What's made you smile today?

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What's made you smile today?

And, on the subject of manufacturers who historically have produced some pretty good engines, I've always held Honda engines in high regard - some were better than others but all served their purpose pretty well and efficiently. I've just been reading about a cambelt failure on one of their newer wee - 3 cylinder I think - turbo petrol engines. Apparently its a "run in oil" type belt! Come on Honda, you can do an awful lot better than that!

Good news is VAG used them for about 8 years as well on 2.0d.

They had a standard timing belt...and a wet belt oil pump.

This means you can have the full wetbelt experience without buying a car that's known to have a wet belt although the failure mode seems to be the same as usual. I.e. the belt blocks the oil pick up if left too long and grenades the engine.
 
Good news is VAG used them for about 8 years as well on 2.0d.

They had a standard timing belt...and a wet belt oil pump.

This means you can have the full wetbelt experience without buying a car that's known to have a wet belt although the failure mode seems to be the same as usual. I.e. the belt blocks the oil pick up if left too long and grenades the engine.
This Video shows the belt in question



Its annoying, having mentioned this to me about a week or so ago, I started looking into it, its recommended you get it changed when the timing belt is done, unfortunately I had the timing belt done a little over a year ago.
Some places I have looked has shown people have done well over 200k miles without issue.

As its an oil pump belt and not a timing belt it is not under the same high tension as you get with the timing belt, but I thing it will still be worth my while getting it changed sooner rather than later.
 
It's the joy of how long is a piece of string...

People have complained bitterly when their original fit puretech timing belt blocks the oil pick up at 12 years old and 120k...these people don't actually understand how lucky they got with it lasting that long.

The ones on the other hand where it goes at 20-30k...have my sympathy. Although the cars are usually over interval on time and are short trip cars hence the low miles.

It's more that these belts are in lots of engines Ford and PSA get the kicking because they sold more cars to people who don't service them often but most manufacturers have one hiding somewhere.

I was interested in a pre-puretech vauxhall astra estate..fitted with the Vauxhall sge 1.2. Well interested is the wrong word, considering..perhaps. It's also a wetbelt..except it's a wetbelt in an engine no longer in use with none of them being old enough to have really failed yet. This was an adventure I decided to let someone else have.
 
And, on the subject of manufacturers who historically have produced some pretty good engines, I've always held Honda engines in high regard - some were better than others but all served their purpose pretty well and efficiently. I've just been reading about a cambelt failure on one of their newer wee - 3 cylinder I think - turbo petrol engines. Apparently its a "run in oil" type belt! Come on Honda, you can do an awful lot better than that!
If Honda and Nissan can merge, and Nissan can get rid of Renault there's some hope for both of the Japanese brands!
 
My dad told me that in his early driving days in the mid 80's he remembers every MK2 Mini he had or came across with the chrome grills always being rotten, his best mate had one which he got from his dad & he couldn't open the driver's door as the external hinges were that rotten the door would fall off 🤣
The mini grill on my mums (new) 1967 car was polished aluminium. Was that cheaper than chrome then? It did need cleaning to keep corrosion at bay. Lucky she had a teenager!
 
The mini grill on my mums (new) 1967 car was polished aluminium. Was that cheaper than chrome then? It did need cleaning to keep corrosion at bay. Lucky she had a teenager!
I'd have thought it would have been cheaper than chrome, I much prefer painted parts myself over chrome etc as it can be a right pain to keep on top off. With a Mini the bodywork's bad enough to keep on top off let alone the chrome rotting as well 🤣🤣
 
I'd have thought it would have been cheaper than chrome, I much prefer painted parts myself over chrome etc as it can be a right pain to keep on top off. With a Mini the bodywork's bad enough to keep on top off let alone the chrome rotting as well 🤣🤣
That car has floors so thin it was returned to the dealer. He welded a strut across the foor to stop the floor making twangy tin noises. The bumpers rusted through at 5 years old and it was px'd at 6 because the subframe had rotted through. If I remember right dad "mended" it before sale! Good old Smedleys tinned peas.....
 
