![[draining oil]](oroilcg.gif)
![[car picture]](orionl.gif)
Jon had long convinced me of the benefits of diesel engines. August 1992 I spotted an Orion at a price I could afford in the local free ads paper. Jon came with me to take a look, he gave it the OK, I left a deposit, and returned the next day. As seen with 91000 miles on the clock.
A white Orion, a bad radio, sunroof, a bit of rust at the bottom of the doors, a waggly gearstick and 91,000 miles on the clock. It had a towbar, which I've never used, and a 1.6 diesel engine. It had a service, timing belt changed, new fuel filter, oil change, general look over, and September 1992 it started bringing me to work.
All cars start to be a bit of a jigsaw. I bought a new expansion tank for the cooling system, a new wash-wiper stalk, a new cigarette lighter socket, air cleaner hose, door pillar switch, started to fit an alarm and the battery voltage monitor. It needed two new shock absorbers on the front. Then two on the back. I also uprated the tyres from 155 SR 13 remoulds to 175 SR 13 (michelin MXT).
September 3rd 1992 91800 miles. Oil and filter change, near work at Aintree, Liverpool.
September 1992. Started to run cabling for a CB on a slide mount, antenna wiring and also got a couple of 30W car stereo boosters. September 21 1992, bought two new rear mount speakers.
October 31st 1992. Oil change. Not done many miles since the first but it cleaned up some of the gunk. I hope.
January 5th 1993. New exhaust system and a dose of antifreeze. January, MOT. Jon took this opportunity to fix a number of outstanding faults. The handbrake cable snapped a few days earlier, we got a new gearstick, and it was difficult to fit. Some kind person had snapped off my aerial, so I bought an unbreakable rubber duck type of amplified aerial.
March 6th 1993. Oil and filter change. 00738 miles. March 29th 1993. Water pump went, leaking all over the place, limped to Jon's who replaced it.
April 27th 1993. Starter motor replaced.
June 1993 BUMP.
July 26th 1993. Car duly repaired, oil and filter change at 09200 miles
January 1994. A lot of welding. The front cross member was rusting away, Jon rebuilt it, also numerous other patches. During the snow in February/March, the electrics, particularly the starting side (heater plugs) was playing up.
February 22nd 1994. A new tyre! (Michelin MXT 175/70 R 13)
March 3rd 1994 Brake pads worn down to the metal.
11 July 1994 27990 miles. Something odd with the electrics. When I switched the engine off, it wouldn't stop! The solenoid had jammed open so I had to put it in gear and stall the engine. It would also periodically cut out. I had new injectors as the ends had burnt off, and a new solenoid. Oil change and an oil flush, plus a fuel filter.
July 1994 28550 miles on clock. My brakes are a bit dodgy, every now and again, I seem to lose power braking. A quick check revealed the servo was failing, so I got it replaced.
August 1994. The steering rack was replaced, too much play in the steering! Also I bought a high capacity battery.
September 6th 1994. Clutch was going, decided to buy a new one. (Exhaust system went too, so had a new one of those?)
October 1994. The electrics finally gave up on me in the car park at work. I rewired the solenoid to the battery positive, which also enabled the heater plug relay to operate properly. I got home. I spent the evening, in the dark and rain, running a new wire from my ignition switch to a new relay between the battery and solenoid. It would now start reliably.
October 20th 1994. Brakes down to the metal again. Unfortunately the discs had been damaged and I needed a new pair.
November 5th 1994. One new tyre.
November 28th 1994. It failed to start. The garage nearby towed my car in and fitted a reconditioned starter motor.
January 12th 1995. The reconditioned starter motor failed and I had a new one fitted.
January 1995. MOT. Jon despaired. It barely scraped through the emissions test, quite a number of holes needed patching, sil on the drivers side was giving way, new tyre needed. Jon said he'd be unhappy getting it through another MOT. A week after it passed, I had a lot of difficulty starting it. The reconditioned starter motor failed, that was replaced with a new one. Then one day it completely refused to start. Jon brought his van round, we jump started it, eventually, but he reckoned I was losing compression and a rebore was required. Went to Leigh Grinders, pistons alone would cost two-thirds of the total price of the rebore. I took a few days off work, and got lifts on the other days.
July 1995. Crisis at work, I needed to get into Reading, over 200 miles away, and there were no hire cars to be had. I decided to go in my own car, did the trip in 2 hours 45 minutes.
August 1995. Brakes were giving me some problems. Jon replaced the pads yet again. About a week afterwards, I had to brake fairly hard at a set of lights on the East Lancashire Road at the M6 junction. A strange metallic grating sound greeted my ears. Over the next couple of week I was still driving around, hearing this sound occasionally. I had driven down to Donnington Park for a little racing (not in my car, in a Porche 924 turbo).
Gingerly I drove it to my parents, after much discussion they agreed to lend me a car, while I stripped down my Orion and found myself a new motor.
I finally sold my Orion at Christmas 1995. A number of people came to look at it, a lot of people who made appointments never bothered turning up. Although it was -2 oC, it started and ran. It was sold for far less than I wanted, but it needed to go.
Feel free to drop an 'I told you so' to email nic