I'll AX this only once... though there is an Echo in here
Discussion
Thanks all - yes a decent result all things considered. The holes in the front wings is curerntly cosmetic (and largely unchanged from the last MOT when it wasn't an advisory), but could migrate backwards to the suspension turrets if not addressed. First things first though (and unfortunately, that's not the ARB, as while I have the bar and clamps, finding the correct bolts to fit it is a differrent matter....
So onto the MOT stuff - front brake imbalance is usually caused by stuff not moving freely..... I'd ordered a kit from Big Red to refurb the front calipers, so wheel off and clamp the hoses:
The piston put up a bit of a fight (even my brake piston removal pliers which grip the inside were defeated, but I eventually had it looking like this:
The nearside was pretty good, with no obvious issues, so I fitted new seals all round and a stainless piston - a shame to replace the alloy one with one that weighed more in some ways:
The off-side put up more of a fight - I remember that one of the pad retaining pins was stuck last time I serviced the car, a mild steel pin in an alloy caliper.... There's no point in trying to cajole when it's got to this stage - so out with the grinder to take out the pin and the retaining spring for the pads as I'd bought replacements:
Having got the caliper off, the source of the problem was apparent - that seal doesn't look quite right:
....and out came a lot of powered aluminium!
Once I'd had all of the seals out and cleaned it up, there was quite a lot of grot on the inside of the caliper where the seal had been displaced:
There followed some cleaning...
...and order was restored:
Rather than westle with entirely new seals on this side, I left the main slider alone as it was moving freely, and just did the main piston seal and dust seal, along with the new smaller slider seal and of course, the shiny new piston. Much better:
Then a clean up of the blered screw which looked crusty, and the reassembly with a new pin (and plenty of copper slip - I'm out of AluSlip which is better, but any port in a storm...) and then back onto the carrier and bled up using a vacuum bleeder.
The vacuum bleeder is OK, but I'll probably come back and use the 2-person method as a top up as they don't feel quite as good as previously.
The above makes it look like it didn't take a day of fighting with pistons....it did.
The new rear axle came from IM Axles, and looks by inspection to be the same as the one that's on there - the car is currently at the garage and I'm awaiting the call to say the stub axles are a different diameter or something .... Looks good though!
An inspection of the underside shows all of the holes look to be in the correct place though, although the old one looks much crustier....
I gave all of the connections a good soaking in plusgas which will hopefully make the garage's job easier. I also supplied them with new flexible brake hoses as the originals were perishing...and new suspension which had been destroyed by the collapse of the internals:
Having tackled all the MOT issues I could, and planned for someone else to tackle the bits I couldn't, onto some maintenance.....
So onto the MOT stuff - front brake imbalance is usually caused by stuff not moving freely..... I'd ordered a kit from Big Red to refurb the front calipers, so wheel off and clamp the hoses:
The piston put up a bit of a fight (even my brake piston removal pliers which grip the inside were defeated, but I eventually had it looking like this:
The nearside was pretty good, with no obvious issues, so I fitted new seals all round and a stainless piston - a shame to replace the alloy one with one that weighed more in some ways:
The off-side put up more of a fight - I remember that one of the pad retaining pins was stuck last time I serviced the car, a mild steel pin in an alloy caliper.... There's no point in trying to cajole when it's got to this stage - so out with the grinder to take out the pin and the retaining spring for the pads as I'd bought replacements:
Having got the caliper off, the source of the problem was apparent - that seal doesn't look quite right:
....and out came a lot of powered aluminium!
Once I'd had all of the seals out and cleaned it up, there was quite a lot of grot on the inside of the caliper where the seal had been displaced:
There followed some cleaning...
...and order was restored:
Rather than westle with entirely new seals on this side, I left the main slider alone as it was moving freely, and just did the main piston seal and dust seal, along with the new smaller slider seal and of course, the shiny new piston. Much better:
Then a clean up of the blered screw which looked crusty, and the reassembly with a new pin (and plenty of copper slip - I'm out of AluSlip which is better, but any port in a storm...) and then back onto the carrier and bled up using a vacuum bleeder.
The vacuum bleeder is OK, but I'll probably come back and use the 2-person method as a top up as they don't feel quite as good as previously.
