Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Wasn't joking about the clutch change... Done in a shade over 3 hours. My mothers 2007 Fiat Panda

2014 i30: general tidy up, rear pads changed. May or may not have had to resurface the disc in the process

2012 Passat: rear spring replacement. Failed NCT for a broken spring. Big shout out to KilianManning for sorting me with a set of springs

2003 Santa Fe: help isolate a brake fluid leak (wonkey copper washer at one of the calipers)

Note: None of the aforementioned vehicles are mine, just happened to take up the Saturday on me!

2007 Panda: Timing belt. Was cracked and the water pump squeaking, done in about an hour

Misfire on coil bank a, stopped short of ripping out the loom to find the errant wire at fault (plenty of troubleshooting beforehand) replacement sourced today

2012 520d: engine fan replacement. 10 minutes start to finish. Genuinely, it's that easy

Water pump, not so much. And to add insult to injury, after getting to the water pump I have one for the older N47, so it doesn't fit!

I'm not looking forward to doing this one again...

Serviced the work van (NV200) Straight forward apart from the fuel filter, which isn't the worst once you know how to remove the element (stick a bolt up it's arse and hammer the f*cker off your work bench or vice). The fuel filter had done 30k km and was jet black...!

During servicing the van I got into an altercation with said van (involving it's oil filter and the bonnet) and rendered myself out of action for some of the heavier jobs I'd planned, however no rest for the wicked. The show must go on, so I decided to troubleshoot the weird elec issues on my E34 (thankfully only 2 for now)

• Lights (dips) rarely working
• Speedo pixel backlight staying on

After reading up on both, both issues are due to soldering cracking over time. We'll start with the speedo. Due to the 3 spoke wheel I can remove this easily without any adjustment (of which there's no adjustment) or removing of the wheel. The very first time I removed this (a long time ago I must add) I noticed the 2 screw mounting points were broke along with one of the retaining tabs for the plugs missing. Not suspicious at all!

Pull it apart. Looks like some muppet was here before, as 3 of the 4 white plug covers are missing

Split the board from the cover. You need to remove the plug inserts from the outside along with 6 screws

Due to time constraints I couldn't inspect the board or tear the pixel display apart where I wanted to, but gave the board a damn good scrub with contact cleaner. You might be able to see above just how much corrosion is on the board. Interestingly most of the components on the speedo board are from about mid 1987, guessing this board is from an E32 if that's the case (the speedo itself is 1989 in most places)

Wallop it back into the car, the speedo is much clearer and not faded or flickering! But the original problem of the pixel display illuminated at all times still persists. I'll come back to it another day as it's a parasitic drain on the battery

Moving onto the lights. The E34 uses an LKM (or light control module if you want in english)

Pulled it out, opened it up and was pleasantly surprised at how simple the setup is with basic components, similar to the speedo

Most of the trouble is with the relays (you can see them on the left near the connector block) and after looking at it through a magnifying glass I could indeed see cracks. Out with the soldering iron

Result?

One less thing to worry about. I hope the next update for this thing is a bit more interesting as I have accumulated parts for it over the years that are finally getting the opportunity to be fitted and it needs a bit of welding in the boot (surprisingly not the jacking points, as a lot of these were it's weak point) along with it's timing belt, and general service (have to check tappet clearances too)

Then after tyres (ugh...) and an exhaust (I am in my f*ck making up one of my "specials" for this as I have enough welding to keep me busy for months, off to souhans it goes) it may have a chance at the NCT. Once it passes (rather if it passes, I'm being optimistic it doesn't produce a telephone book of advisories and defects) we'll freshen up the bodywork (well, mostly my father as he's the bodywork specialist of the 2 of us, I really need to learn more from him on this). Then I can finally rewire the radio, tidy up the interior a bit and see about getting it fully road legal. Too long in the making!

Plates will get the bin in due time, only seems like yesterday I bought these in 2007...

More weekend fun!

2012 Passat: touch up as many marks as possible, with a touch up pen. Tedious

1997 Landcruiser: Remove a rear shock. Original. From underneath. With no access through the cab Go on, try it yourself...

S60: Finally got to sort the exhaust, well the back half of it anyway. I had a large Simons 3 inch oval silencer in situ (the car has a full 3 inch setup front to back, some of which I've made myself), which never really fitted right (a rushed job just to shut the car up!) so I bought another Simons silencer, but a fairly long one this time. All fitted back with alterations to mounting points/angles on the exhaust (this exhaust was intended for a V70 so has been made fit) and alterations to the exhaust itself leave the boo pipe sitting just right out the back, compared to what it was. This isn't for show at all, but a necessity. When I have more time I'll make up a more subtle tip

It's made the car both louder and quieter at the same time!

Not today, but today I got it "finished" to go back on the road on the 1st of next month.

