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Anon
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Valve springs for slant engine are completely different - I've already checked the spare ones I've got!
I've got a TRW part number (120-10452) from Thornton's - no stock  - so John at J&E in Crawshawbooth is chasing it up & if that's a dead end then he might be able to match samples (inlet & exhaust springs are different sizes). Failing that, if I can find some used ones then he can put them & the springs off my engine on his test rig to weed out iffy ones.
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 Wed 04 Aug 2010 @ 15:51
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Anon
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What a shame. Well if you ever need any slant bits....
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Wed 04 Aug 2010 @ 15:54
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Anon
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Day 23 Wipers
The wipers self park left the wiper blades about 5 inch above the bottom of their stroke & needed a flick of the switch to park them properly. As annoyances go this one was already driving me daft - Rossendale being 2nd behind Borrowdale for annual rainfall, allegedly - but I wasn't too keen on removing the wiper mechanism just yet to only move the motor crank arm. However, with Scoobydoo needing a wiper motor it seemed a good idea to fix the self park & service the motor & mechanism in the hope that I wouldn't have to rob parts from a spare motor so that Scoobydoo could have that one.
Heater box inside the cab has to be removed: the driver's footwell duct above the cab engine cover comes out first -
6 screws into the heater box are accessible under the bonnet -
Bottom 2 screws are awkward to get at -
Once the screws are out the box can be moved away from the bulkhead -
The heater motor box under the bonnet doesn't need disturbing & should stay in place stuck to its bulkhead seal.
The demist trunking and control cable can be removed once the box drops down -
The clamp bolt for the outer cable can fall into the box behind the air flap unless the nut is put back on once the cable is released. As I found out ... but I also found a pound coin inside the box so I didn't cuss too much.
Wiper mechanism bracket bolt is accessible both sides once the cab engine cover is removed -
The insulator washer is trapped between the bracket & bulkhead.
Wiper spindle ring nut, spacer & seal can be removed once the wiper arms are detached -
Then the wiper assembly can be extricated once the spindle housings are pushed into the body cavity & the wiring connector is unplugged -
This can be a bit of a fight & is best done with 2 lots of eyes & hands on the job to move snagged control & wiring cables.
The spring clip levers off the crank arm in order to remove the link arms -
When the 13mm nut is removed from the motor spindle the crank arm can be levered off. Motor then can be removed -
Motor stripped down & cleaned: everything spot on & brushes are almost original length of 0.45 inch. Makes me think that the motor isn't as old as the van & whoever fitted it didn't align the crank arm correctly, hence the wipers parking too high.
Photos that follow are of the spare motor that got done first while waiting for rain to stop; this motor is in almost the same condition but with about 0.040 inch of brush wear.
Reassembly starts with the drive end housing -
Brush holder assembly -
The cable grips are 2 small tabs on the back of each brush holder; once tabs are gently levered apart the insulated cable can be eased out & then the braided brush lead can be trapped so as to keep the brush pulled against its spring.
Once the 3 brushes are fitted & pulled back into their holders the assembly can be screwed into the drive end housing -
Screws can be hexagon head (6BA spanner) or cross-point pan head.
Armature -
Once the armature is located in the housing the retainer is turned until it stops against its lug in the housing then the nut is tightened -
Fitting cables insulator -
Cleaning commutator & brushes -
Standard cellulose thinners used: dries off very quickly.
Body & field magnets assembly fitted -
Bearing soaked in engine oil then excess drained out & body wiped clean before fitting it.
Plastic locating peg isn't always present: later motors have 2 raised pips in the housing casting that the slot in the body is aligned with, location being by the clips only.
Spring clips need a tap with a screwdriver handle to click into place -
Drive gear -
This gear is a machined SRBF (synthetic resin bonded fibre) type; later motors have a moulded nylon gear. Both lose their teeth when the armature drive end bearing wears out...
Generous application of LM grease both sides of the drive gear -
Cover screwed on -
Last bit, the drive shaft plastic seal -
The important part: setting the motor to its parked position by plugging it into the van wiring, temporarily connecting the battery then switching the motor on then off. In lieu of taking a photo on the van, using a spare cable -
Wiper spindles have to be removed before the housings can be unbolted from the frame -
Once everything is clean the recess between the 2 bushes in the spindle housing should be filled with grease -
Lugs on the housings both face the same way. Detail -
Link arms -
Arms are identical.
