Handbag Legerra Developments

[James Doulton]

After getting the Legerra home a few weeks ago, I have been using it as my daily commute. I have done a few things to it to 'improve' it:

1) I have removed the centre console because I could not take my foot off the clutch with it in place because I have to get my knee next to the steering wheel and my calf was hard against the edge of the console. I have still got to find a place for the dials and switches that were there. When removing the heater controls I found that the outer sheaths of the cables were not fixed, so moving the levers did nothing. I don't think that the heater control works at all. So that is another job on the to-do list before next winter.

2) I have moved the main instrument cluster up about 2 inches so that I can actually see the majority of the dial face of the speedo and the rev counter. The speedo is badly out of calibration - the mile-o-meter is currently registering about  3% low but the speedo is over 25% low. How can that be? It is a Czech dial, not the original Ford one so I guess that it must have always been wrong. I just have to remember that it is 900rpm per 20mph in fifth. Moving the instruments higher meant cutting the dashboard to clear the speedo drive. I now have a gap of about 2 inches below the instruments where I could site the dials and switches from the centre console.

3) I have removed the exhaust and welded up the holes where it seems to have leaked ever since it was fitted. I welded some patches made from bits of bike tube. It was quite difficult with my arc welder but I eventually managed to fill the holes that I made too. The exhaust is still loud and tiresome - it sounds really good when I rant it, but for the other 99% of the time it is an irritation. The local stainless exhaust place will make a bespoke system for £330.

4) I have replaced the original 13" cobra alloys that had 205/65 tyres with 15" wheels from a Ford Focus with 195/60 tyres. They only just fit in the rear arches and one touches the body occasionally over big bumps. The wheels were replaced because the old tyres had very poor grip in either the dry or the wet. The use of larger wheels increases the gearing about 11% and, more importantly, increases the ground clearance over local speed bumps - the exhaust used to touch before.

5) I have removed the radiator in order to cure a leak caused by the way that the electric fan was fitted using bolts through the radiator matrix. The fan had been moving up and down and wore a hole in the front of two of the cores. As a temporary bodge, I fixed it with Araldite. I'm going to weld up a frame to hold the fan in place and fix it on the radiator mounting bolts. I have bought a new in-line thermostatic switch for the top hose.

6) I had noticed that the car sometimes pulled to the left under breaking. I have now found the culprit - a leaking damper. It seems that the leaking fluid drips onto the disk when the car is parked and the brakes pull the first time that they are used. I will have to get the unit off the car to measure it to get a new pair. I don't know whether to change the springs too.

I still need to sort out the seat and I would like to move it back a couple of inches further but I think it is tight against the bodywork.

I also want to get or make a hard top or targa top - I can't be doing with struggling to get the soft top on and off all of the time, with all of those pesky poppers and the stiff locking pins at the front.

[James Doulton]

(I don't know what happened there, I was just typing and it somehow posted the comment, bloody iPad).
Another day, another water leak. This time it was from the bottom radiator hose which must have moved so it was cut by the fan belt! I only replaced it a month ago when I fitted a new radiator. I remember now that I was going to put a tie-wrap on it to hold it out of the way. I hope that I remember next time (I.e. tomorrow).

[James Doulton]

Another day another ... Water leak! T

[Adrian Southgate]

check the heater hoses are the right way up on the matrix, mine were upside down for 7 years... and that heater airlocks if its the standard escort one in the passenger footwell.

[Adrian Southgate]

Fit the standard capri/cortina overflow bottle hot water out cold back in when cooling

[Dave Adams]

Wierd. perhaps an airlock?

[James Doulton]

Took the Legerra to work today, which is about 3 miles. For the last couple of hundred yards into the car park I was leaving a trail of water. It was coming out of the radiator overflow, even though the temperature gauge was showing only 80 and the fan was not on. It made quite a pool under the car.

So, before coming home this evening, I checked the level and it was still covering the tops of the radiator tubes. I warmed the engine with the radiator cap off to check that the level didn't change when the thermostat opened but it didn't. I topped it up a little and put the cap back on and drove home. I left the car to idle for a bit when I got home and even though the fan came on there was no water leaking.

Strange. I don't like inconsistency. I shall have to believe that I overfilled it before.

[James Doulton]

Water pump replaced and the cooling system is now water tight. I've taken it out for a blast to get the temperature up and no leaks - result. Cheers Dave.

Now to get someone to fix my Omega. Thanks for the advice there, Mike, I was going to scrap it if you hadn't questioned it.

[Dave Adams]

Waterpump is knackered. the seals have gone.

[James Doulton]

I have refitted the water pump and thermostat housing again but it has not cured my leaking. The car was water tight when I filled it with the engine cold but after a little run it has a leak somewhere at the front of the engine which puts water onto the cambelt which then sprays it all over the engine bay. I eventually braved jacking the car up while it was running so that I could see where the leak was. I was particularly nervous after Dave Adams' recent mishap, but I reckoned that there could not be a lot of pressure with such a large leak. (Yes, I did wear my safety glasses).

Turns out that the leak is coming from under the water pump pulley, so either the water pump seal or that funny little hole on the bottom of the water pump body - is that a pressure release valve? It seems that once the car gets up to temperature then the water pump starts to leak and it continues to stream water for a few minutes as the car cools. What is that about?

[James Doulton]

Omega Owners Forum (OOF to its friends) is pretty certain that it is just the oil cooler on my Omega, not the head gasket. It is not an easy job but it is much better than changing a head gasket, assuming that you can decide which one to do. It seems that water in the oil is likely to be the head gasket but oil in the water is the oil cooler. Looking at the water and oil ways in the head it is easy to see that this is correct. So I'm waiting to find someone who will do that for me for a reasonable price - I can't be bothered to do that as well as my Legerra.