I'll AX this only once... though there is an Echo in here
Discussion
D-day for the AX today - it's first MOT under my ownership. It could have been worse!
The headlight replacement - while a distinct improvement on the broken one was not enough to satisfy the MOT tester. I can either bodge the plastic clips with Araldite or similar, or pay £75 for a pair of replacement lights. I think I know what my short-term solution will be... A good chat with him established that as long as it doesn't move, they're happy.
The link pipe I've found on eBay for £12.50 delivered. It's fractured all around the rear box connection, and while I could gun gum it to get it though, as the part is so cheap, it seems foolish not to.
The welding...well, I'm always looking for an excuse to practice my skills. They certainly need practice. I've got some old 2CV chassis left over from helping a mate change his original chassis for a galvanised one last year, so if it's thick enough, I'll use that.
That will tackle both the hole in the outside of the sill...and the one that's developing on the inside (thereby addressing one of the advisories too).
Looks like some of that Waxoyl will have to come off. Best take the carpets out too so I don't set fire to them....
I'll get to the brake hoses another time once I have a a years test.
The headlight replacement - while a distinct improvement on the broken one was not enough to satisfy the MOT tester. I can either bodge the plastic clips with Araldite or similar, or pay £75 for a pair of replacement lights. I think I know what my short-term solution will be... A good chat with him established that as long as it doesn't move, they're happy.
The link pipe I've found on eBay for £12.50 delivered. It's fractured all around the rear box connection, and while I could gun gum it to get it though, as the part is so cheap, it seems foolish not to.
The welding...well, I'm always looking for an excuse to practice my skills. They certainly need practice. I've got some old 2CV chassis left over from helping a mate change his original chassis for a galvanised one last year, so if it's thick enough, I'll use that.
That will tackle both the hole in the outside of the sill...and the one that's developing on the inside (thereby addressing one of the advisories too).
Looks like some of that Waxoyl will have to come off. Best take the carpets out too so I don't set fire to them....
I'll get to the brake hoses another time once I have a a years test.
Ah...a year's test.
Said with the optimism of a man yet to remove the carpets on his mid-90s Citroën.
Removing the seats is easy - the rear just unclips, and the fronts need 4 t40 torx bolts removing.
A few Phillips screws later to remove the plastic trim and you can lift the carpet to reveal the sopping wet sound deadening.
Bugger.
Once you've peeled that out the way, your eyes will be drawn to the brown crusty patch in the otherwise blue floor. Some slight investigation with a wire brush later et voilà!
Merde.
Still, as my friend with the 2CV says; "it's a Citroen. They all do that sir."
Still, I'll give it a go as I'm too stubborn to quit!
I'll get the power tools on it tomorrow hopefully and clean it up before seeing how many holes I can put in the chassis with an overly powerful welder....
In other news, the link pipe I bought is wrong - it's about 6" too short.
Double merde.
I also can't find the caulking gun, so haven't tackled the headlight yet with the tiger seal.
Let's hope the week improves!
Said with the optimism of a man yet to remove the carpets on his mid-90s Citroën.
Removing the seats is easy - the rear just unclips, and the fronts need 4 t40 torx bolts removing.
A few Phillips screws later to remove the plastic trim and you can lift the carpet to reveal the sopping wet sound deadening.
Bugger.
Once you've peeled that out the way, your eyes will be drawn to the brown crusty patch in the otherwise blue floor. Some slight investigation with a wire brush later et voilà!
Merde.
Still, as my friend with the 2CV says; "it's a Citroen. They all do that sir."
Still, I'll give it a go as I'm too stubborn to quit!
I'll get the power tools on it tomorrow hopefully and clean it up before seeing how many holes I can put in the chassis with an overly powerful welder....
In other news, the link pipe I bought is wrong - it's about 6" too short.
Double merde.
I also can't find the caulking gun, so haven't tackled the headlight yet with the tiger seal.
Let's hope the week improves!
A week of being on call left me not much time for the AX unfortunately, then I was in London for a couple of days visiting a friend.
However, I managed to make some progress on my return, and will see what happens tomorrow when I drop it off for a retest.
Not particularly pleased with some of the 'fixes' I've had to put in place, much more bodgit & scarper than I like to do, but circumstances have made me desperate!
