MOTOR CHAT
- Thread starter velomaniac
- Start date
jimihendrix
MacRetro Rider
Another upgrade on the Beemer, Angel eyes headlight kit arrived thismorning 
Quite a fiddly job, headlight units had to come apart, routing the wiring was tricky.
End result was worth the hassle though
Quite a fiddly job, headlight units had to come apart, routing the wiring was tricky.
End result was worth the hassle though
I sometimes hate cars.
Disaster has struck with my Alfa project. I had a spare hour on saturday and cleaned 48 years of gunk out of the engine bay. Unfortunately I have found a large crease in the front crossmember and lots of stress fractures around tge suspension mounts on the near side. Further investigation shows that this car has had a hard hit at some point. Probably understeered into something hard as there is no outer body damage or panel replacement. Roughly measured, the NS lower wishbone mounts are 40mm in and 15mm up. Top mounts are also bent.
No option than to put it on the jig and straighten it out. Problem is, the only remaining set of jig brackets are down in South Wales and it will be the new year before they can fit it in. That will have a knock on effect on the whole project as the shell needs to be acid dipped before I can do the rest of the minor repairs. No point it dipping it and then leaving it to go rusty whilst its awaiting the jig work.
It now looks very unlikely that she will be returning to Milan this summer to take part in the Giulia 50th anniversary celebrations.
Gutted.
Disaster has struck with my Alfa project. I had a spare hour on saturday and cleaned 48 years of gunk out of the engine bay. Unfortunately I have found a large crease in the front crossmember and lots of stress fractures around tge suspension mounts on the near side. Further investigation shows that this car has had a hard hit at some point. Probably understeered into something hard as there is no outer body damage or panel replacement. Roughly measured, the NS lower wishbone mounts are 40mm in and 15mm up. Top mounts are also bent.
No option than to put it on the jig and straighten it out. Problem is, the only remaining set of jig brackets are down in South Wales and it will be the new year before they can fit it in. That will have a knock on effect on the whole project as the shell needs to be acid dipped before I can do the rest of the minor repairs. No point it dipping it and then leaving it to go rusty whilst its awaiting the jig work.
It now looks very unlikely that she will be returning to Milan this summer to take part in the Giulia 50th anniversary celebrations.
Gutted.
The pajero needs new rear brake calipers :cry: Now I know I can get replacements for cheapness on ebay but how hard a job will it be changing them over? Obviously I do all my own work on the bikes but i've never done more than change a wheel on a car. I'm thinking/hoping it can't be that hard to follow instructions in a haynes manual though?
In theory changing calipers on most cars is quite straightforward, on a par to most bike maintenance work (especially if you're replacing pads at the same time, as is usually sensible.)
The only real problems arise with stuff that's rusted solid, and you should be careful not to strain or kink the brake lines.
Some manufacturers specify new caliper mounting bolts each time, though most garages probably ignore that I suspect (including main dealers, by their own admission to me)
Get some decent instructions (often good howtos on the web, probably better than Haynes), make sure you have all the tools and bits you need before you start and take it steadily... you should be fine. Bleeding them afterwards is much better done with an assistant, I've never found the DIY grade pressure bleeders much good, a length of clear plastic tube and someone to press and hold the pedal on request is all you need.
The only real problems arise with stuff that's rusted solid, and you should be careful not to strain or kink the brake lines.
Some manufacturers specify new caliper mounting bolts each time, though most garages probably ignore that I suspect (including main dealers, by their own admission to me)
Get some decent instructions (often good howtos on the web, probably better than Haynes), make sure you have all the tools and bits you need before you start and take it steadily... you should be fine. Bleeding them afterwards is much better done with an assistant, I've never found the DIY grade pressure bleeders much good, a length of clear plastic tube and someone to press and hold the pedal on request is all you need.
Assuming the bleed nipple isn't rusted solid (and since you're replacing the calipers it won't be) bleeding is easy on most cars.
Top up the fluid reservoir, get assistant into driver's seat, get length of clear plastic tubing over nipple and into a suitable jug / jar. Brake spanner on nipple (these are like a ring spanner but with a notch missing in the ring to slot it past the pipe - less likely to round off the soft brass nipple than an open spanner), call for assistant to press down on the pedal (and not let it back up), open nipple and allow fluid to flow out, nip it back shut, call for assistant to let pedal up again.
Repeat until the stream of fluid released has no air bubbles in it, being careful to check the reservoir periodically to ensure you don't let the level drop below the minimum at any point in proceedings... basically you want to be sure that fluid is always only ever passing out through the nipple, never back in.
Top up the fluid reservoir, get assistant into driver's seat, get length of clear plastic tubing over nipple and into a suitable jug / jar. Brake spanner on nipple (these are like a ring spanner but with a notch missing in the ring to slot it past the pipe - less likely to round off the soft brass nipple than an open spanner), call for assistant to press down on the pedal (and not let it back up), open nipple and allow fluid to flow out, nip it back shut, call for assistant to let pedal up again.
Repeat until the stream of fluid released has no air bubbles in it, being careful to check the reservoir periodically to ensure you don't let the level drop below the minimum at any point in proceedings... basically you want to be sure that fluid is always only ever passing out through the nipple, never back in.
Thank god for rain!
Last night before I left work it started raining. We were just about to push my Jensen into the painters a few doors up the road. It's all bare steel so we decided to leave it until the morning. I've just popped round to see if they want it now to find the place burnt to the ground! :shock:
It looks like an electrical fault on a Fort Transit started the fire at around half one this morning. The place is gutted and was packed with customers cars. Poor bastards.
Si
Last night before I left work it started raining. We were just about to push my Jensen into the painters a few doors up the road. It's all bare steel so we decided to leave it until the morning. I've just popped round to see if they want it now to find the place burnt to the ground! :shock:
It looks like an electrical fault on a Fort Transit started the fire at around half one this morning. The place is gutted and was packed with customers cars. Poor bastards.
Si
