Vorsprung Durch Ticket (MOT) - Ohdearme’s turn of the century emporium

[Guest Hooli]

Isn't eat biting mats what girls of a certain persuasion do?

[loserone]

What was it, vagina dentata?

[Ohdearme]

Got some time this morning to fit the new pads the Jag came with on loan.

 

I’ve not done many miles at all in it as I’d been loathe to do so with the pads low.

 

Very easy job all things considered. A jack up and prop up, then off with the wheels.

 

A couple of 7mm calliper bolts to get the calliper off and pads swapped.

 

 

Came off easy enough, probably had a few thousand* miles left in them.

 

 

Popped the old pad back in to squish the piston back.

 

 

 

True to form though, even a simple a job as this almost descended into minor farce as on the second caliper my socket decided this was the perfect time to explode without warning.

 

[Ohdearme]

Also,

 

Galaxy is going in on Tuesday for someone that isn’t me to swear their tits off trying to get the plugs out of the engine and general service stuff.

[Ohdearme]

It would seem the art of ‘pay it in don’t weigh it in’ on old cars may be being lost.

 

Garage has the keys to the Galaxy for general servicing stuff, i mentioned it’s a bit grumpy when cold and he politely enquiries as to the mileage. About 160k.

 

Oh ok...Pause...we’ll let you know how we get on he says, sounding for all the world like a battlefield medic as he paces around the red magnificence...

 

“I can stitch the leg back on, Sarge, but you are aware his head’s been blown off?”

 

Phone call awaited.

[purplebargeken]

Don't really see what that fairly average mileage nowadays has to do with anything significant tbh. 

 

That kind of response does irk me slightly. Hope they don't take the piss mate.

[The Moog]

They will have be stung with it before, people saying yes and then just leaving the car rather than paying the bill. 

 

We are the odd breed that chucks money at cars when others would just scrap them. 

[Jim Bell]

It's getting harder to find people that will work on older cars at all I think. If you're literally a business, and time wasted on a hoist is literally money out of your pocket, would you rather be turning newer nuts and bolts or fighting fifteen year old nuts and bolts, coming up against an owner's bodge from 6 owners down the line ago, uncovering much worse faults than expected, waiting for surprise essential parts, handing out a £400 bill on a £300 car etc. The thought of doing that kind of thing as a living would scare the shit right out of me.

 

I'm very grateful for the local place I go (Rocket Garage, Cullercoats - free plug), where I know he's willing to fault find rather than just keep changing sensors till I run out of money. I use the garage for stuff I should really do myself, but like the local bakers, convenience shop, post box etc, I try my best to use them because my life will be much harder if they're not there. And if unused, they will definitely be not there quick enough.

 

We should all be grateful for people like Scaryoldcortina and all the other dirtyhanded automotive tradesmen on here (and everywhere else) that are still prepared to go elbow deep on an old heap for enough farthings to keep the lights on.

 

It's not like it used to be but the world will keep turning.

 

Sorry for the thread jack. I got a bit carried away.

[Ohdearme]

Ha ha. If Ford had fitted the plugs on the right side of the engine and done away with these newfangled undertrays id be doing it all myself.

[Ohdearme]

Call from the garagista, all plugs and bits done, there’s a dodgy ht lead but that’s on order for tomorrow but otherwise all done.

 

Snapped lugs and a small crack in intake ahead of maf not helping airflow and fuelling so that needs a fix.

 

Pendingfinding the part I suspect duct tape and cable ties will be the answer.

 

Still nothing greatly to worry about on the ftp scale.

[Ohdearme]

It’s interesting the garage are trying to be helpful by trying to avoid you buying a new part for the air box...

 

I think they don’t realise some of us will happily sink monies into these sheds. It owes me nowt and is MOT till Oct, I’m sure I can afford to write of £49 of plastic part over that time.

 

They’ll figure out I want to keep it alive when it goes back for a full suspension refresh and anew set of boots, etc.

[purplebargeken]

I do believe they is good garage after allz.

[Ohdearme]

I do believe they is good garage after allz.

They are good to be fair, they’ve always tried to help out but a shame some assume that shit car equals unloved car!

[Ohdearme]

As the Galaxy is at the garage and the brakes were done, I put on my brave pills and put a full tank of premium (Well Tesco Super) in the Jag.

 

I was most disappoint to discover a £85 got me a whopping 245 miles of range.

 

 

Bit wait, what’s this? The fuel gauge is as lazy as the acceleration in this thing, a rare thing to be driving along ina jag where every 0.1 mile along the road adds miles to the range

 

Half a mile later, we has this.

 

 

Still not exactly pennies per mile bit a decent round number.

