Contessa Classic

Sudhindra · 7th February 2011, 09:24

Hi Atulya,

Congratulations once again. Since you are close to delhi, you can get in touch with Anmol and viraat over there for any issues.
Happy motoring..

Regards,
Sudhindra

atu2good · 7th February 2011, 22:40

Dear Shekaran and Sudhindra-Many thanks for your encouraging words and guidance
I spent a lot of time going through your profiles (Mr. Shekaran's on teambhp & Sudhindra's on fb) and i must say i'm mighty impressed with the time and efforts you have directed towards keeping your Contessas in amazing condition. I want to restore my car to the same condition and this fact highlights the passion we share for this amazing vehicle.

Allow me to be candid.
I'm a Mechanical Engg by profession, during graduation I was inclined towards mechanical design and manufacturing processes. Hence I must admit that i have very little practical knowledge about cars and their trouble shooting. This drawback can also be attributed to the fact that my family has a very humble background and we could never afford a car. My father bought his first car last year (WagonR).
Hence I'm very hopeful that my Contessa will teach me a lot while providing me immense driving pleasure and all the attention which Shekaran promises me

This weekend i changed the engine oil (Total 20W50 mineral oil),coolant, hydraulic power steering oil, cleaned the spark plugs & air filter. Thereafter I took the car to the welder and got the broken exhaust pipe mended(refer to my last post-#149, will post the new pic tomorrow). I repent not changing the oil filter because it will now contaminate the newly poured engine oil.
I drive the car about 1km every night to practice driving and my agenda for this weekend is to change the differential oil, refill the AC gas, get the blower checked(summers are approaching and the blower don't work). Also i suspect the engine misses and i intend to trouble shoot it myself.

Kindly comment on my choice of engine oil, recommend the grade of differential oil and aware me about any other problems characteristic to the Contessa.
Thanks

mycarhasablower · 8th February 2011, 11:29

hi atulya

its good to see that you are taking care of the car to the best of your knowledge, for the rest we are there to guide you.First of all you should have changed the oil filter , it will contaminate the new oil and if its clogged which it most probably is cuz the car was standing for so long then it will restrict the oil flow and starve the engine of lubrication...not good!! please drain the new oil and change the filter and put back the same oil. this is the least you can do now.

differential oil as i had mentioned on facebook is not to be overlooked and its good to see that you have taken my advice. Do change the gear box oil too, since you dont know how old it is. Note down the kms when you do the change for each oil and also the date. every type of oil has limited life, time wise and km wise, both.

the differential needs 2litres of ep-90 gear oil from any reputed brand. even servo would do.

the gearbox needs 1.55 litres of ENGINE OIL(thats what it says in the manual)

for the engine itself , i pay a good amount of attention to the api rating of the oil
Api sf is the minimum allowed for the car , but higher the rating the more modern and advanced the oil and therefore better protection for your car. i am currently using petronas api sm rated oil.

the api rating of an engine oil is always written on every bottle so please pay attention to it. api sf became redundant around early ninetees but in india we still continue to use it.

now for the a/c issue . this is a problem with all old cars manufactured in the 1990's
please check if your car has the r12 gas or the r134 gas , if its the former then youll need more than a gas refill, cuz if you put in the wrong gas youll kill your compressor.
r134 cars usually have a sticker inside the bonnet ,on the lid or on the crossmember which tells you to use r134 gas.

plese dont do anything to your ac untill you know what gas your system was running on, then ill tell you what to do next.

as such , driving the car for one kilometer everyday , is disastrous for the engines health, but since you need to learn to drive therefore we cant do much about it now, but still try to condense a few days learning into one single day.ANd NEVER REVV an engine that has just been started!!! if you want to know more about how to maximise engine life, tell me and ill write some more

anmol

shekaran · 8th February 2011, 15:19

Contact Miyer as he is the bestman to tell you on how to maintain your contessa, what exact oils are to be used, what all needs to be checked and i am sure that he is one sweet guy, who helps out of the way, even if you ask him silly doubts, pester him with questions and least of all call him and you can speak an hour on your contessa - my personal and sincere advice.
get the mechanicals sorted out first, have a drive atleast once in every alternate day, feel the car, learn the mechanicals, understand, and you will be rewarded with a comfortable drive with least expenses.
since you are a mech engineer, you can do most (if not all) maintenance, with any simple mechanic, who understands your passion. lastly, petrol contessas are the least bit expensive in maintenance - except the pinching petrol bill !
Best Regards.

atu2good · 10th February 2011, 20:56

@Anmol:
1. Differential needs 2 litres of ep-90 gear oil : noted
2. Note down dates & kms of oil changes: noted
3. I looked a lot under the bonnet and couldn't find the sticker which says which type of ac gas to use :( I believe there must be an alternate way to ascertain this.
4. "as such , driving the car for one kilometer everyday , is disastrous for the engines health, but since you need to learn to drive therefore we cant do much about it now, but still try to condense a few days learning into one single day."
I tried very hard to reason out your statement but my limited knowledge about cars made it difficult for me to find the message you are trying to convey. So please tell me why driving cars for a less distance is disastrous for the engine health? Is it because the car will be driven mostly in 1st or 2nd gear?
It would be wonderful if you share tips about maximizing engine life!!! Everyone would be benefited from them

