Lexus Licking - Ohdearme’s turn of the century emporium

[Ohdearme]

3 hours ago, bangernomics said:

Well done it is a good feeling to win occasionally.

Thanks. I’ve received news the new part will be here tomorrow so no doubt I shall pay the price for my occasional win by something else substantial coming off in my hand…

Id really like to get it fixed as if this has ticket, it frees me up to look at the shocks and cv boot on the Octavia knowing I still have transport if various bolts don’t want to move.

As for the Octavia, just shy of 2000 miles already and it’s just plugging away at a preposterous mpg. We’re on about 189,000 miles now.

 

[bangernomics]

Those Octavia’s are excellent things and will no doubt with a bit of love keep going for years. I find with stuff like that it is good to keep them on the fleet for oh dear me moments.

[MAF260]

I'm glad the radio lives on in another car. I swapped it out of mine when I upgraded to Bluetooth etc.

I sold the car as it wasn't being used. The buyer didn't make it home in it as it sadly met a grisly end in traffic on the motorway 😢

[Ohdearme]

31 minutes ago, MAF260 said:

I'm glad the radio lives on in another car. I swapped it out of mine when I upgraded to Bluetooth etc.

I sold the car as it wasn't being used. The seller didn't make it home in it as it sadly met a grisly end in traffic on the motorway 😢

Gutted. That looked a lovely minty one.

Autodoc have delivered the part but alas, I’m returning it as it seems silly to put a brand new part in there that’s already got gingivitis…even if it would dust off and spray over.

We await replacement news…

[Split_Pin]

It's probably been on the shelf for years. I'd totally fit that.

[Ohdearme]

9 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

It's probably been on the shelf for years. I'd totally fit that.

To be honest, I’ll probably do the same quick scrub and rattle can versus packing it off in the post again.

 

[Ohdearme]

14 hours ago, bangernomics said:

Those Octavia’s are excellent things and will no doubt with a bit of love keep going for years. I find with stuff like that it is good to keep them on the fleet for oh dear me moments.

You cock 😂 @bangernomics

[bangernomics]

Mr Cock to you

[Ohdearme]

Parked the Skoda under the birdshit factory that it our copper beech tree out front.

”You can sit there and think about what you’ve done…”

Miraculously, the next morning the emissions fault had cleared. 
 

Also miraculously, the pigeons had restrained themselves too, clean car and bill of health.

[Ohdearme]

ŠKODA failed the MOT.

knackered bushes, loose headlight and not much else.

ordered the bushes and I’ll get wheel off to see how much of a knob they’re gonna be versus getting the garage to do them.

In the mean time I thought I’d see what I can do with the Audi to get at least one car road legal.

[Ohdearme]

Ooh…the motor factor haul of a hopelessly optimistic driveway bodger.

A reminder of what requires replacement, the snap off suspension arm.

Gave the bolt a soaking of spray and set about wire brushing the grotty subframe and bits to get something more respectable to work with…

Sadly, the bolts were made of 100% Thatcherite (not for turning) so even after a fair bit of heat, I was beginning to think this was a ‘pay the man’ job.

At least a fair bit of weight saving was achieved as layers of rust and barnacles came off.

Was then a was of liberally skinning on some rust-o-gel or something and letting it sort out the surfaces.

Followed by a cuppa and then a quick swizz around underneath with a rattle can of black to tidy up and spare the blushes.

I also couldn’t budge the ball joint bolts, so it is definitely going to a garage to sort.

It untaxed and unMOT so I’ll have to book it and send it with instructions to fit and then test. Should be ok I think.

Accumulator got a quick brush, treat and spray over too.

Before

After

and a reminder of why I’m under here..

Currently left like this awaiting the wheel to go back on and me to book into a garage.

[Split_Pin]

Looks very respectable under there now.

In case you were wondering, the indicators are the same as a Porsche 993 or something.

[Ohdearme]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Looks very respectable under there now.

In case you were wondering, the indicators are the same as a Porsche 993 or something.

Yeah, they were a load of end of line stuff and I think they first did it for the RS2 and then Audi were like “sure, why not” but kept the Porsche price tag on spares 😂.

Pattern parts are £100 a corner but as you’ve said, spares from FB are nowhere near that ruinous.

Got parts arriving for the Octavia tomorrow so yet more orange dust for my nostrils to contend with.

 

[Ohdearme]

Parts of the Octavia didn’t arrive today so I busied myself with googling how bad they’ll be to swap and the myriad horror stories have convinced me to pay the man for this.
 

I’m fine changing bushes but they come in these little carriers and are prone to snap and need drilling out says the internetz…and I can’t be arsed with that says me.

so now have the Octavia booked in to get them swapped next week and then re-mot’d.

I also booked the Audi in for the week after,  I’ve had a good rummage around and I think as long as the undertray is on to catch the odd oil drip and the arm is done , it should come clean through 🙏

We shall see.

