big Al & Flat4 fleet fred--- from famine to feast

[big_al_granvia]

The photo of me with my trusty grinder was before i almost melted the wheely bin. Get some water lol. 

[big_al_granvia]

so a nae bad day time to give her a proper wash, not going to bore you or tell the boss how i did it but here is a few photos, using shite materials she is looking a lot better, can see my fat belly in her paint now

 

[big_al_granvia]

so the exhaust bodge didnae work, bit of pipe fell oot so exhaust is back farting like feck, so replacement exhausts' mating faces cleaned up ready to go to tame mechanic once volvo is back,

speaking of which, all discs and pads should be with mechanic so once he finds time to do that and we, well the boss decides what she is doing with the shagged damper, currently looking at air suspension, kit is 250 so not much more than 1 decent used hydraulic self levelling damper... i am actually missing the big swedish barge, the scooby is great fun but it is too tempting to be colin mcrae in it and i have been known to be a hooligan. the volvo is just a easy relaxing car to drive plus it does almost 50mpg, still got 2 wheels to refurb on it tho and give it a good valet and detail. plus being silver it doesnt have the heat sink the black cars do, air con works too. 

[big_al_granvia]

civic given a proper hard shell polish and looking great, just got the headlights to do and wheels to refurb and the cosmetic work is done... getting there

[Flat4]

Today's job - musical tyres!

These ones are coming off the Fozzie to be put on to the Civic until my first full pay day at new job, at which point they will both likely get a full new set all round.

Wheels off revealed I need front pads like yesterday

It also needs a thicker anti roll bar because, let's face it, this one is rather weedy!

Also found it's had Peddars shocks put on the back, which is mildy disappointing as I don't think these are self-levelling.

All in all tho, quite nice to get under a car and not find masses of extra work to do That could all change tomorrow tho as it's off for a 2nd opinion on the misfire at another Scooby specialist. And typical, the disco lights which have been on all week, have gone off today!

It now looks like this - stealth Scooby! I can't decide if I like it or not....

[Flat4]

Some positive news from Scooby specialist - compression test done on the Fozzie and no issues found So it's getting some new spark plugs while they're in there anyway. Didn't have time to do a leak down test today as well but  he's '70% sure' it's a coil pack causing the misfire. Such a good garage he gave me the option of ordering in his own brand coil packs for £50 each plus VAT or ordering them off Import Car Parts for £35 a piece. Interested to see if it drives any better when I get it back in about an hour

[Flat4]

Seems to pull a bit better when on boost now but this has had the consequence of sticking a front calliper on... FML... Oh the joys of Subaru ownership!

[big_al_granvia]

stop using the brakes, they only slow you down... fellow shiters, would you believe that this girl can wear out a set of front pads in less than 3k miles, geezo i can get at least 12k out a set... right foot made of lead right enough

[Flat4]

How many miles had those pads done before I bought it tho?

[Flat4]

So, sick rep - they're all fucked in one way or another.

The Fozzie is local traffic only until my 4 pot calipers and new pads arrive.

The Civic is loud as hell and lethal in the wet still.

Tame mechanic has only done the rear half of the brakes on the Volvo so it's not ready to come home today as planned. Will be swapped for the Civic to get sorted.

Saab still out of action as need the Volvo to tow it any where for fixing.

So that leaves the fun bus, which has an increasingly dodgy shock and a brake light out. Also requires a back box but doesn't blow your ears off, spin the wheels in the dry or have grinding brakes....So the day van is current daily lol

[eddyramrod]

Sounds to me like time to buy a cheap runaround!

[big_al_granvia]

1 hour ago, eddyramrod said:

Sounds to me like time to buy a cheap runaround!

Or put a new battery in the almera thats on the drive and clean the crap out of it... Then tax and insure it.. Plan f is ready

[Dabooka]

Sorry to hear of the woes, my fleet is currently not combat ready either.

You doing the brakes on the Foz, what you opting for, what options are there?  I have rear binding calipers but before I get the refirb kit I did want to consider my options.  Not yet looked at the fronts although I'd hazard they're equally as FUBARd too.

