The new news 24 thread

[Skizzer]

Had a new roof fitted yesterday, which all went well, except the locking roof handle snapped, so whilst closed, the roof is slightly misaligned and will remain so until I source a spare.

This always happens, or at least it did to me. The handles do come up on eBay pretty regularly, though usually for an irritating amount of money.

 

@Dollywobbler - GLWTPurchase, nice looking Merc. Not tempted by that 104 on the eBay thread for the missus, then?

 

@Organist - congratulations!

[Cavcraft]

OH YAY OH YAY!

 

I have a road legal car again. WOD389S is now road legal for the first time since 1997 (well has an MOT). WIll be taxing it shortly!!

 

I iz mucho exctited!

 

 

Great stuff, congrat's!

[cobblers]

My nans coming in the morning for me to do the CV boot on her fiesta, I've got to do it at the side of the road and my back is about fucked to start with, so I'm looking forward to that like a 1970s TV personality looks forward to a sharp knock on the front door just before dawn.

[Lankytim]

The Disastra passed it's MOT with nothing more than a front drop-link. YAY!!!!!!

[ruffgeezer]

I passed on buying a Puma with a knackered engine to go and view a ratty old C15 instead, I already have a C15 but one more won't hurt too much will it?

 

Err...

[cobblers]

on the upside, if the c15 engine is also knackered it won't sound any different.

[theorganist]

Thanks guys - its great to be in an old car again. It drives well just need to sort the paintwork out now.

[Lord Sterling]

Pete, Great news on betting the Maxi back on the road. I've just had a thought. Steve, the lad that myself and BXAngyl have met, deal a lot in British cars and has many parts, he is not from you in Cradley Heath. If you need any parts I can pass his address, I shall hopefully be seeing him this weekend or soon anyway so I shall ask and see what he has got.

[theorganist]

Thanks Mo. That would be great thanks.

[SambaS]

Never seen this stuff before :/

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REAR-SCREEN-DEMISTER-REPAIR-FIX-VW-GOLF-BMW-FIAT-VOLVO-etc-/360515199398?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&fits=Car%20Make%3ATalbot%7CModel%3ASamba&hash=item53f06161a6&_uhb=1

[Albert Ross]

That stuff's been around 40 years at least... I remember selling it in Halfords in 1983, and we had some used in a bottle still with the £.S.d. label on it.....

[SambaS]

The box looks pretty retro.. only half of my rear demist used to work on the FSO, but it's okay now because none of it works

[M'coli]

Been to look at a 5-door Corsa turbodiesel today, not a bad wee car but overpriced for its general condition. Needs a headlight, the bootlock sorting out and a few other bits and pieces too, so I've left it for now. Are these meant to have a really heavy throttle pedal?

[Jimcit]

This always happens, or at least it did to me. The handles do come up on eBay pretty regularly, though usually for an irritating amount of money.

 

Found a secondhand one for £35, there was a brand new one for £75, but I was being tight, hopefully this one won't snap, I'm still waiting for it to arrive.

 

I've been pottering with it most of today, gave it a good clean out, vacuum and wash. Removed the front seats and took them apart, installed the cables so that the release lever works to allow egress into the back seats, managed to bodge a hole in my thumb with the spiky bits of metal that hold the seat fabric in place, liberally decorated the seats in bits of red.

 

Also renewed the seat runner guides (proper VW items rather than the cheap eBay ones I tried last time - they shattered). Cut away some carpet that was in the way of the seat moving, cleaned and greased the guide rails.

 

Changed the clutch cable, which made it better, but the clutch is still heavy, I've lubricated the lever arm thing that the cable attached to, so will see if it loosens up with use.

 

Got some fabric cleaner onto the mouldy carpet, which has improved but not fully removed it.

 

Checked over all my lightbulbs - for some reason my reversing lights won't come on (bulbs fine) and the fog light won't either - have checked bulb, earth, and even tried a different fog light unit.

 

I've checked the fuse and that seems fine too. Unless I got the wrong fuse - I looked at number 6.

 

From its stint in a garage used to store random camping bits and bobs, it's amassed several surface scratches which I attacked as well.

[wuvvum]

I fixed the central locking on the Scenic today, by the simple expedient of putting the battery in the keycard the right way round. It's still not 100% - unlock button doesn't seem interested in doing much - but I can unlock the passenger door with the key and then pop the central locking from inside. The lock button works fine so at least I can secure the bloody thing now.

[Jimcit]

Having spent an hour or so fiddling with the golf to try and make the fog light work, I realised that it does actually work and I just needed to try it when the headlights were on

[cobblers]

Nana Cobblers racked up this morning for me to sort out the CV boot on her fiesta, a job I really wasn't looking forward to, but it actually went really very straightforward and I had the thing back on it's wheels in about half an hour.

 

Check out this beauty, in the best colour for a boggo fiesta:

 

 

There's yer problem:

 

Stretching this boot over that cone looked as though it would be an absolute nightmare, but after turning it inside out (thanks for the tip) and using some of the supplied "special cone lube" (which was just the same as the normal grease but with a "cone lube" sticker on) it went over dead easy. No pictures of the process as from now on my hands were greasier than Lisa Rileys iphone.

 

 

Did my best at crimping the clips up using some snips, it seemed to work OK but we'll see how they last

 

 

The other MOT fail was NS full beam not working, bulb and fuses were fine - turned out to be a dicky relay. They're not quite a normal one so rather than replace it, I cracked it open and polished the contacts up with a bit of paper:

 

 

Here I am pictured playing a miniature trumpet to celebrate a job well done

[wuvvum]

I went out in the LDV this evening. After the third time pulling over to crack the bleed nipple to unbind the brakes, I just left the fugging thing open. There was no traffic, and the van has a good handbrake . I hadn't taken it for a proper run since before the snow, and I'd forgotten how shit the headlights are. It really does feel desperately slow too next to the Ducatos, although I would imagine if I'd just stepped out of a non-turbo LDV it'd feel like a fugging dragster.

