THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My £250 OAP special Rover 220 is back in one piece for the first time in many weeks, now it has a gearbox overhauled by my own fair hand. I have also replaced the CV boots and brake pads. Just a leaky brake caliper is all thats stopping it from going for a long-awaited test drive! Since coming into the garage it has had a fairly serious cylinder head overhaul, new cambelt, rebuilt gearbox and assorted odds and ends which hopefully will result in it being a cracking drive.I bought it with 6 months tax on, and decided to leave the tax on it while I sorted the gremlins..... which has taken 5 months. Ho hum...

[j-j]

Excellent 'get you home' skillz mr cubicle.

It doesn't want to draw fuel from the proper fuel tank, I think the fuel lines must be jiggered.

My money is on a pick up filter being blocked to shit. Does your car have a manual fuel priming bulb on the fuel line? (not all diesels had this but my Xantia did) because if it has and this appears to be collapsed then it's a sure thing that the veg oil/diesel mix has caused a cloggage at the tank filter. Can you get to the tank pick up from within the car? under the rear seat or boot maybe?

[whitevanman]

My £250 OAP special Rover 220 is back in one piece for the first time in many weeks, now it has a gearbox overhauled by my own fair hand. I have also replaced the CV boots and brake pads. Just a leaky brake caliper is all thats stopping it from going for a long-awaited test drive! Since coming into the garage it has had a fairly serious cylinder head overhaul, new cambelt, rebuilt gearbox and assorted odds and ends which hopefully will result in it being a cracking drive.I bought it with 6 months tax on, and decided to leave the tax on it while I sorted the gremlins..... which has taken 5 months. Ho hum...

how difficult did you find overhauling the box?

[Richard]

When I replaced the Volvosaurus' handbrake cable a few months ago I noticed that the linings were starting to delaminate. I finally got round to changing them this morning and I have a handbrake again.

 

maybe I should have changed them a bit sooner.

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

After a bit of arsing around this morning cleaning and gapping plugs, the old maestro is now running like a dream! Well, the idle is a tadd uppy-downy, but I suspect that fairly typical of these old semi-electronic shitters.

 

 

w00t!!!!

[Milford Cubicle]

Excellent 'get you home' skillz mr cubicle.

It doesn't want to draw fuel from the proper fuel tank, I think the fuel lines must be jiggered.

My money is on a pick up filter being blocked to shit. Does your car have a manual fuel priming bulb on the fuel line? (not all diesels had this but my Xantia did) because if it has and this appears to be collapsed then it's a sure thing that the veg oil/diesel mix has caused a cloggage at the tank filter. Can you get to the tank pick up from within the car? under the rear seat or boot maybe?

It's running spot on now I've replaced the utter wank 6mm plastic fuel line that runs from the tank to the engine and fitted a heat exchanger and massive engine bay filter. It's running on 100% waste vegetable oil like it's diesel.The tank pick up hole is mounted on the side of the tank, accessible from the wheel arch. I did check the new fuel tank for signs of of a filter but it didn't seem to have one - unlike PSA efforts, the filter isn't mounted on the pick-up but inside the tank, GR0.5 for easy access.

[dollywobbler]

News update in the Dollywobbler fleet.On Friday, 2CV started to lose power. Will be investigating possible air leaks on the induction system this afternoon.Yesterday, collected the Bedford. Goes so well with the 2.3 manual overdrive set up. But ultimately, have no real need for it, so it's going to be up for grabs for £895 with 6 months tax. Now has a passenger door mirror fitted as well as lovely gaffer tape repairs to the front bumper to ensure the MoT pass. It's going to need a new one of those.Today, a 2CVing chum came over and we discussed saving the grey one. It'll need a lot of work but I reckon there's a chance of getting it roadworthy again for around a bag of sand. We had a play with it, and got it running for the first time in 6 years! Sounds sweet.Renault hasn't moved for a few days as we suddenly have five road legal vehicles and I'm trying to go easy on it. Has now locked up 75,000 miles in the same week at the 2CV hit 175,000. 2 MoT passes in a week for the fleet though. Good stuff.

[Cavcraft]

Hmm, Sunday dilemma time earlier. Should I grind the o/s/r arch back on the Mk3 Astra prior to ordering a replacement section and getting someone to weld it in, or should I do it the Autoshite way?

 

Fuck it, went for a wander round a local carboot sale* and came up trumps with a hardly used B&D sander thing for £12.00 with loads of attachments and shit...

 

So back home, quick flit round my shed and found some yonks old Isopon and what not...

 

How it was...

Made worse by poking about and using a wire brush...

 

So after some piss arsing about it started to look a little better...

 

And on to the finished article. In keeping with doing things the shite way it's a) not exactly show standard repair work and sprayed with Halfords Alumimium rattle cans instead of the proper colour. Primer was some weird old Ford colour (quid a tin from Cholmondeley Castle show last year) and yes I have oversprayed on the bumper, and missed some bits I should have filled...

