Top car DIY tip
Discussion
1982 VW Polo rear brake overhaul...No1 the pattern brake cables you buy will fit perfect, No2 the bolts on the leaking brake cylinders will snap and you don't have new ones, No3 the bleed nipples will round off on the front calipers when you go to bleed the brakes, No4 the handbrake operating lever on the back of the brake shoe is easy to install the cable end into, No5 stand back and admire your work and wipe up all the blood from your fingers.
I f.u.c.k.i.n.g hate Polo rear brakes.
I f.u.c.k.i.n.g hate Polo rear brakes.
When wiring up a new stereo system in your first car (mk1 fiesta) don't simply tap into the first earth wire you can see without checking what it is going to and from, or you could spend ages making a really neat and tidy job to then set off down the road chuffed to bits with the job you've done only to get to the end of the road and suddenly learn about switched earths the moment you indicate.....
Top car tip?
Buy a car with maintenance costs levels low enough that you can afford to pay someone to do fixes.
Fixing broken things is a chore, maintaining/modding/enhancing/restoring can be enjoyable, but fixing because it has suddenly broken and you have no choice over, takes away time that could be less stressfully spent.
Buy a car with maintenance costs levels low enough that you can afford to pay someone to do fixes.
Fixing broken things is a chore, maintaining/modding/enhancing/restoring can be enjoyable, but fixing because it has suddenly broken and you have no choice over, takes away time that could be less stressfully spent.
Edited by hyphen on Monday 9th April 19:03
My thread has arrived!!!
After finishing extensive work to a 1.1 saxo when replacing front wheels make sure to actually do up the wheel nuts. Deffinetly do not wind them in finger tight then lower the car and forget to torque them up. After not doing this deffinetly don't go for a 'adventurous and thorough' test drive with finger tight wheel nuts.
When trying to jump start a car ensure you have the wires on the correct way around. Do not sit inside the car wondering what isn't working and absent mindedly wondering what smells like burning plastic.
When attempting to bolt a saxo drivers seat down to the floor pan make sure not to have the drill rubbing on the side of the seat. This will result in fire and extensive swearing.
When trying to return the piston on the rear caliper on a mk2 mx5 do not use a piston winder and a long spanner, all of your strength trying to force it in wondering what isn't working. (Allen bolt on the back of caliper to wind piston back in).
As a bonus do not try to impress your mates at college by doing a long wheelspin, fail to judge braking distance and stuff your car over a full height kerb through a small hedge and into a ditch. Especially don't do this with your college tutor watching. Cue embarrassment and sheepishly asking for help from said mates to extricate said car from ditch.
There are more but I will not be able to deal with the shame if I remember them to well.
After finishing extensive work to a 1.1 saxo when replacing front wheels make sure to actually do up the wheel nuts. Deffinetly do not wind them in finger tight then lower the car and forget to torque them up. After not doing this deffinetly don't go for a 'adventurous and thorough' test drive with finger tight wheel nuts.
When trying to jump start a car ensure you have the wires on the correct way around. Do not sit inside the car wondering what isn't working and absent mindedly wondering what smells like burning plastic.
When attempting to bolt a saxo drivers seat down to the floor pan make sure not to have the drill rubbing on the side of the seat. This will result in fire and extensive swearing.
When trying to return the piston on the rear caliper on a mk2 mx5 do not use a piston winder and a long spanner, all of your strength trying to force it in wondering what isn't working. (Allen bolt on the back of caliper to wind piston back in).
As a bonus do not try to impress your mates at college by doing a long wheelspin, fail to judge braking distance and stuff your car over a full height kerb through a small hedge and into a ditch. Especially don't do this with your college tutor watching. Cue embarrassment and sheepishly asking for help from said mates to extricate said car from ditch.
There are more but I will not be able to deal with the shame if I remember them to well.
Second Best said:
When removing the steering wheel on a car where it doesn't come off regularly, loosen the nut until it's free spinning (but still threaded on) and then do your best to pull the wheel off it's mount. Don't do what a lot of people do and remove the nut, use your muscle to remove the wheel, and end up tattooing Vauxhall on your forehead as the wheel leaves its mount and hits you in the face at around 30mph.
See also Peugeot 306 gear knobs.Best if you are not actually looking at what you are doing as the black eye and blood filled eyeball take a long time to fade.
If you have been using an angle grinder and have a floppy fringe be careful when removing your safety goggles. Some of the stuff flung about by the grinder could get in your eye. Despite explaining this several times at A&E you will still get told, several times, that you should have been wearing goggles to use an angle grinder, while they flush the debris out of your eye.
When changing an exhaust gasket it is a good idea when finding the last bolt on the exhaust to be seized to put some of the other bolts back on before grinding through the last one. It is also a good idea to not be doing any of this all while laid under the car on a Sunday evening. Because, if the exhaust parts company with the car, it hits your head and bounces off. It turns out that normal reaction to this is to move your head backwards out of the way. Right in to the tarmac. Both of these hurt, and if you are really unlucky, you will get blood in your eyes and this stings quite a lot and is most inconvenient when you are trying to find your way back to the house.
Anyway, I got told off by my long suffering good lady for "murdering someone in the bathroom" and carted off to A&E where they called me Harry Potter a lot and superglued my head back together. Lesson learned.
Anyway, I got told off by my long suffering good lady for "murdering someone in the bathroom" and carted off to A&E where they called me Harry Potter a lot and superglued my head back together. Lesson learned.
When removing the light cluster on a Zafira, use an appropriate ratchet spanner and not just handturning a socket. When you drop the socket deep into the bowels of the inaccessible side panel it has the unfortunate effect of reminding you every time you drive on uneven roads - which is basically everywhere in the UK.
Berkshire bred said:
After finishing extensive work to a 1.1 saxo when replacing front wheels make sure to actually do up the wheel nuts. Deffinetly do not wind them in finger tight then lower the car and forget to torque them up. After not doing this deffinetly don't go for a 'adventurous and thorough' test drive with finger tight wheel nuts.
I did that with a friend's Mg Midget racing car which I used to look after for him. A hurried overnight engine replacement went entirely according to plan except for putting the wheels back on properly... one of them fell off during qualifying. 
A more recent one from me. When putting the wheels back onto a car after replacing the brakes make sure the wheel is properly seated on the hub before taking one hand off it to reach for a wheel bolt; and if you're daft enough not to, don't leave the tip of your little finger between the wheel and the brake disc.
Edited by kambites on Monday 9th April 20:06
gothatway said:
Arnold Cunningham said:
I'd still love to know what 240V DC was used for. Or even 120V DC would be interesting
Answered on the previous page - "only" 120VDC as it was only 12V batteries 
Although trucks/buses are 24v they don't tend to have 24v batteries. They have 2x 12v batteries connected in series. So while a truck is normally 24v, a "truck battery" is actually 12v like a car. Just a lot bigger and there's usually 2 of them.
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