Stuff you have fixed today

[RichardM]

No pics, but anyone looking for a very small ball bearing as I was 'cos there's one missing from a DTI!

Those from medium ball point pens are approx 1mm diameter (0.99 mostly) and fine ball points are 0.80mm.

Five each side have to be better than five one side and four the other! Just have to fit them in now.

 

[Morrisman]

My daughter has just moved into her first home, and being a student she is short of money. We found her a nice 3 seater leather sofa with electric recline, except one section didn't work, so it was sold for only £50

It was delivered today and I tried it out, the duff part just made lots of clicks when the button was pressed, which seemed to come from an electrical box underneath. I unplugged the wires, took the lid off the box, saw it was a electronic circuitry and promptly put the lid back on. Too complex for me.

However, when the sofa was put back upright and I pressed the switch it miraculously works perfectly.

I can only imagine a wire was loose, so it may well not be 'fixed' permanently.

 

[mike 109444]

No pics, but anyone looking for a very small ball bearing as I was 'cos there's one missing from a DTI!

Those from medium ball point pens are approx 1mm diameter (0.99 mostly) and fine ball points are 0.80mm.

Five each side have to be better than five one side and four the other! Just have to fit them in now.

I though that biro balls had small holes/pits in to transfer the ink from the plastic ink tube round the ball to the paper ??

 

[bourbon]

My daughter has just moved into her first home, and being a student she is short of money. We found her a nice 3 seater leather sofa with electric recline, except one section didn't work, so it was sold for only £50

It was delivered today and I tried it out, the duff part just made lots of clicks when the button was pressed, which seemed to come from an electrical box underneath. I unplugged the wires, took the lid off the box, saw it was a electronic circuitry and promptly put the lid back on. Too complex for me.

However, when the sofa was put back upright and I pressed the switch it miraculously works perfectly.

I can only imagine a wire was loose, so it may well not be 'fixed' permanently.

you need a repair cafe. Just like we have in Burntwood and Lichfield!

Oh and the belt broke on my tumble dryer, So I fixed that. Why do they HAVE to put so many self-tapping screws in is beyond me.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

...to transfer the ink from the plastic ink tube round the ball to the paper ??

Nah, that's so that they can leak all over your best shirt or jacket.

 

[RichardM]

I though that biro balls had small holes/pits in to transfer the ink from the plastic ink tube round the ball to the paper ??

Couldn't see any holes or pits in the ones I investigated, just looked like a very small ball bearing. All back together and working perfectly now.

 

[awemawson]

You are thinking of the tiny ball laced with toxins fired into a poor chaps leg from an "umbrella gun" whilst walking across Waterloo Bridge a few years back.

The poison-tipped umbrella: the death of Georgi Markov in 1978 - archive

The Bulgarian dissident died after being jabbed by an assailant on Waterloo Bridge. Like the recently poisoned Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, he was an acute irritant to his government. See how the Guardian reported events

www.theguardian.com

 

[Morrisman]

you need a repair cafe. Just like we have in Burntwood and Lichfield!

Oh and the belt broke on my tumble dryer, So I fixed that. Why do they HAVE to put so many self-tapping screws in is beyond me.

When we bought it my plan was to swap the working gut's out of my own electric recliner sofa, if a repair wasn't simple. I never recline mine.

I still can't work out how the electric boxes was making loud clicking though, as there didn't appear to be any large relays in it.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This 1790 Railway lamp came my way the other day. It was complete, but needed a tidy up.

A new wick, a repair to the wick gear and a clean.

Oh bother.

Repainted as GWR had it.

New glass is now needed.

New glass and all is good.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This RAC PIFCO Road Lanter was saved from the scrap bin.

When I got it home I found out why.
Nothing worked and the glass broke on me.

A new battery, new bulb and the switchh contacts cleaned up had the lamp working.

This was odd. This bettery did not work in the RAC lantern. But worked in other Pifco's.

This shows the weak link on this style of torches. They break as soon as you look at them.

 

[Robotstar5]

Well it was yesterday I fixed it, my local bargain find engine. Cleaned out a load of rust from the fuel tank, fitted a temporary pipe and away it went

 

[Dcal]

Today I fixed a front subframe from an Alfa 159 I acquired.
Seems a common problem so I thought I'd sort it before it became terminal.
Someone had treated and painted it before.

Didn't look too bad till I pressure washed it.

Just painted on top of rust.

I made a patch out of 2mm steel and used my bead roller and tipping die to start the bend.

Finished it off with a hammer, a bit of rail track and some 25mm plate.

