1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Still going... 14-10-2024

[rblote]

What a great story!! I love everything about it!! Awesome photo's. You have a beautiful daughter mate!!
You better get your rifle out to keep them pesky boys of your property!!

[mk2cossie]

At least he can chase them away with the Coupe though

[georgeb]

Lovely story Alex and good on your daughter for proving 'em wrong!

As said, it's nice the school did something to recognise the kid's work. My girl worked her butt off this year and made Honour Grade, but only got a photo of what she could have won on Facebook. Not quite the same!

[eurogranada]

Thank you all or the kind responses. Means a lot to me.

To sum up in one response...

Yes, I too think I have a beautiful daughter (and a son to match but he's not the subject now) and rest assured I will protect her as much as I can. Rifles and guns may be a little too agressive though! Fortunately she's currently still more interested in horses than in boys. But when they start coming along, I'll introduce them to the roar of the beast and explain that the bumper is something to look out for...

And yes, it was good of the school to make the most of the ceremony given the limitations imposed. It sure did contribute to a feeling of closure. And it was great to see the understanding between my daughter and her mentor. Him valueing her efforts and personality and seeing her off to a new school to further grow as a person and toward becoming a valued member of society and her realising how good he'd been to her and that as he retires now he will be missed. And we're just hanging around that grinning ear to ear, loving our girl and her accomplishment both...

Given the above I fully understand that these types of ceremonies will be different or non-existent all around the globe these days. Something that in the spirit of todays events is what it is, but I've seen first hand a couple of times what it does to those involved. My daughter was seriously bummed about not getting to go to a Gala for instance. Still all should be proud of their accomplishments, they are just as valuable as those before them.

I also liked the photo's of both girl and car. Grandma was well chuffed as well! Always a good sign. Also, I posted those last ones of the car to two of my facebook groups and got over 730 likes and dozens of comments. By far my most popular post/pics ever. My phone is never dead, but this time it was close to being drained from all the times I got the signal someone had liked or commented...

For now the car seems to behave very well. Still there's always more to do and I keep thinking of new checks to do etc. But at the moment at least I enjoy it always starting and running normally without issues. In three weeks when my vacation comes aloing I hope to finally get to do the long run!

[eurogranada]

Short update today.

After the lovely diploma run with my wife and daughter, the car disappeared to the Garage for a few days. Time and weather I suppose...Yet last weekend the car saw some substantial use. Well compared to standing still that is. In car standards it wasn't that big a deal.

So what did I do? Well, remember a few years back? Yes, time has moved on so quickly... I was supposed to finish my car in a month or two and I needed space? Well I was rescued by a very kind bunch of tinkerers working from a barn pretty local to me. In the end I spent 9 months there before vacating my spot.

So this weekend and the one before they were having a clearout. Unfortunately DIY jobs had kept me from attending the week before so this weekend I made the effort to visit. Hoping to see most of the folks there. A one post mobile car lift was also expected to arrive and I thought I'd lend a hand. That plan suffered an on route planning change so I couldn't justify staying so much longer than planned... Also when I arrived the group was a bit smaller than all had seemed to have expected. Still nice to catch up.

Anyway, I made the drive over to the barn. It was about a half hour run at mostly motorway speeds (which means 60 max these days in the Netherlands). The Granada just felt fine, effortlessly keeping the pace and if anything wanting to go even faster. I didn't hear any strange or excessive noises, felt no disturbing vibrations etc. I feel I'm starting to worry less, enjoy more and that trust is growing between me and the Granny or Cossymonster as I refer to it in my mind most of the time.

Ex-home base:


On the way back home I was hit by the most severe rain I have ever encountered in the Granada. It was pretty high up there in general! The rain-x of 21 years still works great, I didn't even need my wipers! The Granada seemed to handle this immense showering very well so that also was good to know.

