Automotive : So your car's cambelt has snapped....

A car's cambelt snapping in generally perceived to be a catastrophic event. My first experience of this was recent and on my first car a Vauxhall Zafira (model A) holding a million pound of sentimental value. Faced with some biting reality from the RAC recovery service individual, its time to scrap this car and a validation from my usual mechanic who's advice was to let it go now. With 144K miles on the clock it probably was time for it to take a rest and the time to let it go.

We solved the need for a new car pretty quickly so then it became a question on whether to tackle the engine on the Zafira and let it live on.

Cambelt snaps are fatal (on certain/interference engines) as the internals of the engines get out of syncronisation because the belt that keeps them in sync breaks and essentially crushes/ breaks / bends the internals and this renders the engine useless. While this is not an educational post of how to fix things this is a post on how it's possible to salvage this situation with a bit of determination, the ability to learn, patience and hard work.

My general approach was to take the car apart bit by bit and recondition the top of the engine. Steps to do this are usually described in car manual, youtube videos and online resources. But his blog post was to show how easy it is to do, some of the problems you encounter and potential costs

How I took the car apart.

To get to the cylinder head you need to take apart the air intake, the timing belt mechanism, exhaust manifold, injectors, inlet manifold. Finally you will need to pull off the cylinder head gasket.
I would advise making lots of videos and pictures of all the things you remove so you remove how to put them back on.

Top of the engine (Z16XE)

The cambelt end of the engine

A well used cylinder head (after 144,000 miles)

Using a valve compressor to take the engine apart

A valve collett - a small retainer that keeps he valve in place inside the engine

A bent valve from inside the engine - this is the damage that happens when a timing belt breaks

something beyond the normal mechanic - a bent/cracked valve guide. these have to be done by a specialist 

Keep the bits separated - so that each piece goes back in the same place it came out from

I used old envelopes to organise the parts I took off the engine

the bottom end of the engine with the cylinder - before a clean

The bottom end of the engine after a clean

What did it cost me ?

The quote from the garage was in the region of GBP900. It cost me about 350 in parts I made some mistakes ordering for the wrong engine so I ended up spending about 60 pounds more than I should have. I had to buy a bunch of tools to get the job done the tools cost about 150. It took me a lot of hours about 12 of then grinding 16 valves into position.

The pitfalls.

Tightening bolts on a old engine tends to be a difficult and inevitably you tend to break them ! these are costly to drill out and no matter the videos on youtube inevitable I didnt not have the skills to do it and these complex jobs had to go to a machine shop.

Sheared bolts - that will cost you 25 to drill out

The lessons learnt from this was if the manual says use new bolts or screws or parts just do it !

Is it worth doing it ? That really depends on your ability and qualities that I outlined about. If you have those in abundance you can do it.

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Dubrovnik and Kotor (Montenegro)

Dubrovnik

Our 2018 winter holiday started with mix feeling as it was a holiday with family - 1. This was largely symbolic of children fleeing the nest. This holiday was a late escape in early November so the weather in Dubrovnik was mixed. There was rain as well as sunny warm days. There were still a few brave souls swimming in the sea around the old town.

The one thing that was were told was the November was a season when the number of ships docking into Dubrovnik had eased and the oscillation of the population swell this brings was more controlled. The main summer season bring a host of ship docking into the port with close to 7000 tourist per ship coming into Dubrovnik. So be warned if you go in summer be prepared to queue and for things to be slow.

September and early October seem to be the best season primarily being outside the key holiday periods of the European countries. We went in November and out first day was relatively dry it was overcast and cool. Our subsequent days were sunny and hot.

The town

To get this out of the way early if you're a Game of Thrones fan there are numerous website that describe the key point in the series and i would be covering them systematically here. This is primary the lay mans guide to Dubrovnik and a taster of what we saw. The main thing to see in Dubrovnik is the walled town and within the walled town if you only do one thing it should be walking the circumference of the wall.

This is part of the Dubrovnik pass which gains you access to the wall and a number of museums and buildings. You can make use of the Dubrovnik pass in a day but more likely to if you are staying for a few days. Apart from the wall the peripheral attractions make up time. Here are some of the picture from a walk around the wall.

The walls really are an amazing walk and the rest of the city if good but does not match up to the spectacular images from the wall. Some of the other sites and shot f the city are below.

We did most of the city museums and churches on one day and we spent half a day at the island off the coast of Dubrovnik. This was the key Game of Thrones filming location.

Kotor

After a few days in Dubrovnik we ventured a little further out over the border to Montenegro where there is the walled city of Kotor. In a similar style to Dubrovnik though much smaller. Kotor seems to be blessed with a natural harbour but the approach to Kotor through a series of twisted valleys seems to be a harbour master's nightmare.

Dubrovnik to Kotor is a two hour drive and there is parking in Kotor so the journey is relatively easy. As always if you are going to do this trip during peak months of summer expect border delays.

Here are some of the pictures of Kotor

The dominant attraction in Kotor is a for high above the city below. The climb is about 40min to an hour for someone of average fitness. It does have a lot of steps and particularly uneven ones so be aware if you someone who has trouble with steps.

In summary

Both locations are well worth a visit with Dubrovnik being an absolute jewel. A city worth having a short break to and a destination well worth including in your cruise itineary.

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