THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[Angrydicky]

Is that damp patch next to the trailer where Torsten's been parking the A35?

[michiel]

Ah.

[red5]

This week I am mostly tracing random fuel stoppages/blockages and wondering how to refit the sump plug on the Fronterror.

 

The 1st was the extra seal fitted to the fuel filter by a 'garage' and the second was by careful use of ptfe tape and Araldite.

[Guest]

New this week from Volvo Carsh BV (Nederland)!

 

 

 

Yesh! It's the 480 Kettle! Available from all good stockists*(Stockport) for around £280. Despite the ongoing ingress of water, the electrics will function perfectly after giving the N\S cluster a slap.

 

*SCTSH_ANDY MOTORZ and Peoria exempt.

[Cavcraft]

 

Off to a holiday home 250miles away. Don't expect much in the way of progress reports for a couple of years...

 

Ah, that's the weird Yank pick-up (think it had a Transit diesel engine or something in it) he had at his yard by the looks of it. Kev's a legend.

[Shep Shepherd]

Just returned from having the new Nexens fitted to the front wheels of TV2, by the excellent but unfortunately named Dave Spurt of X-Spurt tyres in Rochford

 

[dollywobbler]

Have helicoil, now about to try and repair one of the busted cylinder heads for the 2CV. Am roping in the wife - that's how serious this is! (she has that patience stuff that I seem to lack...)

[Angrydicky]

B*llocks.

 

 

 

The A55 snapped a trackrod end last night, in torrential rain. Had to wait four hours for a recovery truck, when it finally arrived, it was a tilt-bed instead of the spec lift I'd asked for, due to the nature of the breakage. In the end I drove it, sideways, onto the bed while the driver kicked the wheel in an attempt to stop it going over the edge.

 

Got a new pair of trackrod ends on order from Earlpart with GUARANTEED NEXT DAY DELIVERY so I'm hoping the car will be back on the road soon...

[seth]

Ouch, sorry to hear that Adicky.

 

Cavette, Kev's truck is a '68 Ford F150 with a slightly dodgy made up aluminium bed. A proper bed is on the shopping list but is not really a high priority. It had an exceptionally smokey/rattly Perkins engine in it but its now got a slightly better (2.5?) diesel lump. It may yet get a 2.8 turbo though. GR8 4 BEIN LEZ EXEMPT.

[meggersdog]

The Discovery is now back together.I spent all of Tuesday fitting a new heavy duty clutch kit,heavy duty fork,new slipper pads and a new clip for the actuating rod.After that I just popped the gearbox back in,well struggled on my own on my back sitting the 'box on trolley jacks then with hands around the bellhousing I pushed the car onto the gearbox with my feet...Having nursed the car for the last few months with a cracked clutch fork every time I pulled out of junctions yesterday I kept stalling it.

[dollywobbler]

Have successfully fitted a helicoil to one of my many damaged 2CV cylinder heads. Glad to say it was a success. Got it all back together, had a quick bodyworkless drive up our lane (off the public highway m'lud) and it seemed fine. Dropped the engine oil for a service and then noticed a really bad leak from the LH pushrod tubes. Pondered for a bit how I was going to investigate this now I'd removed all of the engine's oil, opted to put the old stuff back in again.

 

Gave the pushrod tubes a bit of a shove and no leaks at all. Suspect an alignment issue with the seal (the pushrod tubes are of course horizontal). Then tried getting the air filter assembly back on but got defeated by a rubber hose that won't play ball. Not sure what my next move is. Well, it's sitting here with a nice cup of tea and some cake, but not sure what I'll do tomorrow.

 

Has been made more interesting today because I've had to keep busy with work stuff as well. Writing and mechanicing are not ideal bed fellows...

[Pete-M]

Have quite probably ended up with the 406 gone, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 on LPG.

 

Back to a diesel-free fleet, woo!

[Polystratus]

Gave the pushrod tubes a bit of a shove and no leaks at all. Suspect an alignment issue with the seal (the pushrod tubes are of course horizontal). Then tried getting the air filter assembly back on but got defeated by a rubber hose that won't play ball. Not sure what my next move is. Well, it's sitting here with a nice cup of tea and some cake, but not sure what I'll do tomorrow.

 

Try to fit the hose tomorrow, leave it for a day and these things always work better the next day.

[Richard]

Try talcum powder on the hose.

[Shep Shepherd]

Just bagged ten brand new and boxed H7 headlamp bulbs for £8.99 on eBay. TV2 will love me for this

[wuvvum]

a Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0 on LPG.

Ooh, I rather like those. I've been eyeing a few up on the Bay recently - they do look rather good value.

[The Moog]

Vovlo 850 has got an electric leak somewhere. Flattened battery before christmas. Fitted new battery last week. 3 days later flat. Charged again and put it back in today. Put a multimeter on the battery and watched the volts drop .4v in about 30 seconds. Will need further investigation .. but not in the pouring rain.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

My lovely Landcrab just drove out of my life!!! Sniff

[Angrydicky]

My lovely Landcrab just drove out of my life!!! Sniff

 

I hope you told the new owner about Autoshite?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I didnt actually.... I got into the habit of not telling anyone, due to embarrassment at the high level of sub-facebook drivel that we sometimes like to fill the site up with, although to be fair its been a bit better of late.

