The new news 24 thread

[SiC]

Those removal guys have bent your welder ...workmate...and shelving

Damnit! The buggers!

[SiC]

It was raining outside and I was under a roof. Despite that, I still managed to get wet and water everywhere. 

Rad is pullef out and wasn't too much of a fight. Nothing* else damaged, which means I can just order the radiators.  Guides online said to cut pipes to make it easier but that would have been very unnecessary and those pipes aren't cheap. 

Also partially recorded a video for that YouTube thing. Except the battery ran out halfway. 

[Skizzer]

2 hours ago, Mr Lobster said:

Twingo now has moderately effective brakes. Only moderately though as they are pathetically small to start with. An upgrade would be an idea but... meh.

Set of tyres and a service next I suppose.

Great to have you back posting Mr L

[Parky]

Changed discs and pads on the daily Leon.  Amazingly I managed to get the correct parts from GSF.  

However despite all coming apart and going together easily, I haven’t got much of a brake pedal.  Performance seems a bit weaker than it was as well.  Do discs and pads need a couple of hundred miles to bed in or have I fucked something up?

Internet suggestions seem to think I have got air in the system but I can’t see how.  I pushed the calipers back using a home made tool and didn’t undo any brake nipples or anything like that so struggling to see how air might have got in.  Any thoughts?

[Mally]

They do need to bed in and the pedal may become firmer as they bed, providing it's safe to drive.

The pads are free to move I presume and not jammed/twisted at all.

[Parky]

Yeah, pads should be moving fine, sliders have brake grease aplenty and the other sections where pad and calipers meet have copper on.  

It is safe enough, I will give it a few days.  Wonder if maybe the new Bendix pads have some sort of glaze on them?  I did scrub them with brake cleaner but wonder if I should have roughed them up with sandpaper first?

If it doesn’t improve I will whip the calipers off again and have another looksie.  Or I might get them bled as it could probably do with new fluid

[Andyrew]

6 minutes ago, Parky said:

Changed discs and pads on the daily Leon.  Amazingly I managed to get the correct parts from GSF.  

However despite all coming apart and going together easily, I haven’t got much of a brake pedal.  Performance seems a bit weaker than it was as well.  Do discs and pads need a couple of hundred miles to bed in or have I fucked something up?

Internet suggestions seem to think I have got air in the system but I can’t see how.  I pushed the calipers back using a home made tool and didn’t undo any brake nipples or anything like that so struggling to see how air might have got in.  Any thoughts?

As in the pedal doesn't go down much? 

The bite will be a bit shit untill they bed in, 

Each brand will have a different bed in process, I tend to do the up to 50 firm brake down to not alot, accelerate again giving the brakes a min or two to recover then repeat.

There's many different ways to go about it but this works for me. 

[Parky]

Pedal doesn’t go down much, certainly no lower than previous but you are right, there isn’t a lot of bite there.  I did take it up to 50 and then whacked the anchors on and performance was ok, it certainly pulled up straight but didn’t have the instant sharpness it used to have.  Maybe the pads are harder/softer or it just needs bedding in as suggested.

[Skizzer]

If the pedal feels ok it sounds like they just need bedding in.

(Like I’m some kind of expert.)

[RobT]

^^W-Mr Expert-S.

[wuvvum]

Been for a bike ride up to the coast.  Not seen the sea in a month and a half, which feels strange when I normally see it a couple of times a week.  

Still very little traffic on the roads of North Norfolk, which is nice. 

[mitsisigma01]

2 hours ago, Parky said:

Changed discs and pads on the daily Leon.  Amazingly I managed to get the correct parts from GSF.  

However despite all coming apart and going together easily, I haven’t got much of a brake pedal.  Performance seems a bit weaker than it was as well.  Do discs and pads need a couple of hundred miles to bed in or have I fucked something up?

Internet suggestions seem to think I have got air in the system but I can’t see how.  I pushed the calipers back using a home made tool and didn’t undo any brake nipples or anything like that so struggling to see how air might have got in.  Any thoughts?

Did you clean the discs ???

[busmansholiday]

3 hours ago, barefoot said:

In a moment of madness, I taxed the 75 in case the VW wouldn't be fixed. I've not driven it, I've not moved it off the drive, I've not even started it. Is it possible to untax/SORN it again? I understand there's a 3 day hiatus thing when I can do nothing? The payment won't be taken until 19th, any advice will be welcomed. If the worst comes to the worst, it's only 25 quid or thereabouts, and I can use it a couple of times over the month.

