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PollyMobiles Rebuild

printed some coilover dust caps for Dillan Savage on fb and wow these new settings make it print almost perfectly.
it's never looked soo good.
the top flat surfaces are absolutely smooth flat with zero ripples :cool:

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refined my car remote housing to be sleeker & easier to operate

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need to tuned down some of the bobbly bumps when it re-extrudes plastic but pretty much spot-on quality

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got an order for another teflon inlet spacer from Andy gray.
my previous technique of transferring a ducktape template over to the ptfe sheet is labourious and very inaccurate

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so figured a better way is to simply wet the face with primer and imprint the pattern onto the sheet

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dremelled & finished

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got an order for another teflon inlet spacer from Andy gray.
my previous technique of transferring a ducktape template over to the ptfe sheet is labourious and very inaccurate

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so figured a better way is to simply wet the face with primer and imprint the pattern onto the sheet

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dremelled & finished

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Dude some of the stuff you do is amazing.


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Would it not be worth making a steel/alloy template/jig to make it quicker?

naa I only sold like 1-2, so not enough to warrant the extra material cost of a jig just to save afew min when it only takes afew mins anyway to mark & mill it by hand.
 
when boucing the rear suspension, I notice the really soft rubber mounts have alot of movement, won't help rear dampening accuracy. so wondered if I can make it solid

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the idea was to make a spherical washer with this curtain rail metal ball. would've preferred the smaller 31mm cabinet ball knobs that fit inside the original mounting cups but they're more expensive.
ideally I should machine some solid spherical washers out of solid aluminium but it takes time to make the correct tool.

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arranged like this.

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machined them into cup washers

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found the 50mm diameter was too large so there's not enough threads for the locknut, the imperfect sphere has a limited swiveling range and the thin metal-to-metal doesn't seem durable enough.
oh well, was worth a try

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so plan B is just to cut the mushy mount in half

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and tightened the nut all the way, which all seemed to do the trick and doesn't move as much as before.

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checking if my BC pillowball top bearing will fit onto the lower arms, last time I measured them they were 33mm diameter and £30.

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now BC has bumped them upto £39 :eek:

another bad news is that googling for the size of the k11 lower ball joint, they say the outer diameter is 35.1mm
that's a loose 2mm gap.

so guess I'll have to continue looking for a 35 x 18mm spherical bearing to fit the standard arm or I'll have to cut & weld a new custom bearing mount onto the arm (easiest fix but risky to weld such high stress area)
 
we used those on the karts paul ^ bronze and nylon insert types, they would be very shortlived as a bottom balljoint, and come apart when worn !
 
we used those on the karts paul ^ bronze and nylon insert types, they would be very shortlived as a bottom balljoint, and come apart when worn !

ah ok I'll avoid those. many more choice of linings out there with 18x35mm size. will look for steel/ptfe
 
was just messing around with printing a tiny 1:100 scale of the car with the new printer setup.
early attempts had some ABS plastic warping issues when printing something this small & detailed but after afew remodelling tweaks I managed to get a clean print

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removed most of the supports and can see some of the fine details managed to come through

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this last support was abit too close to the model

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tiny :cool:

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recently my sister gave birth to a newborn girl and I've been chauffering them to/from the hospital, she's adorable :) big blue eyes and tiny red lips.

since she can't drive for few weeks due to c-section, I'll be chauffer. I last serviced her car mid 2016 and was surprised when I found zero oil on the dipstick! had to fill up with 2ltrs before driving, otherwise that engine blows up with a big bill on top of raising the baby.

at the same time, my moms 307 release bearing suddenly decided to give up. the pedal was so gritty rough and felt horrible to change gear with the whine.

sounded exactly like when clarksons alfa romeo gearbox/clutch whined badly during the topgear alfa challenge. (@ 0:41)



looking at how garages could charge over £500 for a clutch swap and moms pension can't support it, decided to park the Pug in my garage and do it myself.
must say this big car in a tiny garage is a tight squeeze to work on :p

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oh gawd peugeots are such a big PITA to work on. it's taken me 3 days to get to a stage where I can remove the gearbox.
so many odd size bolts & rubbish undersized torx screws that seize and parts obstructing each others bolt head access and half the time having to mod special tools argh

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gearbox finally out as it starts to rain

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release bearing pooped itself

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all cleaned with new bearing.
reinstall with new clutch tomorrow

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flywheel looked nice flat & smooth

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new clutch on left compared to old clutch on right

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urmm yeah pretty much a good time to replace this clutch. 6.2mm thin, two springs are loose and almost out of grooves.