Firstly - the headlights. I can buy a brand new set, for a LHD car for £80-odd. I can get a set from a scrapyard in unknown condition for £100, or I could make these ones wobble less.
Had to choose the bodge on the grounds of cost:
It no longer wobbles and will hopefully pass without me spending £100 on the scrapper set.
The exhaust was much more of a pain. I highlighted to the seller that the part was wrong. They investigated, and came back with the response that the link pipe they supplied is compatible with the cat forward section from the same supplier. I'm not disputing that, but it didn't fit my AX as it's too short.
Having enough of eBay, I tried the local factors...who looked at the fiches and tried to sell me the cat and the link pipe (along with springs, clips and everything else).
Fortunately, they're sensible, and we had a chat about options.
The external diameter of the link pipe is 45mm and they can supply a sleeve about 8" long with an internal diameter of 45.5mm....
Time to take a grinder to the eBay pipe!
With the application of gun gum, a lot of swearing, some broken bolts and the exhaust hanger from the back box being bent into a new position, I now have an exhaust. It's not quite where Citroën originally intended it to be....but it's well secured and once the gun gum has hardened, shouldn't leak from the joints (it's only the tiniest puff at the moment).
The old one put up a fight coming off:
It was rotten too:
A little bit of bodging....
Now the main event, the killer of old Citroens...rust.
Further investigations with the angle grinder and wire cup had revealed the full nature of the issue:
I'd bent a couple of bits of old 2CV chassis into an approximation of the plates I needed, and then used my awful welding skills. The plates are solidly attached, just look bad!
A spot of grinding later (and they still look bad):
Double checked them for integrity though, and they're all ok, so a coat of primer had been applied, and one coat of Hammerite.
More Hammerite tomorrow, then Waxoyl, then a retest. Hopefully the bodging will see me right.
However, I managed to make some progress on my return, and will see what happens tomorrow when I drop it off for a retest.
Not particularly pleased with some of the 'fixes' I've had to put in place, much more bodgit & scarper than I like to do, but circumstances have made me desperate!
Firstly - the headlights. I can buy a brand new set, for a LHD car for £80-odd. I can get a set from a scrapyard in unknown condition for £100, or I could make these ones wobble less.
Had to choose the bodge on the grounds of cost:
It no longer wobbles and will hopefully pass without me spending £100 on the scrapper set.
The exhaust was much more of a pain. I highlighted to the seller that the part was wrong. They investigated, and came back with the response that the link pipe they supplied is compatible with the cat forward section from the same supplier. I'm not disputing that, but it didn't fit my AX as it's too short.
Having enough of eBay, I tried the local factors...who looked at the fiches and tried to sell me the cat and the link pipe (along with springs, clips and everything else).
Fortunately, they're sensible, and we had a chat about options.
The external diameter of the link pipe is 45mm and they can supply a sleeve about 8" long with an internal diameter of 45.5mm....
Time to take a grinder to the eBay pipe!
With the application of gun gum, a lot of swearing, some broken bolts and the exhaust hanger from the back box being bent into a new position, I now have an exhaust. It's not quite where Citroën originally intended it to be....but it's well secured and once the gun gum has hardened, shouldn't leak from the joints (it's only the tiniest puff at the moment).
The old one put up a fight coming off:
It was rotten too:
A little bit of bodging....
Now the main event, the killer of old Citroens...rust.
Further investigations with the angle grinder and wire cup had revealed the full nature of the issue:
I'd bent a couple of bits of old 2CV chassis into an approximation of the plates I needed, and then used my awful welding skills. The plates are solidly attached, just look bad!
A spot of grinding later (and they still look bad):
Double checked them for integrity though, and they're all ok, so a coat of primer had been applied, and one coat of Hammerite.
More Hammerite tomorrow, then Waxoyl, then a retest. Hopefully the bodging will see me right.
Been doing similar patching myself this weekend. I usually run around the seam with something to make sure any pinholes are sealed up, makes it look a bit neater once sanded back as well, though my primary concern is eliminating small pits that rust could restart in.
Also, I bloody hate welding upside down!
Also, I bloody hate welding upside down!
InitialDave said:
Been doing similar patching myself this weekend. I usually run around the seam with something to make sure any pinholes are sealed up, makes it look a bit neater once sanded back as well, though my primary concern is eliminating small pits that rust could restart in.