You can SORN it straight away, it's SORN then taxing that you have to wait three days (or the PO).

Did it myself with the Camper, "may*" have actually moved it a few miles on Her Majesties Highway during the two hours it was taxed before I SORN'd it again.

 

[brownnova]

9 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

GSA has sprung a minor LHM leak. It looks like I really need to get under the car to investigate, but has left me realising how perilous it is to rely on a 34-year old hydropneumatic Citroen as my only car. 

So, I'm pondering trying to find an MOT garage and getting the Matiz or 2CV out of storage. Which one to choose? I reckon both stand a fair chance of a pass.

2CV clearly...

Because what’s better than having a 34 year old Citroen to rely on.... 

Having two 34 year old Citroens to rely on! 

[brownnova]

Talking of 2CVs... 

Mine got an oil change today. Needs a new air filter (which I thought I had for some reason but turns out I was wrong) and there’s a definite oil leak from the front of the engine somewhere, but I couldn’t work or where. I’ll monitor... 

As the MoT was extended on Friday I gave it a good checkover too. Underside is amazing no rust at all, suspension needs oiling, but the knife edges looked well greased. Couple of rubber boots starting to show early signs of perishing but ok for now.  All in all a very satisfactory checkover, went through the MoT checklist and could find no reasons not to keep using it until it’s new date in November. 

[wuvvum]

Well the 75 now has its shiny new exhaust fully fitted, and the V70 has an openable nearside rear door, so that's two jobs jobbed. 

The exhaust I bought came in two sections with a sleeve to join the two, rather than the single section of the original exhaust.  This made it a lot easier to handle for fitting purposes, but harder to judge the angles at which the bends in the pipe needed to sit - I didn't get it quite right on the centre section, so that is sitting about an inch too far to the offside and needed a bit of careful adjustment on the height with the aid of a scissor jack when joining the two halves together, but I've taken it for a drive and it doesn't knock on anything over bumps so I'm not going to worry too much about it.

The problems with the Volvo's central locking have been alluded to elsewhere.  I've essentially deactivated the central locking on both rear doors - they now lock using the plunger and unlock by pulling on the interior handle.  I rarely use the back doors anyway (the car usually has the back seats folded down) so as long as they open for the MOT that's all I'm worried about.  It still needs a tyre and the back box welding back on, but after that it should be nearly ready for a test.

The Scudo van is continuing its steady descent towards the scrapyard.  In addition to HGF it's now developed a fuel leak - diesel is pissing out from the fuel filter.  I'm not going to bother fixing it.  Ironically the van still starts first time every time, even when left for weeks, which is more than can be said for a lot of the fleet, but even so it has not been one of my better purchases.  When funds and travel restrictions permit I will be on the lookout for another van.

[Parky]

12 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Did you clean the discs ???

Yes I made sure they were spotless but that said I did have a bit of a struggle with one of the pads not clipping in properly so may have got a smear of something on the back of the disc.  I will give them another wipe over to eliminate that possibility as a smear of copper on the disc isn’t going to help anyone. 

I will get the system bled ASAP anyway.  Realised the fluid was last changed in 2013 so massively overdue.  I planned to do it myself but by the time i have bought brake bleeding kids and faffed about getting the car in the air only to immediately break a nipple I thought I would let someone else have that pleasure. It’s not expensive and there is a very good local firm I use for odds and sods so it will give them something to do.

[Shirley Knott]

15 hours ago, Parky said:

Pedal doesn’t go down much, certainly no lower than previous but you are right, there isn’t a lot of bite there.  I did take it up to 50 and then whacked the anchors on and performance was ok, it certainly pulled up straight but didn’t have the instant sharpness it used to have.  Maybe the pads are harder/softer or it just needs bedding in as suggested.

This has pretty much been my experience every time I've done discs/pads- they always feel poor/ineffective for a while until they get used to each other.

Obviously brakes are important and I haven't directly tested yours but from your description that doesn't sound sinister or unusual.

[Skizzer]

16 minutes ago, Parky said:

the fluid was last changed in 2013

Ah, right. Yes ?

[Split_Pin]

The 75 is being delivered on Sunday.

I will be like an over-excited child from now until then!

[Tickman]

27 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

The 75 is being delivered on Sunday.

I will be like an over-excited child from now until then!

Excellent news

[Jamie]

Just fitted @paulplom bargain ex wife special reg on the bm

 

[dollywobbler]

16 hours ago, brownnova said:

Talking of 2CVs... 

