Lazy maintenance

[Mr Lazy]

I bought a silver 2003 '2' at the start of July, but I haven't actually used it much so far  . This is partly because it was stored at my sister's house 180 miles away for most of July, and partly because it is now shoehorned into a single garage with a motorbike in front of it on a dolly. It takes a lot of effort just to get the bike out of the way (there is a ramp leading up to the garage, so I can't just wheel the bike out of the way) so just popping out in the MR2 for half an hour isn't really practical. It's the price of having too many boy's toys. I have a new garage being built in November, which should vastly improve access.

Anyway, I thought I'd start a log of what I do on the car. It has only done around 38000 miles and from the outside and in the cabin it looks great, but there are certainly things to do under the skin.

Things done so far:

-Drooping right hand exhaust outlet pipe fixed in position with new clamp
-MAF sensor cleaned
-Air filter replaced
-Precats checked (present but seem ok)
-Spark plugs replaced
-Dirty engine bay generally cleaned up
-Two heat shields in engine bay cleaned up, but will go rusty again if I don't paint them soon.
-New tyres ordered (being fitted in a few days)

I couldn't actually remove the LH oxygen sensor, even with a torque of 60Nm. The RH one on the other hand was quite loose, so I checked the precats this side only. After refitting it and driving home (I was using my mum's garage as she has an inspection pit that she doesn't use!) I noticed that the engine management light was on. That probably means a new oxygen sensor then, although it didn't light up when I later moved the car into my garage.

Things still to do:

-Some small rust spots on bodywork need to be treated and touched up.
-Finish cleaning up and painting heat shields
-Small tear in bottom of hood to be fixed (tear is in tension and difficult to access)

Longer term:
-Rear suspension linkages to be renovated.
-Possible damper replacement. See below.

While I was working on the car, I thought I'd take a look at the front end. Here are some photos of a front damper and suspension arms, as well as the steering universal joint from below and above (after rubbing off some flakey surface rust with my fingers in the above view). Any thoughts on the condition of these? It looks like the springs and damper boots have been replaced at some point.

Edit: I'll add photos later. I can't remember how to attach Flickr files and I need to go out!

[Ardent]

Don't be surprised about the engine. The mere fact you disturbed an oxy sensor is enough to throw a code. Read it. Bound to be an oxygen code. Reset it. Carry on for now.

[Mr Lazy]

Front RH damper and hub:


Front RH suspension links:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/189613895@N03/50286600986/in/album-72157715389859467/

Steering universal joint (bottom view):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/189613895@N03/50286754437/in/album-72157715389859467/

Steering universal joint (top view):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/189613895@N03/50286753567/in/album-72157715389859467/

Any comments about the condition of these parts would be welcome. Any urgent replacement/reconditioning needed?

[Mr Lazy]

Ok, I was hoping that would post the actual photos there, but I'm obviously doing something wrong. I'll try again...

[Mr Lazy]

[Mr Lazy]

Don't be surprised about the engine. The mere fact you disturbed an oxy sensor is enough to throw a code. Read it. Bound to be an oxygen code. Reset it. Carry on for now.

@Ardent, I don't have a code reader yet. Is the oxygen sensor likely to have developed a fault just because I removed it? I reset the ECU at the time, after refitting the sensor. The engine management showed up on the first drive after this (but not the short, second one when I moved it to the garage). Is it worth resetting it again?

[Ardent]

No harm in resetting again.
Yes. Just removing is enough to upset them. Sometimes you only need look at one and it goes mardy.

[Mr Lazy]

Ok, lets see if this works...

[Mr Lazy]

Ok, lets see if this works...

Obviously not! I still can't work out how to add Flickr images (despite doing it before)

[Mr Lazy]

IMG_20200829_185620219 by Paul Robbins, on Flickr

[Mr Lazy]

Yes! I figured it out! Ok, more images below. I'm going to post these in a separate maintenance post too to ask for advice.

IMG_20200829_185518210 by Paul Robbins, on Flickr

IMG_20200829_190114005 by Paul Robbins, on Flickr

IMG_20200829_190620556 by Paul Robbins, on Flickr

[Mr Lazy]

Over the past few days, I've had a go at repairing a tear in my hood. As you can see below, it wasn't a massive tear, but being right at the bottom and under tension, it looked like it could propagate quite quickly.

[/url]P1030016 by Paul Robbins, on Flickr[/img]

I had bought a tube of black Stormsure, but I wasn't convinced that the sealant alone would hold it, so I decided to try my hand at a bit of needlework first. My sewing skills are pretty much non-existent, but I didn't let that hold me back. I bought some thread and needles from Tesco and gave it a go. I only sewed the lower part of the rip to hold it together, but it was quite tough trying to sew blind (from the inside) through a double layer of hood fabric with a tiny sewing needle pushing into my finger. Nevertheless, I managed to get enough stitches in to hold it.

I then put a bit of Gorilla Tape on the outside and applied the Stormsure from the inside. I couldn't see what I was doing inside (due to the extra piece of material at that location) so it's probably a bit of a mess in there. The idea of the tape was to stop too much seeping through, but it wasn't really necessary. After removing the tape the next day, I could see that the Stormsure had flowed through the gap just enough to fill the gap and coat the stitches a little without being too excessive. I then added some more Stormsure inside for good measure and left it another day.

Looking at it today, I'm happy with the result. It seems secure. The rip had stretched the fabric a bit, so it isn't completely flat now that it is joined together, but it is good enough.

[/url]IMG_20200924_161814391[4396] by Paul Robbins, on Flickr[/img]

It looks like a white line along the join in the photo, but I think it's just the light catching on it as it doesn't look like that in reality. I guess it's possible that some Gorilla tape adhesive could be in there. I also coated the top in some Auto Glym vinyl and rubber care, which is why it looks a bit wet. The yellowy streaks aren't there in reality.

On a different note, I noticed today that there is now some bubbling (rust) on a couple of the alloy wheels, despite them looking pristine and freshly renovated when I bought the car less than three months ago. How the *#*# did that happen??!

[Mr Lazy]

No idea why those photos didn't come through. I'm sure I didn't do anything different to last time.

[Stuey2uk]

I've just repaired a small tear a the bottom of the 'b-pillar' - it look like the tension cable had snapped by the 'nipple'
How do you retension to stop the roof from gaping by the window?

[Mr Lazy]

I've just repaired a small tear a the bottom of the 'b-pillar' - it look like the tension cable had snapped by the 'nipple'
How do you retension to stop the roof from gaping by the window?

@Stuey2uk  I'm not too sure what you mean without seeing a photo. In my case, tension was the problem, rather than a lack of it.

[Stuey2uk]

Outside view of patch

Cable pulls hood tight  over window arch.

- I'm trying to work out how to tighten this cable?

Ooops pic below...

[Stuey2uk]

You cannot view this attachment.You cannot view this attachment.

[Carolyn]

Time for a trip to Swansea. Jack Smith trimmers.

[Mr Lazy]

Oh dear, that looks a bit messy! I think that would be beyond my DIY skills.

[Chilli Girl]

And mine sadly