Busy Weekend

Jimbo1959

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Friday night, just as I'm ready to leave work and meet up with Swmbo to do the "shopping run" and I get a text from her informing me that her car is making a funny noise and that she doesn't want to drive it. Can I come home and get her so that we can do the shopping?

Oh joy! :rolleyes: It's my long weekend (two days off instead of just one) and I was looking forward to a long lie on both mornings. No chance, I'll need to get up early and take no.2 son to work on Saturday morning as Swmbo flat out refuses to drive my car.

I must admit and as some of you will have gathered by now, that I'm a little OCD, well ok, a lot. :DShe knows I'd freak if anything happened to my beloved, and yes, I mean the car. Plus, I think she's a little afraid of it, she's always had smaller cars and I think the size of mine (the car) :D puts her off.

Her's must be fixed before Sunday as, she starts working her night shift rotation at the hospital then.

No.2 son who was with her at the time reckons the o/side front coil spring has broken.
The car is sitting a little lower on that corner and when she is turning right there was a horrible twanging noise :D Fortunately she was literally just around the corner from our house when this happened and, she was able to nurse it home.

So, still being at work (a large independent motor factors), I get a spring organised just incase I need it as, basically I'm not sure what the issue is but it's nice to be prepared and I live twenty miles away so nipping back isn't as easy as it might be if I lived closer.

My mate, the parts advisor who was checking part numbers and availability for me, recommends taking a new strut top mount too, as, in his experience, they usually fail at the same time. (More on that later).

Go home, quick look at the car, yep, looks like a spring, but I can't see a lot 'cos it's dark and Swmbo wants to do the food shop, it's after nine when we get home and I'm tired, Saturday is looking like the better day for doing the job.

Saturday get awoken at the crack of dawn by my, " Are you taking me to work Dad?" lad, and off we set, another thirty mile round trip before I can get started on the gaffers car.

Eventually get her car into the garage and stripped down to discover that indeed, the spring has broken and the broken coil is caught up in the strut shaft protective rubber boot. It has broken at the top and as a result the top strut mount is damaged too. Thank goodness my mate at work recommended I take a new one home too, saves a lot of time and faffing about and I can get the job done and dusted in a oner.

I had to strip off/out the scuttle, wipers and the mounting plate to gain access to the strut top nut. Which put around an extra hour plus on the job. :rolleyes: If only I'd had smaller hands and a better selection of tools I could have prised up the corner of the scuttle assy and get it done that way. Sadly not possible so, I had to take the long road round. :(

This job confirmed what I have suspected for quite a while, I'm getting to old for all this nonsense!
I woke up this morning absolutely aching all over. :eek:

At least the gaffer will be able to get to and from her work tonight. Sunday, the day of rest! :D:D
 

John Laidlaw

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You did really well there Jim, I had come to the same conclusion as you have too, with the result I touch nothing unless forced. We have 2 x warranty covered newish cars anyway now so no need. I think my ‘tinkering’ days finished with the SL- my pocket may also applaud the choiceo_O
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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You did really well there Jim, I had come to the same conclusion as you have too, with the result I touch nothing unless forced. We have 2 x warranty covered newish cars anyway now so no need. I think my ‘tinkering’ days finished with the SL- my pocket may also applaud the choiceo_O

Being a natural "tight wad" or indeed the proverbial Scottish, Paisley Man, I grudge paying for something I can do myself.

The good thing about diy from my pov is that, it is done to my satisfaction too. It wouldn't be the first time I've had a stand up arguement with someone over the quality, or more like lack of, in their workmanship.

Up till now, only not having the correct tool for a particular job, as in something I might only do once and so refused to buy it, or needing the car to be completely off of the ground, a la four post ramp, has led to me using my garage guy, small plug for Greenlaw Garage in Paisley, lol. ;)

I actually enjoy working on the car, I find it quite therapeutic, the sense of satisfaction on completing a job and saving a wad is wonderful and provides motivation on cold dark winter days. :D However, recovery time for my body is now measured in days rather than hours as it was when I was younger, which has also become, for me, a major motivating factor. I can't deal with the pain. :(

I think I'll stick to detailing and the very simple stuff from now on, like routine servicing. The cars we own now are all relatively straightforward to attend to (thank God). :p
 
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EmilysDad

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When are you doing the near side then to get a matched pair of springs ..... :rolleyes:
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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When are you doing the near side then to get a matched pair of springs ..... :rolleyes:

I think my garage guys will get that job towards the end of the week when Swmbo has finished her shift rotation. ;)
 

Headhurts

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I never do anything other than clean my cars, I have no technical skills anyway plus I am too old to be doing this sort of task.

