pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Jan 29, 2010 21:02:03 GMT
Im sure youll have it done in no time at all. If its really getting to you go and pamper shiela do some cosmetics that don't really need doing it makes you feel loads better. Gladys got her engine bay gunked today cause I was bored of finding more things to fix on the triumph
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jan 29, 2010 21:06:08 GMT
Cheers, Paul - I also have beer now so, between your suggestion and that, she probably won't be getting a Viking funeral (just yet) ;D
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Jan 29, 2010 23:42:35 GMT
Hang in there Joe!! I had a similar situation with mine. She was meant to have a fresh MOT and be perfectly driveable and she was, so long as you didn't need to change gear or stop in a hurry (or at all). Yes, I get away with a lot at MOT time but I would never legitimately sell a car unless the MOT was 100% pucka, certainly I wouldn't bodge things with leccy tape to try and conceal problems. Also I took off my heat exchangers to clean up and hammerite them. One of them had such bad welding it was atrocious, for example a string of welding wire attached to it. The other one had a section missing to attach the heater hose to. I still have them and if either would be any good you are welcome to them, let me know which side is fubar on Isabelle. They are not pretty but at least they have not broken down internally. Matt will tell you and I admit it quite openly that at times he had to tell me to 'put down the angle grinder and walk away'. I was once told that the 'A' body cars are like a fussy girlfriend and if they don't get what they want when they want it then they sulk badly. ;D You have my empathy and I'm sure you'll get through it. Send me a PM if you need either of my spare exchangers.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jan 30, 2010 0:25:28 GMT
Thanks PM sent. Angle grinder was not on the cards Isabel though - I was getting point where I wouldn't waste the grinding disc on her when a splash of petrol and match would do. She's still on notice for that treatment but back to her first warning (for now......) ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jan 30, 2010 16:33:24 GMT
Well, the play in the o/s/r hub wasn't the bearing. For future reference, the hub nut is supposed to be tightened to 130-150 lb/ft torque then split-pinned. It is not supposed to be done up "not quite finger tight" then split-pinned to stop it shaking off: That's just asking for the wheel to come off in use and leaves me wondering what else I should be checking. What's slightly more worrying is that the bearing was picked up for "slight play" as an advisory at the last MOT. Unlike a worn bearing, this monumental cock-up wouldn't have got looser over the past year (unless the pin had broken, in which case the wheel would have come off) so the tester must have considered an inch of wobble in a road wheel as "slight play". I won't post it here but - given this, the play that was in the steering, the knackered front struts, the brake pedal that went almost to the floor when she was collected, the wipers that were siezed and turning their bushes in the bodywork to give about a 50 degree sweep if you were lucky, and various other bits - if anyone values their health / family / other road users and wants the name of a testing station to avoid like the plague, then PM me
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daf44
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Post by daf44 on Jan 30, 2010 16:35:25 GMT
hi. make sure the insurance is up to date first
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jan 30, 2010 19:55:49 GMT
In defence of the tester - Mr S. Wonder - The hub nut isn't visble when the hub cap is on... (For NCT here, wheel trims / hub caps have to be removed prior to presenting for test.) and the tester cannot dismantle. Also all the above items *might* (long shot) have actually been okay on the day at the time of test... As they used to say at the start of Stingray "Anything can happen in the next half hour" ;D Anyway, have you lost something Joe? Agreed on all the above, except for the advisory for "slight play". You don't need to see what's causing it to know that an inch of wobble is excessive and, because it wasn't the bearing, it must have been pretty much the same play then as it is now (well, "was now" cos it's been corrected). Unless one of the Derby Daf Centre removed the hub and did this after the test, which seems unlikely (they seem to be pretty competent ). I agree that, on a long shot, both inboard balljoints might have worn from "not enough to advise" to "completely shagged" between a test in January and when we got her in April. If she was being operated in the Gobi desert. Also, the wipers might have rusted their spindles solid to the point it took a one pound hammer to remove them in the same timeframe. If she was being used underwater. But, as far as I know, global warming hasn't yet reached the stage where Nottingham is an underwater desert As for the vestas, I've decided I don't need them thanks - she will be put right (including the split I found in the front footwell earlier today) if it bloomin' kills me. Because I can
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stefan
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Post by stefan on Jan 30, 2010 20:57:09 GMT
Have to say Derbyshire Daf centre did little work on that car and was not MOTed at the same place as mine.
