Ask a Shiter

[steveo3002]

Car covers.... people often advise against them due to abrasion of paint / trapping moisture

 

That’s all well and good if it’s outside on a driveway - how about in a garage? The manky one I rent is a bit dusty and dirty and I want to lay up the Porsche over winter

if your sure its dry then a couple of bed sheets ?   if your not sure its 100% dry then nothing as it will still trap moisture

[taxi paul]

Hammer a slightly smaller Imperial socket onto them. Metrinch used to do some good surface drive spanner’s that used to be great for jobs like this.

 

Chuck those 12 sided sockets away though.

Thank you very much I shall check size then find four of them.

[AMC Rebel]

Fitted a battery to a Corsa C this morning for my wife's friend, which she got as a replacement for her Clio which may have an issue.

 

I hve qustons.

 

1. Why are the battery lead colours on this Corsa brown for earth and black with a red sleeve for positive?

 

 

 

 

 

Dunno but they are a wank idea.  I am just trying to revive a dead Corsa C with a very flat battery.  I think the Battery is probably on the other side for LHD - the comedy location and wiring of the battery takes some believing 

[AMC Rebel]

Speaking of which - recommendations for reviving a nearly new car battery that has (stupid me) been allowed to go flat and sit like it for some time.  I can't drive the car about as it has no tax or insurance.

[artdjones]

Speaking of which - recommendations for reviving a nearly new car battery that has (stupid me) been allowed to go flat and sit like it for some time. I can't drive the car about as it has no tax or insurance.

Wire it up in parallel to a good battery and charge it.Probably best to use a smart charger.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Car covers.... people often advise against them due to abrasion of paint / trapping moisture

 

That’s all well and good if it’s outside on a driveway - how about in a garage? The manky one I rent is a bit dusty and dirty and I want to lay up the Porsche over winter

 

 

Same for me - if dry - I'll use softer cotton....... got to use the old bedding for something. If not - it needs air circulating - to dry...... 

[320touring]

The Audi Skip needs a new thermostat.

 

The housing is buried under the inlet fannymould and hidden by the alternator.

 

Appetite for stripping down is limited (to 0).

 

Looking at the top hose , it's too narrow to fit an ren 5 "inline" thermostat in.

 

Are there any other cars that use inline thermostat setups that are smaller circumference that I could use? (Ren5 is a 55mm circ).

 

Cheers

[cort1977]

the ever reliable* u-tuber Scotty Kilmer advises against moving from semi-synth to fully-synth oil on older cars, because they are 'used' to it. What are the opinions on here? Bull or is there something in it?

That bloke is a proper retard IMHO, he lives in Houston and I saw him once at the DPS.

 

Whatever the manufacturer specified in terms of viscosity will be fine, whether it is semi or full synth makes no odds to the viscosity and hence engine lubrication.  Synth may resist changing viscosity better but if you follow the originally specified service intervals that won't be an issue.

[DodgyBastard]

Anyone ever had a car seized by the police. My Hungarian friend was wrongly arrested this morning due to a mistaken identity, the police were looking for someone with an international arrest warrant and mistook my friend in his 1970s Mercedes as a Hungarian drug dealer or something.

He was on his way home from his girlfriends this morning.

Anyway they let him go but uplifted his car which is on Hungarian plates and he's having difficulty figuring out how to get it back.

 

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[sierraman]

Is it taxed and insured? If it is you should be able to just go and pay the release fee. Why was it impounded in the first place?

[DodgyBastard]

Is it taxed and insured? If it is you should be able to just go and pay the release fee. Why was it impounded in the first place?

He says in Hungary, it doesn't need taxed but is insured.

There's a small issue with his licence... He's been disqualified in Hungary for a year and it's due to be renewed in February.

Is there any way for me to collect it on his behalf?

 

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[artdjones]

It doesn't sound very promising.

[tooSavvy]

Hammer a slightly smaller Imperial socket onto them. METRINCH** used to do some good surface drive spanner’s that used to be great for jobs like this.

Chuck those 12 sided sockets away though.

I got a 12mm head size bolt out of my brakes with a Torx socket = see what is a good match to your trouble ones.

[artdjones]

He says in Hungary, it doesn't need taxed but is insured.

There's a small issue with his licence... He's been disqualified in Hungary for a year and it's due to be renewed in February.

Is there any way for me to collect it on his behalf?

 

Sent from my G3311 using Tapatalk

He doesn't sound like someone you'd want to run into you,as I'm sure his Hungarian insurance wouldn't pay out to an unlicensed driver.

[DodgeRover]

He says in Hungary, it doesn't need taxed but is insured.

There's a small issue with his licence... He's been disqualified in Hungary for a year and it's due to be renewed in February.

Is there any way for me to collect it on his behalf?

 

Sent from my G3311 using Tapatalk

No he's fucked. No license = invalid insurance, hopefully it will be squashed, he gets big fine and will learn a valuable lesson about taking the piss out of other peoples rules and regulations. Absolutely no sympathy.

 

You may be able to buy it and get it released with your traders policy.

[sierraman]

So he is banned in Hungary and he is riding about here unlicensed... perhaps why the fuzz impounded it. You would need to prove insurance, tax and MOT on it to drive it away. Good luck with any of those. Can’t see why you couldn’t trailer it away with a letter from him proving ownership and proof he is happy for you to take it. Don’t know how you would do that. Could be it’ll end up on some pallets at Copart.

 

As above I’ve no sympathy, he will have known full well he is in the wrong and he has chanced it on the police not stopping him. It’s fortunate in a sense it’s been taken off the road before he ran someone over or whatever.

