What's made you smile today?

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Truely good news.

Oh yes. He thinks he wants to go more in the direction of space engineering which, with my interest in science fiction, I find very exciting. We have interesting conversations about how things might be by the time he's in employment. A great shame it's unlikely I'll be around to see that day.

 

[bugsymike]

Yesterday afternoon , pub meal followed by a walk with youngest daughter and grand daughter.
Photo was grand daughters idea, pity cider equipment not still functioning as always partial to a really dry rough cider on a hot day
First sampled as an apprentice in 1969 whilst fixing farm labourers "grey Fergy" , he had an old shopping bag on side of tractor and pulled out a stone jug of true farmhouse cider, just the job.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Yesterday afternoon , pub meal followed by a walk with youngest daughter and grand daughter.
Photo was grand daughters idea, pity cider equipment not still functioning as always partial to a really dry rough cider on a hot day
First sampled as an apprentice in 1969 whilst fixing farm labourers "grey Fergy" , he had an old shopping bag on side of tractor and pulled out a stone jug of true farmhouse cider, just the job.

Smashing grandaughter. And I love that you are wearing the Forum Uniform!

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Yesterday afternoon , pub meal followed by a walk with youngest daughter and grand daughter.
Photo was grand daughters idea, pity cider equipment not still functioning as always partial to a really dry rough cider on a hot day
First sampled as an apprentice in 1969 whilst fixing farm labourers "grey Fergy" , he had an old shopping bag on side of tractor and pulled out a stone jug of true farmhouse cider, just the job.

Love these photos, you’re granddaughter is going to have some amazing memories of her childhood

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Love these photos, you’re granddaughter is going to have some amazing memories of her childhood

ditto to all above comment.

 

[StevenRB45]

First time on a bike since I moved out..

Great fun...wanted to give him something to chase.

 

[rmjbn1]

Not much in the way of FIATs at Silverstone Festival...
...but I do have a soft spot for a chain gang Frazer Nash
Distinctive narrow rear track and no diff must be fun

 

[bugsymike]

Not much in the way of FIATs at Silverstone Festival...
...but I do have a soft spot for a chain gang Frazer Nash
Distinctive narrow rear track and no diff must be fun

Like a kart, throw it into the bend and let it drift around?

 

[Cheest]

Crossed the 40,000 mile mark on the Ural yesterday.

I don't what that is in 'Ural years' but it's a lot.

 

[bugsymike]

Crossed the 40,000 mile mark on the Ural yesterday.

I don't what that is in 'Ural years' but it's a lot.

Only just run in.

 

[Cheest]

Only just run in.

The naysayers will claim that I swapped the engine out for a BMW.

 

[bugsymike]

The naysayers will claim that I swapped the engine out for a BMW.

Given all the extra power of the alleged conversion I trust this advice on setting up your tracking has been adhered to
The detail at top of page was the construction date of your machine , wasn't it?
Strangely enough it all looked very familiar to the way I set my Matchless 600cc combination as a 16 year old after reading a Pitman book from out local library at the time, including the lean out of the bike.
It must have worked as at least two of the wheels were on the road most of the time, happy days and no cares

 

[Cheest]

Given all the extra power of the alleged conversion I trust this advice on setting up your tracking has been adhered to
The detail at top of page was the construction date of your machine , wasn't it?
Strangely enough it all looked very familiar to the way I set my Matchless 600cc combination as a 16 year old after reading a Pitman book from out local library at the time, including the lean out of the bike.
It must have worked as at least two of the wheels were on the road most of the time, happy days and no cares

I'd like to find that book and add it to my reference library. The date is very possibly true.
Trying to find a straight board on this side of the pond is iffy at best. Best bets here are electrical conduit or 8' fluorescent tubes. I must have done it right as my rig tracks straight at 25 mph with no hands. Even after the ball stud at the rear of the frame snapped off and I welded it back on.

