Carlton Diamond

[skotl]

I had a Carlton back in the day, but a lowly 2.0 like this Google image [same colour].

View attachment 428475

I remember it with fondness, a big comphy saloon if not exactly 'spirited'....

They were lovely and comfortable - mine had the "gentleman's club" velour upholstery

 

[slim_boy_fat]

mine had the "gentleman's club" velour upholstery

Snap!

 

[Blobber]

Nice sunday tidying me body cut up, this is the right hand side and you can see why the car was scrapped with a lot of side/rear impact

Tidied up nicely, its a shame they didnt do the cut to get the last 4 inches of chassis rail where it almost tapers to nothing though, its all in nice nick so im tempted to fit this as a chunk

 

[chris y]

They're like hen's teeth.

No they arent relatively. Most of them survived, they were always an expensive car.
The GSi is much much rarer than a Lotus, and the Diamond estate 24v is rarer again.

 

[chris y]

Great project.
I've saved a 24v GSi that was much worse, but didnt use body cuts, perhaps should have, that'll be a great car.

 

[octo0072000]

i had a diesel carlton black all leather CD multi player in the boot think it was executive model or top of the range bit sluggish but would run all day 90 ish on private roads of course rust finished it off

 

[Cobbler]

My mate had a CDI Carlton as his company car, as a tow car, it would pull anything, nothing seemed to slow it down.

 

[skotl]

i had a diesel carlton black all leather CD multi player in the boot think it was executive model or top of the range bit sluggish but would run all day 90 ish on private roads of course rust finished it off

Oh - I forgot about the CD multichanger! Used to religiously swap the CDs every week or so for a few months, then gave up on that!
It had a removable CD magazine IIRC and (pre-internet) I always wondered if it would have been possible to have multiple mags, primed and ready to go to suit your mood!

It was also the first car I had with both a temperature display (first date with my now-wife: "Oh, it's 18C", "Do you get more interesting??") and cruise control.

 

[Blobber]

No they arent relatively. Most of them survived, they were always an expensive car.
The GSi is much much rarer than a Lotus, and the Diamond estate 24v is rarer again.

Great project.
I've saved a 24v GSi that was much worse, but didnt use body cuts, perhaps should have, that'll be a great car.

Dont see many GSI Carltons about now, most have fallen into the wrong hands and drifted, they only made just under 100 Diamond 24V models and 12 were manuals, this is one of the manuals so as you say rare but not necessarily valuable
Do you still have the GSI? we have one as well waiting for work when I get to it

 

[Paulbarrett]

Great build will watch. With interest.
I recently sold on a lotus rep.
Absolute rotter!!

 

[Paulbarrett]

I have bonnet and door I need to sell, a NOS bootlid but no good for a an estate obvs.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

It had a removable CD magazine IIRC and (pre-internet) I always wondered if it would have been possible to have multiple mags, primed and ready to go to suit your mood!

My e60 had one of those which lived in the boot, I still have a couple of spare 6-disc magazines kicking around somewhere.

 

[chris y]

Dont see many GSI Carltons about now, most have fallen into the wrong hands and drifted, they only made just under 100 Diamond 24V models and 12 were manuals, this is one of the manuals so as you say rare but not necessarily valuable
Do you still have the GSI? we have one as well waiting for work when I get to it

I still have 2.
I drove the previously severely rotten one to work this Morning.

A noisy hydraulic tappet is spoiling the experience at the minute though, very annoying.

 

[Blobber]

I still have 2.
I drove the previously severely rotten one to work this Morning.

A noisy hydraulic tappet is spoiling the experience at the minute though, very annoying.

Nice, glad your using them properly, the tappets do suffer from clogging up unfortunately as they dont get much oil through them, the Diamond had a couple but once warmed up they seemed ok, I had cleaned them out at 201,000 miles when I did the head gasket which helped for another 170,000

 

[Blobber]

Slow going as there is an awful lot to pull out before repairs can even be started, nearside wing with a bit of daylight

You can see the 2 holes in the bulkhead for the wiring harnesses to pass into the passenger compartment, except one isnt hole shaped anymore
Its the usual Carlton/Senator rust spot and very well hidden when everythings in place unless you know where to look

 

[Blobber]

Slow going this stripping malarky! thats all the harnesses out of the engine bay

Bit the bullet and pulled the dash out, there just wasnt enough room to pull the harnesses let alone get to the metal work to sort the repairs, still plenty to pull out yet like the pedal box, sound deadening
and the heater ductwork to the rear compartment

These "modern motors" just need so much wiring, thats just the dash harness

 

[Blobber]

Still at it, every time I put my gloves on to do something the phone rings! thats the radiator and hoses, oil cooler, power steering pipes & cooler, air con condenser & pipe work out, getting close to taking the head off and whipping the block out.
Might do an air con delete as the condenser has had it and new ones dont seem to exist

See that big lump of glass leaning against the wall, thats off the patio table and the hole lot blew over a 3 foot wall and didnt break! yes I did enter "make me a winner" on the radio for the 240K prize and no I didnt win

 

[Blobber]

Havent achieved much at all over xmas but as its the last day of the year and I like Phil Collins were "in the air tonight" !!

Whilst the engine is still in I wanted to get the crank bolt out as being done up to a billion german torques it makes it easier in situ, having done a few of these engine I made this tool up that bolts to the crank pulley and wedges on the chassis leg

I dont own any ugga duggas so its all manual for me, unfortunately the 1st 1/2 inch breaker bar failed but we got it in the end, festive mug for scale

Happy New Year all, see you on the other side!

 

[Blobber]

The good thing about getting older is you dont waste your life with a hangover! perfect new years day, front suspension off and broken down into chunks, zorst off in one lump which will make it easier to chop the rusty cat bolts off and break it all down

 

[Blobber]

Been a slow week but did the pallet truck jenga today and dropped the engine/box out in one lump which will make it easier to split the engine/box on the ground