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Today I did something to my car (volume 2)
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Anyone know what material a 98 almera gearbox is likely to be made from and if it's weldable?
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Try to stick a magnet to it - it will tell you if it's iron or aluminium.
Anyway, the welder I used to work with years ago, kept saying everything is weldable, it's just a matter of equipment and experience.
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not initially. but I've now taken it apart and turns out it has a crack.
other side
Anyone know what material a 98 almera gearbox is likely to be made from and if it's weldable?
If not, chemical metal type stuff? It's obviously not a very valuable car.
It's almost certainly aluminium alloy, which is tricky to weld. You could do an adequate bodge by draining the box completely, thoroughly cleaning the area (outside) and using chemical metal or plastic padding, going at least 3 cm beyond crack all around. It would be best to roughen the surface if you can, but main thing is to ensure there is absolutely no trace of oil. I once did this to the sump of a Fiat Uno and it never leaked again during my ownership.
The worrying thing is that from the photo this looks like it got a bang from inside!0 -
Thanks. Yeah I found this at the bottom of the gearbox.
I'm not sure where exactly it came from! But all the gear cogs seem to be there and the gears still seemed to be working fine.
The car is only something the brother got to take him from a - b for a few months, so I guess no harm in trying the chemical metal type stuff.0 -
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The newer red FIAT badges are notorious for delaminating and fading to a pinkish colour. The badges on my '11 Panda are no exception.
I ordered a badge kit recently to replace them. The front goes first...
Faded pink and patchy due to delamination
Grille removed. Easy enough to remove - 4 phillips screws, 3 torx screws, and pull. Refitting was even easier! The badge is held on by a single nut. Twas a doddle to remove once the grille was off. Note to self, replace Roadrunner "meep meep" horn at some stage.
Old v New.
Back together with the new badge!
Only 5 more badges to go! I got the wrong size wheel badges so that'll take a while.
The rear will need some floss and a hairdryer. I wish it was as easy as the front.0 -
Did a few bits of housekeeping with the focus today, replaced 2 bulbs around the heater dials, and managed to get the light working on the cigarette lighter, never worked before!
Resprayed the end of the seat rails in a matt black, gone rusty in spots, tidied them up a bit.
Pics aren't that crisp, but they give the idea
After pics were taken before drying, hence the shine. Sometimes it's the little things that give the most satisfaction.
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So, after getting rode last week off Audi by paying around €20 for 2 bushes for caliper sliding pins, I thought i'd try getting another 2 somewhere else.
I got this kit delivered from England for around €13.
I suppose the rubber won't be as good quality wise as the genuine ones but no harm giving them a go.
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shietpilot wrote: »Savage car, the failures are absolutely worth it! Get her fixed and you'll be a happy one again
When I was buying the car I knew it will need few things sorted (so I pushed the price down as much as possible when negotiating) and I was expecting some expenses. Since I bought few months ago I got a new battery, 3x ball joints, 2x front wheel bearings, bonnet strut, thermostat. Second hand parts: fuel filler neck and a windscreen wiper motor. Bill so far is around 500 euro (labour costs: zero zero nothing).
Now the petrol pump isn't working (unfortunately it seems that I will have to get the whole unit, not just the pump - see picture below), then front bushings (I will get the M3 eccentric - it will move the wheels a bit forward so the handling will improve), both front brake caliper splash guards are needed (33e each OEM parts from BMW dealership) .Some welding is required (front corner behind the wheel doesn't look good plus 2-3 small spots here and there - nothing major but it has to be done to make it perfectly rigid) which a friend of mine will do (so again major saving) ... unfortunately new tyres are needed before the NCT so that is antoher 400 euro approx. Other than that it's all small things really (dashboard lights, interior lights won't turn on when doors are open) ... heater blower motor is noisy sometimes, but that's not important so I will get it before winter. Hopefully it won't be too much money now to make the car reliable.
The thing is it's a 318is (I came across a term like "mini M3" or "M3 for the poor"). According to E30zone.com there were approx. 1687 of these cars registered in the UK in 2001. That's 15 years ago. So now it is much lower number and in Ireland there are much less of these left. I don't know how many but roughly I would say maybe 100? Just a guess. You can see few of them on donedeal at the moment.
I see it as a mission to save this car, because it is quite solid car and needs only few things to make it a good car. I will use it everyday so it won't deteriorate in some shed. I heard a lot about them before but now when I own it I know why. It is such a great car to drive! Handling is great, goes nicely into corners... accelerates really well for being only a 4 cylinder. It has a sunroof (that will have to be sorted as well at some stage in the future) which is a nice extra thing to have. And the design, simple and good looking car that's what it is... Definitely happy to own this car no matter the hassle it puts me through. It might sound strange but all the trouble is a great way how to bond with a car. To look after it and in return the car offers a lot of great moments behind the steering wheel. Everytime I drive it somewhere is like a small special occasion (it's something new cars just can't offer). No matter how far, it always feels good to drive it. One of the best cars that have been made.
Now the pics
I removed the pump today
this is how the tank looks like inside, I made sure nothing falls in when pulling the pump out but this apparently was all there before.
So this is the reason why I will need a whole new unit. This bottom part isn't available separately. OEM unit costs 700 euro from Germany. Ebay units are for something close to 200 euro (from France, Poland, US and Germany too). It's a lot of money but it would be better to buy a new one rather than second hand one because I don't want to get stuck again like yesterday.
I noticed that the hose under the fuel filter didn't look good so I replaced it with a new one. It says BMW on it so could be the original?
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Sorted out a little thing which had been annoying me. When you pushed down on the boot opening lever, it would stay down so when you tried to close the boot it would not lock/close, so you had to push it down to open it and then go back to push it up and then close the boot.
The fix turned out to be simpler than I thought. Took the side plastic off and pulled the carpet up to give me access to that thing, unbolted it, gave it a little clean with WD40, put it back and voila! It "jumps" back perfectly now. I should have done this earlier...
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In preparation for 3000km around France in June, the 740 is getting some preventative maintenance.
At 87,000 miles, it was time for a new accessory belt, tensioner pulley and idler pulley. The idler was actually chipped too which I noticed some time ago; pretty sure it happened when the car was being worked on by a garage.
All plastic and intake parts have to come out.
Belt as it was:
Chipped pulley:
Slight bit of wear on the belt, nothing major:
This should be a T55 torx, but I only had a 50 allen to hand, worked just fine for untensioning the tensioner with a breaker bar:
Old parts and new:
Threading in the new pulley, threadlocked too:
Tightening down the tensioner:
All done:
Looping the new belt around the pulleys and accessories, tricky enough:
New belt fully installed:
Job done:
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Also had an annoying scrape on the front right alloy, so I did a temporary touch up with a rolled up toothpick-like cylinder of masking paint, dipping it into silver alloy wheel spray paint and applying. Works quite well and is slightly less noticeable.
Before:
After:
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Thanks! Did I recommend them? It was one of their lads that drove my E38 at motorway speeds in a 60kph zone to "test the alignment".
But I shouldn't hold it against them, the young chap in question is an absolute d1ck and is since gone. They have a good setup alright.0
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