Dyslexic Viking's vehicle fleet.

[loserone]

26 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Do not know what this is called but is an 8mm square

1/4" drive ratchet?

[Dyslexic Viking]

4 minutes ago, loserone said:

1/4" drive ratchet?

None of my ratchets fit if that was what you were thinking? 

And I have all the 3 regular sizes.

[320touring]

Most Renaults have the 8mm drain plug - you can get a special socket for it, but your modified 3/8th adaptor is just as good😀

Be interested in seeing what comes back on the oil analysis - only ever seen it done in the USA previously.

It looks a solid enough van, and you are making good progress in overcoming all the previous owners neglect, so it should be good for many years.

[Dyslexic Viking]

There I learned something new, I did not know that Renault had such drain plugs. And I think that this is a good idea to take an oil analysis on this one as I do not know how long the oil has been in it and it will also give an insight into the condition of the engine.

And yes it seems solid so I hope I can get many years out of it. And i should I as I'll be spending a lot of time and money on this one. So hope it will last a while.

 

[Saabnut]

@Dyslexic Viking now I am back offshore Norway I thought I would start hunting through finn.no again. The last time I was here, they used to have a "veteranbil" button that usefully listed only the veteranbil in the for sale section. Now, I cannot find it. Has it gone or am I just being stupid again?

[Dyslexic Viking]

4 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

@Dyslexic Viking now I am back offshore Norway I thought I would start hunting through finn.no again. The last time I was here, they used to have a "veteranbil" button that usefully listed only the veteranbil in the for sale section. Now, I cannot find it. Has it gone or am I just being stupid again?

I think it's gone. So now you just have to search by year. If you find it a little difficult to make a search for cars, just say so and say what the search should be and I can make one and post a link to it.

[Popsicle]

I know you've adapted a socket drive to fit the sump plug but kits like this are only around £10 from ebay, useful to have in case you come across any others.

[Dyslexic Viking]

5 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

I know you've adapted a socket drive to fit the sump plug but kits like this are only around £10 from ebay, useful to have in case you come across any others.

Thanks! I have to buy this as it can be useful.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Work on the Vivaro continues. Yesterday I washed it, it was a lot of work as it has probably not been washed properly in several years. But got it clean and it became much nicer to look at. But it will never be very pretty as it has a lot of dents and scratches.

 

So today I wanted to renew the faded plastic on it. I have good experience with this product on plastic how long it lasts is not sure but it is a while.

 

Working around the whole car and on this picture before and after is clear.

So with this and a wash this is much better to look at.

[Fumbler]

You've just reminded me that I have a tin of that stuff somewhere- I might even use it now!

[Dyslexic Viking]

The next today was the lower part of the body on the right side this has a lot of damage and it has started to rust in some of these damages.

The rust spots was sanded down and applied rust converter

The next thing I did is probably not something everyone likes and that is that I painted the lower part of the body in black. The reason for this is that it helps to hide all the damage I also think it is nicer than just painting each damaged spot and rust spot.

 

I am reasonably happy with the result. If this one is to be like new again, it had to have a lot of body work and new paint, something that will never happen. So I just have to live with this.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Today I had a look at the lower part of the body on the left side of the Vivaro. And this side is fortunately in much better condition than the right side.

 

But there are some rust spots the largest is right behind the front wheel just as it was on the other side.

So not bad. Of the damage on the left side the worst are behind the sliding door where the damage/dents has started to rust.

 

And as yesterday, everything was sanded down, rust converter applied to the rust and then painted. I did not need on this side to paint the entire bottom part in black so I painted the little that was needed. Further up on the body, gray paint similar to existing paint was used. And I went over the whole  van and painted over various small damages in the paint.

So then the bodywork is over, now only the underside is left. Which I will take after it has been cleaned properly. But is so far really impressed with how well this van has held up to rust.  In comparison, my fathers Hiace van needed both welding and much painting before it was 10 years old.

 

Vivaro also has received an appointment with the Norwegian authorities in May. Where it will be inspected and re-registered with a cut hole in the partition wall  is nervous about this. And this is absolutely necessary when making any changes to vehicles here.

