The "Today I did something to my car" thread

Nissan doctor

realdanbreen wrote: »

I changed the battery in a suzuki ignis. The radio then needed the code entered which I did, but it comes up showing 'safe' ? What now?

Did you enter the code only once? Safe normally means that the radio is locked, normally from entering the wrong code to many times.

realdanbreen

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Did you enter the code only once? Safe normally means that the radio is locked, normally from entering the wrong code to many times.

I entered it a few times but I think you get about 10 go's at it before it should lock.

Fiona

I got this crazy idea into my head to clean my mothers car for her today as a mothers day present. I knew it was bad, she has never taken the car to be washed. Ever. Ever.

The paint work was rougher than Shirley Carter. I wasn't going to bother claying it as it would take to long and well I want to use it on my own car instead next weekend :P









I washed it and detared the car, I used a bottle of tardis that I had, there was even tar on the rough lumps of it the car was in bits :eek:

I soaked the wheels for ages with the cleancar.ie wheel cleaner can't remember the name of it, it was not strong enough to shift the brake dust so I put some neat vehiclean on it and tackled them with a tooth brush and it came off no bother. (I did my own wheels as well, got a lot of the crap off but they are still in bits!)



I polished the car with super resin polish and it didn't really make one bit of difference you would need heavy duty polishing to sort it out and well it's my Mams car not really worth the bother It won't be washed again ever until I get annoyed looking at it!

I put on a coat of Chemical Guys Blackight and a coat of sealant on her wheels and some tyre dressing. The stuff I had was not strong enough to dress up the molding on the bumpers but my Dad said he would sort that out.









Anyways it was a just for fun detail, I killed a colony of spiders that were living on the wing mirror, I feel kinda guilty about that. I reckon the dirt is what held that car together.

Mam is was delighted and she is dying to drive to work on Tuesday to show off her (semi) shiny new car. The thing would need a nuclear explosion to clear the crap from the paint!

And sure then I had to do my own

MetzgerMeister

For shame, I have never used a glaze like Black Light before. Crilly - is it the same as a wax/polish in that you apply it, let if haze and then buff it off?

Excellent job by the way

Fiona

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

For shame, I have never used a glaze like Black Light before. Crilly - is it the same as a wax/polish in that you apply it, let if haze and then buff it off?

Excellent job by the way

Yup same as a wax or polish just put it on with an applicator by hand and then leave it for around 20 mins and then take off.

Have cup of tea and repeat if necessary

This one is also realy nice and simples to use:

http://www.cleancar.ie/chemicalguys-blitzacrylicspraysealant.html

colm_mcm

I went cleaning my wheels for the last few hours, I've never seen such dirty wheels, the spokes are perfect, just towards the inside they're all baked in brake dust. I've managed to get most of it off now,

Then I went looking in the boot, the spare wheel and jack werent in right, figured out how everythings stored, now it's all nice and neat. I also discovered I have room for my socket set between the spare wheel and the carpet :-)

I also discovered the electric steering wheel adjustment has an AUTO setting, which pulls it back and lifts it up when you take the key out, never knew that was there


I'll go back to the car later, but the house is in a bit of a mess and herself will throw me out if I don't tidy a few things up

Also on a more alarming note, I tried taking one of the wheels off to clean it properly, The locking wheel nut adaptor is all worn, so if i get a puncture, I'm screwed,

There's a number on the nut, hopefully I can order a replacement

rebel.ranter

colm_mcm wrote: »

I went cleaning my wheels for the last few hours, I've never seen such dirty wheels, the spokes are perfect, just towards the inside they're all baked in brake dust. I've managed to get most of it off now

These two products are pretty good for cleaning wheels:

- Iron Cleanse

- IronX

colm_mcm

Thanks, they're 90% there now

rebel.ranter

colm_mcm wrote: »

Thanks, they're 90% there now

Don't forget to polish & seal them after using the wheel cleaners. In fact for really ground in stuff also look at
- IronX Paste

L-M

Colm bate a socket a small bit bigger than it over it.

if all else fails go into Victory Tyres in Limerick, he charges about a tenner.

colm_mcm

They're weird locknuts, think rover use them too.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JAGUAR-X-TYPE-S-TYPE-LOCKING-WHEEL-NUTS-KEY-VAT-INC-/140420693410?pt=UK_Car_Accessories_Safety_Security&hash=item20b1b9bda2#ht_500wt_922

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

They're weird locknuts, think rover use them too.

McGard ones?