In need of more tinkering, I deduced to tackle the leaky boot. There was rumor of a hole of sorts behind the number plate that caused a lot of water ingress to the boot lid. Main issue was not corrosion but the sheer damn weight it made the boot when trying to lift it in anything but bone dry weather.

Lets take a peek…

Ah yes, waterproof* tinfoil tape

Ah yes, perfectly* sealed plastic cutout and stuff back in piece.
 

Stanley blade required and many wipes to clean the gasket sealant away and prep the surface for a new and improved bodge.

Splodges

Precision smooshes

Drying in the sun

And a bit of mastic on the bolts for good measure…

I also noticed the roof was starting to come away so put a dab of gasket sealant in there, pending a better solution.

 

All that remained was to remember to put the wheel on from yesterday, move the axles stands safely out of the way and drop the car…

 

 

Oops…

 

Quick rejack and shuffle and all good with no lasting damage. 😅

Started it up and walked around the lights and bits pre-mot, let’s hope we get something back on the road.

 

[Ohdearme]

Few bits today, got the nut/bolt part I needed from the main dealer, only £1.50 so that was good.

The long bolt was on back order so my plan was to take out the original bolt and see what I could find in the garage that would fit the same thread.

After taking the airbox out and a few bits, I realised the Octavia has pop out headlights 🤣. So a short bit of reassembly later and I was left with just the headlight to sort.
 

Even then, I literally didn’t have much to work with. The plaggy bolt was snapped and resisted attempts to remove it.

I had the idea of drilling through the small bit sticking out and seeing if I could use the drill bit as an unwinding key.

Much success 

Now it should have been a case of getting in  and teasing  the sidelight out for a quick bulb swap…

…ah, who doesn’t love bodge wires?

Answers on a postcard…

I did a bit of fannying about and I could get the bulb on via hijacking the other wires but there seemed no live feed to this sidelight.

It felt too much like a faff to start to disassemble the light interior and trace the wire so I opted for a new compete unit for the sake of £50

- I can probably flog my battered one for a tenner at a push.

so, pending a new delivery, on to the rear light.

Not much to say, I’d ordered some new LED eBay lights (not a big fan but it’s my WDOB not a keeper) but the holes were not in alignment properly plus they looked shit.

 

So plan b was to get the old unit, run it under the hot tap to clear all the crap off, dry it out and straighten the pins.

It looked like a pin had been bent pushing it in and so it wasn’t actually connected.

 

Fixed it and checked before screwing back in and much success.

Done.

Headlight should be here by weekend and then it’s off in on Monday for the bushes and hopefully a new ticket the day after.

 

[Ohdearme]

Opening the light cluster on the passenger side had revealed some interesting* wiring.

Rather than try and fix it internally in the light case. I just shelled out for a new light unit, the old one looked pretty yellow and manky anyway so for the sake of £50 it made sense to get a new one.

Original headlight in situ, complete with a million dead flies inside and gradually yellowing lens.

Promising...

Joy...the £2.50 nut I got from Skoda was included and the bolt that I hadn't got round to getting yet, making things nice and easy.

Connected it up and tested before fitting and lo and behold - it had a full set of bulbs, so the £1 sidelight I got wasn't needed either.

Old and new, noticeable difference.


Finito...just need to get the bushes swapped out tomorrow and then partial retest and 12 month ticket.

 

 

[Ohdearme]

Having dropped the Octo off at a different  garage to the tester to get the work done due to timings, it was returned there today with all things bar the brake pipe advisory addressed.

Id done the headlights, garage did the front bushes and thankfully only one bolt snapped to spare an expense few hours of labour drilling them out.

EML light fixed itself again by being sat but it’s an emissions light so not a fail this year but will be next time around.

Car drives a million times better, steering feels connected and weighty as opposed to being held together with an especially slack length of string.

I’m liable to get pulled by plod for suspected boozing as I find myself swerving a little too much down the roads to enjoy the fact it feels so well connected.

CV joint wasn’t picked up on the test but it does need packing and sorting in short order.

[Ohdearme]

Despite saying I wouldn’t do this at home and going so far as booking it in the garage for them to do the bottom arm, the Audi had other ideas.

Moving it off the drive this morning resulted in a grim sounding thunk and this…

The arm had snapped 🤨

I spent a bit of time debating whether to ring the garage and get them to tow it or whether to just have a crack at it.

I had some time on my hands so opted for the latter.

Last week’s spray with WD40 has had time to work and I was a bit more motivated to get it done and so the ball joint came undone.

Arm was totally shot, with the ball joint out, I was able to push the arm back and shear the other side off by hand.😳

This made access a lot easier to get at the bolts. But I needed to pop and buy a set of swan neck spanners first.

First side came out nice and easy.

Second side did not. The nut came about 80% off but the thread was too crusty and no amount of swearing, spraying, heat or futile hammering would free it off.

