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Lankytim

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Posts posted by Lankytim

  1. A few months ago I replaced the main upper engine mount on the Laguna as the vibration was getting excessive. It took a while to track down the source of the issue but on inspection the oil filled mount had collapsed as wasn’t really damping anything. A new aftermarket one was ordered but failed again after a week or so! I was refunded by the vendor but only got around to replacing the mount this week. A used OEM mount was sourced on eBay and finally fitted last night. I haven’t taken it for a test drive yet but the car is making much less noise on the driveway and the wiper arms aren’t dancing around anymore! 
     

    I cut the old (new) mount open and found the damping oil had escaped and was sitting at the bottom. New Renault mounts cost approx £130 and this one was £50 so maybe that explains it! 

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  2. 2 minutes ago, Dobloseven said:

    How do banger racers and the like go on with getting and keeping stuff running? Several on here talk of sending newer cars than this,"round the oval",and Mally, for example,actually does it.Or do they just start with running vehicles and hope they keep going?And folk who put completely different engines in cars.The lad who did some house rewiring for us is building a Skoda Octavia with a 3.2 VR6 engine.He spent 1500 quid on a manifold for a turbo,so must be pretty confident of getting it running.Problem might be that the 800 was a technical dead end so knowledge could be restricted and with low values and interest nobody's that bothered,just find a better one and hope it keeps going.

    A custom cut down loom with a version of the ECU without an immobiliser is the usual state of affairs. Not all cars are common enough on the track for racers to have figured out how to wire them up though.  

  3. The Fusion has been parked up for 2 years or so, it’s  been a “spare” car but was never needed. I decided to get it MOTd and either sell or keep it for myself as it’s sat there basically rotting away. It’s been in the family since it was a few years old so it will be a bit of a wrench to get rid of it. 
     

    After a quick wash and check of tyre pressures it was delivered to the MOT garage.  The test showed up front brakes, to be expected I guess. The bulb was slightly annoying as I swear it all all working the evening before! I had the bits needed at at home so an hour of tinker time and a retest was scheduled and pass issued. Result! It’ll probably end up parked up for another two years. We’ll see what happens.. it’s at least ready to use.  

    Can anyone  identify the reason for the slight mark on the lower wishbone? Only level 10 or above shiters will recognise it’s origins. 

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  4. On 15/01/2024 at 16:42, juular said:

    Took the Amazon a couple of short drives. Wheel alignment was awful, so I spent ages setting up my alignment rig and trying to adjust the left and right independently as you do on a normal rack and pinion setup.

    I then realised what an idiot I was and that it can't be done this way. Looking below, once the steering box is centred the offside toe is fixed and you have to adjust everything from the centre bar (#12 below) which moves the nearside wheel in and out. 

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    So I abandoned all science and just wound the bar, went for a drive, wound it again, drove, until it started to feel right, using the patented method of letting go of the steering wheel at speed and seeing what happened.

    It took quite a lot of winding the front toe inwards but got it close enough.

    Went a drive with @Talbot at the weekend to pick up a tarp for the Ami, and noted that the steering was quite wandery.

    Sounds a bit like too much toe-out to me as that normally manifests in the wheels wanting to follow every single dip in the surface.

    Gave it another good wad of toe-in, bunged some rad sealer in, and went for another drive today.

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    So, the steering feels a lot less nervous now and will hold its path even on a bumpy road. The final piece in that puzzle is to take the steering wheel off and put it back on straight.

    Unfortunately the rad is still dripping a little bit from one corner despite the rad sealer being put in. 

    I'm still quite nervous about driving this car because of what happened, which is just silly after all the work that I put into it. For that reason I'm considering taking it down to Rustival in March. Hopefully 600 miles will help my daft brain deal with it.

    Oh.. and when I was doing the suspension repairs after the ball joint incident I ordered a pair of track rod ends from Classic Swede. The money was taken but then complete radio silence from them, and now their email address is refusing emails. The Volvo owners club seem to think this is normal behaviour but frankly I disagree and is a shit state of affairs. One for the avoid list!

    If it’s anything like my 145 you can alter camber and castor angles by adding and removing shims on the top wishbone. The crossmember tends to bend in over the decades and shims need to be removed from the wishbone to keep everything straight. Apparently Volvo dealers had a special hydraulic press to splay the crossmember back out on high mileage cars. 

    I’ve read that this castor/camber is very difficult to get right and places like ATS won’t know how to set it correctly so it’s a case of trial and error and DIY. 

  5. On 23/01/2024 at 23:38, junkyarddog said:

    Very clean looking Galaxie in the hands of meathead that's going to smash it up🙄

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    He’s advised that he’ll sell it complete for the right offer. He cleared a few other cars from the site too, one of which is a Ford Zodiac (or similar) that’s up for sale now I believe. 

