Sub Par Cars

[Sri05]

I bought a really nice MK8 Civic from the England's in June, one of the cleanest cars I've ever seen underneath, not a bit of rust on it.

Wonder how it'll fare over it's first Scottish winter

[paulplom]

Murderer!!

[SubPar]

I did plenty jobs on this car when I had it and it was absolutely fine. Its a good car and theres no rust on it at all, unless its gone inexplicably rotten over the summer since March when I sold it to you.

Obviously I didn't manage to sort the tailgate issue but that wasn't the cars fault (mainly mine for not noticing it when I bought it). You are much more knowledgeable on the electrics side of things and had it working soon after you bought it.

It's what 13 years old or something now? I've replaced a caliper or 2 on almost every older car I've owned.

Aye, I'm blowing it out of proportion admittedly.

It's very solid underneath, but the left rear caliper and handbrake cable and that immediate tiny area around it are spectacularly rusted up. Every single bolt I needed to undo in order to inspect the state of that corner's brake put up a considerable fight.

The joys of manufacturers putting discs on the back of a hatchback. It would be perfectly fine with drums back there!

I even looked at the rear suspension mounts when I had it jacked up. They look far better than the first attempt I made at a spaceship Civic! That's because they are actually present.

[Eddie Honda]

Wonder how it'll fare over it's first Scottish winter

It'll be fine...as long as you avoid Aberdeenshire.

[SubPar]

Rear brakes on the civic, then.

Did the discs and pads the other day, plus the left rear caliper.

Drilling out the retaining screws wasn't fun, but I got there.

IMG_20220930_102301224.jpg (157.34 KiB) Viewed 882 times

However, the left handbrake cable was stretched too. I had a replacement but the job didn't look fun.
I'm at the parents'farm right now though, and their neighbour is a mechanic and has a 4-post lift at home too.
Earlier this afternoon, this happened.

IMG_20221002_175305554.jpg (460.89 KiB) Viewed 882 times

He even complemented it on how fresh it is underneath for a 2009 Honda.

It wasn't entirely straightforward though. The aftermarket cable was a few mm too short, so we got the wee bracket on the caliper red hot then bent it slightly to compensate. The handbrake is waaaay better now.

[Hooli]

Dus it do skidz now mista?

[SubPar]

Dus it do skidz now mista?

I might find out another time.

I just parked it up and walked away. It was a fiddly bastard of a job, as handbrake cables always are.


Meanwhile, the E36 is getting its jacking points rebuilt with 5mm steel. Long after I'm dead and gone, the car will rot away and leave behind a pair of jacking points!

[SubPar]

I got the E36 back last Thursday.

I've since done... not a lot.
I freed off the front left brake, as that was binding just enough to be an MOT failure. It still has plenty of meat on the pads, and the piston looks brand new. The sliders were bone dry though. Plus I also scraped a load of crud out of the pad holder. They move around a lot more freely now.

It still needs both wishbones and the track rods. I have the parts here, but not really the motivation to fit them in a block paved car park. I've contacted a mobile mechanic but had no reply.
The inner balljoints look like a pain in the arse due to the nut on top being in the engine bay. I remember doing wishbones on the old 316i, but with a 4-pot the engine stopped short of being too much in the way.


The Civic also needs front discs and pads, so they'll be getting done shortly once the impact screwdriver I've ordered arrives. I'll make an effort to take out the retaining screws without drilling them this time.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I got the E36 back last Thursday.
The inner balljoints look like a pain in the arse due to the nut on top being in the engine bay. I remember doing wishbones on the old 316i, but with a 4-pot the engine stopped short of being too much in the way.

Do them from underneath. I had an inner balljoint go on mine recently, a subtle but distinct knock over certain bumps. I set to and found the passenger inner one with loads of play. Mine has E30 type non rubber cushioned outer joints and solid/eccentric rear bushes so a new ECP arm wasn't an option.

But, I had a good used drivers side wishbone. I pressed out the balljoint from that and fitted it using a fuck off Record bench vice and a load of old bearing races and a socket.

Total repair cost: fuck all. That's how we like it.

[SubPar]

Do them from underneath.

Aye, but you never said how to do them from underneath.

It doesn't change the way the nut is (I think) in the engine bay.