@Shekeran: I got in touch with Miyer through mail-I inquired regarding the membership of the Conty Club. I'm hoping that you are a proud member too! In line with your advice I too have made a priority list for repair and restoration of my car. It goes something like this:
1. Engine & Mechanical Repair (oils, hoses, joints, bearings,ac etc)
2. Tyres
3. Interiors
4. Paint Job
Points 1 is almost 80% complete and I hope to wrap it up by the end of this week (except the AC gas till I get a green signal from Anmol, who-like you has enthusiastically stepped forward to help me)
On the other hand I'm having a real hard time finding the tires. I want to use the stock size and have been unsuccessful so far in locating a dealer who has them.
I'm in no hurry of showing off my car and have planned to wrap up point 3 & 4 by the end of March.

A few funny experiences so far:
I park my car in an empty plot leveled with loose clay and earth. On Monday night it rained real hard here and on Tuesday morning i discovered the tires of my car had sunk half way into the wet clay: ==0==0== (== is the earth and 0 is the tyre). By the time I came back from office in the evening, the clay had hardened and tires were stuck! I dug up earth in the tracks of the tires and along with my cousins(who were unwilling to help because they don't like the car much) pushed the car on to the road.
Why push you might ask, well the plot is a little inclined and i have not yet mastered the clutch-accelerator releasing technique on inclined surfaces.

Last night(around 11:45), while I was out on the practice rounds in my society the car stalled. I turned and twisted the ignition key but it didn't start. I realized the fuel had finished. So i rushed to the petrol pump and got 5lts fuel. Poured it in but the car still didn't start. The self just kept going click click clank click click. I & my cousins (who don't really like the car but accompany me on the drives just for the sake of relaxing in the back seat while bitching about their girlfriends) helped me push the car till the parking spot. I thought the battery must have been discharged & got the mechanic to check it today evening. He discovered that the self had stuck due to my excessive cranking & suggested need to put my car in 5th gear and push it in order to get it free. (My cousins are oblivious of the effort that I'm going to demand of them tonight.)

Unlike the modern cars which demand little maintenance, I wanted a car that would involve me completely, get my hands dirty and demand my attention (I figure that is the best way to learn about automobiles).

I can safely conclude that while it's not very easy to push around the Contessa on daily basis, nonetheless I'm having my wish of getting fulfilled.
You can safely conclude that my cousins don't like my car much.

I LOVE MY CONTESSA!!!!!

PS: Mr. Shekaran, I checked your website-is the green Mahindra you are sitting on yours?

shekaran · 10th February 2011, 23:14

the green jeep is a mahindra legend, its not my jeep. but i have a white mm540, in restoration now.

reg the tyres, the OE conti spec tyres are 175/80R13, which are hard to find. so the better option is to get 185/70R13 but dont go for 175/70R13 which is a complete undersized tyre, not at all recommended. ask miyer - he can get you 185/85R13 Cooper tyres, a bit costly but excellent in ride and also cushioning effect due to increased sidewall height.

if the starter gets struck again, engage 3rd, 4th or 5th gear, leave the clutch(dont depress), and try to rock the car front and back. this should release the struck bendix of the starter. this is a temporary solution only (sometimes when hot, this problem occurs, but very rarely).
alternately, you can also slightly tap the self motor with a spanner/rings. this too would release the struck gear. all these are emergency measures, not final solution to the problem.

the permanent solution is to check, overhaul the starter motor. while you are at this, pls check your starter solenoid. its a small rectangular thing with a capacitor like protrusion on the left side (near the ignition coil) of the bonnet wall.

also if your conti came with nippon denso alternator, service that also. they are known to provide good charge/voltage - so keep them, dont throwaway or replace on electrician's suggestions. some electricians find nippon alternators spares difficult - thats why the advice to keep it.

reg the a/c, if your car was pre 1996, i suppose the a/c refrigerant gas is R12.
better not to overhaul the a/c now, you can keep this aspect while body tinkering, painting restoration.

Best Regards.

Contact contyclub@gmail.com for all doubts and technical queries. lots of people to help you restore the car - so dont worry, cheers, happy motoring.

gogol008 · 10th February 2011, 23:22

Hi guys,
Happy to be a part of the group of contessa lovers!! I have been driving a conti since October last year. Its a 1997 contessa 2.0 dlx so power is really a turn off however i did not want to get the powerful petrol moidel and blow a hole in my pocket with the low mileage. I am getting 18+ kmpl on the highways however I am considering a lot of changes. I have been going through all your threads and its an overwhelming amount of information to understand and learn. Glad to be a part of the community.

atu2good · 11th February 2011, 00:12

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