Fitting link arm bushes -
Detail -
Fitting motor -
Crank arm position for correct parking of wipers at the bottom of their stroke -
This position allows for drag of the wipers on the screen causing the crank arm to stop a few degrees short of the fitted angle.
Link arms connected -
Refitting assembly to van: centre & right side demist trunking is best removed first -
Assembly is awkward to refit but it does go in eventually. Heater control cables & choke cable pass beneath the motor.
Once the spindles poke through their holes under the screen the wiper arm nuts can be spun on as something to grip to pull the housings through. The ring nuts can be loosely fitted to prevent the housings pulling back in while the bracket nut & bolt above the engine is fitted. Spindle housings seal, spacer & ring nut then can be fitted & tightened, followed by tightening of the bracket nut & bolt.
Demist trunking refitted -
Heater box -
Once this far, the box can be repositioned on the bulkhead & wedged into place with a piece of wood against the bottom edge of the dash panel so that the 6 screws can be fitted from under the bonnet. Last, the wiper arms & blades can be fitted.
Wipers now park correctly and there's a lot less noise from the motor & linkage & high speed is faster for having old caked grease cleaned out & fresh grease applied. Blades still judder on the screen though even when set for correct lay-over to clear the screen properly but new blades should fix that. And Scoobydoo can have a wiper motor that will run a long while yet. 
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Sun 08 Aug 2010 @ 02:04
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Anon
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That is absolutely great Phil - I will print out all that and follow it to the letter (or pic tee hee). Thank you 
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Sun 08 Aug 2010 @ 11:00
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Anon
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Phil, one more thanks from me too.
Very detailed and useful to my future repair work.
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Sun 08 Aug 2010 @ 18:43
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Day 24 Cylinder head strip down & clean up
First thing to do was check how well the valves seal in their seats by filling the combustion chambers with petrol -
To do No 3 cylinder the valve spring from No 2 exhaust valve was borrowed -
After waiting for a suitable length of time (excuse for a brew or two) there was little change in volume of petrol in each combustion chamber: not enough leakage to worry about.
Head completely dismantled (camshaft bearings left alone) -
Burrs on the top of the stem of No 3 exhaust valve that had the busted spring had to be removed with an oil stone before the valve would pass through its guide. If it wasn't for the burrs the valve probably would have dropped far enough into the cylinder to bend, to be followed by the piston being holed & probably exiting out of the side of the engine.
After cleaning -
Camshaft bearing (all 4 much the same) -
Camshaft -
The notches should have lined up for removing the 3 short cylinder head bolts that wouldn't come out when the head was removed from the engine. Some dozy sod had timed the engine with No 1 cylinder at TDC on its compression stroke: should have been No 4.
Camshaft journal scoring & cam lobe pitting -
Cam followers -
Detail -
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Tue 10 Aug 2010 @ 00:31
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Anon
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Day 25 Cylinder head build & fit
Skoota is a star - found me a set of new valve springs and they came with the GM words & pictures for the CIH (cam in head) engine by way of his Cavalier mk 1 engine manual on loan.
Although there's other things that need mending getting the van back on the road is the priority; without it I won't be able to run about collecting stuff to keep it on the road & if I find an engine worth overhauling then I'll be able to do that & fit it at my leisure (i.e. when I've got enough spare cash!).
Gasket set that came with the van -
The thermostat housing gasket is the wrong one for the CF2 engine but all the rest is fine. Exhaust hot spot between the inlet & exhaust manifolds hasn't been disturbed this time so the gasket (thickest 1 of the 3) is being kept for when it's needed.
Valves -
Exhaust valve spring is shorter then the inlet valve spring & also is tapered top to bottom.
Checking cylinder head for distortion, along, across and diagonally -
A few gaps where light grinned through but not enough to insert a 0.0015" feeler gauge: good enough for present purposes.
Exhaust valve stem seal is fitted after the rotator, spring, cap & cup -
The seal can be poked down to its groove on the valve stem but the collets push the seal into place when they're fitted.