Glad to see you are battling through Joe it will all be done soon.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jan 30, 2010 21:04:30 GMT
I was worried that might be the case, Stefan, which is a pity really. If the work or MOT standards had anything to do with The Centre I would have been justified in coming over and confiscating your van on road safety grounds.
Ahh well ;D
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Onne
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Post by Onne on Jan 30, 2010 21:47:52 GMT
Sorry to hear all this Joe... I thought she would be quite a nice one
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Post by dafdaffer on Jan 30, 2010 21:55:06 GMT
if it had been the front then i could have held my hands up as i changed the front cyclinders and hoses for onne in january in the dark, i never removed the rear nor to my knoledge did Onne. the center rubbers do just die, im lucky if i can get six month out of a set before they die and fall off, also Onne had an engine mounting fail on the front which could have contributed to it going missing. the worst thing i find about DAF's is the exhaust system, unless you buy new you will always be fudging them together, i know its hard on a shoe string budget. ive been there ever since i have had DAF's in all fairness you have done allot of work but what you have done wont need doing again, they are all rolling restos
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Jan 30, 2010 22:23:55 GMT
No major dramas, Onne - she will be a nice one. It's partly my fault for leaving everything until winter but we were having so much fun using Betty and Sheila last year that somehow she never got tackled properly while the sun was shining The hub was a bit of a surprise (to say the least) but the slightly odd thing is that the other side (which I checked when I found out) was done properly and doesn't look like it's been disturbed for a long time. I'm struggling to think of a likely reason for removing one rear hub but not the other! For the exhaust it's not just the rubbers missing, there's nothing to hook them to on the pipe itself. So it'll probably get wired on for now - it's only there to stop the thing dropping when the next bit breaks ;D As for the end result - we'll find out around Lichfield time. If we leave Iliria in a ditch in the mountains then we'll know I hadn't found all the problems ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 2, 2010 12:29:41 GMT
Ok, getting out of despair into sort of Monty Python manic humour territory. I attacked the split I'd noticed in the front floor yesterday while the sun was out. The trouble is, I attacked it using a wire brush and angle-grinder. It turns out that a lot of the sound floor around the split was made of soundproofing mat glued to ........... RUST!!!!! There was no way I was going to try and beat something to the full depth of the "step" round the edge so I'm afraid she got the patchwork quilt treatment on this one: I'm pretty sure, from what I was welding to, that she'll need a full panel in the next year or two but at least feet shouldn't go through it (for now) and the jacking point doesn't try to twist when you lift her anymore. NEXT!!!!!!!!!!! ;D
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Post by dafdaffer on Feb 2, 2010 16:16:44 GMT
looks a good repair. keep it up mate
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 3, 2010 0:03:17 GMT
Cheers both of you It really is an "MOT minimum" patch job but it buys time to do something neater in the future (and preferably when it's warmer). Anyway, the nice coat of underseal she got today makes it look a lot neater 9and is going to smell like crazy when she starts warming up in the sun ) That's the joys of trying to run them and mend them at the same time, of course!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 17, 2010 18:45:22 GMT