The above makes it look like it didn't take a day of fighting with pistons....it did.
The new rear axle came from IM Axles, and looks by inspection to be the same as the one that's on there - the car is currently at the garage and I'm awaiting the call to say the stub axles are a different diameter or something .... Looks good though!
An inspection of the underside shows all of the holes look to be in the correct place though, although the old one looks much crustier....
I gave all of the connections a good soaking in plusgas which will hopefully make the garage's job easier. I also supplied them with new flexible brake hoses as the originals were perishing...and new suspension which had been destroyed by the collapse of the internals:
Having tackled all the MOT issues I could, and planned for someone else to tackle the bits I couldn't, onto some maintenance.....
Cambs_Stuart said:
Fantastic to see you're ploughing through the issues!
In terms of spares, how easy is it to get hold of bits for these? Renault are making it fairly hard to get some core bits for the Clio, and they are less than 20 years old.
Getting there slowly with the garage's innovation.... The stub axle thread was a few mm too short to allow them to tighten the wheel bearings up at the back apparently, so they've solved that with the help of the Engineers next door. Hopefully I can pick it up Wednesday.In terms of spares, how easy is it to get hold of bits for these? Renault are making it fairly hard to get some core bits for the Clio, and they are less than 20 years old.
Parts are...a mixed bag. Trim stuff is mostly unobtainable, but the TU engine had a very long life beyond the AX, so, with the exception of the single point injection, that should be OK for a bit Getting the front suspension was a nightmare (without going bespoke), but brakes seem OK so far. I'm glad it's a light car!
That said, I can't find ARB bolts anywhere!
Spinakerr said:
Great going - and top use of 'cajole'!
I'm always scared of the braking system - best case liquid that is awful and strips paint/flesh flies about, worst case car doesn't stop and it was my own fault. Good job getting through this.
Thank you, and yes, its never the neatest of jobs... Learning on motorbikes helped as not only are the brakes more accessible for bleeding and testing, but the reservoir is handily balanced over the bodywork giving you a great inventive to be neat in your work. I'm always scared of the braking system - best case liquid that is awful and strips paint/flesh flies about, worst case car doesn't stop and it was my own fault. Good job getting through this.
mooseracer said:
I'm really pleased you are persevering with the little AX.
I've had 5 (I think it is) over the years - 2 x 1100s, a 14 diesel to GT and GTI. All got under my skin and haven't come out since!
Yes, they really do have a habit of doing that don't they? They are just such lovely things to drive as they feel connected in a way modern cars don't.I've had 5 (I think it is) over the years - 2 x 1100s, a 14 diesel to GT and GTI. All got under my skin and haven't come out since!
The other work I managed to fit in over the weekend before dropping it off was satisfying too. It was due a 6-monthly oil change, and I wanted to do the plugs and check the valve clearances at the same time.
The old plugs didn't look awful, but needed to come out so I could turn the engine over using a 22mm spanner.
The exhaust valve clearances were all pretty good, with a minor adjustment needed on cylinder 1 (transmission end) only. The inlet valves however were all out by at least 0.5mm (the gap should be 0.20mm and they were all at least 0.25)
A 10mm spanner for the lock nut and a 4mm one for the adjustment and the difference in sound on start up was magical. Much less, well, tappety!
The replacement plugs were even Haynes Manual spec!
I took the chance to install the new rocker cover gasket as well, as the smear of instant gasket I used for the repair last time was breaking down and I didn't want that in the valve gear!
Hats off to the incredibly helpful garage, who fitted the new rear axle, consulted the engineering shop next door, sourced the replacement brake hoses when the ones I supplies were incorrect... and swapped the front tyre out for the spare when I arrived on Monday having reversed over the brake pad retaining clip that I had to cut out. Balls.
All for what I thought was a very reasonable rate considering the prices for servicing being talked about in the thread in GG!
A return to the MOT place for the retest, and all is good for another year...
Then back to ATS with the ink still practically wet on the MOT to order 2 new tyres. Given the age, cracking in the sidewalls and brand, putting the well-worn front into the spare slot and having 2 new tyres on isn't the worst thing.
They were able to order them for Monday, so I'll try and find a can of tyre weld until then...
