Time for the Fiesta’s MOT. I put it off a bit this year as part of my scheme to move the MOT period into the summer (working on the car in the rain and cold is getting less pleasant). Following my dissatisfaction with Graham Dimmer, I decided to try out Brunel Motors. I wasn’t particularly impressed to start with as I was left hanging around in the reception for about 10 minutes while the chap behind the desk finished a
Author: Dad
Roses are red…
On our way to visit Dad’s parents, we stopped to lunch on the A43 at the “Sign of the Purple Chicken“. The gents contained a most curious home-made sink which has apparently caused confusion for previous visitors and necessitated the creation of an entertaining piece of verse (see photo).
Binding brakes on the Golf
When, a couple of weeks ago the Golf failed its MoT, there was an advisory about binding rear brakes. Well, they weren’t joking! A few days later, there was an obvious loss of power and some mightily hot brakes. I hoped, when I bunged the car up on the axle stands, that just fitting new pads and clearing out the grooves in the calipers would be enough, but sadly the caliper pistons were seized solid and couldn’t be re-wound. A
MoT at last
Following the problem with the used wing mirror I bought a new third party one. For some loony reason it didn’t come with a mirror glass, but fortunately I could use the old one. After a great deal of pain I managed to screw it on and re-fit the door panel and now I have an MoT. I mentioned the concern other places had had about the exhaust fault to the MoT people and they were most dismissive. I think
Kit parts missing
Well, my forum contact has been back in touch and it looks like the kit is missing the etches for the chassis so it’s not a lot of use. I have let the seller know and suggested that he might want to list the wheels and motor as separate items. I might even bid for the wheels if the price is right.
Malcolm Mitchell 44xx kit
For my forthcoming model of Princetown station I need a GWR 44xx Class locomotive as these were practically the only type used on the line. Unfortunately, since only 11 of the prototype were ever made, model options are limited. So far as I can discover, no ready to run models have been made but several manufacturers have made kits over the years. Unfortunately, all of the kits are currently out of production. The Malcolm Mitchell kit seems to be particularly
A tale of an exhaust
This morning I took my Golf round to the tyre and exhaust place I normally use on Churchfields. I showed them the MoT failure certificate and asked them to fix the problem. First they went into huddle round the certificate as if there was something they didn’t understand. Then they put my car up on the ramp and for about 15 minutes a succession of people came and stared at the certificate and then peered at the car with the
Gad, I hate working on car interiors
What I pain I have had trying to change my wing mirror. My trusty Haynes manual says that first you must remove the passenger door panel. Sadly, it doesn’t contain photos related to the passenger door, only the driver’s and rear doors. However, the instruction and almost the same for both front doors. So, it started by basically following the photos for the driver door and didn’t get anywhere. I levered so hard I nearly snapped some of the plastic
Rapid delivery
Good God, the wing mirror is here already and it’s come all the way from Edinburgh to Salisbury with free delivery. So far I am impressed by SCB Vehicle Dismantlers. The mirror seems to be in reasonable condition and was well packed. There is even a sticker on it with the registration number of the vehicle it was removed from.
Finding a wing mirror
Following the Golf’s MoT failure I have been hunting for an inexpensive replacement wing mirror. It looks like new ones are jolly expensive, but I have found a used one on eBay for £25 with free & fast delivery. It is plain black whereas the current one matched the blue of the car, but I don’t intend to worry about that!