 

[bugsymike]

I'd like to find that book and add it to my reference library. The date is very possibly true.
Trying to find a straight board on this side of the pond is iffy at best. Best bets here are electrical conduit or 8' fluorescent tubes. I must have done it right as my rig tracks straight at 25 mph with no hands. Even after the ball stud at the rear of the frame snapped off and I welded it back on.

I have 9 folders dating from May 1954 onwards Practical Motorist and Motor Cyclist, so far I have only got half way through the first folder .

 

[FiatMatt94]

Fitted the new fuel pump to little Scarlett this morning & then went on a 30 mile drive to make sure it was all good with no leaks etc & I can say it was a success as not only is she driving better, she's also a lot more lively than she was before & the annoying high pitch whine has gone , at some stage I'll take the old pump apart, clean it up as it was caked in lots of crud & just keep it back as a spare, the tank itself looked pretty clean inside, so when I put some fuel in her as she was nearly running on fumes as I wanted it virtually empty for changing the pump, I treated her to a bottle of Redex fuel system cleaner before her drive back up to Cheshire in a couple of days

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

A little light recreation for me today. You may remember, almost as soon as I got Bluey, the Scala, back home I tried a full size wheel/tyre in the wheel well in the boot - It fit's by the way. The wheel I used was the N/S/F and, you may remember. I had a bit of trouble getting it off the hub because it was suffering from the usual electrolytic corrosion you get between alloy wheels and the steel hubs they mount too. It came off without too much of an argument, but it certainly didn't just fall off. Before putting it back I wire brushed the hub and cleaned the residue out of the wheel centre with a bit of emery before lightly coating the steel hub in high melting point anti seize. I've been promising myself ever since that I would check on the other three but "life events" got in the way.

So, today I got up to a nice sunny day and remembered this task as I was dressing. I've been wondering, for the last week, how my deteriorating arthritic hip might cope with working on the cars and this seemed like a good test to try as I could stop after just one wheel if the pain became intolerable. Well, it wasn't great and I'm in some pain sitting on the sofa doing this. However I did get the other three done and, although the O/S/F was a bit tight, it came off without too much "persuasion" being needed. all cleaned up with the wire brush and emery and given a light coat of the HMP brake grease.

Someone on the forum was talking about wheel locating pegs to assist with fitting wheels back onto their hubs. The Skoda's wheels are quite a bit bigger and heavier than the Ibiza's were and a lot heavier than Becky's. I find them a bit of a challenge to hold in place on the hub as you feed in the first bolt so I was going to buy one of these tools and give it a try. Luckily, as I was raking through some stuff in the garage, I came across a length of 12mm diameter steel rod and thought "I wonder"? The bolts on the Scala are 14mm x 1.5 so the 12mm rod was actually quite a nice fit in the female thread of the hole in the hub. I cut a piece roughly 20 cms long:

and when you stick it in the bolt hole it looks like this:

I think the peak diameter of the threads is around 13mm so the rod is actually quite a nice fit with little "wobble" but loose enough it slides in and out without binding. I just guessed at what length might be best. i actually thought 20cm might be too long but in fact it's great because you can angle the wheel leaning out a bit which makes aligning the rod with a hole in the wheel easier. Once fitted and the bolts snugged up, the rod is simply pulled out and the last bolt set in place.

The operation is completed by dropping it to the ground and torquing up the bolts - No grease on the bolts please if you're using a torque wrench.

What a treat to see lots of parts with virtually no rust anywhere! When did you last see a track rod end with threads as "clean" as this?

Just crying out for a wee "dod" of antiseize? And just the thing to use up some of my old supply of Copaslip on:

Drop link looks unusual, being made from plastic.

Seeing more and more plastic "stuff" all the time.

Did you notice the strut pinch bolt in the last picture? Couldn't resist giving it a "dod" of copaslip too - insurance against rust in future.

Having started on this I then randomly slaistered antiseize around a number of other easy to reach fixings. Now wondering if this'll attract comment from the dealer when she goes in for her first service - or affect warranty? Oh well, done now.

Couple of things I noticed. The bleed nipples on the rear calipers are not exactly the most accessible I've seen:

Might be best "attacked" with a 1/4" socket and extension?