Inlet valve stem seal (well oiled) is fitted before the spring & cup -
Seal needs to be pressed over the valve guide so that the seal spring stretches & keeps the seal located.
All valves fitted -
Fitting camshaft -
I found it easier to up end the head & drop the camshaft in then lay the head flat to centre the camshaft in its bearings & fit the rear end cover. Spray glue will do in place of Loctite 3020 but threadlocker (blue) is a must on the cover bolts (same for side & front covers)
Fitting tappets (hydraulic lifters) -
The tappets have only been surface cleaned so that the oil within them hasn't been washed out: old tappets can take a long while to fill again after a rebuild.
Rocker arm -
The good book says use hypoid gear oil on the stud threads to prevent excessive friction; with re-using the old nuts I found that this wasn't necessary.
All rocker arms fitted, each time turning the camshaft as necessary for the relevant tappet to ride on the back of its cam -
The nuts are tightened to take out play in the rocker arms then just compress the tappet plungers.
Side cover -
Cylinder block clean-up -
Old head gasket needed a thin-blade scraper to persuade it to un-stick from the top of the block.
Cleaned -
The damage to No 3 piston looks worse than it is: indentation is about 0.060" at its deepest.
Timing case join needs sealing before fitting the gasket & head -
Any black RTV silicone sealer stable up to about 200C can be used but it mustn't be allowed to cure before the head is fitted.
Fitting gasket, dry -
then the head -
This was easier from in the cab.
Once most of the bolts were fitted the engine was turned to No 4 cylinder at TDC on its compression stroke -
after which the last 3 bolts passed the notches in the camshaft & then all of them were tightened -
Head bolts torque is 100Nm (74 lb ft); the 2 timing case bolts are tightened last, to 20Nm (15 lb ft).
Camshaft thrust button & front cover -
then end float checked -
End float should be 0.010 to 0.020mm (0.004 to 0.008"); to get 0.020mm the front cover had to be removed & punched in the centre to stretch it. Gasket fitted dry until end float adjusted.
Manifolds gasket -
and once the manifolds were fitted the bolt missing from the support bracket was replaced (M10 thread).
Thermostat -
Servo vacuum pipe needs softening with a hot air gun in order to press the union ferrule into the pipe.
Carburettor -
Water pump, crankshaft pulley & fanbelt -
Crankshaft pulley bolt tightening torque is 100Nm (gearbox in 5th gear).
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Wed 11 Aug 2010 @ 08:01
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Anon
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Amazing job Phil - she should run like a dream now. Is your engine a lot easier to work on than the slant?
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Wed 11 Aug 2010 @ 08:07
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Anon
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Opel engine is easier to work on but with doing so many slant engines over the years & not so many CIH engines it's taken a while longer to do this one with having to back-track a few times to get things right. I'll catch up eventually...
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Wed 11 Aug 2010 @ 08:23
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Anon
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At least the are loads of spares still available for the Opel engine though.
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Wed 11 Aug 2010 @ 08:48
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Anon
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Hi Phil - thanks for all the detail.....
You mention cleaning up the cast components.......how do you achieve this? Wire brush on a drill?
Please do tell??
Also - that camshaft etc seems very pitted. Did you replace it with a better one or have you re-used it 'as is'? Is the pitting not critical then?
Cheers
Carl
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Wed 11 Aug 2010 @ 09:08
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Anon
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Hi Carl. Electric drill + wire brushes for scrubbing off what pressure washer, degreaser & hot water won't shift. B&Q/Focus paint brush cleaner for degreaser - it's got some xylene content as well as an emulsifier that makes it water-miscible for rinsing off but the price has gotten silly lately so maybe I'll make up a kerosene-base home brew if I can find a decent emulsifier like Applied 835 cheap enough.
Camshaft & followers are very pitted but they've gone back in as is because cylinder bores show signs of corrosion damage too, like the engine has been laid up with water in it (& may be related to the badly fitted head gasket). It's not worth wasting too many new bits on a partial fix & a better job will come from overhauling a spare engine; just stopping more valve dropping into cylinders will have been worth the effort & with a bit of luck the performance in 4th & 5th might improve too.