I do feel that changing the inner tie rods has had an effect on alignment, so I think I'd better get the front rechecked. The car feels a little light at speed where it didn't usually feel that way. But that was to be expected. The new rods weren't an exact match so setting the alignment was never going to be precise.

Another little scare I've had twice now was fearing that my car would catch fire or something. Let me explain. I'm not really scared of the car catching fire, for one. What happened was that after a bit of a romp on the go fast pedal, driving with the windows and sunroof open, I smelled a burning smell. It could have been anything, a farmer or company nearby burning something, another car frying a clutch or having a smelly exhaust or anything really. It was gone as quick as it came, but I've had two of those moments in the last few drives. I'll keep my eye on that but it may have just been in the air regardless. Worst case, it's rocker cover seal leaking oil onto the exhaust. This engine is working fine but leaking like a sieve. A final pet pieve really. But so much work to put right. Engine out, re-gastket and engine back in. Quite the operation... I still have hopes of building a "new" BOB to swap this one out. But that will be at least a year from now.



Anyway that was saturday. Sunday the weather was nicer and I planned to visit my parents once more to see how my dad was doing after his short stint in hospital not so long ago and also to drop of a little extension cord I made for their fixed telephone. With the weather what it was, no doubt in my mind to take the granada. Again, half hour runs each way.This time no motorway speeds though, but trafic, sitting at lights etc. Again the drive was fine and again I had one of those smell moments. Although this time I wasn't sure if it followed a little playing with the pedal like the other day. Anyway the car did great. It's a fun driver that you can sort of throw around the corner. It's still very comfortable even though all suspension is on PU bushes. Still Granada like I'd like to say. Only thing with the added weight in the front is pothole like road damage feels very uncomfortable.

In short, I really enjoyed the Granada this weekend. I'll keep an eye on the smell thing and try and get the fron realigned during my upcoming vacation. With a bit of luck my vacation will also see me making my workbench, but I'm not going to get ahead of myself there, lol. The long drive is planned though! Off to the coast for a nice day is the plan.

[spot]

Stupendous...Yet mildly aggrieved that I cannot yet join you on a cruise. "One day soon I hope!"

[eurogranada]

Jul 16, 2020 14:51:50 GMT spot said:

Stupendous...Yet mildly aggrieved that I cannot yet join you on a cruise. "One day soon I hope!"

Hey!

Well you can!!














In the passenger seat that is! Sorry evil mode off now...

At least you are making progress. And you can do the hard work yourself! And what you do looks good so just keep going!




PS. Check your mail. Had been composing a mail for you for a while and just sent it.

[therealpinto]

I am in vacation mode, so a bit late, but congratulations to your daughter! There is a special bond there, and I am sure that looking back, having the Granada as part of the graduation will be a nice memory. Just that little extra thing.

And I can't help thinking about that there is something connecting us again...16 year old daugthers, and blue cars :-)

forum.retro-rides.org/thread/214963/1992-ford-sierra-year-daughter?page=1&scrollTo=2613899



Your car is a notch above this one though :-D

Gustaf

[eurogranada]

Jul 19, 2020 16:38:10 GMT therealpinto said:

I am in vacation mode, so a bit late, but congratulations to your daughter! There is a special bond there, and I am sure that looking back, having the Granada as part of the graduation will be a nice memory. Just that little extra thing.

And I can't help thinking about that there is something connecting us again...16 year old daugthers, and blue cars :-)

forum.retro-rides.org/thread/214963/1992-ford-sierra-year-daughter?page=1&scrollTo=2613899



Your car is a notch above this one though :-D

Gustaf

Thank you Gustav!Very kind and nice message.

I have one more week to go before vacation mode is entered. But I don't know what it wil bring (there are at least three/four jobs in and around the house waiting for me that I failed to finish in time). We are planning on using my Blue thing on a longer journey though, exciting haha.

