226
General Car Chat / SHE PASSED!!!!
« on: 20 April 2015, 10:32:08 »
Saturday, on her retest, P151HOH, or 'Pissy Ho' as she's always been known, passed her MoT!!!
After laying up the drive, abandoned, and left to rot for nearly 8 years, buying her off the old man, hundreds of manhours, pestering you good people on here on a weekly basis, from the major issues to the most minor niggles, she now has a clean bill of health for 12 months!!
The first MoT was a fail, on the following
Screen Washer weak
Bulbs out
Emissions over by 5 times the legal limit
Howling/ineffective handbrake
Rear shocks
Screen Washer weak
jug of water - will give the filter a proper clean soon as I can
Bulbs out and weak
Traced to afather former owner forcing a normal bulb in a bulb holder designed for bulbs with offset pins 
Had full set of spare lamp units and holders, so replaced.
Emissions over by 5 times the legal limit
Down to a misfire. Traced to a wire that had fallen out of a chocolate box connector bodge done by a previous owner who shall remain nameless!
Howling/ineffective handbrake
had serviced them the night before the MoT! Ah well. Shoe retaining pin/spring had fallen out, as bodge by former owner who shall remain nameless failed.
Rear shocks
Knew they weren't great, but had a set of Bilstein rear shocks on standby, if they passed the mot as is I was going to do them anyway.
Misfire was the easiest thing to diagnose, once I saw that wire poking out of an chocolate box with dry, brittle insulating tape spiralling off it! Ah well. I changed the DIS pack, and grafted an Omega plug back into the loom, thus replacing the Vectra once which was previously fitted.
The handbrake, when I managed to get the disc off, after three hours, and several breaks, panting on the floor, the sight was a sorry one! One of the pins had torn a 2 inch hole in the backplate. I got an old dust shield, and made a semi-circular 'professional bodge' I then drilled a hole in this, fitted the springs, then the shoes etc. Same on the other side, pin pulled out. The failure had bent and pretty much ruined a brand new Vauxhall spring which had been on the car for about 18 hours!
Bulbs were a surprise, they looked fine in the drive, but on closer inspection the bizarre mix of the wrong bulbs in the wrong holders was throwing up strange issues one side being dimmer than the other. As above, swapped the bulb holders and away I went.
So, 2nd time round passed Saturday with only an advisory on the rear disc. Emissions now about about 75% under the limit.
Whoever recommended the Bilstein B4s I'm ruddy in love with them! She rides like a dream, feels taut, planted, doesn't pitch or roll, and above all feel safe.
I have to say a final word of thanks to all of you who've helped with every aspect of this exhausting but massively rewarding trek. OOF is teriffic!
After laying up the drive, abandoned, and left to rot for nearly 8 years, buying her off the old man, hundreds of manhours, pestering you good people on here on a weekly basis, from the major issues to the most minor niggles, she now has a clean bill of health for 12 months!!
The first MoT was a fail, on the following
Screen Washer weak
Bulbs out
Emissions over by 5 times the legal limit
Howling/ineffective handbrake
Rear shocks
Screen Washer weak
jug of water - will give the filter a proper clean soon as I can
Bulbs out and weak
Traced to a
Had full set of spare lamp units and holders, so replaced.Emissions over by 5 times the legal limit
Down to a misfire. Traced to a wire that had fallen out of a chocolate box connector bodge done by a previous owner who shall remain nameless!
Howling/ineffective handbrake
had serviced them the night before the MoT! Ah well. Shoe retaining pin/spring had fallen out, as bodge by former owner who shall remain nameless failed.
Rear shocks
Knew they weren't great, but had a set of Bilstein rear shocks on standby, if they passed the mot as is I was going to do them anyway.
Misfire was the easiest thing to diagnose, once I saw that wire poking out of an chocolate box with dry, brittle insulating tape spiralling off it!
Ah well. I changed the DIS pack, and grafted an Omega plug back into the loom, thus replacing the Vectra once which was previously fitted.The handbrake, when I managed to get the disc off, after three hours, and several breaks, panting on the floor, the sight was a sorry one! One of the pins had torn a 2 inch hole in the backplate. I got an old dust shield, and made a semi-circular 'professional bodge' I then drilled a hole in this, fitted the springs, then the shoes etc. Same on the other side, pin pulled out. The failure had bent and pretty much ruined a brand new Vauxhall spring which had been on the car for about 18 hours!
Bulbs were a surprise, they looked fine in the drive, but on closer inspection the bizarre mix of the wrong bulbs in the wrong holders was throwing up strange issues one side being dimmer than the other. As above, swapped the bulb holders and away I went.
So, 2nd time round passed Saturday with only an advisory on the rear disc. Emissions now about about 75% under the limit.
Whoever recommended the Bilstein B4s I'm ruddy in love with them! She rides like a dream, feels taut, planted, doesn't pitch or roll, and above all feel safe. I have to say a final word of thanks to all of you who've helped with every aspect of this exhausting but massively rewarding trek. OOF is teriffic!
) but it would be nice to see it dragged through another mot or two. 
) but interior trim etc seems decent. Bonnets tend to get bricks hurled at them by little cherubs via a footbridge, so if you're after than, get in there quick