The Croctavia, Outofthi5world's Octy track car

[pip_vrs]

You fixed this yet?

[Outofthi5world]

You fixed this yet?

Booked in for Friday, break pads have also been ordered. For now, until I get some sort of normality back in my life I'm sticking with Yellowstuff. I haven't got any time to think about anything else at the minute.

[Outofthi5world]

Right, so, I got this car in the garage on Friday, new pads, new caliper and new fluid left on front seet for him. Came back in the afternoon to a car still on ramps with a new caliper and pads fitted but no breaks still. Mechanic told me that the rear right bleed nipple stripped off so it needs a new caliper and also there's no pressure so probably needs a new master cylinder too, So I transported the car home on the back of a trailer and while I did that I tried the break pedal, if you pushed it right down to the floor it would gain a bit of pressure then if pumped again quickly it would act "normal" and stop the car (on the back of a trailer of course)So I'm saying master cylinder my ****! I went to the scrap yard for a new steering rack for Green Giant and got a new break caliper at the same time. I have to take the time to thank the old owner of a 4x4 Octavia estate that was scrapped recently as the rear right break caliper was so new it still had the silver paint and the barcode on it! And I got it for a tenner. Who said scrap yards were a bad place to get parts? I'll chuck him the keys again next Friday and tell him to fit the caliper and see what happens. I think it will work.

 

Edited 28 January, 2017 by Outofthi5world

[pip_vrs]

Probably wont fit if it's from the 4x4 one? may be wrong though

[petrolbloke]

Unless the old bleed screw has actually sheared off then you might be able to free it off with penetrating fluid and mole grips, then just fit a replacement bleed screw.

 

If your mechanic can't get a good pedal then get him to bleed the master cylinder. I had a Leelac Saab 'specialists' tell me my master cylinder had failed and didn't have bleed screws when it fact it did have bleed screws and just needed bleeding.

 

Is the wishbone bush fixed yet? (sorry if I missed it earlier)

 

And please - 'brake', not 'break'!

Edited 31 January, 2017 by vrsTom

[Outofthi5world]

On 1/28/2017 at 13:31, pip_vrs said:

Probably wont fit if it's from the 4x4 one? may be wrong though

Looks the same, should be alright.

 

On 1/31/2017 at 15:51, vrsTom said:

Unless the old bleed screw has actually sheared off then you might be able to free it off with penetrating fluid and mole grips, then just fit a replacement bleed screw.

 

If your mechanic can't get a good pedal then get him to bleed the master cylinder. I had a Leelac Saab 'specialists' tell me my master cylinder had failed and didn't have bleed screws when it fact it did have bleed screws and just needed bleeding.

 

Is the wishbone bush fixed yet? (sorry if I missed it earlier)

 

And please - 'brake', not 'break'!

I'm not quite sure what it's done but he's put in some other screw thing with a bit of bent over pipe to block it off now.

Honestly I think it's purely down to the bleed nipple on that caliper as you can gain pressure. We'll see today anyway as it's sat outside his garage now.

Wishbone is not fixed yet, it still drives fine so I'll do Snetterton then see where I'm at as I want to do it at the same time as changing suspension as it will already be in bits. But I have a girlfriend now and I'm setting off for a job interview in less than half an hour so I may be moving an hour away from home soon if that goes well.

 

And sorry, break and brake are my worst I think.

[Rustynuts]

Good news on the job interview. Not sure a girlfriend and a track day car are a good idea though...

[Outofthi5world]

12 hours ago, Rustynuts said:

Good news on the job interview. Not sure a girlfriend and a track day car are a good idea though...

Thanks Rusty, and no, she seams to like the idea and wanted to come down to Snetterton with me but she has work unfortunately. 

Update on the interview: I got the job and will be moving sometime within a month. I'm going to give my boss a weeks notice tomorrow, forget the month as stated in the contract if he's underpaying me by over £550 per month he can get ******. And if he doesn't like the idea of a weeks notice I'll walk out then instead.

[Rustynuts]

Where's the new job at then?

[Outofthi5world]

54 minutes ago, Rustynuts said:

Where's the new job at then?

