Andyrew

Combo-nation of things. Another kwality work van. With astra wheels with the wrong offset giving little arch clearance. 130k suspension was allowing some regular interferance. And theres this aswell . . .

Running old crocks with usually worn out suspension means tracking will usually need to be done so i decided to keep an eye out and won these for a good price. Very basic two wheel stuff but good enough for the shit i drive / fix. Introducing Andys Awful Alignments "Where you'll leave with more toe out than charlie chaplin"

Pandering. Righto wheres the panda at? Well for the past few days ive been using the 107 as MsRew had an Op 5 or so weeks back and the pugs been sat idle. After it squealing into life with possibly a sticky alternator i decided a good run about was needed. It was used for weekly duties as pictured. I was also "feeding it the onions" most days as the car does a lot of pottering around. These engine are great to hoon. However the 107 has a bit of a front end shimmy that needs finding, when giving it full pelt off a roundabout it feels a little squirly. For test purposes the same driving style and route was taken in the works c1 and no shimmy was felt. The c1 does have 50k less miles difference to help it. Pictured, These two share some silmilar features. Knocked around, 4 wheels that are out of wack and full of cheap shite (Aldi is behind me) Having used our 107 and the work c1 for a few days it highlights how fun these cars are to drive. Nippy and handle well when pressing on. The panda however, while pleasant i cant find the fun in driving it. With 4 mis matched tyres and tired rear shocks probably adding to this. As previously posted its now sporting two matching pairs of decent brand tyres. Front shocks and top mount have been done. This just leaves the rear end. The other week we had a damaged batch of hammerite at work so free paint came my way. I hate the stuff but with the pandas scabby sorry looking springs at the back i felt it might have a use. A few weeks back i popped out the springs and gave them a lick of paint, While out i needle scaled the spring cups and treated them to some corroless paint. All seems good. Yesterday i decided that the tired rear shocks needed to go. Will this give me the chuckable little town car id hoped the panda would be? With them on the rest of the rear axle was give a quick going over to get the loose crust off. A tail end of black paint sprayed on and will eventually get a lashing of wax. Handling is much better, although maybe a little choppy now? Tyres are at 29psi which a bit of google seems to suggest is correct.

Now thats a coaster!

And back together ready for another day of parts haulin' (and yes, sadly We do make and sell those awful 4d tat plates) The drive home however will not be pleasant. The previous owner liked purple melting their eyes it seems. The photo doesnt show how bright this is!

Rinsed, soaked with a bit of APC then scrubbed with a brush. Rinsed again and all grommets/bungs were removed. I then dried it with a cloth and an air line to get in the nooks. Some cheapy polyurethane sealant dooted around the place and around anything that goes through the bodywork. Vents get a big thick bead around them off the car then clipped in place. As we are not fused about looks everything was smeared with a finger and has now been left to dry. Rear highlevel recieved the same as id done before. Light out, scrape off degraded sponge seal then light back in and mask off a neat area and run poly sealant around it. The car is in the workshop drying and ill be collecting it later today.

Its small its red and its not Ms-rews ugly pugling. Its our delivery Citroen c1. Only on 33k miles but being povo spec with no C/L its door locks have already been replaced with some ebay shit. The boot one is original , however it was a bit iffy when we got it 6 or so months ago. Opening an average of maybe 30 times a day 6 days a week its given up. With the standard water ingress issues filling the boot up its time to fix it. Having been here before i repeated the same process id done on the Pug. Which is still doing grand service by the way. Anyway, Bumper off reveals the grime and the gaskets on the vents are pretty shagged. Lock out. I stripped it down and filed the edges from the tumblers(?). I filed away any damage in the casting and will a blast out and some lube it works fine. So much shite behind here!

