Andy's awful autos: PLAS!

[Andyrew]

Day 8

And early ish start for a day off, i head over to my friends to see what the noise was on the freelander. The oddly mis shapen arch liner had moved and was touching the bottom pulley.  A bit of a relocate and all is well.  From there i went out with mother rew for the day.

Later i return to the workshop to meet my friend Gary who wants to do a service on his partners weekend toy.

I really like these, and this one being black with the red and black interior is defo up my alley. 

Its been serviced by her usual mechanic although the cabin and plugs seen to have missed the list a few times. Its an 80k mile car so Maybe original?  Either way changed now and id guess we will be doing most of the work on the car from now on. 

Cabin was aftermarket but definately not been done any time recently. 

Air and oil filters looked pretty good so id say the services have just been the very basics. Thankfully having the sprinter, i had the correct oil filter housing tool to hand! 

Some fresh oil in and fired up sounding sweet and off it goes. 

 

[Andyrew]

With my scruffs still on i decided maybe now was a good time to chnage the astra oil filter. Something thats been missed twice!  I usually change the oil every 4k. But one  time i didnt have one to hand then so the oild just got changed and i banged a load of miles on going to scotland. Then when i changed the oil recently i couldnt find the ones id picked up so the filters seen 3 lots oil and 10k.  

Also a quick photo of my most recent and one of my favourite tools to date.  A big long bastard 1/2 ratchet. Should have bought one sooner.

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Andyrew said:

big long bastard 1/2 ratchet

Yes! Likewise a long 3/8 ratchet too. In fact I think I prefer my long 3/8 ratchet over the 1/2 inch. Next on the list is the stubbies for those really awkward locations.

I wish I got them sooner. Not even ridiculously expensive. Far cheaper investment than my two Milwaukee electric ratchets (long and short) that I rarely use!

[Andyrew]

Day 9

Been a busy day so todays tinkering was going to have to be a simple one. Id noticed the tyres on the front of the silver astra had started to wear on the inner edges. And are around half worn. I knew tracking was a bit out so time to rotate them and ill try and track the car sometime soon after i get my kit working. 

A quick wheel rotate and tyre pressure check wont take long. 

I think these wheels last came off around 8k im not sure, just before i went to scotland possibly?. Either was Every wheel was stuck on. Guess i didnt grease them last time. The fronts refused to come off. A club hammer and a bit of wood to the rear of the rims sorted the rears. On the front no such luck. I welted it from behind and then tried a 12 6 9 3 approach on the front. I then slipped and got my middle finger between said wood and rim and hit the fucker at the same time , throbbing now like a cartoon injury but doenst feel broken.Thats going to be fun in the morning once the bruising comes up.

Bolted the rears back on and left the fronts loose, dropped the car down and took it into the yard and sharply turn the steerig left to right, n.s went easy buy the drivers put up a real fight. 

Tyres swapped round, pumped up to the correct psi and checked for any damage/nails/screws or cuts.  Chucked back on ready for a 100 or so mile trip out again tomorrow. 

Went home and put finger on some frozen peas and drank a beer. 

[Dan302]

Liked for the Mk4 Astra content not the finger injury!

[Andyrew]

Day 10

Cutting it fine with this one. Having had a day seeing a good friend. I returned home then grabbed the shitfire and went for a blast, will it break down? 

20 or so miles an all seems okay. A few stumbles and back fires when it was warming up but overall seems okay. 

Poping over to the FOD for a while. I take the 6s C15 back with me to chuck some tyres on tomorrow evening after a recent failed valve the van is running on a spare. 

Maybe 10 mins so in and i hear the unsettling noise of a flapping tyre!  Another visa wheel bought over and homeward bound i went.

 

 

[Andyrew]

Day 11

After limping the van back yesterday, today after a visit with friends in that there london (didnt think i  could dislike public transport any more than i already do but today taught me that i could) i drop into the workshop quite late and crack on with fitting some new boots to the c15.

Limped to the workshop now rocking one singular alloy. 

4 of chinas finest rubber rings. Now i dont know where you get your kicks but i get my kicks on . . 

Anyway. Fitted and balanced and stuffed back on the wagon. 

 

 

 

 

[grogee]

@Andyrew would you be able to fit s/h tyres in exchange for beer tokens? Pre-arranged of course, I wouldn't just turn up unannounced. 

[Andyrew]

Day 12

Today see me over the 6s field. After bit of a catch up with some of the shiters, myself and with some helping hand from some other good folk. The bonnet, both front doors and one rear door were swapped out for panels thats while not perfect were far better condition than what was on the car. 

