Quote from: Topdownman on July  8, 2019, 22:09Surely that is a custardy battle?


I'll get my coat...

:-D

Gutted I didn't put that!

And I doff my hat to you sir (or madam)!

Thought I'd add some ramblings this evening - no pictures i'm afraid, so feel free to skip this if you're not a fan of the wall of text style posts. No one would blame you.

First of all, an admission of culpability.

I have scuffed the bumper of the bucket.
Twice.
In two weeks.
In the same parking place at Tesco.
Idiot.

This was a month or so ago and I'm still angry with myself about it. I haven't scuffed a car parking since I was a young blade of 17 when, while leaving the farm yard where a girl I really fancied lived, I scrawped the front bumper of my Rover 216 SE EFI along the rear quarter of her beige Fiesta Popular.

Anyway, the other month I noticed that the nearside front corner of the bucket had a hearty great scrape. Furious that someone had dinked my car and not left a note, I made enquiries at work about CCTV etc (yes, sorry, I'm one of those people). When I went through my memory, I realised that no one could have done it there. Then I remembered I'd gone to the super market that evening as well, but with the realisation that no one could have hit it there either as it was parked front-end in.

Basically, I realised that the only explanation was that I'd clipped someone's alloy while parking. I didn't even notice and hadn't left a note - something that boils my weewee when performed by others.

The following week, I once again noticed that the scrape had gotten considerably worse....the day after I'd gone to Tesco again.... and parked in the same place. Once again, clipped an alloy (there was no paint transfer, just brake dust) and not noticed.

Well, I can only blame the onset of old-age or general complacency, but I'm pretty angry with me.

Fast forward a week and lo and behold, someone's selling a PFL silver bumper on Facebook and is 5 mins from work. I bought the bumper which is far from perfect for a reasonable price, but there's so many imperfections, I'm not sure it's worth swapping, although it is at least the same colour as the rest of the bucket, something that my current bumper cannot claim to be. I'll see how it goes.

Moving on, the bucket had always had a fair amount of squish in the brake pedal. Driving it back-to-back with the Custard Tart, which has a solid and instant brake pedal, the bucket was a fair bit softer in feel.

This weekend, I had a morning free so decided to bleed all of the calipers. Starting with the rear that I'd swapped for a new caliper back when I first got the car, I found no air in that.

Moving to the off-side rear, I found the most muller'd bleed screw ever. Basically the outlet had become crushed somehow and so bleeding from it was a no-go. Luckily, I still have the old caliper so swapped the bleed screw from that to the one on the car. Back in action! Bleeding that I then found that because of the issue it had, it obviously hadn't had the fluid changed in a long time and what came out was like chocolate. After drawing through nice clean fluid, that corner was done.

Off-side front, clean fluid and no air.

Nearside front, clean fluid but quite a few sizable bubbles.

So out on the test drive and expecting a big difference, but a bit disappointed - better, but still some way off the solid feel of the yellow stablemate.

So I've no idea why it's softer, but I may decide not to worry. Standing on the brakes means it stops on a sixpence (that's a saying that needs updating - stops on a pound-coin maybe? Stops on a contactless payment?), so it's not a safety concern.

Ah well, the bucket is still a fine drive which I've been enjoying using everyday. Cleaned both of them this evening and looked fondly upon the 'him and hers' duo on the driveway once done. A bit sad maybe, but sod it, I'm happy being a bit sad.

And thus, this is the ending of the rambles. Thank you anyone who actually read through this pictureless drivel of a post. Have a sticker. You've earned it.

Check all your hard line.
They do corrode.

The hard lines all look A-ok. The brakes themselves work well, but there's just a bit more initial bite at the top of the pedal in the yellow car.

However, I've not really looked at the set up on the Custard tart - it could have braided lines or fancier pads for all I know.

After a long Summer hiatus of MR2 fixing (they both appeared to work so I left them alone), I thought "What's an absolute pig of a job to do? Handbrake cables! I'll do those!"

The custard tart had always had a lot of brake dust on both rear wheels and the handbrake lever was of the 'smash the back window while applying' variety. Getting the rear wheels off, I was less than surprised to find that both rears were binding pretty badly. Unhooking the cables proved that the calipers were fine and that the cables were the issue.

Yay and all that.

