Your fleet running reports

[JLv3.0]

Not tempted by a cheap lease, and as long as I don't count my 'fun' hobby hours and tools I've bought which will be used many times on many projects, so far this fix has cost about £60.

I still like old cars, and honestly having great fun in the compact, although I will admit that the mrs now having a very tidy and low mileage car has taken a bit of the worry out of running a fleet of old sheds

Obviously I was joking mate - you don't remember that cockend Mick seeing someone doing something different to how he lives and smirkingly asking why you're not doing the same?

I'll try harder next time

[Jimmy Choo]

Blimey! Good work, Harry.

[NotoriousREV]

Not tempted by a cheap lease, and as long as I don't count my 'fun' hobby hours and tools I've bought which will be used many times on many projects, so far this fix has cost about £60.

I still like old cars, and honestly having great fun in the compact, although I will admit that the mrs now having a very tidy and low mileage car has taken a bit of the worry out of running a fleet of old sheds

Obviously I was joking mate - you don't remember that cockend Mick seeing someone doing something different to how he lives and smirkingly asking why you're not doing the same?

I'll try harder next time

I hope that cunt never finds this place.

[JLv3.0]

Same.

[Mito Man]

Nice work Harry, always wanted to pick up a welder and learn some of that stuff myself but think I’ll be too crap at it to bother.

[mik]

Nice work Harry, always wanted to pick up a welder and learn some of that stuff myself but think I’ll be too crap at it to bother.

Ive never owned any welding kit. My dad only ever had a basic arc-welder (which is now with mr Flew), so nothing that was ever really suitable for bodywork. I mainly used it to blow new holes in exhausts that I was trying to repair on a shoestring.

[Mito Man]

This is why I just spend my free time/money rustproofing everything instead

Speaking of which the Defender should be completed later today with a fully undersealed chassis and inside all the doors and other bits which like to rust.

[speedingfine]

Just picked the 650i up from BMW. Been there for almost a month having its valve stem seals replaced under the extended warranty. I am so glad I got that warranty!

The bill wasn't cheap. Glad I wasn't paying...

Bit of a result getting them to do that I imagine! Were you trying to sell the car earlier in the year (or is that a different 6 Series on here)

[integrale_evo]

That looks excellent Harry. Will finishing it give you the opportunity to do the VW camper?

We do not talk about the camper

Hopefully I can clear up a lot of odds and ends this summer and get going on the camper in the garage over winter.

But yes, it has reminded me that I quite enjoy messing with metal and seeing the end result, and was also one of the reasons I was happy to invest in a sealer sprayer as I'll be doing the entire underside of the van eventually.

[scotta]

Lotus MOT Ran out last week so need to drop that off at the specialist for the MOT. Needs a cat fitted first. I also think they headlights might need changing and one of the lenses on the Driving lights are cracked so that might be another fail. Wallet braced for impact.

[Sundayjumper]

That is absolutely fantastic work Harry ! You're my E36 hero

[Sundayjumper]

Fun with the Compact last night. When I first got it, it was apparent there was something wrong with the driver's side electric window - it would whirr away but the glass didn't move. And if you whirred it down you could push the glass up & down by hand. Just another small job on the list. Probably a loose or missing clip. No biggie.

Fast forward to last night and I was shuffling cars around on the driveway. I had previously folded the mirrors in and without thinking tried to open the windows so I could push them back. Loud clonk from driver's door. Panic. Push window button in opposite direction, another loud clonk, and the interior door handle on the driver's door suddenly popped out into the "open" position - it was clearly no longer connected to the lock To get out of the car I had to push the glass back down by hand and reach out to open it form the outside

After dinner I went back out to open up the door and see what was wrong. Almost the entire vapour barrier was missing having been cut out with a knife, and some of the door card clips were broken. Fairly new aftermarket mechanism in there. Someone stupid had clearly had a go at this before and presumably f**ked it up causing it to be not working when I bought it. The mechanism was mangled and had managed to catch and break the lever off the door handle. Replacement handle sourced from ebay immediately - not being able to open the door or the window seemed like a bad thing.

I think I'm going to end up going to Harry with a long shopping list of Compact parts....

[ZedLeg]

Nice work Harry, always wanted to pick up a welder and learn some of that stuff myself but think I’ll be too crap at it to bother.

Ive never owned any welding kit. My dad only ever had a basic arc-welder (which is now with mr Flew), so nothing that was ever really suitable for bodywork. I mainly used it to blow new holes in exhausts that I was trying to repair on a shoestring.

I've done some MIG welding and it's not too hard to get the hang of. My mate's starting to get into TIG welding but I think that's probably a bit too much hassle for me.

TBH unless you're planning on doing a lot of messing around with old cars or get into the trade it's not a very useful skill to have.

[ste]

UPDATE

E70 X5 4.8i Sport

Fitted new front wheel bearing as it was grumbly, had it serviced by Olly at Owen Garages, had the aircon re-gassed as it was getting a bit weak and fitted 4 x new tyres. I went for Toyo Sport SUVs instead of the runflats and the car is now magnitudes nicer to drive. I should have done it as soon as we got it.