[Dyslexic Viking]

I'll not be posting much about my modern shopping cart. But today was one of my favorite days of the year. The day I change from studded winter tires to summer tires. It also means I can take off the awfully ugly aftermarket aluminum rims. Hopefully this will be the last season I have to use them.

Winter tires and winter rims

Summer tires and summer rims

A big problem with the winter rims is that they are too open so road salt blows straight into the brakes snow can also get into the brakes so not good. Also got the brakes disassembled and cleaned and lubricated. And the underside of this bears the mark of 6 months with winter this was clean underneath this fall and this is a mixture of gravel, sand and road salt and is a thick coating under the whole car.

 

Even the inside of the wheels has a layer about 5 mm thick

So the next thing I need to do is wash this car thoroughly underneath. But am glad I have this to use for the winter. As the winter here is hard on the cars so you do not want to use older cars and cars you want to take care of in the winter.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Work continues on the Vivaro. Is not the most interesting but posts an update from time to time. Have the last few days painted a little on some rust stains on the roof and other small things and today it was time for a job I have not looked forward to. And it is to take out the plastic in the wheel housings (do not know what they are called in English?) Know from experience that there can be many nasty surprises here. But I was lucky is only surface rust and I will do something about this after this gets a thorough cleaning on the underside tomorrow.

 

And taking down this plastic was a struggle and some of the fastners in front were difficult to get out and this was a very dirty job I got full of gravel and sand and was a lot behind the plastic as well.

Was really time for a cleaning here.

So not bad. So then this has a wet appointment with a  pressure washer tomorrow.

[320touring]

That looks reasonably solid! Nothing really worrying there

 

They are called "Arch Liners" in English😁

[Dyslexic Viking]

Thanks then I know what they're called. And is surprised at how well it has withstood rust. But it remains to be see what the underside looks like after a proper cleaning, hope there are no bad surprises.

[Dyslexic Viking]

So then the Vivaro was washed on the underside today. And it got a lot cleaner. In the wheel wells I chose to use the rotating nozzle for the  pressure washer. This is very powerful and I would not dare to use it on the outside of the car. But it is nice to use here and it has the advantage that it blows away all the paint on rust bubbles and rust stains, which saves me a lot of work in sanding.

But there was a lot of paint that disappeared so know what I have to do the next  days. This is just one wheel well.

 

So there is more rust than what it looked like but luckily everything is just surface rust.

One of the front strut towers

 

 

And the rest of the underside was washed with the chassis washer I have for the Karcher  pressure washer.

This is a very good tool just a shame they stopped making it.

 

After all the washing, I took it out for a drive and got rid of all the water in the brakes and this also helpes it with drying. And when I came back it thanked me with this.

Owners manual for this is in German so it is useless so guesses that  this is check engine light? And it's weird since I've not been near the engine hoping it's gone when it gets a little dryer.

I also removed the spare wheel before washing and the spare wheel crib is to rusted so it was taken off.

So then the next thing is to inspect the underside and paint a lot.

[busmansholiday]

[Dyslexic Viking]

6 minutes ago, busmansholiday said:

Thanks. So then there is water in the diesel filter or a electronic fault. A little strange if there has come water in the diesel filter by wasing it but can drain it of water to be sure. But I think more that it is something electronic that has got water in it.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Completed the wheel wells at the back of the Vivaro today and am very pleased with the result.

 

And after this Fluidfilm was applied for extra protection.

And then everything was covered up.

[Popsicle]

On 4/21/2022 at 6:10 PM, Dyslexic Viking said:

And the rest of the underside was washed with the chassis washer I have for the Karcher  pressure washer.

This is a very good tool just a shame they stopped making it.

I didn't know these existed, what a wonderfully useful attachment to have.

[Dyslexic Viking]

10 hours ago, Popsicle said:

I didn't know these existed, what a wonderfully useful attachment to have.

Yes they are great and have used this a lot.

[mat_the_cat]

I've got one of those too, and use it quite a lot in the winter. It's amazing how much crap comes off!

