DieselMontes BarnFind Subaru Justy

[AnnoyingPentium]

Congratulations on this finally being road legal. Is it going to be o'er here anytime soon?

[DieselMonte]

7 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Congratulations on this finally being road legal. Is it going to be o'er here anytime soon?

Be taking it to retrorides in a few months

Debating taking it to the penines next month. Hoping to take the Monte to that if its not broken by then.

[DieselMonte]

So It's now taxed and insured. 190 a year insurance, 56 euro tax

Been driving it about locally to make sure its running right. Drives out great comfy, pretty sharp handling, tyres good, brakes are fair. 

Small bit of stumbling at times but I think I've the idle mix set a touch lean, for nct. Fatten that up and see.

Looks are deceiving, it's covered in an inch of dust cause the garage is full so it's been sat outside for over a week.

 Radios fantastic in it. 

I'm sure its gonna break constantly now its back in service, but for now I'm happy.

 

Again, not cost me much to get it on the road and insurance and tax is very cheap, figure it's getting about 40mpg so it's not hard to run. 

Considering that the Monte is getting on a bit now it's nice to have a useable second car. 

[Gaz]

Shouldn’t you be playing early 1990’s music in it? 😀

 

Gaz

 

 

Edited 3 June, 2023 by Gaz
Added sumfink from the '90's

[DieselMonte]

On 03/06/2023 at 07:53, Gaz said:

Shouldn’t you be playing early 1990’s music in it? 😀

 

Gaz

 

 

Gonna be driving around "My hooptie" all summer

 

 

Been driving it around since, running pretty good. Has a mean hot start problem though. Cranks and cranks and cranks until it eventually fires.

Changed the Fuel filter before the carb. Still gunk coming out but the filters seem to be catching it all, looking through the window into the bowl the fuel there's clear, happily.

Washed and waxed it last night for cars and coffee today, was behind a ferarri 440i there and on the way back too.

Place was jammed when I arrived, so was put out in the bleachers, know to get there earlier next time

Plenty of cool stuff there though

Sort of out in the bleachers but still got a few looks and photos. Seemed to get a fair bit of attention.

Even driving it had people come up to me asking what it was, or saying they hadn't seen one in years, which was nice.

Tried moving it from its spot and it would not start, so left it. Started once i went to leave though. Mean hot start problem and this heat is not helping.

[DieselMonte]

Driving 100 percent otherwise.

Doing 60-70 happily on the way home, handles absolutely amazing, especially considering I haven't touched the suspension at all. Extremely comfy and surprisingly quiet considering its an 800 odd kg economy car that's been made since the 80s.

Insurance disc didn't arrive still so while it is insured the disc on the window says expires October 2010. 

Will post any photos I find of it online. 

[DieselMonte]

Few pics of this turned up.

Also found the government's e10 checklist says any subaru after Jan 31st 1991 is good for it.

Then found another which states the same, except all vivios and justys before April 1994. Nice.

Closest station to me is a fair drive but looks like I've no other options as all fuel stations near me use e10.

 

 

[J.R.]

Is that what you have been running it on to date?

 

Worth trying the non ethanol fuel to see if it makes any difference to the carburettor stumble.

 

I reckon your carb is adjustable enough to cope with E10, I am using E85 in all my garden mechinery now.

[DieselMonte]

3 hours ago, J.R. said:

Is that what you have been running it on to date?

 

Worth trying the non ethanol fuel to see if it makes any difference to the carburettor stumble.

 

I reckon your carb is adjustable enough to cope with E10, I am using E85 in all my garden mechinery now.

Was running e5 until I ran that through, e10 since April as that's the only petrol available locally.

As I say I'll take it further afield and fill it with premium and see what happens. 

 

[DieselMonte]

Did some checks on this today.

Pulled the top of the carb off to check the jets and bowl for rust. All good. Lowered the float slightly as I was told it might help with hot starts somehow.

Pulled the plugs and 1

2

And 3

Seem to be burning pretty good. Cleaned the contacts on the cap and rotor and lubed the cam for the Points. Running well. Gonna recheck timing, idle mix and idle itself next time I'm arsed.

