What have you done to your car today?

[EddScott]

This was fun

Family Mini failed its MOT - corroded fuel tank brace. Only had a few days to get it back through before Christmas.

Decided to have a crack at it myself. Wasn't too bad tbh. I did get stuck with the O/S hand brake cable. Would not come out of the caliper. Ended up pulling the cable out from inside the cabin. In hindsight, I should have done this for both side.

Space was tight. I love my house but the garage is really only for storage.

Had it been a bit warmer and a bit dryer, I would have done it outside using the QuickLift.

The offending article. It was touch and go with one of the bolts. Made me work for every turn and rounded a bit towards the end but she came out.

Had to guess a bit which way round it went.

She's on and passed the next day.

 

[tom_e]

Signed on the dotted line for a new Ibiza being delivered hopefully first week of march

 

[Removed User 345456]

Removed all the sealant in doors, rear light, windscreen, rearscreen and reapplied some fresh new sealant. 80% of water leaks have been eliminated, now the window has come undone from the regulator clamps so that's a job for tomorrow. Joys of owning a 500 S... box.

Make sure you replace that horrible sticky door sheet sealant that holds the plastic film sheet over the door before the doorcard goes on, that'll solve a look of issues with moisture/steaming up.

 

[Removed User 345456]

Inevitable catching up with the Navara need to find someone who can do it properly really but they are all quite a distance from me, guy around the corner who'll do Lanoguard but I'm not a fan personally - just tends to seal the rust in without doing much to address it.

On 140K miles so had a good run out of it though (EDIT: Don't even want to think how much I've spent in fuel on it).

Dealer has some nice 21 plate ones but they don't really compare to the 3L V6

Can you not get a second hand one, have it powdercoated? They'll basically do all the hard work for you if you send it to them without anything attached like bushings/fixings. Then you can just refit it with fresh bushings/fixings as required.
That's always the easiest way, I'm not a major fan of powdercoating, but means it'll get blasted and come back mint, then you could always hammerite it to be anal, I hammerite my arms when I buy new ones as the powder coating gets battered quickly.

 

[Rroff]

Can you not get a second hand one, have it powdercoated? They'll basically do all the hard work for you if you send it to them without anything attached like bushings/fixings. Then you can just refit it with fresh bushings/fixings as required.
That's always the easiest way, I'm not a major fan of powdercoating, but means it'll get blasted and come back mint, then you could always hammerite it to be anal, I hammerite my arms when I buy new ones as the powder coating gets battered quickly.

There are people who fabricate new sub-frames, not looked into the legal side of it and any insurance implications, etc. as well as second hand ones but all quite a bit of hassle as anyone who'll do the work on something like that and has a good reputation for it are quite some distance from me. Then there is the cost side of it vs just putting that towards a new(er) truck, though I've stuck with this one because the V9X is a nice engine as far as pickups in the UK go.

I might get the guy around the corner to steam clean it then treat it myself + Hammerite and cavity wax - but need good weather and/or putting up somewhere to do it as I don't have a garage suitable for the pickup.

 

[Removed User 345456]

There are people who fabricate new sub-frames, not looked into the legal side of it and any insurance implications, etc. as well as second hand ones but all quite a bit of hassle as anyone who'll do the work on something like that and has a good reputation for it are quite some distance from me. Then there is the cost side of it vs just putting that towards a new(er) truck, though I've stuck with this one because the V9X is a nice engine as far as pickups in the UK go.

I might get the guy around the corner to steam clean it then treat it myself + Hammerite and cavity wax - but need good weather and/or putting up somewhere to do it as I don't have a garage suitable for the pickup.

Fair points if not replacing it yourself, is there not some nice guy/girl on the owners forums/social groups you can befriend/cash in hand to come to you and do it? You'll end up meeting sound like minded people and making friends for life, joy of cars

If you wanna try it yourself, plan to do it on a day with decent weather throughout, and be prepared to waste a day if needed, then invest in a lot of decent wire wheels/flap discs for an angle grinder, and make sure you go proper at it for hours going over everything buffing any rust away till it's shiny metal, if you spot any holes/bad deep pitting/rust - stop and get a picture and find out how deep it is from someone qualified/wether it can be welded in situ without removal/saved at all... If all is good and the it's not cold/raining, then go ahead and hammerite the **** out of it and do as many coats when dry per hour or 2, as you can without interfering with anything, obviously don't take any paint/rust off any area you can't get to with a brush/wire wheel. Or it'll just be naked to get worse...

 

[Rroff]

Fair points if not replacing it yourself, is there not some nice guy/girl on the owners forums/social groups you can befriend/cash in hand to come to you and do it? You'll end up meeting sound like minded people and making friends for life, joy of cars

If you wanna try it yourself, plan to do it on a day with decent weather throughout, and be prepared to waste a day if needed, then invest in a lot of decent wire wheels/flap discs for an angle grinder, and make sure you go proper at it for hours going over everything buffing any rust away till it's shiny metal, if you spot any holes/bad deep pitting/rust - stop and get a picture and find out how deep it is from someone qualified/wether it can be welded in situ without removal/saved at all... If all is good and the it's not cold/raining, then go ahead and hammerite the **** out of it and do as many coats when dry per hour or 2, as you can without interfering with anything, obviously don't take any paint/rust off any area you can't get to with a brush/wire wheel. Or it'll just be naked to get worse...

All good as far as pits or holes go unless something turns up when knocking it back to clear metal - they did a good inspection on it at the dealer with a video. It isn't too bad at the moment but at a critical point where that will quickly change if not dealt with.

