Twingo fettling, xmas 2012

[John F]

Kristin put her Mk 1 Reno Twingo in for its TÃœV (German MoT) back in early December.

 

 

 

It failed on a few things...

 

 

Reading down the list:

 

- Manual headlight range adjustment left / right inoperative

- Right hand headlight dipped beam set much too low

- Right-hand parking light (sidelight) inoperative

- Registration plate illumination inoperative

- Excessive movement in right-hand front radius arm ball joint

- Right-hand front wheel bent

- Left-hand front wheelarch excessively corroded

- Right-hand front wheelarch excessively corroded

- Left-hand sill corroded at rear

- Slight blow from rear silencer

 

She'd been quoted €1,200 by a local garage in Germany to do these repairs, which seemed a bit excessive to me, so we drove the car over to Britain (and my workshop) for xmas. Lucky me got to spend xmas eve and xmas day spannering & welding

 

 

 

I didn't get a pic of the front wheelarch welding, but it had split on both sides along a seam directly behind the suspension strut. I had to remove both inner wheelarch liners (pain in the arse) as well as the battery to gain access, and had to shield part of the wiring loom on the left-hand side.

 

When I removed the wheelarch liners I spotted this potential grot trap at the bottom of the front wings:

 

 

 

Now emptied of mud:

 

 

 

I didn't get a pic of the radius arm replacement either, but that was straightforward. Ball joints are fixed to the Twingo's radius arm with bolts not rivets, so easy replacement of just the ball joint is also possible.

 

Now on to the sill repair. At first this looked like it might be quite easy...

 

 

 

...but the brake lines run right alongside the rotted section and the bracket for these is attached via the bolt that holds on the rear axle...!

 

 

 

Bollocks. I couldn't remove the rear axle 'cos that would leave me with nothing to support the back of the car. Also, the (plastic) fuel tank was right next to the rotted section as well, and this was also going to be a nightmare to remove... so it was all left it all in place & worked around *carefully*.

 

Pic of the rot cut out, new metal welded in place on the inner sill:

 

 

 

Patch rolled to fit, welded in place and undersealed:

 

 

 

... and undersealed on the inside too

 

 

 

Whilst the car was on the ramps I tried to find the reported "slight leak from the rear silencer" but couldn't find anything at all... so I decided to argue this with the TÃœV man when it went in for its re-test.

 

We then drove the car back over to Germany where I sorted out the remaining problems... the headlight range adjustment problem was a broken switch, replaced with one from a scrap car - ditto the bent wheel. The registration plate illumination problem was a blown bulb, easily sorted. The right-hand sidelight bulb holder was missing (!!), one was sourced from the scrap car.

 

Which just left the right-hand headlight aim. When I had a look at the headlight, it seemed that the reflector had parted company from the glass, it was loose inside the light. When jammed into its 'up' position the headlight aim seemed to be correct... so I rooted around in the car, located a snotty tissue & wedged this inside the light, holding the reflector in place - job done!

 

The car passed its TÃœV the following day, earning me the promised blowjob. Kristin's under instructions to keep an eye on the headlight that was repaired with the snotty tissue, it might need replacing with a used item if the fix doesn't prove to be permanent...

[Bobthebeard]

Glad you got it through the TUV and claimed your reward!

Doubt Mrs Beard would offer such enticements at MOT time, but worth asking I guess!

[knacklers yard]

She'd been quoted €1,200 by a local garage in Germany to do these repairs, which seemed a bit excessive to me, so we drove the car over to Britain (and my workshop ) for xmas. Lucky me got to spend xmas eve and xmas day spannering & welding

 

Now on to the sill repair. At first this looked like it might be quite easy...

 

...but the brake lines run right alongside the rotted section and the bracket for these is attached via the bolt that holds on the rear axle...!

 

 

Bollocks. I couldn't remove the rear axle 'cos that would leave me with nothing to support the back of the car. Also, the (plastic) fuel tank was right next to the rotted section as well, and this was also going to be a nightmare to remove... so it was all left it all in place & worked around *carefully*.

 

Patch rolled to fit, welded in place and undersealed:

 

hehe, least you didn't say you rolled the patch, in *your* workshop!"

praps ah should do a thread on an xmas day call out to weld a sill!

 

glad it passed tho, an hope the blowjob was a goodun

[John F]

She'd been quoted €1,200 by a local garage in Germany to do these repairs, which seemed a bit excessive to me, so we drove the car over to Britain (and my workshop ) for xmas. Lucky me got to spend xmas eve and xmas day spannering & welding

 

Now on to the sill repair. At first this looked like it might be quite easy...