I then took it for an MOT.



[flying colours pic here]

No advisories and the tester commented on how ridiculously clean the underneath was for its age. I think it's because it did most of its miles in the first 3 years and seemingly did most of them driving around Italy in the great weather.

I'd had a slight concern about emissions as last year it struggled, due according to the MOT tester to an exhaust blow at the join between the OEM BMW downpipe and the bespoke stainless system it has fitted. Last year he'd stuck the probe in a 991 Turbo that was being tested at the same time. This year with the blow fixed it turned out he was right. It's incredibly clean and seems to make roughly 1/4 of the noxious gasses it's permitted to.

I also bought a set of H&R lowering springs and rear lowering links for it. This retains the rear air-ride and factory self levelling (as fitted to X5s with the factory tow pack) but makes the carlevel out with the now lowered front end. 2 weeks later and the supplier has let me down and refunded me. I can't decide whether to buy them again from elsewhere or just leave it now that it rides so well on the new tyres.

[integrale_evo]

Fun with the Compact last night. When I first got it, it was apparent there was something wrong with the driver's side electric window - it would whirr away but the glass didn't move. And if you whirred it down you could push the glass up & down by hand. Just another small job on the list. Probably a loose or missing clip. No biggie.

Fast forward to last night and I was shuffling cars around on the driveway. I had previously folded the mirrors in and without thinking tried to open the windows so I could push them back. Loud clonk from driver's door. Panic. Push window button in opposite direction, another loud clonk, and the interior door handle on the driver's door suddenly popped out into the "open" position - it was clearly no longer connected to the lock To get out of the car I had to push the glass back down by hand and reach out to open it form the outside

After dinner I went back out to open up the door and see what was wrong. Almost the entire vapour barrier was missing having been cut out with a knife, and some of the door card clips were broken. Fairly new aftermarket mechanism in there. Someone stupid had clearly had a go at this before and presumably f**ked it up causing it to be not working when I bought it. The mechanism was mangled and had managed to catch and break the lever off the door handle. Replacement handle sourced from ebay immediately - not being able to open the door or the window seemed like a bad thing.

I think I'm going to end up going to Harry with a long shopping list of Compact parts....

You'll probably know that the plastic window clips on e36s are a bit fragile, and pennies.

The doorcard clip holders coming unglued from the card is common too, part of the cost cutting measures on the compact I assume.

There's a window guide which bolts to the bottom of the runner which is a pain to get back into place and has probably been left off or put on wrong and is the cause of the issues, which then twists the mechanisms.

From memory the vapour membrane on the old blue one is intact although I'm not sure how well they would take being folded or rolled up for posting, I'll have a look next time I'm there, probably Friday.

[Mito Man]

Upskirting photo incoming

All serviced and MOT’d too.
Guess I won’t need to consider a welder for the next 5 years at least. Plus the chassis was in very good condition once decontaminated with just some surface corrosion so I’m pleased with that. Plus the mechanic warned me to not map it to 190bhp as the 2.2 just can’t reliably handle it - 160 is the sweet spot and enough as he put it so will be going back soon. Although he still gave me the option of 190

[mikeyb]

Great skills on the bodywork Harry I always enjoy reading your write-ups on maintaining your fleet.

[integrale_evo]

Nice work Harry, always wanted to pick up a welder and learn some of that stuff myself but think I’ll be too crap at it to bother.

Ive never owned any welding kit. My dad only ever had a basic arc-welder (which is now with mr Flew), so nothing that was ever really suitable for bodywork. I mainly used it to blow new holes in exhausts that I was trying to repair on a shoestring.

I've done some MIG welding and it's not too hard to get the hang of. My mate's starting to get into TIG welding but I think that's probably a bit too much hassle for me.

TBH unless you're planning on doing a lot of messing around with old cars or get into the trade it's not a very useful skill to have.

Mig is very handy, even if not welding chunks of car together it's very handy for quite a few other general mechanical tasks. Stick a bit of metal to a rounded nut to allow a set of grips to grip, stick a nut to a broken stud / screw, make or repair brackets, make or modify tools to suit a specific job, run a bead of weld around the inside of a bearing race to pop it out of its housing.

I'd like a go at tig, it can obviously give prettier welds and more suitable for thin sheet as well as alloys and stainless, but the learning curve looks much steeper and it's not something you can easily do while rolling about in the floor under a car. Much more suited to bench based fabrication work.

I also know absolutely nothing about the tig hardware. Mig is easy, buy a machine, some wire, some gas and away you go!

[IanF]

Great work Harry!

[Swervin_Mervin]

Just picked the 650i up from BMW. Been there for almost a month having its valve stem seals replaced under the extended warranty. I am so glad I got that warranty!

The bill wasn't cheap. Glad I wasn't paying...

I remember reading about someone on PH DIY-ing it having bought the specific tool for the job which itself costs an arm and a leg. Think he subsequently leased the kit out to others to DIY it as well.