So a couple of Pagid cables were duly ordered from Euro Sale Every Day Car Parts. After their usual will they, won't they delivery (it was very late) it was time to crack out the tools and bite the bullet.

I won't go into massive detail for reasons I'll get to later, but here's some pictures of the progress;

Seats out so I can remove the centre console (the screws will not be going back into the console);



True story - I actually spent a few minutes wondering how to get the driver's seat out of the car on my tight driveway before I remembered that it's a soft top and I could just lift them up and out. Idiot.

Rear bins out so that I could slacken the fuel pump wiring;



By this time, I had my mate Rob around who'd agreed to help out in exchange for a nice roast dinner, so we set about unhooking the nappies and other under-body cladding (well done to my Dad for fitting a stainless steel bolt kit for this - sooooo much easier), wheels and the easily accessible handbrake cable brackets.

Time to unbolt and drop the tank to get the the hidden brackets on the fire-wall!

And that's where the real kicker became apparent. This car has fully functioning and rather excellent aircon. However, that means that the aircon pipes wrap underneath and across the corners of the fuel tank meaning dropping it is not possible.

After some head-scratching and cursing, I looked at Rob and Rob looked at me - "Shall we sack this off and drink beer in the garden instead?"

"Yeah, lets do that."

It was a lovely Sunday evening and a great use of the time. The roast was rather good too (my wife is awesome).

After some diddling around the net in search of answers, none were forthcoming so I did what any well-intention'd home mechanic would do, and posted up a HELP!!!!!! thread on this forum. As ever, help was very much at hand with mr2garageswindon giving me exactly the advice I needed (legend!) which was to remove the AC pipe brackets to allow enough wiggle room.

Fast forward to this Friday and I had booked a day off to get cracking with it. With the AC pipes hanging, you could just about drop the tank enough to spy the last handbrake cable bracket hiding above it.



I could just about get my skinny arms in from the side of the car with a spanner and remove it. tipped the tank the other way and lowered again to do the other side. Pulled the old cables out and did a little victory dance obviously.

The old cables had a long travel compared to the new ones and one side was stiff to move. They were due for replacement it seems.

Still, the next part of this was probably the worst bit. Having the fed the new cables in to the cabin and tightening the replacement brackets up (utter pain - the Pagid brackets are a cheaper design which makes them a right sod to do in a confined space one-handed), it came to the rubber bellows/grommet that push-fits into the firewall from the tank side. Again - confined and tortuous accessibly meant a painful hour trying to get them in properly. In the end I stopped to have a think and rest my broken shoulders and arms. I compared the design of the old Toyota grommet to the Pagid ones. The Toyota ones were a softer rubber and a much better design.

So in the end I got a Stanley knife and cut off the Pagid ones and slipped the old Toyota ones on instead. With that done and a bit of car shampoo as lube, both sides popped straight in within seconds. This is the price you pay for using non OE parts - a lot of faff. So the brackets were put back on (again) and everything routed and secured.

The tank and ac pipes were bolted back up and by that time, I'd spent around 4 hours lying on my back on the driveway and I had a drive to Wiltshire to look forward to, so it was left there.

We got back late yesterday evening meaning I could spend today putting the rest of the car together.

First order of the day was to set the caliper Handbrake mech up properly using the Paul Woods method. With the cables still unattached, both caliper pistons were wound in fully and then backed out 180 degrees to engage the mech properly. The calipers were both then re-attached and the brake pedal pumped a few times to auto-adjust everything. After that, the cables were hooked up to the calipers;



Then the adjuster in the cabin was set up - I tend to go for about 7 clicks to fully on. I then checked that the wheels weren't binding when the handbrake was released. Also checked that the wheels were totally locked when it was on. Success! All working perfectly!

I can't tell you how happy I was that it was finally done and done right! I'll try though - I was really very very happy indeed. In my head, angels gave a toot on their celestial horns (fnar). A parade of wandering bard-stoats bade me congratulations most verily upon my deeds and, for a moment, I felt the pulse of the universe and was in perfect tempo with it.

I really was very happy.

So with that buttoned up and with the interior out, it seemed a good move to give it a really good clean out. The Tart had always smelled like an old car. A bit oily and not very in-keeping with its low miles. The inside was very grubby indeed and the leather seats seemed very dry with a lot of ingrained dirt.