It's near Appleby, just off the A66. pays more than the job I've had for the last 7 months and there's a house about 2 miles from the farm on top of that. So I went into work a bit late this morning, boss says to me "so when do you start your new job then?" (as I never told anyone but my dad, girlfriend and a couple of mates there's no chance he knows for sure so he was taking the p***) I said whenever I finish this one so I'll give a weeks notice.

He said what, a week? What about a month?

I said well I'm giving you a week.

So it's alright for you to brake your contract but not me?

You already broke the contract by not paying me minimum wage, you broke the law, never mind the contract.

Do you just want to leave now?

Yeah, alright then.

Right, see ya.

Bye.

 

And I just walked off.

Edited 4 February, 2017 by Outofthi5world

[Outofthi5world]

And it seams I've forgotten to update you on the important bits: Brakes are all fixed now, seams I was right and he was wrong. Didn't need a master cylinder at all, just needed a good bleed.

[Outofthi5world]

Car is back in the garage now, whoever put the wheels on when they did the brakes tightened them up with an impact gun, including the lock nuts and f***** the front right lock nut to the point you can't get it off. Just told them you broke it you fix it.

[Rustynuts]

Edd China has a lot to answer for. The biggest feckin hooligan with a windy gun on telly.

[pip_vrs]

I do my wheels up to two ugga duggas and theyre fine

[Outofthi5world]

Well they were done up to 120nm as per spec last time I pilot them on, but not when they put them on, anyway he got it off did it without arguing or anything so apart from losing a set of lockers I can't really complain. Now I can say the car is finally ready. But I can't. Because the gear linkages have got really stiff and so has the drivers door so I'll need some lube at some point. 

[petrolbloke]

15 hours ago, pip_vrs said:

I do my wheels up to two ugga duggas and theyre fine

 

I used to do my wheel nuts up without a torque wrench - then I went out on track and the wheel got hot and one of the bolts sheared off. Thankfully it happened in the pits when I was checking them rather than out on track.

 

I always do them up with a torque wrench now and not had a problem.

 

@Outofthi5world sounds like you need to find a new garage!

[Outofthi5world]

@vrsTom It's the second garage I've had words with about the same thing now. VASStech learnt and never did it again, this one I don't care now as I only send the Croc there anyway and it won't have lockers on it again.

Update: Steering wheel removed and original put back on, when I swapped the original for the much better Seat one that I got from @pip_vrs the airbag light came on, so I scanned it with VCDS and cleared the code but it came back, old wheel back on and code cleared, now it's fine. Also thanks to @Rustynuts for selling your VCDS, came in handy 

PS: When changing steering wheels don't forget to make sure the wheel is pointing straight ahead before you remove it to avoid having to line the front wheels up with a 4' piece of wood. 

[OutlawKen]

When I fitted my coilovers I gunned me wheels up and I now have a front wing hanging off, stud conversion and me 3rd set of wheels! Wont do that again!

[Shmoo]

On 2/4/2017 at 07:03, Outofthi5world said:

It's near Appleby, just off the A66. pays more than the job I've had for the last 7 months and there's a house about 2 miles from the farm on top of that. So I went into work a bit late this morning, boss says to me "so when do you start your new job then?" (as I never told anyone but my dad, girlfriend and a couple of mates there's no chance he knows for sure so he was taking the p***) I said whenever I finish this one so I'll give a weeks notice.

He said what, a week? What about a month?

I said well I'm giving you a week.

So it's alright for you to brake your contract but not me?

You already broke the contract by not paying me minimum wage, you broke the law, never mind the contract.

Do you just want to leave now?

Yeah, alright then.

Right, see ya.

Bye.

 

And I just walked off.

 

Bear in mind that you can still claim ALL the money you weren't correctly paid if he was effectively (illegally,) paying you under the minimum wage. It doesn't matter if it was a mistake, an over-sight or him just being tight. It won't mean going to court and he WILL have to back-pay you for every penny you rightly earned, even if you left with little/no notice. Look into it, 'cos it'll be a significant sum I imagine.

[Outofthi5world]

16 hours ago, Shmoo said:

 

Bear in mind that you can still claim ALL the money you weren't correctly paid if he was effectively (illegally,) paying you under the minimum wage. It doesn't matter if it was a mistake, an over-sight or him just being tight. It won't mean going to court and he WILL have to back-pay you for every penny you rightly earned, even if you left with little/no notice. Look into it, 'cos it'll be a significant sum I imagine.