 

Plan at the moment is to buy a brake master cylinder rebuild kit and see if that along with some fresh fluid is enough to sort the issue. I drove it all the way from Portsmouth when I bought it and didn't have any issues with the brakes, so it must be something that's gone amiss since then. Once the brakes are working, it's going on Gumtree - I've had enough of the bloody thing now.

[Albert Ross]

Try brake hoses first..... sounds like one has collapsed internally.

[wuvvum]

Try brake hoses first..... sounds like one has collapsed internally.

That was my initial thought, but the thing is that both front brakes bind on equally, and releasing a bleed nipple on either caliper frees off both front brakes - I'm not sure if that would work if one or the other side had a collapsed flexi. Plus the brakes don't bind on when I use them - when I first start the van I can stomp on the brake pedal as hard as I like and the brakes will release fully and immediately when I come off the pedal. It's once I start moving - and especially when I attempt to drive at speed - that they gradually pull themselves on, even if I haven't touched the brake pedal at all. Occasionally they'll also pull themselves on when the van is parked up for a few days, just to keep me guessing...

[wackywacerwill]

I had this brake issue on my old Honda a few years back. It happen twice before I junked the complete system in favor of the one from the spares bike. Fortunately both times I was traveling at sensible town speeds on dry roads, scared me shitless mind as it was out of the blue and rather abrupt

 

I'd guess air's creeping in at a seal or union, sounds like your not enjoying the LDV of late!

[Inspector Morose]

Sounds to me, in my humble opinion, is that the master cylinder is not spaced properly on the bulkhead. Bear with me. If the brakes are very slightly on, as you go along the brake fluid heats up and expands and puts the brakes on only to be released when the fluid is released as it won't return back to the cylinder. Try putting a shim between the master cylinder and bulkhead before throwing in the towel completely. I've had this same problem on a P6 before now and it foxed me for ages before I realised what was going on.

 

Just a thought like.

[cort16]

Cobblers how easy are those cone CV boot thingies to operate? Is it a special type of super stretchy boot? It looks about as easy as trying to push a hippo through a letterbox when you see them side by side.

 

I fitted the new rocker cover gasket to the puma, which was a pit of a pain. I presume the ford ones fit better than the 13 quid one I bought off ebay as it looked about 5mm short in parts so needed a lot of gasket gunk to glue it into the rocker cover before I could attempt to fit it. I also changed the oil, which was manky looking with the proper stuff. MOT tomorrow, which it'll no doubt fail spectacularly.

[cobblers]

Cobblers how easy are those cone CV boot thingies to operate? Is it a special type of super stretchy boot? It looks about as easy as trying to push a hippo through a letterbox when you see them side by side.

 

I too thought it would be a nightmare - I pictured myself arsing about for hours trying to stretch it over - I was even going to cut the cone down so I didn't have to stretch it as far, but I thought I'd give it one go "as is" first of all. Once greased up it slipped straight over the cone in seconds, I didn't even have to swear at it or anything. Don't get me wrong, it took a decent shove - but like you say, the rubber is super mega stretchy. I don't know whether they'll last as long as a "proper" boot, but they've got to be a lot better than those ones you glue together.

[michael1703]

Wuv, how are the brakes plumbed? Are they diagonal split or fronts and rears?

 

I'd say it was the master cylinder but had the same problem on a rover which had front and rear plumbing and it was the pedal pushrod that needed shortening, gasket or o ring between bulkhead and cylinder would help as said if the rod can't be shortened

[wuvvum]

Sounds to me, in my humble opinion, is that the master cylinder is not spaced properly on the bulkhead. Bear with me. If the brakes are very slightly on, as you go along the brake fluid heats up and expands and puts the brakes on only to be released when the fluid is released as it won't return back to the cylinder. Try putting a shim between the master cylinder and bulkhead before throwing in the towel completely. I've had this same problem on a P6 before now and it foxed me for ages before I realised what was going on.

 

Just a thought like.

That actually makes a lot of sense, especially as the master cylinder appears to be relatively new. It'd also explain why there's no free travel at the brake pedal whatsoever. Still doesn't explain why the van drove back from Hampshire without any issues, but then nobody has yet managed to come up with a diagnosis that would explain everything this van has done since I got it - at least not one which doesn't involve supernatural activity - so I'll give the shim thing a try when I get a spare couple of hours.

[Inspector Morose]

Ah, no free travel, you say? That makes me nearly certain it's a spacing problem on the master cylinder then.

[dollywobbler]

I have begun to gather together the pounds for tomorrow's Merc collection mission. I am very excited.

[Jimcit]

I have begun to gather together the pounds for tomorrow's Merc collection mission. I am very excited.

 

Good luck and happy wafting!

[Volksy]

so I'll give the shim thing a try when I get a spare couple of hours.

 

Just a thought...

Does the pushrod from the pedal into the master cylinder have any adjustment on it? My ex's beetle had an adjustment with a locknut which allowed you to set the pedal travel. if the M/C has been replaced it may not have been set correctly, or the tolerances on the new M/C are different to the old one if they have used the existing pushrod?

 

I also had a fault with a frozen servo, which meant that when the engine fired up, it would suck the brake pedal to the floor and lock the brakes up solid. you could try taking off the servo vacuum hose, and seeing if it still does it.