Leather Clad, Plus Sized, Gallic Beauty* - Ruff's Latest Lament

[ruffgeezer]

OK so in spite of a high level of cuntitude from the ParcelForce fuckwit, I now.have both windo regulators for the Laguna.

The rear one went back in with no bother, which left repairing the front one.

Having been 'modified' by Big Bobby Sausage Hands,  the previous control unit looked like this:

Which lead to a burnt out control unit and a multiplug looking like it lived at the bottom of the fishtank.

so how best to clean up that multiplug?   A bit of a tickle with a stiff wire brush and the the secret weapon;  a soda blasting gun:

Which left a rather happier looking connector:

 

When I When the replacement mechanism off of the cables, it still didn't work, but on replacing the fuse, the motor moved -reluctantly-  at this point I noticed one of the cable channels had broken, and no about of bodging it about would rescue it.

As this was the only higher spec mechanism, ive ordered a rebuild kit from ebay, because I just don't have enough aggro already!

Still need to sort that wheel bearing though.

 

[ruffgeezer]

There is a complete second hand hub on route for this.  Historically we've found when the wheel bearing is as cunted as this one, it'll bugger the hub up too, almost certainly seeing off the bearing in short order.

[ruffgeezer]

Still waiting for parts, so this morning I started the job I'd been putting off for as long as possible...

That minging interior.  

Inside, under the seats and everywhere is covered in dust and hay, as if someone had carried out a controlled explosion on a Shetland pony.

The boot was filthy even under the industrial spec boot liner.

Some time with a slightly asthmatic parkside vacuum and the Bissel spot cleaner, got the rear carpets looking far happier.

I'm going to sponge down the seats and treat them to some leather feed when I next get a bit of time.

This is the filth soup from the boot and rear carpets...

A couple of blasts with the pressure washer and the boot liner can be reinstalled. 

[ruffgeezer]

Got the rear seats cleaned and the leather fed.  I'll have a look are the fronts another day... Bleugh.

Did find a rather nice pocket knife tucked down beside the seat though!

@beko1987 Do you remember where the big secret binocular hiding place was?

[beko1987]

Oooh I've not seen this yet, you've got a gooner! Will catch up properly after work, I'm sure down the back of the glove box rang a bell but I can't remember now... Do they have the drawers under the front seats? Sure the mk1 had one passenger side I opened once... 

[ruffgeezer]

Nice little gift from amongst the filth!

[ruffgeezer]

Today's task then, is to attach the replacement knuckle in the hope of curing the toasted wheel bearing.  I've used a complete second hand one as I was fairly sure it would have cooked the wheel hub as well as the bearing.

I enlisted an assistant on this one, and removal didn't go too badly at all:

 

Old vs New,  i was a little nervous that the replacement would be different but i spent a few hours trawling part numbers to ensure the casting was the same.

Halfway done, and and time for a well earned brew,  my eldest has been assisting today:

Drawing the driveshaft through the hub;  because the replacement part had been off of the car a while, we spent a good time wire brushing everything but it the shaft was still tight to get in. Here we've got a smallish ratchet on the hub nut to pull the shaft through.

A bit of satin black on the exposed bits of tinware.

 

I'm not sure how well it has come out, but you can see the heat discolouration of the bearing inner race and the hub itself...

 

[ruffgeezer]

MOT booked for tomorrow morning,  I know there is a loose heatshield underneath somewhere, but I'm too cold and fucked to be laying in a puddle looking at that now.

Still to attend to:

• Re-balance front wheels
• Swap TPMS sensors around in the diagnostics
• Fix heatshield
• Small service
• Sell

[ruffgeezer]

Managed to get the service written up and the front wheels rebalanced today, still a mild shimmy occasionally but way better than they were.

This is the fun I had when I did the rear subframe bushes a while back:

Not the easiest of jobs, but I got there in the end.