I sorted out the Seicento insurance this evening as I got the the renewal from Aviva which was £440, £140 higher than last year with 13 years NCB & apparently the reason is some energy crisis 🤣🤣 the first I've heard of it 🤣 I know I've moved up North so I expected it to be a little higher but not nearly 50% they're taking the p*ss, so I shopped around & got a quote from Esure through Confused.com for £348 which was the cheapest I could find although I couldn't haggle with them I tried 🤣 the weird thing it was cheaper for me to put the Cinquecento Sporting rims over the standard steels & it was also cheaper to use it for commuting than just social both of which I've never come across before but I'm not complaining 😂 so just under £100 cheaper with a modification declared I'm happy so it's now all paid for the year, just the clutch to do which I'm doing myself before I go to my dad's in the spring for peace of mind so I'm going to wait for a few good days weather wise & just crack on with it once I'm fully over this spout of flu 🤧 & then she'll be all good for the show season.
 
That car has floors so thin it was returned to the dealer. He welded a strut across the foor to stop the floor making twangy tin noises. The bumpers rusted through at 5 years old and it was px'd at 6 because the subframe had rotted through. If I remember right dad "mended" it before sale! Good old Smedleys tinned peas.....
Reminds me of an MOT fix I had to do with my first Mini, a hole had formed at the rear of the boot floor but right on the very edge where the rear panel & rear valance all join together & my dad said if we even attempted to weld it we could run the risk of blowing out the rear panel as the corrosion was right by it, so he told me an old bodge called thinners paste, I said what's that & he said you cut a piece of bacofoil just a little bigger than the hole, mix up some body filler & thinners then get it on quick, smooth it out & make it look neat as it dries quick, then paint over it then when it's gone off you can tap it & it sounds like metal due to the bacofoil & not hollow like normal body filler, which is exactly what I did & it was a good bodge as the rest of the car rotted around it 🤣
 
That's all looking lovely. Aye, regular visits to the "Loo" are an unfortunate feature of daily life as you get older - Enjoy life while you're young I say.

I'm just looking at the red handled ratchet on the floor in the foreground. Looks very like a replacement I bought when my original 3/8 drive metal ratchet wore out and I couldn't get a repair kit for it. Your's looks like it's some sort of plastic as is mine? So far mine is proving to have been a good buy and very robust, nice on cold days too as it doesn't feel so cold as my older all metal ones. Not being shiny metal though it's difficult to keep clean and always looks dirty. Mine is a Clarke brand, what's yours?

I've just been looking on the Machine Mart website for it but I can't find it, Maybe discontinued - It was a number of years ago I bought it.
The ratchet is a Tektro. It may be an Amazon house brand, like Anker. It does what I ask of it. Though I wouldn't put a cheater pipe on it like my 60 and 70 year old Craftsman Ratchets.

As for the ATV, I have to install the chassis ground for the winch and machine the bushings for the one roller. I got the lathe set up do the Delrin without tearing it up.
Ac74DbQl.jpg


Too bad I went one pass too many and cut the bushings undersized. Poop.
 
Reminds me of an MOT fix I had to do with my first Mini, a hole had formed at the rear of the boot floor but right on the very edge where the rear panel & rear valance all join together & my dad said if we even attempted to weld it we could run the risk of blowing out the rear panel as the corrosion was right by it, so he told me an old bodge called thinners paste, I said what's that & he said you cut a piece of bacofoil just a little bigger than the hole, mix up some body filler & thinners then get it on quick, smooth it out & make it look neat as it dries quick, then paint over it then when it's gone off you can tap it & it sounds like metal due to the bacofoil & not hollow like normal body filler, which is exactly what I did & it was a good bodge as the rest of the car rotted around it 🤣
That reminds of similar bodge in very early 70s, I had booked my car into bodyshop to weld in a new rear spring hanger, the said they were too busy before the Mot I had booked, cleaned off the rusted area, put bodyfiller on a piece of cardboard, pressed it against the rust hole, as it hardened they peeled the cardboard off and a nice smooth surface like original metal was left, a light coat of underseal and sure enough it flew through the very lax Mot of it's day! I still had the spring hanger replaced very soon after and it taught me that later as an Mot inspector I always bounced a old tyre lever along the chassis and could soon tell if re metal or not, if suspicious I would keep bouncing the tyre lever and a big hole would appear.;) Nowadays testers are only allowed to use a plastic T shape toffee hammer, why???
Re the rusty Mini grills, I assume they were the ones with the 10inch wheels that the Great Dane dogs liked as I mentioned earlier.:):):)
 
