Project Shirley Knott's Evil Web Of Shite - Volvo gets a clean sheet MOT, now on to wheel trims, thermostat and brakes revisited

[RayMK]

17 minutes ago, Shirley Knott said:

Frankly, it baffles me that I can complete a full timing belt change on this car in an hour and a half, but a single drop link takes me FOUR FUCKING HOURS!

I don't think I've ever seen such a long drop link before.

But at least you succeeded in the end.  I've had similar fights in the past and had to give up and try to get the semi-dismantled vehicle to a garage to sort out.  The memory of defeat and expense still lingers.

 

[Tickman]

Angle grinder and a power file are invaluable for jobs like this.

Happens to us all when a technically quick job turns to shit.

[Shirley Knott]

Thanks for the suggestions @busmansholiday and @Tickman. You're not wrong, an angle grinder WOULD have been a Godsend - Hopefully Santa will sort me out!

@RayMK, it's exactly that sense of pride and fear of embarrassment that kept me going if I'm honest! Also, given I never pay for 'easy' stuff like servicing, I'd imagine a telephone call to a garage I've no established relationship with to tell them I've got a 20 year old rusty shed with a half finished job I've attempted, botched and aborted half way through would likely result in a "F.R.O we're far too busy" response.

[Datsuncog]

+1 for the angle grinder method.

A very similar episode with the Subaru had me close to tears and questioning all my life choices last December, for all the reasons you mention - with any luck it'll be a good long while before yours need doing again!

[juular]

This is why despite largely enjoying working on cars, I'd never want to work as a mechanic in the trade. 

Quite often I'll go out to do a "half hour job" only for the entire weekend to disappear hammering the fuck out of things that should move, but won't.

Angle grinder as a first step has a lot going for it.

[Shirley Knott]

Aye, definitely one of those "What the fuck am I doing with my life?" moments.

I think the real secret it picking and choosing which jobs you farm out more carefully in advance, that and having access to an angle grinder.

[Zelandeth]

Have to admit that for a few years now I've had a simple set of rules, and that basically that anything involving dismantling bits of steering, suspension or exhaust are farmed out where possible.  More on modern stuff because access is often so bloody awkward.  If I can't figure out how to get to it in five or ten minutes, someone else's problem.

Just too much swearing and pain brought about those things in the past.  Nothing like having to deal with a snapped wishbone mounting bolt on a Sunday afternoon in the sleet when the nearest motor factor is 15 miles away and your only car is now totally undriveable.

[Shirley Knott]

20 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

 Nothing like having to deal with a snapped wishbone mounting bolt on a Sunday afternoon in the sleet when the nearest motor factor is 15 miles away and your only car is now totally undriveable.

100% this.

Life's too short eh?

The gift I'm going to give future me is the act of farming stuff like this out in future 😬

[HillmanImp]

21 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Have to admit that for a few years now I've had a simple set of rules, and that basically that anything involving dismantling bits of steering, suspension or exhaust are farmed out where possible.  More on modern stuff because access is often so bloody awkward.  If I can't figure out how to get to it in five or ten minutes, someone else's problem.

What tends to happen to me these days now that my old bangers are what we considered overly complicated moderns when I joined this site, is that I look at it but think 'fuck that I've no idea where to even start', so I go to book it into the garage to get done instead.

Inevitably though I find that they can't get me in for a fortnight so I end up having to do it myself. Without wanting to tempt fate, its never as bad as I thought. 

However I need to go through this process to make me actually get off my arse and do it. 

Although they can still do the CV boots on any car, old or 'modern'. Fuck that job. 

[Shirley Knott]

CV boots I've never had a problem with (I usually use brute force and one of the stretch boots and a cone). Even supposedly complicated jobs like timing belts etc- Fine.... This one was a bit weird in that on paper it should be a walk in the park comparatively, and yet descended into four hours of misery.

It's certainly put me in a position of re- evaluating things. I hit the big 'four zero' in July, and as part of coming to terms with the fact the end is now probably closer than the begining I'm going to look to give myself an easier life where possible from here on in 😆

[grogee]

54 minutes ago, HillmanImp said:

Although they can still do the CV boots on any car, old or 'modern'. Fuck that job. 

Have you tried a stretchy boot? Not too bad...

Edit: Shirley beat me to it

[Shirley Knott]

Time for a quick update here- More for my own records than anything else.

At present the 'fleet' is still down to just two cars, the funny thing is they're both pretty much 20 years old and used as daily drivers, so things can be (And often are) challenging.

Volvo V70 -  Nothing to report other,  than the time around a month back when the spring seat separated itself from the body of the strut and rocketed its way into the front tyre locking the drivers side up. 