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new clutch is 7.8mm thick

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new clutch fitted. reassembly from here onwards was a doddle :cool:

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finished on the night with excitement.
cranked the engine and the starter made a horrid crunch noise when it fired up, erhh?

stopped and cranked again abit longer, sounded like the teeth were skipping and then one of the bolts on the starter fell off o_O
I remember I had issues getting 2 out of 3 bolts on the starter threaded in this blind spot, maybe the bolts are in the wrong place offset to the bolt hole and the whole starter is angled too far away from the flywheel :rolleyes:
damn french engineering. guess I'll have to do more work tomorrow :confused:

meanwhile some new m12 nut & bolt for the micra's hub upright arrived

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twas an easy fix. corrected the starter angle till the holes lined up and bolts torque up more snug. now it starts normal.
drove it around town and oh the regreased gear linkages feel sharper and clutch feels silky smooth and bite point's now in the middle rather than near the top end.
 
just sorted the dreaded car insurance.
the sky renewal had rocketed from £490 to 530 which is crazy.
so rang adrian flux, the lad spoke so fast prob cos it's near 5pm, went through details and all mods.
for fully comp, covering the value of all mods he quoted £528. without the like-4-like its £500, that's no good.

I said save quote cos I'll have to think bout it. he says what's to think about and put me on spot? o_O:confused: (almost freak out, wanna hang up)
said I wanna keep options open and look for better deals. last yr was £490 so if he could do 495 I'm fine.

moments later he quoted £478 fully comp, paid via ccard and he zoomed past the terms like scatman john.

glad that's over, I sooooo really hate phone calls and especially confronting sales haggling. need an ice cream or a fag or a drink or something as I kick myself.
 
just sorted the dreaded car insurance.
the sky renewal had rocketed from £490 to 530 which is crazy.
so rang adrian flux, the lad spoke so fast prob cos it's near 5pm, went through details and all mods.
for fully comp, covering the value of all mods he quoted £528. without the like-4-like its £500, that's no good.

I said save quote cos I'll have to think bout it. he says what's to think about and put me on spot? o_O:confused: (almost freak out, wanna hang up)
said I wanna keep options open and look for better deals. last yr was £490 so if he could do 495 I'm fine.

moments later he quoted £478 fully comp, paid via ccard and he zoomed past the terms like scatman john.

glad that's over, I sooooo really hate phone calls and especially confronting sales haggling. need an ice cream or a fag or a drink or something as I kick myself.
'Rocketed' a whole £40 in a year? That's 77p a week or 11p a day increase, hardly a deal breaker.......
My recent experience with the insurance renewal on our Micra (totally standard K12 1.2 Sport +) is that when the car was changed, mid insurance year, from a 1.9 Citroen diesel, I was 'rather surprised' (make that 'bloody annoyed:mad:) that an extra £130 or so was demanded! It has just come up for renewal and the renewal quote was £330 (RAC insurance). A quick online quote from 'Post Office' insurance came back with a like for like quote of £175, guess who got the business? ;)
 
just sorted the dreaded car insurance.
the sky renewal had rocketed from £490 to 530 which is crazy.
so rang adrian flux, the lad spoke so fast prob cos it's near 5pm, went through details and all mods.
for fully comp, covering the value of all mods he quoted £528. without the like-4-like its £500, that's no good.

I said save quote cos I'll have to think bout it. he says what's to think about and put me on spot? o_O:confused: (almost freak out, wanna hang up)
said I wanna keep options open and look for better deals. last yr was £490 so if he could do 495 I'm fine.

moments later he quoted £478 fully comp, paid via ccard and he zoomed past the terms like scatman john.

glad that's over, I sooooo really hate phone calls and especially confronting sales haggling. need an ice cream or a fag or a drink or something as I kick myself.

I dumped Sky this year also. Their renewal price didn't reflect my recent address move like all my other policies, (Band E risk area to Band B), so I decided to shop around.

Sky wanted £455 and I'm now paying £299 for identical policy cover.

Personal opinion but, I don't feel the Sky brokers are working hard enough to ensure good prices for their customers year on year.
 