Also, I bloody hate welding upside down!
Good advice that, cheers. As you can see, I'm always looking to improve my welding.... Also, I bloody hate welding upside down!
I agree about the upsidedown part as well, everyone loves getting covered in gravity assisted spatter right....?
Anyway, VICTORY IS MINE:
I was so pleated, I went and filled up, jet-washed the car and then put an all important sticker on the rear windscreen!
Now for the advisories and other bits....
darkyoung1000 said:
I agree about the upsidedown part as well, everyone loves getting covered in gravity assisted spatter right....?
No joke, wear ear protection, don't f
k about with that. I have measurably worse hearing in one ear after dropping a molten blob down it. You can really hear it frying the hairs in the wax! Got very lucky with that one.@InitalDave - ouch! That's good advice, I'll stick on the protection I use for grinding then the next time I'm playing with the welder....
@Spinakerr - thanks, I won't say I enjoyed every minute, but I was pleased when the hard work paid off...
I think that I need to address where the water is getting in and making the sound deadening wet, otherwise, I'm going to be in exactly the same position next year.
I also want to deal more permanently with the B pillar corrosion I found earlier to stop it getting worse. The Krust was only a quick winter holding repair.
I've looked at brake hoses and they seem to be about £10/side, so I'll do those then refresh the fluid at the same tim.
Both driveshafts need doing (I already have them and the gearbox oil, but I wanted to do the Test failures first) as the CV joints are knocking.
There are a few minor items as well - taking a better look at the stereo I put in as it seems to lose its settings every time, indicating it's missing a permanent live. Treating the surface rust on the wiper arms and painting them black....and of course the scabby wheels!
All of this however, should probably be done once I have the Corrado MOT-ed so there is a useable car in the household!
Cheers,
Tom
@Spinakerr - thanks, I won't say I enjoyed every minute, but I was pleased when the hard work paid off...
I think that I need to address where the water is getting in and making the sound deadening wet, otherwise, I'm going to be in exactly the same position next year.
I also want to deal more permanently with the B pillar corrosion I found earlier to stop it getting worse. The Krust was only a quick winter holding repair.
I've looked at brake hoses and they seem to be about £10/side, so I'll do those then refresh the fluid at the same tim.
Both driveshafts need doing (I already have them and the gearbox oil, but I wanted to do the Test failures first) as the CV joints are knocking.
There are a few minor items as well - taking a better look at the stereo I put in as it seems to lose its settings every time, indicating it's missing a permanent live. Treating the surface rust on the wiper arms and painting them black....and of course the scabby wheels!
All of this however, should probably be done once I have the Corrado MOT-ed so there is a useable car in the household!
Cheers,
Tom
The Corrado passed its MOT so there is something with 4 wheels that can be used as required. Hence it was the AX's turn in the garage to deal with a couple of things.
Top of the list had to be the driveshafts. There was some serious knocking when cornering and as I already had the parts, I thought I should get stuck in.
A bit of twin jack action later and it was up on stands:
With the wheels off, I was faced with some corroded hub nuts:
and then set about draining the gearbox oil. The 8mm square drain plug tool was of course the wrong size (too big) so I took a trip to Halfords to get the right size one. They don't sell anything smaller then an 8mm square one, so I took the grinder to the existing one (and ordered another set).
5 minutes of not seeing fire to anything later, I could get stuck in draining the oil:
A lot of swarf was attached to both magnetic plugs which I'm hoping isn't a bad sign (I suspect the gearbox oil is original).
With the oil draining, I could set about the hub nuts using cunning, innovation, a rattle gun, heat, bad language and eventually, a large breaker bar and my leg muscles.
The nearside one needed more innovation having bent a steel bar. It couldn't resist physics forget, and an old stretcher bar rescued from Barrow Hill sorted it out:
After that, it was following the book of lies to remove the track rod connection and wishbone to hub bolts:
Got both shafts done over the weekend, but couldn't get the offside driveshaft oil seal out (not for want of trying). I had to connect myself with greasing it up and crossing my fingers....