£1784.50 I worked it out at taking into account I was 20 years old for the three months leading up to October when minimum wage rose and 21 years old from October so minimum wage was £5.30 for the first three months of employment and £6.95 for October, November and December (another £562 for January now so he actually owes me £2346.50) and I've only had 1 weeks holiday in the 7 months I've worked there so that's another weeks wages he owes me. Thing is how do you prove anything? And who do you go to? Citizens advice just fobbed me off for a start, job centre sent me to CA.

Also bare in mind this is pre tax so it'll be more like £1877.

 

Anyway, back on topic. Nearly everything is packed into the Octavia now and ready to set off. I start work at half 6 in the morning.

Edited 15 February, 2017 by Outofthi5world

[petrolbloke]

Off topic again - but these links should help:

https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage/worker-disputes-over-minimum-wage

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1902

Given the amount involved and the attitude of your previous employer I'd say it's worth pursuing!

Edited 15 February, 2017 by vrsTom

[Ootohere]

?

Are you an Agricultural Worker & covered by Agricultural Workers Rights?

http://gov.uk/agricultural-workers-rights/overview 

[Outofthi5world]

On 15/02/2017 at 13:17, vrsTom said:

Off topic again - but these links should help:

https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage/worker-disputes-over-minimum-wage

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1902

Given the amount involved and the attitude of your previous employer I'd say it's worth pursuing!

 

Thanks, I'll look into that.

 

On 15/02/2017 at 13:26, Offski said:

?

Are you an Agricultural Worker & covered by Agricultural Workers Rights?

http://gov.uk/agricultural-workers-rights/overview 

 

I am an agricultural worker but I haven't been there for that long, only started working there last year.

[Outofthi5world]

So, back on topic, I test drove the car on Sunday afternoon, found the gear selector cable must have stretched or something while it was parked in 1st all the time and reverse couldn't be selected any more. Which was nice  But it could still go forwards so it wasn't a massive disaster. Took it out for a test drive, took off over a bit of a crest and landed into another hitting the sump off the floor putting a crack in it. Luckily it was only a tiny crack unlike last time so I just drove it down to the track as it was. Luckily @DanHarper had an engine at home with a sump that fit so he kindly brought it along and I collected it at the Premier inn on Sunday night. Monday morning I set off to the track at 6 am and picked up some oil on the way, managed to get the sump changed over, wheels swapped and oil in before signing on time, so all was good. Surprisingly the car still had nearly a full can of oil in when I drained the sump.

The car ran alright after that, I'm not sure if it was down on power a bit of if that was just me not feeling it but anyway, it doesn't matter. Brakes worked well, 2nd gear was hard to get until after dinner, reverse was selectable now after parking it in 4th over night. The front right wheel bearing chewed its self up before dinner time which cut the day short but I've just looked now and it reads 410 miles including 230 miles home, and about 10 miles of faffing about going to Tesco this morning and a couple of other bits. Yeah, it's insured till dinner time I'm gonna use it. So about 160-170 miles on track. 54-57 laps. I started with a full tank at the track and I put £15 in on the way home last night and it's at just below 1/4 of a tank so not bad.

 

Wheel bearing needs changing but other than that there's not much else, obviously we already know about the wishbone bush and the fact it wants lowering. But its MOT is due next month and it won't pass it, not a chance. I'm not bothering with it anyway as it won't be used for a while now. The top and bottom of the wheel had at least 10 mm of play when I left the track yesterday, I think it's got worse since though because it vibrates in a straight line now. But anyway, it hasn't fallen off yet and it can be fixed. The question is though do I want to fix it? And I don't think the answer to that question is yes to be honest. If I bought some cheap coil-overs, got both front bearings replaced and got the poly bushes fitted to the rear of the wishbones then I'd probably be looking at about £500, so I might as well put that towards a VRS.

This might be the Croctavias last appearance on track unfortunately.

[pip_vrs]

Theres a few Octavia vrs popping up around the £800 mark.

If your just wanting it as a track car then youd get a bit of cash back selling things track cars don't need.