[car_restoration] My Longwinded 1.9 Laser Project

[welshpug 1,622]

That's where the wheels will usually catch on compression if the wheels are wide I believe, though I've run the very same 195's on a 6" rim and fully loaded up with engines and cranes and not had rubbing, currently got chunkier winters on the back without issue as well.

[Slo 283 1 Cars]

Ive got 195/50/15 tyres on mine and when i pull the handbrake it rubs in exactly the same place, but only on the near side!

[Anthony 1,000]

Really not having much luck are you Craig? I'll get over one evening later this week if that suits you, and get the beam raised up before you damage it further!

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Sounds plausible that it was caused by compression contact of the wheel, which is my own stupid fault as I knew the beam needed sorting..

 

Anthony- sadly I'm now stuck up in shropshire with little enthusiasm to drive back to bath. Fortunately jord294 has kindly offered to sort the beam this week, and is pretty close by. Then might give up for a while and go work onthe midget, it might hate me less..

 

Someone remind me what the point of all this is again..?

Edited July 17, 2012 by cRaig

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Sorry to hear about the arch Craig. Can't see the pics but hope it's not too bad.

 

 

How dare you venture down to Chedder without mentioning it

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Sorry to hear about the arch Craig. Can't see the pics but hope it's not too bad.

 

 

How dare you venture down to Chedder without mentioning it

 

The trip to Cheddar was a very last minute thing, making the most of a change in the weather. Will certainly have to plan a proper drive out sometime soon(ish)!

 

Have had another look at the 205 today, and there are a few clear marks on the tyre from where its done the damage. Hohum.. It could certainly be alot worse, nothing catastrophic has happened during the running in period. (electrical fires, wheels falling off etc..!)

 

Managed to get a utterly mint scuttle panel from the scrapyard today to replace my manky one with a few other bits and pieces for a tenner, so that has cheered me slightly!

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Well, the sad situation with the beam trundles on. Some of you may remember the trouble I had with the "precision engineering shop" who did the beam work for me managed to assemble it with a bent tube. It now turns out they really didnt have a clue what they were doing..

 

Jord294 kindly offered to reset the ride height, and immediately found that:

 

the torsion bar end plates were sealed in place with silicone sealant (a warning sign of things to come..)

neither the rubber seal or the foam seal were present (so there was already water inside the beam after 400 miles of use.. not exactly a beam that is going to last a long time.)

the shaft wasnt pressed far enough into the arm, so there wasnt the 2-3mm seat for the foam seal

and most impressively one of the the torsion bars itself is also visibly bent!

 

The beam is now going to be stripped and inspected to find any other s*itty bodges they have done, and reassembled properly by someone who knows what they are doing. Am so grateful Andy is nice and close, and is such a top bloke when it comes to beams.

 

Am kind of past angry now with the company.. I knew I had been shafted once by them, but for them to get me again with the same beam is impressive.

 

Craig

Edited July 19, 2012 by cRaig

[Anthony 1,000]

Shocking, but sadly, far from unheard of

 

I've had to sort out a few so called "professionally" rebuilt beams before now that were the sort of shower of s**t that it sounds like you've got, although a bent torsion bar is quite an impressive feat I've got to say

 

Did you ever have it 4 wheel aligned Craig in the brief time that you had it on the road to see what the rear geometry looked like? My concern would be that if the torsion bar is bent, then did the other more susceptable parts of the beam come off the same - presumably heavily crashed - car?

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

The beam certainly looked straight enough before they started, I think it was fairly well seized, so I imagine they applied alot of violence to get it apart. I'm sure Andy will check over everything in turn, and will get it aligned when its all back together. Fortunately the tube came from Tom Fenton, so at least that's 1 known good component!!

[jord294 87]

having stripped and rebuilt the beam properly for craig, i honestly don't believe how the company that previously built the axle is still trading??

 

i can't even think of a word to describe the very poor attempt, they made on rebuilding.

 

it has to be the very worst rebuilt axle i have come across!

[eddie bullit 37]

Shocking..at least you'll have peace of mind that it's been done properly thus time around Craig. You'll probably notice a difference out on the road as well.

Good luck pal...by god you deserve some.

Edd

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Andy has really carefully documented the beam strip down, and has send me lots of pictures. I wont upload them all here, there are 30! But just a few to illustrate the number they worked on the beam:

 

Silicone mastic, the tool of champs. Neither of the OE seals present:

 

 

Bent much?

 

 

Not pressed in far enough:

 

 

Was a brand new shaft 400 miles ago.. what have they done to it..?

