What Have You Done to Your Cougar Today?
- Thread starter Axximilli
- Start date
Good stuff, Al. With a dodgy shoulder that isn't the first job I would've tackled!
Anyway, my droplinks have arrived so I need to get on with swapping them in. Won't get around to it until next Sunday though, in all likelihood.
Anyway, my droplinks have arrived so I need to get on with swapping them in. Won't get around to it until next Sunday though, in all likelihood.
Been to look at my kitty today. I don't see her often, tucked away in a barn a few miles from my house 
she looked a bit unloved.
I was going to start her up but the battery has been taken out to stop it draining and I couldn't get at it.
She still looks clean, the discs are brown but otherwise OK. If I can get insurance cheap enough I will use her rather than sell.
she looked a bit unloved.I was going to start her up but the battery has been taken out to stop it draining and I couldn't get at it.
She still looks clean, the discs are brown but otherwise OK. If I can get insurance cheap enough I will use her rather than sell.
Today I removed my rear wheel arch liners and dug out 16 years worth of built-up crud from behind them, slapped on some Hammerite where it looked like it was needed and reassembled. Also noticed my fuel filler pipe was covered in rust, so I sanded and painted that (as much of it as you can do while it's in situ, I figured that was better than nothing - that is the bit that's exposed after all). I was going to do the front arches as well but the heat got the better of me (roasting hot on the south coast at the moment), so that can wait till another day. I did treat a couple of spots of surface corrosion on the front subframe and anti-roll bar though.
And now, of course, my hands and forearms are covered in splodges of black Hammerite which won't come off! Swarfega didn't seem to do much, any suggestions?
And now, of course, my hands and forearms are covered in splodges of black Hammerite which won't come off! Swarfega didn't seem to do much, any suggestions?
Bit of petrol on a rag works for me
Good work today mate, I was hot enough just driving back from Glasgow Think of the weight you've lost though - in actual fact I should go out and finish mine then I'd lose a few pounds too
Good work today mate, I was hot enough just driving back from Glasgow
Think of the weight you've lost though - in actual fact I should go out and finish mine then I'd lose a few pounds too 
Pinched a bit of Mrs W's nail varnish remover, it seems to work quite well, got rid of the worst of it
Pinched a bit of Mrs W's nail varnish remover, it seems to work quite well, got rid of the worst of it
It will, but it'll also remove all of the essential oils from your skin. This is not good. If you haven't used barrier cream before starting, you're actually better off just letting your skin remove the rubbish itself via the oils it produces. A gentle scrub is all you need, though you will be "dirty" for a few days.
Aaaanyway, today I gave Tiger a valet.
Meguiars Gold Class wash as usual, wheels cleaned inside and out, followed by a blading and waffle cloth. Her body didn't need a wax, so I dried her and tended to her plastics with Gtechniq C4. Wheels waxed and tyres dressed with secret recipe.
Her bonnet is bad, but I'm slowly working it over, knowing that I have the emergency option of a good one. I just want to see what I can do with this. Side note - thank you for the offer of a fresh bonnet Tony - that's really awesome.
Looks like I have a visitor tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that.
Treated the big Cat to a new ABS sensor on the nearside front the ABS lights were getting annoying
Tiger looks great Chris.
Today I finally changed my oil (or what was left of it). Really Mike did most of the work though
Today I finally changed my oil (or what was left of it). Really Mike did most of the work though
Thank you! I'm out of Black Hole, but I've done my best and she is kinda pretty.
Oh. Oh Christ. I see a bottle of Forte in your future.
I might chuck something in. It must have done 12k at least, and it's blackness was only matched by it's lack of quantity. With everything going on lately it's just been shoved to the back burner.
So today I was reading a thread about MOTs and it occurred to me that Tiger's must be soon... Yeah. Next week.
So it was time to sort out the annoying clonk which was, of course, a rear drop-link lower bush. I got under there and had a good poke around, and decided that the uppers (and the links themselves) are actually okay.
A lazy plan formed. I undid the 17mm lower nuts, and swung the whole ARB out of the way. Popped in a pair of new bushes - the offside was okay, but... Swung the ARB back down and located the drop-links into the bushes, bolted it all up and went for a test drive. Job done - no clonk.
Here's what was left of the nearside one, by the way:
So it was time to sort out the annoying clonk which was, of course, a rear drop-link lower bush. I got under there and had a good poke around, and decided that the uppers (and the links themselves) are actually okay.
A lazy plan formed. I undid the 17mm lower nuts, and swung the whole ARB out of the way. Popped in a pair of new bushes - the offside was okay, but... Swung the ARB back down and located the drop-links into the bushes, bolted it all up and went for a test drive. Job done - no clonk.
Here's what was left of the nearside one, by the way:
You be better getting poly bushes to replace these.
http://www.superflex.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SF162-0058K
http://www.superflex.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SF162-0058K
Good work Chris
Cheers matey. Not sure why I was putting it off (and living with that infuriating noise) because it only took 15 minutes from start to finish. Probably would've been 20 if I'd gone the whole hog and replaced the whole links.
Like Al, I'm able to do them without lifting the car, so that makes things far quicker.
Here's what was left of the nearside one, by the way:
Oh wow! That must be up there with the worst of them, apart from the non existant ones that is. That almost looks like it's been twisted off or screwed to death.
Oh wow! That must be up there with the worst of them, apart from the non existant ones that is. That almost looks like it's been twisted off or screwed to death.
Which is odd, because there isn't a great deal of opportunity for them to spin around. For what it's worth, the orientation in the pic is the same as it was installed on the car; so it was the top that was destroyed.
Incidentally, I'm not sure if it's the age of them or just the fact that they weren't OEM, but they were far softer than their replacements were. That might be the root of the problem.
As Mark said, I'm going the poly route next time though.