Palm is bruised from the increasingly stiff turns of the spanners to try and shift it.

Another pop to the local motor factors shop was required to get some cutting discs and a new bolt for what was coming next..

Sadly couldn’t get hold of a proper high tensile bolt so this is a temporary fix to get to the garage tomorrow and sort.

A short while later…

In she goes…

 

Much better 

Looking much better and all set for tomorrow’s run down for a bolt swap out and hopefully an MOT 🤞

 

[Ohdearme]

Back from the garage and after a finely balanced bit of driving (just enough to clear the airbag light but not long enough to activate the ABS one..) I dropped it at the garage.

Not quite a clean bill of health but a pass with a few minor quibbles I can easily address.

Errant brake pipe, bit of corrosion and couple of snapped exhaust hangers they have temporarily fixed with jubilee clips for me, pending parts coming in.

Still needs the new bolt that I’ll have to phone Audi for and swap it out.

Naturally, I’ll be likely be putting it up for half-assed sale as I wasn’t supposed to be keeping it and it’s now the perfect* time to sell a cabriolet as we head into winter 😂

 

[Split_Pin]

Good on you for persevering with this even although you're not keeping it.

It's mostly galvanised apart from the front inner and outer wings so shouldn't be too much to worry about corrosion wise. 

There's always a Santorini blue one getting broken for bits by Donald Munn on FB so new wings should be easy to find if desired.

[Ohdearme]

Can’t believe o haven’t updated this for nearly 2 years but there you go.

Life gets in the way but not much has happened since then.

One old biddy totalled my gold Octavia, I bought a base. Drove it and sold it.

Then got the Lexus at a rather pleasing price from northern monkey.

[Ohdearme]

When it arrived it required some new boots and had a problem with wet carpets.

The water turned out to be blocked sunroof drains which were a bit of a pig to get at and sadly I’d first checked the scuttle to see if that was there and in removing a wiper, managed to drop the socket on the screen and crack it 🫣

——

Gave it a wash and scrub up but it still smelt extensively of dog. Everything works except one of the IFS lights (only one turns when cornering) and the seat memory, though I confess to not venturing any further than stabbing the buttons - I should perhaps check the fuses first.

—-

Pre scrub.

 

swanky footlights.

Bollocks.

 

Sorting the sunroof - I tried the lines for blockage first - a length of strimmer cord pushed down the lines confirmed no blockages.

 

and at the bottom end, you need to take off the lock panel, unplug the electrical unit, lose 2 inches of skin from your knuckles and twist it out to reveal the drain pipe.

The problem is it the hole it drains into can grit up and block so as I don’t have an airline, I used a paintbrush too scrub it out.

I did think about tying a wire or string through the end of the brush as it was awkward to scrub and keep hold of the brush…in case I dropped it in the inaccessible section.

but what are the odds of that?

It turns out, those odds are 50:50. I managed to drop the fucking thing after I cleaned out the second hole so there’s now a paintbrush in the sill interior…

free running drain at least!

looks ok for 20 years

 

 

 

 

[Ohdearme]

It had picked up a rumbling that was traced to a wheel bearing so it’s just had a new set of pads, discs and nearside bearing and now running lovely and quiet after being somewhat* noisy for passengers and driver alike.

in sorting out the cheap fixes, I also swapped the diff oil (it’s actually ATF fluid) although at £60 that was only £100 less than it cost for the bearing fully fitted 🤣

It’s getting a full deep clean tomorrow by a professional valeter tomorrow to remove all dog hairs and odours hopefully, and as a treat for not sounding like it had tank tracks at the rear.  I used a tiny tube of scratch remover I got to touch up the Honda before lease end to polish the car with a couple of rags.

its not exactly a two bucket wrong in job but its fixed a few bits - plus one of the yellow headlights.

[Ohdearme]

Not saying it’s a while since the interior was cleaned but who remembers these?

 

[Ohdearme]

In clearing out the car ahead of its valet, I found both the boot navigation player - so one to examine later as Mrs ODM won’t appreciate me taking the boot to bits ahead of a road trip tomorrow…

I also RTFM for the DVD player and got it working in the car. Ignition on, parking brake and video on.

Note to self - even after the new rear brakes the parking brake offers more of a suggestion not to move than any actual retardation, as an auto the parking pawl will have to suffice.

 

[Ohdearme]

Post valeting and bomb.

Didn’t realise the secret hatches had a full upright setting to divide the load area and  carrier bag hangers. 

feel the ruched leather…mmm

Drivers set letting the side down - need to oath for now, may buy a new seat later.

[Ohdearme]

The little bit of crud on the rear carpet is because I forgot to tell him the centre console slides…

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

feel the ruched leather…mmm

Ruched? Looks puckered to me 😀

[Ohdearme]

18 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Ruched? Looks puckered to me 😀

I refuse to go where your mind has.