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PollyMobiles Rebuild

i read they should be at the recommended bar or lower cos of higher tyre temp & pressure but not sure if i should set it at 2.2/1.9 F/R (under normal driving the outer shoulders of the rears wear little more than middle as if they're underinflated) or at 2.2/2.2 F/R for an even wear rate. will monitoring wear rate, balance and adjust the F/R ratio accordingly
 
i guess after afew laps, should recheck the hot tyre pressure's within the maximum 3bar marked on the sidewall and monitor tread wear behavior
 
size? normal micra is 65mm i know and how do you mount is on the filter?

i'm using the stock airbox with k&n panel filter.
the airbox inlet tube was dremaled larger to fit a short 57mm pipe, hot glued on.
a silicone coupling of 57mm inner bore was used to isolate the CAI from the air box inlet & engine vibration
finally the CAI pipe is a 53mm outer dia pvc drain pipe with a 57mm outer dia end piece
 
i know. what i mean is how hi fix it to the airbox/open air filter/cold air filter adapter or made on the same size (littel bit larger or smaller)

i like the project :D can learn something about this :)
 
hey everyone. i just returned home now completely shattered. will need another rest before sorting pics/vids and post a report but i can honestly say that omg it was friggin amazing :) best fun i've ever ever had hands down.

stay tuned
 
i know. what i mean is how hi fix it to the airbox/open air filter/cold air filter adapter or made on the same size (littel bit larger or smaller)

i like the project :D can learn something about this :)

the CAI pipe is attached to the airbox via flexible Samco silicone coupling tube

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the airbox inlet pipe i hotglued on was 57mm outer dia i found from somewhere. ideally i woulda wanted to make the CAI pipe from the same 57mm pipe but i looked everywhere and no one sells it anymore, only 53mm that had a 57mm end bit so i had to buy that instead.
 
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hey here's how it went at rockingham.

august 9th: drove down to Holiday Inn hotel 3mins away from the track, was abit tiring driving 3hrs there. had a steak dinner & pint a coke. tried to sleep but either the bed is uncomfortable or the caffeine filled coke kept me awake or that i'm excited bout tomorrow with so many thoughts :p dads snoring didn't help.

august 10: up early at 6 with little sleep. it was raining in the morning, Damn. forcast says it'll stop near lunch and dry out. set off at 7 to find asda/tesco got lost, decided to head for the track. stopped at Jet station to fill reserve can and grab snack/drinks.

made it to track at 7.30 for signin in. think i'm abit early cos most ppl came bout 8.25 for the 8.30 briefing. signed in and hired helmet for me & dad for a tenner each. looking round the pits there were Radicals, tuscans, tvrs, btcc looking racers, essentially saturn 5 rockets against my little pushbike. holy moly i'm gonna be watching them rocket towards my rear view very quickly.

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waiting for me m8 lee he eventually arrived (had travelled from cardiff and hit some traffic), signed in, our garage finally opened, parked our cars in there and went for briefing.

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unloaded stuff into the garage, twas quite spacious for 20quid. he brought some seats too which was real handy. i took out rear seats & parcel shelf.

tis now 9am and ppl starting to go out for a familiarisation lap where you follow a subaru legacy round the track to get used to the layout. lee said come on you coming, but i haven't even setup the car yet, although its just a cruise round the track so i'll be able to do me james may setup procedures once we're back.

drove out and queued at pit exit, guy was measuring noise levels. a white TVR was in front, revved up for db meter and my floorpan was jumping from the backfire, geez i'm sure mines well within 105db. revved mine to 5k and was just a whisper in comparison.

9:15 went out to follow the subaru. twas real nice on a dry track going along at a breezy pace, wheels haven't fallen off yet :p



2laps then went back in to check & setup car. reduced tyres to 2.25bars F/R and measure tread depth. meanwhile lee and his m8s went out for a run and it soon rained again and track was soaking. he soon came back in and says he'd stay here for awhile cos its very skittish out there. we went to burger stand to get breakfast n drinks. rain soon stopped and track was drying.

