Xsara - £200, worn P bush OX9 3 MOT Sept 25 - Please save it from scrap 😱

[maxxo]

28 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Another job done! The headlights, whilst not getting a mention on the mot were looking shit

I'd seen a guy post about doing headlights before on fb and indeed earlier this week he posted again, so I sent him a message, and he came this morning

Their still yellowed but shiny as fuck now, sadly I think that's as good as they'll come, hopefully they last a bit longer now. I may even be able to see better too. The drivers side is worse. 

Pleased with it for £25 though, and he worked through the pissing rain. Annoyingly he wiped his work down and dulled the beading slightly 

never paid attention to xsara 2 headlaamps really before

wow

those are interesting!

i like!

[beko1987]

1 minute ago, maxxo said:

never paid attention to xsara 2 headlaamps really before

wow

those are interesting!

i like!

Bloody expensive too, £250+ a side is the cheapest new I've found 😢

Part of the reason I had them done now before they got so bad they were too far gone to do

[Pat Earrings]

21 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Bloody expensive too, £250+ a side is the cheapest new I've found 😢

Part of the reason I had them done now before they got so bad they were too far gone to do

Sam I've used the following method countless times and they come up looking as good as new. 

 

I've tried a few methods but genuinely, with patience and minimal tools/equipment, you will have them looking better than the bloke you paid £25 to.

[beko1987]

Ah I'm happy enough! The £25 came from a dyson v6 that went home Tuesday after just needing a strip and wash so I'm still up on the week! 

When they start to go again I'll look at doing it myself as I won't have to be as aggressive for a top up

[Andyrew]

Have a present. 

Ill drop it with the 6s as i wont be at the FOD next weekend.

[beko1987]

11 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Have a present. 

Ill drop it with the 6s as i wont be at the FOD next weekend.

Very kind, thank you! Happy to pony up if you want to pm me details? 

[Andyrew]

2 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Very kind, thank you! Happy to pony up if you want to pm me details? 

Thats okay, you overpaid with the last bits as i didnt have any change.

[beko1987]

Since the last update, I've probably driven it 300 miles... Either way, it was filthy so me and Eva went to mums and washed it

When Eva got bored and went away I got on with a foam, rinse, wash with dodo juice wax safe shampoo then a rinse and dry and fuck me. It looks mint again! Probably one more wash in the wax before it's gone completely, I might look into the cheaper ceramic coating kits this year... I can't wash cars often enough to have wax stay beading and nice, but when I can wash them I can do it very safely, so maybe it's an idea? 

Also did my stepdads car since I was using their driveway, electricity, coffee, toilet, driveway etc. Seemed fair 

Also fitted the new wiper blades I bought at Christmas time... No slight streaking in drizzle now 👍 Kept the old set in the boot, be useful for something at the FoD when we next visit, their not too bad, but wipers are about the one thing that bugs me in a car... Can ignore most other things but as soon as the wipers leave wet smears in the dark and drizzle I'm fucked 😂

We also vacuumed them out and it no longer smells stale

Still not bought new bulbs, nor a new indicator stalk, nor looked into the rusty wing yet... Another day

[beko1987]

Not bad for 3 month old Nattys Blue wax after one wash since

[beko1987]

After a visit to the FoD this weekend the car was full of grass, and not the fun kind

Appropriate tools were deployed

And over the next hour I went at it

The drill brush is amazing even dry, pulls the pile up and the sand out a treat

The rust on the front wing is getting quite bad annoyingly, and she's due an oil change and the new fuel filter I've had forever. Plus I'd like to get the wheels off, I've not checked everything for over a year and the brake performance is a bit meh, may be time for new discs and pads and flexi's at the front this year. Plus the indicator still doesn't properly work but that's electrical and I'm scared of it plus it was an advisory last year its probably going to be an advisory this year. 

It ticked over 164k the other day too 🥳 Good car... 

[beko1987]

Was a nice morning today, so at 8.30am I assembled some equipment... I've had the 2 part full bottles for ages and then a new one, which is actually @gnomeots, although he doesn't own the car we bought it for anymore so I owe you £20 Gareth 👍

Assumed the position

And undertray off. This was a good opportunity to check on my coolant weep. Must be nearly a year since I've been under here... 

Yup, still there. After a few months of not checking we did need to deploy the current bodge... 

Open the cap and observe the foamy gunk that's always there... Too many short trips maybe? 

