Battlescar Galactica ('96 2.1TD Exclusive Auto)

[Geoff Lebowski]

Right, this will be my project thread for the resurrection of Battlescar Galactica, formerly known as Silver Surfer.

Some of you may remember Charlie who bought a rather sad and neglected 2.1 TD Auto a few years back. After a lot of hard work and a lot of money, the car still had issues and he reluctantly shewlved the project. After approx 2 years, the car is being resurrected!!!!

Upon purchase, Charlie was the 9th owner. The poor car had been neglected and came with no history. The auto box fluid, the LHM and the engine oil were indistinguishable! Charlie is a brave brave man! A list of the work that Charlie has done:

Engine & Gearbox out.
New head gasket
New water pump
New Thermostat
Auto box fully drained
Hydraflush
Both height correctors stripped, cleaned and rebuilt
New spheres all round except rear wheel spheres and anti sink.
New timing belt/tensioner/roller
New aux belt
New tyres
Replacement leather interior (from alacante to full black leather)
Various cooling system hoses
New Dip stick!

Work done by me:
Replacement Epic
Replacement 'lift sensor' injector
Clean up, rust proofing and body sealant treatment to front end rusty areas (wheel arches, behind bumper etc)

Work still to be done:
Replace front O/S ABS sensor
Fix various dodgy wiring bodges by former owners (Not Charlie)
Re-bend and weld up hole in front o/s sill/floorpan area.
Check cooling fans work.
Replace locks to get a 'one key' system (will reply to your PM shortly John!)
Fix broken N/S door mirro

As you can tell, Charlie has done all the work and got thwarted by a few minor but late entry problems. He decided to keep his treasured BX after all and so in an effort to save the car from the scrap heap, he donated the car to me! Charlie gets to drive it for long journeys - the pleasure of driving the XM without the burden of ownership!

[Dieselman]

What are the ongoing issues, it sounds like Charlie has done all the hard work.

[Geoff Lebowski]

Well, the issues that remained after Charlie gave up were what I've listed under work done and to be done by me. Not a lot basically. The only ongoing concern is what might give up as a result of no maintenance in the cars past, particularly the auto box.

Interestingly there were the beginnings of 'pick up' on the camshaft rockers, which I assume is down to poor oil maintenance.

[Geoff Lebowski]

Half the welding done today. Needs a bit of a clean up but once it's primed and treated it'll look good.

Have also being sorting the odd wiring anomoly out (not anomolised by Charlie), mostly due to corrosion. There was an unfused live, a dodgy relay fix and other miscellaneous bits and bobs.

What's the 6 pin relay (with 1 smaller pin and an internal diode) for? Is it ABS? On that note, does anyone have a front Teves ABS sensor up for sale???

[charlie]

cough cough.......

new strut tops

end of cough

[Geoff Lebowski]

Ooooh yes, I forgot about those.

Also fitted by Charlie,

IKEA style Strut Tops

[Geoff Lebowski]

She's all welded up and is now undergoing a slow and peaceful 'putting back together' phase.

I've ordered the Xantia ABS sensor (much thanks to Kit for his help and advice) which will hopefully, when fitted, extinguish the ABS light!

I've fitted the two rear wheel spheres from the Xantia today and the suspension feels no different. I'll have to wait for a test drive before I decide if further work is needed.

The carpets are pretty wet, leading me to believe the sunroof drains are blocked. Can anyone advise me where the drain tubes lead/end up please?

[Geoff Lebowski]

A momentus day on Tuesday as the 'Mothership' was driven from her resting place of nearly two years to my drive. The ABS light went out! A big thanks to Kit for his money saving tip in using a Xantia ABS sensor.

A suspension/ride anomoly has risen it's head, but I'll detail it more in the Hydraulic section. There is also a 'drone' akin to a wheel bearing failure, so I need to investigate and remedy that. I am tempted however to MOT it first so I can fix anything else that rears it's ugly head but don't suspect anything.

She really is a lovely motor and truly deserved to be resurrected. I also have to say a huge thank you to Charlie for the car itself, for all his help over the past few weeks and especially yesterday in helping me get the car out of it's leafy hidey hole and up here.

[charlie]

glad its in good hands

[Geoff Lebowski]

Well blimey guv, after been used and abused for most of her life and after 4 years of standing and then loads of work by Charlie and a bit more by me, she nearly passed the MOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just an LHM weep from around the n/s front strut - return pipe??

And a siezed n/s brake caliper......

Also Paul will be glad to know the radio he donated is now in and functioning well - sounds pretty good infact!

Next week I'll have a go at the work above and hopefully (numbness permitting!) the electrovalve rebuild and get me a MOT!