I'll get round to it at some point - Bratislava and Back: Things not to do in a mk2 Clio

[Rust Collector]

Not a lot of car content in this one I’m afraid, but as you know my storage at the stables is paid* for through volunteering my services to my family as required.

Recently I took the disco and trailer to collect some roofing sheets. This was because the stable block which houses my mum’s tack room had a slightly* leaky roof.

It is also directly exposed to this

So my mum was in a bit of a panic about the incoming storm. Seeing as Tuesday was calm weather, I took the day of work and set about replacing the roof with my Dad. I brought my wobbly as fuck ladder using my improvised builders van.

You can get a 2 metre sheet in the back of an S210, dontchyano?

That’s about 75% of the way through removing the roof. It was a bit daunting to see the whole thing without a roof as it seemed a huge job to sheet it.

Still, against the adversity of my fatness I persevered and we got the job done.

There’s things we would do differently if we did it again and had more time, but we had a day, no prior experience and a storm looming which call helped to streamline the decision making process 🤣 most importantly, it’s watertight and my mum is happy with it. Hopefully it’s still fitted come Friday.

Next up then; in the grumpy thread I complained that the radiator in my son’s room had started leaking. I isolated it straight away, but it was a fucker as it meant his room was colder than normal and he’s currently got a bad fever. Best sort that then.

Obviously the old brackets had been fitted with no adjustment in them. I love drilling holes in my house.

I should really have painted the wall and sorted that crack out, but those are jobs for someone who has time on their hands.

Amazingly, all the connections were water tight first time. God bless PTFE tape.

The carpet stinks though, so I’ll have to shampoo that. I reckon we caught the leak within a day or two so hopefully it’s not too bad.

With the radiator bled my son had a warm room, and the job was an excuse to buy some more tools using the rainy day fund. So that’s positive.

That brings us up to tonight. Last job then; move the cars around so that nothing is on the street outside my house, just in case any bins start rampaging round the neighbourhood.

They're grouped together nice and tightly there, so they should be an easy target for any tiles that come off my roof.

All that’s left is to sit the weather out now…

 

[High Jetter]

As Michael Fish said, "don't worry" 🤣

[rob88h]

Can’t your mum just use a spare S210 as her tack room? I’m pretty sure the laws of physics governing interior space doesn’t apply to them. 

[Rust Collector]

2 hours ago, rob88h said:

Can’t your mum just use a spare S210 as her tack room? I’m pretty sure the laws of physics governing interior space doesn’t apply to them. 

I keep telling her we should put loads of lorry bodies up there, but for some reason she doesn't like the idea...

[Rust Collector]

It’s that time again.

Breakfast:

PC: 1 - the mild anxiety of a collection had the morning logs leave like they’d been fired out a rail gun.

Weather: shite

Spare battery: Charged

It’s all coming together.

[Rust Collector]

Change of plan:

I think the yoghurt had spoiled.

[Rust Collector]

My helper is dressed and ready, and even has appropriate trousers (spoiler alert, we haven’t bought ‘that’ fire engine. Or the other one.)

He’s already getting into the spirit of things and has upped the PC to 2. Teach them whilst they’re young.

My mrs is also properly excited about a new car coming home:

That’s us ready to go then.

[Rust Collector]

Transport method 1 of 1:

[Rust Collector]

Snacks bought:

The real reason for having children:

[Captain Mainwaring]

I've just found myself reading this thread right back from the start again. You are a legend sir. 

[Rust Collector]

Pleasure dealing with you once again @Weird Car! I hope the Clio looks after you well, and I look forward to using the Trans Sport as a practical* family car.

[Weird Car]

39 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Pleasure dealing with you once again @Weird Car! I hope the Clio looks after you well, and I look forward to using the Trans Sport as a practical* family car.

Same back to you 😁

I’m sure my sister will love the Clio and I’m happy Bonk the magic wagon is staying in the fold 

[wesacosa]

despite your public declaration of interest I still wasn't expecting that.  nice one

[Rust Collector]

[Schaefft]

I think the price was very fair for what it is, a practical unique car. I love the dustbusters and if I had the space and fewer cars needing welding I would have totally jumped on it. Maybe in the future.

[Rust Collector]

And we’re home safely.

I didn’t realise my son’s seat couldn’t be belted in rear facing so he’s had a fun ride home getting to see what’s actually going on for a change.

One for the parenting safety standards thread, but gladly we got home without incident.

It drives nicely and I will do my best to daily it I think, as I reckon it’s more fuel efficient and reliable than the Discovery. It feels special to drive, which is really enjoyable.

[High Jetter]

I wasn't expecting that either! Hope to see it in the wild sometime. Son looks mildly terrified, maybe an increased PC?

[brownnova]

Excellent excellent news that good ol’ Bonk has stayed in the fold. 

2 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

I didn’t realise my son’s seat couldn’t be belted in rear facing so he’s had a fun ride home getting to see what’s actually going on for a change

The seatbelts are surprisingly short, I ended up buying seatbelt extenders for it when my little ones were rear facing… but as a terribly unsafe parent mine haven’t been rear facing since they were just over 1. Kids love it, mine still ask if Bonk is ever coming back. 

2 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

It drives nicely and I will do my best to daily it I think, as I reckon it’s more fuel efficient and reliable than the Discovery. It feels special to drive, which is really enjoyable.

This is exactly what I loved doing. It’s really not that bad on fuel.

