second hand car joys

Shortly after changing the wheels it became apparent that there was an issue with the handling on the old Corrado.

At first I put it down to cheap tyres but a sudden rear end break out at only moderate speed made me wonder if something else was up.

I was actually concerned that the back end of the car wasn't even bolted on properly but a few shoves on all of the corners just gave a slight wallow that could even be said to be good for a car of this age. So up it went on jacks and I took a look underneath.
I was under the understanding that the shocks had been recently serviced with replacement lowering springs so didn't think it was likely to be a shock issue.

After a false start with loose appearing top hats at the front (turns out they just do that, poking out the top), I went to the back where I spotted that the rear beam bushes did not look very healthy.

I thought things were worse than they actually were but seeing the design of the new replacements, things probably weren't all that bad but could be the cause of my wabbly handling.

 As I had the back end off I changed the disks whilst I was there and repainted the rear beam whilst I waited on the parts.
These were frozen in preparation for fitting whilst the old ones were brutalised to remove them. It isn't pretty but they do come out in the end.
When I came to fit the new ones I realised I had bought VR6 rear bushes which are bigger so I had a wait till the correct ones arrived. These were also frozen before being coaxed into place with a hammer.
The end result? No real change. Maybe it was the tyres after all?
Well it wasn't.
Another big break out of the back end got me back in the garage and finding the actual issue. 
After replacing the rear beam and changing the wheels I took the car for a test drive. it seemed okay but for the left rear speaker rattling. A glance over my shoulder and I could see it had popped out of its recess so thought I would sort it when I got the car home.
When I did try to pop it back in, it was solid and would not go back at all. A quick look underneath and all was answered. The top of the shock strut was pressed hard up against it. I disassembled the shock and suddenly a lot of things made a lot more sense. 
The left shock top was rotten and the only thing keeping the rear shock in place was the speaker!
The replacement part was stupidly cheap especially after what I had to spent to get here but at least I had finally found the culprit.
The car was soon back together and feeling pretty sharp.

Other fun tasks were tackled too.
This original bleed air hose was  not looking very clever so a suitable replacement was swapped in. There were plenty of similar bits that got the same treatment in the engine bay. This was also true for wiring which had some very tired looking fabric insulation. Where it hadn't fallen off already that is.
I took the time to reinsulate with electrical tape wherever access was possible. 
The whole engine bay got a thorough cleaning too and wherever I found rust, it was removed and repainted. None of it is perfect but it is all 100X better than it was. 
I finished off the engine bay tidy up with some new sound proofing heat shield for the bonnet. This is not only practical but it also looks really good (where I cut it out right that is).
There was no better time to do a service too so fresh Castrol Magnitec, filters, plugs and coolat all went in. I upgraded the coolant to modern red stuff which seems to be popular rather than the old glycol. it needs a good flush out first but worth the effort.
Little things like this may not make a huge difference on the day but it wasn't going to be long till hoses completely split or wiring stated shorting, leaving me with an unhappy engine no doubt far from home.

The car seemed pretty happy so naturally a phesant had to fly out on me and take out my grill.
Luckily it is is a rare early grill that you can't buy anymore so that was fun.
I didn't notice the badges had been knocked off at the time so I drove back to the sceen to see a farmer driving off and no badges on the ground. Tosser.
A fair few hours plastic welding later I had the grill roughly back to shape and some new (and expensive) badges came through the post so the grill was back to normal again.

More fun came when the exhaust dropped on me, thankfully not too far from home and still drivable, if bloody loud. 
the culpret was a too short exhaust centre section being compensated for by this clamp
I realigned things and refit the clamp backed up by some copper sealant. I will have to look at making a hangar for the centre section as there is nothing from the header back to the silencer.
I have changed some rubbers since as most were looking quite hanging by now.
The joys of owning older cars that have been well enjoyed it their past.