Good excuse for a Perspex back window

Yes, but unfortunately the plastic and glue aren't cooperating. And I think it's the wrong plastic all-together.

You shoulda said mate. I've a puller tool here for removing wipers...

You shoulda said mate. I've a puller tool here for removing wipers...

If I'd have only known I would have. If I do end up getting a new tailgate though I'll bare that in mind. If I can get one cheap I might.

I've just been to a scrap yard and bought a couple of bits for the car today, if anyone wants to guess what they are ill give you until they get delivered this afternoon or tomorrow to guess.

New tailgate.

New tailgate.

That's one bit. (BTW can I borrow your pullers at some point?) Still one bit to guess.

New bumper...

New bumper...

Yep. Rear bumper is coming to. Old one has a big dent and a big crack in it so for the extra I've got them to deliver that to. £30 for the tailgate and £20 for the bumper, both delivered from Bishop Auckland to Catterick either this afternoon or tomorrow when they are coming to collect a car from the area anyway. I gave the lad a hand removing the tailgate so it didn't end up the same as mine but at £50 I don't think that's too bad for a tailgate and bumper removed and delivered.

Another couple of jobs were done to the car today to, I removed the tow-bar electrics from where they tapped into the rear lights and crimped some new connections in then tested the lights and found a blown divers side break light bulb, so that's replaced now. Then I removed the boot struts ready for the new tailgate. I thought since the boot fell down that both were gone but it turns out that the drivers side one is still good and that the tailgate is actually very heavy even with just a piece of plastic in. I may put that strut back on the car when the new tailgate is on. And to be honest I should have maybe got the ones off the scrapper. Then I removed the wiring loom for the CD changer because someone is after that. I've removed it right up to where the glove-box once was.

So today I've done a few things to the car which I'll list when I'm back with the laptop, but for now I'll just say that I fell like an idiot now for trying to start the car for the last few days with the spare key.

So things done today:

Removed the lock, handle and all that security stuff from the tailgate ready for the new one and tied the bottom down with a piece of mains electric cable for security.

Loosened the bolts that hold the tailgate on.

Replaced the air filter:

 

 

Put the battery on charge for a while then tried to start the car. Again, would start briefly but cut out after around a second. So charged it some more while I changed the fuel filter. Then tried to start it again.

Then charged it some more while I removed the coolant reservoir and fuel filter housing to access the pump at the bottom of the washer bottle, removed the pump and switched the two pipes round on the bottom then faffed round trying to get the pump back in. Tested it and now it washes the correct window when you pull the lever. Result!

Then I found the correct key as the key I'd been using for the past 3 days was the one that doesn't start the car and the reason I couldn't pick the car up on the intended date. So then I tried that key but because of the fuel filter change there was no diesel to the engine now it won't start for a different reason. Anyway, tomorrow I'm at work, and the new tailgate is due to arrive tomorrow so the day after that I WILL start the car, and I will have the new tailgate and bumper on to. You watch this space.

You mean you opened the bonnet finally :0

You mean you opened the bonnet finally :0

I opened it for the first time on the 6th of this month. Post #18. This is the first time I've done anything under there though that doesn't just involve a pair of wires.

Well today was a bit long, it was interesting, it was productive and I am happy. So I started by trying to remove the wiring from the old tailgate while it was propped up, I got a piece of old cable and tied it round the end so I could wiggle it if it got stuck, the left hand side came out quite easily, however the right hand side got stuck. Yeah, I don't know how that still happened either, but there you go. So I had one side of the loom out and still attached to the car and the other was holding on for deer life. I then called the scrap yard to ask where the boot was and he said it was on the way. Good I thought, lets get on! So the battery was charging for a while I decided I'd crank it to draw some fuel to through the new filter. Then put it back on charge and removed the tailgate completely leaving only the right hand side loom. I propped the tailgate on the back of the car and tried to start it up again. It worked, great! But the tailgate which was leaning over the back of the car now funneled all the smoke in so i made an exit, left the car running and moved the tailgate to one side, then I moved the car back to give a bit more room to remove the bumper since that was supposed to be coming with the new tailgate. Then engine off, key in pocket ect, thought sod it, I'l cut the other loom off and join it up with the new instead. Tailgate now not part of the car. Good! Then came the bumper. Angle grinder was to remove one of the little screws from the arch liner that had rounded off. I thought if I cut the screw off I could replace it later with one from the interior, but the angle grinder on the screw head melted the arch liner.

