'Zeb' - (Not a Classic) Bloggy!

[Paul240480]

Well the trip to Kent went well. Zeb just got stuck in and lugged the van in his stride . The weekend was well busy. Though took some bookings for my gites, which covered the cost of the trip. Since a lot more have surfaced.
Our youngest dog did us proud in the agility, got a 1st and 2 times 'best dog in comp'.
Once home, swmbo pulled into the drive, and I noticed a trickle of fluid on the gravel. On checking, I saw that the expansion chamber cap had split! Apparently a common fail if you have a grey cap! Green ones replaced and were of a better quality. Got one in a yard with 3 greys as back up!
Poss a blessing in disguise though, as when sticking my nose in cleaning up the sprayed coolant, I found that both of the CV joint boots have split right round!
Today, I took delivery of two 'stretchy' type replacements with the 'cone' fitting tool. More work coming up I feel.

[Paul240480]

............and finally that CV joint work has begun. It did not go well. My mate came up (he has a well sorted 850TDI in metallic turquoise) to help. We decided to crack the calliper bolts and the 'alum' bolts for the pads first.... This went well all be it with some patience!
So once we had confirmed those bits were going to 'play ball' we lowered the car to crack that 36mm bugger of a nut on the hub....
No joy with my 'bar', so slipped a 2 foot pole over it.... My bar bent! So tried (stupidly) my torque wrench, broke that . My mate had a bar... We tried that, stood on it and with my wimpy
11 stone it bent to. Nut was not gonna give! So I remembered an old imperial socket set that my ol' grandad left me. The make is Elora, looked as solid as owt. So tried the rachet on it, which has proved to be good in the past.... Busted it gutted I am, as that has got to have lasted 50yrs or so...
More soon...

[JPB]

Stable doors and horses spring to mind but both Autodata and Thatcham say that this job is impossible without an impact ratchet and suitable socket. It's at times like this that I'd love to be able to travel backwards in time.

Regarding the broken Elora ratchet, are they not rebuildable? Chances are that, assuming it's simply slipped its ratchet, the spring wire in there will have broken and can be removed and replaced by removing the direction lever - which is pinned to its spindle so you'll need a very fine pin punch to remove that, - the cover plate, pulling out the pawl, replacing the springs with suitable lengths of piano wire (of the variety sold in bike shops for repairing freewheel ratchets) and reassembling. Lubricate the whole mechanism with a decent, molybdenum disulphide-based grease and she'll last another 50 years easily.

[Paul240480]

Thanks, yes the Elora has two screws to allow access to the ratchet gubbins, not looked into yet. Being a mega numpty I thought it was just the lever that changes loosen to tighten that was jammed.... Gave it a gentle 'tap' with a light hammer and snapped it I have a Rolson 24v impact driver and have ordered a 36 mm deep socket. I know it will not be strong enough to undo the nut, but thought if I give it a bit of 'impact' before going at it with the breaker I might be lucky? The breaker I have ordered is a "Sealey " no idea if these are a good make....

Well, I decided to head out in "Tank" to buy a breaker bar. Had no idea what one was in French. So I printed out a pic of one. First port of call was Ouest Injection a specialist tool supplier / garage that also works on HGV's. Chap looked at my pic and asked, "what is that never seen one of those". Suggested I go to "Auto-Distribution" a specialist tools and parts place. Same answer. So popped to "Roady", as sort of Kwikfit/Halfrauds. The lady on the desk got the garage gaffer to speak to me. Same answer, but he asked what I was attempting. After explaining, he said that they use a pipe spanner, then he dissapeared and came back with an 8 or so foot length of scaffold pole. They used the pipe spanner and the pole to 'crack' stubborn nuts. So I said, okay I'll take a 36mm pipe spanner please. Answer was "oh no sir special order only 15 days minimum". Lol.
Auto-Distribution... 15 days.... Back to Ouest Injection and the same.... The chap there obviously saw my building frustration and asked about the work I was attempting. He said, "yeh pipe spanner and pole should work, but you will need a good quality spanner for strength and for a good tight fit". " oh like snap-on", I said. " yes Monsieur only snap on is called Facom here"
At that point, that was exactly what I thought and went home to order a breaker bar via the web!

