Andy's awful autos: Vanden-blah

[Andyrew]

Pump up da volume.

On my day off this earlier this week id recieved some used speakers for the wee mazza from a breakers on ebay.  The car had one blown speaker and a 6x9 was in the drivers door held in with a woodscrew . With the car now mucb quieter exhaust and wind nosie wise i would actually be able to hear a stereo, i use spotify for music and podcasts so the old factory headunit was yanked out and a fascia and lead went in. I stole the hilariously shite build quality (yet good sound ) bluetooth head unit from the black Astra and stuffed that in the mx5 as i had a much nicer pioneer unit with handsfree phone mic that could go in the Astra.

In,  and the speakers are great to be fair they have a  nice bit of bass but punchy enough to handle some thrash metal aswell. Good times.  

One slight issue with this headunit is the display lighting its horribly bright with no adjustment that i can find, its a sub 20 quid unit so meh. 

Its illuminates most of the wee cabin, i will try and tone it down somehow around the volume knob.

Looks like christine had the same headunit . . 

[beko1987]

Colour all over it with a black sharpie! 

I've dimmed down led's with that in the past. Or oily hands... 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 hour ago, Andyrew said:

.....

.... . . 

 

Is that some sort of partial eclipse?

[Andyrew]

What shenanigans have occurred at the AAA workshop? .  Not much to be honest, well not much of interest that is not safrane related.  The farmers not a "ranger m8" mazda b2500 lost its clutch pedal and just managed to limp back to the yard.  A quick ebay browse to see if these are an external clutch slave revealed that they are and that one seller had sold well over 250 kits of both the master and the slave together. 

A text to a "ranger m8" owning friend and he said they are pretty much a service item and hes found decent brand or white box cheapos seem to both not last about the same so dont bother buying decent brand and just replace the pair.

An AP brand pair was ordered at work for 30 quid and chucked on the same evening. One happy landlord.

A week or two later this  french fatty turned up and has taken centre stage but now that it can self propel its sorry ass i can use the lift for other things too.

The Black astra, is being very good at being A car, sipping diesel.  My nefew is starting a motor mechanics course at a local college. He stuggles a bit with learning so i asked my mate (his father) if he would like to do some jobs at the workshop with him and use the black Astra as the subject.  i booked out some cheap but good front pads, a cheapo pair of rear shocks, oil and filter i had already, some wipers and a pair of rear springs that a supplier wanted rid of ages ago (£1.00+vat! Each).

Mx5 needs for nothing really. I gave it a vacuum out and today it got lashings of wax sprayed about the place in prep for a bit of winter action. 

A tail end of a can of Supertrol and my now new favourite comma waxseal.

[Andyrew]

Today see the mx5 on the lift for a bit of a brake check over and a rotation and check of the tyres. I drive this little car fairly spirited / like a bastard sometime so like to whip the wheels off for a check over fairly regular. 

Everything checked out okay. The front brakes got a quick strip down. Deglaze the pads and some fresh lube on the pads and sliders. 

Dropped down , wheels torqued up and fluids checked. 

 

[Andyrew]

Getting in a flap!

Since owning the little shite the mazda has one bloody annoying issue.  This broken cupholder door. Its right where my elbow is so gets knocked up easily

[Andyrew]

Pulling out the centre console and flipping it over i could see that there should be a little spring fitted like the other flap that functions okay. Even this one was broken but the spring remained in place due to the side of the console. 

Ah ha!

The pods were removed and i could see how the spring was held in place.  This one just about to break. 

I popped the spring out, and pulled the lids off. Grim!

Scrubbed

Wizzy woo with an abrasive disc got rid of the lobe the spring tucked behind. I the drilled the hole a bit deeper and  two washers with a oring inbetween were self tappered in place to put a light tension on the spring

 

[Andyrew]

[Andyrew]

Bite me!

Centre section left to dangle on 1 rubber as the 02 sensor plug is internal. 

Cat removed, the gasket didnt survive, glad i bought 2 last time.

Rear diff bolts undone, being a mazda this obviously cant simply allow the spine to come off, but allowed it to pivot out the way.

Propshaft out. 

Oooottt!

[Andyrew]

With the box out the clutch can be removed, theres a couple or reasons for doing the clutch, whilst the clutch wouldnt slip under full throttle or load, it was fairly high and the bite was a bit long, a thrust bearing rattling its ass off was also a factor. 