 

Still need to change the brake fluid, change the coolant. Replace a coolant temp sensor (gauge reads low).

Intending on making retrorides in it. So far it's proven to be reliable enough, considering it's been out of action since 2010.

Found a few things out about it recently too, namely some records of it. Came into work in 2002 for an nct prep. Some time after that it came in on a no start, which was just a bad battery. Last record of it was in 2008 where the mid section of the exhaust was replaced. It still looks brand new and when I got the car I figured it had been changed when it was off the road. Not 14 years ago.

[DieselMonte]

Driving away at it happily for a while, just ticked over 38k and it **** the bed.

Lucky was heading to the farm, a few hundred metres out had to pull into a ditch for some *******s in an i30. Go to pull out and the throttles really dead, choking the engine. It was driving absolutely perfect up until then. Magically got it to go enough to get to the farm gates, once it gets over 4k (when the second barrel opens) it was fine. Sitting idling at the farm and it was slowly choking itself out till it died. Restarted it and again, any throttle it'd die, and it'd slowly die idling.

Held it on the choke up to the shed and there it sat. Took apart the carb and found the accelerator pump had a tear in the boot.

So tried to warranty the keyster kit I got and amazingly, they've sent out another kit. Ordered another kit from the first crowd hoping it'd get here quicker, inspite of it being ordered first, and "only" coming from Germany. It was delivered at the same time as the keyster kit from Canada. Nice. Anyway, put the new pump on, cleaned it up a bit and. (Note I used the kit from Germany not the keyster one)

 

Still did it, albeit it wasn't instantly dying. So took it apart again. Cleaned it out again. And.

 

I mean I'll take it. Bit of a flat-bottomed around 3k but it cleared out. Maybe there was some of the solvent left in it from when I was cleaning it and that was choking it, maybe there was **** in it still somehow. Don't know, not too worried since it's running again.

So now I have a kit spare.

Not too mad all things considered since it's having issues now and not in a month's time at retrorides. And the fact it didn't do it when it was being tested, because God knows when I would have got another date. 

 

It's not home yet, gonna give it some driving tomorrow evening and if its fine I'll take it home.

[DieselMonte]

Been driving it a fair bit since. Racking up the miles. Gone through a few tanks on it now. 

Calculated my mpg to be 35mpg on the dot, not bad considering it's on e10, and I've been driving it as I would. 

Given its got a 35L tank, brimmed I have an effective range of about 270 miles.

Took it down to Mondello last Sunday for drift games. Did try to get in to the car show in it and ofcourse got a polite but firm "no". 

Went down anyway on the Sunday. Was miserable weather. Did well keeping up with traffic, 70-80mph on the motorway, which doesn't sound like a lot but cause of the gearing it was sitting between 4-4500 rpm at that. 

Drove absolutely fine. No shaking. No vagueness etc. Only concern is the temp gauge but I have a sender ordered. Whether it comes or not, who knows.

Good stuff at driftgames.

 

Still looked "clean" given the weather.

Only annoyance was that the sheen on the bumpers washed off so they looked chalky grey by the end of it.

Driving away at it anyway. JPCCNI is this Sunday and it's ""in"" on a reserve ticket.

Have an e-mail saying that I should show up between 8-9 am incase a spot opens up. I get the impression it's being displayed outside in anycase, but I couldn't well be wrong and it might just get ****ed out if no spots open up. 

Nonetheless I washed it and I'm gonna give it a thorough clean ahead of it.

 

Retrorides is on the 11th-13th and if this doesn't break down I'll be taking it. If not I'll still go in the monte. 

Few small things I want to do to it before then.

Firstly flush the brakes, as the fluid looks like this. Brakes feel absolutely fine, yet to have an issue with boiling them or anything. But I never did it, it's obviously not been since long before it went off the road so I may do it now.

Secondly I'll change the coolant as it is also quite old. Again not had an issue with it yet, but I want to do as much as possible to have it good to go.

 

 

Need to think about spares too.

I'll be bringing a full toolkit, spare carb rebuild kit. Spare set of points, spare plugs, spare fuel filter just in case, I'll swap them again before I go too.

