GM based) The end of my Citroen BX story after ten years. Yellow estate went to Frankfurt. It wasn't running so was flat on the deck but the bloke who bought it was quite experienced at moving BXs around, apparently owning five or six of them Then the 16v went way up north in Germany to another enthusiast. No more LHM green suspension/brake fluid for me. Then I went 650 kms out Dresden side to collect Mr.Brown. I rode down in a hired Fiat Panda with 'Rent me for €29 a day' plastered on the side. Never have I experienced so much abuse on the Autobahn while trying to overtake the never-ending chains of HGVs. I would suggest that the Fiat Panda is the sh1t on the shoe of the Autobahn.. you're storming along at 180kms in your black Audi/Bimmer/Merc then a 'Rent me for €29 per day' Panda pulls out in front of you, electronically limited to 130kms. Perfect chance to display all those 'up yours' finger salutes you've been storing up! Character building. Mr Brown has now got the long awaited Historical status - that's the H on the end of the number. Yearly tax reduced from €1500 to €191 and entry into environmental zones/cities now permitted - free to pollute everywhere. Strangely didn't get one instance of abuse on the eight hour journey home - people give this old hulk respect when it appears in the fast lane. Maybe they think that 'flicking a bird' might lead to some deranged redneck springing out tooled up with various survivalist implements? My friend Hubertus who sorted the historic status had this wonderful 1962 Bimmer Bertone Coupe in his place. Never seen one. I felt like a proper gent sat in it This is the unglamorous stuff. A local bloke was breaking a 90s Chevrolet Trans Sport so I went over there to see if the leather interior would fit in F.Sintra as they have the same GM body. It all looked good so I bought the seven leathery thrones for the Sintra, thinking it will bring a touch of class to the old rig and the wife won't be calling it 'cheesy' anymore haha. I got in too deep as always. Firstly there was the collapsed side of the foam base and the heated seat pads to be swapped over. Once I'd got my head round it it all went quite well. I put the foam from the passenger side onto the driver's side and got the leather covers on. Only when I tried to fit the finished seat did I realise the mounting points were different. So took it all off and swapped the frames. A weird niche but I quite enjoyed it in the end. Got to do the passenger side now. And finally got into the Sintra's engine bay and got the cam covers off for a look. It took a bit of digging to get in as the V6 is tight in there. This is the forward cylinder bank - spark plug wells full of oil from the leaking cam cover which has a very obvious warp in it. And the Tigra? I went over to a mates last Saturday flat out on the country roads and had a blast with the sun roof open and that fruity exhaust note. It sticks to curves like sh1t to the Axminster.
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Last Edit: Mar 28, 2017 17:12:14 GMT by düdo
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I'm slightly in love with Mr Brown - as you say, RedNeck appeal.
How easy was it to peel the seat pads off? I have a similar project to get started on.
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Love your stories mate. Great write up.
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79cord
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,607
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Congratulations upon the seats, not so painful little projects; at least they are not too grimy like mechanics, though Electric nonsense certainly adds weight.
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düdo
Part of things
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Posts: 770
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Mar 30, 2017 15:34:51 GMT
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I'm slightly in love with Mr Brown - as you say, RedNeck appeal. How easy was it to peel the seat pads off? I have a similar project to get started on. Mr Brown used to be proper ocker/redneck during his Tassie days - now, being all the same colour, he's come up in the world a bit! But... diesel mixing with oil, compression down on two of six cylinders. 450,000 kms and it's looking like a rebuild - an expensive and time consuming undertaking ( DIY €3k?) that I might possibly enjoy if I had the time and funds. And the thought of lifting the 350kg 4 litre straight six is not pleasing. So maybe will be for sale soon..? Re the seat pads : I reckon that depends on the age/condition of the foam. My foam was getting quite brittle so the pad came easily free in some parts and other parts a flat edge was used to tease it free then scrape the foam remains away. Another tricky part is releasing the covers from the bases which are held in place with metal rods hooked into steel rings - was quite a strain on the fingers. I'm sure the pros must have special tools for the purpose. I used Servisol spray - a 30 second contact glue - to stick the pads onto the other foam base. It's also good for sticking foam together if you have to build up some repair layers. Love your stories mate. Great write up. Thanks. I was just checking your new Delica - hope you get to the Snowies with it - one of my favourite places. You're lucky to have that on your doorstep - so to speak - all of that great Aussie outdoors. Congratulations upon the seats, not so painful little projects; at least they are not too grimy like mechanics, though Electric nonsense certainly adds weight. Thanks. Different sorts of grime present in well used seat bases! Definately overloaded with 'electric nonsense' as you put it - these seats can go in all directions with electric motors which is pointless really as once you've got your position sorted you don't move it again. Some Sintras came with front seats that can be turned 180° to face backwards. I haven't been able to find a pair for the right price yet but if I can I'll swap the rotating bases in and go to manual adjustment.
