Ask a Shiter

[fatharris]

I've only heard good things about Bilt-Hamber de-ox gel.

 

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[sierraman]

My VAG VAN has a few grotty bits that I need to attend to. Really not keen on fiddly cosmetics but I want to nip it in the bud.

What's the easiest rust remover to use, that I can slather with white Hammerite when it's done?

For an old van I'd whack on some Kurust. A lot of people slag it off but if you follow the instructions to the T, you won't go wrong.

[garbaldy]

I'm not a fan of kurust anymore here's why,

1. I kurusted the rusty spots on a transit with two coats and left to go purple/black

2. I used a wire brush on a grinder and got the metal down to a shiney but slightly rough surface,

3. I then allied another couple of coats of kurust.

4. Then I applied two coats of lovely pink hamerite rust proofing primer,

5. Then three good coats of white hamerite smooth paint.

 

The outcome was three months later the piant was turning that horid rusty orange colour,

Now I am a bit of a stickler for reading and following Instructions and I am 99% sure I did as manufacturers recommendations but the van still looked like Mr blobbys ghost after a few months.

[steveo3002]

dont agree with the rust convertors myself either

 

roar at it hard with a wire wheel , then bilt hamber gel until its bare steel , then good primer and paint

 

hammerite isnt very good either 

[daveb47]

If sheep could fly where would they go to in the winter?

 

 

Baa-bados of course.....

[LC Torana]

One thing puzzles me about "part-worn" tyres:

 

Who are these people who change their tyres not only before they are worn out, but in fact when they have so much tread left they are resaleable?

 

I say again, who the dickens are these people?

[steveo3002]

germany has differant tread depth rules to us

[Cheggers]

One thing puzzles me about "part-worn" tyres:

 

Who are these people who change their tyres not only before they are worn out, but in fact when they have so much tread left they are resaleable?

 

I say again, who the dickens are these people?

I believe a lot come from write-offs & scrappers.

[steve_earwig]

yeah its forrin alright.. see this thread

http://autoshite.com/topic/22576-renault-safrane-brake-bleeding-issues/

Oh, thread seems to have dried up. The warning I quoted comes from Haynes, so I just checked the repair manual for my Pug and the first thing it says is the engine must be running It actually has two procedures, the first is using a pressure bleeder but the second is the manual method, with a warning not to use this method if the car has ESP. and that, if air gets into the system, you'll need DIAG 2000 to bleed it properly.

 

I guess Haynes is being cautious because if you do get air into the system and you don't have PP2K/Diag Box the car will need transporting to the dealers for some wallet draining.

 

This still sounds like a good way to spray brake fluid everywhere to me, with the engine running there will be a lot of pressure at the caliper end and someone will have to watch the reservoir like a hawk.

 

I just checked the reaper Manuel for the revolting RAV, it says you must use diagnostic gear.

 

I guess the bottom line is it depends on the car, if it's a boggo system then don't run the engine, if it's a modern infested with all sorts of electronic garbage then you'll need to investigate and definitely proceed with caution.

[sierraman]

How often do you need to bleed the entire system though. Usually you'd clamp the hose and bleed the brake on that corner. Unless though you were swapping the fluid. In which case a lot of garages wouldn't charge a lot to do that then you've not got the mess around getting shut of the old fluid.

 

Back to the tyre question. I've wondered this, the local 'pre owned tyre retailer' near me wanted £25 for a continental with 4mm of tread, checked the date on it and it was made nearly 13 years ago!!! Where's it been all this time? In a shed somewhere? Sat in a pond? I sacked them off and went to national tyres who did me a pair of very acceptable Barums for £41 a tyre. Then you've got a new tyre with some sort of come back on it. Don't get me wrong I'd use part worns again but not from there and on something I didn't anticipate keeping for more than a few months.

[steve_earwig]

It's probably been on a spare - both my* yoyos had spares that have never been used, the current heap has a lovely Yokohama M+S all terrain jobbie which is now 9 years old, I do wish I could buy them here.

 

Brake fluid - you're meant to change it every 3 (or is it 5?) years as it absorbs bullshit from the air. They test it on the MOT* here, not sure if they do that in the UK yet.

[cort16]

I bought some rust killer stuff from lidl in a can that you can spray like wd40. I sprayed quite a lot of the cortina with it. I hope it's not dissolved the car when i go back.

[sierraman]

It's probably been on a spare - both my* yoyos had spares that have never been used, the current heap has a lovely Yokohama M+S all terrain jobbie which is now 9 years old, I do wish I could buy them here.

