What have you done to your car today?

Tried a windscreen chip repair on the Alto. It was going pretty well until I had finished and decided to give it a firm prod with my thumb and the tiny crack spread a little bit.
Curiosity killed the cat, I shouldn't have done that. :p

Put more resin in it, not going to touch it now lol.

Also checked the diff oil level on the E30 because its starting to sound a bit like a washing machine motor at certain speeds, and it was slightly over-full so I guess the diff is starting to get unhappy in its old age.
Unless being over-full can make it noisy. I don't know... Perhaps I should change the fluid in it and put a measured amount of fresh stuff in.
 
I decided to order some of the old mineral based LSD oil people used to put in them. Castrol Racing B373. It has fully synthetic Castrol Syntrax (now Transmax) Limited Slip in it at the moment.
Apparently some kinds of clutch LSDs don't like the synthetic stuff, and I know my diff was rebuild at some point with different clutches, so... 'eh. It probably won't make a difference but we'll see. :p
 
Nothing serious today.

My new van, the Trafic, had ply lining done in the back but I always find things spill, so ordered a bit roll of rubber mat and sliced it to fit. Not the cleanest cut, but does the job.

On the Impreza STu, its still in Japan, sigh. My importer has managed to find me a space for a week or two's time to Newcastle, so its good news at last. Alternative was Bristol, but the shipping costs are more and the transport home would be more.

Finally, think I'll be bidding on this going to auction on Tuesday:

Edit: has an oil leak, might be trivial, might not... so going to let it go

 
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As planned did the oil and filter (Castrol edge LL last done 7.5k miles ago) oil extraction controversial eh ? Well I did 275k miles on my first Skoda using this method have seen tests done where it removes more than the sump method
Anyway it's so damn easy , a few pumps and grab a coffee 5 mins or so done.
Filter location is great as well in the engine bay

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Got home from the OcUK motors/anniversary meet and fancied tinkering with the MG... Took off the heater/fan intake snorkel and confirmed it had been letting water into the cabin. Started sealing it up and the rain came... Running around with towels and gaffa tape to try and stop the torrent flowing off the windshield and into the intake haha:




Also went to replace the snapped oil filler neck bracket and found it's the wrong shape, and the little collar that locks onto the oil pipe is snapped. New part needed (the red ring).

 
A bunch of people complimented the E30 when I went to Tesco earlier, saying its cool, awesome, don't see many of them, all that stuff.
It was nice. It has been a while since someone said something about it in public. And i've been feeling a little low, so it was a good pick-me-up!

New battery coming for it in a few days! Old one is cooked. I had to jump start it in front of the people who complimented it. :D

Went for a Yuasa 3000 this time. They are the ones Halfords re-brand as their own (not the "essentials" ones, the full fat ones)

It was a little more expensive than the Exide Platinum it is replacing, but it has a bit more capacity and I've heard better things about Yuasa than Exide, so I thought I may as well spend the extra £8.
 
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Noticed today that I could not spot the wheel weights that FA wheels put on, then realised that they put on black weights! This is the first time I've seen balck weights being used without having to ask for them at extra cost. Guess they've upped their game :cool:

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Also car related, but discovered a mountain range of crap that has baked into the tin shelving in the tin shed. Over hot weather the past year+ some of the products have escaped through the plastic bottled which was to be expected I guess and deposited crud on the shelving. Had to use degreaser and wire brush to get it all off then wipe it all down. I think the solution to prevent this again is to install DIY cheap solar panels connected to some airflow fans. Only need them active during sunlight hours anyway so this should create a neutral airflow over the shelves stopping the oven effect on the products.

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Got my claim settlement figure for it after my insurer decide it was a write-off. Had to haggle a bit to get value of what I paid for car only a month ago but minus my excess. Is it possible to claim it back even if I'm not at fault? Otherwise I'm quite a bit out of pocket through no fault of my own. Never been in this situation before.

Now to decide what to get for next car. No idea how I'm going to do the 30 mile journey to work without a car yet as no doubt will be needing to give the courtesy car back very soon.
 
New battery in the E30.
You can say I got my moneys worth out of the old one, on the last few days before the new one arrived I had to jump pack it every time I started it. :p
It only lasted about 5.5 years, but I think thats fairly decent considering the car has been off the road several times over those years and the battery has been stone dead and recharged a tonne of times, and forced to crank the car when almost flat a tonne more times.

It was an Exide Platinum if anyone is wondering. EA770, 096.

Replaced with a Yuasa, I read those generally last a pretty long time, and they are also the ones Halfords re-brand as their own.
 
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