Take squash bottle from the boot that I've been using for the past couple of years, not refilled it yet

And add 200ml or so! Done... I gave the area and bit of the undertray a clean off so observations can continue

Oil draining, I then went up top and finally fitted the new fuel filter I've had for most of the year... 

Lovely! Oil drained I swapped the filter and had 15 minutes underneath with some cable ties and secured a few rattling wires, then undertray back on! I did note the front brakes. She brakes fine but they might want doing for the next medium size job another day... 

No lip or noticeable scoring but their grubby. Maybe a new set of pads soon before they get any worse? 

Finally a shot of the odometer since this thread is the cars service history and I reset the service indicator. It was down to 3,500. I've not done nearly 9,000 miles since I last did the oil and the indicator, but every time I turn the engine on it drops 50 miles 😂 As some will know, on an average FoD day if I've got the kids I could loose 300 miles of that in a day, stupid thing! 

I'd need to track back and see what milage I've done since the last oil change, but I'd be surprised if it was much over 2,000... But meh, doesn't hurt and its been 12 months. And that's it ready for shitefest now 👌

[beko1987]

And I must confess this is the most maintenance I've really done to it for a year... Its literally been get in, drive, add fuel where needed! It's quite nice. 

[beko1987]

On 10/09/2021 at 14:46, Andyrew said:

Have a present. 

Ill drop it with the 6s as i wont be at the FOD next weekend.

Thanks @Andyrew👌

Never say I'm not prompt... 😂

[beko1987]

28/08/21 - 160,458

03/07/22 - 164,644

4,186 miles. Wow, didn't realise it was that much! Still probably zero need to change the oil at all but hey ho 🤣

Actually another benefit, I've got my waste oil into 2 nice clean oil bottles now so if I remember the next time I pass the tip I can empty them more easily. Some proper gunky shitty slop came out of my drain can after 11 months sitting down the side of the shed 

[RoverFolkUs]

I would say very little point slapping new pads onto those discs, they'll be a bastard to bed in. 

Discs seem to be £22 each in Eicher flavour, and pads another £22

Rear pads only £3.50! 

[beko1987]

31 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I would say very little point slapping new pads onto those discs, they'll be a bastard to bed in. 

Discs seem to be £22 each in Eicher flavour, and pads another £22

Rear pads only £3.50! 

Oh yes, it's a very cheap car to replace things on! If I went all new I'd ask for help doing the flexi's at the FoD and do the whole lot. Did the rear discs pads and flexi's last year and they've been fine since! 

[beko1987]

Drove to work fine, didn't die after 2 miles when the filter housing emptied so that was nice. I dare say it drives a bit better too and doesn't do the lurching it did at 25/30mph in 3rd!

[beko1987]

Can confirm the lurching at low speed in low gears is gone. Had a dickhead right up my arse leaving work and it's a 30, so we did 25... Was smooth, usually after 20 seconds it would start lurching about until I changed the revs slightly. 

He then followed me onto the bypass so we got up to 70 in 3rd which did it the world of good 😂 Matey then tried to get past me after I gave up and went into l1 ready for the m40 exit. L2 slows right down way before as its the London bound m40 lane so I didn't see him again. 

[beko1987]

Since the old tubs booked in for the mot on Friday, and any owner of a £150 car their sticking through for a 3rd year knows they need all the help they could get! Time to clean it out! 

But also, I had a job to do on the hoover side. I bought a shitty old numatic wet vac last week

And have been refurbishing it all week and finally got the pump working! Turns out I'd put the innards in wrong so it was blowing bubbles into the solution rather than sucking it up. Had been used with the wet float in for DIY work (bloke has owned it since new, was moving out of the country in a few weeks and selling everything. Nice big house in a village 4 miles away 👌) 

Luckily the motors survived well and after a good clean up are mint, which is rhe best part really, and it all came up really well. The not working solution pump was because it had a stick in it and the piston was corroded in. 

Now... 

It was time to test it! First dry

Then wet, although I needed some cable ties to set it up

And it shampoos very well, refurb success! Pulled an incredible amount of chair cheese from the velour, perfect day to do all the chairs and the boot floor (screw the footwell, their fine and it was too hot for doing it properly, it's just a test of the machine after all

Dry was nice, this shark turbo head I may have forgotten to send back with my cv100 spun faster than it was probably designed for... 