A thorough hoovering out yielded 11p, a valve cap and a dead bee (probably thinking that with the black and yellow theme, it was returning to the mother ship) and also improved the look of the cabin;



I cleaned out the rear bins with some Meguiars APC and refitted them and also sorted out the twisted seat belt that had been driving me mad. All rear trim was back in place.

I then moved onto the seats. Now they're not everyone's cup of tea, least of all mine, but they were worth giving a scrub up. Meguiars APC and a stiff brush removed the dirt from the grain of the leather after a few applications and then some Meguiars Gold Class leather treatment (which I didn't know I had) was put on and allowed to soak in. Then some more until the leather had some suppleness again. After a final buff off, they look far better now - all the better to tempt yet more bees inside.



So, all done then? Well no, not entirely as there was another issue with the Tart and quite a common one with the TTE exhausts;



Tail-pipe droop!



This may look like a child's manacle from the Mary Rose, but it is in fact the clamp for the exhaust tail pipe. It's mild steel rather than stainless meaning it is essentially a sacrificial corroding part. Thanks metallurgy...

Unfortunately, I ran out of time to go looking for a new one today, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow, after which, the Custard Tart will be down off of the axle stands and ready for action!

Well that's a good ending isn't it? "Great stuff, well done, get yourself a beer old chap!" you're thinking. Well not exactly.

While I had this one up in the air and in bits, the Bucket was due its MOT. It failed on one item - handbrake barely functioning. No advisories though, so every cloud and whatnot.

Removing the centre console and releasing the handbrake, I was met with the following;



And unhooking the cables gave me this;



Yes, the handbrake cable is utterly seized. So I need to go through this all again and, before you ask, the Bucket is also an aircon car.

So, with guides on this procedure not being great in detail, I'll be putting together a proper how-to (wiv pictures and everyfing) to post on the forum so that others can hopefully forge ahead where I have faltered.

Lovin' the MR2 life!

PS - The show that I was taking both cars to in the Summer was cancelled. So was a beach music festival I was going to.

FML. 

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on July 17, 2019, 09:44The hard lines all look A-ok. The brakes themselves work well, but there's just a bit more initial bite at the top of the pedal in the yellow car.

However, I've not really looked at the set up on the Custard tart - it could have braided lines or fancier pads for all I know.

Having changed all discs and pads on mine I thought I had an excellent initial bite but after a recent 150 mile run out it didn't seem so good anymore. Got all kinds of servo/booster questions running around in my mind so be interested to know if you do troubleshoot further

Well, what a disappointment. Fitted a new exhaust bracket and dropped the car to the ground. tried the handbrake out expecting a nice sharp hold and it just kept on rolling. Adjusted the cable at the lever until there's 5 clicks and, while it just about holds on a slight incline, I can still just about move it by pushing. I'm pretty much at the end of the thread on the adjuster.

I haven't a clue what's gone wrong here as I did the handbrake routine by the book - pistons wound all the way in then out 180 degrees and all looked good.

Sad times. Suggestions welcome.

Did you pump the pistons out?

Method:  Slacken cables until they are floppy.

Run engine and slowly and firmly pump the pedal twenty times. (this pushes the pistons out)

Adjust the cables up.

Quote from: Carolyn on September 23, 2019, 18:56Did you pump the pistons out?

Method:  Slacken cables until they are floppy.

Run engine and slowly and firmly pump the pedal twenty times. (this pushes the pistons out)

Adjust the cables up.

Carolyn, you are an absolute legend!

Sorted and holding firm!

I'm off to do some celebratory, Tim Henman-style fist-pumps!

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on September 23, 2019, 19:52

Quote from: Carolyn on September 23, 2019, 18:56Did you pump the pistons out?

Method:  Slacken cables until they are floppy.

Run engine and slowly and firmly pump the pedal twenty times. (this pushes the pistons out)

Adjust the cables up.

Carolyn, you are an absolute legend!

Sorted and holding firm!

I'm off to do some celebratory, Tim Henman-style fist-pumps!

Which 'book' did you use?  Just pulling your leg...

Quote from: Carolyn on September 23, 2019, 19:57

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on September 23, 2019, 19:52

Quote from: Carolyn on September 23, 2019, 18:56Did you pump the pistons out?