The ratchet is a Tektro. It may be an Amazon house brand, like Anker. It does what I ask of it. Though I wouldn't put a cheater pipe on it like my 60 and 70 year old Craftsman Ratchets.

As for the ATV, I have to install the chassis ground for the winch and machine the bushings for the one roller. I got the lathe set up do the Delrin without tearing it up.
Ac74DbQl.jpg


Too bad I went one pass too many and cut the bushings undersized. Poop.
Strongest ratchet I ever had was my old Britool one bought way way back. It had a fairly course ratchet action - which was maybe why it was so strong (big teeth?) Unfortunately Some wicked sod stole it from my tool box! Personally I'd never use a cheater bar or any sort of extension on a ratchet as I'd worry about ruining it - I've got enough other options I don't have to be tempted though.

Being tempted to take that last wee "skimming" cut on anything like lathes or adjustable reamers is difficult to resist isn't it? I have a set of 3 adjustable reamers complete with guides for doing stuff like king pin bushes - remember the ones on the likes of the Sprite, MGB, and other BMC saloons etc. I've ruined more than one by being tempted to take that last wee tiny cut when the pin felt just a wee bit on the tight side when often, as I later discovered, a second pass through, without adjusting the reamer blades, would "kiss" just enough off the bush to make it a lovely fit.
 
Being tempted to take that last wee "skimming" cut on anything like lathes or adjustable reamers is difficult to resist isn't it? I have a set of 3 adjustable reamers complete with guides for doing stuff like king pin bushes - remember the ones on the likes of the Sprite, MGB, and other BMC saloons etc. I've ruined more than one by being tempted to take that last wee tiny cut when the pin felt just a wee bit on the tight side when often, as I later discovered, a second pass through, without adjusting the reamer blades, would "kiss" just enough off the bush to make it a lovely fit.
Ha, ha, many of us have been there.
I got shown a trick where if you had taken too much out, reaming a bronze bush, you drove the bush out carefully then "tinned" the outside with a little solder, refitted it and you could then very carefully ream it to the correct size.
We did king pins on many BMC but also early Ford Transits etc.
We had a nice reamer for Austin A60s and MGBs etc. that had two cutters non adjustable and you went through in one go top and bottom bush spot on.:)
You probably got spoiled Jock with your Hillman Imps, where you drove the new bushes in and they were the correct size so no reaming required I recall.;)
 
Ha, ha, many of us have been there.
I got shown a trick where if you had taken too much out, reaming a bronze bush, you drove the bush out carefully then "tinned" the outside with a little solder, refitted it and you could then very carefully ream it to the correct size.
That sounds like an interesting idea. So tinning the outside of the bush, thus increasing it's diameter a "smidgeon", caused ti to be "squeezed" very slightly when reinstalled? I've never heard of this but can see the sense behind it.
We did king pins on many BMC but also early Ford Transits etc.
We had a nice reamer for Austin A60s and MGBs etc. that had two cutters non adjustable and you went through in one go top and bottom bush spot on.:)
Never did one on a transit myself but remember seeing one of the other lads having a hell of a time getting the old corroded pin out of one. Must have used a fair few quid's worth of oxy-acetylene! The long stepped reamer? Yup, we had one of those in the garage workshop. I think it was an actual dealer tool? A peach of a tool to use and reamed both bushes perfectly in line with no guessing at adjustments. My own adjustable reamers can only do one at a time so there is a parallel sided extension which screws onto the exposed thread on the "business end" of the reamer and a guide with tapered outside and parallel inside bore which is installed in the "other" bush. The idea being that the extension and guide the reamer is kept in line. In practice what often happened was that the guide came slightly loose which affected the accuracy of the bush you were cutting. I seem to remember we had a couple of the factory reamers, one for the bigger cars like the A60/Cambridge/Oxfords and one for the smaller stuff like Spridgits/A30/A35/etc. Only the more skilled men were allowed to book them out of the stores and the tool was always very carefully inspected when you handed it back in. There was no chance you would have been able to "borrow" one overnight.
You probably got spoiled Jock with your Hillman Imps, where you drove the new bushes in and they were the correct size so no reaming required I recall.;)
The early Imp bushes were very simple to do as they were indeed just pushed in and ready to use. They had no facility for lubrication and were Teflon coated against wear. Unfortunately the seal arrangement was very poor so water and road dirt got in quite quickly, especially up here with our "nasty" weather, and the bush would wear again. They soon changed them to a normal type which needed reaming and had a grease nipple for lubrication. The seals were still pretty pathetic but if you greased them regularly, by which I mean far more often than at every service, they gave very little problem. The pin was quite short and so aven a little wear would give a lot of play at the wheel rims.