I hope my kids in 20 years still agree with me when I say that we indeed have a special bond. My girl was obviously kid number one which is precious in and of itself especially given my wife's health issues. But she was born prematurely in an emergency c-section at just over 31 weeks and weiged in at 1180 grams. She fit on my hand that is how small she was. Her first weeks were spent in NICU, a very surreal time for us. Then her diagnosis with cancer at the age of only 3 and the subsequent treatment had its effects on our relationship. Being helpless as a parent when your kid is hurting bad is one thing, having to hurt your own kid in your role of nurse with prodding needles and stuff is another. Still, we all came out as winners I think. We have a great and open bond with each other. And so far we can talk about anything.
When my son came along our family was complete. And although he was just one year old when we had to deal with his siter you could see he too was influenced by his sister in hospital. His caring nature reveiled already. And afterwards they too have a special bond. As it should there are irritations and arguments between them, but at the same time they need each other. It's beautiful to watch from a distance and those moments are my happiest really. No car can ever come close.

I wish this same bond for every child and parent. Unfortunately at this age I know that it is not a given and that both parents are suffering because of their kids behaviour and the other way round, kids are suffering from their parents behaviour. When I realise that I feel blessed. And most of all I hope my kids will stay on this path.

On the subject of the Granada and this special moment. I KNOW it has added meaning. It did so for me, my wife and for her as well. I know my daughter did not want to take that car at first, but now afterwards I can tell she enjoyed it too. And I guess the coments made by fellow students probably helped in that respect as well.

Funny, that connection you mention. You have a beautiful girl as well and the car looks great to me too (why mine would be a noth up I don't know ;-) ). You'll no doubt know that 16 year olds can be a handful at times though! But I hope, and think I see, you have the same type of connection as we have. It's cliche, but my kids are the world to me and they are the reason I do what I do from day to day. I love how your girl is into her project from seeing her dad doing so. Must be special to share in that! My kids see me tinker but they don't share/see the fun in it. My son would love to have the car. I think when I built it he was just a little young to really assist. He did mount a bumper and a foglight with me though. But the car needed so much heavy stuff done to it and being freshly painted was maybe not the most suitable first project to share with a 5-9 year old. But maybe I can get him interested still. He does like cars, he just likes his computer better...

Anyway, thanks for your post and enjoy your vacation and your family!

[therealpinto]

Thanks for sharing, it is nice to hear you all coming out of this stronger.

Let's hope you get a good vacation, personally I like a mix of getting stuff done and just relaxing :-)

Gustaf

[georgeb]

I kinda know what you mean with cars and daughters, Brought back a good memory.

Tania's always liked the '38 and a while back, we were struggling hard, no work about, about to have to move out of the house as the lease was due and we didn't have the cash for new deposits etc.

It was her first prom and she told me she wanted me to drive her in the '38.

Problem was, it was parked up, covered in curse word, no fuel, a dead battery and any spare cash had gone on her dress (no, I didn't choose it!).

Anyway, Madam managed to borrow enough to sort those two things out and I even treated it to a wash.

She looked lovely.



Good job I kept the steps




Happy with her chariot? Yeah, I think so.



It gave me a real kick as we sat in the queue of Japanese blobs outside the Manila Hotel, when she turned to me and said, "Look, I'm the only girl tonight in a Range Rover, thank you, Daddy George."  

Cheers for the memory.

[eurogranada]

She sure looked nice!

My daughters real prom dress still hangs unworn for now. Waiting for another occasion...
But the memory of the event in our favorite cars sure does stick!

[eurogranada]

You'd think I like the colour blue...





Photo taken to prove I'm using the Granada more and, given my red head, also that these days I visit the gym 3 times a week for an hour.


No piccie, but today I also took the Granada to work...

[eurogranada]

Took the granada to work and the gym today, topping it off with an extended run back home and a fluid/mechanical check.

Happy to report all seems well. All fluids up to level, exhaust still on car, wheels still on... so for a quick check it's all you'd like to see.

Plans are being hatched for a the day trip as well.