I spent the last few weeks stripping the interior and some of the body panels to Waxoyl the whole car.

I also scrubbed and steam cleaned the whole interior.

After that I machine polished the exterior twice and put about 5 coats of ceramic coating onto it.

I'm gonna tax it on the first of next month and have some fun before that b#####d Putin causes a nuclear armageddon!

Does anyone know if C&C is on in Dundalk on the first Sunday of next month?

Oooft! That month went by very fast....

I've been busy though not with motors entirely (redid the roof on my shed for example)

Also helping my father out with his Land Cruiser and its recommissioning. A lot of cutting, shaping, fettling, welding, grinding, and of course, swearing

I've had fun with the S60, constantly blowing it's boost pipe off in recent times. So I made one up from some tube lying about, made pie cuts and welded them all up (something like a 120 degree bend with a 90 degree twist, all done roughly but fitted perfectly)

Took a bit of time but got it right. No pics as I was on a time constraint, but I'll try to remember for the next one

I wasn't arsed paying money for a more up to date down pipe or for someone to make one up and charge me the privilege, so I made my own setup. Few teaser pics but I can say the car is much better all round now and most importantly quiet!

Currently it's sitting on ramps as it's starter shat its solenoid and the wishbone bushes are a bit wonkey, so I'll be sorting those in due time

E34 was a bit more interesting. I got to address, or rather get to the bottom of, an issue I had been told about since I bought the car. That's over 16 years ago...

I was told that the drivers lock was disconnected after it went bananas and locked the previous owner out. After getting to almost remove the unit 9 years ago and getting stuck at the window runner, I attacked it again but this time with a drill and got the entire unit out. Looking at it, it's a very simple setup (very basic lock mechanism, very basic solenoid) so was scratching my head until I copped the handle itself was missing a small piece; the problem with these early die cast metal handles is they break easily. I have another one somewhere I'll fit in due time (both die cast and plastic which I'll do my best to avoid like the plague)

I had destroyed the mount for the runner in the process, so chopped out the damaged bits and made up my own piece by cutting down a body washer and shaping it with a vice grips, then shortening the bolt to a custom length and shaving the head. Fits like a glove!

A few days later I moved it to the yard. Then treated it to new plates. Pressed metal with standard font, no surrounds or screws if you must know

I'm keeping the aerial as is, if you could call it an aerial...

Then I realized I could practice welding some more!

Other side is the same, I had planned to chop them out anyway and replace with fresh metal but this speeds things up a bit. I think I'll try the supermig at it this time, got great results welding the S60 exhaust with it, even if it is an absolute monster of a welder and probably too powerful for this application

What happens here is the drains go straight to the front jack points and rot them from the inside out, so when you spot the rusty spots it's too late. I'll just make up my own points and jack the car elsewhere once this is repaired with a proper drain hole this time

Stay tuned!

Last Saturdays prep (after I'd serviced an I30 van)

Eliminate the rot on one side!

Ended up the bottom of the wing was stink with rot, but otherwise fine elsewhere. So I'll fabricate a new bridging piece and build up the missing bits. This one I pulled from a hedge I'll use a reference

And as I'd finished up (before I put the mangled white and blue wing on)

Aiming to have the left side completed next Saturday. I'm being too ambitious again I think!

The right side doesn't seem as bad, however I'll focus on its jacking point before anything else

Not yet as it's still sitting on ramps awaiting it's starter! Hopefully I'll fit it this evening and I'll try get you a vid of it in action. It's just right; a subtle hum and only loud if you want it to be

Passed my NCT test today for the first time in a couple of years.

Threw my "test pipe" into it to celebrate. Sounds nice to finally have a full system installed.

I only took it for a quick spin but I didn't notice any lose in power.

That said, it's not a fart cannon exhaust on it. There should still be enough back pressure to keep things ticking along nicely.

The older VTEC engines weren't exactly known for low down power anyway. You kept them high in the revs unless you were just plodding around town.

Just on a different note - just found out me grandad taxed his prelude in Spain for €80 to do the year

Only four more years and about four grand in tax and I'll be living the dream too... Ffs!

Panda back in one piece again.

The moral is, if you have one of these and you have a P0352, replace coils *immediately* and hope it's not too late. Because after that you'll get P0420 and that means your cat is fcuked. I read in a forum those coils should be replaced regularly anyway.

It now had new plugs, leads, coils and cat. The cat was second hand from a breakers, but the P0420 has not returned (or even pending) in 500 km.

Oil pan, rocker cover gasket and radiator were also replaced.

As a sidenote, this car cost €25 per year in tax and less than €300 insurance. The car cost €1750 to buy, so I'm not too upset at having to throw a few parts at it.

Some great work but please step away from the welder 😅 there is absolutely no strength in those patch panels