In stop start traffic,  clutch judder was rather apparent, google searching seems to suggest an original clutch makes this an TADTS. 

I decided to go for the cheapest Rymec clutch, ordered at work at £59. Will it be shit? Maybe.

Wasnt as ballsed as i expected, not exactly mint tho.

 

[Andyrew]

The above post shows another issue, theres a bit of oil getting in the bellhousing. Ive never seen it drip but there was a noteable amount on the bellhousing, its a bit hard to tell if the leak is a small weep from the headgasket, from a previous rocker leak thats been cleaned up, a failed crank seal, sump gasket weep or maybe a mix of all of them.

 

[Andyrew]

Upon inspection the clutch slave boot was knackered.  I thought id either leave it or get a new one. Then i remeber that the old one from the farmers mazda b2500 was in the scrap bin! 

A free fix woop!

[Crackers]

2 hours ago, Andyrew said:

In stop start traffic,  clutch judder was rather apparent, google searching seems to suggest an original clutch makes this an TADTS

Can confirm. 

Stops doing it if I give it one good bootful from a junction. Thankfully with Sussex roads being as they are this may be a fairly* frequent occurrence. 

[Andyrew]

9 hours ago, Crackers said:

Can confirm. 

Stops doing it if I give it one good bootful from a junction. Thankfully with Sussex roads being as they are this may be a fairly* frequent occurrence. 

When it had the large twin exhaust pipes fitted i did feel like a plum reving it more to avoid the judder in traffic, they were a bit loud! 

Great on a B road hoon session tho! 

Enjoying the your mx5? 

 

 

[Crackers]

4 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Great on a B road hoon session tho! 

Enjoying the your mx5? 

Absolutely! Stainless cat back on mine sounds wonderful IMO especially in roof down mode. Going so slowly has never been so much fun.

I do need some better front tyres as it has a bit of a tendency to wash out, with grippy Rainsports on the rear end but cheap well-worn Hankooks up front. 

[Andyrew]

12 days later! 

When the flywheel was out the spigot bearing was shot so a replacement was ordered. This was fine as my good lady and i had plans for a couple of days.  Now with the bearing in hand i struggled to dig up the mojo to get to the workshop the following evenings. So left it to be sundays job when id have all afternoon to crack on. 

Of course, my day off. Why wouldnt my odd sneezing/runny nose thing shoot that idea down.  Either way i cracked on feeling like arse, but i felt if i get everything cleaned up and ready i can get the box back in another day. 

Scummy bellhousing cleaned up and new thrust bearing fitted.  The rubber boot around the fork had folded in on itself so that was glued back together and fitted properly. 

Crank oil seal replaced,  flywheel spigot bearing replaced and pht back on, the new clutch was then fitted.

The clutch is the cheapest i could get at work. Rymec boxed but just another generic chinese clutch.

Photos ended there as ny nose eased up a bit and i decided balls to it, that box is going back in. Much huffing and puffing with some concerning balancing of heavy objects ensued. The issue i had was the engine needs to be tilted but without the box in want to sit level. Also its a MAZDA MX5, How they make such a simple car so utterly shit to work on baffles me! 

 

[Andyrew]

On the transmisson tunnel there is a big gaiter around the gearstick. Seem these perish and allow heat and smells in. Mine was toasted with a large amount missing, guess ill order a new one. 

Nearly 37 quid,  which isnt exactly expensive but Thats over half what the clutch cost! 

Too be fair its a large part and the little boots included, its also ment to help firm up a sloppy shifter with a little resistance in the lever. But im reluctant to spend that without trying a cheaper or free fix first. 

Enter a stretcy cv boot.

A Perfect fit! Some super glue bonds it down and with it compressed down on the lever it works perfectly. Fresh oil in the selector mech housing on the gearbox and the shift its lovely and crisp now. 

All back together and first test drive shows that the clutch is feather light and bites hard when you are "feeding it the onions"

Centre section Exhaust gasket didnt survive the re-use so theres a blow now but thats an easy fix. The whole euroflow exhaust fits like shite and need messing with. Its Cheap and Just Awful.

[Andyrew]

Collectioning process starts 1pm

Car status - Small 

 

[Six-cylinder]

Comfort break! 

[Andyrew]

With the great help of @Six-cylinder one shabby looking but running and driving 107 is at the workshop.

[Andyrew]

Many thanks to @rusty998 , a pleasure to deal with. 