  6. 2 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

    Note that hose you've used isn't going to be a long term fix with ethanol in fuel these days.  You need something that's got the R9 rather than R6 suffix.  Though most stuff from mainstream motor factors these days will turn to powder in six months irrespective of what it's labelled as.

    You're much safer buying from specialists such as these guys these days as they actually care what they're selling.

    https://www.glencoeltd.co.uk/cohline-fuel-vacuum-hose/

     

    That's the sort of job I'd find all sorts of excuses to leave for another day though, looks like the one end was quite a faff to get to.

    I do need to stock up on ethanol friendly fuel hose, this will do as a temporary fix for now though. Accessibility wasn’t too bad once the back end was up on axle stands. 

  7. Finally found time to replace a corroded fuel pipe on the 145 today. A few months ago I removed the tank to clean and repair it and disturbed some of the existing steel pipe work near the rear axle. As this was corroded it immediately sprang a leak. Very annoying.

    The corroded section was removed and a length of rubber fuel pipe clamped in to replace it. After priming the fuel system the 145 sprang into life first turn of the key and settled down to a nice idle. 
     

    I nearly gassed myself but I suppose that just adds to the giddy delirium you get when you finally fix something shite related! 

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  8. 18 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

    If the engine is off then that's normal. It's probably got a warning chime for the headlights being left on? Which may be defunct in itself but in any case it will override the indicator telltale. Same goes with the seatbelt chime, which will always override the indicator tell tail noise 

     

    I know the bong for the headlights and seatbelt deffo isn’t working. I’ll have to try the indicators with the engine running and see if anything happens. AFAIK they all use the same buzzer anyway so if the headlight bong isn’t working then the indicators probably aren’t either. 

  9. MOAR FOX FETTLING.

    Ive found there’s no audible tell tale for the indicators, hazards when you leave the lights on and open the door. Is this an MOT fail?

    Google suggests it’s the speaker module in the dashboard. 

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  10. 4 minutes ago, grogee said:

    I liked these when they came out. The muttering rotters were a bit dismissive about its 10/10ths handling, completely missing the point as usual. 

    What appealed to me was the low-tech robust design suited to Brazilian roads, ie long travel suspension and good ground clearance - something the average Brit still doesn't understand when they moan about buckled alloys on their new Audi with 21" rims. 

    RoverFolkUs has said that a few of the 1.2s have escaped from valve trouble, maybe by being ACTUALLY SERVICED as opposed to the usual shopping car neglect. 

    The one thing I didn't like was the spec seemed to be quite basic unless you forked out for 'Urban' or the like which pushed the price into Polo territory anyway. 

    Probably brilliant as a WBOD as I bet that little engine warms up quickly. 

    I did notice the high ground clearance, it’s quite utilitarian. On the V5c it’s listed as an URBAN FOX 55, I’m guessing that’s why it’s got electric  front windows. 
     

    Googling these 1200 3cyl engines gives mixed reviews. Many have had timing chain problems. I guess it’s the nature of the market segment that these cars get neglected and impending issues get ignored until it’s too late. 

  11. Drove over to the in-laws today and gave the FOX a very quick going over with a bucket and sponge. It hasn’t been washed in a couple of years and was pretty green. First of all I swapped the battery for a fully charged one. What’s with this stupid plastic cage on top of the battery? I couldn’t figure how to remove it and it ended up breaking. No doubt a YouTube video would demonstrate how easy it is to remove in 10 seconds or something. The engine bay itself looks like it belongs to a car that’s been parked up for decades, lots of ally corrosion and cobwebs.
     

    With a fresh battery the FOX started first time. Everything seems to work, electric power steering, brakes, windows etc and nothing is seized. Cleaning it showed it to be in pretty good shape with a few small thumbnail dents on one rear quarter and the the odd scratch. Very good for its age. Interior looks very good with nothing broken or badly worn. The paint is a weird pewter grey colour that used to be popular a while back, a good polish should bring it up very well. I think it might’ve had one of those ceramic treatments dealers used to offer as there doesn’t seem to be any oxidisation. 

    One tyre is badly perished (Michelin obv) but the spare has a new tyre fitted so will get swapped over. 

    Despite being very smoll the Fox is pretty tall and my 6ft1 frame fits behind the wheel with no issue. The rear seats are pretty comfy too although it’s strictly a 4 seater rather than 5. 

    It deffo seems too good to crush. Should I give the Laguna a break for a few months  and experience some South American minimalist motoring?  