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setup me dads camera rig on the windscreen, went down to a staff to get it checked out and was fine. OK i'm ready to go :)

10.57 the track was ok and so we went out

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first lap the brakes & tyres were cold so were little hard n skiddy. gradually heat up the brakes and 1/2 way through the outlap the tyres were abit better. completed the infield and now the infamous rockingham banked oval. its a very wide steep fast corner and i dearnt go above 70 cos i know that losing control now means a painful smash. i made it ok, brakes & tyres now heated up and getter better with each hard brake application.

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time for me first lap. coming to the first fast left hairpin i braked hard abit earlier. the track was still cold n damp so the abs went mad. turned in, it struggles to keep the front in mid-corner as i hear the damp cold tyres scrubbing, power out the corner.

second medium right corner that goes uphill, i braked hard to slow down, lift off 1/2 throttle to settle car then start to turn right. mid-corner she begins to understeer badly, i turn abit more but now i feel the back end unsettle as she goes from understeer to oversteer (prob the hill gradient applying more weight on front tyres). she swings right, i countersteer left. very bad memories of my crash flashes back, i don't like this feeling, heart sinks abit. i then thought hang on, wtf am i doin, recalling the skid training last year at the VXR trackday, i began pumpin the throttle, car stopped the spin, regained grip from the reduced speed and straighten up. phew. ok its still abit wet out here. went for a cool down lap and pitted in.



i rear was prob too stiff so i set the rear ARB to medium setting, too ages. sun came out and it's dry now, lee came back n said the tracks ready now and prob get better through the day.

12.15 i went out once again before 12.30 lunch, warmed up and omg on the dry track she's totally transformed from being rear twitchy to a grippy rocket with hint of power understeer. the brakes were friggin phenominal once heated up.
when its damp n cold the big brakes would always set the abs alarms goin but on a dry track with hot tyres n hot brakes the abs only comes on later so i can brake really hard till i can tear my face off, she retards likes hitting a wall, though most the time i only brake with medium force.
it was sooooo much fun having so much grip n braking power. engine screams down the oval at 3rd-4th doin 85mph past the start finish then Hard on the brakes for the double chicane. i knew i could brake so much harder and later for that section but i just keep braking too early.

12.30 red flags and time for lunch. it was a warm day and i was sweating from all the hard work, fans on full, windows open. after cool down the discs were still at 200C.

now the tracks dry i reset the rear ARB to hard cos reduce this mid-corner understeer. the outer front tyre also has signs of rolling too much judging by the half worn white lettering on the sidewalls so i pumped the fronts up by .25bar to stiffen it.

13.50 after lunch i brought me dad along for the ride. warmed up, after few laps she felt so nice and my confidence also builds. i could then take the large oval corner at full throttle in 3rd change to 4th. dad was awful quiet lol :p

pitted in to let him out. did afew more checks. and went out again..i was hooked now :)

the day went soo well. only afew red flags for some broken car engines and always letting the super radicals/lotus/etc pass every so often. the afternoon was very busy. i felt like a kid in a toy store/theme park.

later on the day traffic reduced and i finally figured i could resolve the mid-corner/exit understeer by left foot braking whilst powering out the corner, it makes the fwd pull the front inwards.



by 5pm red flags out, came in i had such a blast. everyone looked pretty worn out. we packed up, i had to rebuild my back seats, and went back to hotel. i was worn out too.

all the tyres had bits of old track marbles stuck to em

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tried to sleep at night but beds were awful then dad snored. outa despiration i grabbed the duvet and slept in the bathtub :p it was damp, cramped n stuffy but least it was quiet n dark. only lasted few hrs cos my back ached and resorted back to the usual bed.

drove back home the next day
 
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checked the car over tday.

rear brakes look fine, actually i don't think they've actually worn in.