Talking about king pins and bushes, I once did a Citroen Dyane. Not the one I owned because, with my experience of the Imps I kept mine well greased. If you would like to view a highly entertaining video on this go to you tube and type in Hammer Time Citroen 2CV King Pin replacement. I never want to do another!
 
That reminds of similar bodge in very early 70s, I had booked my car into bodyshop to weld in a new rear spring hanger, the said they were too busy before the Mot I had booked, cleaned off the rusted area, put bodyfiller on a piece of cardboard, pressed it against the rust hole, as it hardened they peeled the cardboard off and a nice smooth surface like original metal was left, a light coat of underseal and sure enough it flew through the very lax Mot of it's day! I still had the spring hanger replaced very soon after and it taught me that later as an Mot inspector I always bounced a old tyre lever along the chassis and could soon tell if re metal or not, if suspicious I would keep bouncing the tyre lever and a big hole would appear.;) Nowadays testers are only allowed to use a plastic T shape toffee hammer, why???
Re the rusty Mini grills, I assume they were the ones with the 10inch wheels that the Great Dane dogs liked as I mentioned earlier.:):):)
Now that's a good bodge, I'm not sure why testers are only allowed to use the t shape toffee hammers, some of the MOT rules are just silly, my dad told me that nowadays they can't fail the modern gas shock absorber as 1 they'll be no visible leak being gas & 2 testers are no longer allowed to do a bounce test as most cars either have plastic wings or they are just very weak metal wings, another one is the 3rd/high level brake lights in the rear windscreen, failure if a bulb or 2 is blown, pass if non of them work/disconnected 😂. The Mini grill is these early MK2 ones with 10 inch wheels, they just always look rotten
Screenshot_20250128-104605.jpg

The black version of the same grille they used on later cars always looked better in my opinion, if these early chrome/aluminium ones can be found now they pay an absolute fortune for them.
 
Peanut has gone for service, because of the warraty it has to be a VAT registered garage. Yipee, I dont need to be involved. They were kind enough to accept my parts which were already on my shelf. Downside is I now need a huge order for bits from S4P as im out of everything.
 
I did a small order from Italiparts at the weekend, it consisted of an offside engine mount as I'll change it when I do the clutch, both front indicators as they are both letting water in & both in the correct MK1 SPI amber lens which are a little hard to get hold off & an oil filter for the next oil change, all genuine Fiat old stock parts & just over £40 for the lot.
 
I wish the UK car industry stayed alive, but kept up with the small cars. Sort of like how Fiat and Italians are known to build. Definitely suits some of the narrow cobbled streets and city centres. What's left of what we do build seems to be over-sized and over-priced (and unreliable) :-(

Then again.... if if BMC still existed but did to the car in the photo above, what BMW did to the Mini... then yikes, maybe we're better off not having seen the result.