I was getting a bit too much pain for comfort from the arthritic hip and the pains it's sending shooting down my leg, so I called a halt to today's activities. But not before noticing the rear beam type axle and spring pans have an integral plastic undertray!

Most of what you're looking at there is plastic! The metal beam/spring pans are inside what you see here. I've never seen one like this before.

The beam itself is hollow with big holes in it - you can see the plastic under the spring pan:

The thought which immediately occurs to me is that it's going to be a great mud trap? I can see me giving it a yearly flush out with the power washer I'm thinking of buying. On the other hand, it's so completely protected it shouldn't suffer much from stone damage to it's paint?

 

[The Panda Nut]

A little light recreation for me today. You may remember, almost as soon as I got Bluey, the Scala, back home I tried a full size wheel/tyre in the wheel well in the boot - It fit's by the way. The wheel I used was the N/S/F and, you may remember. I had a bit of trouble getting it off the hub because it was suffering from the usual electrolytic corrosion you get between alloy wheels and the steel hubs they mount too. It came off without too much of an argument, but it certainly didn't just fall off. Before putting it back I wire brushed the hub and cleaned the residue out of the wheel centre with a bit of emery before lightly coating the steel hub in high melting point anti seize. I've been promising myself ever since that I would check on the other three but "life events" got in the way.

So, today I got up to a nice sunny day and remembered this task as I was dressing. I've been wondering, for the last week, how my deteriorating arthritic hip might cope with working on the cars and this seemed like a good test to try as I could stop after just one wheel if the pain became intolerable. Well, it wasn't great and I'm in some pain sitting on the sofa doing this. However I did get the other three done and, although the O/S/F was a bit tight, it came off without too much "persuasion" being needed. all cleaned up with the wire brush and emery and given a light coat of the HMP brake grease.

Someone on the forum was talking about wheel locating pegs to assist with fitting wheels back onto their hubs. The Skoda's wheels are quite a bit bigger and heavier than the Ibiza's were and a lot heavier than Becky's. I find them a bit of a challenge to hold in place on the hub as you feed in the first bolt so I was going to buy one of these tools and give it a try. Luckily, as I was raking through some stuff in the garage, I came across a length of 12mm diameter steel rod and thought "I wonder"? The bolts on the Scala are 14mm x 1.5 so the 12mm rod was actually quite a nice fit in the female thread of the hole in the hub. I cut a piece roughly 20 cms long:

View attachment 451183

and when you stick it in the bolt hole it looks like this:

View attachment 451184

I think the peak diameter of the threads is around 13mm so the rod is actually quite a nice fit with little "wobble" but loose enough it slides in and out without binding. I just guessed at what length might be best. i actually thought 20cm might be too long but in fact it's great because you can angle the wheel leaning out a bit which makes aligning the rod with a hole in the wheel easier. Once fitted and the bolts snugged up, the rod is simply pulled out and the last bolt set in place.

View attachment 451185

The operation is completed by dropping it to the ground and torquing up the bolts - No grease on the bolts please if you're using a torque wrench.

What a treat to see lots of parts with virtually no rust anywhere! When did you last see a track rod end with threads as "clean" as this?

View attachment 451186

Just crying out for a wee "dod" of antiseize? And just the thing to use up some of my old supply of Copaslip on:

View attachment 451189

Drop link looks unusual, being made from plastic.

View attachment 451187

Seeing more and more plastic "stuff" all the time.

Did you notice the strut pinch bolt in the last picture? Couldn't resist giving it a "dod" of copaslip too - insurance against rust in future.

View attachment 451190

Having started on this I then randomly slaistered antiseize around a number of other easy to reach fixings. Now wondering if this'll attract comment from the dealer when she goes in for her first service - or affect warranty? Oh well, done now.

Couple of things I noticed. The bleed nipples on the rear calipers are not exactly the most accessible I've seen:

View attachment 451191

Might be best "attacked" with a 1/4" socket and extension?

