TrabbieRonnie

Hi all... Finally got the wheels off the Iveco today, after many soakings in WD and a bit of heat. Never had so much trouble undoing wheel nuts in my life, but to be honest I've never had the back ones off this truck. It already broke my best breaker bar, but my new rattle gun got 'em in the end. As I mentioned before, the brakes became pretty sketchy last time out... I'm ashamed of the following image... Both sides the same. They seemed to rapidly degrade, suppose once they get down to a certain thickness the heat just breaks them up. Thankfully, the pistons seem fine, pushed back in smoothly, and new pads are ordered. Turns out the rear axle/hubs and leaf springs on my truck are from the 6.5 tonne model, no wonder she never looked overladen! Hubs cleaned up nice and even the discs will come up with a but of flapwheel action. Really shouldn't have left this thing so long... Got a test section of bed wirebrushed off and vactanned. Think I'll paint over this, with a bit of sand in the mix for grip... Hopefully be trucking again after another few weekends work, cheers all.

Well done that man, watched that for ages, wishing I had more room! Is it in as good nick as it appeared to be?

Well in, nice car!

I'm using 'knuckletrumpets' from now on! 🤣

Front end tidy up complete, only sixteen feet of rusty back end to go!

Thanks man, it's still perfectly driveable... sounds pretty good tbh! Was supposed to be getting sorted this weekend, but the guy's gone quiet on me... Have been looking at pipe benders online, may have a crack myself!

Eventually found the Mazda pick up thread, one of the Iveco's last missions... https://autoshite.com/topic/37095-ex-roffle-323-in-its-new-highland-home/?tab=comments#

Hey all. Changed my mind about giving Rosie the Trabi some attention, as I realised my old Iveco was really starting to look unloved... It has sat since I decided to not be self-employed anymore (about three years ago!), mainly used a a work bench or parking spot... shame. I don't think I have discussed it much on here, but it is a much loved member of the fleet, especially (and unusually for old chod) as it brings various vehicles within range and can actually EARN MONIES!!! Best pics of it are actually earlier in this thread when we picked up my son's 323 from Uncle Fester of this parish. She (for a Spanish Señorita she is) is fitted with the next generation 2.3 turbo with immense pulling power, an all-steel deck of 16', lovely ally ramps in the built in storage, and an old but gold 6.5 tonne Superwinch (remote controlled too... I know!). A fine motor indeed. In my time she has hauled countless wee hatchbacks, the Subaru (clutch failed on holiday), tonnes of wood etc, and generally provided good service and good times. Currently, and undeservedly, she sits as pictured... Rusty wheels/brakes... Tyres seem fine anyway, fronts were very recently replaced. Rusty deck... Surface rust to chassis, but tough and will come up fine... Started 1st turn and ran fine (90,000 on the clock which really is nothing for these), but almost zero braking effort. She was pretty sketchy last trip to be honest, so that's the first job. First obstacle to this will be getting the wheels off, the nuts have already claimed my beloved breaker bar. I have a new knuckle coming, and an 800nm rattle gun... which will hopefully get 'em off without mullering something! Instead then, today's sunshine provided ideal shite bodywork conditions. She needs a bit of tidying/smartening up, so I have started at the front. Pics... Not too bad, no holes or anything (she's no Transit!), so a rub down, Vactan and quality* paintjob ensued... Next level masking skills. Day turned overcast as soon as I started, obvs.... Laldi's finest topcoat, not a bad match actually... And the end result, definite ten-footer! Will update further progress. This is part of a nebulous overall plan to rationalise the fleet. Plans are to eventually lose the wee Qek caravan and possibly one Trabant, and the Audi Coupe. I need the space, and the truck can maybe help facilitate their sale, given our fairly remote location. I have a second young shiter coming up as well, so he'll need a slot on the drive for a 90's project too! Cheers all, Ronnie out.