I've also booked in to get the bonnet resprayed (properly), and will hopefully get the wheels refurbished before FOTU in July.
All for what I thought was a very reasonable rate considering the prices for servicing being talked about in the thread in GG!
A return to the MOT place for the retest, and all is good for another year...
Then back to ATS with the ink still practically wet on the MOT to order 2 new tyres. Given the age, cracking in the sidewalls and brand, putting the well-worn front into the spare slot and having 2 new tyres on isn't the worst thing.
They were able to order them for Monday, so I'll try and find a can of tyre weld until then...
I've also booked in to get the bonnet resprayed (properly), and will hopefully get the wheels refurbished before FOTU in July.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Brilliant to see it back on he road!
Have a great time at FOTU. I've been trying to sell it to the family and they look at me like I'm mad.
Keep working on them, it’s a cracking day out (and good value if there’s a few of you).Have a great time at FOTU. I've been trying to sell it to the family and they look at me like I'm mad.
If you can’t persuade them but want to come anyway, drop me a PM if you want a lift into the venue in the AX
So then, onto the advisories about the corrosion as I found myself unexpectedly not in London wandering through Railway Tunnels, which was what I had originally planned!
This wasn't going to be a massive job after all, so I might even get some other stuff done....
Remove the front wheel and the headlights for better access, only one of which has a 'temporary' fastening on its mounting point due to aged plastics.
This was the most severe of the two corroded areas on the MOT - by the washer bottle filler neck, which might be coincidence, but probably isn't.
The grot fairy had definitely visited with their brown and crusty wand.... The other side had a smaller (50p piece sized hole in).
I was also going to install some more Dodo Mat sound deadening to make the interior a nice place for a nervous Border Collie.
Oh, but what's that slight blister by the wheel arch...?
Ah....
There followed some further wire brush action around the front wings as well.
This might take longer than originally planned then...
There was also a trip to Halfords needed as my small tub ran out.
None of the three areas were structural, but if left unchecked, the front suspension mounting points and rear seatbelt anchorage could fall victim to the creeping grot. Best to apply multiple coats of Krust, then set about repairs... The smaller holes weren't too bad, a piece of aluminium mesh with the ISOPON metal paste (which also contains aluminum) gave a decent repair. None of the areas were really visible either, so thankfully, aesthetics were a secondary consideration.
The larger hole about the size of my hand required some more thoughts... I have access to a sparkly stick normally, but it was in use this weekend on a different French car. I considered riveting a section of plate over the worst bit, but that wouldn't allow the monitoring of future corrosion, so opted to build up bridging strips of mesh and ISOPON onto the remaining good metal.
This proved really quite effective, and over the course of the day, with repeated sanding and solvent headaches, I had restored the inner wing to something much more solid!
There were then a couple of coats of Hammerite, topped with some spray Waxoyl. I forgot to take a picture of the final product on the off-side, but the near side came out like this.
Oh yes, and I put some PTFE onto the washer bottle neck in case it had been leaking and contributing to the corrosion. I'm quite pleased there's no longer a large hole you can see the ground through when you open the bonnet.
The repeat applications and waiting for the ISOPON to cure, also meant I had time to make the inside shiny.:
I went for a test drive to check out the decibel level (and move the car out of the back yard). Quieter with the windows up which is marvellous, however, something new and unsettling occurred at higher speeds... There is what feels like an across the road sway / very slow tank slapper that is very unsettling....
I'm really hoping this is down to the old perished horrible tyre on the front (which will hopefully be going in the bin very soon). While it's up in the air though, I might just have to ask them to give the new rear beam and rear wheel bearings a shake just in case.
This wasn't going to be a massive job after all, so I might even get some other stuff done....
Remove the front wheel and the headlights for better access, only one of which has a 'temporary' fastening on its mounting point due to aged plastics.
This was the most severe of the two corroded areas on the MOT - by the washer bottle filler neck, which might be coincidence, but probably isn't.
The grot fairy had definitely visited with their brown and crusty wand.... The other side had a smaller (50p piece sized hole in).
I was also going to install some more Dodo Mat sound deadening to make the interior a nice place for a nervous Border Collie.
Oh, but what's that slight blister by the wheel arch...?
Ah....
There followed some further wire brush action around the front wings as well.