I was getting a bit too much pain for comfort from the arthritic hip and the pains it's sending shooting down my leg, so I called a halt to today's activities. But not before noticing the rear beam type axle and spring pans have an integral plastic undertray!

View attachment 451192

Most of what you're looking at there is plastic! The metal beam/spring pans are inside what you see here. I've never seen one like this before.

The beam itself is hollow with big holes in it - you can see the plastic under the spring pan:

View attachment 451193

The thought which immediately occurs to me is that it's going to be a great mud trap? I can see me giving it a yearly flush out with the power washer I'm thinking of buying. On the other hand, it's so completely protected it shouldn't suffer much from stone damage to it's paint?

This just all goes to show ... you bought the wrong car. All these complications (and galvanized bolts). Its no Panda! Ha Ha. Ive found the VAG wheels seem to stick worse than the Fiat ones which is most odd, so a job well done. If any consolation our 2016 car needed the wheels repainted as well as kicking off, and its got steelies. I need to get the wheels off the 2017 car which are alloys. I booked that 1 for service last week, it now needs new wiper blades the old ones have just disintegrated in just a month or so. Its got a full dealer service history so its getting a bunch of stuff they certainly wont have done at the same time. With luck I wont have to pay this time!

I cant help being jealous of the galvanized bolts on your blue beast. At least you can see where some of the extra money (above the cost of a Panda) goes , to. If I could have ordered my Panda with VW standard bolts for an extra £250 I would have leapt at the chance. Noop at 23K garaged and manicured has rusty looking trackrod ends and suspension bolts even though sprayed regularly with copper lube. I must slack the lock nuts before too long and really clean the threads. This forum is such a nuisance, getting reminders for all these little jobs.

It remiinds me of the reaction I got to my bash plate at my last service. They couldnt believe it was repainted and the bolts all slathered in copper grease. LOL

 

[Cheest]

I bought a bunch of bicycle stuff at a bike shop garage sale. I also scored one of Nottingham's finest today for a measly ten dollars. 1970 or 71 Raleigh Sports with a 23" frame.

Mostly original, down to the Dunlop White Stripe tires and Dunlop tubes with the metal Schrader valves. I'm willing to bet that the rim strips are cotton.
The wheel against the wall is for the bike my grandson crushed. I also got a pair of 27" aluminum wheels for the red and chrome French bike in the background

The AW hub is a little gummy but it does shift. I can rebuild these in my sleep.

Sold through Koslows in Lombard, Illannoy. Not too far from Cheest Manor.

Koslows closed during the pandemic, so they were around for quite a while.

 

[portland_bill]

Looks to be in good condition, although the engine seems to be missing.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Going to try an oil change on Becky today. She's well overdue timewise, although only done a couple of thousand miles in the last year, but all the "wrong" sort of local running around. I remembered yesterday that I'd got a "buy two get one free" deal on the oil filters last time I bought so immediately used two, one on Becky and the other on the, now deceased, Punto, which left one unused. I came across it in my spares box yesterday and I've got an unused 5 litres of Fuchs 5W-40 so it'd be daft not to?

My arthritic right leg didn't take too kindly to my recent ministrations to Bluey, my Skoda but that involved a lot of mucking about with relatively heavy wheels - I think the Scala wheels are the heaviest I've handled of late - 6Jx16 Alloy rims with 205/55x16 tryes. Much heavier than the steelies on the Panda, Punto, Mazda, Jazz, etc which I'm used to. Anyway, going to give it a go and I'll check gearbox oil level while I'm under there. Got the painkillers lined up on the kitchen worktop ready for when I come back in!

Edit. Might as well try to get the top cam belt cover off for a quick look at the belt too. Last time I tried this I couldn't get the cover to clear the top engine mount so I gave up but she's slightly over the five years now and, although mileage is very low, I'm feeling a little "twitchy" about it. Hoping she might last into next summer with the existing belt as I just don't feel up to it just now but hoping that when I get my new hip I'll be back "firing on all four". She has an MOT due Feb/March too and she may well fail on the rear axle, who knows what else too, so If the belt can last 'till into the spring that'll be a better time for making big decisions about her future.