Tomorrow see me back over there so ill finish up some c15 tinkerage and see what else can get some loving. 

[Andyrew]

Day 13

Another day over at the FOD and some c15 tinkerage.  Drivers door finished up, passengers door recieved the same treatment.  Window regs swapped over and the door locks aswell.  Van was also give a good scrub aswell so rusty spots can be treated and some seams resealed. 

Tomorrow some zafira poking and the spitfire broke down again just at the gate of the farm tonight.

 That long driveway that the photogenic tree is on? Yep pushed it the whole way up the slight incline! I was completely fucked at end of it! 

[SiC]

There is always the option of moving it along with electric propulsion on the starter. Now not exactly good for the starter but then it's not exactly hard to get access to if it plays up in the future on the Spitfire. 

I've done it a few times on older cars if needed to get it out of a dangerous place. 

[Andyrew]

On 8/13/2023 at 11:01 PM, SiC said:

There is always the option of moving it along with electric propulsion on the starter. Now not exactly good for the starter but then it's not exactly hard to get access to if it plays up in the future on the Spitfire. 

I've done it a few times on older cars if needed to get it out of a dangerous place. 

The starter trick ive used a few time.  

However the starter wasnt going to cut it this time. A google map point to point suggests the push of shame i had to do was 322 metres! Urgh 

[Andyrew]

Day 14

Today i grabbed some more fuel for the shitfire and once again being topped up, it eventually fired up again. This time  I removed the sender and tested it against the dial.

Moved from empty to full just fine. The old one was also discovered in the boot. This worked aswell however it looked incorrect to me. The newer part that was fitted looked better. But there was a locating tab that in my opinion was in the way and made the sender sit more clocked than it wants to be which would allow the float to bottom out of the tank.

I cut the tab off and reffited  it and with my guessitmate that the tank level matched the dial im happy all is well now. 

After that i went and collected a troubled zafira with a running issue.  Now electric and sensor diagnositics really are not my thing. Im not a mechanic, im a guy who can fits parts and tinker a little. but i also dont want to parts darts it so ill see what i find out by going through the motions. 

 

[Andyrew]

Day 15

Yes that brake dust build up is impressive! 

Today after a jolly out in the shitfire to costco (running a bit shite)  i popped to the workshop and had a nosey at this zafira. Nothing obviously wrong so far, using my cheapy code reader and a bit of googling may give some clues. Ive also asked on the ask a shiter section as this site has some very knowlegable people on it. 

Its going to be repaired either way. Wether its a simple part or a whole engine swap is the question i need to answer! 

[Andyrew]

Day 16. 

Not much to report tonight. 

Done a quick compression test on the zafira.  Noted that cyclinder three still appears to have a damp patch to it.  Could be something could be nothing.

Will investigate a bit more later in the week. 

[Andyrew]

Day 17. 

Gimme fuel, gimme me fire, me that which i desire! Oooohhh. 

Today see the shitfire, not fire. Another clogged fuel filter. And even after a quick repair if ran it was pretty rough.  Tweaked the timing by just going by what i could hear and adjusted the carbs a smidge and it drove really really well. Given the issues i figured i swap to the aggy.

Did that want to start? Nope. 

Sucked fuel up to the carb and they tried again. We coughed into life, i then moved the car and noticed the gauge pegged all the way off past empty and not moving so a the senders packed up id say.  

After moving the car it decided it didnt want to fire up again.  Got some fuel and chucked it in.  A dash to the station to fill the tank up then.  Fuel pissed out the neck suggesting a full tank after about 11 quid. 

Go in and pay and as i return theres fuel pissing out the front near the mechanical pump. A quick forecourt repair and its back up and running. 

Thats enough simple jobs tuned saga for today. 

 

 

[UltraWomble]

On 8/9/2023 at 11:20 PM, Andyrew said:

Day 9

Been a busy day so todays tinkering was going to have to be a simple one. Id noticed the tyres on the front of the silver astra had started to wear on the inner edges. And are around half worn. I knew tracking was a bit out so time to rotate them and ill try and track the car sometime soon after i get my kit working. 

A quick wheel rotate and tyre pressure check wont take long. 

Bolted the rears back on and left the fronts loose, dropped the car down and took it into the yard and sharply turn the steerig left to right, n.s went easy buy the drivers put up a real fight. 

Went home and put finger on some frozen peas and drank a beer. 

Have you ever suffered with water leaks in the Astra?

[Mrs6C]

9 minutes ago, UltraWomble said:

Have you ever suffered with water leaks in the Astra?

Crikey!