In fairness they're better than what went on the older Rover, now they were awful fecking things, made of chocolate.

colm_mcm

Will be getting mc gards, the ones on it are the factory ones, same as old rover type

Weird cos ford use mc gard and they were running the show in jag at the time.

Johntegr

Nothing worse than chocolate wheel nuts/lock nuts!

Found my Vehicle Registration Certificate today! Which is important given that the NCT is next week. Should be interesting to see how my '93 Corolla gets on with it.

dr.fuzzenstein

Turn of the MX5 for some interior and exterior cleaning.

dr.fuzzenstein

Result:











Absolutely knackered now and that's without the de-tarring, waxing and polishing.
Phew!
I'm afraid that's as clean as she'll ever get after 12 years and 120k miles.

dgt

Cleaned my van


Then cleaned all the shut lines



Then the slam panel, cyl extention, washer bottle, turrets, chassis legs, intake pipe, battery.... Yes, the entire engine bay by hand :pac:


Then the grubby bonnet...


Needs finishing...


Then all the windows and mirrors using this stuff!


Wipe off when it dries off


Too much time eh...

Tragedy

Don't get McGard's! Too good at their job so if they go on too tight, you'll be screwed trying to get them off(need a special drill bit and about 4 hours per locknut, or else weld on a bit). Don't think nicking alloys is particularly popular anymore for most cars anyway.

Mar4ix

got micra back .... which i was doing up 5 months back ... engine change and headgasket change ... "new" owner (by the way - she) sold to me for peanuts .... due emigrating to another country(i did see a lot in carzone, a lot ads sound like that, but never believed ) , job offer had to be accepted within two days, so had no time sell for proper price, offer me for the price which i couldnt resist.
So another slight fix up, and put on sales.
Have slight bump in front left corner, but nothing major, and left light to be replaced, got both front lights for 30.
wonder what price these days for those little youkes ... '97, 1.l.,

C.D.

Tragedy wrote: »

Don't get McGard's! Too good at their job so if they go on too tight, you'll be screwed trying to get them off(need a special drill bit and about 4 hours per locknut, or else weld on a bit). Don't think nicking alloys is particularly popular anymore for most cars anyway.

Noticed yesterday while cleaning my car that somebody has had a go at one of my wheels. One of the locking nuts is quite damaged from trying to get it off. Couldn't be a garage as I always take them off before dropping the car in I'm afraid they over tighten them.

Tragedy

What car is it? Some of the german stuff still has alloys sought after enough that I'd want locking nuts but the majority of cars alloys are cheaper than tyres second hand these days.

C.D.

C.D. wrote: »

Noticed yesterday while cleaning my car that somebody has had a go at one of my wheels. One of the locking nuts is quite damaged from trying to get it off. Couldn't be a garage as I always take them off before dropping the car in I'm afraid they over tighten them.

Tried getting the damaged nut off today.. broke the socket. FML, spare socket is 150km away, better not get a puncture before then. They are factory fitted McGards.

colm_mcm

Trick is not to over tighten them. Not many people actually think this one through

As for monkeys with airguns...

C.D.

C.D. wrote: »

........... Couldn't be a garage as I always take them off before dropping the car in I'm afraid they over tighten them.

That's a very decent way to go about safeguarding against them going ott with the air gun

166man

@dgt. what's with the sh1t wheels on the Bravo?:D

rebel.ranter

I've posted this elsewhere but thought it might be of interest here too.

The Microfilters were flagged as being due for a change in the iDrive service menu:



So armed with a 13mm socket with screw driver attachment I set out to do the "quick" job. It nearly took longer the reset the iDrive (using proper method) than it did to swap the filters!

Kit & filters:


Filter housing & clips:





Driver's side has two sensors attached, be careful with this one:



Dirty old filter (passenger side):



Old & new together, would you really want to breathe for much longer through the older one?:



The DIS procedure for resetting the CBS

1. Select the model:



2. You'll get this screen next:


Run a quick diagnostics to check for errors.

3. Select the Control Unit Functions as below


Then click Test Schedules.

4. Then you can select the Microfilter from the following menu:



5. Again select Microfilter:



6. Et voila! The Microfilter in the iDrive is reset!


The detail screen:


Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

jumbone

mrs crilly wrote: »

Are you for real :eek: Haha thats deadly!!!


Would they pass the nct though

I'm sorry sir, the bulbs aren't orange enou.. HANG ON!?

hoodie6029

colm_mcm wrote: »

Trick is not to over tighten them. Not many people actually think this one through

As for monkeys with airguns...

