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Memoirs from the Hard Shoulder: bASeman's Spot of the Year award.


BorniteIdentity

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Just now, Split_Pin said:

Looks perfectly fine to me but I would suggest having that brake line replaced as it looks pretty corroded.

That is, indeed, why the car is in pieces at the moment - and precisely the reason I didn't have the offside pipe done last year when they did the nearside one.  This bastard runs under the subframe and around the fuel tank so it was always going to be an expensive job.  Once done in copper though, it should never need doing again - so it's a nice opportunity to get some squirty Bilt Hamber into the hidden places.

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That is, indeed, why the car is in pieces at the moment - and precisely the reason I didn't have the offside pipe done last year when they did the nearside one.  This bastard runs under the subframe and around the fuel tank so it was always going to be an expensive job.  Once done in copper though, it should never need doing again - so it's a nice opportunity to get some squirty Bilt Hamber into the hidden places.
I had the same problem with a brake pipe running above the fuel tank in an E46. We just diverted the pipe so as not to have to drop the tank.

Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk

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4 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

That is, indeed, why the car is in pieces at the moment - and precisely the reason I didn't have the offside pipe done last year when they did the nearside one.  This bastard runs under the subframe and around the fuel tank so it was always going to be an expensive job.  Once done in copper though, it should never need doing again - so it's a nice opportunity to get some squirty Bilt Hamber into the hidden places.

Avensis offside brake lines: A shower of bastards.

Glad the garage are sorting it as you have asked them to. Its lasted this long so deserves to have some preservation. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • BorniteIdentity changed the title to Bornite's Memoirs: Purple People Pleaser Rides Again.

When my mates car was in his local garage for an MOT, his "scraped through" when the probe must have accidentally poked itself into the car in the bay next to it. 🤣

Would it be possible to have welded in a more plentiful cat from another car model? I know they have to be type approved on newer cars but not sure the cut off date when that is required. 

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9 minutes ago, SiC said:

When my mates car was in his local garage for an MOT, his "scraped through" when the probe must have accidentally poked itself into the car in the bay next to it. 🤣

Would it be possible to have welded in a more plentiful cat from another car model? I know they have to be type approved on newer cars but not sure the cut off date when that is required. 

No tomfoolery here. They’re too reputable. I did suggest we went down the route of gutting the cat and me finding out where all the Stanceyboi’s go but they were confident from the beginning on a solution. I think, largely, as I gave them two sets of readings - they could see progress. 

I doubt the cat will last forever, so I will ask them what they think about one from a newer car. Good shout. 

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1 hour ago, beko1987 said:

Awesome! 

11 months 20something days to hunt out an better exhaust system? Does custom aftermarket and just tell them not to chrome plate the fucker work on these? 

Who knows.  It might last a year, it might last 5.  On the one hand, the fewer the miles - the longer it will last.  On the flip side, the fewer the miles - the more likely it will clog.  I don't think it's a coincidence that I was doing a solid 25-30,000 miles problem free (up and down the A1 every day) and then, as soon as I start using it for a 3 mile commute, drama.

 

image.png.97fc2632cae262d0198b2d7ac9a3b1f5.png

 

I have promised myself to rotate the cars better this year.  Hopefully the Sierra will actually be ready for a test next week, so will try hard to keep the wheels rolling on all of them.

Still a few jobs outstanding on the Avensis.  I've asked them to change all window regulators as two run slow (one gets stuck) and fit a new door seal too whilst it's there.  Jobs I am capable of doing but, frankly, can not be arsed.  I know they've had a tough few months too, so it's nice to be able to give them the money to do it.  Win/Win.

 

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No I fully agree, my xsara is running like shit compared to when I did 250 miles a week. It's why I try and not use it as much as possible for short trips (and am subsequently sat waiting for the tyre shop to open as the rule of less use/less wear didn't apply to the perishing on the back tyres it seems! 

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What a marvellous story, it's quite inspirational really.  If you think about it, you could have spent whatever this has cost several times over buying something newer and wouldn't really have gained much.  It looks like it has years of life left in it now, job well done.

What was the product that was sprayed underneath?  I could find a use for a few tins of that.

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That’s a great result for the Avensis. Just shows that there are some things you cant let go no matter what the cost.
Anyway, it’s not all about the cost, it’s about the memories and sentiment that something can hold. The right choice was made here a hundredfold.

I’d like to think I could one day feel the same amount of affection and emotion for my daily Fiesta.

Top work!

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6 hours ago, phil_lihp said:

What a marvellous story, it's quite inspirational really.  If you think about it, you could have spent whatever this has cost several times over buying something newer and wouldn't really have gained much.  It looks like it has years of life left in it now, job well done.

What was the product that was sprayed underneath?  I could find a use for a few tins of that.

Hi Phil! It’s Bilt Hamber Dynax-UB. It’s like a wax, so never really cures. Scratch it and it self heals. Witchcraft. The browny black stuff is UB and UC is clear. (UB under body - UC under chassis)

Thanks for your kind words. It’s a simple car to work on, comfortable to drive, and everyone’s fond of it. 

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20 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Often in life, it's not about what something is worth to someone else - but what its worth is to you.  For the same reason I still have my Grandad's pipe and marching staff.  There wouldn't be a buyer for either on the open market, but for me they have immeasurable value.  As I often rue - many folk know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Exactly. That is why I keep Alison going, actually. I bought Alison as a "Technically Interesting" distraction from losing a good friend a few years ago. 