 

Edited July 21, 2012 by cRaig

[eddie bullit 37]

Scary..at least it was only arch damage..good job you wasn't gunning it. Could of been curtains for you as well.

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

It's always difficult over the internet opposed to face to face conversation - but you always seem to take set backs well Craig.

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

I try and remain calm and philosophical about these things. This is a bit more annoying as unlike alot of the mistakes and stupid things I have done with this car, which were utterly my fault, I chalk up to experience and try and learn from.

 

In this case I went to a large, well respected "precision" engineering company, who I went to in good faith as it was early days in the rebuild, I wasnt really aware people on here did beams etc!

 

Plus on the upside the beam wont be trying to kill me now, and Ive got considerably less quarter panel damage to deal with than last time!

 

In all seriousness- can anyone recommend a bodywork repair garage? I am happy to travel, as I just need someone recommended who I can trust. It should be a straightforward repair, but I dont want someone reaching for the big hammers and filler unless it is absolutely necessary..

Edited July 21, 2012 by cRaig

[welshpug 1,622]

kev the wilts dentman might be able to sort that.

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Ah yes, the chap from pugfest with near legendary reputation? Sounds like a good starting point! Do you have contact info for him?

 

Craig

[Leet205 48]

From google

Kev Hicks - Dent Removal Expert (07836 534538) is Wilts based but does travel.

[stef205 91 1 Cars]

Having seen this car in the flesh for the first time today, I can honestly say no words can describe the time and detail that has gone into this. Well done Craig!

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Cheers mate Was nice to see your supercharger conversion, looking at my standard one can get a bit boring after a while

 

Will update this sooner or later, havent really done much on the car, other than drive it, which has been a nice change after the last few years.

 

Craig

Edited September 17, 2012 by cRaig

[feb 47]

Hats off for having the patience and persistence to keep going, I give up in the slightest of problems

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Mm, Anthony was telling me yesterday at the Cheddar meet about some of your problems- they dont sound that small or insignificant!

One of the real blessings of doing a restoration in this country has been the part and local expertise supply. For example, having Miles less than an hour and a half away for the engine work, and a peugeot dealership that were actually quite helpful in the end: letting me order special-order parts without cash upfront, and selling me bags of minimum order quantity parts (like bags or 20 washers or bolts) for the cost of the amount I actually needed (usually 2!)

Also even a couple of years ago, things like front wings, and the quarter panel were easily sourced from peugeot, which helped alot. More and more is getting NFP'd, which means tracking it down is not impossible, but alot more difficult.

 

Craig

Edited September 17, 2012 by cRaig

[cRaig 265 1 Cars]

Well, nothing new to report really. Wandered to the scrap yard on a nice sunny day last month to raid a 306 for some ABSness Wasnt anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be really, its so nice that its a completely self contained loom. The plumbing looks like it will be fairly hard to replicate, but the pump and wiring and load compensator should be fine. At the scrappy they even lifted the car up on a forklift and left it up there so we could work on the beam easily and safely- I was very impressed! Plus they only wanted 60quid, and the pump is guarenteed, so I can swap it if I have any trouble.

 

 

Box-O-bits! The loom will be cleaned, recovered and new sensors used as and when it gets installed. The load compensator will be painted up and zinc plated etc.

 

 

Have had the 205 GTi ABS front hubs powdercoated, have come up nicely as usual.

 

 

 

Have also got the 306 rear caliper brackets- identical to the 205 ones apart from the ABS hole. The disc protector already has that pressed part to protector the sensor, so the 205 powdercoated ones I have will fit on at the same time

 

 

Something Ive been meaning to do for a while is source wheel centres.. the speedline ones look a little.. cheap. Not a big fan of them. Got some 307 ones:

 

 

Am currently debating matching the colour of the alloys and painting them, or leaving them silver. The existing centres are silver and dont look too bad. What do people think!?

 

 

 

Also got a new pug key to match the cool keyrings made earlier in that group buy that ran a few years ago. My old key looks quite grubby.

 

 

Am not planning much more at the moment, fitting the ABS doesnt look particularly fun, and the sensors arent cheap, so putting those off for a while!

 

Craig

Edited September 18, 2012 by cRaig

[chipstick 382 1 Cars]

Where did you get that Peugeot key blank from Craig? If you say Peugeot I am going to jump up and down.

 

The car is a real credit to your hard work mate. I was astonished by the finish despite my banter at the Cheddar meet.

 

Enjoy it

Edited September 18, 2012 by chipstick

[base-1 17]

Where did you get that Peugeot key blank from Craig?

 

This!