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Wed 11 Aug 2010 @ 09:36
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Anon
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Day 26 Engine running again but another problem
There wasn't much left to fit before starting the engine - spark plugs, distributor cap & leads, front panel, radiator, fan & hoses & the valve cover. The valve cover gasket has tabs front & back that engage in slots in the cover but because the cover has to come off again once the engine has warmed up the gasket is best glued in place -
Ordinary spray glue is fine for this because it tacks off very quickly & will hold the gasket when it's warm & soft when the cover is removed. A light wipe of grease on the cylinder head side of the gasket helps by preventing the gasket from sticking to the cylinder head & tearing when the cover is removed.
Radiator fan & new viscous coupling were the last to be fitted (for no particular reason - it just happened that way) -
The coupling has been stored flat, front face downwards. This is to allow the silicone fluid inside to make its way to the front so that the coupling will work sooner rather than later when it's fitted. The thermal spring on the front also has been tested with a hot air gun & the valve pin that the centre of the spring is attached to moves within a minute or two.
The engine started readily enough with the carburettor being primed with fuel first. Once the engine had warmed up & the valve cover was removed I dispensed with making a timing chain guard for final tappet adjustment. This means that oil splashes from the timing chain make a mess on the body but because all the adjustments were done from inside the cab there was no need to reach over the timing chain & risk getting caught on it. It's not something I recommend though: it's very easy to forget how dangerous the rotating camshaft sprocket can be.
Adjustment is straightforwards: with the engine idling, each rocker in turn is slackened until it starts tapping, then tightened until it just stops tapping. The adjuster nut then is slowly tightened 1/4 turn and about 10 seconds allowed for the engine to return to normal idling. This is repeated 3 times, a full turn of the nut in all. What this does is set the tappet pre-load so that it will function correctly.
The mess -
Cleaned up after everything is back together so that there's nothing open to water from the pressure washer -
At the same time all the front end of the engine had a wash in order to check for oil leaks. There is one -
So that's the crankshaft front seal to replace once I've found a pulley in better condition than the one that's on - the pulley boss is too rusty to clean up where the seal lip bears on it.
A run then followed, out over Grane for some hills to climb and then along the M65 a bit: engine performance greatly improved and the rattling from tappets that took their time to settle in properly had disappeared by the time I came off the Motorway after only a few miles. I had to because the engine is overheating still, boiling in fact with the gauge on the wrong side of the red. Um.
Doze for half an hour across the seats then drain the coolant, remove the thermostat, refill then try the van again, this time up the long climb on the A56 Hapton by-pass. Van didn't make it to the top before the gauge was back in the red.
Back home, thermostat tested again to be certain - it's fine - &, to rule out any problems with the new viscous coupling, the old one was used, drilled for 2 dowel pins to be fitted to jam the discs inside the coupling to make the radiator fan a fixed one.
None of the silicone fluid came out: if there's any in there then it's probably gone solid with age.
A quick blast down the local bypass: still overheating, boiling within 4 mile of booting it... at which point I gave up for the day because there's so little air being pulled through the radiator by the fan even when revving the engine that I'm going to have to bodge together a fan cowl to try before worrying about whether the radiator core is choked.
Engine is running really well nonetheless & after about 30 mile altogether it's settled down nicely, pulling well in 4th & 5th gears. Having the rear tyres balanced is helping too because the back end shuddering has gone; took a lot of balance weights though.
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Thu 12 Aug 2010 @ 00:39
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Anon
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Day 27 Fan cowl
A day of dodging thunderstorms to fit a fan cowl for a facelift CF with a slant engine, cowl fitted upside-down -
Not much clearance on one side -
and a gap on the other side -
Nevertheless air now is pulled through the radiator even at idle speed so out for a spin to try it out.
Minimal clearance on one side shows up when the engine moves most in lower gears especially when starting off: much noise but I can fettle that.
The coolant doesn't boil though even when blasting along the by-pass. However, even without the thermostat the temperature creeps up to the mid-80s so it's looking like the radiator will need a new core after all. Have to save me pennies for that one but at least the van is drivable further than the before.
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Thu 12 Aug 2010 @ 20:24
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Anon
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Have you tried filling the radiator with cellulose thinners and leaving it to soften the crud within? I did that to a rad the garage said was scrap because it was filled with sludge from a blowing head gasket. Car did another 30,000 miles on the rad with no bother.
