Last night, I got around to replacing the tailgate hinges (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU95Hp2p9Ak for the reason).
Pictures show the various steps.
First I painted the replacement hinges, since they were off a red Uno 45 provided by jjhepburn along with another spare (pictured). A coat of aerosol primer, followed by a couple of coats of white two-pack paint sprayed thinly with an airbrush (also from jjhepburn), and a day or so to dry fully.
The screws that hold the hinges to the plastic tailgate of the turbo are the most fantastic things: an innocent-looking 10mm hex head like a bolt, integral washer, and then the most hoary double-thread you've ever seen, with built-in self-drilling tip... almost two inches long.
I decided to change one hinge at a time to avoid the need to remove the tailgate single-handed. The one on the left side was easy enough. I gave the area around the hinge a quick clean (no rust
) and coated the hinge with neutral-cure windscreen sealant where it touches the bodyshell. I thought it was best to seal out water since it's at the back edge of the roof.
I gently tried to close the tailgate and RAAAARK - the corner met with the roof edge.
The reason is that turbo hinges are a different dimension (see pic). They also have a stop-pin built in. I decided that I could get around the dimensional difference by installing some thick washers between the hinge and the tailgate. The stop-pin isn't actually relevant - the strut tops out first.
Checking my work for slackness, I noticed that the strut mountings were flopping around. The end of the strut had come unscrewed! Easy enough to prise off the ball on the tailgate, and smear with Loctite before tightening (vise-grips suitable padded to grip the strut rod near the end).
The strut ball-pin was also loose at the C-pillar. I tried to tighten it, but found the 13mm hex sunk into the trim. So, I started to remove it. It really was quite loose, so I continued to unscrew it, with a view to fitting a nice thick washer under the trim, and then... tinkle-CLUNK, the captive nut fell down inside the pillar.
I wonder how many of you have had moments like this, where you discover how long a five-minute job can take...
Since the headlining was out, it was clearly just a question of lowering a 13mm nut into place from the hole near the top of the pillar. I thought about removing the trim to hopefully expose a more convenient hole, but then remembered that base-models don't have the trim (and there are no holes).
I tried using a telescopic magnetic screwdriver pick-up tool, but that needed bending for access, and then it snapped off.
So I took a heater hose and jammed some neodymium magnets in the end. Nice and strong, but again the hose needed bending and didn't hold its shape very well. What I needed was some wire to stiffen the hose, but didn't have any to hand...
...then I spotted the unused Uno door and spied the interior-handle rod - perfect - nice and malleable, with it inserted I shaped the hose appropriately and continued the fishing expedition. It only took about an hour of fiddling and the pin finally threaded in The nut was of the type with integral washer/teeth, and I had coated it with Loctite to give it a fighting chance. Note the use of a ratcheting ring spanner, to give a certain kind of jerky tightening that helped the nut stay put. The pin did up nice and tight... over an hour later... the strut finally refitted.
I moved on to the other hinge (technique for supporting the tailgate is shown) and that went quite smoothly. I was thrilled by the result - just look how close that gap now is on the right-hand side... it's actually closer than on the left side (not even little-finger sized!), and I can no longer see daylight around the rubber seal from inside the car... note the brown discolouring around the tailgate inside that suggests it has been a poor fit for a long time.
I realise that much of this will be unfathomable to someone who has not battled with Uno tailgates (or indeed any Uno panel-fits) in the past Definitely not a case of money-for-nothing and your chicks for free!
The next related job will be to remove the lock button - not quite in the RobMintMk1Uno sense, just to shave down the black plastic of the button, where it cracks and jams in the housing. I'm sure many Uno owners will be familiar with this jammed-in button problem, which requires you to use the key to pull the button back out before you close the tailgate...
Incidentally the rear brake pads are now changed, so my Uno is much quieter than before! It's getting there.
-Alex
Pictures show the various steps.
First I painted the replacement hinges, since they were off a red Uno 45 provided by jjhepburn along with another spare (pictured). A coat of aerosol primer, followed by a couple of coats of white two-pack paint sprayed thinly with an airbrush (also from jjhepburn), and a day or so to dry fully.
The screws that hold the hinges to the plastic tailgate of the turbo are the most fantastic things: an innocent-looking 10mm hex head like a bolt, integral washer, and then the most hoary double-thread you've ever seen, with built-in self-drilling tip... almost two inches long.
I decided to change one hinge at a time to avoid the need to remove the tailgate single-handed. The one on the left side was easy enough. I gave the area around the hinge a quick clean (no rust
) and coated the hinge with neutral-cure windscreen sealant where it touches the bodyshell. I thought it was best to seal out water since it's at the back edge of the roof.I gently tried to close the tailgate and RAAAARK - the corner met with the roof edge.
The reason is that turbo hinges are a different dimension (see pic). They also have a stop-pin built in. I decided that I could get around the dimensional difference by installing some thick washers between the hinge and the tailgate. The stop-pin isn't actually relevant - the strut tops out first.
Checking my work for slackness, I noticed that the strut mountings were flopping around. The end of the strut had come unscrewed! Easy enough to prise off the ball on the tailgate, and smear with Loctite before tightening (vise-grips suitable padded to grip the strut rod near the end).
The strut ball-pin was also loose at the C-pillar. I tried to tighten it, but found the 13mm hex sunk into the trim. So, I started to remove it. It really was quite loose, so I continued to unscrew it, with a view to fitting a nice thick washer under the trim, and then... tinkle-CLUNK, the captive nut fell down inside the pillar.
I wonder how many of you have had moments like this, where you discover how long a five-minute job can take...
Since the headlining was out, it was clearly just a question of lowering a 13mm nut into place from the hole near the top of the pillar. I thought about removing the trim to hopefully expose a more convenient hole, but then remembered that base-models don't have the trim (and there are no holes).
I tried using a telescopic magnetic screwdriver pick-up tool, but that needed bending for access, and then it snapped off.
So I took a heater hose and jammed some neodymium magnets in the end. Nice and strong, but again the hose needed bending and didn't hold its shape very well. What I needed was some wire to stiffen the hose, but didn't have any to hand...
...then I spotted the unused Uno door and spied the interior-handle rod - perfect - nice and malleable, with it inserted I shaped the hose appropriately and continued the fishing expedition. It only took about an hour of fiddling and the pin finally threaded in
The nut was of the type with integral washer/teeth, and I had coated it with Loctite to give it a fighting chance. Note the use of a ratcheting ring spanner, to give a certain kind of jerky tightening that helped the nut stay put. The pin did up nice and tight... over an hour later... the strut finally refitted.I moved on to the other hinge (technique for supporting the tailgate is shown) and that went quite smoothly. I was thrilled by the result - just look how close that gap now is on the right-hand side...
it's actually closer than on the left side (not even little-finger sized!), and I can no longer see daylight around the rubber seal from inside the car... note the brown discolouring around the tailgate inside that suggests it has been a poor fit for a long time.I realise that much of this will be unfathomable to someone who has not battled with Uno tailgates (or indeed any Uno panel-fits) in the past
Definitely not a case of money-for-nothing and your chicks for free!The next related job will be to remove the lock button - not quite in the RobMintMk1Uno sense, just to shave down the black plastic of the button, where it cracks and jams in the housing. I'm sure many Uno owners will be familiar with this jammed-in button problem, which requires you to use the key to pull the button back out before you close the tailgate...
Incidentally the rear brake pads are now changed, so my Uno is much quieter than before! It's getting there.
-Alex
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