This might take longer than originally planned then...
There was also a trip to Halfords needed as my small tub ran out.
None of the three areas were structural, but if left unchecked, the front suspension mounting points and rear seatbelt anchorage could fall victim to the creeping grot. Best to apply multiple coats of Krust, then set about repairs... The smaller holes weren't too bad, a piece of aluminium mesh with the ISOPON metal paste (which also contains aluminum) gave a decent repair. None of the areas were really visible either, so thankfully, aesthetics were a secondary consideration.
The larger hole about the size of my hand required some more thoughts... I have access to a sparkly stick normally, but it was in use this weekend on a different French car. I considered riveting a section of plate over the worst bit, but that wouldn't allow the monitoring of future corrosion, so opted to build up bridging strips of mesh and ISOPON onto the remaining good metal.
This proved really quite effective, and over the course of the day, with repeated sanding and solvent headaches, I had restored the inner wing to something much more solid!
There were then a couple of coats of Hammerite, topped with some spray Waxoyl. I forgot to take a picture of the final product on the off-side, but the near side came out like this.
Oh yes, and I put some PTFE onto the washer bottle neck in case it had been leaking and contributing to the corrosion. I'm quite pleased there's no longer a large hole you can see the ground through when you open the bonnet.
The repeat applications and waiting for the ISOPON to cure, also meant I had time to make the inside shiny.:
I went for a test drive to check out the decibel level (and move the car out of the back yard). Quieter with the windows up which is marvellous, however, something new and unsettling occurred at higher speeds... There is what feels like an across the road sway / very slow tank slapper that is very unsettling....
I'm really hoping this is down to the old perished horrible tyre on the front (which will hopefully be going in the bin very soon). While it's up in the air though, I might just have to ask them to give the new rear beam and rear wheel bearings a shake just in case.
Great update!
Really good rust repairs, hope it keeps the rust gremlins out for a while longer.
As for the tank slapper, could it be an alignment issue?
As a aside, my neighbour has bought a blue AX. He generally has some interesting old, small french stuff. My family were utter baffled by my excitement at seeing one.
And thanks for the invite to FOTU, unfortunately I'll be at q child's birthday party that day.
Really good rust repairs, hope it keeps the rust gremlins out for a while longer.
As for the tank slapper, could it be an alignment issue?
As a aside, my neighbour has bought a blue AX. He generally has some interesting old, small french stuff. My family were utter baffled by my excitement at seeing one.
And thanks for the invite to FOTU, unfortunately I'll be at q child's birthday party that day.
Cambs_Stuart said:
Great update!
Really good rust repairs, hope it keeps the rust gremlins out for a while longer.
As for the tank slapper, could it be an alignment issue?
As a aside, my neighbour has bought a blue AX. He generally has some interesting old, small french stuff. My family were utter baffled by my excitement at seeing one.
And thanks for the invite to FOTU, unfortunately I'll be at q child's birthday party that day.
The mystery has been solved on the tank slapper.... If anyone ever asks why you don't re-use the same hub nut, here's the answer....Really good rust repairs, hope it keeps the rust gremlins out for a while longer.
As for the tank slapper, could it be an alignment issue?
As a aside, my neighbour has bought a blue AX. He generally has some interesting old, small french stuff. My family were utter baffled by my excitement at seeing one.
And thanks for the invite to FOTU, unfortunately I'll be at q child's birthday party that day.
The reusal was necessitated by the fiche in the motor factors insisting that the nuts were for the rear hub and then being the wrong size. The nearside nut which undoes in the same direction as the wheel rotation had been staked one too many times, and the wheel had started to undo. The offside one was fine.
I am very pleased that your neighbour also has 'the disease' - I was on site in St. Albans and walked past a house with 2 AXs on the drive (covered in vegetation and with a tree growing up behind one of them, so they'd been there a while). A quick Street View stalk showed he had the Citroen disease too (a nice high-spec Xsara) - I was tempted to write to him and see if he wanted rid, then remembered how much there was to do on this one!
New front tyres fitted this afternoon as well, and the one without the fragment of metal in it and about 2mm tread is now the spare to replace the really old Hyfly that was there.
Next job? Sunroof drain tubes to be investigated again....
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