I can see the attraction though, you will look after your own car much better than anyone else will.

There always seems to be a minor blemish or scratch on mine when it comes back, mind you I am fastidious.

Robin
 

A.J.

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I never do anything other than clean my cars, I have no technical skills anyway plus I am too old to be doing this sort of task.

I can see the attraction though, you will look after your own car much better than anyone else will.

There always seems to be a minor blemish or scratch on mine when it comes back, mind you I am fastidious.

Robin

I am with you there Robin. I am and never have been mechanically minded. I know what noise they should make and what noise they shouldn't make. Any problems that developed would be left for my local Indi to sort :)
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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When are you doing the near side then, to get a matched pair of springs? ..... :rolleyes:

I think my garage guys will get that job towards the end of the week when Swmbo has finished her shift rotation. ;)

Well as it turns out, my garage guys will not be getting the job, what I thought was just road film, ie, diesel and crap mainly due to the bypass they're building out my back door and around the town at the moment, plus the dirty weather we've been having, is in fact a slight mist of shocker oil. I realised after I checked the nearside spring and noticed that the n/s shocker was covered in the same gunge too. Fk, Fk, and more Fk! :mad: :shock:

I need to change the two shocks as well as the spring and top mount on the near side too now so, I've no choice, (funds), to get my garage guys to do it, when I need to buy all those parts. January is a pita five week month. :(

The joys of motoring eh? Still, I can't have the mother of my children running around in a compromised car. :)

The parts are ordered, and will be in tomorrow, so it looks like I'll be busy again this weekend.
Jeezus.... I'm getting too old for this sh1t, oh well, at least the o/s will come off easily.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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UPDATE :- A Second Busy Weekend.

Well that's the complete front axle set on Swmbo's car done. 2 New shocks, 2 new springs and 2 new top strut mounts.

I was quite surprised to find that the old shocks were the O.E. units too, I was absolutely raging and swearing like a trouper when I discovered that the thread on the top shaft on the replacement Bendix units were different and they only came with one new mounting nut supplied, not the two that are required for the job. :shock: Much swearing ensued!:mad::mad::mad:

Fortunately my 50+ year old collection of nuts and bolts produced exactly the two that I needed. TFFT!
They were an odd ball thread to boot, very coarse metric, what a relief that I found two and was able to finish the job.

Still, it turned what should have been a leisurely three hour job into a four hour nightmare, with just over an hour spent rummaging for the correct nuts. :eek:

I hate it when a job goes mammaries up and you're left stranded, thank goodness for being a hoarder, lol. Saved my *ss again. :rolleyes:

I wonder if Swmbo appreciates all my "junk", as she calls it, now?

Just a few pics of the job in progress. IMG_3348.JPG
IMG_3342.JPG IMG_3346.JPG
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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As much as I enjoy the finished result and the satisfaction of a job well done, I know I'm going to suffer for this, lol. :p

Only two hour and a half hours after the job and despite a long bath, I'm aching all over.

God getting old sucks! :(:(
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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It's better than the alternative of not getting old ..... ;)

Very true Andy, I just wish all it's pals didn't gang up on you too. :p
 

McDonald

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I think that's called an understatement, lol. :D

It's fortunate that you have the resources to do all this work. As others in this thread, I wouldn't dare try. With any luck, the aches and pains will pass quickly and the job well done will endure.

Well done.
 

umblecumbuz

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Quality remains long after the pain is forgotten!

... and I HATE those spring compressors ...
 

vtaylor78

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Great job Jimbo, put your feet up now and be waited on for the rest of the weekend! :)
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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Quality remains long after the pain is forgotten!

... and I HATE those spring compressors ...

These spring compressors are amongst the best of that type that I've ever used, made by Sykes Pickavant. I've had them a long time, tbh mine hardly get used much, they were considered to be professional quality when I bought them, although I have seen some right dodgy ones in my time.

I always remember when I was working in Stocks of Copdock back in the seventies a spring disappearing through the roof of the garage some fifteen to twenty feet up when the retaining lug on the set being used failed. :eek::eek:

A really scary moment, fortunately no one was hurt but, it is imprinted on my mind on just how careful you need to be when doing springs. ;)
 
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Jimbo1959

Jimbo1959

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Great job Jimbo, put your feet up now and be waited on for the rest of the weekend! :)

:D:D Not much chance of that Vincente. Knowing my other half she'll be trying to figure out what else she can get me to do while I'm in the mood for work. :p
 

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