Toyotally Fixerating Bitz 'n Bobs.. A Diary

[Station]

I'll keep my eyes open for Corolla/Carina/Camrys in any scrapyards I go in in future, one near me always has the odd e92 Corolla in.

[tooSavvy]

L8 Noozze... My 68MM rings (ordered 11AM yesterday) arrived ARGOS Click&Collect, Byker 11AM today...FFinnBriLL

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

I'll keep my eyes open for Corolla/Carina/Camrys in any scrapyards I go in in future, one near me always has the odd e92 Corolla in.

 

Pringles have 4x CarinaE.... wrong SunVisor....

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Well.... "I don't Believe IT!!"

 

I seem to have driven 1039miles since collecting the car... and poured in 115L of fuel. This is 25.3Gallons...

 

An incredible 41 MPG... [lies down in darkened room]... Not much else to say, really...

 

Ehhhhhhhhhh...? 41MPG..!!

 

.... Well... Mebbies the Asin Carb can stay....

 

 

TS

[nisfan]

I too thought my skooshers didnt work until i found out you had to fondle the nipple on the stalk. In the short time i had my carina it was faultless and took one hell of a beating.

[tooSavvy]

British Summer Update....

 

After frolicking in mild sun, yesterday, doing sunvisors... today RAIN!

 

Quick checklist...

 

Sunroof drains ok = no leaks

 

HRW... 100%[elements] clearing glass

 

Hot blowers face/screen gr9 at clearing steamy people/raincoat vapours from windows

 

 

TS

[beko1987]

Is this the end of days? is it truly the Rapture?

 

A tooSavvy with coherent prose and in focus pictures?

 

*faints*

 

 

Wake up Neil, you've been having a terrible dream!

[tooSavvy]

so then....

 

In the GR8 'Forum Dissolution' the reference piccies, sent kindly by Station, showing the body generally.. and 'slight scabbiness' in particular.. were lost

 

I have been working my way around the vehicle [as well as being at work all the bloominn time....] and had a bit of a shock!!

 

 

 

... a possibility that water has pooled/puddled at the split & had for the door skin

 

We got a picture of this 'pre purchase'... I believe an application of wire/flap + corrosion killer + finish painting (waxoyl on the inside) will see this through a few more winters....

 

 

Replacement doors are not really 'lying around'.....

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Moar ekspensse

 

Glass floaty compass 2" ball (aways wanted one!!) @ £4 inc post

 

 

Reversing sensor kit (£9 inc post)

 

 

Hi-line Brake Light, 24LED (£3.20 inc post)

 

 

 

I really do miss the 'bleeep bleeep' of MrSavvy... and I have 4foot of 'blind arse' now 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Just spied a pair of Rear Dampers (333063/4) for a ton

 

Sort out Drop Links for the ARB & Hard bushes for the mounts.

 

Get my 'tame MOT man' to fit it all.

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

So,progress on the 15" alloys......

 

Due to being at work 24/7 last 7 days, not a lot!

 

Today (after SWMBO decorating duties.. Wet paint drying) I heaved them over for 'hubcentric' ring fitment & centre cap [despite giving correct hole/recess dims] fitting.. Falls out!!

 

Gaffatape holding cap, bathroom silicone on the back.. YaY

 

Fitting test tomozz

 

*will need longer wheel studs... Gahh

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Lateral thinking... a 'SavvySwerve' makes it all worthwhile

 

Ebay rummaging threw up a NUT... FORD alloys use a nut/through a loose washer.... M12x1.5.

 

ergo.... I'm gonna harvest 16 from my local breaker and REMOVE the washer... thus making a cone nut with EXTRA threading (into the alloy wheel).

 

I will measure carefully and we will see.....

 

 

TS

[beko1987]

Oooh please keep us updated on the reversing sensors, I could do with a set after accidentally backing into a house the other day...

 

Luckily the towbar saved the car, but next time the house may not be as lucky (and someone might see me do it...)

 

Please let us know how good they are

[tooSavvy]

Err.... What mileage did 'The Toyyo of much Mintyness' read when originally rescued from a short[oval] 'drive of death'??

 

Mr Station has been to France and I have racked up 1200 miles..... Oil/Air filter needed >> Hmm?