To add to the fun, I was mid way through driving the boy to school. This was the first time in my life I've ever had to be recovered, and after a few days at a local garage the Ovlov now boasts new front shocks (Both sides)

GOLF SDi- Various work done on this one since the last update... From memory,  a new rear flexi, brake line, rear discs and pads and a couple of new tyres.

Given its capable of the best MPGs, its the vehicle of choice and is currently covering around 500 miles a week.

Unfortunately the rust is now starting to take hold and I honestly recon I'll be lucky to get another couple of years out of it. The love is still strong for it in spite of this, today it was lovingly provided with an oil and filter change, 187,548 hard northern  miles deep at this stage.

 

 

 

[Matty]

34 minutes ago, Shirley Knott said:

Time for a quick update here- More for my own records than anything else.

At present the 'fleet' is still down to just two cars, the funny thing is they're both pretty much 20 years old and used as daily drivers, so things can be (And ofter are) challenging.

Volvo V70 -  Nothing to report other,  than the time around a month back when the spring seat separated itself from the body of the strut and rocketed its way into the front tyre locking the drivers side up. 

To add to the fun, I was mid way through driving the boy to school. This was the first time in my life I've ever had to be recovered, and after a few days at a local garage the Ovlov now boasts new front shocks (Both sides)

GOLF SDi- Various work done on this one since the last update... From memory,  a new rear flexi, brake line, rear discs and pads and a couple of new tyres.

Given its capable of the best MPGs, its the vehicle of choice and is currently covering around 500 miles a week.

Unfortunately the rust is now starting to take hold and I honestly recon I'll be lucky to get another couple of years out of it. The love is still strong for it in spite of this, today it was lovingly provided with an oil and filter change, 187,548 hard northern  miles deep at this stage.

 

 

 

Depends how into it you are. Given how fucking shit and miserable modern cars are, there's a school of thought that suggests it'd be worth putting money into getting the rust sorted and carrying on.

[Shirley Knott]

10 hours ago, Matty said:

Depends how into it you are. Given how fucking shit and miserable modern cars are, there's a school of thought that suggests it'd be worth putting money into getting the rust sorted and carrying on.

Probably not. It's  not too bad underneath,  but bodywork wise....

Bear in mind all of these areas have been rubbed back, 'converted' with hydrate 80 then painted with zinc primer and top coat every year for the last 5 years... It used to take a long time for the grot to come back, these days the rusts coming through again a couple of months after treatment. 

Northern England puts one hand on each ear of cars, and then repeatedly fucks them in the face with a shaft made from pure corrosion.

Pretty soon this one's going to need big ugly plates welding all over it, and that's always the beginning of the end IME. That being said, there's probably a couple of years of life left.

[Matty]

Just now, Shirley Knott said:

Probably not. It's  not too bad underneath,  but bodywork wise....

Bear in mind all of these areas have been rubbed back, 'converted' with hydrate 80 then painted with zinc primer and top coat every year for the last 5 years... It used to take a long time for the grot to come back, these days the rusts coming through again a couple of months after treatment. 

Northern England puts one hand on each ear of cars, and then repeatedly fucks them in the face with a shaft made from pure corrosion.

Pretty soon this one's going to need big ugly plates welding all over it, and that's always the beginning of the end IME. That being said, there's probably a couple of years of life left.

Go for those couple of years. Stave off the inevitable.

[Bren]

It's nearly twenty years old. It's done ok.

[Shirley Knott]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

It's nearly twenty years old. It's done ok.

That's it, exactly right, and still never been welded.

It's done getting on for 190k and achieved 50-60 mpg throughout and is still manages to cover 500 miles a week. As far as I'm aware it's on the original injectors and fuel pump. No DMF/DPF/turbo issues as it doesn't have any of these things.

I'll be very sad to see it go when the time comes 😔 

I started a thread about a week ago in the 'Ask a shiter' section to try to find a spiritual successor, and the conclusion was pretty much that nobody makes a car like this these days (Least of all Volkswagen) Sad times... I'll probably give it a viking funeral in It's last year by running it on veg and playing Pink Floyd's 'Time' on repeat on the CD deck.

 

[Bren]

I loved our B5 passat pd. And i'd have another. However I did feel guilty about what came out of the exhaust.

[AxWomble]

1 hour ago, Shirley Knott said:

That's it, exactly right, and still never been welded.

It's done getting on for 190k and achieved 50-60 mpg throughout and is still manages to cover 500 miles a week. As far as I'm aware it's on the original injectors and fuel pump. No DMF/DPF/turbo issues as it doesn't have any of these things.