So now the car looks like this:

 

 

Boot lid still hadn't arrived 1 and a half hours after I called them and they said it was on its way so I called them again and he said that the tailgate was on its way but the person taking the bumper off had broken some of the brackets. Which was fine, because the bumper wasn't a high priority item anyway, so the bumper is now back on with just the 4 main bolts and another one is coming tomorrow because they are getting another Octy in. When the guy came with the tailgate he said that the person that was supposed to take the bumper off thought I was after the crash bar and had just cut straight through the bumper Oh well.

Putting the tailgate on was a faff! I got it on with the hinges tight and it wouldn't shut, then I got it so it would shut but when it was lifted it caught on the roof, then I got it so that it would shut and not catch on the roof but without removing the latch it wouldn't close properly. So it turns out that the crash has bent the car slightly. But only very slightly, however still annoying. So, I took one screw out of the bar that it catches on as it was hitting that, that gave the clearance required but it wouldn't go far enough down. So I hit the latch on the boot lid with a mallet and now it works properly. Opens and closes and doesn't catch the roof. Result! There is a little bit of a gap where the tailgate doesn't quite meet the rubber seal at the bottom but oh well, it's just a track car.

 

Then came the looms. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of routing the wiring through the tailgate so did it inside the car instead. Silly Germans and their over engineered wiring!

 

 

 

New looms joined onto old looms gave extra long looms. Plenty to play around with. So now the only thing was it didn't lock. I replaced the new lock module with the one from the old tailgate but the car wouldn't lock with the remote and when locked with the key in the drivers door the boot wouldn't lock. That turned out to be a fuse. I'd shorted something when I cut the main tailgate loom. So for now I have no reversing lights but I do have a car that locks.

 

It's a cacky horrible green colour, but you can't see it very well because it took me all day to do and it was dark by the time I got done. And try joining similar coloured wires when you can't see. Not the easiest job in the world. And no, the central locking fuse also provides power to the interior lights and the windows.

 

 

Temporary reg change. Because screw the police.

Slight bonus though, it is the same engine as mine, so no need to remove the badges.

 

Now I've got to sort the middle break light out and replace the bumper. Then there's the front lights to change and the ABS fault to fix and it should, theoretically pass an MOT. I hope.

Edited 25 February, 201610 yr by Outofthi5world

.

Can I borrow your pullers? 

Edited 25 February, 201610 yr by Outofthi5world

Yep. I'm away out for one job tomorrow morning, then I'm having a lazy day at home according to the wife as I'm starting with a cold. She recommended lemon juice in a glass of water so I've got beer...

Yep. I'm away out for one job tomorrow morning, then I'm having a lazy day at home according to the wife as I'm starting with a cold. She recommended lemon juice in a glass of water so I've got beer...

Thanks. Although it won't be for a few days yet. Might be on the 29th if you're about. I think I'll be having that day off as I'm on for the next 3 days, but boss dodn't remember that thing about leap years when he did the time sheets

So I got a better picture of the new tailgate today since I got home while it was still light:

 

 

Looks all right and it sort of closes.

I'm off on Monday if you're about Rusty? I would take the angle grinder to it instead but I've got it this far so I don't want to take any risks.

 

I also bought a couple of new fuses to replace the one I had to remove for the reversing lights. I think I'll get to the scrap yard on Monday and see what's happening with this rear bumper.

 

List for Monday is phone the tax man (who thinks for some reason that I owe them £900)

Possibly borrow pullers and remove wiper.

Go to scrap yard and hunt for rear bumper. May also try to retrieve passenger side front hub assembly to fix the ABS fault without having to work out what's wrong. May also get a new rear crash bar and completely remove all evidence of tow-ball. I'll see how it goes.

So today I went to the scrap yard and they had no Skodas there whatsoever so that was a waste of time. Then I went to machine mart on the way home to get one of those magnetic screw trays, some heat shrink and also picked up a cheap set of pullers that caught my eye. Got home and called the tax man up, apparently they think that my new boss gave me a big tax refund of over £800 in the first month that I worked there (the last month of the last fiscal year) so if I can prove that he didn't give me that then I'm off the hook. I pulled the wiped off the car and sealed the hole with a couple of bits of plastic bottle and clear glue then set to work making a better radio surround using only a couple of screws, a Dremmel and a radio surround. I'll post a couple of pictures when I get back to the laptop.

Right, so the radio now has a better home. More secure than where it was and the buttons are in place so they aren't just dangling on their wires:

 

 

The wiper is off and this time I didn't remove the rear window at the same time. I got some clear glue stuff and a couple of bits of plastic from an empty Pepsi bottle to fill the hole:

 

 

Then I changed the oil and filter. There was no O-ring on the end of the stick thing that goes through the center of the filter element, I don't know what effect that would have had on the car but it has one now so all should be well.