 

Also, there’s what I can only describe as a ‘wub-wub-wub’ noise from the front that changes with road speed.

 

Didn’t notice anything amiss when the wheels were off, stops and starts in a straight line, etc. answers on a postcard.

[mrbenn]

I was most disappoint to discover a £85 got me a whopping 245 miles of range.

 

 

Think I'd have thrown up at that point....

[purplebargeken]

Makes the i10 look like a hybrid being towed with the engine off.

[Guest Hooli]

As the Galaxy is at the garage and the brakes were done, I put on my brave pills and put a full tank of premium (Well Tesco Super) in the Jag.

 

I was most disappoint to discover a £85 got me a whopping 245 miles of range.

 

 

Bit wait, what’s this? The fuel gauge is as lazy as the acceleration in this thing, a rare thing to be driving along ina jag where every 0.1 mile along the road adds miles to the range

 

Half a mile later, we has this.

 

 

Still not exactly pennies per mile bit a decent round number.

 

Also, there’s what I can only describe as a ‘wub-wub-wub’ noise from the front that changes with road speed.

 

Didn’t notice anything amiss when the wheels were off, stops and starts in a straight line, etc. answers on a postcard.

 

Range is quoted as about 410mile on a tank, I assume you've just been doing short trips in it?

 

Noise sounds like brakes or the start of the wheel bearing at a guess.

[Ohdearme]

Range is quoted as about 410mile on a tank, I assume you've just been doing short trips in it?

 

Noise sounds like brakes or the start of the wheel bearing at a guess.

 

Yeah, it's at 17.9 mpg - never seem to get any clear air in the thing, always something in the bloody way, curse those other folk.

 

On the subject of mpg, I'm on the proper desktop PC and found this piccie of the old 3.0 Shogun I used to commute ot Leeds/London in, now that was some mpg, almost broke even at 45p a mile back then

 

 

Sunroof secure*

 

Diamond Pack = Wood Bling

[Ohdearme]

We also took a different 3.0 litre one on a rally round Europe for a laugh (before wife/kids)

 

 

Stopping for a rest up the Grossglockner

 

 

It was completely reliable up until one of the drivers left the wipers on in the dry without our knowledge and burnt out the motor, this also seemed to have drained the dying battery so we required a bump start each morning/petrol stop, Cue some scared looks from other forecourt users as one or other assorted shiter would drive into us to generate sufficient forward momentum to fire up.

 

 

[Ohdearme]

And in the final instalment of MK1 Shoggy/Pajero, I won a minty (body wise) one on ebay for £279 as the 17 year old kid had bought it, done it up and promptly got done for speeding and lost his licence with six points.

 

It was a 2.5td and all was well driving home on a 200 mile collection, just a few issues like a slow radiator leak and miserable headlights but that paled into insignificance as the aux/fan belts all came off on the motorway and the dash lit up like a fairground, I coasted to a halt and popped the bonnet to watch as the glowing orange turbo ignited the hoses.

 

Thank fk it was diesel and therefore put itself out quickly without any major damage, although the fire brigade did show up after a bit to see if it was ok.

 

Root cause was a nick in the pulley and a common 2.5TD fault of pulley bolt stretch that had wobbled away and sliced through the belt, ripping the rest off as it flailed.

 

Car was recovered to Leeds (probably cheaper than diesel) by the AA and I set about stripping it to do my very first timing belt at the same time, etc.

 

 

Unfortunately, I hadn't counted on my lunatic landlord, who kept granite worktops in his (my garage) deciding to cut one up for a customer with my Pajero still in there with the bonnet up and all of the sensitive bits of the engine niceley exposed to get covered in probably death inducing granite dust.

 

 

By this point I'd bought a house so the PAjero moved with me but I never got round to doing anything to it except using it as an occasional stepladder for cleaning gutters so it was sent away to a speciailst* breakers for £350. Technically profit, I suppose.

 

In my head I envisioned magically combining these two so that I'd have a perfect bodied 3.0 petrol and a diesel enginer and rusty shell to scrap.

 

Dreams, I remember those...

[Ohdearme]

Galaxy retrieved from the Garage, not too bad at £140, £40 of which was the new leads needed thanks to proprietary/not common plug fitment (thanks Ford but why?).

 

It runs a lot better, so feel slightly more comfortable dragging it and two sets of kids over the North York moors for a jollyday in the not too distant future.

 

Garage also did a spot of poking around whilst they had it.

 

Exhaust is blowing - known but been ignoring will find some gun gum and the hole now its drier outside for laying on ones back.

 

They've also identified one of the rear brake calipers is leaking slightly, which would explain the slow loss of brake fluid (though I haven't ever had to top it up since the light came on a month into ownership?).