Anyone have any advice on what I may be missing? 

 

On the topic of that. I've been changing the inline filter before the carb every once in a while. It'll run clear for ages before bringing up a chunk of gunk from God knows where. Filters doing its job seemingly and its never much.

 

Hope all goes well but want to be as prepared as possible.

[J.R.]

Re the bumper sheen, all of the products have that failing, I still have a bottle of Back To Black gel sheen from the 80's, it is a black gel and leaves the bumper stained black even when the sheen has come off.

 

It still has the original minging black stained muttoncloth wrapped around it for the next use, the product has had 40+ years to rot it but hasn't, in fact there is enough residual product on it to cover a small area, a scuff etc.

[J.R.]

If you are carrying points then carry a few spare condensors but dont be tempted to replace the original with one of them unless it fails (engine will start but not pick up revs or un under load), most new ones are either dead on arrival or only last a short while hence the advice to buy several.

 

Also feeler blades in your toolkit which you probably already have, points shutting down was the major cause of old school engines going out of tune, it reduces the dwell angle resulting in a weak spark  and retards the ignition.

Edited 28 July, 2023 by J.R.

[skomaz]

On the bumpers try some GTechniq C4.  I used it on the black trim on two Civics (my old Mk8 and my FILs Mk9) and it brought them up a treat from that sort of condition and lasted a few years.  It's expensive but if the trim is cleaned with isopropyl alcohol before the C4 is applied it seems to work and last really well.  Plus it's a nice matt natural finish rather than false shiny black like some stuff is.

Edited 28 July, 2023 by skomaz

[Warrior193]

29 minutes ago, skomaz said:

On the bumpers try some GTechniq C4.  I used it on the black trim on two Civics (my old Mk8 and my FILs Mk9) and it brought them up a treat from that sort of condition and lasted a few years.  It's expensive but if the trim is cleaned with isopropyl alcohol before the C4 is applied it seems to work and last really well.  Plus it's a nice matt natural finish rather than false shiny black like some stuff is.

@skomaz would that work on faded roof bars too? Mine have gone a bit grey.

[skomaz]

32 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

@skomaz would that work on faded roof bars too? Mine have gone a bit grey.

 

I'd be surprised if it didn't...   I used it on pretty much everything black on both cars and that would have included the roof bars on my FILs tourer.

 

I think i have a tiny bit left still so if i get the chance I'll try it on a hidden part of the bars on the kodiaq

[DieselMonte]

Bled the brakes and Flushed the coolant ahead of going away.

Waiting on some sealant to dry.

Brake fluid was old. All new stuff through it. Pedals firm and so far no leaks. Old fluid was not great.

New stuffs a lot better. Just generic dot 4.

Have an eezibleed but just bled it the normal way. 

Coolant looked perfectly fine but was old. So out it goes.

Flushed it with a radiator flushed then 2 runs of deionised water. Refilled with 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

That and another new serpentine belt is all I've done to it since.

 

I was at JPCCNI last Sunday in Belfast.

In on a reserve. So I got in, but was outside.

Had to be up there between 8 and 9. Show didn't start to 11. More or less another dubshed situation where you're there for the whole thing.

Weather stayed fairly dry.  

It was running a bit rough just as I was leaving and I wasn't sure if I should go, but it cleared up after a few miles and I went on. Think I may have fouled the plugs a bit as I was starting it and stopping it moving in and out of the garage.

It got a little bit of attention surprisingly. 

Some pics of it came up online from other people too. They've all got the respective persons watermarks on them. Got them all from Facebook under the mentions for the event.

Nice to see people cared about em.

Talking to some very nice people at the event too. Opened it up, let people poke around it, etc.

Really doesn't bother me having people looking in and around it. And it seemed that was not the general consensus of the event. 

Probably because I'm roughly a grand into this and some of the cars there could have easily had over 100k spent on them. 

Kinda glad it's in the state it is because I'm not worried about driving it, but it still seems to turn heads more than you'd expect considering.

 

Retrorides is on this Friday coming. Intentions are to go dublin-holyhead early and take my time over the road. I trust it enough to get me there, mostly. But at the same time I don't want to be stressing it trying to get there on time. 

