Stuff you have fixed today

[GRW]

I've fitted a new C/L Actuator to the rear doors on my Camper (fiddly PITA job) - only find the lower cable is fraying & the bottom catch doesn't like latching.

The cables aren't available aftermarket, & Renault wants about £70 for one - its only a basic cable. So I've ordered some cable ends and a mid-cable adjuster (no adjustment on the OE either) online to see if I can't knock up something instead.

(For best part of a fortnight here it's been clammy, high humidity cold as well - just the conditions that feel much colder than the thermometer says & eats into you. Doing any work like this outside is just utterly miserable & I'm totally fed up with it tbh. Loathsome time of year).

 

[Seadog]

Congratulations on calling it by the correct name, usually called ball "peen"...
I've started re-handelling my late father's assorted hammers - everything from ball pein's like this to sledgehammers, all with his initials stamped on them...

Tit, tut...

Ball Peins

 

[bricol]

Tit, tut...

Ball Peins

I nearly read that as something else at first glance . . .

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This was acquired for parts, but when I had a chance I found out that it:
Is in better condition than the one I had.
It is Civil Defence item, all be it over painted.

Getting it into bits meant a lot of bending of tabs, due to age related damge.

A classic Brass wick gear, with a new wick.

A quick coat of paint.

I knew what I wanted to convert it to.

It is now a Civil Defence red Lamp, It will be joined with a Green one. As soon as I can fix it.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

i got this the other day.
It looked good.
But looks can be deceiving.

The frame, the tin had been bent, so it would jam open or jam shut.

So we had to tweak it back into shape.

The last time it was used, the wrong fuel was used. This destroyed the seals. The most damaging was the filler cap and pressure release was jammed.
The dangerous flame and fuel leak can be seen, This was a staged shot, to bring home to some one how dangerous using the wrong fuel is.

Correct fuel, correct pre heat and we are away.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Got this for spares, as the owner could not get it to work.

They had been using heating oil.

They also had rebuilt it back wards.

I have a few wicks.

New wick, new cork gasket and the fuel tank cleaned out.

Then put to work.

 

[dobbslc]

i. freaking. hate. drum brakes. the merc had a broken spring so i replaced the handbrake shoes disks and fitting kit. i would have just replaced the fitting kit but the disks where knackered and the shoes where heat cracked. i didnt want to replace the pads, so i might have used a da sander to flatten the nearly new pads off and refitted them.....

notwithstanding that they are always a pain, the merc ones are harder than necessary due to the drive hub being in the way. the last set i did was a kia sorento, much easier, before that was a mk1 clio, dead easy. i still hate them though

once i figured the knack out, i got the nearside together and adjusted up in about a hour.

the drivers side on the other hand, was not so easy. first someone had used permanent loctite on the brake caliper bolts, so they took way too much effort to undo. then the disk wouldn't come off due to the massive lip on drum. then the expander had seized (explains the lip) so once i got them together, even adjusted all the way off i couldn't get the disk on over the shoes. once i worked out what was going on i took the shoes back off, which was a pain, and used some channel lock pliers and wd40 to force it closed to free it up. back together and adjusted and its fine..

heater fan is working too, only needed the motor so will send the module back. all is well in the merc world again...

The big question is, did you use any lubrication on them there brakes?

 

[Melvyn Best]

The big question is, did you use any lubrication on them there brakes?

I actually enjoy working on drum brakes far more than discs , probably just because it makes a change?. Just waiting for the weather to improve a bit then I will be tackling my Ducato motorhome brakes all round

 

[qwakers]

The big question is, did you use any lubrication on them there brakes?

yes, a small amount of anti-seize(not copper grease) on the contact points only of the shoes, and the wings of the pads. nothing on the back of the pads of course, thats pointless and just attracts crap.

all as specified in autodata...

 

[minimutly]

yes, a small amount of anti-seize(not copper grease) on the contact points only of the shoes, and the wings of the pads. nothing on the back of the pads of course, thats pointless and just attracts crap.

all as specified in autodata...

Erm, I thought coppaslip on the pad backs was recommended to reduce brake squeal? Lately I see some sticky stuff included for this - or is this an efficiency thing?

 

[Melvyn Best]

Erm, I thought coppaslip on the pad backs was recommended to reduce brake squeal? Lately I see some sticky stuff included for this - or is this an efficiency thing?

There’s better grease available for use on brakes these days, some are ceramic based

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

These came my way the other day.
The ivory bearings are long gone. The postal weights are not stamped on the letter plate. No issue on that, it means they could be used anywhere.
Alos there are a series of scuff marks on the base.

The four screws are fitted and then hammered down, making them hard to remove, this was to prevent them being tampered with.
Best way to remove them is to grind a screwdriver to kit the head. Then heat the screws with a soldering iron. This expands them and when they cool they can be removed.

Warm "meths" was used to remove the old finish, the dirt and the glue which held the felt pads.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

German Swing scales, complete and almost correct in the weighing.

Wrapping it in wax and alcohol, before sealing in a bad to remove the years of crud.

All done.

 

[prepman]

Bought a cheap Chinese belt sander off Ebay. Wasn't too bad, but no power when loaded. Keep tightened the belt as I'd did, thought it may been slipping, ...didn't help. So it just lay around, waiting for the 'ineviatable trip' the the 'recyling' centre. Then, I need to sharpen the blades on my new woodchipper, So it would been ideal for it. So yesterday I removed the drive guard and noticed that driven-pulley was slipping, The driven-pulley grubscrew had been tighten onto round part of the shaft not the flat part. Sorted .....and 2 sharpening blades. Only problem was two microscopic cuts on the hand, took ages for the bleeding to stop.... thanks to the post-stroke blood thinnners. The workshop looked like episode of 'Dexter' (netflix),

 

[prepman]

Wrapping it in wax and alcohol

Me too

 

[Gregb23]

Couple of new long spade handles shafts fitted onto a nice old shovel head and a new small square spade head. Done enough digging recently to decide short handles are not for me.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Couple of new long spade handles shafts fitted onto a nice old shovel head and a new small square spade head. Done enough digging recently to decide short handles are not for me.

Drown them in Linseed oil.

 

[brightspark]

Drown them in Linseed oil.

done all of mine with danish oil and all my hickory hammer shafts

 

[nickk]

New wire feed motor,courtesy of the ever helpful Technical arc,ordered yesterday afternoon,here by 11am.

 

[dobbslc]

That's a nice looking bit of kit! Imagine if SIP saw that