I'm now beginning to hate this car. The pre-MOT list (that I'm aware of anyway) has shrunk to: Put the grille and front bumper back on Remove front bump stops cos there's no clearance to the spring if she settles wrong Check handbrake pull-off spring cos there's no spring effect on the handbrake lever Check headlamp aim Check brake performance. It was a nice sunny day today so I decided to get the first two, maybe 3, items sorted which would only leave the headlight aim and a quick brake check. What could be easier? Well, the first problem came trying to get the bumper back on. The observant amongst you may have noticed that she looks a little lop-sided in her photos. This was because of one bumper iron being crooked on the bumper, twisting everything slightly out of line. Just enough out of line that the bumper irons simply would NOT slip back into place having been liberated when I took her apart. So, thinking ahead, lots of Plusgas on the bolt and go for a cuppa. Come back, gently try the bolt, head falls off. The sodding thing was rusted almost right the way through In between a little swearing, wasted about 1/2 hour drilling the old bolt without damaging the thread in the welded-in plate. Got everything back together and turned my attention to the bump-stops. These consist of a rubber block bonded to a large metal disc with 4 slots round the outside and a bolt through the middle which is keyed to the plate. To remove, you (apparently) tap the metal plate round using a drift in the slots. This is slightly ( ) awkward at first then becomes impossible at the point where the key for the bolt fails, leaving the metal plate spinning on a bolt which is no longer undoing. Obviously, this happens when it's already undone about 1/4 inch which is just enough to remove what little gap there was between the rubber and the spring. Prying the rubber off doesn't help much because the bolt has a completely smooth head which is impossible to grip. So tomorrow's job is to drag the welder out again just to weld the plate back onto the bolt in order to (hopefully) remove them. Maybe I'll get to recreate the old Hamlet ad - you know the one: "Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet lit from the smouldering remains of a post-fireball* Daf" *Accidental fireball, of course, when the welding goes wrong. At which point I'll pull out the cigar, light it from the remains and sit back with a contented smile. Cue music.
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 17, 2010 22:32:04 GMT
Have a heart Joe! ;D I must admit I had trouble getting my bumper back on after the engine install. Sharing bolts with engine mounts seems a bit daft to me. It took me lots of swearing to get mine back in. Thankfully the last owner had already taken the engine out to (not) fix the grinding so all the bolts have been loosened before and some even replaced. It'll all be worth it in the end and you secretly love the challenge, don't you! ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 17, 2010 22:38:09 GMT
I love knowing that I'm one step closer to finishing her - I'm not bothered about how she looks but I'm not going to let Iliria loose in her until I'm happy she's safe & reliable.
Speaking of which, the replacement heat exchanger went on a couple of days ago with no problems at all (apart from getting the old one off - how stuck to the cylinder hear??? ;D ) Thank you very much for that. The heater control even works on one side now - one of the new cables is still not attached thanks to bump stop fun!
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Feb 17, 2010 23:11:11 GMT
Hey, you're welcome Joe, I'm glad it works ok. Did you manage to modify the top of it from the old one, or was it the other one you fitted with the world's worst welding done on it? ;D
You've embarrassed me into remembering that I never got round to changing my broken cables. I did look in there once (having first dropped the radio out of the way) but my non-pianist fingers couldn't get in there. Must remember to nag Matt to help me with that one (sorry mate)! ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 20, 2010 13:34:48 GMT
Well, Isabel is now parked back across the road and is, as far as I know, as ready as she'll ever be for the test.
I'm a little concerned about the inner track rod ends and the front suspension ball-joints (fairly big vertical movement in them but no sideways) and also that he'll find more holes once she's in the air. The joints are all testers discretion on the level of play that's acceptable and, if it was my discretion, I'd probably be advising on the track rod ends and one ball-joint rather than failing, but it'll be his decision on the day.
Now need to catch up on the stuff that's overdue on the others thanks to all the unexpected snags on the dear little rustbucket!
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Feb 20, 2010 23:55:02 GMT
Probably can't get her in for a couple of weeks, John, unless I feel like going to yet another new tester (which I don't). There's no panic though - she's not due to go into regular use just yet.