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  12. VW FOX COLLECTIONED
     

    Some cack collected today from an old work mate. No collection thread as I don’t think modern dross like this warrants one. It didn’t go without incident though. I drove the 15 miles or so to my friends house and realised I’d randomly forgotten my detachable tow bar, drove home to get it, hoofed it back and hooked up the A frame then realised I’d left the extension lead to my trailer board at home too! Honestly, I think I’d forget my balls if they weren’t attached to me! 

    By the time everything was hooked up, money had changed hands and tea had been drunk  it had gone dark so I towed the new purchase home with the engine running and the lights on without event. 

    This little Fox is in pretty good shape despite being parked up for 18 months. The battery is totally knackered but I don’t think it will need much for an MOT. 1200cc and 3 cyl! 

    I think these VWs were built in Brazil and the Fox was a stopgap model in Europe as the Polo had got too fat and they needed a new small car in the lineup. 

    OBV it will just sit around for another 18 months before I fill it with random scrap and weigh it in. 
     

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  13. I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before (and CBA to check) but if you set your browser to incognito mode compare the market or whoever you’re getting quotes from think you’re a brand new customer rather than someone trying to get a cheaper quote multiple times a day. They tend to load the quotes if they think you’re getting desperate. 
     

    “of course I wasn’t looking at porn dear, I was trying to get car insurance, honest”
     

    Best time to get a quote is 28 days before renewal apparently. The closer you are to renewal the more desperate they assume you must be. 

  14. After the success of the N/S  Laguna wishbone replacement I got cracking with the O/S.

    its always nice to see an obvious failure point when replacing a part. Oddly the front bush had failed on this side, on the other it was the rear bush that had split. 
     

    I managed to break my 1/2 to 3/8 adaptor but I should be able to get a replacement FOC from Halfrauds. 

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  15. 7 hours ago, HillmanImp said:

    ZIONKS!!!!

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    There isn't a sticker there and it's not come off on the back of the one I pulled either.

    I'd read somewhere on one of the Volvo forums before I collected it that all 8 valve non interference but it was just some guy replying to some other guy and was probably talking bollocks.😄

    Looking at the code on the head it's 1000631 which google suggests is indeed a B230K and according to some guy talking to some other guy on a Volvo forum suggests is interference as Tim suggested.

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    Well, that put things in a different perspective. At least it didn't go on the way down, what you don't know doesn't hurt you, ignorance is bliss etc.

    It’s got a “pulse air” system too I think! This was a system of pipes that fed air into the exhaust manifold in an effort to reduce emissions, they often corroded away and resulted in poor running and backfires. They’ve mostly been removed and blanked off now as it was a shite system. 

  16. Replaced the NS wishbone on the ‘gooner today. I’d been putting it off as the bolts are super tight and I didn’t want to end up with an immobile car for a week with the job half done or something. With a 2ft scaffold tube the bolts were eventually cracked off and the wishbone replaced.

    The rear bush looked pretty knackered so replacement was overdue!  

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  17. Parked up in Barrow at the weekend. These are all apparently owned by the same guy who sounds like a bit of a Shiter. He leaves them parked until they get ticketed by the council and then moves them to a different street where they eventually get ticketed again and the game of musical shite carries on forever. 
     

    I’d love to own that Marina estate. It’s a Mk3 in the right colour and 28 days younger than me. Lush! 

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  18. 17 hours ago, Ghosty said:

    Curtain twitching cunt neighbour has decided to wage war on us for no reason, calling me and Speedy 'fuckin arseholes' to himself loudly, for having the gall to work on cars at my place at the weekend. We called him out on that and he din't have much to say but childish deflections.
    Had a go at me last week for parking a car of mine outside his house for 30 seconds to move another, and just being incredibly petty and uptight over nothing, just appearing and telling us to leave whenever we do anything.
    Even had the pettiness to pressure wash half the dividing wall between our properties a while ago.
    We haven't washed our side.

    We've done nothing, but we're being harassed and abused for no reason.



    Stupid cunt today said to me 'what are you going to do, go cry to your parents?' he's at least in his 60s, what a fucking belm.

    Needs taking down a peg (probably knows I'm an easy target) but need to work out how. I've had people fired on Equality Act grounds for less than this.


    I've been bullied my whole fucking life, I don't need this shit. 'Ignore it' doesn't work for me.

    I’ve had that a few times before, they often change their tune if their car won’t start or they have a flat tyre. I’m always happy to help though. One old codger was always on my case moaning about everything. When he died his wife often came over and asked me to help with stuff. Before I knew it I was up a ladder on her roof moving the TV aerial around trying to get a signal. I’m not sure what was worse, the moaning or all the odd jobs I ended up doing. 

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