Jump to content

The French Collection - further breakdown and bonus misery


sdkrc

Recommended Posts

That's a long ol' way to get to Hereford. I think it would have been quicker to fly down to Bristol in the morning and catch a bus/train over to Hereford.
My tester has said before that it's can be hard to know when a brake pipe should be failed. Even the MOT manual says it's hard

1.1.11. Rigid brake pipes
If the metal brake pipes have surface dirt that needs to be removed before it’s possible to assess their condition, you can lightly scrape the pipe with a specialist brake pipe corrosion tool or the corrosion assessment tool ‘spade end’. It must be done with care so that any protective coating does not get damaged.
Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe so that its wall thickness is reduced by 1/3 (approximately 0.25mm for typical hydraulic brake pipe) justifies rejection, although it’s accepted that this is not easy to determine. If you are not sure whether the pipe is sufficiently deteriorated to justify rejection, you should give the benefit of the doubt.

The hole by the suspension does make you wonder if the tester had his hammer around that day. Or he knew that the customer would want it welding up and the tester didn't want to have another weldathon... No excuse but I bet that happens more often than is like to be admitted. Certainly I've seen a few cars where they've had welding in the past but not on the recent MOT and probably should have done.  
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just bear in mind that the MOT was on the 18th of August.

The MOT has advisories for rusty coul springs and nothing else.

The brake pipes are not covered in dirt but plenty of rust.

Hopefully the tester is a mate of the seller and gets concerned about his future.

My tester can sometimes be on the generous side of lenient but he knows from experience that it gets sorted straight away and doesn't get listed on eBay before I'm home!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, SiC said:

That's a long ol' way to get to Hereford. I think it would have been quicker to fly down to Bristol in the morning and catch a bus/train over to Hereford.

The quickest route would've been to not go at all.

Flight + trains were in the £170 range, Megabus and train was in the £50 range. I did weigh up most options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, sdkrc said:

The quickest route would've been to not go at all.

I mean, and I say this in the nicest possible way, I'd say your nuts but that's empty from me compared to a C6 owning, 320Si repairing, high mileage RS Mégane II dailying nutter who called you bonkers. I just couldn't help think there was possibly a slightly less painful way than an overnight expedition on a bus that wasn't much more expensive! But then I guess the pain makes it all the more worth it ... right???? 🙃 😅

Definitely a good read and makes me fancy doing a long distance collection soon for the pure shits and giggles. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think any tester would be hard pressed to justify failing those brake pipes if they did and it got appealed later. The rear ones are a definite advise and the front is a pass with benefit of the doubt from experience [of not being a tester 🙃] The corrosion on that OSF one just looks like the normal surface corrosion you see on really old cars. 

They pretty much have to be this bad to be a unquestionable fail: [ignore the fact they're leaking]

IMG_20230718_104452.thumb.jpg.acdbc8ce1651ec7de0f170e124db9636.jpg

In other words, obviously seriously weakened. The stage just before they started leaking! Surface corrosion does not weaken a brake pipe's integrity. 

If a brake pipe has later failed and burst, if a tester has P+A'd it as long as it doesn't look as bad as the above photo, I think they're generally going to be in the clear because of how lenient the test criteria is. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@SiC, the Megabus isn't that horrific and the journey down wasn't that bad. It's all relative. If a Nigerian guy can spend 2 weeks without food and make it to Brazil on the rudder of a container ship then I'm pretty sure I can do 6hrs on a Megabus to Birmingham. 

I've done Ben Nevis without shoes before in February. 

@RoverFolkUs, the brake lines are subjective I agree. I've had advisories for less than that front one and I've seen fails for about the same. The big fucking hole (BFH) near the driver's side doesn't require much imagination however. That's a fairly clear fail and also makes me think the MOT was done on the phone. The tyres should've been an advisory as well. They're stonkingly shit and cracked to buggery

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

It's a happy ending with this one. Picked it back up after leaving it with a grown up and it's totally transformed.

  • New wheel bearing
  • OSF brake line
  • both front calipers
  • both rear wheel cylinders
  • new NS handbrake cable
  • all fully adjusted and bled-up
  • oil change
  • welded-up at OSF
  • rusty bits treated with Vactan, quick blast over with lanolin rustproofing etc
  • wheel alignment

Incredibly slow. Handling is bizarre after driving a 205. Sunroof was a bad idea for whoever specced it. Pedals are for children's feet.

BUT....

it rides really well. It will drive for miles just on a whiff of diesel. It fits big lads ™. It works.

Very hard to argue with 70+mpg, £300 insurance, LEZ compliance, mechanically simple, marginally interesting. 

IMG_20231012_001729_441.jpg.43660efce977f2cb542bd897cefe47e8.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just took it for an 8 mile round trip to the shops and I'm absolutely in love. It's fucking brilliant. I'm not sure what it is but I've not been this excited about a car in a long time.

Loads of character. It eats shit roads, potholes and camber for breakfast. 

Takes real concentration to maintain speed on the corner before a motorway slip road. If you fuck it up then you're joining the slow lane at 45mph. 

The steering is so bizarrely heavy and you're so much smaller than everything else on the road. I'm shocked at how much of a departure it is from the 205. 

I had a gander at the fusebox because Peugeot barely bothered hiding it and there are like 8 fuses total. No rev counter. Exposed metal on the doors. Windscreen wipers are on or off. Nothing in-between. The interior bonnet latch looks like I installed it. 

IMG_20231012_130834_809.thumb.jpg.e17b3aa71bcbadc322a5051c30ab9dd3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • sdkrc changed the title to The French Collection - further breakdown and bonus misery
4 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

The misery continues.

Difficult to see but it's sitting several inches lower on the driver's side rear. 

People have suggested it's a snapped torsion bar. 

IMG_20231015_184253_842.thumb.jpg.762965f3200836c14287b8b235b4c308.jpg

Balls.

Not impossible to overcome though. Pain in the arse mind. Don't let it send you into the arms of a cheap pcp deal. No good or enjoyment comes of that. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a gander underneath and it's positive.

I believe neither torsion bar is fucked. I've inspected both, hit them both with a hammer etc. 

I compared tolerances and gaps across everything on the rear of the car by hand/eye. Nothing is noticeably different. 

I did notice that pre inspection there was a 2.5 finger gap between arch and tyre at the driver's side. Up from 1 when I checked mid drive yesterday. This means something is tired but returning slowly. Neither shock looked fucked and neither was damp/wet/explodey. 

After taking it off the stands it the suspension was almost equal on both sides. After sitting on the boot lid and applying/releasing pressure it was mostly equal. 

The conclusion: I'm a fat cunt and something is possibly tired but not fucked. 

IMG_20231016_132539_602.thumb.jpg.95811be9afac62be03b4e6757168a118.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is the arm bearing on that side collapsing unfortunately TADTS.

You used to be able to get an exchange axle for about £250, possibly still can as Peugeot used that style of suspension until relatively recently so hopefully the people that do the rebuilds are still going.

You can do a DIY rebuild but it's a major pain in the ass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...