Tales from beyond the grave AKA Dan & Emma's Black Xantia, pug 206HDi, Daniel's 206 Verve 1.4i, GTi180 plus XUD9TE 206!!

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

oh yes, you gotta remove the Inner Tie Rod. It undoes with a pair of Stilsons, regular right hand thread; there's just room for 'em with the steering on lock. Its not obvious, but the fact that two different garages, one of them a so-called 'Specialist' failed to realise this beggars belief!

Apologies btw for slight mis-information re Orangina bottle, you only need that once you've got it over the Ram; the gaiter tends to 'slide off' the rack while you're trying to tie it on. If a garage 'll do it reasonable and you've found one that's trustworthy (there must be some out there!), let them have the headache.

PS: if the 405 'comes off' that £870 Exec' estate wasn't; 'twas an idiot. Its back on.

[ekjdm14]

Now that's interesting, maybe I'd have fared better had I thought to get the damn thing out of my way! It was only the photo you posted of the part-fitted boot that made it "click", but it looks a lot easier that way!

[ekjdm14]

Finally got round to organising White's MoT booking, Friday afternoon we shall know more & fingers/toes crossed be off for a good running in of the "new" con rod!

[CitroJim]

Fingers crossed for White here too Dan

[ekjdm14]

We're back with a fail (becoming a regular thing this, fail first round lol)

There's a patch of rust on the o/s outer sill I hadn't noticed (he pushed his thumb through the only-slightly bubbled paint :O ) and the emissions were up/variable between 1.7 and 3.6 which I kind of half-expected given the work that she's had & the amount of idling she's done.

So, small patch to do & I'll wind the LDA out a turn and drive like a demon to the retest. Other than that just some expected advisories on corroded pipework that needs attended to & front flexi hoses. Tester commented he can't recall the last time he tested a Xantia lol, in return for her fail White held his jack hostage twice (suspension was left on normal when he lifted! oops)

[ekjdm14]

Just had a stab at the sill with a flap disc & the hole hasn't grown too terribly, about a 2 1/2" hole with a small tail making it a 'Q' shape. I really didn't expect the sill to go but the door shuts be in perfect condition still. Never mind, if that's the worst of our issues then I'm happy enough.

Oh, one other small detail... I appear to have forgotten to tighten the bolts holding the 'crescent' inspection cover on the bottom of the bellhousing & it dropped down nearly catching the poor tester's head!

With a bit of good weather I ought to have the patch sorted & be on the road by early next week. LDA is now wound out 3.5 turns from where it was so here's hoping that's enough. (I might be naughty and pinch the sensor pipe if I'm worried at retest time lol, It really should clear up with running as it has improved noticeably with the couple of miles covered today)

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

glad to see MOT's gone reasonably well on the whole ekjdm

I'd be even 'Gladder' (sounding like Pollyanna now ) if I hadn't looked at the tail end of my OS cill yesterday.....to the casual observer, it looks ok, but its so...ooo not. Its going to be as big a job as the NS was... possibly bigger.

That and a dud Glowplug is 'On Hold' til we get back from NL....anyone who knows of a good 'Glowplug removal without breaking em' post here, do bung me a link. Run it up so's its nice n hot then turn clockwise (as if to do it up) first if I remember rightly?

Gorgeous looking 405 est appeared on eBay today, £800 BiN, with fabulous Diablo Red metallic paint (no Lacquer Peel, has had a respray)...., I might've been tempted if it had been an na Diesel (HG failure isn't a roadside catastrophe on an na), but MOT History reveals all's not well beneath. Really tidy, described as "Mint" (and actually that could be true) TD saloon bidding at nearly 1.5k !! ....wont' be surprised if that falls thru, silly money!)

[ekjdm14]

Could've been a lot worse yes, I was actually pretty paranoid that there was some major issue I'd missed so the small patch is a result of sorts!

The GP's on the XUD aren't all that bad in my experience, just the one that;s a bit fiddly but otherwise they've always come loose readily with a warm engine.

That's the same area where White has gone, sounds like yours might be a bit more of a pain though. Hope it doesn't grow too hideously on further inspection. Did look fine as well initially hence why I never thought to poke at it.
£1500 is a lot of money for a "normal" 405 admittedly but if it's as good as it sounds that could be reasonable. I really think there's a lot of '90s French metal beginning to gain recognition as practical semi-moderns with real classic credentials & prices should take a turn to reflect this... Fingers crossed we can grab an Mi16 before the real rush then lol must get round to ringing the fella on that (not overly hopeful since not heard anything back since the initial message, but you never know I suppose).

Enjoy your time in the low countries, keep an eye out for a silver '94 XM estate over there as I have a feeling Hans may have taken her back over there now

[ekjdm14]

Patch now welded in place, think the pigeons have been at my welder though it ain't pretty but it's on there & covered in a splash of paint for the moment. Will tidy it up after it's been looked over again. Retest booked for Wednesday morning, just have to pray she's on her best behaviour smoke wise now!

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

good on ya. Good luck with it! Look forward to hearing that its legal & in use.

[ekjdm14]

Retest was supposed to be half ten this morning, got to the garage & the fella says it was booked for half nine! (it was very definitely half ten)... Best he could offer was to fit us in at half three now (I triple checked on his computer that it wasn't half two!!!).

Ahh well, I suppose it's done the emissions a favour having an extra run to/from the testing station!

[CitroJim]

A legacy of the clocks changing perhaps Dan...

Fingers crossed all will be good today...

[ekjdm14]

That's what I thought might have happened, whatever the reason I think it's going to be of some benefit in that the car is smoking less with every mile driven.

Going to give the welds round the patch a bit of a further tidy up shortly just to make it a bit tidier, will have to get some stonechip paint later as I don't fancy driving too far with the end of the sill only covered in colour coat.

[ekjdm14]

We're finally officially on the road again with White, emissions were a fast pass on 1.17 this time round Now she's official its time to save up for some new boots & a couple of brake flexis that were advised on. It's shocking how noisy the wheel bearing has got in Black without us really realising, but the difference between the 2 cars is huge! Now at least she can have a well earned rest and be brought up to standard again, definitely a keeper car even if she ain't quick.

For now we're off to grab some dinner and then probably just go for a proper run out in White, let her really clear the cobwebs & give her a bath.

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

wahey! Great news. If "Boots" refers to to tyres, I found Asda to be cheapest (of all people!), the Fast Fit they contracted agreed to allow me to remove & refit the wheels & tyres too, in their car park, rather than trusting them.

Nice people but the place hardly 'ran like clockwork' (to be nice about it) and an old fella after me advised that he'd removed his locking wheel nuts, them being a replacement set; a previous Monkey had mullah'd the originals. I paid £98 for a pair of 175 70 14 Kumho's, all in.

Also on the subject of tyres, how's this for shoddy..... Mum in Law had a puncture, so went along to the tyre centre with daughter (my Missus) on the Spacesaver I'd fitted (I drove it briefly, up to 50, on it and was pleasantly surprised,btw). The (front) tyre was one of a pair new for MOT last month, maybe 500miles ago and the Tyre Centre didn't advise whether it could be repaired. Instead they fitted a new 'Mid Range' one, presumably to maximise profit, charging a rather steep £55 for a 175/60/14, which is supposedly a mid-range but looks more like a budget to me, of a different brand to its almost new 'pair' and also advised that one of the rears was worn out and so fitted a second one to the rear. So both axles have odd tyres now. The mileage the car does, a 2011 Micra, its not the end of the world, but its bad practice.