 

And the seats are alot cleaner! Hopefully it'll smell nice and fresh now and the tester will not hesitate to pass it 👍 (I'm fairly confident tbh, nothings broken or got worse since last year, some eyeballs on the front wing rust at the FoD yesterday had all in agreement it was utterly fine and I removed the bin liner I'd put over the new spare as it was torn and tattered now and an eyeball of the back end reveals its as surface rusty as it was last year). Anything that comes up will be new and unknown about and probably want fixing. 

Anyone want a vax wet vac for a very good price plus postage/FoD collection? The ebay special solution hose drips from the machine connector, but it's got a fuck load of tools and is nicely refurbished. I was keeping it but not now, I've hit a jackpot with this numatic and need to make the space to keep it, it's such an investment. 

Costs:

Big old hoover cost me £25.

New hose clamps and 2 new drill bits to get the rusty screws out were £15 from the lovely shop in town

I'd gone onto fb marketplace initially to sell 2 shitty vax handhelds id been given for free initially for £10 each so if we call that balancing it out I'm at £20 cost to me for it as it sits, which is very decent indeed. 

Especially as bar the switches being on the front, new current style hose and whatever cheapo shitty motors they use nowadays they still sell them 

https://www.greenandwhite.co.uk/Numatic-CTD570-2-p/833059.htm

Mines from 1993 so a far more quality item! 

[Andyrew]

Maybe in the market for a wet vac of some kind for seats and carpets etc etc.  Whats the one your selling like?

[AnnoyingPentium]

We've got the George (big Geordie) wet vacs in work. They're rather good.

[beko1987]

41 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

We've got the George (big Geordie) wet vacs in work. They're rather good.

Yea I've had a few George's before! This is 3x better 😂 (also 2x louder...) 

@Andyrew ill dig all the bits for the vax out and pm you! Got £30 in my head but I'll check all the bits are with it. It does work fine, the cheap ebay solution tube leaks as it connects to the machine, easily solved with a fish tank tune connector and permanently fitting the tubes together 👌

[beko1987]

All dropped off for the mot! I'm not too nervous this year tbh, more worried I've missed a bulb or something so I'll commence the mot day slight_nervousness as is tradition! 

Gl02bxh although I have no idea what time he'll do it, I probably won't look until lunchtime 

[beko1987]

Yey pass! 

[beko1987]

The rear lights were a new one on me. Might take the time to have each bulb out and cleaned and squirt a bit of silicone spray over them ready for winter over the weekend. It's already had one used rear cluster due to corrosion killing the other one.

Bar that I call it a clean pass!

 

A dizzying 5,830 miles since the last MOT. Luckily for me it seems to be coping fairly nicely with low milage, it gets the odd long run in there too

[hairnet]

On 8/14/2022 at 6:37 PM, Andyrew said:

Maybe in the market for a wet vac of some kind for seats and carpets etc etc.  Whats the one your selling like?

when i had the mx5 wanted one as i had a handheld one that pulled like 50ml a time out which was zzzzzzzzzz

bought the blue and black 20L one from wickes which also has a blower

mine was 36 theyre 46 atm

if you were local you could borrow only ever used it twice 

[hairnet]

Just now, beko1987 said:

waffle

 

brown envelope for the tester?

 

[beko1987]

2 minutes ago, hairnet said:

brown envelope for the tester?

 

Nope! My phone wouldnt pay for it at first, and I didnt have my wallet on me! Luckily with the phone unlocked it went through, rather than fingerprint from the closed screen.

It's just what happens when you own £150 20 year old reliable old cheap citroens! You should try it one day

[Zelandeth]

On 8/14/2022 at 10:04 PM, beko1987 said:

Yea I've had a few George's before! This is 3x better 😂 (also 2x louder...) 

@Andyrew ill dig all the bits for the vax out and pm you! Got £30 in my head but I'll check all the bits are with it. It does work fine, the cheap ebay solution tube leaks as it connects to the machine, easily solved with a fish tank tune connector and permanently fitting the tubes together 👌

If Andyrew doesn't take it for any reason I'd like it please.  I've been considering picking something like this up forever.  Just never had made it to the top of the list, and that's far better than anything I'm likely to pick up new in my target price range.

[beko1987]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

If Andyrew doesn't take it for any reason I'd like it please.  I've been considering picking something like this up forever.  Just never had made it to the top of the list, and that's far better than anything I'm likely to pick up new in my target price range.

The deal with Andyrew is done I'm afraid however some fb searching has yielded its little wet use only brother

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/782620953087180/

Assuming the solution tank is sat inside of it it looks a bargain