Great purchase, and I hope you really love running it around. 

[eddyramrod]

17 hours ago, brownnova said:

 

Great purchase, and I hope Bonk winds up with Eddy sometime!. 

EFA

[brownnova]

2 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

EFA

I’d love for Bonk to end up with you some day. I know how much you like them! 

[Rust Collector]

New car excitement has seen us take the Pontiac to the woods today for our morning walk.

I’ve got it set up with just 3 seats inside currently as I had to move a load of stuff last night. The dogs enjoyed the flat floor space, and our elderly lab hopped in through the sliding door which was a surprise as he can be fussy about what he will and won’t step up into. The golden retriever had her mind blown by the lack of a centre console and exhaust tunnel - she sat in between the front seats watching out the front as we drove.

It looked quite small after a modern transit parked behind it.

We then went for a coffee at the beach

My partner has given it her seal of approval, she’s impressed with how comfortable and versatile it is. She said she fancies running something like it, but the LHD would potentially throw her off. I reckon she’d be ok, it’s fairly easy to drive.

We’re now at a retail park, and I think my mrs is on a mission to fill the boot space with Christmas shite.

Later today I’d like to have a poke around the car and see if there’s any small bits I can fix like interior lighting etc., as I reckon the car could come up really nicely with just a little bit of work.

[RoverFolkUs]

What's the story of "B10 NNK" parting ways from it? Surely can't have been that valuable 🤔

[brownnova]

4 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

Later today I’d like to have a poke around the car and see if there’s any small bits I can fix like interior lighting etc

IIRC the interior lights work when the red button by the handbrake release is switched on. Unless the fog light removal has changed that. 
 

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

What's the story of "B10 NNK" parting ways from it? Surely can't have been that valuable 🤔

The story is simply that I wanted to keep the plate as I liked it and as a fond memory of the car. So it’s on the XC90. 

[eddyramrod]

5 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

We’re now at a retail park, and I think my mrs is on a mission to fill the boot space with Christmas shite.

I wish her luck!  Even an experienced wife might need two or three visits.  This thing has more space than a Volvo 740!

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

 

The story is simply that I wanted to keep the plate as I liked it and as a fond memory of the car. So it’s on the XC90. 

Fair enough! Sorry I didn't mean to sound like one of those plate conservation wankers

[Flat4]

So glad to see this has ended up with you! Hope it serves you well for many years.

[Rust Collector]

I've decided that the top priority on the Pontiac is to get the liftgate working properly again.

I had a rummage to see if I had the parts to rebuild it, but from my initial half arsed search it looks like some parts such as the tumblers/retaining clips etc. have disappeared.

I spent far too long last night trawling through parts catalogues, and the part number for the handle for a car with central locking is unique to the APV. And unobtanium.

However

Dorman make a lock kit (part 77101 for ref.) for the Chevy Blazer which is almost identical, but more closely resembles the lock for an APV without central locking. It's obtainable from America through Amazon, costs about £20 + expedited shipping and will be here in December.

A factory in China makes a knock off of this part also, it's cheaper and more shittily made arrives faster. Apparently. 

We can ignore the 'glass' function and colour it in with marker so it says 'ass' or something.

The main difference I can see is that this doesn't have an arm to push the lever on the central locking unit, and it possibly doesn't have a hole in the barrel for the central locking pin. However, I'm hopeful that with the parts I do have I can build something useable.

If this plan fails, then I'll make a bung for the lock cylinder hole and use a solenoid boot popper kit to pull the latches.

Either way, I want to get the boot working properly again. I'll get some struts ordered for it too, as it's mildly terrifying at present - it's definitely waiting to swing shut on my head/limbs at some point whilst I'm using timber to prop it up.

After that, the next things on the list to sort are regaining all speeds of the cabin fan, and getting the interior lights to work again. I'm hoping the cabin fan is something straightforward like the resistor pack as these are readily available, and the interior lights will need some time spent with a multimeter as they are either always on or always off - the fabled red switch doesn't have a bearing on them any longer.

[Schaefft]

I'm renewing my offer given to a previous owner of finding anything that might be hard to find new when I'm back in Germany over the holidays. Plenty of these got sold there and in the Netherlands so interior parts etc shouldn't be too hard/expensive to come by.

[Rust Collector]

3 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

I'm renewing my offer given to a previous owner of finding anything that might be hard to find new when I'm back in Germany over the holidays. Plenty of these got sold there and in the Netherlands so interior parts etc shouldn't be too hard/expensive to come by.

Thanks mate, that could be really helpful if I find myself up against it for parts that aren't supported on places like Rockauto anymore.

[Rust Collector]

Small update on the big Lexus.

It has been getting slow to start lately - you turn the key and there's nothing, not a hint of cranking or anything trying to work. Then suddenly the starter 'wakes up' after a couple of seconds and the car fires up instantly.

Because I was doing fun things like getting more cars, this found its way onto the ignore list.

Ignoring the problem has rewarded me with an FTP this morning, luckily at home. The car won't start at all now, no hint of the starter motor attempting anything.

I don't think it's the battery as you can hear the fuel pump running absolutely fine all the time the key is in the start position.

I'm going to have a look at the battery/leads/earths etc., but my gut feel is it's a tired starter motor. The reason I think it's this, is because you have to take the inlet manifolds off to get at it, and as we know all too well life isn't fair.

More to follow once I've had a chance to do a bit of diagnosis.