[Cavcraft]

Now Wat's back things can only get better.

 

Passat's latest toys out of pram moment is the n/s/f door won't lock/unlock with the central locking. I think it's down to the same reason the interior lights don't work, which involves pulling up the rear carpet and checking the ECU-ish thing. Oh, and the boot decided not to open again recently.

[barefoot]

I've not used the van for a bit, it's been replaced as my daily by the Scirocco.

Tried starting it the other day & it turned very slowly as all the electricity had leaked out.

Charged it a bit yesterday and it started without problem so I drove it to the end of the road

turned left, along a bit and then dropped into first for the speed bump when it cut out.

I tried to restart & it spun & spun until the battery was again starting to show signs of distress.

Walked home, fetched Scirocco & jump leads, spun & spun & spun & spun...

 

200 yards & I'd run it out of petrol*

What a twat!

 

 

*it hasn't had a petrol gauge for 55,000 miles & this is the 3rd time I've done it.

[Pete-M]

Been a busy old day today.

 

The 406 MOT had been mislaid by the chap who stored it for me for a few months, and as it needed a VIC check I don't have the V5 for it at the moment, which means it's impossible to get a reprint of the MOT certificate. Nice one DOOVLA. So, rang the MOT station and booked it in for a test, even though it was MOT'd until the end of May. Kinda knew it should be ok as it has been off the road since about August and hadn't covered many miles since the last test. It passed Needed to replace a couple of sidelight bulbs, and the number plate bulbs had dimmed somewhat, but other than that, all is good.

 

Once that was done, took it back home so I could ring the insewerance company, pick up a cover note, and toddle off to Chester to tax it and arrange for a V5 to be sent (have to sign a declaration that the car has been VIC checked, even though they checked it...). Rang insewerance and they said "You're with Tradex, we can't issue a cover note as it has to be sent by them", so that was my plan shafted.

 

So, looks like I'll be taking another day off work next week to sort this out.

[trigger]

Well, My Bora failed it's MOT a few days ago on just a pair of front tires which isn't too bad, Whilst at the garage it also had it's front suspension top mount replaced, a pair of CV boots replaced and a set of headlight bulbs fitted, The bill only came to £250, My mechanic only charged £50 labour for all the work, You can't really complain about that.

[Cavcraft]

This week oi 'ave been mostly negotiating a deal for the absolute epitome of motoring shitness. Not shite, but shit. REALLY shit. More details end of the month when I collect it.

[dollywobbler]

My autoshite day.

Continued with 2CV work. She was leaking oil yesterday, a driveabout up the lane revealed a very minor weep from the other side! Well, I'm not ripping the heads off again, so sod it. Seems to be dropping less oil than the Mini so I dropped the oil (again), whipped the filter off - even pulled off the rocker covers to get all of the oil out. Fresh oil in (even annealed the copper washer on the sump plug - go me!), rechecked the valve clearances, in go the new plugs and it sounded beautiful.

 

Had a battle with the airfilter-to-carb hose that began yesterday and ended today with me hurling tools around. A new one is on order. Despite this set-back, I actually attended to all of the grease points, squirted some anti-corrosion wax around while the front wings were off and then had to do some work. Hoping the new hose will arrive tomorrow - also need to check the gearbox oil level.

 

Before work, and to allow me to calm down after the hose FAIL, we went for a walk. Decided to go in the Mini. Open the doors to discover several inches of water in the footwells. It has rained a lot recently but that's still ridiculous! Baled out and remove the rubber bungs from the floor. I think the Mini had better go back into the garage. It's running on as well - despite just having an ignition service (not carried out by me). Brakes still knackered - caliper rebuild kits on the way. Starting to realise that we might have to sell this one as my wife's hardly driving at all, and I'd rather drive pretty much any of our other vehicles.

[The Moog]

Changed the Fuel Filter on the Xantia after 800 miles on veg as recommended. Now it smokes like a northern landlady. Took all the housing apart and made sure it was screwed down properly. I can see air going in somewhere and I can only think that it is something to do with the housing.

 

Will have another go tomorrow having a look at it in between finding a new place to live (hopefully with Garage:) ) packing etc.

 

Still loosing coolant from somewhere as well. Adding loads of little bits to the list..

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

The housings are a shitter to seal properly.

[The Moog]

Thinking that maybe it is because it is SVO and no diesel

 

Stupid thing is that it was running perfectly and the filter was hunky dory and now I have angered the french trolls living in the engine bay ..

[M'coli]

Finally took the head off the Cav today - head gasket leakage in pot 4, but doesn't look as if it'll need a head skim. Bores are good for 103K. It does however, look as if it's not the first time the head's been off, judging by the sealant and damage/marks on the head.