Betty's been sent to the Naughty Step

[spunkymonkey]

And she's not allowed off it till she says sorry

Having decided to take her to Nottingham on Wednesday, she broke her speedo cable just after we filled her tank. So I had a look at a temp bodge till we can get a new one, and came up with this rather fetching design:



The plan is to fit, slide the steel tube down over the brass join and crimp gently to hold it all together.

But while taking the wheel off to remove the cable, found about 6mm play at the wheel rim. Not much noise (well, none that I'd noticed as unusual) but one completely shot wheel bearing. No worries, they're standard sizes so should be able to get a set locally tomorrow. It would have been nice if she's told us though

So, carried on with the cable, and went to refit itas it was getting dark. Connected up the speedo end and checked all switches were working before refitting the dash panel. Everything was fine. Refitted the panel and she's decided she doesn't need wipers any more.

No live feed to the switch but no blown fuses and the indicators (on the same fuse) are working fine. Must be a wire pulled off somewhere, so that'll be dash out again tomorrow then.

Now, all this is probably my fault - I've been pampering Sheila right in front of her for the past couple of weeks and I guess a little jealousy is to be expected. But surely she should realise that she's the one we're taking out and want to be with?

Bl**d* women.....

[spunkymonkey]

;D;D;D

Well, as long as she gets over it by Wednesday I won't hold it against her.

To be honest, I'm quite the cable drew attention to the bearing problem - strange that there's no real noise from it (slight grumble, but no more than I'd put down to road noise given the road surfaces around here) and not a hint of wander in the steering!

Looking at the old bearings, it looks like they may have suffered from water while she was standing last year - the grease is nicely rust coloured and the spacer tube is quite pitted. Still, rather find out now than when it goes horribly wrong

[spunkymonkey]

Hmmm, £16 (plus a fiver fuel to collect) for a pair of unbranded bearings at the only supplier within 70 miles of here. Compared to £10 including post for a pair of SKF from online, or £6 for the same unbranded

Still, needs must & all that but, with Isabel arriving as well, I think they're definately something to have ready in the spares cupboard from now on!

edited to add: The cable repair has held up at least long enough for a test drive. Danny has no outers for RHD cars and an inner on its own is no good to me. The outer was rusted badly at one point and I've chopped that bit - about 14 inches - out. I was relieved it still reached the wheel with a little careful re-routing

edited again to add: It lasted about 4 miles. Now back to no speedo