I went over it a few years back but the excessive salting they did on the roads in the winter of 2021 did it no favours and I've been a bit lazy in sorting it, partly due to COVID.

 

[Removed User 345456]

All good as far as pits or holes go unless something turns up when knocking it back to clear metal - they did a good inspection on it at the dealer with a video. It isn't too bad at the moment but at a critical point where that will quickly change if not dealt with.

I went over it a few years back but the excessive salting they did on the roads in the winter of 2021 did it no favours and I've been a bit lazy in sorting it, partly due to COVID.

Nice nice, just see what you find with the flap disc/wire wheel and go from there mate

Yeah salt wrecks cars! Always a good shout to spray the car at the very least after a drive if it's in the day or the morning after, especially underneath!

I personally like to take my underside back to metal, epoxy prime, and coat with Raptor - it's what they use on trophy trucks/rock crawlers etc, it's poly eurethane and awesome stuff, you need a nice warm workshop to do it properly with days between coats of epoxy primer and the same with the Raptor and to do it with a gun.

 

[IC3]

Make sure you replace that horrible sticky door sheet sealant that holds the plastic film sheet over the door before the doorcard goes on, that'll solve a look of issues with moisture/steaming up.

No such thing in the Skoda, you only have a metal sheet which works as a panel and silicone is the only sealant. I know what you mean though, as I had that plastic sheet in the Accord.

 

[Removed User 345456]

No such thing in the Skoda, you only have a metal sheet which works as a panel and silicone is the only sealant. I know what you mean though, as I had that plastic sheet in the Accord.

Ah nice, as those sheets just tear/are very brittle and the gunk holding them on will murder your clothes for life lol

 

[LuckyBenski]

Talking of rust and sorting under stuff... The welder called me yesterday as he's made a start on my MG's sills. So not my work but I'll be finishing it off once the welding is done (and paying for it )...

I got a series of calls throughout the day. From "It's worse than I thought but still not too bad"... "There's a lot of filler already on this, shall I grind back further or just fill over it again"... "It's rusted through to the inside"... "I'm gonna have to buy a pre-made sill to save time".

3 sills cut back and welded or planned for. The fourth was only an advisory not a failure so fingers crossed that one is simple!

First sill:

Spoiler: Nearside front

Nearside rear - much worse and a previous owner has already done a filler job over existing rust

Spoiler: Nearside rear

Third sill - offside rear - absolute horror show. This is getting replaced with a Mike Satur prefab sill end.

Spoiler: OSR sill carnage

[url=https://ibb.co/nszGjXb]
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[Akagi]

Pff, amateur.

Those sills are mint.

 

[Rroff]

Nice nice, just see what you find with the flap disc/wire wheel and go from there mate

Yeah salt wrecks cars! Always a good shout to spray the car at the very least after a drive if it's in the day or the morning after, especially underneath!

I personally like to take my underside back to metal, epoxy prime, and coat with Raptor - it's what they use on trophy trucks/rock crawlers etc, it's poly eurethane and awesome stuff, you need a nice warm workshop to do it properly with days between coats of epoxy primer and the same with the Raptor and to do it with a gun.

I was trying but it was a losing battle - the vehicle was looking like it had zebra stripes from all the salt splashed up

 

[Removed User 345456]

I was trying but it was a losing battle - the vehicle was looking like it had zebra stripes from all the salt splashed up

Haha the old school stuff I daily would return to the earth if I didn't have the Raptor undercoating/protected arms/cleaned regularly/driven at the right times haha, but I refuse to drive some modern obese lifeless handling pig without a soul that can be bought ten to a penny haha!

 

[Glanza]

2 new tyres on the rear after a puncture repair on one hasn't held. They weren't far off needing to be replaced due to mileage.

 

[dlockers]

I forgot to tax the E43. Luckily I had no issues --- and I think it saved me one month of pro-rata'ed road tax. Let's see if I get put in prison! Only cost £245. Yippeee - I am out of the lux car tax BS.

 

[MrRockliffe]

I forgot to tax the E43. Luckily I had no issues --- and I think it saved me one month of pro-rata'ed road tax. Let's see if I get put in prison! Only cost £245. Yippeee - I am out of the lux car tax BS.

I forgot to tax my fiesta a couple of years ago. It was £0 per year.

After 2 months of “no tax” I received a fine from the DVLA of £150 ish. Had to pay it.

 

[dlockers]

I forgot to tax my fiesta a couple of years ago. It was £0 per year.

After 2 months of “no tax” I received a fine from the DVLA of £150 ish. Had to pay it.

Oh snap! I've got lucky then (although I will wait and see ). I hadn't realised my address on the v5 hadn't been updated, so hadn't received any reminders.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Oh snap! I've got lucky then (although I will wait and see ). I hadn't realised my address on the v5 hadn't been updated, so hadn't received any reminders.

Exactly the same issue for me - I had recently moved house and it was one of the only things I’d forgotten to change :/ I think you’ll be okay as you have since taxed yours.

 

[IC3]

Ah nice, as those sheets just tear/are very brittle and the gunk holding them on will murder your clothes for life lol

Yep! I always work on cars in old throaway clothes, but yes, even removing that gunk from your hands isn't easy, loads of scrubbing... I did prefer the way honda has engineered it though, easier access. The Skoda had that pannel riveted in, pain in the... I threaded the holes and used metal bolts with sharp threads for easier access next time, which has already paid off! The window froze and whilst trying to put it down one of the clamps slipped from the glass causing the window to go up at a funny angle.