Fantastic job Phil. I hoped you were going to have trouble free motoring with this one!
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Fri 13 Aug 2010 @ 01:04
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Anon
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The crud in the radiator that I can see & feel through the necks is hardened deposits, maybe from cooling system sealer but just as likely to be normal scale (rust, calcium salts etc.) made worse by the van not being used for a long while before I got it.
Either way, because the radiator is copper & brass (& also because most cooling system sealers are based on sodium silicates), it's off the van at present & having a lie down filled with hydrochloric acid.
Actually it's some brick cleaner I had in the shed, 10% acid in water so not as potent as industrial 30% stuff, but it's dragging a lot of crud out already & should completely dissolve any sealer that's in there.
I'm half expecting an old leak or three to open up before I'm done - sodium silicate dissolves real fast in hydrochloric acid - but so far it's looking good.
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Fri 13 Aug 2010 @ 21:49
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Anon
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Ive seen radiators getting 'rodded' with packing straps in outlying places on my travels. Its a soft enough material and has co enough ridges on the sides to grab crud. Might help to dislodge more quicker?
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Sat 14 Aug 2010 @ 07:29
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Anon
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I'm not too confident about un-picking & re-soldering the top & bottom tanks to get at the tubes without damaging the core: needs more (quick) heat than my propane blow lamp can deliver & it's a long, long while since I've done any soldering on that scale.
The amount of crud that's come out with using HCl is promising though: the acid has loosened hard inerts as well as softened & dissolved other stuff. If there's enough improvement to be able rely on the van for longer trips then that'll do for now; if I can refit the thermostat as well then that will be a bonus. Either way it could buy enough time to scrape together the cash for having a new core fitted.
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Sat 14 Aug 2010 @ 13:02
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Anon
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Day 28 Radiator fixed; and then it bit me.
The radiator has lost some weight since its lie down filled with hydrochloric acid - first thing that struck me after draining the acid & cleaning out the radiator (2 water fills followed by another little lie down with a fill of sodium bicarbonate solution to neutralise any lingering acid.)
The radiator also allows water to flow through more freely when back-flushing it (last stage before being refitted to the van) & lots more crud came out in the process including some quite large lumps of scale as well as a lot of fine stuff.
Even better, coolant flow across the top of the radiator is a lot more active than before with much turbulence instead of a lazy drift from one side to the other -
This was first fit without the thermostat or fan cowl (so that any leaks would be easier to see) & plain water as coolant. Pressure test showed up 2 pin holes, one in the core just below the top hose neck, the other in the core above the bottom hose neck.
There followed a number of warm-up runs, first with the fan cowl fitted then removed and finally with the thermostat refitted and a dose of Wynns Radiator Stop Leak. Result: temperature gauge doesn't budge past the half-way mark even with the cab heater turned to cold and the difference between top & bottom hose temperatures is 40C and more (barely 20C before).
Then I did something really, really stupid: while marvelling at how much warm air is being pulled through by the fan across all the radiator even without the cowl fitted I didn't watch where I was putting my hand. Result of hand against fixed fan when engine running -
Felt a bit like the Terminator piecing together the torn skin ... but it's not as bad as it looks & on the trip to & from Accrington Victoria Hospital & into work to get the ok for me to turn in for double shift next day the van ran beautifully - engine has lost all the fussiness that now can be put down to overheating all the time. Very Big Grin time.
Last thing to do now in the cooling department is refit the new viscous fan. However, it might be better to run the van some more with a fixed fan so that I'll have some basis for determining whether the new coupling works as it should without a fan cowl. This is because when I checked CF2 parts catalogue 1990 I found that it doesn't list a fan cowl for Opel petrol or diesel models except as an option for export models.
Later for a new radiator core though ... Wynns Stop Leak will last a while but not as long as a re-cored radiator will.
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Sat 14 Aug 2010 @ 19:58
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Anon
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Well done Phil! Sorry about your hand but I always find a job well done works pretty well as a painkiller!
Pain is just a french word for bread...
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Sat 14 Aug 2010 @ 20:52
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