 

Brake fluid - you're meant to change it every 3 (or is it 5?) years as it absorbs bullshit from the air. They test it on the MOT* here, not sure if they do that in the UK yet.

In practice it remains acceptable for much longer, though I get what you are saying, I'd sooner get someone to do it for the sake of £25.

[Danblez]

My VAG VAN has a few grotty bits that I need to attend to. Really not keen on fiddly cosmetics but I want to nip it in the bud.

What's the easiest rust remover to use, that I can slather with white Hammerite when it's done?

 

Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80, really very good rust converter and avoids the faff of deox-c. Obviously Deox- C'd first is better but a quick rub down and application of hydrate 80 is good enough. It isnt UV stable though so does need a top coat. Has kept the dreaded away from my focus door bottoms for years so I have proof it's good!

[HH-R]

Drove through about 4/5 inches of flood water slowly yesterday and the interior fan slowed down, then there was a squeal and it sped back up again. I'm guessing the alternator belt got wet and was slipping for a few seconds. Is it likely to have broken anything? Drove about 70 miles since then with no issues.

 

Everyone else was just belting through it at 30 MPH!

[sierraman]

No, not if the tensioner has kept out of the water.

[cort16]

Does anyone know what colour my cortina is? It's not a trick optical illusion question, it's not purple. It was originally highland green and it's been painted a darker shade of green. I think it's a Ford colour but I don't know what it is. I need to paint the sills so need something vaguely close.

Anyone any ideas?

 

Cortina by cort16, on Flickr

[Asimo]

 

I can't help with the colour, but I like it very much. Such a good looker as 2 door.

 

Was there ever a saloon that did NOT look better as a two door? (Oh yes, Marina coop).

[cort16]

currently

 

Cort by cort16, on Flickr

[D Spares & Tyres]

Nice motor!

 

Take a piece of car to a paint shop, even if they don't have a chip they should be able to mix you a one off colour

[cort16]

I'm thinking it's maybe modena green

 

[LC Torana]

Does anyone know what colour my cortina is? It's not a trick optical illusion question, it's not purple. It was originally highland green and it's been painted a darker shade of green. I think it's a Ford colour but I don't know what it is. I need to paint the sills so need something vaguely close.

Anyone any ideas?

 

Cortina by cort16, on Flickr

I see you got the door open

[cort16]

This picture is historic it's still a shut in

[egg]

If a car you are buying is taxed, is the consensus it is ok to drive the thing home the day you buy it and tax it when you get in? Or do you frequently fliers pay the tax in advance of handing over the cash?

 

Is there any way of SORN'ing a car from the day of purchase - or do you have to buy tax and then get it refunded back?

 

Breakers normally say they want the 'whole car' - does that prevent you taking out the valuable bits of trim/radio etc that you can sell on ebay!?

[garbaldy]

That Tina is ace and I'm now away to look on euro sale sites,

 

Re tax, I drive hame then tax the following day, if the seller does the v5 over the net then its out of tax straight away though so I dare say a harsh cop may have you.

[scaryoldcortina]

Breakers normally say they want the 'whole car' - does that prevent you taking out the valuable bits of trim/radio etc that you can sell on ebay!?

They won't care if you took the radio, but if you obviously remove all the quickly saleable bits then they won't give you any money for it. Scrap price isn't covering overheads anymore so you can see why.

[bub2006]

Ford escort van fuse box question. Last night the van popped fuse for sidelight circuit. Replaced fuse but noticed the fuse next to it (30a heater fan) wasn't blown but the terminal on the fuse box looked slightly melted and warm to touch. Pulled it out just in case. Checked it today and couldn't see any visible issue with the fuse box and needed to clear the screen and get some heat in the cabin so put the fuse in. Within five minutes the fuse itself felt read hot so pulled it out again. What could be the issue? Heater fan motor on way out maybe?

[Pillock]

Was it the fuse itself getting hot or the fuse box?

 

The fuse is the weak point, and it gets hot when it's doing it's job. So that will mean the blower motor is drawing too much current so yeah, struggling a bit.

 

The connections should be a perfectly good connection and not get hot at all as they're ten times bigger than the fusible element. So if these are getting hot, it usually means a corroded connection building up resistance and generating heat.

[bub2006]

The fuse was warm,the connection on fuse box even more so. Stripped it down and couldnt see no issues in the fuse box though.

[Pillock]

Could take the fuse out and use a current tester to see what it's drawing. Needs to be nicely under 30A but I'd still be curious why the fuse box is getting hot.

 

Can you get to the back of the fuse box? Could resistance check from one terminal throughout fuse to the other - should be pretty much zero.