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rear tyres also hardly worn

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the fully loaded FR tyre though is a little torn. but unbelievably even after such hard driving it's only worn mostly bout 0.25mm

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FL tyre has the same chamfered tread edges

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the front discs are nicely bedded in

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front pads are a little crumbly pitted but grip good when cold and really good when hot

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the FL wheel has cv greased splattered on it

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and found the cv boot had ruptured

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changed oil & filter and will change cv boot soon.

lee is goin to oulton park on sept 1, i booked summore holiday off work to go there too cos he says its a real good technical track for our type of hatchbacks, rockingham is a rather fast track for more power hungry cars. can't wait
 
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took the left driveshaft out tday with the damaged boot

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still some clean grease in there

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packed with new grease

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one of the reason why it may be difficult to knock the CV joint on/off the shaft is the edges of the driveshaft splines could be dented so it jams the splines on the cv joint. i refiled the spline edges to make sure they'll slide in place ok.
another reason is the C-clip maybe expanded too large and prevent the cv joint from sliding on so i took it out and rebent it into a smaller ring

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used a molegrip to hold the rubber boot back while i gently hammer the joint back onto the shaft

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joint & boot fitted

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take out the speedo pinion gear

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stick a long tube & funnel into gearbox to refill the oil back in

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runs fine now.

bring on oulton park :p
 
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hey mate, was it necessary to take the shaft from the box? i dont really like the idea of spending more money on oil as i changed it like 500miles ago when i did the shaft. How hard is it to take the CV joint from the shaft. I had damaged driveshaft and i installed the one from nonABS on my SR. ABS light is on. I thought i just swap the CVs cos I still got the old shaft in garage. But when i tried to pull the ABS cv joint from the shaft it just wouldn't go. so i gave up for now. cheers george
 
hey mate, was it necessary to take the shaft from the box? i dont really like the idea of spending more money on oil as i changed it like 500miles ago when i did the shaft. How hard is it to take the CV joint from the shaft. I had damaged driveshaft and i installed the one from nonABS on my SR. ABS light is on. I thought i just swap the CVs cos I still got the old shaft in garage. But when i tried to pull the ABS cv joint from the shaft it just wouldn't go. so i gave up for now. cheers george

for ease of access in removing the joint from the shaft to install the boot properly, yes.
the gearbox oil is reused.

my 1998 cv joint seperates from the shaft ok by gripping in a vice and using a long socket extension bar and a big hammer to knock the inner cv roller thing to slide off the driveshaft.

although i remember the original CV from the older 1993 micra was more seized and was impossible to seperate so had to replace it.

alternatively if you can knock the non-abs joint off its shaft, the abs sensor ring is just tolerance fitted so you can tap it off the old joint and get a machine shop to lathe the non-abs joint to fit the ring.
 
update

the rear swaybar looks abit tattered after few yrs of road salt n grit

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removed all rust

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primed

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painted n laquered

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previously cusioned the exhaust from the droplinks with steel wool but during hard left corners at rockingham it was still rattling against the swaybar so i put some more wool to cusion against that

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painted swaybar fitted. lubed the bushes with engine oil to make em more slippery but they tend to dry out eventually

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just ordered a nistune individual licence to use nistune software on me ecu.

just remembered its getting close to mot time and not sure if the janspeed system'll pass again. wondering if i should book a garage to check emissions beforehand or just wait for the mot guy to say the enevitable then change back to stock manifold. such a faff swapping manifolds.

Ed is it possible to readjust the maps to ensure the emissions low enough for the test, doesn't matter bout performance at that point, and then with the software i could just swap the map back over rather than manifolds every yr.
 
tday i took the door card off cos it was abit mouldy

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peeled the cover off the mouldy board

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unstapled the top frome from the board

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rather than trace the outline with a pen i sprayed some primer to mark the edges

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to get this

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cut out with drills and jigsaw

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clamped the top frame in position with mole grips. redrilled the staple holes with 2mm bit

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cut some wire and bent it like this

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insert and hammer the ends closed

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time to glue the cover back on. needed a flat table, squirted 2 tubes of UHU glue over the board and pressed the cover on. living room stank of glue

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ain't pretty but will do, maybe could've used spray mount or paint the glue on.