Mine got an oil change today. Needs a new air filter (which I thought I had for some reason but turns out I was wrong) and there’s a definite oil leak from the front of the engine somewhere, but I couldn’t work or where. I’ll monitor... 

As the MoT was extended on Friday I gave it a good checkover too. Underside is amazing no rust at all, suspension needs oiling, but the knife edges looked well greased. Couple of rubber boots starting to show early signs of perishing but ok for now.  All in all a very satisfactory checkover, went through the MoT checklist and could find no reasons not to keep using it until it’s new date in November. 

Don't rush to buy a new air filter. If it's still intact, just give it a wash in petrol, give it a sprinkle of light oil and put it back.

[17-Coffees]

I've finally a lead on what caused my Golf to cut out on me a few months back (okay, alot of months back). Finally managed to throw a computer on it and 4 faults related to the fuel pump came up, all related to the relay. So fingers crossed it is just the relay itself. Huzzah.

Not done much with that, over the winter kept it covered and been starting it up and moving as well as keeping a basic check on things. 

[vulgalour]

Today, in The House That Bucknell Built, it's a visit to the kitchen.  Looks quite nice now, all things considered.  Clean, servicable, functional, if a little tired.

It was time to remove the wallpaper today, of which there are multiple layers, some of them vinyl type.  Yesterday I'd already removed some tiles (that had been painted with emulsion, naturally) which was easy in some places since they were put directly over wallpaper.  Because of course they were.  Removing the paper removed some of the plastic trim around the upvc window, because they'd put the trim over the paper, because of course they had.  Then the plastic trim came off, it took some of the tiles with it, because of course it did.  Then we found most of the tiles on the window sill were actually siliconed in place, because of course they were.  As the tiles came off, they took the upvc splash trim across the back of the sink and under that was a thick layer of polyfilla to make up the gap, because of course there was, which was trapping lots of water and making mould unseen and a lovely home for lots of silverfish.  So this job escalated a little bit.  Then we needed to remove the cupboard that holds the drawers, which meant removing the coach bolts (because of course you use coach bolts and square nuts to hold kitchen cabinets together), and the non-setting goopy white... sealant?... that was doing a sterling job of being a water trap between the sink and countertop.  Finally we got the cupboard out to deal with the tiles, etc. and... yeah.

This house keeps surprising us in new and unusual ways!  Suffice to say I did not finish removing the wallpaper today.

[RayMK]

3 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Today, in The House That Bucknell Built, it's a visit to the kitchen.  Looks quite nice now, all things considered.  Clean, servicable, functional, if a little tired.

 

It was time to remove the wallpaper today, of which there are multiple layers, some of them vinyl type.  Yesterday I'd already removed some tiles (that had been painted with emulsion, naturally) which was easy in some places since they were put directly over wallpaper.  Because of course they were.  Removing the paper removed some of the plastic trim around the upvc window, because they'd put the trim over the paper, because of course they had.  Then the plastic trim came off, it took some of the tiles with it, because of course it did.  Then we found most of the tiles on the window sill were actually siliconed in place, because of course they were.  As the tiles came off, they took the upvc splash trim across the back of the sink and under that was a thick layer of polyfilla to make up the gap, because of course there was, which was trapping lots of water and making mould unseen and a lovely home for lots of silverfish.  So this job escalated a little bit.  Then we needed to remove the cupboard that holds the drawers, which meant removing the coach bolts (because of course you use coach bolts and square nuts to hold kitchen cabinets together), and the non-setting goopy white... sealant?... that was doing a sterling job of being a water trap between the sink and countertop.  Finally we got the cupboard out to deal with the tiles, etc. and... yeah.

 

This house keeps surprising us in new and unusual ways!  Suffice to say I did not finish removing the wallpaper today.

Liked for the entertaining words, not the extra work!

[Shep Shepherd]

The floor is really cool and definitely looks like something that Barry Bucknell would have approved of. Ever so contemporary! 

[somewhatfoolish]

1 hour ago, vulgalour said:

Words

This house keeps surprising us in new and unusual ways!  Suffice to say I did not finish removing the wallpaper today.

Guess where the cooker used to be!

[vulgalour]

Yeah, you'd think that, right?  But no, the cooker was never there.  It was like that all down the back of the cupboard next to it, like someone just tipped waste oil down the wall.  It's just an absolute joy to work on, is this house.  An absolute joy.

[richardmorris]

Second deer strike this year - I'd call this one a score-draw. Could be the same homicidal deer as February for all I know. Now off to the body shop.