 

Aside from collecting a few more spares this shouldn't need anything more done to it.

 

[J.R.]

If I were at that event I would be all over your car!

 

You did absolutely the right thing leaving the wheels as they were, it makes people stop and think "hang on, maybe this is not a restoration and respray, heck look at the paint, its bloomin original!!!!"

[DieselMonte]

Did not make retrorides.

Broke as I was leaving town so swapped all into the Monte and went anyway.

Was Driving perfect, spent the whole day before having it gleaming.

Boot was packed full of the essentials. Pretty surprising amount of space. Box was full of spares.

Had a great time regardless.

Thought it was a carb issue but it was clean, turns out it was the Points. Which I had spare in the boot so did that when I came back.

Going alright now.

Had a bottle of stuff in the garage that's been there for years, made good work on the bumpers but was very messy. Seems to dye the bumpers instead of just shining them.

Did put a RR sticker on it, was there in spirit.

Going fine now anyway

Will get over eventually.

Was another justy there atleast. Top spec 1.2 litre fuel injected 4wd one.

Rear arches were pretty crusty, but otherwise fairly straight car.

[DieselMonte]

Think I should get an AFR gauge and oil pressure gauge in it.

Afr to help make sure the carbs set right and Oil pressure as these are known to have weak oil pumps.

Can't imagine its going to be an issue on this, but the oil pressure light only comes on at 3psi so way too late.

[DieselMonte]

So had it at a few shows since.

Local cars and coffee which was actually busy I just didn't bother taking a pic of it until I was ready to leave. Sat idling for 20 minutes in a queue to get into it. Got a free T shirt though.

Another show in Knockbridge today which was a big one.

And that all was fine. Even got a little placard for going in.

And then instead of heading home I went into dundalk and it started running poor.

Parked it, looked it over, Cleaned the carb, new plugs, etc etc. Got it going again, for about 5 minutes. Died just off the motorway coasted into the big car park and there it sat. No spark.

Lucky I had gotten an AA membership for retrorides and...

Got it home luckily.

99% it's the coil gone again. Absolutely 0 spark.

Think all of my working on the car earlier made no difference, all it did was let the coil cool off and let it work for a bit more.

 

[J.R.]

I cant recall the history of the recommission but do you perhaps have a non ballast type coil fitted on a ballast resistor wiring system or a ballasted coil wired directly?

 

The original OE coil if still working will be a million percent more reliable than any modern replacement, ditto for genuine New Old Stock.

 

Your outings with this vehicle and its capricious behaviour remind me of when I was travelling in New Zealand and was given a Nissan Prairie that had been converted for camping and had been off the road for a decade, the guy had converted it to carburettor fuelling from fuel injection using second hand parts and there was rust in the fuel lines etc, driving up the ridged ramp on the ferry to the South Island created such vibration that I knew exactly what would follow, sure enough within a few miles the progression circuit was lost and I had to keep driving on full throttle high revs until I could find somewhere to pull over.

 

I didn't have any choice, I rolled off the main road and coasted as far as I could, it was outside someones house and he came out while I was under the bonnet cursing myself for not having equipped myself with the right screwdriver for the jet, the owner came out and I expected him to give me a hard time but no, it was anything I can do to help you mate!

 

When I had got it running after explaining the problem he said "so its going to happen again then! keep the screwdriver, I will get another one!"

 

I had so many similar experiences with the Kiwis and I love each and every one of them, I also had a real attachment to the Nissan Prairie and sold it to an incoming traveller and posted the money to the guy who gave it to me, the ex of a girl I had a relationship with there, thats how decent Kiwis are! He even let me stay in his house, use his workshop and tools and spare parts to get the vehicle running again.

 

If the day comes that you have to part with that vehicle you will find it as hard as I did, I hope it will be to someone deserved.

 

Its funny how I appreciate the Skodas I have driven for the last 18 years for their reliability but that does not create the attachment that an unreliable challenge vehicle does!

 

Same colour as mine as well.

Edited 10 September, 2023 by J.R.