Method:  Slacken cables until they are floppy.

Run engine and slowly and firmly pump the pedal twenty times. (this pushes the pistons out)

Adjust the cables up.

Carolyn, you are an absolute legend!

Sorted and holding firm!

I'm off to do some celebratory, Tim Henman-style fist-pumps!

Which 'book' did you use?  Just pulling your leg...

Fair play... 

Assembled knowledge from around the internet and then a general panic when it didn't work when put back on the ground. Glad I had wheel chocks otherwise it would have rolled me through the garage door.

To defend myself slightly, I did pump the brakes vigorously after I'd set the calipers up and bolted them up. But that was without the engine on (and clearly it didn't work).

I am chastened and promise to do better next time.

Lee, once again enjoyed your write ups, this one about the Tart, very informative.  Wonder whereabouts in Wiltshire were you? We need more 2's down here, not enough of us!

@The Arch Bishop - I do quite enjoy reading your blog   

I changed the clamps on mine when they were looking only half as bad as yours as had visions of losing part of the exhaust mid-journey somewhere.  Just 6 months on and they are already covered with a good coat of surface rust.

Quote from: Bossworld on September 22, 2019, 23:40Having changed all discs and pads on mine I thought I had an excellent initial bite but after a recent 150 mile run out it didn't seem so good anymore. Got all kinds of servo/booster questions running around in my mind so be interested to know if you do troubleshoot further

Judging by my exploits in brakes, I'm probably not going to go looking for trouble, but if I have an epiphany, I'll be sure to post it up! The brakes on the bucket are still very good, just not as good as the other car.

Quote from: Chilli Girl on September 23, 2019, 20:28Lee, once again enjoyed your write ups, this one about the Tart, very informative.  Wonder whereabouts in Wiltshire were you? We need more 2's down here, not enough of us!

My folks live in Melksham so we're down there quite a bit. Not in an MR2 though. Experiments to get 2 dogs and 2 children into the storage bins proved to be a tight squeeze...

Have to admit, while you can't move for Roadsters around Sussex, I've seen very few around Wiltshire.

Quote from: ManInDandism on September 23, 2019, 22:02@The Arch Bishop - I do quite enjoy reading your blog     

I changed the clamps on mine when they were looking only half as bad as yours as had visions of losing part of the exhaust mid-journey somewhere.  Just 6 months on and they are already covered with a good coat of surface rust.

Cheers! Mine had come adrift completely but the rubber hanger meant sure I didn't lose it along the A272!

I imagine this one will be a state in no time.

A blind panic brought on by a break in the weather today meant I had to get going on the handbrake cables on the silver bucket. Not something I was particularly looking forwards to...

This time around though, I had knowledge of the job in hand and all of the tools to hand to get it done as well.

So while I did take the seats out so as I could clean under them, that was the only additional thing I did.

The rest went really well and it took me about 5 hours end to end with lunch included and I got it buttoned up about 15 mins before the rain started. Class.

No pictures or, indeed any write up of the process - didn't have time. Soz...

Whaaaaaat? No pics ..... aaaarrrhhh.  Good work Lee, very satisfying day.

So, the Bucket had a nice new pair of handbrake cables! Swagger in to the MOT station and collect that DEAD CERT of 12 more months on the road right? Right?! AHA HA HA HA HA!

Well no.

Full of confidence, I pulled off of the drive 20 mins before the test was booked and got 20 feet before I noticed that the brake warning light was lit on the dash.

"Well how very gosh-darn strange" I thought before performing a 3 point turn and heading back to the driveway. Checked the handbrake switch and all appeared dandy there, so at a loss, I popped the frunk and stared at disbelief at the brake fluid reservoir which was down below the half-way point.

If was then I noticed that there was a dark patch where the Bucket had been sat. Somewhere there was a major leak.

I cancelled the MOT, dumped the Bucket down the driveway in a huff and went on a long weekend holiday. Stupid cars...