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fitted

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next i got some countersunk nut & bolts to fit the remaining sparco pedals.
took rubber off clutch, marked

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punched, drilled

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and fitted

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i also thought about relocating the battery into the boot for better weight distrib and then fit a 57i cone filter there. researched into bits needed. took battery out to plan the layout. will prob need a vented battery box too for a liquid battery.

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figured out cables prob 20quid for 5m, battery box 20quid, heatshrink 10quid, terminals 5quid
overall it seems alota work & expensive and hard to do in time for oulton park. may give it a miss for now cos not essential.
 
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kudos to you pollyp............wish i had the knowledge, patience and time to even try something like that. how much is your car worth now that all this work has been done?

regards
 
kudos to you pollyp............wish i had the knowledge, patience and time to even try something like that. how much is your car worth now that all this work has been done?

regards

i recon its being shown so the less brainfull like myself can follow----you follow laddy?
brilliant work as usual man----next time leather it polly man!!
 
kudos to you pollyp............wish i had the knowledge, patience and time to even try something like that. how much is your car worth now that all this work has been done?

regards

ooh god, haven't given it much thought and pretty afraid of finding out. no idea how to find out what the cars actually worth but'll go through how much i spent towards pollymobile2.

here goes #rummidges through records#

£500 buy car
£1115 replacement parts (rear calipers, filters, wipers, handles etc)
£723 external labour (weld sill, remap, etc)
£2900 upgrade parts (janspeed system, whiteline suspension etc)

total = £5238

HOLY MOLY:wow:
 
i recon its being shown so the less brainfull like myself can follow----you follow laddy?
brilliant work as usual man----next time leather it polly man!!

quite like the soft fabric of these seats. dunno bout leather for summer cos the black leather on these sport seats always scald me after work on really sunny days. ooh ahh ahh ouch
 
oh yup true that ,could do the door cards though??
nice price up their i think many have fallen silent..................
 
I think we should create a facebook fans page for "Polly and dr Frank working log posted on micra.org" :p
Keep it up Polly, really appreciated !
Seb
 
ooh god, haven't given it much thought and pretty afraid of finding out. no idea how to find out what the cars actually worth but'll go through how much i spent towards pollymobile2.

here goes #rummidges through records#

£500 buy car
£1115 replacement parts (rear calipers, filters, wipers, handles etc)
£723 external labour (weld sill, remap, etc)
£2900 upgrade parts (janspeed system, whiteline suspension etc)

total = £5238

HOLY MOLY:wow:

i bet everytime you see a sunday driver in your rear mirror your schitting a brick lol christ wouldnt even like to think on what the insurance is costing you nevermind what they would pay out if a nasty accident happened!

can i just say that i have never came across a post like this with such detail and work commitment. my other car is an audi a2 tdi and a really good car at that. if only i could find a good enough mechanic like yourself pollyp i would be first to chap on your door :)

you shouldve done the rear brake cable installation step by step guide for me that wouldve been the icing on the cake for me ;)

regards me
 
i bet everytime you see a sunday driver in your rear mirror your schitting a brick lol christ wouldnt even like to think on what the insurance is costing you nevermind what they would pay out if a nasty accident happened!

can i just say that i have never came across a post like this with such detail and work commitment. my other car is an audi a2 tdi and a really good car at that. if only i could find a good enough mechanic like yourself pollyp i would be first to chap on your door :)

you shouldve done the rear brake cable installation step by step guide for me that wouldve been the icing on the cake for me ;)

regards me

they're either ahead of me goin 40 in a 60mph or in me rear view getting smaller. don't think much bout its value, just enjoy the moment of driving it. already had one crash before, more wiser now kinda :p

insurance is 375quid with chris knott, definately don't think insurance claim will cover her enough anyway so tuff luck if she has a crisis, just try not to crash again.

glad me blog helped

you got rear drums or discs? changing handbrake cable is pishh easy could write steps for ya?
 
just prepping the car for trackday on wed.