'Rocketed' a whole £40 in a year? That's 77p a week or 11p a day increase, hardly a deal breaker.......
My recent experience with the insurance renewal on our Micra (totally standard K12 1.2 Sport +) is that when the car was changed, mid insurance year, from a 1.9 Citroen diesel, I was 'rather surprised' (make that 'bloody annoyed:mad:) that an extra £130 or so was demanded! It has just come up for renewal and the renewal quote was £330 (RAC insurance). A quick online quote from 'Post Office' insurance came back with a like for like quote of £175, guess who got the business? ;)

blimey doubled in quote just for going to a k12? :eek:

on zero income and not made of money, I wanna keep running costs low. no point in paying an increased £530 when there's potentially better competition available at the expense of having to negotiate.
similar to all parts of the services industry, companies tax & profit from ppl who's too lazy or inconvienced or insufficiently educated to shop around and switch providers.
 
I dumped Sky this year also. Their renewal price didn't reflect my recent address move like all my other policies, (Band E risk area to Band B), so I decided to shop around.

Sky wanted £455 and I'm now paying £299 for identical policy cover.

Personal opinion but, I don't feel the Sky brokers are working hard enough to ensure good prices for their customers year on year.

guess they don't want the business of loyal customers :confused:
 
cleaned and painted my cameras vinyl black so it doesn't stand out when fitted

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fitted a new set of upright bolts but one of them was the wrong m12x1.5 so have to order another m12x1.75

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guess they don't want the business of loyal customers :confused:


In a captive market oligopoly suppliers utilise customer renewal inertia in order to maximise price elasticity and profits to subsidise low prices touting for new business. The nature of big business is to maximise profits and shareholder returns obtaining competitive advantage by any means possible. :cool:
 
cut the old bonnet stick mount off the chassis

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screwed the spirit level onto the dashboard with rubber feet so it's adjustable

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noticed my trolley jack tilts one side whilst lifting cos the front wheel bushes are really worn loose

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so machined some new bushes from set of nuts

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for a snug fit

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was planning on mounting some cameras to test but it turned into one of those days where you curiously prod the rusty section near the back seat belt and it turns into a bigger job :p

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made CAD template, then a metal plate (omg it's so labourious cutting, bending, and endlessly trimming the piece till it fits snug), welded & painted

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on the other side, the old sealant tends to trap moisture and hides the rust inside :rolleyes:
wirebrush & painted.

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the rubbish wheel arch lip simply traps wet mud and makes it crumble.
another bit to repair in future.

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yet another rusty drivers sill to fix in future

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regreased the dried stuck rear sway bar. those rusty drop linkage nuts were a pain to remove.

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to get an idea of the optimum sound settings for each onboard camera before my next trackday, I tested various mic sensitivity levels while driving through the countryside to hear how it changes the sound quality.

 
the usb hub for powering all my onboard cameras tend to have a loose fit which can shut off & corrupt the footage so I need something to hold it steady

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removed the switches which are always on anyway and soldered it permanently on

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after afew iterrations, designed a simple tight fitting board glued on top of the casing that fits snug to the plug

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done

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the usb hub for powering all my onboard cameras tend to have a loose fit which can shut off & corrupt the footage so I need something to hold it steady

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removed the switches which are always on anyway and soldered it permanently on

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after afew iterrations, designed a simple tight fitting board glued on top of the casing that fits snug to the plug

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done

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I have to ask Paul, why did you remove the switches and not just solder a link across each one, then the holes in the hub box would still be neatly closed up and prevent ingress of loose rubbish/moisture?
 
I have to ask Paul, why did you remove the switches and not just solder a link across each one, then the holes in the hub box would still be neatly closed up and prevent ingress of loose rubbish/moisture?

hi john, I didn't need the switch since it's always kept on, the switch and solder seemed potentially likely to distrupt power so I removed it all to guarantee a steady connection.
I could use the switches elsewhere and the hole will be covered over.
 
my USB powerpack for the cameras had a dodgy on/off switch so wanted to fix that

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this battery casing was soo tightly sealed, I had to destroy it apart

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batteries & circuit inside

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removed the faulty switch

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replaced it with spare mini switches from the USB hub

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designed a new case

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printed

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trimmed the supports

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soldered the new switch

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all reassembled & working

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all working reliably now :cool:

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my plain black trackday wheels looks abit bland so gave it a spruce of colour so the spinning wheels look more interesting when going around silverstone next month

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painted a red rim line

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and some cutting edge white electrical tape on the spokes to see them spinning :D

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looks mint :cool:

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realised that I haven't changed my engine & LSD oil since May 2016 so it's time for an overdue service before my bday trackday

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little bits of metal caught by the plug, maybe reverse cog or LSD?

