fun questions..

[vilguy]

hey guys its been AALLLOONNGGG time since i was on here but we just purchased another fun

Got it for a great price so new it would have a few issues...

First - heater didnt blow.... whipped out the fan and fixed it with the spring from a kawasaki biro (so i can now say its fitted with kawasaki tuning parts?!) took all of ten minutes. Good god i love old cars. Sooooo easy to work on.

Then.... heater might blow but it blows bloody freezing and the temp gauge reads cold... rip off the stat cover to find.... no stat! (mumble grumble!) anyways... fitted a new stat but its not opening and overheating along with making the radiator suffer with steam shock. Is there a certain way to bleed the system? Im thinking im getting an air lock.

Next issue! ...

the rear pull out bit wouldnt! handle was doing nothing. Ive managed to open it by pulling open the rear seat to gain access to the wires to pull the locks and got it open. The handle mechanism looks to be broken so i need to get into that but trying to get the actual rear seat off is being a complete git. Trapped my fingers in it so many times i was bleeding underneath my finger nails. Choofin thing. Other issue is the locks wont engage onto the rear pins. Im thinking the latches themselves are a bit knackered too. Or .. it could be because he said he hadnt had the back off in 5 years that they are seized? any tips?

final one .... passenger wheel bearing was grumbly.. wasnt too bad until i fitted some 17" alloys on it on friday and wooaahhh the original fun wheels had been masking the scale of the problem. There is a good 6-8 mm of play on the wheel! So trying to get the hub off to replace the bearing at the minute. Gave up last night after half an hour of repeated smacking with a lump hammer. Its moved pherhaps 7mm... lubed everything up with plus gas for the night and will give it a go tonight.

Tis good to have a fun again though. We decided that living in the middle of no where with a 2 seater sports car was a bit of a waste of time... as we havent used it for 5 months as have no one to look after the sprogs. So i got the fun for a bargain so we can all go out together

[Jonesy92]

Silly question but one worth asking nonetheless - was the stat housing broken at all?

I foolishly put a new thermostat into a broken housing thinking I'd get away with it. The broken bit was the flange where the stat pin sits - mine had nothing to push against and it only dawned on me when I pulled into a service station for a coffee and heard a strange boiling and bubbling noise. Out came the pin with the coolant as I drained it in my investigations

Only a fiver or something for that flange off ebay and Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt.

JJ

[vilguy]

i think you have hit the nail on the head bud! I was wondering what the pin pushed against when i saw the hole in the housing doh

Ill get a replacement ordered mate cheers for that. I thought I was being a bit retarded when i couldnt get it to work... turns out i was correct in that assumption!

[Jonesy92]

i think you have hit the nail on the head bud! I was wondering what the pin pushed against when i saw the hole in the housing doh

Ill get a replacement ordered mate cheers for that. I thought I was being a bit retarded when i couldnt get it to work... turns out i was correct in that assumption!

You and me both then mate!

Glad you can sort it now though pal.

Never done the wheel bearings myself, but I understand the front bearings to be a real pain in the arse to do. The concensus seems to be to take the hub off completely and have it taken out with a proper press - the new one will likely need to be pressed in also.

[vilguy]

You and me both then mate!

Glad you can sort it now though pal.

Never done the wheel bearings myself, but I understand the front bearings to be a real pain in the arse to do. The concensus seems to be to take the hub off completely and have it taken out with a proper press - the new one will likely need to be pressed in also.

i will get the hub off if it bloomin kills me! but will try shoving the hub in the oven and bearing in the freezer to get it back in. If i get stuck my mate will press it in for me. I like trying to fix things myself though. satisfaction and all that jazz!

ordered a thermostat housing - £7 delivered. Bargain!

[Jonesy92]

Nice one. BTW, why can't you get the hub off?

[vilguy]

its just being an utter swine. Not helped by me having not slept the night before i tried to to do it as our shogun broke down near blackpool at 11pm... got home at 5am on the back of an aa wagon! tried to fix it in the morning, proceeded to break down AGAIN 4 miles from home so had to use my A frame to tow it back with our 110 defender. Never ever ever doing that again. I swear a little bit of poo came out of me! Towing a fiesta fine... but not a big chunky thing!

At the minute the hub has moved a bit.. will continue to soak it in plus gas and biodiesel to get it off. I dont have a hub puller so the old hit it and hit it again harder trick is the only way at the minute.

[Jonesy92]

its just being an utter swine. Not helped by me having not slept the night before i tried to to do it as our shogun broke down near blackpool at 11pm... got home at 5am on the back of an aa wagon! tried to fix it in the morning, proceeded to break down AGAIN 4 miles from home so had to use my A frame to tow it back with our 110 defender. Never ever ever doing that again. I swear a little bit of poo came out of me! Towing a fiesta fine... but not a big chunky thing!

At the minute the hub has moved a bit.. will continue to soak it in plus gas and biodiesel to get it off. I dont have a hub puller so the old hit it and hit it again harder trick is the only way at the minute.

I envy your exciting life!

So is the strut pinch bolt stuck or something? Like, why won't it budge?

Just wondering as my diesel is on axle stands as we speak and has been since Sunday as I can't free the strut pinch bolt, and both the nut and the bolt head have sheared off, so I'm part-way through drilling it 10,000,000 dril bits later. Got my hands on some cobalt ones so I'm gonna try my hand at that today. I've tried all sized of hammers and all manner of drifts, to no avail. Everything I do on lately, the bitch fights back at me.

Trying to do the strut top mounts (and failing apparently)

[vilguy]

make sure you use lots of lube with the cobalt bits, they will blunt almost immediately if you dont.

Cobalts great, but succeptible to damage as soon as it gets warm.

if i were in your position id be getting the angle grinder out!

[Jonesy92]

Well didn't have to use them bits in the end. Heated the bolt this time rather than the hub just to see if it would change anything. A couple of whacks with a hammer and punch and out it flew.

I was quite surprised to see that it was actually a snapped coil spring, the mount bearing seems absolutely fine - must have been knackered for absolutely months and months I reckon. It had been clunking for months (wrongly I assumed this to be the top mount) and also it had rusted up where the actual break on the coil was.

Well bugger me!

Let us know how you get on mate?

[vilguy]

i gave up trying to remove the hub last night in the cold. will do it at the weekend with the warmth of the suns glow gently soothing me...

that or be freezing and swearing alot. Still at least I will be able to see?!

Good to hear you got it out. Cant beat a good blowtorch and hammer can you

[vilguy]

Phew got the hub carrier off to make life easier.

wheels fit a treat!

[vilguy]

oh very funny skoda for putting a different hub carrier on a 1.3 compared to my 1.6....

thought i was being clever buying a complete hub carrier with wheel bearing installed... what a knobber haha

got it installed and then went to bolt the caliper on... eerrrrrrr ok!

In a fit of rage i took a hammer and smashed the old bearing out of the old hub carrier which i had previously been unable to get out, and installed a new one easy as! Well chuffed as I had never done a front wheel bearing before