[Andyrew]

Day 18.  Fail! Feeling shite i admitted defeat and just had an evening in and an early night. 

 

[Andyrew]

Day 19

Just a quick and cheap improvement this one. 

At harpendens classics on the common i manged to find a aggy front bumper and what appears to be a recon steering rack. With a price of 15 quid the pair i snapped them up! 

The front bumper had previously been rattled canned silver which i didnt like so some thinners took that off a while back. 

Replacement £7.50 bumper

Lobbed on and bling bling!

Been driving this quite a bit the past few days and its still a charming old shed to drive. 

[Andyrew]

The only time a zafira can be called the most stylish of the group!  

[Andyrew]

Day 20.

Today was a very chilled out day. This was over with a friend and some grub was cooked and a beer enjoyed while i fitted some shocks up front.

After my friend departed in the camper i had a little noisey at the juke that a friend who is a car painter has asked if i could service it. Picked up from a trader/dealer customer of his as it needed to much body work to bring to saleable state and make a profit.  

It was getting a bit late and when i clocked the square drive sump plug i knew the oil wasnt getting done today. While id had it warming up in preperation to drop the oil all of the dash is flashing to let me know theres zero diesel in it with zero miles on the dash flashing and beeping. Great! 

Lets just do the cabin and come back tomorrow then.

Glovebox out the way.

Small flap behind two pipes. 

An access panel quite a bit smaller than the filter that needs to fit through it. 

So you have to really scrunch up the new filter and stuff it in. A pretty wank design lets be honest.

Tomorrow ill do the oil. Filter looks like a lovely thing to access. Facepalm

 

 

[Andyrew]

Day 21

No pictures and not much work! 

Today the aggy got a fluid check and a top up. It leaks and burns a bit of oil on a high rev run. Fuel sender connection given a wiggle but i think its the dial thats had it. 

25 quids worth of dino juice collected to chuck in the juke in the morning to do the service finally.

Zafira has me about at my limit of my skills and tech i feel.  A bit more of a look tomorow for anything obvious but i feel getting a diag guy i know in may be the cheaper and better option as id just be parts darts guessing. He has the skills and equipment to see whats going on. 

He is good. But good doesnt come cheap.

[RoverFolkUs]

29 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

He is good. But good doesnt come cheap.

As the saying goes, good labour isn't cheap, and cheap labour isn't good

[Floatylight]

All OK @Andyrewbeen quiet lately?

[flat4alfa]

@Andyrew All ok?  It's been a while

[Crackers]

The Ecological DisAstra has gone on holiday to the south.

Lowering the tone at one of Surrey's luxury hotels where I was invited for a friend's birthday do. Unfortunately no valet parking for restaurant guests but I'd have loved to see their face if I handed them the keys to it. 

Andy - thanks again for the loan, I really owe you one.

[Andyrew]

Been a while hasnt it? 

The daily updates thing failed, because i failed. Some of the days i last posted about i was actually off work at the time. I had been given time off after id just broken down mentally one morning driving to work. Everything just seemed to come to the surface and i couldnt hold it down anymore. Id not been right and knew it was coming it was only a matter of time. 

Moving forward, the workshop visits got less and less. I did a "fuck it why not" buy and that just got parked inside. I worked on a few others cars to help them as while i wasnt enjoying working on  cars i do enjoy helping people and that in turn made me feel a bit better. I had some good days and some bad.

As we all know things take time and as the past few months have gone by ive got to a much happier place im glad to say, probably feeling the most like myself than i have in many years. I still have things to change but for now, im happy.

Exploring local woodlands solo or with a great friend has been a thing im trying to do more of

And how does one get to these places? 

By noble steed, now approaching 178k might i add. Not much to report, a few unwanted potholes has knocked the alignment out and its feels a bit off on the bends. An occasional stumble in the revs shows its head randomly too. A service and tracking to be done in the next few weeks. 

The christmas break see some mojo appear and i got in the workshop for a few days. Just doing whatever i fancied. I have to remember this is a fun hobby. Not a job so i can pick and choose, and leave when the fun stops.

[Andyrew]

The buy

Yeah it was me, the very faded and slammed vp1300 came to live in the shed of shite. I wasnt taking any pics as i hadnt planned to post on here. Anyways over crimbo i found myself wondering what to do about the very cracked and damaged roof (sorry no before pics) id seen some paint in the boot of the car so thought id maybe get away with painting the roof and the body might darken a bit with a polish so it would look to out of place. The paint job is awful but has a charm i like. The issue aswell with the flat paint was every liquid that went near it marked it. 

 

[Matty]

Sorry for your troubles pal. Glad to see you on the mend 👍