ziptied the CAI pipe to the gearbox mount so that the high speed air pressure doesn't bend the pipe like it did during rockingham

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stripped the rear and removed back seatbelt buckles or else they'll rattle about

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good hoovering

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weighed the rear seat base, seat backing and the parcel shelf and it totalled at 22kg fwn

also retweaked the rear trailing arm cos it drifts slightly to the left when i let go the wheel on straight motorway.
and realigned the steering, so now it drives straight & true at near zero toe

doin this while slightly ill doesn't help but i'll recover in time.

i'm making dad learn the track on toca race driver 3 cos i may let him have a go near the evening when its prob quieter. feeling a little bit anxious cos he's a complete amateur, doesn't know the track and fear he'll trash it or hold ppl up.
first go and he was wayy off the race line staying in the middle, braked to early or soon, too slow or too fast..all over.

gona see how his laps doin to judge whether to let him drive.
 
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i have to be sure he passes my standards before letting him loose with my pride n joy :p
better to be prepared than surprised
 
before i forget, here's a handbrake guide kakawak

-park on level road, select 1st gear, chock front wheels and release handbrake

-loosen rear wheel nuts

-jack up rear axle onto axle stands

-remove back wheels

-lift the handbrake 1 click and loosen the cable end nut till its right at the tip
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Drum brakes:

prod a screwdriver through the grometed hole at the back of the drumbrake to release the handbrake lever stop plate mechanism and fully retract the shoes to enable the drum to be removed. pull drum off.

removing the hub makes access alot easier. knock the grease cap off gradually with chisel & hammer. remove split pin and undo the very tight hub nut with socket & long breaker bar. remove hub

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unhook the lower spring

now carefully remove the spring loaded brake shoe retainer pins, don't lose em

unhook and remove the shoe from the bottom groove of the backing plate that it pivots on

unhook the cable from the handbrake lever on the shoe

check the shoe thickness and replace if needed
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Disc Brake:
knock off the spring clip thats holding the outer cable to the rear caliper handbrake mount bracket

detach the outer cable from the handbrake mount bracket

detach the handbrake cable loop end from the calipers handbrake lever
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-remove the rear heat shield

-detach the front of the handbrake cables from the equaliser bracket

-unbolt the handbrake cable from the chassis and lower trailing arms and remove
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Refit is just reverse (but drum brakes require extra steps)

Drum brakes:
after bolting new cable into chassis/suspension & refit onto the cable equaliser

feed cable through backing plate hole

fit the cable end onto the handbrake lever on shoe

always disassemble the self adjuster, clean the threads with brake cleaner/rag, regrease then screw the self adjuster ratchet nut all the way in

refit the self adjuster mechanism & the main return spring onto the two shoes

hook the top of the shoes onto the drum pistons

hook the bottom of the shoes onto the backing plate grooves

refit the lower tension spring onto the shoes

while pulling the shoes handbrake lever forward to reveal an open hole in the shoe frame, pop in the handbrake lever stop plate

reinstall the spring loaded brake shoe retaining pins (very frustrating and requires patience)

reinstall hub and torque upto 221Nm then install new splitpin

refit drum & wheels

put the gromet back in the handbrake lever stop plate access hole in the backing plate

retighten the handbrake cable nut end until there's no slack upon the 1st click

now to setup the self adjuster that we had regreased and reset, smoothly pull the handbrake up & down repeatedly. you hear the self adjuster ratchet mechanism click away during each pull. keep pulling up & down until the ratchet stops clicking then the mechanism is set so the shoes are resting very close to the drums.

adjust the handbrake cable end nut until the drums starts to grip after 1 click and is fully engaged after 6-8 clicks

lower car back down
 
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always done it the hard way me :laugh: never took the hub off ............... very nice wright up that.. hats off to ya polly (Y)
 
always done it the hard way me :laugh: never took the hub off ............... very nice wright up that.. hats off to ya polly (Y)

did it hard way too initially. after lots of swearing, taking the hub off made it easier
 
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