Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[Hell Razor5543]

When you do sort out the rear brake callipers it could well be worth inserting some gasket paper between the calliper and the trailing arm. I did this on my previous C5, but I never got to find out if this was helping.

[daviemck2006]

It was rainsport3 that I had on mine Zel but that was 215/45x17 on aftermarket wheels. They look the same tread though. I thought then, and still do think that they are great tyres. I had them on the 407 too. I still have the 17" wheels and tyres that were on the xantia. My Seat Leon is running the same size tyres and the two that were on the rear of the xantia look almost unworn, so my local tyre man is going to swap the decent uniroyals with two 3mm budgets from the leon very shortly. I will be interested to know what you think of them once you have a few miles under them.

[Zelandeth]

I'd be surprised if I'm anything other than pleased, have used them all the way back before they numbered the generations and had Rainsport 2s on two Saabs. Hard to tell much at the moment as the front end alignment is all over the shop because of the stuffed control arm bush, but I will be curious to see how they go once that's sorted and we get some miles covered. Be interesting to see how they wear too given the Activa will tend to put the sidewalls in particular through their paces.

I'm still staggered by the drop on road noise...never would have thought just changing a set of tyres could make such a difference there.

[daviemck2006]

The first tyres I ever put on a car was uniroyals on a 1982 astra 1.3. I would say about 1/2 the tyres I have bought since have been uniroyals, with occasional others being vredestien, Goodyear, falken nexen and toyo. I have just bought 4 toyo 195/50x15 for the c1 being fitted on a set of aftermarket wheels that were in the shed. They were a bargain price as a young lad had bought them online then wrote off his car before they were fitted. I spied the ad minutes after he posted it and jumped in and got them near enough 1/2 price. Hoping they will be an improvement over the 165/60x15 continental eco that citroen supply on the newer c1, which are perished ditchfinders after 3&1/2 years and 10000 miles.

[Zelandeth]

Well that was a waste of a morning.

Turns out the last email I sent to BL Autos never got through, vanishing into the aether somewhere...so they weren't expecting me to appear this morning as they'd never had the message from me saying I'd be there today. This meant that they had nowhere to put the car and their courtesy car was unavailable. So I was left with no option other than to drive back home and book it back in for the tenth.

This is a problem as I need the car on the weekend of the 14th/15th, and it's quite unlikely to be ready for then now...so much for my well laid plan.

[Zelandeth]

Well that was unexpected. Someone has just made me a distinctly left field potential swap offer for the Lada.

My initial reaction is an equal mix of the following:

"Hell yes! Not going to get another shot at that! You only live once."

Plus...

"Oh my god...what are you thinking...run for the hills!"

Not going to drop any more details yet as nothing has been agreed yet...but definitely considering the offer.

[Zelandeth]

Well that visit to the garage could have gone better.

They reckoned somewhere in the region of £1500 worth...even taking into account that I had some of the required parts already in the car.

Ow.

Looks like I'll be getting my hands dirty over the festive period then!

[Hell Razor5543]

Ouch!

Well, if you are going to do the rear brakes you might need new callipers (because of that bloody corrosion), and I would suggest then putting some gasket paper between the arm and the calliper to protect them.

[van ordinaire]

& I was concerned about mine needing front brake flexis, a bottom swivel, trackrod ends, the handbrake adjusting (how in heaven's name?) & one r, wheel arch patching up (alright - refabricating), oh - & some tyres.

Working over Christmas isn't on (it'd mean staying up in London) - although was going to tinker with the C15 (huh, if only) (substitute red Cherokee) &/or tidy up the electrics in the boot of the Eldorado. New Year's day is another matter though - as have resolved to come back up early to spend some rare daylight hours grovelling under the front of the Xantia (really must get shot of that STS though - oh how I'd like the use of that lock-up).

[daviemck2006]

At least yours is still on the road Zel. Since I sold mine it was nearly a year on sorn, then did get an mot and tax but been on sorn and out of mot since may according to the mot checker. It did surface on here for a while. It was a good o e too and it had the citrojim seal of approval!

[Zelandeth]

We will just have to see what state the calipers are in when they come off. Hoping that now I've got a pretty beefy rattle gun getting the caliper retaining bolts out shouldn't be as much of a headache as it has a reputation for being.

Need to make a decision on the exhaust. Do I go for the cheapest system on eBay, planning to get the stainless system I've been wanting since day one...or go for something priced more middle of the road?

Could just go ahead and get it done now...but it's not going to be cheap...and I'm already £400 in to this now and I've still a load of bits to buy!

She's out of test as of about a week ago Davie, but won't be staying that way too long. I'm going to guess 6-8 weeks depending how time and weather behave.

Getting the Lada a test is probably going to be prioritised at this point as it needs less for it, and we're pretty close to it being ready to move on...which will give me another available vehicle to fill in while the Activa is in dry dock.

[Hell Razor5543]

Be careful using the rattle gun, as the bolts are supposed to be high tensile steel. The perceived wisdom is to use a long breaker bar and a steady application of force.

[RichardW]

That's a reasonably long list, Zel, but all spannerable if you are not under pressure! You'll need to see if Sir Jim will come round and supervise if you make him a cup of tea - although finding time when he is not wearing his bike or legs out might be difficult!

The rear calliper bolts are 12.9 HT, and also M9, so getting replacements is difficult - I would go with cleaning up the back of the arm and applying some plus gas, then copious heat on the lug on the arm, then extract them carefully with a long breaker bar. I've done several and not broken any yet.

[Zelandeth]

Duly noted. I'd always been under the impression that an impact gun was usually the lowest risk avenue to get tight bolts out without shearing stuff. Every day's a school day.

While it's not as critical as if I were commuting, there is some degree of time pressure as this is my main day to day vehicle. The Invacar is currently off the road until my replacement hub turns up (reliant on someone else stripping their spares car...so no firm timescale on that), and the Lada has been laid up for the winter...so the van is currently the only roadworthy vehicle I have.

Hoping to have the Lada on the road again within the week, then I can get the swap deal with that sorted and I should at least have a roadworthy car that I don't feel will dissolve the first millisecond it sees salt on the road at my disposal at least.

[Zelandeth]

So the Xantia is likely to be in "dry dock" until after the Festive period...This combined with a taker being pretty much lined up for the Lada means I've given myself a metaphorical kick up the back side to get it back on the road.

Currently awaiting the arrival of a brake caliper overhaul kit (the offside front one weeps slightly), but nevertheless I've got it booked in for an MOT on Friday. Hopefully nothing else will crop up, if so I've no worries about popping back next week when the brake parts arrive. The garage I use is less than ten minutes from my door, so it's not a huge chore to get there and back.

Much as I enjoy it, I'll be quite happy to see it moved on. Not to mention being excited to get to know the car replacing it...