What did you do today?

[xtriple]

Washed the car yesterday, it was actually, properly dirty! My cars are never dirty (never go anywhere do they!) and it was a bit o a novelty seeing it covered in muck, interesting aerodynamics as the back was clarted up badly and the front was filthy while the sides were relatively clean.

Also, found a scratch, about 0.5mm which naturally drove me insane ( I have a head start there) and so today I repaired it with my three-stage Mercedes touch up system: primer, basecoat and then clear coat. I must have used nearly an entire pennies worth of new paint and took ten minutes (9.5 waiting for paint to dry) to do it in total.

I had however, spent many hours fretting about it so worth it just to free my brain from another excuse to annoy me!

[dean36014]

Drove down to that there Wembley in a borrowed van. 20 miles after leaving on the my smart motorway the nearside tyre blew out. Much joy trying to get to a safe area. Spare on and nipped into Northampton and got a decent second hand tyre fitted as I didn't trust the spare. Managed to dodge the ulez zone, euro 5 van, and arrived at a sinkhole industrial estate. Much agro trying to get roof in van as they'd left large amounts of the pillars when they cut the roof off. Thankfully I took the cordless grinder and plenty of cutting discs. Smooth journey home, unloaded and returned van. I now have a mini panoramic roof to play with.

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[DodgeRover]

I'm looking forward to seeing what you make of that.
On a more serious point did you go into the LEZ which covers pretty much everywhere inside the M25? If so make sure your van is compliant as if you pay later it's£200 rather than£100...

[dean36014]

I checked it's lez compliant, just not ulez unfortunately

[SiC]

A pair of brand new 18ACR alternators came today. One for the weak one on the Moggie and one to replace the Dynamo on the Midget.

At £40 each posted (after 20% eBay discount code) it makes no sense to rebuild or buy second hand. Already got one on the MGB and has been fine for a number of years already.


Fabio has got an MOT tomorrow, so stuck it through the car wash and have a hoover out. I always like to present a clean car as I feel it has a better chance of passing if mud isn't falling into the testers eyes.


I'm expecting it to fail on a CV joint gaiter. Hopefully not much more. I've set a mental limit of around £150 max spend to get it through. Drives fine, so don't expect too much wrong to be honest.

[Arthur Foxhake]

Washed the car yesterday, it was actually, properly dirty! My cars are never dirty (never go anywhere do they!) and it was a bit o a novelty seeing it covered in muck, interesting aerodynamics as the back was clarted up badly and the front was filthy while the sides were relatively clean.

Also, found a scratch, about 0.5mm which naturally drove me insane ( I have a head start there) and so today I repaired it with my three-stage Mercedes touch up system: primer, basecoat and then clear coat. I must have used nearly an entire pennies worth of new paint and took ten minutes (9.5 waiting for paint to dry) to do it in total.

I had however, spent many hours fretting about it so worth it just to free my brain from another excuse to annoy me!

Was it this dirty? That's pure road grime, from covering miles, no off road shenanigans.

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Clean pic, for reference.

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[SiC]

Fabio has got an MOT tomorrow, so stuck it through the car wash and have a hoover out. I always like to present a clean car as I feel it has a better chance of passing if mud isn't falling into the testers eyes.


I'm expecting it to fail on a CV joint gaiter. Hopefully not much more. I've set a mental limit of around £150 max spend to get it through. Drives fine, so don't expect too much wrong to be honest.

Fabia failed just on the CV gaiter. I can forgive it for that, as it was split when I bought it and I've been ignoring it. Tester remarked how clean and tidy it is underneath, especially for the age. I still reckon giving cars a wash improves their chances of a pass.

Just given the go ahead to get it fixed. Reckoned it would be about £118 for the part, labour and VAT. Could DIY but hassle in getting it back and not sure I've got a socket for the hub nut as weird VAG.

At least it'll be worth a fair chunk more with 12 months MOT when I eventually come to sell it. Tempted to wait till the spring/summer for when the Bristol Clean Air Zone comes into force and a panic buyer/swap when someone finds their car is going to get a £9 daily charge.

[dean36014]

Started on splitting the mini roof down. Once the headliner was out, it was just a load of 10mm bolts holding the cassette in. Bunged it on the roof of the cx to see if it would actually fit.

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Then started to trim the mini roof down to a rough size to fit the cx. Used the 9" grinder to get through the steel, they make those minis strong! Got the roof piece out, next job will be to separate the frame from the outer skin. Enough for today, I'm now in agony.

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[mercrocker]

That's going to be quite something when its done....I remember seeing a DS with a perspex roof panel but that was a piece of piss in comparison due to the plastic panel they already had. Hope it works out OK.

[paulplom]

Take it easy man.