Refilling the gearbox oil wasn't too bad although I had to temporarily remove some plastic (read snap off the 24 year old fastenings):
Luckily the bike fairing push pin kit sorted it:
I also have made a start on the wheels and wiper arms, so a pretty productive weekend so far. I'm much more excited than I should be about the wheels. This is a £500 cooking AX - I know I shouldn't be devoting the time to it, I should be out riding or something, but I'm really enjoying it!
Top of the list had to be the driveshafts. There was some serious knocking when cornering and as I already had the parts, I thought I should get stuck in.
A bit of twin jack action later and it was up on stands:
With the wheels off, I was faced with some corroded hub nuts:
and then set about draining the gearbox oil. The 8mm square drain plug tool was of course the wrong size (too big) so I took a trip to Halfords to get the right size one. They don't sell anything smaller then an 8mm square one, so I took the grinder to the existing one (and ordered another set).
5 minutes of not seeing fire to anything later, I could get stuck in draining the oil:
A lot of swarf was attached to both magnetic plugs which I'm hoping isn't a bad sign (I suspect the gearbox oil is original).
With the oil draining, I could set about the hub nuts using cunning, innovation, a rattle gun, heat, bad language and eventually, a large breaker bar and my leg muscles.
The nearside one needed more innovation having bent a steel bar. It couldn't resist physics forget, and an old stretcher bar rescued from Barrow Hill sorted it out:
After that, it was following the book of lies to remove the track rod connection and wishbone to hub bolts:
Got both shafts done over the weekend, but couldn't get the offside driveshaft oil seal out (not for want of trying). I had to connect myself with greasing it up and crossing my fingers....
Refilling the gearbox oil wasn't too bad although I had to temporarily remove some plastic (read snap off the 24 year old fastenings):
Luckily the bike fairing push pin kit sorted it:
I also have made a start on the wheels and wiper arms, so a pretty productive weekend so far. I'm much more excited than I should be about the wheels. This is a £500 cooking AX - I know I shouldn't be devoting the time to it, I should be out riding or something, but I'm really enjoying it!
The wheels...yes, the wheels. Silver painted, covered by wheel trims on 2 out of the 4, and where it had hung under the car for 23 years, rusty. Overall not good.
Still, as a runaround, it wasn't a case of lovingly stripping them of their tyres and refurbishing them, just making them a bit better than they were. Inspired by 106 Rallyes and a Citroën 2CV, I wanted to go white to contrast with the blue paint.
A £1 brush from Wilco, a £10 tin of enamel paint from Aldi, some masking tape, some K-rust and a wire brush later....
Makes me smile every time I look at it!
I also gave a coat of Hammerite to the rusty wipers and fitted the OE mudguards that I bought last year:
Yes, I know they look slightly askew, but are in line with the bumper, so are equally askew on each side, and I assume, correct!
They also make me smile though!
The test drive showed that neither gearbox nor driveshafts complained more than they had before work was done (the knocking from the CV joint has disappeared along with the old CV joint unsurprisingly), and it's now back in service as the runaround.
Definitely not painting the bonnet next, oh no...
Still, as a runaround, it wasn't a case of lovingly stripping them of their tyres and refurbishing them, just making them a bit better than they were. Inspired by 106 Rallyes and a Citroën 2CV, I wanted to go white to contrast with the blue paint.
A £1 brush from Wilco, a £10 tin of enamel paint from Aldi, some masking tape, some K-rust and a wire brush later....
Makes me smile every time I look at it!
I also gave a coat of Hammerite to the rusty wipers and fitted the OE mudguards that I bought last year:
Yes, I know they look slightly askew, but are in line with the bumper, so are equally askew on each side, and I assume, correct!
They also make me smile though!
The test drive showed that neither gearbox nor driveshafts complained more than they had before work was done (the knocking from the CV joint has disappeared along with the old CV joint unsurprisingly), and it's now back in service as the runaround.
Definitely not painting the bonnet next, oh no...
Well, I've still not painted the bonnet, but as my Citroën owning friend was visiting for the weekend, I employed the additional pair of hands to get some things done (once we'd changed the water pump on his C1).
First up were the front brake hoses which were an advisory on the MOT. They didn't look too bad on initial inspection, but having takena closer look, the perishing was obvious on both sides:
So on went a pair of new Pagid items:
The old brake fluid was black with silt in the reservoir. Absolutely bogging, so new fluid all round and all brakes bled up:
The pedal is now very firm, must try and remember that the first time I use it!