Meanwhile, with her out of the way I finally managed to do the month overdue service on Betty today and found a (very slightly) weeping rear brake cylinder - only about 10ml of fluid down but when I pulled the o/s hub there's just a hint of "greasiness" on the inside. So that's another job for the list.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 12, 2010 17:57:35 GMT
Well, Isabel is booked in for her MOT on Monday morning so, today, I treated her to a service, washed her, and then started to clean out the mess that has built up in her cos no-one seems to be responsible for cleaning her and it's always better to present something the tester doesn't wear an NBC suit to sit in (I know I'm not but am beginning to wonder who exactly is ) Anyway, having picked out the sandwich wrappers I lifted the front mats to sweep out the straw (no, really, there was actually straw in there!) I wish I hadn't, and guess what I'm doing over the weekend: Request permission for bottom lip to wobble, Sir It's my own fault I guess - while I was doing the driver's side I lifted the back mat which was fine, but only had a quick look under the inner edge of the front because I was reaching over from the driver's side. That doesn't stop me feeling genuinely hacked off though - there's going to be more new metal than original in this bloomin' car soon (haven't even started to think about the rear valance yet)!!!
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pauldaf44
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Post by pauldaf44 on Mar 12, 2010 18:52:34 GMT
Just be glad you found it rather than the MOT tester. I can imagine it would have been a lot more annoying to recieve a fail sheet and a ticking off from the tester. Looks like you and I are both welding infernal rustbuckets this weekend.
Competition may the best man win!! Results of course judged by the all powerfull Mr Webmeister ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 12, 2010 20:09:00 GMT
The thing is, there's a better than even chance the tester wouldn't have noticed it. I'd already had a good poke from underneath and it was covered in thick seam sealer and underseal, with no obvious give in the metal cos the sealer was effectively glueing it in place. Seeing as they're not allowed to dig, or lift carpets / mats, it probably would have gone through without a mention.
Now Mug here has to do it properly.
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Mar 13, 2010 10:54:20 GMT
Well, if you will go looking for trouble Joe.... ;D
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 13, 2010 19:16:26 GMT
Well, if you will go looking for trouble Joe.... ;D What, like finishing the plating and deciding to have a quick look to see why the handbrake doesn't "spring" down when you release it? Only to find that both of the bell-cranks were seized almost solid. Oh, and that both of the short balancing cables are rusty with broken strands? Is that what you mean by "going looking for trouble"?? Anyway, having spent the best part of an hour removing the cables and levers cos most of the split-pins were solid wire and rusted solid in the clevis pins, the bell-cranks are now free and soaking in light oil overnight and the cables are clean but diffy 4 strands each. Hopefully that won't count as "significantly" weakening them but it's one of those judgement call jobbies and I don't know this guy well enough to know what his judgement will be. Ahh well, it's only a test fee.........
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33grinder
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Post by 33grinder on Mar 14, 2010 1:57:32 GMT
I'm sure she'll be fine Joe and it was nothing less than you were secretly expecting. On the bright side, as least you've caught the rot before it can get worse.
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 14, 2010 10:10:16 GMT
True, Pete. I just wish I'd had some idea what it was like through what little summer we had last year - wouldn't be panicking a day before her MOT if I had. Oh, and I seem to have woken up with sunburn on my face and a slight headache from the welding
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kenr
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Post by kenr on Mar 14, 2010 19:07:44 GMT
DAFS and Triumphs........ not that different really. Best to have caught it now. It's done and dusted.Good luck with the MOT mate.
Ken
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spunkymonkey
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Post by spunkymonkey on Mar 14, 2010 23:28:27 GMT
Well, done anyway. Given the last-minute discovery of this one it's been a fairly basic patch-for-MOT repair. Probably good for a couple or 3 years but she'll be needing new floors soner or later, so not quite dusted. On the plus side, the handbrake linkage seems to have gone back together much happier than it came off - even though I did have a "oh ballc ocks" moment drilling the blocked hole in one of the clevis pins when I managed to snap a drill in it. Had to drill through from the other end and just hope I met the tip accurately enough to push it out. I was lucky. She also now has a centre exhaust mount (that missing should not have passed last year - some testers really should read the manual!). I just hope he's amused by the two wire hooks and loops of bungee cord I'm not even going to try and call this one because I know I've sorted everything I can find but I've kinda lost confidence in the car for now and just don't trust it not to throw something else up. Still, results will be in tomorrow so I may be happier by then......
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