So what have you done to your car today?

[luizvivas]

Not today, but late last night, V6 exhaust mocking up on the parts car, then the engine is coming out.


It will be interesting to compare sounds and performance between conventional and X-pipe versions.

I will also modify the exhaust of the 3000 in the next few days. I am waiting for the arrival of some pieces purchased at Mercado Livre (equivalent to Ebay in Brazil and Argentina), to exchange the rusty parts. 

[Doctor Gollum]

Helped a mate dismantle a Bini. One less of them on the road. Judging by the amount of coolant residue over everything in the engine bay, it wasn't a moment too soon

[TheBoy]

Helped a mate dismantle a Bini. One less of them on the road. Judging by the amount of coolant residue over everything in the engine bay, it wasn't a moment too soon

Petrol and matches?

[Doctor Gollum]

Helped a mate dismantle a Bini. One less of them on the road. Judging by the amount of coolant residue over everything in the engine bay, it wasn't a moment too soon

Petrol and matches?

Why use matches when you can use a baler

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Discovered a flat tyre on the front of the Omega when I jumped in it and drove down the road. Noticed it felt very strange so turned round and went back home. pumped it up but it went down again. Not enough life left in the tyre to warrant a repair, and one of the others is getting a bit low so will have to source a new pair.
Noticed the front tyres on the plastic hatchback were getting low. Decided to take a look at the spare to see what state it was in. After going through the ridiculous rigmarole to lower it from under the car (only the French !) found it to be an unused Continental, so fitted it and ordered another one the same from ebay for £45.
While underneath retrieving the spare I noticed a broken rear spring, so now have to source a new pair of those as well.
You leave them alone for a few weeks and they start falling apart. 

[Doctor Gollum]

Both well able to disintegrate whether you look at them or not...

Although there's perhaps more plastic to fall off the clit

[henryd]

Discovered a flat tyre on the front of the Omega when I jumped in it and drove down the road. Noticed it felt very strange so turned round and went back home. pumped it up but it went down again. Not enough life left in the tyre to warrant a repair, and one of the others is getting a bit low so will have to source a new pair.
Noticed the front tyres on the plastic hatchback were getting low. Decided to take a look at the spare to see what state it was in. After going through the ridiculous rigmarole to lower it from under the car (only the French !) found it to be an unused Continental, so fitted it and ordered another one the same from ebay for £45.
While underneath retrieving the spare I noticed a broken rear spring, so now have to source a new pair of those as well.
You leave them alone for a few weeks and they start falling apart. 

On the back of a clit I would just replace the broken spring

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Conventional wisdom says always replace in pairs. 

[Tick Tock]

Took the CDX for its test this morning, passed with just advisories for rear tyres near limit.

Fingers crossed, the CD will also get a 12 month ticket on Friday, then that can be used through the winter.

[henryd]

Conventional wisdom says always replace in pairs. 

On the front I would agree

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Thats all the excuse I need to not spend any more than I have to on the bloody thing. 
Thanks Henry. 

[dave the builder]

NOT today .....
the Zafira A display said "brake pads" so I had a look , plenty of meat left on the pads ,shorted out the wear indicators, Ordered new ones ,major expense £8 the pair from Ebay .
need to do an 710 and filter change as the Zafira A will be going to Fife soon for a trip, 700+ miles 

checked over the astra H 1.7 CDTi design ,stripped the brakes, cleaned the underside and re-applied rust protection etc etc
both number plate lights not working (bulbs) so robbed them from the map lights and ordered some  , did a service and dropped it in for MOT , passed with no advisories  so i gave it a wash too ,now on 89k 

gave my Omega a quick wash ,dumped ALL the screen wash and flushed it out and replaced the pumps with new ones (my squirty no worky) I do have Insignia mist jets to fit but didn't have time that day . it needs a service before winter, all fluids and a good belly rub with a wire brush and top up the rust proofing , brake clean up etc . the MOT ,not extended, is due the end of November when it's cold 

Also need to check over the Zafira B 1.6  ,tidy it up and MOT it (due in a month or so) as that may well get dropped from the fleet ,not being used ,it's been abandoned due to a brand new Audi thing being made available to my brother    I won't need to be fixing that when it goes tits up 

[VXL V6]

Slapped some gun gum on the back box / pipe weld area to stop a minor blow on the daily, the car goes in for MOT end of October and I really CBA to spend any more money on it until I know what the MOT picks up over and above what I know will need doing on it.

[dave the builder]

Slapped some gun gum on the back box / pipe weld area to stop a minor blow on the daily, the car goes in for MOT end of October and I really CBA to spend any more money on it until I know what the MOT picks up over and above what I know will need doing on it.

you could always check it over BEFORE MOT and see what it needs 
I never take a car for MOT unless i think it will pass
obviously you can't check emissions easily but pretty much everything else is check-able without specialist equipment
I tend to take each wheel off in turn,check that area,strip and clean the brakes,clean up everything ,lube and rust protect ,check suspension, then check the lights,wipers,horn,belts etc 
it takes time though ,which i appreciate not everyone has much of lying around unused 

[Nick W]

you could always check it over BEFORE MOT and see what it needs   

I never take a car for MOT unless i think it will pass

obviously you can't check emissions easily but pretty much everything else is check-able without specialist equipment
I tend to take each wheel off in turn,check that area,strip and clean the brakes,clean up everything ,lube and rust protect ,check suspension, then check the lights,wipers,horn,belts etc 
it takes time though ,which i appreciate not everyone has much of lying around unused 

I split the difference:


Check lights, wipers, horn etc work -
Ensure that all the brakes work.
Jack up, check wheel bearings, joints, tyres, general grot. If it's been in use, I leave the wheels on for this
Fix any leaks, check levels and ensure the cooling fan cuts in
Crawl underneath and check for any obvious MOT rust and that the exhaust is in one peice
Put it back on the ground.
Check the seats and belts are OK, and that no warning are on.
Quick clean inside and out and it's ready.


That's probably 30minutes, and just leaves stuff like emissions that you can't check easily.


A good inspection torch really helps here, but it's already an essential in any toolkit






Just noticed that somebody has been playing silly buggers with the titles again.......