Every ad I see for the latest Mini, with those horrific lights... literally looks like some Chinese knock-off of the actual modern Mini, or some poor AI render. Granted with the latest BMW grille / styles they were ugly but in a way that you knew would probably grow on you. I'm not so sure about the current Mini. Edit: Perhaps it is the goal of cutting edge, modern style, to offend and stand out until the rest of the world follows. Style is beyond my understanding!
 
That sounds like an interesting idea. So tinning the outside of the bush, thus increasing it's diameter a "smidgeon", caused ti to be "squeezed" very slightly when reinstalled? I've never heard of this but can see the sense behind it.

Never did one on a transit myself but remember seeing one of the other lads having a hell of a time getting the old corroded pin out of one. Must have used a fair few quid's worth of oxy-acetylene! The long stepped reamer? Yup, we had one of those in the garage workshop. I think it was an actual dealer tool? A peach of a tool to use and reamed both bushes perfectly in line with no guessing at adjustments. My own adjustable reamers can only do one at a time so there is a parallel sided extension which screws onto the exposed thread on the "business end" of the reamer and a guide with tapered outside and parallel inside bore which is installed in the "other" bush. The idea being that the extension and guide the reamer is kept in line. In practice what often happened was that the guide came slightly loose which affected the accuracy of the bush you were cutting. I seem to remember we had a couple of the factory reamers, one for the bigger cars like the A60/Cambridge/Oxfords and one for the smaller stuff like Spridgits/A30/A35/etc. Only the more skilled men were allowed to book them out of the stores and the tool was always very carefully inspected when you handed it back in. There was no chance you would have been able to "borrow" one overnight.

The early Imp bushes were very simple to do as they were indeed just pushed in and ready to use. They had no facility for lubrication and were Teflon coated against wear. Unfortunately the seal arrangement was very poor so water and road dirt got in quite quickly, especially up here with our "nasty" weather, and the bush would wear again. They soon changed them to a normal type which needed reaming and had a grease nipple for lubrication. The seals were still pretty pathetic but if you greased them regularly, by which I mean far more often than at every service, they gave very little problem. The pin was quite short and so aven a little wear would give a lot of play at the wheel rims.

Talking about king pins and bushes, I once did a Citroen Dyane. Not the one I owned because, with my experience of the Imps I kept mine well greased. If you would like to view a highly entertaining video on this go to you tube and type in Hammer Time Citroen 2CV King Pin replacement. I never want to do another!
The first Citroen 2CV/Dyanne one I did involved as you say lots of heat, however I bought at auction a jig that fitted over the king pin once hub etc. was out of the way and it had a Sykes Pickavant hydraulic screw thread which made it an simple job, so no heat involved. I still have it some where and at the time the local Citroen Owners club members were good customers.
 
That sounds like an interesting idea. So tinning the outside of the bush, thus increasing it's diameter a "smidgeon", caused ti to be "squeezed" very slightly when reinstalled? I've never heard of this but can see the sense behind it.
Talking about king pins and bushes, I once did a Citroen Dyane. Not the one I owned because, with my experience of the Imps I kept mine well greased. If you would like to view a highly entertaining video on this go to you tube and type in Hammer Time Citroen 2CV King Pin replacement. I never want to do another!

The "tinning" was an old school trick from older mechanics in the 70s who had 40 odd years in the trade, not something modern lecturers would even be aware of, or even need to mention at Motor Vehicle colleges:)
An interesting point re Kingpin failure on 2CV Mots, I found that many testers were shaking the wheel top and bottom to detect kingpin play, however if you look at that type of suspension the kingpin is inclined quite steeply away from "top and bottom as in 12 oclock and 6 oclock" shaking the wheel, so what they were doing is failing quite acceptable king pins by introducing the steering movement into their test.;)
As a friend of mine often says "You can't put a price on knowledge", another instance was on the old Morris Minors and 1000s where a dangerous fault could be missed when checking the front suspension , caused by simply not understanding where the load was on a torsion bars suspension set. If jacked up on the chassis the suspension would be tight with no free play as the torsion bar pulled the joints down wards. However if jacked/supported under the bottom arms the suspension free play/wear could be easily seen at the bronze threaded bottom trunnions.:)
 
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