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mucky old oil

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the catch can caught only 23ml after 210 miles (110ml/1000miles), haven't driven it much

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LSD preload getting looser as expected

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went for a brief drive in the luvely weekend sun with the new camera settings

 
noticed my old halfords jack was leaning dangerously on 3 wheels, something's bent.
so dismantled and overhauled it

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reassembled with some black paint and it's back to normal. turned out to be afew loose threads.

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the drivers seat rail was very sloppy so I removed and tightened the clearances with a hammer & vice

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also found the seat backing upright bracket was loose. abit more snug after tightening all the bolts.

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swapped back to white wheels, gave em a good clean, washed the car and just exhausted now :cool:
 
my old pump had broke so brought this cheapo £6 dual pump from screwfix, turns out to be crap.
the floppy frame kept bending/skewing to one side and clashing and the bracket spot welded onto the pump cylinder will eventually crack

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welded a stiffening plate over the arm, more area for my feet too

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and welded a small lip on the side so my left foot keeps it steady. much less wonky now

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drove down to swindon on Sat to meet sophie and help her swap a rusted rear drum axle which failed MOT. when removing the trailing arm bolts I expected them all to be seized but 7 out of 8 loosened off the bushing fine, this was going along too good to be true. and sure enough the last bolt was seized which almost ruined the operation (was weekend and sophie needed car for bday & MOT on Mon) but a good hammering with basic tools eventually got it off.
It was a exhausting 3 days swapping the axles, rebuilding and adjusting the DAMN drum brakes, go-karting & mini-motorbiking on her bday.

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before heading home, I visited Abi in Salisbury on Mon as promised and looked at her awesomely wrapped & mean looking K12 and Jonnys prestine cute K11 superS :cool:

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they needed help fitting this imported Nismo preface lip (it fits my preface bumper perfectly) onto his superS bumper, which is different

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after alot of cutting & duck tape it fits like this.

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made some mounting brackets, the top will be stuck with foam tape

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looks nice

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I drove home overnight for 6-7hrs, completely 100% exhausted after all that.
the catchcan only caught 68ml after 715m (95ml/1000miles), something ain't working efficiently so will check it.

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it's been 2yrs since I rebuilt the brake lines with 5.1 fluid so it's time to change the brake fluid and swapped over to track wheels ready for monday

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been thinking about restraining the 3-point seat belt with a clamp to help keep me firmly anchored to the seat during trackdays rather than being thrown around.
got this seat belt stopper in halfords normally used for pregnant women. a really basic plastic clamp.

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fitted onto the belt nearby a solid edge on the B-pillar or above the shoulders

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and what I do is put on the seat belt,
sit back,
yank the belt to lock the reel,
while holding the belt locked I slide & lock the belt stopper upto the nearest edge to stop it springing back and unlocking, therefore you're always held very firmly to the seat.

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went for a test drive and wow it makes such a massive difference being pinned onto my bucket seat, I can immediately feel every single little twitch of the steering and what the chassis is doing.
highly recommend this mod for any performance driving. I should've done this trick years ago when I started trackdays.
 
david larsen on FB commented that he used what looked like a food bag clip,
so I went to Home Bargains and spotted a pack of these bad boys for just 65p!

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and they work alot better than the £10 halfords clamp, placed here near the reel

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or here near the shoulder point

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fitted the X-brace

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wrapped up the exposed loom in tape

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car is ready for trackday

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I knew these thin white electrical tape strips will peel off when it's cooking hot on track

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so I wrapped the spokes in white ducktape which is more secure and much more noticable :cool:

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shweet

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so what do you do when your car's prepped and it's a perfect sunny calm warm day? go for a drive to take pretty pics of the car of course :p

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Looking at the wheels with thicker duck tape, I just realised it reminds me of those vintage magnetic tape players lol

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you know the feeling when you catch your cars reflection with the highlighted wheels driving past a big shops window and it feels good :cool::)
just had that tday and she looks goooood :D
 
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