Also changed the oil and filter as it had been 6 months or so since the last time I'd done it, and while the mileage isn't high, that's part of the problem, lots of short journeys. Some 10w40 semi and a Bosch filter (lah Di dah) later, and I'm happier with the oil.
As we were there (and had the parts) also changed the HT leads for new ones as I had no idea how old the existing ones were, but they had French writing on them and were quite stiff....
Most importantly however was tweaking the 'new' exhaust. As mentioned, the MOT work was prompted by necessity, and getting it through the test. Unfortunately, in fitting it, it was 'good enough' i.e. gas tight and approximately in the right place, but hung rather low under the car.
Not normally a problem as there's usually only 2 + dog in the car, but when giving a friend a lift, it scraped on speed bumps. When giving 2 friends and their and our luggage a lift last week, it scraped on the flat on anything apart from a billiard table smooth surface....
Much easier with 2 people, we undid the clamps, wiggled it about and up to gain another couple of inches (baby) and then tightened it all up again. No before and after photos unfortunately, but it's now no longer the first thing you notice when approaching the car from the side!
Hope to geta bit more done tomorrow (stereo and 12v supply) but we'll see how time goes!
First up were the front brake hoses which were an advisory on the MOT. They didn't look too bad on initial inspection, but having takena closer look, the perishing was obvious on both sides:
So on went a pair of new Pagid items:
The old brake fluid was black with silt in the reservoir. Absolutely bogging, so new fluid all round and all brakes bled up:
The pedal is now very firm, must try and remember that the first time I use it!
Also changed the oil and filter as it had been 6 months or so since the last time I'd done it, and while the mileage isn't high, that's part of the problem, lots of short journeys. Some 10w40 semi and a Bosch filter (lah Di dah) later, and I'm happier with the oil.
As we were there (and had the parts) also changed the HT leads for new ones as I had no idea how old the existing ones were, but they had French writing on them and were quite stiff....
Most importantly however was tweaking the 'new' exhaust. As mentioned, the MOT work was prompted by necessity, and getting it through the test. Unfortunately, in fitting it, it was 'good enough' i.e. gas tight and approximately in the right place, but hung rather low under the car.
Not normally a problem as there's usually only 2 + dog in the car, but when giving a friend a lift, it scraped on speed bumps. When giving 2 friends and their and our luggage a lift last week, it scraped on the flat on anything apart from a billiard table smooth surface....
Much easier with 2 people, we undid the clamps, wiggled it about and up to gain another couple of inches (baby) and then tightened it all up again. No before and after photos unfortunately, but it's now no longer the first thing you notice when approaching the car from the side!
Hope to geta bit more done tomorrow (stereo and 12v supply) but we'll see how time goes!
Another successful day on the AX today with assistance from assortment friend.
The stereo is now an aftermarket job following the original one becoming intermittently faulty (wiggling the volume knob sometimes fixed it but not always). However, having bunged in the one from the Corrado as a quick fix, it was time to make it permanent, which included working out why it didn't havea permanent live and couldn't remember it's settings.
Right, let's have this out... Where do we start?
"See that pair of wires?"
"Yes, they were part of the loom adapter that came with it, what of them?"
"Well the red and yellow are crossed."
"......"
Benefits of a second pair of eyes, the stereo is now a permanent installation that remembers what it was doing from one ignition key turn to the next.
We also found the end of the DAB aerial that I'd been looking for installed by the previous owner. Now we can swap the Sonichi unit between my wife's works van and this.
That brings me onto the next problem, the lack of a 12v supply....
There was a lot of swearing, dismantling of the dash and articulation of hands to investigate why there wasn't 12v to the outlet.
The reason?
The fuse labelled up as controlling the heated rear windscreen (which works) had blown, and that actually controls the 12v supply. No I don't know either.....
The final thing was a little more serious, and involved the close bedfellow of old Citroëns, rust.
That B pillar corrosion that I'd spotted? Yes, not just corrosion but full LOS:
It's only a small hole though, despite its important location, and I'm happy to treat it to prevent it getting worse rather than breaking out the welding gear.
Aluminium filler and mesh to the rescue, once or had been treated with the K-rust.