[big_al_granvia]

4 pot calipers with decent pads, discs were replaced a few months back...

thing is we will go from a famine to a feast in a few days, the v70 will be in traffic apart from a wash and detail, the foz should be a sameday fitting of brakes putting it in traffic, civic will be off road while tame mechanic does exhaust and front tyres, realistically it needs at least a set of front brakes and a wee bit of attention to headlights, new bulb holders and bulbs then that will be her, the bus' suspension is total shite anyway so a shagged damper doest make much difference, will do bulb on monday. the v70 can basically do the work which is why we need her back

[Dabooka]

Were the calipers a Fleabay special?  I'm curious as to how much I should be looking at if I went this route (feel free to PM if you'd prefer).

BTW the Pedders suspension looks like a common aftermarket swap out for shagged SLS; I found the same on mine and a bit of Googling threw up the OEM replacements are serious shillings.  They're meant to be rather good mind.

[big_al_granvia]

aye flat4 has a special skill in getting good stuff cheap, i have often said is she was to fall in the clyde she would come out with a salmon in each pocket, new calipers are serious wodge, 

[Tickman]

On 7/10/2020 at 9:12 AM, big_al_granvia said:

stop using the brakes, they only slow you down... fellow shiters, would you believe that this girl can wear out a set of front pads in less than 3k miles, geezo i can get at least 12k out a set... right foot made of lead right enough

@gm managed to wear out a set of front pads in a day, admittedly that was knockhill.

[gm]

1 minute ago, Tickman said:

@gm managed to wear out a set of front pads in a day, admittedly that was knockhill.

An HOUR on one occasion  to be fair, they were cheap shite and performed way better than they had any right to 

[big_al_granvia]

getting through a couple of sets of brakes on a trackday is acceptable, it proves you were on it, but on the road i could get 15k out a set on thee almera, on the scoob brakes only show you down

[big_al_granvia]

well as tame mechanic has scrapped a few cars recently he keeps any good batteries and just weighs in scrap ones, thought i'd take the dud one out of the almera an replace it with a less than dud, battery out, tray had surface rust so scraped and painted that also a few other bits of surface rust, is she going back on the road??? probably not, if the volvo is sound and the civic gets back without too much fuss then there is no real need for a 15 year old 1.5 snotter. it has done me great service so really owes me nothing. i would like to see it going to someone that needs a car for daily transport as she has plenty of life in her not someone that will run it until something breaks then scrap it..... suppose watching some of the salvage vlogs on youtube and seeing cars with lots of life in them going to the crusher is kind of sad

[Flat4]

9 hours ago, Dabooka said:

Sorry to hear of the woes, my fleet is currently not combat ready either.

You doing the brakes on the Foz, what you opting for, what options are there?  I have rear binding calipers but before I get the refirb kit I did want to consider my options.  Not yet looked at the fronts although I'd hazard they're equally as FUBARd too.

 

I believe the only option for the rears are 2 pot calipers off the WRX/STI which use the 4 pot fronts. You can also get Brembos for the front which are several hundred quid then you'd be looking at silly money for 6 or 8 pots. The calipers of the Gen 4 Legacies will also fit and appear to be bigger than the Fozzie but still a 2 pot though and the same size discs. Not sure how much of an upgrade that would be. There's also another option on Rock Auto - ATS Brake Caliper Kits, 4 pots as well, they're $199 a piece but will allow you to fit 326mm discs. Those are currently £99 for standard discs from Graham Goode Racing. If I wasn't in such a hurry to change the caliper/pads then I'd go with those. That's the plan next time it needs discs replacing.

8 hours ago, Dabooka said:

Were the calipers a Fleabay special?  I'm curious as to how much I should be looking at if I went this route (feel free to PM if you'd prefer).

BTW the Pedders suspension looks like a common aftermarket swap out for shagged SLS; I found the same on mine and a bit of Googling threw up the OEM replacements are serious shillings.  They're meant to be rather good mind.

