Winter maintenance.

M

mabo

Club Member
Nov 13, 2011
5,365
5,007
south wales
For the last few years I've got into the habit of putting the cougar away in the garage over the winter to keep her away from road salt.
I take the opportunity to chase down and treat the surface corrosion that lurks in hidden places.
Last winter I took out the grill and headlights and treated all of the rust, no matter how minor that I could find.
Wire brush or angle grinder, Chemical treatment and then brush on Hammerite which is available in a blue close enough to Melina not to matter for these areas.
I also spotted minor corrosion in the under leading edge of the bonnet underside where the skin folds back onto the frame. This got me curious so an inspection of the boot lid proved to be in similar need of treatment, but on the sides rather than the rear edge. So that was last year.

Thanks to Procomm I have a replacement for my mildly damaged back bumper ready to fit, so for this winter I've commenced by stripping the old one off and treating surface rust in the same way as above. interestingly the worst area was the flange at the back of the rear wing where the bumper is bolted in, but only on one side. On the passenger side the paint was totally absent so nice and rusty, the same area on the driver side was pretty much as it left the factory. I decided to go a step further and remove the rear wheel arch liners. Lots of patches and edges treated in the same manner. Drivers side done, passenger side to do, maybe this weekend time permitting.
The moral here is If you love your cougar then I strongly recommend you go hunting and assist in saving this rare not so old car for your children.
Enjoy !
 
if its not going to be used for a long time...say 6 months or more my method is get some 3in1 oil take all the plugs out and shove about 2 tablespoons of oil into each plug hole(check there's no crap in the plug recess) then put a rag over them and turn the engine a couple of times ,reinsert the plugs (becarfull of the threads) ,disconnect the battery and leave it...

3in1 oil is very thin and will over the space of time seep through the pistons and rings so when you go to start it next time you wont bugger up your engine with hydrolic lock..it will however smoke like a B*** untill its run down the road.
 
Thanks guys but she's still outside at the moment and will be moved tomorrow. Before it gets much colder she'll be moved into the garage which benefits from having the house heating boiler in and is relatively warm and well insulated.
She'll still be moved from time to time so the I won't be brimming her with oil or 3 in 1 ing the bores.
I've left many cars idle over the years they've all started relatively trouble free when required. I 'm afraid I'm not a big believer in this talk of "stale fuel" I used to own a Subaru SVX ( Google it, you'll be impressed ) Left her alone for 6 years in the drive. The bosch battery lived in the workshop and got a trickle charge from time to time. I fitted the battery not expecting anything more than a click from the solenoid. She fired up instantly. I switched her off instantly as I wanted to crank her over to circulate the oil before she firing her up. Fuel injection is far quicker starting than carbs used to be. Carbs, does any one else remember when they mixed fuel with air rather than adding to your waistline or am I the only historian?
 
Procomm said:
I used to be able to tune a Ford CVH by ear with only a screwdriver! Does that count :LOL:
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One of our locally employed civilian mechanics in Basrah could do the same thing with the carbs on the V8s in the Land Rover Snatches; literally did it by ear and they were always perfect. Legend.
 
TopCat1127 said:
if it's kept dry and warm then no need to do owt else, leave the windows open a bit to stop it going stale, but thats all.

As for tuning by ear, twin cylinder carbs on bikes are a doddle, even done a trident triple lol
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There;s a vfr 750 four in my garage awaiting this treatment if your offering.... I've got the pressure gauges if your ear is a liittle blunted, but not the adaptors to connect to the manifolds.
My favourite mechanic has agreed to sort them when he gets a bit quieter and I can chuck it in a van to get it to him . Or if your in South Wales any time soon..... I've decongested the standard exhaust can so the needles may need to be adjusted too.

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backseateducation said:
I like you(y)
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Thank you backseateducation, I take it you are one of the few that knows of said beast.
I threw it into my favourite corner poised to catch it when it let go......
Nah, she could have been on rails the way she went round, Stuff flying everywhere in the car but not a twitch from the tyres. 4wd is excellent in a sports car.
The Cougar is a GT car for cruising, especially as it left the factory.

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Procomm said:
I used to be able to tune a Ford CVH by ear with only a screwdriver! Does that count :LOL:
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I used to drive a ford 1600 CVH. Bet you can't guess what wheels it was attached to .And to answer your question no.
You didn't mention that when we met. You got 230V to your garage yet ?

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Relliott6879 said:
One of our locally employed civilian mechanics in Basrah could do the same thing with the carbs on the V8s in the Land Rover Snatches; literally did it by ear and they were always perfect. Legend.
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That's impressive on the trusty Rover V8. As needs must skills wise to our brothers who are light on technology ( much like myself, V8 exempted carb tuning skills exempted ) But aren't they always aren't single carb ?
 
I seem to remember them having a carb on each bank, but I could be wrong. It was 10 years ago and before I had much of an idea about engines.
 
Just found these pics online.

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Relliott6879 said:
I seem to remember them having a carb on each bank, but I could be wrong. It was 10 years ago and before I had much of an idea about engines.
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The VFR 750 is a v4 with four carbs wedged into the V. It seems to me the entire power unit was designed to be as difficult to maintain as it could possible be. J plate, it'll be for sale when the carbs are done if your tempted, probably Ebay it early next year now.
The rover V8 was twin carb so your correct, one for each side. SU's I seem to recall.
 
Procomm said:
did you do the Granada hub change? No not yet, cant afford it :LOL:
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Granada hub change ? That's confused me, I've never had a Granny. Of any description. Your windscreen wiper rack was fitted as part of last winters work. I'm considering modifying it slightly to make the blade on the drivers side sweep more of the screen to get rid of the 3 inch wide strip against the screen pillar that's unwiped.

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TopCat1127 said:
VFR750 is a good little bike, bit far for me tho lol tho i do trek across to cardigan occasionally with work

Personally I have a TL1000R in blue n white of course haha
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TL nice, never ridden one but if the price was right I do fancy one. Had a couple of Suzi's, last was a GSX1400. That was a heavy beast but good, took it down to Switzerland one year loaded with top box and hard panniers back, tent on the back seat.
 
Procomm said:
working off the assumption you had an Orion or escort mk3 or mk4 then the Granada hubs allowed for a bigger and wider wheel (y) you just needed to flare the arches a little :LOL:
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Mr Procomm, Caught up with you now, No I had the ford CVH engine but the car wasn't a ford, nor was it a kit car, but it did use many if the ford components from the esccort and fiesta.
 
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