Your fleet running reports

[integrale_evo]

I had a look on there at x5 mirrors because mine flap about in the breeze. £100 each I could cope with, but for the £300 they are I’ll try a £25 motor and gearbox rebuild kit

[Beany]

If it were that simple for me, I'd do that too.

But my mirror is literally broken in the diecast. No coming back from that without a *lot* of JB weld, and I'm not sure I'd trust that to support the thing at my motorway cruising speeds

[Jobbo]

Bean, you’re aware that coupe/cab E46/ have quite different mirrors to the saloon/Touring I’m sure, but just mentioning it.

[Sundayjumper]

Ahhhhh..... crap. You know how you start a job, expecting it to be fairly easy, then it turns out it's not and you should have started it much much sooner ?

Me neither. Ahem.

The Compact has been stood quite a while, and hasn't had an MOT since failing in Nov 2020, so when I started it up the other day and it ran perfectly I was quite chuffed. The brakes were binding but that was no surprise.

It turns out the backing plates for the rear brakes have rotted right through, they are the mounting point for the hand brake, so that had all jammed up. The hard lines have been replaced at some point with very soft copper which I've now managed to mangle while getting the back plate off. Fitting new back plates appears to require removing the hubs to do it properly and that will be a monumental PITA.

I think my plan will be: new hard lines right down the car, bodge on some new back plates by cutting them up a bit so they go over the hub.

It needs an MOT before Kemble on the 4th June. That's only three weeks away. Erk.

@integrale_evo - Compact Fweind - any thoughts on this ? It would normally be an opportunity to upgrade something but I'm a bit short on time now.

[Gavster]

Eeek, that sounds rough. Is there anything I can do to help get the car ready, like come over to help spanner for a day?

[Sundayjumper]

And this is how “I’ll just clean the brakes up a bit” turns into “it’ll be easier if I drop the whole rear end out”

IMG_0740.jpeg (137.62 KiB) Viewed 855 times

[Beany]

Bean, you’re aware that coupe/cab E46/ have quite different mirrors to the saloon/Touring I’m sure, but just mentioning it.

Yeah, I was conscious of that but my car is marked as an E46 cabrio in Autodoc and it said it'll fit....

If it's not the right one, but mounts OK, I'll put it on there 'for now' till I source the right one. It might even only be the plastic cap that's different, one of which I actually have but never got around to fitting.

Long story short, we'll see.

Edit: Jesus christ @Sundayjumper you did a good job on that one

[DeskJockey]

Could be a trick of the light/colour/dirt, but the left side driveshaft looks thinner than the right?

[Sundayjumper]

Could be a trick of the light/colour/dirt, but the left side driveshaft looks thinner than the right?

They seem to be different ages, and different quality of dirt on them They're definitely the same size.

[integrale_evo]

Ahhhhh..... crap. You know how you start a job, expecting it to be fairly easy, then it turns out it's not and you should have started it much much sooner ?

Me neither. Ahem.

The Compact has been stood quite a while, and hasn't had an MOT since failing in Nov 2020, so when I started it up the other day and it ran perfectly I was quite chuffed. The brakes were binding but that was no surprise.

It turns out the backing plates for the rear brakes have rotted right through, they are the mounting point for the hand brake, so that had all jammed up. The hard lines have been replaced at some point with very soft copper which I've now managed to mangle while getting the back plate off. Fitting new back plates appears to require removing the hubs to do it properly and that will be a monumental PITA.

I think my plan will be: new hard lines right down the car, bodge on some new back plates by cutting them up a bit so they go over the hub.

It needs an MOT before Kemble on the 4th June. That's only three weeks away. Erk.

@integrale_evo - Compact Fweind - any thoughts on this ? It would normally be an opportunity to upgrade something but I'm a bit short on time now.

Yes, hubs have to come off to change the backplates properly, but yes, you can cut through at a thin point and sort of twist them on.