Only thing now is the drivers door won't unlock with the rest of the car so you have to open the back door first to open the drivers door from inside so it unlocks, then lock the drivers door from in side through the back door.

Rang the scrap man up today to ask if there were any Octys in and they had an estate. Rear bumpers are different but the door and wing are the same. So I loaded up with tools and went off. Got the wing off with a bit of a faff then tried removing the door hinges from the car and snapped my torx socket. End of the torx socket was still in the bolt. So I got it out with the magnetic screwdriver and got the impact wrench to see if it would remove it any better with what was left of the socket, nope, just rounded the bolt off. Lucky there was a guy with a Stihl saw knocking round.

 

Now I have a painted door and wing, all be it with a little rust, but that's to be expected.

 

Stripped door card off:

 

 

This is from a poverty spec with manual mirrors and windows so the loom and things will have to be swapped over from the original door. Also the window was wedged up with bits of wood but that doesn't matter. Another positive is I now have a spare piece of glass for when (going by my luck with windows it's not an if) I break the window.

 

I also gave the wing a quick wire brushing with the drill to get rid of the thick of the rust and bubbled paint then put some filler in the holes. Again. not looking for perfection here but I don't want a wing that will have to be replaced again this time next week.

 

 

I've sanded the wing to smooth the filler now and primed it, more photos to come when it's painted.

 

I gave him £30 for the full door including mirror ect and swapped him the wing for the rear bumper to make things even. And I got all the fuses out of the car to, he said he didn't want anything for them.

 

Edit: Any advice on front door removal appreciated. Thanks.

Edited 4 March, 201610 yr by Outofthi5world

So the first coat of red is on the wing now. I think this is a good match my self. It wasn't colour matched, I just took the wng into the shop and we picked the one we thought was closest.

 

 

If anyone's interested:

Just caught the scrap men while they were outside, got rid of the old tailgate and the old wing which I just changed this morning.

Right, so I think today has been quite productive as far as the Octy goes...

 

Picture of the wing that I took after the last coat of paint the other night:

 

 

So I got that fitted to the car this morning:

 

 

As you can see the old one was a mess, and so was the door so I sorted that one to...

 

 

I removed the top bolt from the bottom hinge with the ratchet while the wing was off because you can get decent access to it in a straight line then. The pin on the top hinge just un-bolts from the bottom so that was fine but the bottom bolt on the bottom hinge was a different story altogether, it tucks into the hinge when closed so you can't access it then and it is to close to the car to get a ratchet and torx socket in to undo it so I cut it off. Of course you can't get to it with a grinder so it had to be done with the Dremmel. 1 completely mashed up bolt head later and the door was off, all but the wiring but that was a simple job involving one of the 3 or 4 bits of trim left on the car and un-plugging a couple of cables.

 

The scrap car that the door came from is a Classic whereas this is an Elegance, so there was no electric windows or mirrors, so out with both doors looms, window regulators and glass because the scrap car has spray paint on so instead of cleaning the glass I'll just change it over. Mirrors changed over and everything plugged in once the door was on.

 

The new door went on quite easily and I managed to get the bottom hinge bolted on by levering the torx socket into the bolt with a spanner and turning it using another spanner on the actual torx bit.

 

Now the correct (however slightly simplified) way to remove the lock is to undo the 2 screws in the side of the door and turn the key anti-clockwise and pull the lock out, but this is a scrap door and I don't have the key. But I have a drill and a big screwdriver:

 

 

That one and the original out, handles off because I prefer the coloured ones to the black ones, even if they are the wrong colour now, handle back on the door and it now looks like this:

 

 

So the central locking on the scrap door doesn't work, but it didn't work on the old door so I can assume that it's not a problem with the lock motor in that door or the new door would have probably sorted the issue. But now the mirrors have gone weird, you can operate the left mirror perfectly fine with the switch but if you want to operate the right hand mirror the left one will still move. Can't get the right one to do anything so I think it might be a switch. Oh well, scrappies will probably have one in when I go for a bumper.

 

The eagle eyed of you will have noticed that there is no bump strip on the front bumper. No, that's not just because you need it off to take the wing off, I'm doing something to clan them up a bit.

 

And the more eagle eyed will have also noticed that the side bump strips are missing to. The new door didn't have them and I don't like then so they are now in the bin.

re the mirror adjustment... mine will operate the right mirror when switched that way, But will randomly also operate the left mirror in the right position ..... hhhmmmm