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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A cryptic pic.. started getting into the rear cylinder bank on the Sintra's V6 last night. As it's tucked under the windscreen, can't see F.A. Using a mirror from my Honda C-50 to get a look. The spark plug wells are even more full of oil than on the front bank. It's been leaking loads of oil out the back of the cam cover too. Blasted hard to work 'backwards' with a mirror - all actions reversed. Started thinking about converting the auto box to a manual as it feels like an airport shuttle bus with its smooth changes. Compromises that engine in my book. The V6 Sintra only came with an auto box so checking the box from the Sintra diesel. Not sure anyone's ever bothered to do it ( out of the three remaining Sintra owners haha)- more thinking needed.
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Last Edit: Mar 31, 2017 7:57:07 GMT by düdo
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Colonelk
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,740
Club RR Member Number: 83
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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Mar 31, 2017 10:22:24 GMT
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Good spot Colonelk. I did see a set being sold as Opel 'sports' wheels. I don't know what's sporty about them? They're quite a bit heavier than the Tigra alloys - stronger? Cheaper to produce? I'm liking those Astras now. That one seems alright for 495 sheets. While I was cleaning out the barn the other day I found some Merc L319 steel wheels from 1965( part of a job lot I bought for my Merc van) - like those 'sports' wheels were also a Lemmerz product. A friend was working at the Daimler-Benz heritage workshops in Stuttgart yesterday and sent me these pics of their fine example of a L319. That's 'Big Jo' at the wheel apparently
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Last Edit: Mar 31, 2017 19:46:46 GMT by düdo
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düdo
Part of things
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Posts: 770
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The Tigra has done 2500kms since it's rebirth. The wife says it's like a little pick-up as you can load so much in the back. With the rear hatch open it does look a bit like a pick-up. The German tuning company 'Irmscher' did actually do a pick-up Tigra and there's been a few DIY jobs too. I got almost a whole day on the Sintra's V6 yesterday - got all the plug wells cleaned out. Replaced and resealed cam covers, new plugs and HT leads. Replaced knock sensor on forward bank which was the tightest operation imaginable - one of those jobs when you think : how the hell am I going to get on this? Replaced crankshaft sensor too as I was finally able to trace the route of the original cable where it was tightly wrapped into the loom to round the back of the engine. This is as deep as I got - replacing the thermostat which sits between the banks. It also involved a cast coolant link pipe which press fits into the thermostat and really didn't want to budge and partly shattered in the attempt. Thanks to a friendly Opel dealer storeman who provided the replacement pipe and seals quickly with several laughs thrown in. The old thermostat wasn't serviceable!
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Last Edit: Apr 2, 2017 20:15:33 GMT by düdo
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Dec 16, 2017 20:55:02 GMT
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düdo
Part of things
wide as house
Posts: 770
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Dec 16, 2017 21:53:51 GMT
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hey, mikeyp247 thanks for the tip off. How's it going? I couldn't see anything on that link? This thread got a bit stuffed with the photo bucket saga so I started a new one - 'The Opel Coast' I'm still on it with the Tigras and V6s but doing V6 Sintra welding duty right now. I've actually got eight of those steelies now but not banded - that's coming. I wonder what happened to this banded set?
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Dec 17, 2017 15:21:52 GMT
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Yeah well mate, yourself? Link was to a facebook group so I guess you have to be a member, not to worry - you have 8 of them! haha. I think they got sold on with the Dervra didn't they? Photophuket stuffed us all over didn't they. I'll hunt your new thread and bookmark it.
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