 

Full <err...void> Service Record ran to the card seen sellotaped to the car window 'for sayle', a photo was posted by Mr Station but sadly was consumed by the 'GR8 Forum Outage' at precisely the time I was arranging the purchase.

 

If that photo could be 'resurrected' it would be a pointer .

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Convoluted & Complicated [..as if] collekshunneering of Alloy Wheelnuts.

 

Back to Pringles Breakers, by the Tyne. Proper old skool..3 High!

 

Enquired about 16 FORD Alloy Wheelnuts = £fiver

 

Next question... where are they? (all wheels come off/sold for tyres) "In the footwell, M8" x4 corners.

 

Got many Fords in, I asked. "A few down the back and a few Ka in recently... alloys on them I think".

 

So far... So clear...

 

 

With my Vizzie + HardHat, I toddles off down the unit and out the back to the hardstanding. The yardman is passing me by and heading to get the lorry & leave.

 

I find a Focus at floor height = 3+Locknut drivers side & same passengers side. SO SIX ! No other nuts in it, in the back seats/dash/hatch... Bollok$.

 

No other Ford in view except for the two Ka.... YEP.... on the ffinn top shelf!! I'm not built for spiderman duties so I will drop back round next week.

 

I paid £2 for my six, and will pay another £3 when I get the other 10

 

 

My wheels are stacked awaiting the full set of nuts... mocked here, with the new plakkie CentreCap (siliconed fixed).

 

..... should be well smart, I reckon

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

The 'tooSavvy - "have a bacon buttie, M8! " award' for conspicuous endeavour - vis, Customer Satisfaction, this month goes to:-

 

Pringles Auto Dismantlers, Newcastle.

 

 

Above, we see my 'only managed to find 6 Nuts' saga.... @ £2

 

Today I returned to attempt to enrol the yardman in my search.... That is >> climbing up on piled 3 High wrecks!!

 

The yard was a bit busy, so I was asked to come back in an hour, and the 10 would be furnished - for the balance of £3.

 

I shot off to do another call and returned but the 10 lying on the floor were 'open ended', shitty and rusted 2 fuck!!

 

 

I pressed my requirement for S/S cloaked FORD nuts... told to go find the yardman and show him the (one I took as an example) type I want.

 

Good as gold the guy shimmied off into the backend of nowhere and returned garlanded with S/S nuts... "How many?", he asked.

 

"We have 7, I want 10".

 

Nipps up the yard, collects a spider wheel wrench, shimmeys up a very wobbly pile of $hite - going for the Ka on top - and whizzes off another 3 [wheels, inexplicably, still on that one!]

 

..... jeezze.... I know scrap is on it's arse but that amount of effort for a Fiver....

 

I thanked everyone most heartily

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Oooh please keep us updated on the reversing sensors, I could do with a set after accidentally backing into a house the other day...

 

Luckily the towbar saved the car, but next time the house may not be as lucky (and someone might see me do it...)

 

Please let us know how good they are

 

Santa does HouseCalls.....

 

 

... I like the holesaw (allegedley a smidgen too small, which is good, I suppose) but I will drill through a piece of heavy plastic for a test.

I have a dremmel thinggie if upsizing is required, though.

 

They have an arrow for 'UP' as they are pretty crap if upside down...

 

 

I was 'sold' on them after reading this feedback... well, it doesn't seem to be a sales blurb/dummy post..??

 

The only reason for not giving this 5 stars is that the instructions were not clear about the necessity to orientate the sensors so as to stop them picking up reflections from the ground. When I first installed the system, it bleeped when I reversed off my drive, even though here was nothing behind the car. The system seemed over-sensitive. My drive is very slightly inclined so when I reached the level road, the sensors were detecting it.

 

I discover by moving my hand up and down that each sensor 'beam' is quite broad and my hand was still in the beam when I held it on the ground. The instructions glibly say "After the installation of sensors, adjust the axis and direction..." However there was nothing else to indicate that the beam might not be symmetrical about the axis of a sensor. I found that when I rotated each sensor in its hole, so the connecting wire was at the bottom rather than at the top, the beam no longer pointed slightly downwards, and the system worked perfectly. It would have been good if the instructions had emphasised this important element of the installation procedure!