 

So yeah, a bit wank but still somehow much better than it was and done on a budget of the square root of fuck all really.

 

 

 

 

*GR8 4 spotting incredibly fugly fat birds with tattoos on their wrist.

[Father Ted]

And people laughed at me when I did the Micras cross member!Daves Isopon - Ive smelt it, its the future.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey cavette, can you tell us a bit about your valeting machine? I've been on the Karcher website and I cant find anything like it. I was so impressed with your efforts with it I was looking to see where I could get one from.

[Cavcraft]

I'll try and get the details chief. Got it second hand, bit of an old thing but works ace.

 

Meanwhile Tim's due to borrow it soon so if you want a bash when he's finished just let me know.

 

*Edit: It's a Karcher Puzzi. Google seems to show this being the latest one...

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PI ... er=froogle

 

(Cheaper on eGaY)

[pogweasel]

GR8 bogging work!

[r.welfare]

Hey, that arch looks OK to me! Better than I managed on my old Belmont, anyhow.This weekend I have been playing with the Avensizzzzzz. Had Gavin From Autoglass round the other day to try and sort out the bodged lower rubber seal on the tailgate window, he managed to get it out (loadsasilicone sealant, mmm) but reckoned I'd need a new tailgate window to get the new one as it wouldn't go in situ and he couldn't work out how to get the old window out without cutting the heated rear window wires.Anyway, 10 minutes of softening up the new rubber in hot water, then 5 minutes' tugging with a spray of soapy water (fnarr) and the new one is on, saving me £177 + VAT for a new rear window, thanks very much. And Gavin never charged me for his hour's labour, which is also nice.Also managed to get the hands-free kit working again after changing the handset cradle and sorting out the rat's nest of wires under the glovebox.I popped into Kwik-Fit to get the a/c topped up (not my usual choice, but I was passing and they were quiet) but there's a leak somewhere, so that's the next job, along with working out which of the five (I think) lambda sensors is not working properly. Hopefully it's not the catalytic converters (of which it has three). Gulp.On a Futureshite bent, I serviced a 2006 Megane CC 1.6 yesterday which had 65k on the clock and has never been serviced in it's life (owner has had from new) I take back all I have said about the reliability of French cars as apparently nothing has gone wrong with it. Odd choice of transport for a bus driver, I think he should chop it in for a Mk2 Granada or S3 XJ6 forthwith, but there you go.There was some serious sludge around the oil filler cap but (thanks to the girlfriend of the owner ragging the car - on my instruction - on the way over to my house to get the oil nice and hot) the oil all came out OK. Wouldn't like to look under the cam cover though, bet it looks like it's full of earwax. Surprisingly the spark plugs and air filter were not as bad as I expected, although the fuel filter contained plenty of brown silt (and gave me an unleaded bath as I didn't depressurise the fuel system beforehand).Hopefully it will be serviced more regularly now and the change of oil won't loosen some crud in the system and block the oil pump. Certainly sounded a lot quieter when it left than when it came in. Not a bad car to work on apart from the stupid air filter screw location and 10min needed to remove/replace the full undertray (top marks to Renner for using decent metal Torx bolts though), but I wouldn't want to have to do anything more major as there's not a lot of room in the engine bay.

[Ratdat]

Hey D Hirst Esq! You've got some serious competition in the executive airport run taxi sector now...

 

 

It's pimp. I like it

[Minimad5]

Tell ya what Cav' you find some right bargains you sir !£20 for that sander, and that Karcher Puzzi looks like a serious piece of kit.Great work on the arch, hope there are no stones added

[Cavcraft]

Cheers, and it was £12.00 for the sander No stones, lollipop sticks or tinfoil were added to the arch. Some 'proper' mesh and fibreglass added pre-filler, just a little more filler to go over the bits I missed and it should be ok then.

[pogweasel]

It does look alright, especially as I have witnessed father-in-law trying to remove rust from his 10 year old transit in a desperate bid to scrape another MoT... I'd take some pictures of the utter horror, but I'd feel bad for doing so. The concept of removing all the grot has gone by the by, as has the idea of actually fully welding the repair arches in, I guarantee they will laugh the old chap out of the shop when they see patches tacked on. Think I will have to take a day off to help him sort it better.

[Guest]

Hey D Hirst Esq! You've got some serious competition in the executive airport run taxi sector now...

Looking good! Two-tone is the only way to go.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I finally got my Rover 220 back on 4 wheels last night for the first time in 5 months and employed fatha_bol to give it a 20-mile test drive. It seems to be absolutely 110% bob-on, gearbox is smooth and silent, engine is leak-free and sounds like a brand spanker. No clonks or rattles, perfect weight to the clutch pedal, its genuinely 'like new' to drive. I love it!!! Just needs a good wash and polish to finish off now. A lovely car!Cant afford to insure it just yet though sadly so there'll be a little delay before I can start caning it up and down the A50.