Relatively reinvigorated after the break, I had a clear weekend to try and work out what had gone wrong. Up on the axle stands and with the offside rear wheel removed, I could see that there had been a leak, but not where it had come from. I was expecting an issue with the brake lines, but nothing was obvious from a casual inspection, so I removed the caliper to find this;



So basically, all of the pumping of the brakes to set the handbrake up had blown the piston seal. Great stuff, but luckily and against all the odds I had a spare! A few weeks previously when I was doing the Yellow car, I thought that it may have a duff caliper and so had ordered a replacement from Mr. Sloan. He'd provided a basically refurbed caliper at a fab price;



So on it went;



New pads (didn't want to risk that the old ones may have been soaked in fluid), bled (endlessly), piston and handbrake set, repeat the procedure that Carolyn had advised (didn't want another grilling  ) and surely that'd be great, fine and dandy? Right?! AHA HA HA HA HA!!

Well no, the handbrake was cack and regardless of how many times I tried again with resetting the pistons, handbrake and all of that stuffy, it never got any better.

So rather than having one of my 'little moments' and damaging something in a rage, I dumped the Bucket down the driveway in a huff and went and drank beer instead.

Fast-forward another week, and I decided to give it one last try. Armed with a billion gallons of brake fluid, I went around and re-bled the entire system, the theory being that there must be air in the system that meant that the rear calipers were not pumping out during the handbrake setting procedure. I'm pleased to say that it did the trick, and while not uber-sharp - possibly due to the brand new pads having exactly zero miles on them and not being bedded in) - it does at least hold the car on a steep incline.

So today was time to take it for another MOT;



And...... it passed with no advisories! 

The tester did say that he didn't trust the handbrake but that it'd had gone through the test at 80%, so I'll settle for that. Maybe he's had a Roadster himself and suffers from residual handbrake anxiety. Who knows - don't care - it passed.

The other rear caliper does tend to bind when the handbrake is set to around 8 clicks so I think that's next on the list. Until then though, I can enjoy the Bucket again.

Well done Lee, what patience you have but well worth it in the end. Result.

Seeing you very breifly before your trip to Wiltshire reminded me I need to do the handbrake cables on mine before its mot,
I could really do with fitting the eliseparts sump, new clutch, driveshafts, oil cooler and refurbed subframe that I've got sat in my conservatory at the same time.

Good effort for persevering. I'm sure it's all been worth it in the end! 

I'm getting really rubbish updating this so apologies to the handful of people that may read the thread!

First an update on the Custard Tart. MOT was very much due by the time I got enough time to book it in, so I gave it a check over, cleared out one of the screen washer jets (hand pump and an inflatable adaptor hooked up on rubber pipe finally cleared a stubborn blockage) and that was all it needed.

That is until the morning of the test. It had the good battery on it rather than the one it came with which seems to discharge alarmingly quickly if left so I assumed that it would start after the battery was charged less than 7 days prior.

It did not. Click click click......

I'm thinking it has some sort of battery drain going on which I may have to investigate.

So que a panic-charge an hour before the test and a trip over to the MOT centre at 'elevated' revs.

However, as somewhat expected, it swanned through the MOT with insolent ease and no advisories. I swear it looked proper smug parked up outside afterwards. The tester did comment that it was like 'sitting on the floor' after spending the day MOT'ing offaux-roaders.

Back home and it was time to clear out the garage and get it tucked up for the winter.



Moving on a few weeks, I decided to use the Bucket for a bit of general commuting, mostly due to the discovery that the headlights on my daily Hyundai i30 are like wearing sunglasses, even with Osram Nightbreakers in them. Projector headlamps are useless it seems...

However, shortly after setting off in the Silver Bucket, I realised why I hadn't driven it much recently. The windscreen wipers have suddenly gone from a smooth quiet action to sounding like they are being amplified over a festival PA system with the knob turned up to 11. No idea why but even with economical usage in the journey into work, each required sweep was teeth-grittingly loud.

So that's my next job although I'm not sure why the mech has gone bad pretty much over night.

The bucket has gotten rather needy recently which is a shame.

We missed you Lee but thanks for latest update. Good news re Custard Tart MOT.  Silver is just getting abit jealous in her old age

Quote from: Chilli Girl on December 12, 2019, 21:32We missed you Lee but thanks for latest update. Good news re Custard Tart MOT.  Silver is just getting abit jealous in her old age

Well, if she wants me to spend more time with her, she'll need to actually work once in a while! :-D

I recently discovered this thread and read it from the start. Thoroughly enjoyable, keep the updates coming.

Have you tried cleaning the wiper blades with wd40? Its supposed to make them last for ages.