[spot]

Jul 17, 2020 9:27:26 GMT eurogranada said:

Jul 16, 2020 14:51:50 GMT spot said:

Stupendous...Yet mildly aggrieved that I cannot yet join you on a cruise. "One day soon I hope!"

Hey!

Well you can!!














In the passenger seat that is! Sorry evil mode off now...

At least you are making progress. And you can do the hard work yourself! And what you do looks good so just keep going!




PS. Check your mail. Had been composing a mail for you for a while and just sent it.

Haha that's not even mildly evil - evil is building a friendship over many years just so I can enjoy the ride in a granny (FROM THE CORECT SITTING POSTION ON THE RIGHT!) - I'll bring my own steering wheel shall I?

[eurogranada]

Right then, it looks like it's finally going to happen...that long drive to see how the Granada will do now after a year or more of fine tuning each and every issue.

We've bought some canned/bottled drinks, some baguettes, some fancy bread for sandwiches and, equally as important, some "any idiot can prepare this" type of food for the kids. As wifey don't yet know, but if all goes to plan, we will have a nice diner out as well. Just hope it won't be too busy in all the venues. The coolbox has been retrieved from the attic to keep some of the stuff cool during our day out.

The Granada has seen some small time use since my last post and it just always does what it does. Start, run and just go on and on effortlessly. So I really hope it will do this tomorrow as well. The trip was originally planned for Thursday, but with temps reaching 35+ we felt it would probably not be best to be in an unairconned car all day.

I've washed it (and the daily) so it looks it's best. I've checked all fluids and topped up nothing but the windshield washer bottle. I checked the lug nuts with the torque wrench, I've been under the car front to back to see if there's anything amiss, but all nuts and bolts were tight.I checked each wheel for play and was satisfied that it all felt as it should and that there was at least a very tiny amount of play present in the front wheels, but no more than SamJ and I had set last time we worked on them. So I should have some confidence, but I'm aware that my current levels of confidence are purely based on half hour+ runs.





So, I also checked the emergency supplies... I've always had a pretty good supply of stuff with me, but currently the boot holds:
- rags
- all fluid types in ample measure
- spare fuses
- spare fuel filter (the on car one looked discoulered but no muck in it at all!)
- a tow rope
- a strap
- a full set of sockets and wrenches
- a complimentary set of screwdrivers, pliers, adjustable wrenches, a knife and some tie wraps
- a small jack,
- a block of wood (for jacking)
- tire muck (as I have no spare)
- WD40
- Brake cleaner
- a set of electrical connectors (bullet and spade type thingies)
- a funnel to aid topping up fuel/oils etc.

I think that should cover me for many a thing that can happen along the way ... Short of exploding the engine, box, prop or diff itself!

We're heading to "Zeeland", the area at the left lower end of the Netherlands. There's a few islands there and the goal is to enjoy the car but also take some great pictures. There's no fixed route, but I aim to avoid the highways, at least on the way there. Further aim is to try and photograph the car near water/the sea.

I'm enormously excited about this drive, but equally as apprehensive. I've not got a very good track record on long drives. The car has so far always found a new reason to break down. As much as I think I don't deserve that after all the love and time I've put into this car, but maybe the universe doesn't agree with me on that.

So, I'm going to end this hoping to report back with stories of a great day out, fully enjoyed, without issues and some great pictures.

Here's hoping the stars align...

[blackpopracing]

It will be fine, enjoy your trip.

[georgeb]

Aug 3, 2020 17:37:59 GMT blackpopracing said:

It will be fine, enjoy your trip.

Agree, just enjoy.

I threw a 300km round trip at mine just after I bought it. If I'd known then what I know now...