Followed it up witha protective coating of Hammertite and that will hold it for now. If it looks bad again in the spring, it's welding time.
For now however, I have a Reliant Scimitar to work on over winter....
The stereo is now an aftermarket job following the original one becoming intermittently faulty (wiggling the volume knob sometimes fixed it but not always). However, having bunged in the one from the Corrado as a quick fix, it was time to make it permanent, which included working out why it didn't havea permanent live and couldn't remember it's settings.
Right, let's have this out... Where do we start?
"See that pair of wires?"
"Yes, they were part of the loom adapter that came with it, what of them?"
"Well the red and yellow are crossed."
"......"
Benefits of a second pair of eyes, the stereo is now a permanent installation that remembers what it was doing from one ignition key turn to the next.
We also found the end of the DAB aerial that I'd been looking for installed by the previous owner. Now we can swap the Sonichi unit between my wife's works van and this.
That brings me onto the next problem, the lack of a 12v supply....
There was a lot of swearing, dismantling of the dash and articulation of hands to investigate why there wasn't 12v to the outlet.
The reason?
The fuse labelled up as controlling the heated rear windscreen (which works) had blown, and that actually controls the 12v supply. No I don't know either.....
The final thing was a little more serious, and involved the close bedfellow of old Citroëns, rust.
That B pillar corrosion that I'd spotted? Yes, not just corrosion but full LOS:
It's only a small hole though, despite its important location, and I'm happy to treat it to prevent it getting worse rather than breaking out the welding gear.
Aluminium filler and mesh to the rescue, once or had been treated with the K-rust.
Followed it up witha protective coating of Hammertite and that will hold it for now. If it looks bad again in the spring, it's welding time.
For now however, I have a Reliant Scimitar to work on over winter....
Edited by darkyoung1000 on Sunday 7th October 19:13
A little bit of work on the AX yesterday, mostly because of the water that has insisted on getting in to the car while it's stationary.
I suspect this was what made the sound deadening wet and contributed to the corrosion of the floor.
I couldn't see any obvious drain holes in the sunroof, so I'll come back to that if my other investigations and work don't yield results.
Opening the bonnet didn't show any obvious blockages in the scuttle tray:
However, on the driver's side there's a piece of plastic designed to stop water getting into the blower intake, which was so old it had crumbled in places. So the simple matter of removing the plastic trim piece to get at it began. Two 10mm nuts anda Phillips screw.
At least the nuts were easy....
Some time later a knackered and probably unobtainable piece of plastic held in place with three crumbling fastenings was revealed:
Bodge time (although if anyone has one of these bits of plastic, please let me know).
Until then, an old SRAM chain box, some scissors and some silicone sealant later:
I could also see daylight through where the bonnet release cable passes through the bulkhead, so added a grommet to try and keep the worst of the water out of there too.
The original grommet seems to have been pushed into the dash, and until I dismantle that to get at the fan blower resistor which now only works on max, then it will do for now.
Bad news is that there's still a leak between the engine and the gearbox. Good news is that the leak isn't the newly installed driveshaft oil seal as I feared it might be.
I suspect this was what made the sound deadening wet and contributed to the corrosion of the floor.
I couldn't see any obvious drain holes in the sunroof, so I'll come back to that if my other investigations and work don't yield results.
Opening the bonnet didn't show any obvious blockages in the scuttle tray:
However, on the driver's side there's a piece of plastic designed to stop water getting into the blower intake, which was so old it had crumbled in places. So the simple matter of removing the plastic trim piece to get at it began. Two 10mm nuts anda Phillips screw.
At least the nuts were easy....
Some time later a knackered and probably unobtainable piece of plastic held in place with three crumbling fastenings was revealed:
Bodge time (although if anyone has one of these bits of plastic, please let me know).
Until then, an old SRAM chain box, some scissors and some silicone sealant later:
I could also see daylight through where the bonnet release cable passes through the bulkhead, so added a grommet to try and keep the worst of the water out of there too.
The original grommet seems to have been pushed into the dash, and until I dismantle that to get at the fan blower resistor which now only works on max, then it will do for now.
Bad news is that there's still a leak between the engine and the gearbox. Good news is that the leak isn't the newly installed driveshaft oil seal as I feared it might be.