[Dyslexic Viking]

Today I did a fun job with the Vivaro that I have been looking forward to. And it's soundproofing it as it's like most vans very tinny if that's the right word?

I chose to buy Dynamat Xtreme as I do not want to risk buying some cheap shit where I risk the glue failing after a short time.

 

And I'm not good at getting things to look nice but this was fine enough as it will be covered over. I could also only afford 1 package with this so had to use everything as best I could and managed to cover everything except the doors and floor.

 

If you are wondering why there is a little Dynmat missing in the picture above, it is because there is going to be a vent there. And this was very successful became a noticeable difference so I am very happy with this and was worth doing.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Then I'm done with rust work on the Vivaro. Have not posted much about it as this is boring work. But I am very happy as this has no rust holes and the worst of the rust was behind the arch liners and everything was surface rust. Also has Fluidfilm treated cavities and necessary places underneath. So can finish this with 2 pictures from below this that show the condition that it is in and is impressive considering its age and mileage.

So Renault did a good job with the rust protection on these.

And today I had to work a little on the Hyundai. When I changed wheels a few weeks ago, I disassembled and cleaned the brakes for the first time in my ownership and then discovered that the lower brake sliders both sides in front was stuck so tight that I had to knock them out with a hammer. This car has until I bought it been maintained at the main dealer so this does not surprise so they have probably never taken out the sliders and greased them up. This was probably the reason why the inner brake pad on both sides was worn out. So today I replaced the brake pads and brake discs on both sides front. The brake discs was also very worn. And this car is as always, fantastic to work on.

 

Also changed the belt on this one today as it still had the original one and after 5 years and 107,000km it was time to change. This is the easiest belt change i have done in my life all that was needed was a 14 mm combination wrench to lift the tensioner and the job took only a few minutes.

And on how many cars can one still see the ground in the engine compartment? And finally, I'll just show you how easy an oil change with oil filter is on this one. You do not need to jack it up or drive it up on ramps, just lie down in front of the car and a short distance under the car the filter and drain plug are easily accessible. I like cars that are made to be easy to work on and service.

 

[juular]

The chassis on this is Galvanized which is why you rarely see a rusty one unless damaged somehow.

Saying that I did once dent a part of the sill on my first van and I left it unprotected on Scotland's salty roads for 3 years. It didn't rust at all!

[Dyslexic Viking]

9 minutes ago, juular said:

The chassis on this is Galvanized which is why you rarely see a rusty one unless damaged somehow.

Saying that I did once dent a part of the sill on my first van and I left it unprotected on Scotland's salty roads for 3 years. It didn't rust at all!

This is really impressive had it been a Toyota Hiace you would have had a big rust hole after 3 years.

[Dyslexic Viking]

On Monday, I cut away most of the partition wall on the Vivaro. Wanted to keep some of it for safety so this was the result.

For this to be legal, it must change the registered vehicle group with the Norwegian authorities. I booked an appointment for this 1 month ago and the appointment was today. So I met up with this at the road and vehicle office in Arendal today.

I've been very nervous about this but I did not have to be. I got a very nice older guy as caseworker and after some pictures and some paper work, the Vivaro changed from being registered as a van to being registered as a 3 seater passenger vehicle. Which also meant that it lost its green Norwegian van registration plates and got new white plates instead.

So this is great and a big hurdle is now finished on this one. Then it's the camper conversion next but that will have to wait a little until I get enough funds to start.

[320touring]

Great work on passing the inspection for change of registration 😀

[Dyslexic Viking]

Have been quiet with my old Audi for a while so may give a little update. Will be getting it out of winter hibernation soon but am unsure if the engine is running properly and if it is running  too hot. The Vivaro is prioritized this year so this may be parked for the season this year if it has too many problems.

But one thing that happened recently with this one. My uncle (my father's brother) was visiting here for the first time in a long time and told him that I was looking for a hat to have on the parcel shelf on the Audi as it would fit with the car's old man appearance. And then my uncle gave me my great-grandfather's hat (he was my dad's grandfather) something that I find special and wonderful. He died early so my father dont remember him. So then some of my great-grandfather is with me in the Audi something that is a bit special.