So, in the latest installment of my tinkering thread, the breaker guy came through with the correct inner rear lamp... I disassembled and cleaned it, before fitting the innards from my working but faded unit. Before/afters... And on the car... Has genuinely taken years off the thing, very satisfying job. Also, wheel bearings replaced now without further bother. Very slightly better feeling to drive, maybe? Not really. Maybe front CV joints past their best, maybe I'm obsessing... Weather has been really poor here this week, so decided against the run out to Inverness for a Cars and Coffee meet this morning. Coupe was all washed and ready though, so took her for a blast on the Grantown to Tomintoul road... mmmmm... twisty. Dramatic Highland scenery bonus... Exhaust blow has returned following my pre mot bodging, I'm off next week so will need to get something sorted. Actually fancy a Rorty one this time, we'll see what I can get away with. Cheers all.

What a car history, just wow Doc! Cheers for sharing, and all the best.

Wheel bearing works today (kept getting interrupted by rain... it's July, WTF?!)... Bit of effort and thinking got me thus far; The hub had corroded into the strut, and had a pretty good hold. I spent about an hour trying to separate them, damaging the mounting face a wee bit in the process. I was concerned about clouting the bearing mount near the lugs as I thought they'd be easily deformed. Realised (after watching a Youtube vid) that the new bearings come with that bit anyway. Should have looked in the bloody box beforehand. Took a bar and hammer to it then, sort of spun it out by hitting the lugs... much better, and quite therapeutic! So now I have this... The old bearing will need to be pressed off the hub, and the new one pressed on. The plan is to use the workshop at work tomorrow, once I've got the the other side off. Should be quicker now I know the method. Old one feels very loose compared to the new, but they always do, we'll see what difference it makes when fitted. I always feel like I'm beating this car up when I'm working on it, every job seems to involve the hammer and a big stick at some point! As a bonus, I found that the clip had come loose on the CV joint gaiter, so it was worth a look just for that! Glad I've had a go at this job, but tbh it's just on the edge of 'one for the garage' I think, a few special tools needed, and I'd be annoyed at it if I was needing the car back on the road desperately. I'm off work though, so fairly happy. In other news, we took the wee Mazda to a local car meet, where it garnered it's fair share of attention. A very relaxed affair, with every thing from a Subaru 22B, an A30 van, and a beautifully original giffer-spec Sunny. Lovely. The Fiesta below belongs to my assistant at work, and somehow generates 275 horses from it's 1.5 litres?!! The BMW is more my style, however, phwoarred a bit over this one... Cheers chaps.

Hi all, Mixed results on my new old rear lamps... the guy had sent the offside outer, but the nearside inner. He's going to send out the right one, and I'm sending the wrong one back so we'll get there. Anyway, couldn't resist seeing the difference so here are the pics... Before... And after... Huge difference, and really shows up the inner one now! Hopefully won't be too long in coming. They all seem to really suffer with water ingress, but only the offside had faded/cracked, nearside (originals as far as I can tell), are fine...

Nice day pottering on the cars today, first off the Coupe... I fitted a new rear wheel bearing earlier this week, but it started droning again by the time I got to work. I hadn't wanted to do it up too tight, so ended up with it too loose. Anyway, tightened up this morning and all good so far. Then washed the big Audi... This thing is going well. I have a pair of front wheel bearings in stock for it as I have a very slight drone now (nobody else can hear it), so will change them when I can be bothered. I also have a second hand rear light cluster coming for the offside, it's very faded and cracked. They're a bloody fortune new, so taking a chance on a breaker. Shiny. Next up was the Mazda 323. It's had a couple of mods... First and most importantly... Avant-garde placement by my eldest, looks good though. The other side sports this wee snippet... Not that ironic, as it handles ok actually! Also fitted a period correct(?) JVC head unit off of eBay, which looks and sounds good. Tape deck for maximum retro style points, and a six cd changer in the boot, all boxed with manuals for £25! Good times.

Received with many many thanks, Cheers Ruffgeezer!

Could I have three please? Cheers.