OV9

GG. wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 10:07 am Ah cool. Mit side door so a clubman.

When I went to the dealership I had a poke round the current Clubman JCW... 302bhp with 4 wheel drive. Bonkers.

Funny, nobody says the BMW M135i is bonkers but that's basically the same thing under the skin

Jobbo wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 10:43 am

GG. wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 10:07 am Ah cool. Mit side door so a clubman.

When I went to the dealership I had a poke round the current Clubman JCW... 302bhp with 4 wheel drive. Bonkers.

Funny, nobody says the BMW M135i is bonkers but that's basically the same thing under the skin

Yes that's true - I guess I just come at it with different expectations from a mini!

First drive out in the Fabia since the very wet Rushmoor Targa.
- steering wheel looking somewhat mouldy
- electric windows have stopped working (but that's normal over winter)
- windscreen washers have stopped working
- left hand indicators have all stopped working (right are fine)
- steering pulling more to the right than I previously noticed

JonMad wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:19 pm First drive out in the Fabia since the very wet Rushmoor Targa.
- steering wheel looking somewhat mouldy
- electric windows have stopped working (but that's normal over winter)
- windscreen washers have stopped working
- left hand indicators have all stopped working (right are fine)
- steering pulling more to the right than I previously noticed

And you mention this straight after I've agreed to do Kemble next year

(it'll be fine by then, I'm sure)

Jobbo wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:32 pm

JonMad wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:19 pm
- steering pulling more to the right than I previously noticed

And you mention this straight after I've agreed to do Kemble next year

This is to counter Jobbo's political leanings

One make forums aren't always bad; I needed a new wiper arm and a pair of door check straps, they're A2 specific and dealer only, but a chap on the A2 remanufactures and improves (better bushes/bearings etc) them for less than the cost from Audi
If I'd ordered them a couple of weeks earlier I'd've noticed some other bits for sale on there and spent many more shekels. A bit sad, but it would have created much more work, so the current weather balances it out.

John wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 6:19 pm

Jobbo wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:32 pm

JonMad wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:19 pm
- steering pulling more to the right than I previously noticed

And you mention this straight after I've agreed to do Kemble next year

This is to counter Jobbo's political leanings

I am indeed incredibly left wing and I love it!

JonMad wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 2:19 pm First drive out in the Fabia since the very wet Rushmoor Targa.
- steering wheel looking somewhat mouldy
- electric windows have stopped working (but that's normal over winter)
- windscreen washers have stopped working
- left hand indicators have all stopped working (right are fine)
- steering pulling more to the right than I previously noticed

Hazards still working on both sides. Promising.
Took the 'wash/wipe system' fuse out. Looked fine. Pushed it back in again. Washers and left hand indicator started working again,
Pumped tyres up, though they were even left to right so that won't explain any pulling to one side.

Jobbo wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:32 pm And you mention this straight after I've agreed to do Kemble next year

In the Jimny ? Or the MINI ? Either would be good

Sundayjumper wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 4:20 pm

Jobbo wrote: Fri Dec 09, 2022 4:32 pm And you mention this straight after I've agreed to do Kemble next year

In the Jimny ? Or the MINI ? Either would be good

In the passenger seat with Jon

You're not tempted though ?

Well, driveshaft removed and it’s definitely a dead diff.

Drained the oil and it looked like silver paint, with a nice thick metallic paste on the drain plug.


It’s a very small unit so not surprised they occasionally lunch themselves. More worrying, the input shaft seems stuck which made removing some of the coupling bolts pretty tricky. I’m hoping that won’t have caused the clutch in the transfer box to kill itself, but won’t know until it’s all back together. Luckily it’s a completely separate unit, I’ll be annoyed if it has gone, but less than I would have been if it was easier to do the two together.

Getting it out was a pain, it won’t quite squeeze out of the bottom, so you have to drop the front subframe and kind of manipulate it the side out while reaching through the wheel arch.



Then I had a cup of tea and it started getting dark, I was getting increasingly frustrated at not being able to wrestle it back in by torch light and as the frost started forming on my tools I decided to call it a day.

Hopefully a pretty easy job to just bolt everything back together and fill it with oil in the morning.

You’re not supposed to be able to see bits loose and rattling around inside are you?

Ooof. Is that a bearing cage loose inside ? I hope you’re going to open it up and give us more detail.

And fair play for doing car stuff today. Too blooming cold for me.

Hard to tell, but it definitely looks a mess in there.

Wasn’t too bad once I’d summoned up some enthusiasm, a few layers, woolly hat and no breeze meant I didn’t feel cold at all until it started getting dark.

Sundayjumper wrote: Sat Dec 10, 2022 4:26 pm You're not tempted though ?

I enjoyed co-driving so I’m hoping after practising at Rushmoor we’ll be like a well-oiled machine.

Got my tyres fitted just in time for a quite isolated dump of snow on us. My wife couldn’t get the Yeti off the drive (I haven’t put the winter tyres on yet…)

Harry shamed me yesterday by doing extremely manly car work in the freezing cold so today I had to make amends. This morning a quick trip to somewhere near Oxford to pick up some winter tyres.


For lunch we had sausages.


Then on to fitting the tyres. Fun fun. The Clubman came with four different makes of tyre, one with OK tread but the other three pretty low. This is meant to be a cheap project car so £500+ for a set of nice Michelins is out of the question and even Falken / Toyo which are my usual favourites come to over £300. These are Ovation (who?) so definitely bottom end but they're in good condition with 6-7mm of tread all over and at £90 for the set I'm happy to take a punt. I always like to try things myself before dismissing them. They really can't be worse than what was on there.

First wheel was the nsf, fitted with a very poorly Aptamy tyre. Despite being the newest on the car (2021 date code) it was almost worn out and managed to look ancient. I had a real struggle to break the bead and even then I couldn't push it down into the well of the wheel. It's a runflat. Runflats manage to run while flat by having VERY stiff sidewalls. Very very in this case. And to make matters worse, my wheels are real 2-piece split rims, and to accommodate the joint the well is narrower, much further in than usual. Long story short: I ended up cutting it off. Took ages and used up three (!) cutting discs on the angle grinder. The thickest part of the sidewall is a full 20mm thick. That's why they ruin the ride quality so badly.


Next up was the osf, this one was the best of the bunch, a Michelin Primacy that still has some usable tread. Breaking the bead on this was an absolute doddle. If the Aptamy was stiff like an antique army boot, this was supple like a silk slipper. I didn't cut it open to compare but I'd guess the sidewalls are around 5mm thick on this one. 20 mins in total, and only because the new tyres are a bit tricky to get on because of the narrow well.

By that point it was getting cold so I gave up. I'll do the rears tomorrow probably. A quick test drive informs me the new tyres are a lot quieter than the old ones. Good. Absolute testing will have to be another time. If they're quiet & comfy and shrug off the cold weather that's good enough for me.

Can we only add three pics to a post ?

The rears are a P-Zero runflat, I'm expecting a fight from that one, and a really shite "Autogrip" that will probably come off really easily and deny me the pleasure of cutting it up.