c16rkc's mad house

Tell us your ongoing tales and experiences with your French car here. Post pictures of your car here as well.
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c16rkc
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by c16rkc »

MattBLancs wrote: 16 Oct 2023, 13:52 Just a note:

Those retaining screws are not essential, they keep the disk in place until the five wheel bolts are in place. Without them it can be annoying reinstating the wheel (if put wheel on the hub's spigot then turn to align with the bolt holes you can have the disk misaligned with the hub - rather puzzling till you figure out what is going on!!)

Just saying as drilling and tapping new holes could wait for another day, should not hold up getting the car on the road again :)
I did wonder that - so thanks for confirming.

I'll do the tap anyway, as I am pretty much there now - I have drilled a 5.2mm hole, and my cheap tap went in nearly half way before the retaining handle kept spinning (it was made of aluminium and gave way... :o). With my new drill taps I am expecting to be done in 10 minutes... 8-)

Boy oh boy am I looking forward to getting the car back on the road!

...and I drop Jelly bean (the light blue Citroen C3) at the garage tomorrow, so hopefully I have not damaged the engine beyond repair. Could be a happy 2-Citroen household by the weekend 8-[
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Rp0thejester
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by Rp0thejester »

Reading back I doubt your car was near the coast for any period of time, a battery trickle charger would suggest a careful owner, but most people don't clean the undersides of their car after grit salt has been spread
Ryan

'99 Xsara 1.6 X (Red) with Sunkissed bonnet. T59 SBX
'54 Astra Estate 1.7DTI (Artic White)
'06 C8 2.2Hdi Exclusive (Aster Grey)

Champion of Where's CitroJim :-({|=
Yes I ask the stupid questions, because normally it is that simple.
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CitroJim
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by CitroJim »

Excellent work Chris, it's all nicely coming along!
Jim

Runner, cyclist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
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MattBLancs
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by MattBLancs »

Agree with Jim, good progress being made,

Might be stating the obvious, but you know of the "two steps forward, one step back" approach with taps and dies? (Back off about half a turn very regularly as breaks the chips and stops the tool clogging up. Even more important for smaller sizes and deeper holes (I sometimes bring the tap all the way out, brush it clear and go again. When recommencing, if you put it to the hole and then turn the tap backwards you can feel it drop into the start of the thread just cut)
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c16rkc
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by c16rkc »

Thanks Matt - good of you to explain.

Thankfully using a tap is something I was shown as an apprentice years ago, so actually one of the few things I feel confident with :lol:

But where as years ago we used to use steel "holders" for the tap, the cheap set I have has an aluminium holder. So even though I tightened it around the tap, my continuous forward/backwards use of it slowly wore it "round" and stopped it gripping the tap...

I tried it in my drill, but it just span in the chuck, and I did not want to force it and risk breaking it. So I ordered some new higher quality ones, and hopefully they will do the trick.
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MattBLancs
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by MattBLancs »

No problem on explaining, always daft to assume someone knows for sake of asking.

Might get away with a small (really small, maybe 6mm?) open ended spanner on the flats at end of the tap, but easy to put sideways forces on it doing that so not a good idea really. A snapped tap = a bad day!
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MattBLancs
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by MattBLancs »

Could see why an aluminium version had a short life, there's a fair bit of torque applied in a small area, would soon chew that up!
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mickthemaverick
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by mickthemaverick »

MattBLancs wrote: 17 Oct 2023, 08:28 A snapped tap = a bad day!
Or a flood!! :-D
I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure!
I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
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c16rkc
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by c16rkc »

And finally...

I was off work today, Lindsey was out for the day. All parts except the nut/bolt for the lower arm bush had arrived so I decided to continuework on the C5.

Aston was at school, but Spencer only does three days a week at nursery, and I had him with me today. It did not take him long to get dirty hands :roll:
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Just as well mummy wasn't here to see...

New Tie rod was spot on. Oddly though I ordered both sides, only one has arrived. Luckily it's the one I need!
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I also had my new drill taps.
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....and the new screws for the brake disc.
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First job was fit the Tie rod. The old one came off relatively easily, which was a nice surprise.
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I also bought some new adapters for my impact driver. Which made short work of installation.
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So that was the Tie rod done nice and quickly.
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Next to tap the holes...

But sadly both taps snapped within 10 minutes... I think they were pretty cheap. Serves me right for buying from Amazon I guess... but it might also be that I struggled to control the drill speed, even with it set to minimum torque and only pressing the trigger gently.

I'll stick to a manual tap from now on...

So I went for Matt's suggestion of leaving the screws out.... :lol: the wheel can hold them in place.
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So then I was at a stop, because the nut/bolt had still not arrived... the DPD tracking said it was around an hour away though.

I fixed some other stuff!

First of all, I fitted two more sunglasses in the back, for Aston and Spencer to use. So I now have four glasses holders, and no grab handles :mrgreen:
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Then the side pouches in the boot were very saggy and needed a hoover.
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So I took them apart
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Tightened the band on each, and adjusted the net, and they are both much better now.
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I noticed the electric struts are very rusty at the base...
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I'll have to do something about that one day!

Then my package arrived at 2ish...
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But while I had two bolts...
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Just one nut!... even though someone write 2x on the bag!
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So I'll have to ask them for another so I can do the other side of the car.

Fitted quickly...
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Then after fitting the wheel, lowering the car, topping up the Hydraulic fluid, and giving the Suspension height a workout (up/down/up/down etc...)....

The car is back running! :-D
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I took it for a run up the road, and it is now noticeable smoother than my S class Mercedes that I used to drop off Aston at School this morning, and have been using the past week and a half for work.

Considering the S class is renowned for its ride quality, thats high praise indeed! (though I've owned three S classes over the years, and have personally never been that blown over by them... but I am rather fussy...)
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I'm so pleased to have the C5 back!

Next job... the C5 needs an MOT!
Hell Razor5543
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by Hell Razor5543 »

Just don't ask DPD to deliver the MoT!
James
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ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
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ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
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Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
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Rp0thejester
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by Rp0thejester »

It's official!!! You've been bitten by the Citroen comfort bug!! There's no turning back now, welcome to the dark side.
Ryan

'99 Xsara 1.6 X (Red) with Sunkissed bonnet. T59 SBX
'54 Astra Estate 1.7DTI (Artic White)
'06 C8 2.2Hdi Exclusive (Aster Grey)

Champion of Where's CitroJim :-({|=
Yes I ask the stupid questions, because normally it is that simple.
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MattBLancs
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by MattBLancs »

Rp0thejester wrote: 19 Oct 2023, 18:14 It's official!!! You've been bitten by the Citroen comfort bug!! There's no turning back now, welcome to the dark side.
Very much so!

I wondered if my own C5 spheres were a bit "flat" (low pressure = hard ride) but a few weeks driving the Coupe then flick back to the C5 again = wow, what a difference! Floating around!


Bad news on the drill taps, I've only ever used conventional and super tentatively (kiss of death saying this: but not snapped one yet!)
Hell Razor5543
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by Hell Razor5543 »

I wonder if it might be worth investing in a set of these;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271797948495 ... BM7rWHmuli
James
ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
ex C5 2.2HDi VTX+

Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
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mickthemaverick
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by mickthemaverick »

I have a set of those and have found them successful on 3 out of 4 uses, The fourth time the stud was rotted to the core and I had to drill it right out, then sleeve and retap!! :-D
I used to be indecisive, now I'm not so sure!
I used to ride on two wheels, but now I need all four!
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c16rkc
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Re: c16rkc's mad house

Unread post by c16rkc »

Look what I've done... :lol:
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