The ones I'm getting are off a breaker and were too good a deal not to try as they're coming with, what appear to be, good fast road pads. It's pads I really need and to get the calipers as well was only £20 more than a set of Black Diamond Predators pads on their own. There is a chap on the UK Legacy FB group who sells refurbed 4 pots painted in your choice of colour for £280, which is pretty decent. He also buys in genuine Subaru calipers so even if these ones turn out to be not useable then I can still make most of my money back off them. You can buy replicas for £90-100 brand new but they don't have stainless steel pistons and there is a question mark over build quality.

The Peddars do seem to be pretty good in normal road use but not sure how they're going to be when I start towing on them.

 

[Dabooka]

Thanks for the response, really detailed and useful. ?

I think I'll just have to settle on the refirb for now asI do need to be a tad sensible after buying a moneypit of a house to go with the car.  Maybe I'll need* to do the fronts though when I have a look at those ?.

And forgive me as I didn't realise you towed, so yes I see now why the SLS would be preferable.  Mine doesn't even have a tow bar which I guess is probably quite rare for these things. Well, unless it ws removed but I wouldn't think that was likely.

[Flat4]

Civic now with tame mechanic to get exhaust fitted, new bulb holders and adjust hand brake. May get a service if time permits.

On the way home with the Volvo - forgot how good the air con was and how comfy the seats are ? And just how bad the old tyres were

It's now wearing a pair of Goodyear Assymetric 3s on the front and a pair of Michelin Cross Climates on the back. Haven't driven it myself yet but Al says there is much more grip.... Wouldn't be hard to improve on what came off it!

It also has shiney new brakes all round and a handbrake that doesn't need to be pointing at the sky to work ?

Centre caps still to be added off the old wheels.

[Flat4]

The new tyres have made a massive difference to the feel of the Volvo. It turns in much more tightly and holds the lines you're aiming for. Still has a tendency to understeer as these big barges do, but much improved.

Still need to stand on the brakes to get the damn thing to stop tho ? Only thing we haven't done is fresh fluid so I think that and a good bleed is needed. Maybe V70 brakes are just shite anyway but they certainly don't inspire confidence atm. Disappointing.

[big_al_granvia]

I am just hoping it isnt a master cylinder, reckon as above bleed and fluid for starters. Needs a bloody good valet too

[paulplom]

My 2002 c70 t5 had terrible brakes. They needed a hard push before they'd do anything. 

A new master cylinder transformed it.

[Flat4]

Looks like an absolute PITA of a job that, access wise ?

[Flat4]

Fleet update.

These arrived for the Fozzie

One of the current 2 pot callipers may be binding so thought I may as well upgrade to 4 pots while I was at it

Look much less scabby now Al has painted them.

They appear to be in decent condition otherwise and even the bleed nipples, which are notorious for snapping, turned freely!

So the Fozzie is now with tame mechanic to have those fitted.

Swapped for the Civic which now has a lovely, quiet exhaust and is handling even better now it has a pair of Cross Climates on the front It will be nice to be able to drive it properly now

Dodgy headlights have also been fixed with new bulb holders that weren't made of tinfoil And the wiring has been unbodged so that both headlights are no longer connected and the dipped beam isn't attached to full beam any more.... Hardly surprising the bulbs were blowing with so much extra current flowing! Time will tell if this has fixed it once and for all.

Have also managed to secure the services of a mobile mechanic to finally get the Saab fixed, then it will be off for a fresh MOT as Boris took away it's extension It's due 23rd August.

[big_al_granvia]

volvo is also back on fleet with new tyres and brakes all round, now these have bedded in the car is stopping great. the v70 is a fantastic cruiser, delivers more than 40mpg, comfortable, air con works and the stereo is good. did feel like a driving middle aged fart when stopped at the lights with iron maiden blasting whilst sooking my vape but hey ho... still got wheels to refurb and a few bits of dodgy lacquer to sort along with a good machine polish. 

[big_al_granvia]

normally i would be suspicious of wonder wipes that restore headlights, if you look back through the fred you will see that the lights had oxidised badly and were to put it blunt shite... amor all headlight restoring wipes, 1 to scrub off crud and the other to protect, mask paintwork and apply elbow grease... i reckon they have done a bloody good job... the boss will probably disagree

 

n