I take it that a torque wrench should be used?

Is there a specific torque for the locking nut than the standard wheel nut?

colm_mcm

I never used a torque wrench, you just know when you're putting strain on the nut. I've never had one fall off or break.

ottostreet

New import plate on the front, bate in a new HID bulb, and assessed what I need to get the front perfect again. Arch liner, some bracketing and new mesh for the front bumper basically...not too bad!

colm_mcm

^ needs lupo indicators

ottostreet

You mean these?

Ebay

colm_mcm

Ooh no. If I was doing it, I'd go clear, if you wanna go black you may as well spray them. You want them to stand out, not be the same colour.

dr.fuzzenstein

ottostreet wrote: »

New import plate on the front, bate in a new HID bulb, and assessed what I need to get the front perfect again. Arch liner, some bracketing and new mesh for the front bumper basically...not too bad!

As they say in Clare: If it moves, bate it till it doesn't and if it doesn't bate it till it does.:D

colm_mcm

Otto, if you slightly loosen the screw holding the clip in, it makes fitting the hids way easier.

Fiona

Brought the E46 to Noel Hannon crash repairs to get some damage repaired before the NCT. I had a bit of an incident with a piller last year

Also got a nasty scrap while parked in my husbands work basement so going to get the repaired as well.

And please excuse the state of the car it is being spoilt this weekend.











Will post up some after pics when I get it back which will be Thursday or Friday.

Also got a quote to get my front valance repainted on the E30 as the paint is flaking off it. Will have to wait until after summer I think to get it done.

ottostreet

I don't understand my HIDs at all! The guide over on FTO-Ireland says the dipped beam is HB3 9006. That is what I bought. Hooked up, they work, but they do not fit the headlight. I have them 'bate in' using the clip to hold them in, but they aren't correct. The bulbs that were in it were H7 and they aren't right either. Is it possible my headlights are pre-facelift replacements and aren't the original GPVR ones? It would explain why the front end seems so messy and 'put back together'

colm_mcm

Did your car have hids originally I wonder?

I got 9006s for my 95 pfl and they went straight in.

If they're pre facelift then they won't have parking lights bult in the cluster, they'd be in the bumper.

ottostreet

Yep, I checked the serial number on the headlight casing, Stanley HCHR-22, and it has housing for HIDs, so they are HID headlights. I just can't figure out what bloody bulb is supposed to fit in, because neither the H7 or HB3s fit properly!

colm_mcm

You need an osram 66040 I think

ottostreet

Where did you find that? I should really just PM optical illusion and ask her what she has! Does the GPVR use different bulbs or something!

colm_mcm

Martin was fixing his before

ottostreet

Just googled that, it does look like the bulb housing will line up with the headlight housing. I'll get a decent look tomorrow in the daylight again. I'll actually take a photo of the back of the headlight so you can see what I mean!

privateBeavis

Removed the VRS badages at the weekend. They came off easy enough, just heated a bit with a hair dryer. This works well on the rear one as its just stuck onto the painted panel with some kind of soft glue. The front is plastic on plastic so the glue it as hard as the plastic, so I'm not sure the heating actually did anything. But it snapped off in one piece anyway and was able to lightly scrap of any remaining glue using the VRS badge itself!
Front:


Back:


Maybe I'll put the badges on ebay any takers...

Ardennes1944

i think Gary needs one for the back of the Civic

Rolli

privateBeavis wrote: »

Removed the VRS badages at the weekend. They came off easy enough, just heated a bit with a hair dryer. This works well on the rear one as its just stuck onto the painted panel with some kind of soft glue. The front is plastic on plastic so the glue it as hard as the plastic, so I'm not sure the heating actually did anything. But it snapped off in one piece anyway and was able to lightly scrap of any remaining glue using the VRS badge itself!

Can I ask why you took them off?

Owen

Serviced the little Smart for the last time today, nice new Pipercross airfilter and some high quality 5w30 fully synth. Lubed up the Clutch and Gearshift actuators, and repaired the small crack in the bumper that was there when I bought it. Also focused the headlights and checked emmissions. Next week is a pair of front tyres and it's NCT before it goes to its new home.

vectra

Rolli wrote: »

Can I ask why you took them off?

Or why did you buy a vRS in the 1st place

Marty McFly

Today i changed all my interior bulbs, to bright white led bulbs have to say delighted with the results its the little things that make the difference.

Unlike Vectras pics a few pages back I havent got the camera to show it off properly .