[Paul240480]

I gave it some 'welly' with my 24v Rolson Impact Driver the other day. Followed by attempting with my new 700mm breaker bar. Put as much force as I dared with no movement . I feared the 1/2" knuckle was going to 'give' so stopped (did not want it join my growing pile of broken tools). Have read elsewhere that a 3/4" knuckle is the minimum recommended for the job.
So had a hunt around an ex-pat forum and searched for a mobile mechanic. I have found a chap who says he can do the work, CV Gaitors, fit my new discs & pads (daft not too) & fit my new fuel filter for 2hrs labour + 10€ call out fee. So 80€ job done. Looks like it will be after crimbo, unless he gets a cancellation during the week.
I figure up to now I have saved loads, so will let this one go to a proffessional......... The chap sounded a 'gent' on the phone, all being well he maybe a good chap to have in reserve.

PS: You may recall from my other blog that I used a great mechanic for work on 'Tank' that I was not confident enough to tackle, sadly (for me) Steve has returned to the UK.
PPS: Still not looked at the Elora ratchet, but have an 'old boy' mate who is going to for me

Oh, on another note. Needed two new tyres to replace the 'aging' 25,000 mile Roadstones I had fitted in 09'. Tyre prices are high here. For instance Roadstones in UK were fitted for £99. Same tyres here fitted (2 years on) 202€s. So did some more surfing & found a company Oponeo (France) who have a sister site Oponeo (UK). I ordered pair of Khumo Ecsta's for 150€ & had them delivered to 'one of their registered fitters' about 20 miles away. Fitting balance & valves was a further 30€ job done. So a higher quality tyre fitted for much less. I have to say I had fantastic service from Oponeo, emails all the way to track the delivery & great service from the fitter, with coffee & cake thrown in!

[Paul240480]

Spurred on by Luxobarge, I bought one of those tailgate trim repair kits from Parts For Volvo.

From this unsightly mess, that rattled & banged


To this neat & tidyness in about 40 mins:

[Paul240480]

Slightly off subject:

Had time to have a look at my Grandads ratchet that I busted. Gave it a day or two soaking the head in 50/50 mix Acetone/ATF, as the screws on the head were solid. Was going to try my Hilka impact wrench, but decided to try my 81v driver on a full charge first..... and that pulled the screws right out

A little bit of wiggling and the like and I got it all to bits:




Initially it looked as though one tooth had broken & that the ratchet had just locked on top of the 'next' tooth. However on further cleaning a number of teeth have 'gone' and the 'lock piece' is diskomknackerated in one direction

Have got one eye on this : http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 97.c0.m619
The handle is different to mine, but the head and gubbins may fit? Have asked the seller for more pics. Have also found a supplier called 'justoffbase' (I think it was) online, who have responded saying that they may be able to find a repair kit for me in the new year. Elora is now owned by Draper, & they are closed till 2012.

[Paul240480]

Woohoo!

Well finally job done! Had a the mobile mechanic out to it today, infact he has just left.
Boy, am I glad I didn't really go for it. With my tools there is no way on earth that I'd have done this. The shaft was seized into the hub on both sides. He used a mahoosive set of pullers & slowly, slowly each one gave. He did mange to knacker the thread on his pullers on the 2nd on as well! Phew.
Discs and pads done.
Fuel filter not done, due to the bracket starting to break. So need a new bracket thing before completing that bit.


Not so Woohoo
He diagnosed:
1) Power steering pump as 'noisy', more so than it should be.
2) one front brake hose starting to perish.
3) Throttle cable sticking making the pedal harder to push than it should be.

Oh joy, more work needed! lol

[TerryG]

Oh joy, more work needed! lol

We are all secret masochists, skinned knuckles and sore backs are what we all crave

[Paul240480]

^^^ Indeed we are!

So onwards today, having received the ordered parts, I cracked on the with the throttle cable. A pleasant 45 minute 'tinker' it was too. Not difficult & the result is simply amazing. I guess the pedals 'heavyness' had come on gradually so we had not really noticed it....
Anyway, now it is light & silky smooth What a difference!
Started here:


Half way there:


Up the footwell!


Job done:


And yes I haven't re-rooted the little vacuum hose yet