 

There's also a loud knock form the front suspension which I think may be driving without the bulkhead and rusting up the suspension top mounts.

 

Running totals for anyone of interest since October.

- Purchase £500

- Parts and Service ~£250

- Fuel £600 across 2500 miles.

 

Some cosmetic stuff might be next on the list, she needs a wash and a polish and maybe a bit of a sand and primer on the rear arch/door corner.

[Ohdearme]

So some joker is forever buying up bits of old Galaxy whenever they appear and then relisting complete with exorbi-tax premiums. £59 for a new grille can FRO, it would be cheaper to facelift the whole front end than that.

 

Anyhow,  there I was idly browsing ebay for a new brake caliper, I thought I'd skim my saved searches and lo, a replacement front grille fell into my lap for a fiver

 

Collection only and round the corner from me in Huddersfield is a bonus.

 

 

Question is now, do I respray it or register my entry for the mismatched panel club (sorry Ken!)

 

 

[Ohdearme]

Popped over to collect the front grille and to my delight there was a semi stripped Mk1 Galaxy on the drive.

 

Clearly a shiter after our hearts, the fella restored old ww1/2 machinery in his day job and had an Audi, a Galaxy in bits, a VW transporter of 80’s vintage a golf synchro and some modified diesel thingymajig.

 

Sadly the headliner was toast but I picked up a variety of mainly cosmetic bits I’d been after too. This one was a diesel so of limited mechanical use to me but good to get some bits.

 

I got a fair chunk of extra trims pieces and when he suggested the princely sum of £3 for them, I was so embarrassed we haggled it up to a fiver so I felt less like a mugger.

 

He was happy to pretty much give them away as it meant keeping another Mk1 running.

 

He did say with some regret he was planning keep his going forever were it not for the fact some fairly key oily bits made a bid for freedom via the top of the engine.

 

A quick scrub in vinegar to clean the parts at home and some grainy photos and fitting ensued.

 

Brokened!

 

Improved!

 

Crackerjacked!

 

Wunderbar!

 

Duffdicated!

 

No fixed photo!

 

Also, I realised the winder on the rear door wasn’t actually broken but I’d been outwitted a very clever piece of design involving a built in plastic circlip style device.

 

Back Ring on show to remove

 

Snap it to trap it - reckon that’s at least four seconds off my Great Roof Race time.

 

I also went to get all this in the Jag and managed to coax the mpg up to 19.8 and the range is now up to 360, so I’m less depressed about the thirst.

 

I also boudoir-ified the headliner as I’d had enough of it resting by on my head when driving.

 

Quilty

[purplebargeken]

It's the little improvements that make all the difference. Good stuff!!!

[purplebargeken]

Don't forget to keep the bonnet release mechanism lubed. That's why the bloody grille no longer fits securely   

[Ohdearme]

Drove past a decidedly mint looking Galaxy today in purple of all colours, guilted me into a visit to the local hand car wash for a wash and vac.

 

 

Optimist in me says polish and wax it too.

 

Chicken soup from yesterday’s roast to keep me going

[purplebargeken]

She cleans up really well, have you done the rear plastic strip yet?

[chadders]

Reminds me of a red N reg 2 litre pez I had as a company car.

 

Mechanically great but the trim was always falling off.

 

I've got good memories of that car as we were always going off to the seaside in it with the kids. I'd kept it but was made redundant so it went to one of the people left in the company.

[Ohdearme]

I’m hardly one of those two bucket wrong uns but I did find some bits in the garage...

 

 

Not her best angle

 

Some Simoniz Black Plague dye stuff being tried out.

 

 

 

Even found some gaffer tape in the boot to straighten the plate, will last all of five minutes I bet

 

 

Not done the rear panel of front grille today as don’t want to disassemble it before a bit of a road trip coming up. Job for next weekend no doubt.

 

Bonus content, fixed* airbox

[Ohdearme]

As I was in the mood for tinkering and had work I’d rather not be doing, I thought I’d swap the gaiter over for the new one Ken sent me.

 

Easy fix, etc...

 

 

Expected to pop it out, unclip and swap over...I was also excited to realise the gear knob unscrews as the top plastic bit has no adhesion after the summer heatwave and the numbers are peeling from the back. Another fix to add in.

 

Turns out, Ford must have decided a gear gaiter in a puny 115bhp pez would get so much use, extra engineering was required and stapled the bastard thing in like a good un so for once, the pointless stationery kit the wife keeps in the draw wasn’t actually pointless and the staple remover got some hammer.

 

 

In my excited I ended up cable tying over the reverse gate loft so I’ll have to do that bit again when I can find a cable tie but for now it’s another smoll improvement.

 

 

As ever, one job done another discovered...wot’s goin’ on ‘ere?