[Six-cylinder]

It was nice to be taken out in a chauffeur driven Astra today. Then I got first drive of Andyrew's new the Peugeot 107, it was 2008 I last drove one and it felt much the same as I remember. I do enjoying driving different cars.

[rusty998]

14 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Many thanks to @rusty998 , a pleasure to deal with. 

Great to meet two fellow AS members @Andyrew @Six-cylinder yesterday I just wish I didn't feel so unwell but glad the 107 has a new lease of life, happy motoring

[tooSavvy]

On 12/11/2021 at 23:56, Andyrew said:

On the transmisson tunnel there is a big gaiter around the gearstick. Seem these perish and allow heat and smells in. Mine was toasted with a large amount missing, guess ill order a new one. 

Nearly 37 quid,  which isnt exactly expensive but Thats over half what the clutch cost! 

Too be fair its a large part and the little boots included, its also ment to help firm up a sloppy shifter with a little resistance in the lever. But im reluctant to spend that without trying a cheaper or free fix first. 

Enter a stretcy cv boot.

A Perfect fit! Some super glue bonds it down and with it compressed down on the lever it works perfectly. Fresh oil in the selector mech housing on the gearbox and the shift its lovely and crisp now. 

All back together and first test drive shows that the clutch is feather light and bites hard when you are "feeding it the onions"

Centre section Exhaust gasket didnt survive the re-use so theres a blow now but thats an easy fix. The whole euroflow exhaust fits like shite and need messing with. Its Cheap and Just Awful.

The exquisitely $h1te kwalitee leatherette shifter boot, on MrSavv, gave up the ghost after a few years....

I bought the biggest CV boot I could find on eBay (some Nissan...) and whacked it on 👍

Deffo big improvement.

Like the cupholder 'refinements'......

[Andyrew]

8 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

The exquisitely $h1te kwalitee leatherette shifter boot, on MrSavv, gave up the ghost after a few years....

I bought the biggest CV boot I could find on eBay (some Nissan...) and whacked it on 👍

Deffo big improvement.

Like the cupholder 'refinements'......

That looks so much cooler!

[Crackers]

On 14/11/2021 at 17:04, Andyrew said:

With the great help of @Six-cylinder one shabby looking but running and driving 107 is at the workshop.

I have a huge soft spot for these. Well boughterated. 

[Andyrew]

What do we have then?

It is a very cheap and rather battered 107 of course.  We didnt even pop the bonnet and it drove the hour or so back with @Six-cylinder at the wheel at 70 with no problems im told, 

It was my day off today. i wanted to do a quick look over and then sort the exhaust on the mx5. That plan didnt happen due to spiders , many many spiders had taken up residency in the small pug and it smelt awful inside, a combo of smoke and dog, with that added the parked up for a while musky smell. The interiors in a bit of a state but simple to yank out and clean up it seems.

 But first the outside, a layer of grim had built up on the roof and i wanted to see what bodywork lay below, nothing much that wasnt already known about except one little thing. But first

Big deep scratch, 

"Rubbin is racin m8"

Holy headlight

Lacking appeal

The car was a salvage repair, and apears to have a used bumper fitted and painted up hence the Blue paint peeking out behind some repeated damage. 

The cars had almost as much bodywork done in the past as the Mazda, but the colour match is certainly better. Each area that seems to have been repaired had since taken a knock again.

That blue tho, ive seen that before somewhere . . 

Hmmmmmmm, thats not primer.

 

 

[Andyrew]

Enhance,

That scratch on the Nearside quarter panel and door

Enhance

Okay, now i think the little blue bumper isnt alone.

A nosey underneath reveals the quarter panel joined the party aswell.

 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Oh. Fuck. 😱

[Andyrew]

With that discovery wanting a little more investigating the interior would require removal to see how the repair was done. A carefully unpicked and reused section? or a butchered crumpled mess?   But first lets rehome some spiders and get that filth off.

As the plan is to touch some of the damaged areas up a good scrub with a strong detergent was needed, nothing with any wax or silicone in it. Snow foam lance deployed 

Only the finest snow foam soap!

The interior then,  general skankyness in all the nooks and many stains and spills, from im guessing a damp dog. 

Out, few bolts and the panels just pop out. 

Hair , dirt and some goop stuff.

an overly strong mix of APC sprayed everywhere and agitated with a brush.

Bleugh.

Boot floor panel thing, spare wheel also scrubbed with APC.