 

...but the brake lines run right alongside the rotted section and the bracket for these is attached via the bolt that holds on the rear axle...!

 

 

Bollocks. I couldn't remove the rear axle 'cos that would leave me with nothing to support the back of the car. Also, the (plastic) fuel tank was right next to the rotted section as well, and this was also going to be a nightmare to remove... so it was all left it all in place & worked around *carefully*.

 

Patch rolled to fit, welded in place and undersealed:

 

hehe, least you didn't say you rolled the patch, in *your* workshop!"

 

praps ah should do a thread on an xmas day call out to weld a sill!

 

glad it passed tho, an hope the blowjob was a goodun

 

^ Fair play... Mr Knackler (aka "that scruffy cunt", "oh no, it's him again", etc.) bunged several hours into the mix on xmas day, in particular doing the tricky bits of welding next to the fuel tank and also rolling the sill patch while I was grinding off... In our communal workshop, lol WTF you doing in here, anyway? Been kicked off Landy Zone? lol

 

And yeah, the reward was good

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Splendid work there, 15/10. Did the TUV man comment on the UK-style patch welding? When i took my 504 truck for a French MOT, the tester noted 'unable to check the condition of the sills as there are patches welded all over them'

 

Any pics of Kristin? Thanks

[John F]

Thank you very much, Herr Hoden!

 

Frankly, the German TÃœV is nowhere near as comprehensive as our MoT. They only have to do it every two years, and they get an entire month to remedy any identified defects when it's up for renewal. There was a patch near the l/h front sill that hadn't been flagged up as a fail, but that looked as if it had been stuck on with chewing gum - I suspect it wouldn't have got through a UK MoT.

 

Which reminds me... I have a question for any MoT testers in here - is the dashboard indicator repeater covered by the MoT? It wasn't working in the Twingo, but wasn't flagged as a fail.

 

PS big chuckles at the Contrôle Technique fella's comment... and I suspect Kristin would snap my cock off if I posted pics of her on here so I'll decline...

[knacklers yard]

"" WTF you doing in here, anyway? Been kicked off Landy Zone? lol""

 

got a tip off

 

and wheres the fe***n quote icon on this site?

[knacklers yard]

She'd been quoted €1,200 by a local garage in Germany to do these repairs, which seemed a bit excessive to me, so we drove the car over to Britain (and my workshop ) for xmas. Lucky me got to spend xmas eve and xmas day spannering & welding

 

Now on to the sill repair. At first this looked like it might be quite easy...

 

...but the brake lines run right alongside the rotted section and the bracket for these is attached via the bolt that holds on the rear axle...!

 

 

Bollocks. I couldn't remove the rear axle 'cos that would leave me with nothing to support the back of the car. Also, the (plastic) fuel tank was right next to the rotted section as well, and this was also going to be a nightmare to remove... so it was all left it all in place & worked around *carefully*.

 

Patch rolled to fit, welded in place and undersealed:

 

hehe, least you didn't say you rolled the patch, in *your* workshop!"

 

praps ah should do a thread on an xmas day call out to weld a sill!

 

glad it passed tho, an hope the blowjob was a goodun

 

^ Fair play... Mr Knackler (aka "that scruffy cunt", "oh no, it's him again", etc.) bunged several hours into the mix on xmas day, in particular doing the tricky bits of welding next to the fuel tank and also rolling the sill patch while I was grinding off... In our communal workshop, lol WTF you doing in here, anyway? Been kicked off Landy Zone? lol

 

And yeah, the reward was good

found it. sure it werent there earlier.

did you hide grubby?

[knacklers yard]

^ Fair play... Mr Knackler (aka "that scruffy cunt", "oh no, it's him again", etc.) bunged several hours into the mix on xmas day, in particular doing the tricky bits of welding next to the fuel tank and also rolling the sill patch while I was grinding off... In our communal workshop, lol WTF you doing in here, anyway? Been kicked off Landy Zone? lol

 

And yeah, the reward was good

sniggers, your one to talk

pot kettle an all that

[John F]

^ Fair play... Mr Knackler (aka "that scruffy cunt", "oh no, it's him again", etc.) bunged several hours into the mix on xmas day, in particular doing the tricky bits of welding next to the fuel tank and also rolling the sill patch while I was grinding off... In our communal workshop, lol WTF you doing in here, anyway? Been kicked off Landy Zone? lol

 

And yeah, the reward was good

sniggers, your one to talk

pot kettle an all that