DIY guides to keeping end of life vehicles running on a shoestring budget. A window onto the world of home mechanic'ing of cars everyone else would have given up on a long time ago
30 Jun 2023 2 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
My Mercedes has been making a really irritating rubbing noise at low speeds which I think has been coming from the nearside rear brake, it doesn't roll properly on an incline in neutral and the fuel economy doesn't seem to be where it should be. Its...
22 Aug 2022 1 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
A parcel arrived for me earlier, what's inside? ah-HA! two cans of Dynax UB aerosol wax for the rear half of the Daihatsu, excellent. After using their S50 cavity wax a year ago I knew what I was letting myself in for, so duly put on my most grotty j...
15 Aug 2022 1 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
With itchy feet I set to again today with a plan to get this all back together. I gathered my tools and things and carefully jacked the fuel tank up into position, attaching the fuel gauge plug, fuel return line and fuel feed lines before raising it...
3 Aug 2022 3 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
More progress made on the Daihatsu. The biggest obstacle to overcome was the welding, as I cannot weld and electricity confuses and frightens me in roughly equal parts. A friend was able to come over and work on the chassis rails which were the last...
25 Jul 2022 2 minute read 1 comment Lawnmower
New news! With everything fully disassembled, I've finally got some forward progress. I've been busy de'rusting the outside of the fuel tank with a wire brush, painting it with Vactan and tonight, applying zinc primer. I need to buy some more black...
18 Jul 2022 4 minute read 1 comment Lawnmower
Onto phase 2 of the operation. Removal of the tank. This had mixed outcomes... All started off well, I was able to loosen all 4 bolts holding the tank to the car fine - however access to the exciting bits was poor. There is no access beneath the rear...
11 Jul 2022 3 minute read 1 comment Lawnmower
The benefit of having more cars in the household than driving licence holders is that repairs can be undertaken at leisure. Following the MOT fail, there was quite a bit of work to do on the Daihatsu. Pics of the problem areas: I'm set to, trying...
5 Jul 2022 5 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
I had a crack at replacing the front passenger door lock module over the last few days and have been comprehensively thwarted. There ought to be a grub screw holding the door handle to the door skin, it is vital that this is undone NO MORE THAN THIRT...
28 Jun 2022 1 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
Thats the Sirion out of action for a while then. I asked the MOT place to sort out tightening the suspension arm ball joint nut right up and threadlock it, since I've retightened it twice now, clearly incorrectly. I also asked them to replace the...
17 Jun 2022 1 minute read 0 comments Lawnmower
With the demise of the Daewoo Lacetti a few months ago, I've been looking out for a replacement which is a bit more sturdy and capacious than the Daihatsu for transporting the family about. We still have the Mercedes, but a 3rd car is always useful!...