[gess]

I really hope you get to enjoy the car together with the family you all deserve it. Really looking forward to the pictures, you have a talent for getting nice pictures of your car.
Last Weekend there was a Granada meeting in Norway. I didn't attend, but i read that some of the attendees drove 1350Km without any hickups. Of course there were the lesser fortunate, anad some barely made it home. But the main thing to remember is that the cars can handle the milage, you just have to try.
I have a 2011 Hyundai I40, and it let me down this summer, ruptured brake pipe. No harm done but it was quite inconvenient having the car in a workshop and catching a bus to get on summer vacation. Having a newish car is no guarantee to avoid problems.

[eurogranada]

Well, I guess some of you may be waiting anxiously for the story of how our trip went (or is that wishful thinking). I had to take a bit of time before I could type it all up....


I'll just start off with this:










Yes, that is a picture that shows the release of tension after years of fine tuning and (sub)systems braking down, having done hundreds of kilometers. Ok, it was the wifey who had the idea but I like the pic for obvious reasons.


So, I left you all with a post about a well prepared car but an anxious owner. Turned out the passenger had the same reservations!

Anyway, at 8:00 or so in the morning I opened the garage and was welcomed by the car looking awesome.



We were soon ready to go with the camera (obviously) and a coolbox full of goodies in the back seat.



We set off to fill up the tank and than drove off towards the motorway to speed to our first destination: Willemstad. A town just before entering the islands and a good starting point for our tour. It was also 111km from home.

We were chatting a little with the car stereo off. Just minding the car en enjoying our company. We were racking up the kilometers and before we knew it we reached the magical number of 75km's. The max distance travelled before breaking down in one run. So at 85 kilometers or so I pulled off the motorway and checked first and foremost the wheel bearing temps and the fluids. All was fine and temps were nice and even and cooler than expected! The temp gauge proved useful as it now shows regular motorway temp (lowish), slower trafic temp (normal), standing for a while temp (above normal) and it all going down as soon as air passed through the radiator. At no time did the engine ever get so hot it needed the fans to come on. But that may be because we were moving pretty much always or the engine was mostly off when we weren't.

On we went and some time later we reached our starting point for the day.











After having driven round Willemstad, we went on to the islands. It's a bit of a chore remembering which pictures were taken where. Instead I'll list shortly the places we visited and tell you that by the time I parked the car back at home at around 18:00 hours, we'd done 400+ kilometers. The longest stretches were the first 111 and the return trip of 150 kilometers. In between the car was usually parked for no more than a few minutes here, then there. With the exception of treating my wife to an early dinner.

Anyway our tour went from Veldhoven to Willemstad and then to Den Bommel, Stad aan het Haringvliet, Stellendam, Ouddorp, Brouwershaven, Den Osse, Scharendijke, Burg-Haamstede, Burgh, Westenschouwen, Neeltje Jans, Oostkapelle, Domburg, Westkapelle, Zoutelande, Vlissingen and from there back home.

Have some pictures, well some.......


























Then we had an early dinner in Zoutelande. Where people were disgusted to see my car park in a handicapped spot. We have the proper card, but apparently a cool car does not belong in such a spot. Handicapped people or their partners supposedly can only drive old people cars...






Then on with our tour, which was pretty much coming to an end. But a great place was coming up still: Neeltje Jans!




















































Getting home I did another check. Wheels still nice temp. A little warmer than before, but this was after 150km at speed and braking etc. No fluid loss at all.






And the pearl looking nice!




The car felt fine all day. Although I felt it may be a bit more sluggish than I thought it was. But maybe this is me getting used to it running at 100-105km/h for longer periods at a time. With kickdown the car moved fine. But just hovering between 80 and 105 I guess it just didn't see much need to go through the gears like a maniac. Sports mode definitely changed the behaviour as expected as well.

So I'm happy to report we had a great day. I've heard many a comment on the car and never ever before seen so many people admiring the car. I was even spotted by FB members in some of my groups.

I think this has lifted a great weight off my shoulders as well as I am now much more confident in the car. I'll keep using it more and more and longer distances too now.

Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I (and the wife) enjoyed the day...