Below the heater matrix there is a hole In the tunnel. Is the steam starting here and working its way back? I would have thought steam would rise. Perhaps it's the main coolant pipes under the floor? ?

Yep, some is working it's way all the way back to the engine bay but it's definitely coming from between the heater and gear lever...

Right...

Is there a half simple fix?

You could try some rad weld as a temporary fix?

Some have fitted a narrower copper pipe inside the main steel pipes. There are Some good recent threads on the owner's club site.

I have some stop leak... I know it's not great at all but it's not even a water leak so I doubt it's large.

Will do something better when I have cash to splash ?

I have read about pin holes occurring in those pipes before

It didn't work - I'm just going to leave it to cool in the hope that something works

So the copper pipe idea :

Is it a good idea in this situation? The car doesn't overheat at all, will squishing the pipes down ruin that?

You mean as the pipes will be smaller the flow will be reduced. People report that its ok. I think the guy on the owner's club said he's driven his car to Italy! Maybe in a very hot climate it might be more of an issue...

They can always be repaired again with bigger original steel pipes.

You have the new aluminum rad which should perform better than the original too. Maybe paint the rad black which improves the heat transfer even more (mighty car mods).

I would go the copper route myself.

Perhaps a small amount of water is collecting somewhere and falling out when it's driven?

Well the new pipes are in and working a treat! Took a few hours but no more steam!

The car is off for a look over and eventual MOT so I'm left with nothing to do for a while which is annoying...

Thought I might start to think about a radio? All the wires are there but all cut and no connectors...and is there a good speaker upgrade?

Wow that was quick! Great thats sorted. My cars radio has all the wires connected with a chocolate block. I think they predate standard stereo plugs.

It's not easy to upgrade the speakers. The 'parcel shelf ' speakers need to be quite shallow due to the petrol tank. I tried to fit some blaupukt 3x7's or whatever they are and they didnnt fit.
There will be some that fit out there though...

My car has some old Kenwood speakers which are ok.

Many people In the past cut the door cards ? to fit round speakers. ?

I have considered building speaker boxes to fit In front of the seats but decided i didn't need them. Some people use the spare wheel space to fit a sub to help with sound.

I think retro radio cassette player modified with an aux cable has to be the way forward!

Well I'll find something. Not too fussed about a ridiculous radio, just something for long journeys!

Any idea how to wire the radio in the front? Like I said, 5 stray wrires and no clue what they do! I imagine that there's a live and ground, two for the speakers and the last one for fun?

Hey. There will be four wires for the speakers, earth, positive and powered antenna I think.

I will upload a photo of mine. They might be covered by the wiring in the Haynes manual?

I've had a read of the manual. There's four wires to the speakers, a +ve feed and a ground. No mention of the aerial (though I'll need to fit one into the windscreen) or a live feed from the ignition. Annoying as I don't have the car with me to check!

If you could that would be great Jeremy, I'm a little lost on this one

It appears the earth/ground is not connected in my car - the unit screws into the dash so I guess it does not need it. I have just left it as it was.

The left two i think are positive, maybe memory feature of the Phillips radio cassette? Other 4 are speakers. The radio is below the photo so wires above above are my 1985 cars loom. hopefully similar to your car?

I'm sure my car has power going to the antenna area in the boot but not sure if this was on earlier cars - it doesn't seem to affect the connection at the radio though.

That looks pretty similar actually, so good to know it's right on mine. What radio are you using by the way?

Well due to the aerial being snapped off when I got it, I cut out the old one and welded a plate over the hole so it matches the other side. No aerial at the moment but I'll fit one to the front or rear screen.

Just come across this interior - LOVE IT. Just need to find some black leather seats and all the other vinyl panels. I can get the wine carpet and a leather stitched dashboard through the bay. Just something to think about, as the current interior is rather nasty.

And attached this time

It's got a period 80s Philips cassette player.

Yeah that aerial hole is a bit grotty on my car. It fell apart and iv fitted a powered aerial hidden In the boot. It was easy to fit add the wire is there but I haven't got it working well yet. Might not be good enough location for signal.

Cool 1300 interior, iv never thought about modifying the interior of my car. The black leather VS seats come up occasionally on eBay for about 100 quid.

I'll have to look them up. I've got a pair of 90s Pioneers lying around so I may use those just until it's working then get a period one.

Yeah that interior really is the part I though. Think it would be a laugh to sort it all out but a red carpet and green car? Not sure...

Do full VS interiors ever crop up? Might need to at some point, the interior I've got is just shot

They have in the past. People break up x19s fairly frequently...

The seats in your interior photo are earlier than vs seats which are a bit of a funkier shape. You might find some of these if you put word out. They might need recovering though... while vs seats would prob be ok. The seats in my vs have a couple of split seams