New Highway Star owner, Aberdeen

[LargoStar]

Another source of knocking and rattling found, the driver side skirt is very loose. Are they easy to fix back on?

[charliepie]

never tried it myself but many have so it should be easy if you have the right clips to secure it:-)

[LargoStar]

Well, since my last post, I've had over 3 weeks of trouble-free Largo-ing! Still knocking and clattering from underneath, but I'll get to that once my wallet recovers. I'm sure that this bus has been poly bushed, the ride is pretty harsh, but we've grown to love this motor after a difficult start

[jimmyrev3]

check your intercooler mounting rubbers under pass seat rubbers tend to wear through and vibrate on brackets,also heat shields round exhaust down pipe may have splits in them

[LargoStar]

Thanks, I'll get everything checked out. In other news, the exhaust 'collapsed' this morning (looks badly corroded) and has come apart in the middle. So its off to the fabricators for a shiny new one

[ma70ld28]

wow sounds like you're having "fun" this though has always been part of the appeal of old jap imports to me (the rust, previous neglect/uneducated tinkering, the parts struggle, the "wtf is it mate" factor ) Must be something in it as I've owned at least 5 JDM cars and 2 JDM bikes so far of varying rarity from see-one-everyday Pajero to only-one-in-country Cultus Convertible and loved every one of them (well the Subaru Sumo was a pig but not it's fault!)

Stainless exhaust FTW, never worry about replacement again

[LargoStar]

I'm not sure if 'fun' is the right word! I tell you, this bus is going to be the end of me! Haha.

[ma70ld28]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger You'll manage, sounds like you've the right mindset to tackle one of these anyway as it's grown on you... Remember all the issues you come upon are likely to be linked to the fact that it's A, an older vehicle and B, one that garages don't know resulting in maintenance (or lack thereof) being done by a less than sympathetic previous owner or four. Once you've worked through the backlog of stuff that should have been dealt with already you'll have a reliable fun bus that you know inside out & as such have every confidence in

[LargoStar]

Absolutely, I've come this far and fixed a lot of issues, it would be daft to throw the towel in now I've found a fairly sympathetic local garage who are happy to work on the bus, as long as I supply the parts. So its all good really!

[LargoStar]

Oh dear. We had a few weeks of trouble-free Largo-ing, but she's thrown a strop again. On starting the other day there was a terrible grinding / crunching sound (almost like when you grind gears). Lo and behold, she's now leaking oil again and the old intermittent failure of the starter motor to engage has returned.

Absolutely at a loss as to what's going on here!