CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[MattBLancs]

Good work on the wiper resurrection Jim. Not seen the single rivet tamper proof approach before, I'd have done same as you and made access for next time easier. Are the originals M4 too? Quite small, don't see much smaller than M6 (actually unless on something not intended for us to disassemble it!)
I wonder if M6 is a sort of informal "not too delicate" and the average spanner wielder doesn't routinely shear them off!?

[MattBLancs]

P.s. glad the Babychino was a hit, my two both turn their noses up at it!

[Skull]

Cheers Jim
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[mickthemaverick]

From where I am M4 beats M6 every time, Wales v Birmingham !!

[CitroJim]

From where I am M4 beats M6 every time, Wales v Birmingham !!

Agreed!

Cheers Jim
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Are the originals M4 too? Quite small, don't see much smaller than M6 (actually unless on something not intended for us to disassemble it!)

Originals are smaller Matt. M3... Perfectly adequate really as they're holding a cover down with wipers on it so no great stress there... And being an AX, everything is in miniature!

Just how I like everything - small and perfectly formed

[MattBLancs]

From where I am M4 beats M6 every time, Wales v Birmingham !!

You're heading the wrong way, M6 = lake district!

[MattBLancs]

Originals are smaller Matt. M3... Perfectly adequate really as they're holding a cover down with wipers on it so no great stress there... And being an AX, everything is in miniature!

Just how I like everything - small and perfectly formed

Interesting. Agree M3 is plenty given holding the tin lid in place is their remit. And assuming a 3.2mm rivet makes perfect sense to hop up to M4.

[mickthemaverick]

From where I am M4 beats M6 every time, Wales v Birmingham !!

You're heading the wrong way, M6 = lake district!

You mean the only place in England where the council put parking meters on the lay-bys?

[MattBLancs]

Ha ha, you need to know where to stop. Round Windermere is a tourist trap but lots of other spots are not so extortionate

[Stickyfinger]

Lake District = England's "Model Village" version of Scotland

[CitroJim]

Originals are smaller Matt. M3... Perfectly adequate really as they're holding a cover down with wipers on it so no great stress there... And being an AX, everything is in miniature!

Just how I like everything - small and perfectly formed

Interesting. Agree M3 is plenty given holding the tin lid in place is their remit. And assuming a 3.2mm rivet makes perfect sense to hop up to M4.

M3 with big heads Matt! 7mm The only big thing on an AX

Lake District = England's "Model Village" version of Scotland

A bit like how Wales does the Lake District much better - the Elan Valley So on that basis, the M4 still trumps the M6

I like the Lakes a lot and the bit where the M6 goes all wobbly and plays hide and seek with the railway is a sight to behold

Ha ha, you need to know where to stop. Round Windermere is a tourist trap but lots of other spots are not so extortionate

That's good to know I'm not happy in any place that's crawling with grockels Puts me right off all touristy places to the extent I stay away.

That's where the Elan Valley scores. Absolutely no appeal to the average grockel whatsoever, it being entirely free of all the tat they thrive on

May it long be the case...

[daviemck2006]

From where I am M4 beats M6 every time, Wales v Birmingham !!

You're heading the wrong way, M6 = lake district!

Nope, M6 goes to gods own country, Scotland!

[CitroJim]

From where I am M4 beats M6 every time, Wales v Birmingham !!

You're heading the wrong way, M6 = lake district!

Nope, M6 goes to gods own country, Scotland!

No it doesn't Davie, it stops before the border

[CitroJim]

This picture popped up in my Facebook memories today...

Taken in 2017 at the Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford... Daffodil the AX was living with Alasdair at the time.

Both cars have been mine in the past and both are still very much alive... Daffodil the AX went back to live with Alasdair when Bluebell came to live with me and Sally the Saxo lives on in Somerset, not far from where she came from, after Alasdair's epic weldathon on her...

[CitroJim]

I now have a good, well behaved rear wiper on Bluebell. I did notice whilst testing and reassembling today the rear washer pump is not working. Amazing how one job begets another

I've not looked yet, a job for tomorrow as today has been rather a successful day; I now have central locking working 100% properly on all doors and from all locks

But oh, what a fiddly ball-aching job that was Gynaecology at its very finest. Working entirely by feel with just the help of a small mirror, girly hands and intuition

Fundamentally, the whole lock mechanism has to be removed. This involves removing the lock barrel and the window guide. Then after removing the door 'handle', the interior release lever and removing three screws the whole lock assembly can be slid out after rotating it through 45 degrees. Except, if the central locking motor is in place, it won't because the assembly is too big to slide along between the inner and outer door skins...

Luckily, the central locking motor fell off whilst I was trying to slide the assembly out and gave me a clue to the underlying problem...

Here it is hanging on its wires...

Once out, it can be seen the central locking motor clips onto it's sub-chassis via a bayonet and a rotation into a clip... Hard to explain but obvious when seen:

The original problem was that it had come unclipped and rotated. How and why I don't know for sure but have thoughts which is connected with something else I did on the door today. The clip when it's 'home' is very secure and tight and no way would it have fallen out of its own accord.

Reassembly is more or less a reversal but... The motor cannot be clipped home as the lock assembly is then too wide to slide back into place. It's necessary to initially have it half in position and then do the final push to clip it into its final place when the lock assembly is firmly screwed back home on the door. Tricky as you have to support the motor, the lock assembly and the rods to the lock button and interior release all simultaneously!

This gives an idea of how to initially position things... The socket driver is just there to support it all whilst I took a picture

Then it's a case of replacing the window glass guide and that's a game in itself to keep it in its proper place whilst its fixing screws are replaced!

I'd just got all that done and it started raining Luckily I could both shut the door and close windows at this point...

Now I've done the job, I now know how to do the job in about half the time it took me on this first occasion; I now know a few short-cuts!

One thing that always niggled me was the damage to the door lock on the passenger side. At some point, I expect when the car was derelict, the lock was 'screwdrivered' to gain access due to lost keys. The lock barely worked... I think someone may have gone into the door to try to remove the lock in the past, gave up but in doing so, disturbed the central locking motor...

I had it all in bits, cleaned it up, battled a few 'pingfuckit' moments and did the best job I could to knock the bent and damaged shutter components back into some reasonable sort of shape. This job involved the unpeening of the bezel from the body and this took some doing to manage it without causing further damage.

No photos as I was too engrossed in what was a tricky job.

This is the lock with the bezel replaced and the shutters improved:

And back on the door... Not perfect but much better than it was and now the lock works smoothly.

Yesterday I went down to see Mick, enjoy an awesomely delicious lunch in a superb pub and collect Bluebell's newly refurbished door card after Mick had worked his magic on it The drive to Hertford from mine is not an easy one for me and I need to be on top form to attempt it. Yesterday I almost enjoyed the drive (in Polly - she needed a good run) and did not get stressed by it at all; a very good sign of my continuing health improvements/recovery

I'll be fitting the door card tomorrow as bad light stopped play late this afternoon.

A very good day