[Cavcraft]

GR8 result Mr_Bo11ox, you must be srsly happy with that? What are the plans for it, daily commuter or something?

[Cavcraft]

Got a couple of cheap scooter panels the other day as fancied practising tidying them up.

One was particulary well dented/rough so was ideal, the other not as bad but not perfect either.

 

First off how the worse one looked...

 

First job was to borrow some dent knocking tool things from a neighbour. Bloody handy tools these were and although not perfect so far thay did very well straightening bigger dinks/dents...

 

Then started stripping them yesterday afternoon/evening, wire brush drill attachment and paint stripper being the order of the day...

 

And so far have got one of them like this...

 

Most of the paint now off, plan is to remove it all then whang a light spray of primer over it to try and highlight the dents better. Then will try and tap more of them out and fill in the rest with a light skim of filler and primer again before a top coat.

Probably wasted time knocking dents out before removing the paint as now stripped they are more obvious, but it's a learning curve for me if nowt else. Hopefully over the weekend I'll have finished the worse one, it keeps me occupied and I enjoy arsing about doing things like this. In between I'll finish the arch on my lad's Astra.

[Rocket88]

Arse! Took the Maestro dizzler round to the windsreen bloke on Wednesday to replace the cracked screen., got a phone call to tell me that the windscreen surround was a "problem" . Sure enough, it's got some fairly impressive grot in it [which is why the srcreen cracked in the first place]. Weekend welding bits of new surround in then............... Bit strange, considering the rest of the car is pretty much grot free.

[trigger]

Just seen a moped in my neighbours garden that he's dragged out of his shed, it's got Camino on the side and pedals like a pushbike, I know nothing about bikes so god knows what it is, it a old R reg and was last taxed in 1996.

[Cavcraft]

Pretty basic pedal and pop Honda affair, similar to stuff like the Tomos moepd you could get from catalogues at a quid a week for the 300 years or something.

[garethj]

Arse! Took the Maestro dizzler round to the windsreen bloke on Wednesday to replace the cracked screen., got a phone call to tell me that the windscreen surround was a "problem" . Sure enough, it's got some fairly impressive grot in it [which is why the srcreen cracked in the first place]. Weekend welding bits of new surround in then............... Bit strange, considering the rest of the car is pretty much grot free.

Perhaps it's had the screen, or dash and screen out in early life? Some hamfisted work with a screwdriver onto the screen surround can soon take all the paint off

[dollywobbler]

2CV is running ok, but occasionally pinking. As I'm using it for Drive It Day on Sunday, I'm hoping that either additive or super unleaded will cure it in the short term. Could be that the timing's out. I may investigate this.Mini started making some interesting noises on my wife's commute yesterday. Turned out to be rust in the drums. Sorted.Renault has a slight misfire at 60mph (and generally under light throttle) especially when cold. I may investigate this.The BX still has occasionally-binding front brakes. I may investigate this.Bedford is failing to start. Starter motor's had it I think. I may investigate this.Or, I may do absolutely sod all and enjoy the sun!

[Rocket88]

Arse! Took the Maestro dizzler round to the windsreen bloke on Wednesday to replace the cracked screen., got a phone call to tell me that the windscreen surround was a "problem" . Sure enough, it's got some fairly impressive grot in it [which is why the srcreen cracked in the first place]. Weekend welding bits of new surround in then............... Bit strange, considering the rest of the car is pretty much grot free.

Perhaps it's had the screen, or dash and screen out in early life? Some hamfisted work with a screwdriver onto the screen surround can soon take all the paint off

Could well be. Had another look at it, and it's not too bad, although I'm going to have to paint both screen pillars when I've got the grot out.

[Minimad5]

I own another FiestaThis one is a Mk3 1.1 SX And requires alot of work from the magic welding stickPictures shall be added to my already full Mk1 & Rebel thread (This will take time ... slow internet)

[Spottedlaurel]

Spent a pleasant few hours getting sorted for track day at RAF Marham tomorrow. I'm taking the Camry Sport, which does have good handling and grip so it should be interesting (its capabilities will far exceed mine).Utterpiffle's back from Germany for it, and he popped round in the MX5 with a set of wheels and tyres for me to take on his behalf. That's on top of the set of 15" steels I robbed off the Camry estate for me, so it's well-loaded. I'm not sure if it's what Toyota GB intended when they gave it that nice Connolly leather interior...Report and photos to come. I'm sure there'll be a good variety, with Retro-Rides and Autobahnstormers in attendance as well as Pistonheads.

[trigger]

Pretty basic pedal and pop Honda affair, similar to stuff like the Tomos moepd you could get from catalogues at a quid a week for the 300 years or something.

That's the one, I spoke to my neighbours son about it earlier, It was his uncles who's owned it from new, It's still only got 2000 miles on it, He's had a play and got it running now and plans to give it do his 16 year old son to learn to ride.

 

Here's a cheeky over the fence shot of it.