Ive known of the van for years. As my mate worked there and had to arrange the fleets to be worked on, he told me of a scabby van named "Tizzy" that just doesnt die but everyone loved to borrow it. It was however looked down upon by the higher ups as it was used to go to jobs where hundreds of thousands had been spent for an installation/equipment and the guys would turn up in this. That was about 10 years ago! Fastforward and my mates dad now works for said company. And after one journey in the van. I just wanted it, i shouldnt, but lifes to short to not do stuff you want to. The MOT repair was quoted at 1k plus vat. And as it was ment to be going in a few months anyway. Its time was up. Welding is needed but Not for testing purposes shockingly! Bulb , headlight polish, fit the spare wheel. Exhaust repair and sort the rear brakes. Its surprising tidy underneath and was mercedes commercial dealer serviced with the company as they had a fleets of new mercs over the years. We used it to shift the 2 fly press and other parts pre mot fail and it pulls lovely. Its a 5cylinder lump and only had a mere 250k on it. Handily i know the guys there and i got it for less than the scrap/export man was offering (£600) . At £500 quid im happy and its staying there till after chrimbo. So i can make some room in the workshop.

I also agreed to purchase a scruffy MOT failed sprinter.

Balancing act. With the panda leaving me shortly to be a temp car for mother-rew while hers is in the workshop for welding. Its Time to address the tyres and tracking. The tyres @Floatylight collected for me were switched from the battered and rusty wheels they had been fitted on. One had a bead leak aswell so i wanted to switch the wheels round. Look at the state of that rim! Swapped and balancing* Pair of nexens up front fitted. Wheel trims might get a quick spruce so its scabby steel wheels for now. Starting to get the hand of the tyre machine. Need to get a bit more practise in. *i think. I have no instructions, only youtube videos of a different model!

Just been to have a more in depth look at my potenial new* mercedes benz. Time for some refinement in my life. Some locals may know thats theres a big mercedes dealer in MK. So we headed in that direction. . . But to my mates work to look at this old shed instead. Probably should get myself a bell to ring out the window. *it was new at some point.

Sometimes i just have to ask myself. Why the fuck do i bother. Borrowed the works van the other day. Upon driving it i figured id address the few issues it has. Tonight i took the van to the workshop. wired the headunit properly , fitted the gear stick bush rebuild and swapped out the indicator stalk. 3 nice and simple jobs. Now id noted the igniton barrel had been a bit sticky. Obviously tonights antics required the ignition on and off alot. Button every thing up and make sure all is well. Fire up van. Shut van off. Pull key out. Put key in to drive out the workshop and the fucking steering locks stuck on. Could take the allegro home but that would require the van to be out the way. And guess what? Yep of course its locked at full lock. Fucking Fuck.

It did not. Both leave large oil stains so have a common interest.

More heavy old shite. Our largest customer at work has relocated and purchased all new equipment. The very large building and old setup they had was getting levelled and redeveloped. Id informed them a a while back that i may be able to help rehome a few bits and was after some bits myself. I can usually find a home for most things. Time ticked by and nothing was heard. With a few days till the keys were handed over i got the call and lowball offers were welcome. Got these 3 for a mate who works for a classic bmw restorer at just £200 each. Very nicely made bits of kit. I nabbed two 4 poster jacks at 20 quid each. My main purchase was a changer and balancer for £150 each, with the need for power to use a 2 poster to lift said items onto a trailer and having been informed the power was being shut of on friday. With the tuesday being my only day off a text and a call later to arrange a tow vehicle and trailer for the following day. Our spare van and a very handy trailer from a lovely chap on the same farm as me , sorted. Combo moves! Loaded up with the help of a friend and some of the guys clearing the building. Unloaded with the help of my friend, nephew some bits of box section and the 4 post lift. Now to learn how the balancer works! Came with loads of weights and a few tools. Even have the adapter from centre less wheels. Probably never use them but still! Trail run of the changer. Popped the tyre of a panda rim. Go Smoothly it didnt. Many a wrong pedal was pressed.

A brief update. Some odds and sods have happend. Mostly. Moving heavy awkward stuff. A second flypress and table came and went. Saved from the skip and now with a friend in godstone. Weighed in at about 500kg with the table! Moved in the fabulously shabby "tizzy" . Now out of ticket and on the chopping block from the company that it belongs too. Im second on the list for it. The Allegro has been out a few times after the panda exhaust snapped. It is however leaking alot of oil. This is 24hrs worth! Underside looking very very oily