Alternatively some vws use pins which go in from behind and have slotted washers on the front side. You can copy that setup, or drill out your knackered holes and use the washers behind with the bmw pins.

Brake shoe Fitting kit for a 1999 lupo or 2007 polo will work

[integrale_evo]

Just looked again, scrap the vw washers trick, you’re a bit past that stage

I’ve had these in my eBay basket for ages, keep meaning to get them so I have them there and waiting if I ever need to do a wheel bearing…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274523969846 ... media=COPY

[DeskJockey]

Could be a trick of the light/colour/dirt, but the left side driveshaft looks thinner than the right?

They seem to be different ages, and different quality of dirt on them They're definitely the same size.

How the other half live! Different dirt qualities for left and right!

[integrale_evo]

And if you don’t have, or want a better brake flaring tool, these ones are great, and will flare oe steel lines on the car so you can use a joiner somewhere suitable instead of having to do the horrible bits which thread their way around the engine bay.

Little bit fiddly, but perfect flares every time.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273669772098 ... media=COPY

[Alex88]

Mustang needs its MOT in the next couple of weeks, so I gave it a quick look over. Front tyres are on the cords on the inner tread! Wasn't like that at the last MOT only 2k miles ago.. regardless, I'm a little annoyed with myself that I didn't spot it sooner. Live and learn.

New set booked in for Monday. I think I'll get the tracking done at the same time

It's also getting some underbody work soon. There's a lot of surface corrosion, plus the diff looks like it's been left at sea. So, it's getting treated + undersealing. The inner rear arches are also getting some attention as there are little streaks of rust in there. Not surprising as there's no inner arch liner, so all the road debris hits the body.

[Simon]

Still waiting for Merc to find stock of a new Lambda sensor. It didn't matter this week as we were way in Algarve, but it's gonna annoy me if I see that EML light much longer. How hard can it be to find one?

[Sundayjumper]

Just looked again, scrap the vw washers trick, you’re a bit past that stage

I’ve had these in my eBay basket for ages, keep meaning to get them so I have them there and waiting if I ever need to do a wheel bearing…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274523969846 ... media=COPY

Ta, although I've splashed (pun intended) out and bought Febi ones. Twice the price but hopefully nice and sturdy. I'm a Febi fanboi these days.

I'm into the "in for a penny, in for a pound" stage, I've just ordered nearly £400 of stuff and I'm far from done. The car is a keeper, and I've literally spent nothing on it for the last couple of years (COVID meant loads of events were cancelled, and that's all it gets used for, so it was parked up for 2 years), so I think I can justify it. Next I'm looking for a deal on new/refurb brake calipers. There's some options on ebay and I've put some enquiries out. Not looking for big brakes - targa rallies aren't hard on brakes and 15" tyres are nice and cheap !

I have some braided brake hoses already in stock. I fitted grooved discs at some point, they've hardly been used but had a lot of surface rust on them. So I soaked them overnight in white vinegar and they've scrubbed up nicely. I'll give them a lick of paint and they're good to go.

[John]

I had the mx5 serviced yesterday at Mazda. It must have been a different mechanic who saw it last time as the first mechanic suggested it needed new discs due to corrosion and pads all round for over £900. Yesterday's mechanic, replace the discs when the pads are changed.

[KevH18]

Sold our Focus today so now just down to one car between my wife and me. It's a September 11 1.6 Ecoboost petrol Titanium X with just over 90k miles. Bought for just over £9,000 in January 2016 with 21k miles and sold for £4,000 today so quite pleased losing only £5,000 in nearly 7 and a half years.

No plans to buy a second as it was only getting used sometimes only a couple of times a month so it needed to go. I can possibly convince my wife that we can buy a convertible of some kind!

[Matty]

only getting used sometimes only a couple of times a month ....convince my wife.......convertible of some kind

Sounds like you need an Elise.

[KevH18]

only getting used sometimes only a couple of times a month ....convince my wife.......convertible of some kind

Sounds like you need an Elise.

Are they available for 4 grand?