@helix402 - glad you enjoyed the thread despite your dislike of French metal. I confess, I have a hatred of Renault Lagunas that runs deep.... This however has a certain charm about it from its simplicity.
@eyersey1234 - it's lack of anything complicated to go wrong was a great part of its appeal. It feels like the spiritual successor to the 2CV (the fact that the 3 door AX had a wine holder in the door helps with that image I think).
Given that the last runabout was killed off by the fuel pump failing....and being a £700 fix before you coded the ECUs to talk to each other, simple is definitely the order of the day. The fact that this also means it only weighs 750kg is a distinct plus too.
@eyersey1234 - it's lack of anything complicated to go wrong was a great part of its appeal. It feels like the spiritual successor to the 2CV (the fact that the 3 door AX had a wine holder in the door helps with that image I think).
Given that the last runabout was killed off by the fuel pump failing....and being a £700 fix before you coded the ECUs to talk to each other, simple is definitely the order of the day. The fact that this also means it only weighs 750kg is a distinct plus too.
Eyersey1234 said:
I wasn't knocking it for being basic, sorry if that's how my post came across. I prefer relatively basic cars with them having less to go wrong as the car gets older.
Not at all, you and I are definitely in agreement that a more basic car is a lot less trouble to maintain as time goes on! Definitely part of why I love it is the keep fit windows, central locking that consists of sitting in the centre of the car and living all the doors, and the lack of power steering.In the days of failing £1200 electronic handbrake actuators, I know where I'd rather be!
@mattyprice4004 - thanks. Every time I do something that isn't absolutely necessary, I curse myself for the stuff I'm not doing on other vehicles...but then I get in and chuck it's understeer-prone body at another roundabout, and I'm smiling!
@helix402 - I forgot to say about the welding... Awful is probably a compliment
Still form follows function and all that - good job really!
With the interior carpet freshly sodden after all the rain in December, I have concluded that either the fix to the scuttle try didn't work (possible) or that the water is getting in elsewhere.
Favourite candidates include the sunroof itself, and the drain channels for the sunroof. Water appears to be mostly getting in to the passenger side footwell, so I need to strip out the interior, dry everything out, remove the headlining and the sunroof, remove, clean and refit the seals, clear the drain tubes and see where that gets me.
Back seat out, ready to remove the front seats and the screws holding the trim. Size 2 Phillips is perfect for the screws.
Torx bits for the seats.
3 visible and 2 hidden 10mm nuts for the centre console
Size 2 Phillips again for the handbrake surround
Out comes the carpet with a bit of wriggling over the gear lever and handbrake!
The sound deadening was sopping wet, mouldy and tore apart like tissue paper. It's going in the bin and will be replaced with some Dodo shiny silver replacement when that arrives next week. Feels terribly bling, but it will be lighter and cheaper than finding the original stuff.
The carpet is now sat in a room with the dehumidifier, and more work will be done tomorrow.
I did take the opportunity to silicone spray the doors as well, as these were creaking slightly (probably due to all of the moisture in the interior
If I get time, I have a new resistor for the fan motor to fit as well, but I'll see how tomorrow goes!
Favourite candidates include the sunroof itself, and the drain channels for the sunroof. Water appears to be mostly getting in to the passenger side footwell, so I need to strip out the interior, dry everything out, remove the headlining and the sunroof, remove, clean and refit the seals, clear the drain tubes and see where that gets me.
Back seat out, ready to remove the front seats and the screws holding the trim. Size 2 Phillips is perfect for the screws.
Torx bits for the seats.
3 visible and 2 hidden 10mm nuts for the centre console
Size 2 Phillips again for the handbrake surround
Out comes the carpet with a bit of wriggling over the gear lever and handbrake!
The sound deadening was sopping wet, mouldy and tore apart like tissue paper. It's going in the bin and will be replaced with some Dodo shiny silver replacement when that arrives next week. Feels terribly bling, but it will be lighter and cheaper than finding the original stuff.
The carpet is now sat in a room with the dehumidifier, and more work will be done tomorrow.
I did take the opportunity to silicone spray the doors as well, as these were creaking slightly (probably due to all of the moisture in the interior
If I get time, I have a new resistor for the fan motor to fit as well, but I'll see how tomorrow goes!
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