I'll be very sad to see it go when the time comes 😔 

I started a thread about a week ago in the 'Ask a shiter' section to try to find a spiritual successor, and the conclusion was pretty much that nobody makes a car like this these days (Least of all Volkswagen) Sad times... I'll probably give it a viking funeral in It's last year by running it on veg and playing Pink Floyd's 'Time' on repeat on the CD deck.

 

Or you could be the first person in history  to do a full restoration of a Golf Mk4 SDI! Would probably be cheaper than a modern alternative, but financially responsible, errrrrrm maybe not 

[Broadsword]

I don’t think there is a successor to your Gold SDI as such, so I’d be tempered to keep it going as long as possible. Even in it’s current state it will probably give less trouble than a modern.

[Shirley Knott]

2 hours ago, Broadsword said:

I don’t think there is a successor to your Gold SDI as such, so I’d be tempered to keep it going as long as possible. Even in it’s current state it will probably give less trouble than a modern.

This is the truth.

I'll hold on to it until its either prized from my cold dead hands, or its actually made of more MOT patches than car.

 

[Erebus]

How about getting a welder and having a go at some of the repairs yourself?  Given that it's destined to be scrapped otherwise it doesn't matter if you make mess if it and bin it off! 

[AxWomble]

12 minutes ago, Shirley Knott said:

This is the truth.

I'll hold on to it until its either prized from my cold dead hands, or its actually made of more MOT patches than car.

 

Welding patches onto an old car is a never ending but predictable (and cheap) way to keep it running. Far, FAR better than unpredictable and costly repairs to even the simplest modern car. 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

These are galvanised so welding is best done in a very well-ventilated area.  Panels are still cheap as far as I'm aware so other than the sills I think it's all good.

[Shirley Knott]

5 hours ago, Erebus said:

How about getting a welder and having a go at some of the repairs yourself?  Given that it's destined to be scrapped otherwise it doesn't matter if you make mess if it and bin it off! 

Honestly,  I'd mess it up, and I'd rather not jeopardise the potential to keep the car on the road for as long as feasible. 

5 hours ago, AxWomble said:

Welding patches onto an old car is a never ending but predictable (and cheap) way to keep it running. Far, FAR better than unpredictable and costly repairs to even the simplest modern car. 

Agreed.

I think this is the logical way forward really!

[Shirley Knott]

This morning the trusty V70 of magnificence hit a major milestone.

It's now 100,000 miles young.

My love for afair with it continues to blossom. Its basically like a van, for example  last weekend it helped me to move 32 foot step ladders...

And yet this evening after a wash and wax, its a presentable family car...

Not bad for a 22 year old nag- FAR from perfect but still very presentable. Gone are the days when stuff like this could be had for £350. I  can't help but feel that the halcyon days of shiting are now well behind us.

[Shirley Knott]

Right- Some developments here.

Our trusty Golf SDI shat its power steering rack last week. By this stage it was looking pretty rusty, timing belt was overdue and it had done 195K.  A tough choice,  but off it went for scrap.

Goodnight sweet prince....

 

 

I'm actually still  pretty sad about this, but honestly, it was time.

Meanwhile,  I've bought a 112k Octavia SDi estate locally. Frankly it's pretty much immaculate, not a spot of rust on the sills or anywhere, undertrays still fitted etc. This will be taken over by my younger brother. I'm actually really jealous this one isn't for me....

 

 

For us, I've picked up this late registered manual 1.2 Mk2 Clio on 61k.....

 

 

The MOT history on it is pretty pleasing. It's our first French car (Not counting the C1 as technically they're an Aygo). Honestly seems OK so far.

 

[Shirley Knott]

The oil, oil filter and air filter changed on the Clio yesterday.

After not servicing much else aside from a 2.4 V70 and the 1.9 SDi Golf for many years now, I must admit to being slightly taken aback by the size if the oil filters for these.

They're TINY!

I also noticed the ID sticker was about to peel off the engine block, do I rescued it. I believe this would make it a 'D7F726'....

[320touring]

Those 1.2 clios are nice and easy to service!

The oil filter for my 182 is about 1/2 the size of the one on your 1.2.

 

I really rate the 1.2/4 MK2 clios. They don't rust (unlike the 172/182), drum handbrake, good handling and plenty eager at up to illegal speeds.

Does this one have the super narrow/super deep spark plugs? If so, I think the special tool was about £18 from hellfrauds.

Seen many that have missfire issues as no one will buy the tool and change the plugs!

[Shirley Knott]

Yeah, this one's actually surprisingly good from a corrosion standpoint, a bit of hidden gem really.... I'd actually set out to buy a C1/107/Aygo, but within our price range they were all invariably rotten or formally written off (Both in some instances). 

RE plugs, unsure at this stage... I'll confirm shortly though as they're on the 'to do' list along with timing belt and a few other bits.