Turned out ok, but 2mm plate is a lot harder to shape than body tin.
A coat of zinc rich epoxy to the inside .

Then tacked it in

Fully welded

Ground back.

Just need to do the other side and get it painted.

 

[GRW]

Not so much "made" but "re-purposed". For ages I've kept 2 biggish valves from a Scania Genset Engine that were replaced.
Today I tacked a bolt to the head so I could put the Valve into my pillar drill upside-down (no Lathe or clue how to use one), so I could apply a grinder to the shaft and point the ends to turn a valve into a large Centre Punch.

Not sure if the points will be hard enough though? Is there an easy lo-tech way I could Temper/Harden the tips?

 

[Robotstar5]

Recycled the old roofing sheets onto the side of the hay store at the stables today, spot the "watcher" in the second pic

 

[bricol]

Today I fixed a front subframe from an Alfa 159 I acquired.
Seems a common problem so I thought I'd sort it before it became terminal.
Someone had treated and painted it before.

I caught mine before it got that bad - had it blasted then I epoxy painted it, followed by 3m shultz, followed by lots of cavity wax inside it. Had to remake those little bumper hangers - they had gone too far.
I still have one M14 bolt left over . . . I have no idea where it is supposed to go, but five years later, nothing has fallen off . . .

I had to pull the engine and box to get to the add on box that sent the drive to the rear when the output shaft bearings lost preload and failed - seemed a good time to sort the subframe out. Took the opportunity to replace all the V6 timing chains, guides and tensioners from GM online place in the USA - 200 quid or so rather than £2000 from Alfa.

Rest of the car seems pretty rust resistant - but the wafer thin coating on those subframes . . .

 

[Dcal]

I caught mine before it got that bad - had it blasted then I epoxy painted it, followed by 3m shultz, followed by lots of cavity wax inside it. Had to remake those little bumper hangers - they had gone too far.
I still have one M14 bolt left over . . . I have no idea where it is supposed to go, but five years later, nothing has fallen off . . .

I had to pull the engine and box to get to the add on box that sent the drive to the rear when the output shaft bearings lost preload and failed - seemed a good time to sort the subframe out. Took the opportunity to replace all the V6 timing chains, guides and tensioners from GM online place in the USA - 200 quid or so rather than £2000 from Alfa.

Rest of the car seems pretty rust resistant - but the wafer thin coating on those subframes . . .

Mine is only a 1.9 diesel but the rest looks pretty good so far.

The subframe is too big to fit in my blast cabinet and the weather's rubbish so I'm doing ST3 prep.
If I keep this, it could be a good test bed on coatings.
Blasting is so much easier on something like a subframe with all the nooks and crannies so it's a really good test for hand prep.

I'm using all the hand tools I have grinders, wire wheels / brushes, die grinders, roloc discs, needle gun and my home made bristle blaster.
All be the other bits and bobs are soaking in citric acid at the moment so will see how that goes as well.

I had a look at the timing belt and noticed the water pump was leaking so I'll change all the belts and tensioners while I'm at it.
Only other issue I've found is the fog lights have lost the silvering.
I got a good second hand set but I think I'll try resilvering the old set for the craic.
I've some very expensive chrome paint I want to try out.

 

[dobbslc]

Shagged water pumps take out the timing belt on those 1.9 diesels! (Assuming it's the CDTI Vauxhall also use) Vauxhall recommend 80k replacement but I did mine at 44k as they snap very regularly well before 80k!
I'd check the swirl flaps are still attached and the EGR valve too...

 

[arian]

I've some very expensive chrome paint I want to try out.

Saw a video of somebody using similar:

 

[James1979]

Not so much "made" but "re-purposed". For ages I've kept 2 biggish valves from a Scania Genset Engine that were replaced.
Today I tacked a bolt to the head so I could put the Valve into my pillar drill upside-down (no Lathe or clue how to use one), so I could apply a grinder to the shaft and point the ends to turn a valve into a large Centre Punch.

Not sure if the points will be hard enough though? Is there an easy lo-tech way I could Temper/Harden the tips?

Dunno. But, genuine question, are they gas filled?

I’ve no idea with Scania but some are.

Doesn’t mean much other than they’re hollow so not as strong as you think when re purposed into a punch.

I know this because…….

 

[Dcal]

Saw a video of somebody using similar:

Thanks for the link.
I've a spray version from Custom Paints.
It is supposed to be overcoated with one pack lacquer then two pack so it's a pretty involved process.
Brush painting would be a lot easier.

Chrome

Buy Chrome paint online from a world leading provider of custom coatings and special effects. Suitable for cars, bikes and more!

www.specialistpaints.com