What have you done to your car today?

Just remember to be cautious with the magic sponges, they are effectively sandpaper. Use light pressure - and don't use them often.
 
Did both the rear trailing arm bushes on parents fiesta with a cheap ebay tool and some lemforder bushes, the pin had separated from the rubber on the old bushes, nice and quiet to drive again.
 
I always take my boot off and give it the once over with a magic sponge and soapy water. Does the trick of getting it looking Matt again.
I found a liberal dosing of Autoglym interior cleaner (the really fresh smelling stuff) got rid of the sheen and got all the leathers (steering wheel, gear knob and gaitor) back to a nice squeaky clean matt finish which seems to last and no worries about repeated use of a pretty harsh abrasive.
 
I've driven quite a few newer cars recently with Android Auto and thought I'd see what's about for my car.

Given it's a Volvo and almost everything is proprietary and the screen is used for the climate controls too there's not many options out there, apart from one unit that's ~£800 and pretty poor.

I got a cheap wireless android auto display off Aliexpress thinking it would be a piece of crap but as it was only £40, took a punt. It's actually very good.

i7eC7gNl.jpg


It has dual bluetooth so connects to the phone and the car, connects to the phone in about 5 seconds and away we go. I designed and 3D printed a bracket to keep it looking seamless and more 'factory fit' :)
 
I've driven quite a few newer cars recently with Android Auto and thought I'd see what's about for my car.

Given it's a Volvo and almost everything is proprietary and the screen is used for the climate controls too there's not many options out there, apart from one unit that's ~£800 and pretty poor.

I got a cheap wireless android auto display off Aliexpress thinking it would be a piece of crap but as it was only £40, took a punt. It's actually very good.

It has dual bluetooth so connects to the phone and the car, connects to the phone in about 5 seconds and away we go. I designed and 3D printed a bracket to keep it looking seamless and more 'factory fit' :)


Got a link? At £40 it's worth a punt.



What Trolley Jack/Axle Stands do people recommend? I was looking at the SGS Engineering stuff. Any benefit over the cheaper stuff?

This use will be a Ford Transit, but i imagine a 2T device will be enough as the whole thing will weigh around 2ton and then it's only jacking up a small section. After that it'll be a Jeep Wrangler. The main issue being both have pretty high sidewalls compared to a car so need a decent height rating.
 
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I've driven quite a few newer cars recently with Android Auto and thought I'd see what's about for my car.

Given it's a Volvo and almost everything is proprietary and the screen is used for the climate controls too there's not many options out there, apart from one unit that's ~£800 and pretty poor.

I got a cheap wireless android auto display off Aliexpress thinking it would be a piece of crap but as it was only £40, took a punt. It's actually very good.

i7eC7gNl.jpg


It has dual bluetooth so connects to the phone and the car, connects to the phone in about 5 seconds and away we go. I designed and 3D printed a bracket to keep it looking seamless and more 'factory fit' :)
Have you shared the bracket - looks like a neat job.
 
Ridex condenser on our MINI leaking after only 2 years :rolleyes:, end of the drier tank rather than any of the joints. Chap used pressure hydrogen detection to find it rather than wasting gas so ill order a new one, Nissens the brand to go to according to AC guy and get regassed. Job to add to the list as its nearly 10years old, so oil, airfilter, coolant and gearbox oil ill do. Busy few days when that turns up.
 
Ridex condenser on our MINI leaking after only 2 years :rolleyes:, end of the drier tank rather than any of the joints. Chap used pressure hydrogen detection to find it rather than wasting gas so ill order a new one, Nissens the brand to go to according to AC guy and get regassed. Job to add to the list as its nearly 10years old, so oil, airfilter, coolant and gearbox oil ill do. Busy few days when that turns up.

3 condensers in 10 years. That is some going.
 
Multiple speakers were showing as open circuit. Tested speakers for continuity from the amp connector and got nothing. All of the speakers have melted the plastic blocks, assuming from someone messing about. Beyond these blocks I get a reading, so I'm going to bridge the gap with tinsel wire and hopefully get all of them working again. The drivers door speaker still works, but has signs of the melting, so I'll do that one pre-emptively.

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Speakers repaired successfully. Made sure not to take any evidence photos as that soldering was a bit awkward. It's nice having all of the door cards back on.
 
That looks almost exactly like what I'm after for the MX5. Ideally I'd have something with an integrated camera to act as a dash cam as well but I'm probably asking too much of a simple device.

I've got a few essential bits that need work on it but I'll be looking into one of those as the next non essential upgrade.

As for what I did with my car, I finally retrieved it from my parents drive where it has been "temporarily" stored since March last year! Now tucked up in a garage for the first time in my ownership, will make maintaining it much easier.
 
That looks almost exactly like what I'm after for the MX5. Ideally I'd have something with an integrated camera to act as a dash cam as well but I'm probably asking too much of a simple device.

I've got a few essential bits that need work on it but I'll be looking into one of those as the next non essential upgrade.

As for what I did with my car, I finally retrieved it from my parents drive where it has been "temporarily" stored since March last year! Now tucked up in a garage for the first time in my ownership, will make maintaining it much easier.
Plenty of them have a camera on the rear, that's actually one of the few I've seen that don't but it's also the only one I've seen that can do the dual Bluetooth.
 
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