Silver '86 Levin...

[chrisd1]

Had trouble the last month or more, and finally got to the bottom of it! Car was pi$$ing me off bigtime, running the battery flat constantly...Had a new battery put in then everything tested, alternator was weak, so got new regulator put in, Just when i thought this was all solved and seemed fine, but it was only prolonging the problem, and it was then running flat every 2nd or 3rd day...Dead, no lights on dash, nothing! No warning signs along the way, or Battery light on dash...weird!

Got in touch with a friend of a friend, who was VERY good and thorough, took the car for 3 nights to let her run flat, checked electrics front to back, everything, and i mean EVERY wire, fuse, light etc, but again, pointed back to the alternator...strange i thought, after having all this done, but i would try anything at this stage.

Ripped all apart, as this was not going to beat us...He rang a contact of his, inspected the alternator, and as much as parts had been replaced it turned out to be a little diode inside that was the problem. Upon turning off the car and locking up, the alternator itself was not storing/going off correctly and losing all the power/running the car flat. Tedious, annoying, frustrating work, especially with no normal alternator problem signs, but seems to have been sorted now! Big cheers to Cloko for replacement Alternator, and everyone else for their help. Lets hope thats the problem sorted, will know in a few weeks for 100%...



Also, coming into winter now i took off the Longchamps (needed tyres anyway) as i want to keep them in good order and polish for summer,
and decided to go for a winter wheel...SSR Mesh, with Bridgstone Potenza tyres. Worked out cheaper/better than buying new Dunlops or Toyos!





Quick update with some new pics etc. Been flat out, but also managed to do quite a bit lately. Engine bay etc starting to look alot more tidy...here's the photos!

What I started with, the white bay always annoyed me slowly, and had to be sorted...



Stripped everything, and i mean EVERYTHING, sent parts off for blasting, while I started into making the bay silver to match. With ALOT of time, effort and patience it was taking shape, then in the evenings I painted up a few parts.



Had thought of lots of different colours to do the covers but Eventually decided on a nice bright blue. Its different and stands out well against the new silver...

Quite a while later, set about the masking for the final writing in silver...



The finished result...have dulled down a little now with heat since this pic! Looks good...



A LONG time later, engine bay all painted up to match silver, and then another few nights of putting it all back together again...some pics below! Tough work, and honestly I would never do it again! Pain, but its definetly worth it. Alot wont know the work that went in, as all they will see is silver car, and bay, but I know you guys here will appreciate it. Took it for a nice drive lastnight, all going VERY well, happy for now, its slowly getting there, just a few other things to do by new year, then set about the big tuning work later in the year:nod:











Finally getting into the good weather, its been all go go go for tracks when have the chance, Kirkistown!
Not really a track suited to '86s, alot of straights etc too but its not bad, hard on brakes at times though sompared to some!





After that it was prep, service, brakes, suspension setup and few other things just in time for Mondello...



Just managed to get catch tank sorted for Mondello in time, simple but nice little setup...





Next up was Mondello, car ran sooo well, all day, after driving 2 hours to the track, drove hard all day, and 2 hours home, flawless, so i was pretty happy! The Dunlop Direzzas were awsome all day,and plenty left for another trackday or 2 over summer. Now im starting to see why this car really was setup for grip/track use...getting into it now! Catch tank served its purpose well, and is a MUST for Mondello i have to say! Thanks to Nikki & Paddy for pics..











since that its just been servicing and good clean up, few little things but nothing major done...more soon



Nice and clean, catch tank in, Beatrush Laile JP radiator Shroud, and just enjoying driving more...when i get the time!!



few good pics taken from shoot this week...





Spark Plug cover now black too:happy: just need to tidy up that strut brace next..