I thoroughly studied the Audi A2 and settled on a 1.4TDI. Took a punt on a poorly photographed car on Auto Trader in Exeter. 

There was enough minor trim stuff I could replace, and a few things have been changed over the last few years. 

Yes, I could have spent the money on a newer car, but this one has sentimental value. And she refuses to die! 

I'm really glad you have kept the Avensis going. Hardly any that shape around where I live. Great colour and the work that the extremely dedicated Garage has carried out has been amazing! 

Here's to the next 260,000 miles! 😎😎😎👍👍👍

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In completely banal news, I got totally sick of needing three arms to put anything in the boot of the Sierra and thought “FUCK IT” - my poor head has had enough - “let’s fit the new gas struts I bought 3 or 4 years ago”. Out fell the most complicated, Engrish instructions you’ve ever seen. Straight in the bin with those and went in like a Bull in a China Shop.

One side done in 2 minutes, so I tried to break my own record the other side. 28 seconds. 

Now I’m annoyed I didn’t do it sooner, so have ordered a set for the Escort. 

Amusingly the boot opens at 257MPH now too so it’s not your head you have to look out for anymore; it’s your chin. 
 

D57E98F1-C509-48F8-8D43-6451249D59D3.thumb.jpeg.e9659cda59e71cf6c351b1625e305293.jpeg

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In Sierra news - the MOT is booked for Thursday.  I had to abort the last one as we were having earthing problems with the rear lights (it was like a disco of intermittent tail light and indicator!).  It turned out that it wasn't an earth problem at all, it's just one side has been wired differently to tother.  So you have to have one plug on upside down to make it all work correcty!  Am I going to diligently take it apart and rewire it correctly?  Am I f**k.  It works well now, so that's how it can stay.

I printed off an MOT check list at lunchtime and went through it all from top to toe and, unless there's a giant hole I can't see, then I've done as much as I can.  

AGGHHH.  One thing.

The recurring PitA which is the indicator stalk.  It's 100% perfect turning left but turning right often leads to nothing, clicking relays or a lightshow suitable for a small, illegal rave.  I took it all apart, cleaned it as best as I can, blasted it with contact cleaner and...errr... still not very good.  Ah.  Hang on.  One of the screws is a bit loose.  With all 19 stone of me behind the screwdriver the screw relented and turned another spin and now, along with another blast of contact cleaner, is 100%.

I managed to get contact cleaner over the cowling, so here I am giving it a bath.  The wife found this hilarious.  "The rest of the car looks fucking shit but here you are cleaning the steering wheel surround"

IMG_7214.thumb.jpeg.3981cea84a5e81e2fbc64136db71d812.jpeg

She's not wrong, is she?

Wish us luck for Thursday! 

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  • BorniteIdentity changed the title to Bornite's Memoirs: Preparing a Ford Sierra for its 38th year of motoring!
20 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Amusingly the boot opens at 257MPH now too so it’s not your head you have to look out for anymore; it’s your chin. 

The same issue besets our 306 after I "improved" it. The old ones were no longer man enough for the job, so I replaced them with a set of dimensionally identical struts that had, in turn, proven not man enough to hold the boot open on a C-Class Coupé at work. What I hadn't allowed for is that the rear hatch of one of those weighs about the same amount as planet Earth itself, and having a 306 tailgate that doubles as a medieval trebuchet is the outcome. 

PS. Good luck for Thursday.

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16 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

The same issue besets our 306 after I "improved" it. The old ones were no longer man enough for the job, so I replaced them with a set of dimensionally identical struts that had, in turn, proven not man enough to hold the boot open on a C-Class Coupé at work. What I hadn't allowed for is that the rear hatch of one of those weighs about the same amount as planet Earth itself, and having a 306 tailgate that doubles as a medieval trebuchet is the outcome. 

PS. Good luck for Thursday.

On the Ford Puma the boot was supposed to open by itself (fling itself up with the struts when you pushed the boot button on the key) 

Was an easy fix as above, however the puma boot also let a fuck load of water all into the boot as it ran from the screen surrounds. I nearly bought a pair to do the easy job but mine did a little pop as it came off the latch then no more. By then waiting 5 seconds all the water had drained into the channels and I could pull it the rest of the way. Decided to leave it broken and it still held the boot lid up otherwise I'd have had to change them and be annoyed every time I opened the boot and it worked properly

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44 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Just drive the fucker, it'll do it good*! Get that vmax pumped through

It's not a fucker thank you very much!  It's a much adored and cherished, motor powered, road going conveyance! 

42 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

You still planning on daily driving it this year?

Well, they're all sort of getting used daily now.  Whatever that means.  I don't really go anywhere - in all likelihood I'll be working from home 4 days a week until I change job or get fired.  I need to rotate better, for sure.

Last year, the Sierra was just the victim of circumstance.  There was nowhere really to go and, most of all, nobody to do it with.  No events, no commute, no fun.  I used it for the odd run to the shops and to take my kids to cricket but that was about it.

I've lost a bit of trust in the Escort at the moment so will need to pull the ignition system apart and replace obvious candidates as a matter of best practice.  The Avensis will return sometime in the next week or so - at which stage the T4 needs to go in and have an aux belt and new vacuum pump fitted.  The Mini will, for the time being, rest.  Its time is coming though - a lot of this quick investment in the fleet was to get it all "Turn Key", so I could focus on the Mini.

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