[DodgyBastard]

No he's fucked. No license = invalid insurance, hopefully it will be squashed, he gets big fine and will learn a valuable lesson about taking the piss out of other peoples rules and regulations. Absolutely no sympathy.

 

You may be able to buy it and get it released with your traders policy.

That's a bit of a shitter, I just feel bad about the car.

 

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[sierraman]

It’ll live on don’t worry about that. Probably not in Scotland but packed into a container with the roof sawn off to have a sabbatical as a taxi in Madagascar.

[mitsisigma01]

The Audi Skip needs a new thermostat.

The housing is buried under the inlet fannymould and hidden by the alternator.

Appetite for stripping down is limited (to 0).

Looking at the top hose , it's too narrow to fit an ren 5 "inline" thermostat in.

Are there any other cars that use inline thermostat setups that are smaller circumference that I could use? (Ren5 is a 55mm circ).

Cheers

 

Which Audi skip engine is it please ?

[Christine]

Thermostat;    maybe freelander is  in line ?   https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OEM-Thermostat-LAND-ROVER-FREELANDER-1-8i-16V-98-06/352219618985?fits=Model%3AFreelander&hash=item5201ecdea9:g:mRIAAOSw2GJbXEqG

[DodgeRover]

That's a bit of a shitter, I just feel bad about the car.

 

Sent from my G3311 using Tapatalk

Only hope would be to speak to the Police and see what they say, they them your friend has offered to sell it to you and see what the procedure will be to get it released, the bad news is usually anything like that is just fragged / it doesn't get auctioned or stripped especially with it being foreign registered.

[sierraman]

I’d get something thicker and paste it on with a brush.

[sierraman]

Waxoyl or Toolstations Protection Wax is very good and it’s only about £3.50.

[mitsisigma01]

He says in Hungary, it doesn't need taxed but is insured.

There's a small issue with his licence... He's been disqualified in Hungary for a year and it's due to be renewed in February.

Is there any way for me to collect it on his behalf?

Sent from my G3311 using Tapatalk

Not sure but if the car has been in the country for a certain amount of time does it not have to be mot'd ?

[DodgyBastard]

Only hope would be to speak to the Police and see what they say, they them your friend has offered to sell it to you and see what the procedure will be to get it released, the bad news is usually anything like that is just fragged / it doesn't get auctioned or stripped especially with it being foreign registered.

My friend said that the police told him that was an option, to sell the car to a friend in order to get it back.

Anyway I'm not condoning his behaviour, if I had known his circumstances regarding his licence I would have strongly suggested not to use the car at all, he's young and stupid and will no doubt learn the hard way by having his car taken from him.

I do feel quite bad for him, I think he's realised how stupid he's been and will be seriously depressed if his car gets crushed, he spent years restoring it and it really is in perfect condition.

 

 

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[DodgeRover]

If you are going to go it act quickly, £100 a day storage isn't unknown.

[320touring]

Which Audi skip engine is it please ?

It's a 1.8 20v na lump.

 

Everything online is banging on about turbos:(

 

I should strip it down and see, but as the only working car it needs to be in one piece until the part has arrived and is ready to be fitted.

[mitsisigma01]

I've got a 1.8t in an A6 where the temperature gauge and oil temp or oil pressure gauge don't work and they also seem to be in a right shitboxes of a place to get to so my enthusiasm has departed. One day I will get it back on the road ....

[somewhatfoolish]

Mineral oils are pretty much the product of cracking crude (won't go into detail on what cracking is, as my brain hurts and so will the average human's after taking that info in) and the various distillates from it include lubricants, fuels, tar and light weight hydrocarbon compounds.

 

Synthetic oils are still mineral based lubricants except they have been tweaked in a laboratory with additives such as detergents or other chemicals that drag fine metal or unburnt hydrocarbon particles out of the oil system to the filter much easier than a plain mineral oil, therefore the crap gets dragged away from the oil easier and the lubricating properties of synthetic last longer - which is why we now have 10k or higher oil change intervals as opposed to the 1500-3000 of years gone by. The other additives help with low viscosity for extremely cold starts and penetrating the much smaller tolerances modern engines are built to.

 

You can run semi- or fully- synthetic in an older vehicle, but there is the risk of it dislodging a load of crud that builds up and blocking an oilway or fine lubrication channel unless you perform several oil flushes first or change the oil & filter very frequently (2k ish) until it comes out the sump quite clean again. If you've just rebuilt an engine, then you can run quite safely on synthetic from the start, if you can get the correct viscosity.

You're confusing the difference between synth and mineral and the function of detergent(practically ubiquitous these days, it's hard to buy lube oil with no detergent without ordering it from specialists, certainly not available in the average motor factor); the main practical feature of synth is that it keeps its viscosity rating for longer allowing longer service intervals(the additive package is also increased to cope with the extra time in the sump.). It's the detergent which causes havoc by loosening accumulated grot, putting it into an older engine which has been run with non-detergent oil, or an engine which has been run for a gazillion miles without a service and has a sump filled with tar, or something from the 1980s which has congenital 'black death'.

[Lacquer Peel]

It's a 1.8 20v na lump.

 

Everything online is banging on about turbos:(

 

I should strip it down and see, but as the only working car it needs to be in one piece until the part has arrived and is ready to be fitted.

I'll give you a hand with the thermostat, free on Wednesday and Sunday. I have small hands for my size and wasn't fazed by doing a SAAB 9000 'stat twice, a pig of a job.