 

A few other points to note are:

1. The hole-cutter cut a very neat 22mm hole in my fibreglass bumper, but this was marginally too small so I needed to widen it with a half-round file. Better that the hole starts too small than too big!

2. The installation should start with locating the wires to the reversing light, which usually enter the car through the floor of the boot behind some trim. Having stripped the insulation off a short section of each of the two wires, use a meter to confirm that 12 volts (approx) appears between them when the reverse gear is selected and the ignition is on (but without starting the engine). Connect/solder the parking sensor power wiring to the appropriate wires and cover with insulation tape.

3. The wires to the reversing light on my Ford Focus entered via a large rubber grommet. I cut a small slit in this and routed the 4 sensor wires through the slit. This avoided the need to cut an additional hole in the car bodywork.

 

Full report to follow.....

 

 

TS

 

[Matt]

How did the brake light turn out? I looked at that exact one on Ebay and the quality looked dubious. Even in the advert photo the LEDs weren't pointing the same way so goodness knows what the actually shipped product is like.

[tooSavvy]

How did the brake light turn out? I looked at that exact one on Ebay and the quality looked dubious. Even in the advert photo the LEDs weren't pointing the same way so goodness knows what the actually shipped product is like.

Not here yet.....

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Oof!! A large £wedge winging its way to 'Micks Garage' for a suite of fresh undercrackers, on 'Toyota of Much Mintyness'©

Fitting & MOT hopefully in that order


TS

[tooSavvy]

Micks Garage claim to have available all my Dampers... We Will See.

 

They have a 'Discount Code', for the weekend, on the web site.... Sliced off the price of one Damper!

 

I have ordered all the droplinks + 2x Front & 2x Rear Rollbar bushes too.

 

The garage will find great joy in phoning me up to announce...."err..doesn't fit M8" Oh Joy..!!

 

 

TS

[overrun]

Convoluted & Complicated [..as if] collekshunneering of Alloy Wheelnuts.

 

Back to Pringles Breakers, by the Tyne. Proper old skool..3 High!

 

..

 

 

...........................I toddles off down the unit and out the back to the hardstanding. 

 

 

TS

 

The where?! 

 

That place lets more weather in than a park bench, man.

[overrun]

Also, have you tried Import Car Parts for bits? (Based in West Auckland) and often very cheap.

They have an eBay shop too, so you will no doubt have come across them: ICP

[tooSavvy]

Well, hopefully, my requirement for bits will be low.

 

Once the fubarred damping is sorted I will live, day to day, on oil&filters/service.

 

Nomm nomming themselves/breakages/fragility is not - to my knowledge - a Toyyo failing?

 

...... Rusting, otoh

 

 

TS

[Dave_Q]

Another shout for ICP, have used them for various OEM bits for my Subaru, which is a similar vintage.

[tooSavvy]

I asked about my order - Dampers for my car are a bit RockyhorsePoo....

 

Louise Kavanagh (MicksGarage.com)

Sep 12, 17:00 IST

Hi tooSavv

Thank you for contacting MicksGarage.com.

Yes I can confirm this will all leave here in the next 24-36 hours.

Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,

Louise Kavanagh
Customer Care Team
MicksGarage.com

 

..... Rock On ....

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

How did the brake light turn out? I looked at that exact one on Ebay and the quality looked dubious. Even in the advert photo the LEDs weren't pointing the same way so goodness knows what the actually shipped product is like.

 

 

looks like this....

 

 

.... your suspicions being, what?

 

 

WCPGW

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

I have 4 'tracker ref', to track my parts (4x Dampers) from Micks Garage.

 

Presumably there will be another box of droplinks + bushes.... or they are packed across the other 4..??

 

Getting there....

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

Re. above....

 

Waited the 24hr before doing a check.... Arrived Heathrow Hub 3.20PM today, from Ireland.

 

Mebbies not Friday, poss Sat though

 

 

TS

[tooSavvy]

SWMBO reports 'hernia from heftinn them boxes' that arrived thismorning....

 

Ooh! Goodee

 

EDIT: I have a 'full house' YaY!

 

 

TS