The Diplomat has been having a bit of a rough time of late.
Literally less than a week after I had the alloys refurbished it got a puncture on the front nearside tyre.
Frustratingly I ended up driving around with the spare steel wheel for two weeks before I got two new front tyres.
I opted for some Goodyear Efficientgrip Performance rubber and I'm very happy so far. They seem to offer the same level of grip as the Michelins but are slightly quieter and apparently more fuel efficient.
After that it was MOT time. I knew the brakes needed some attention so I ordered a few bits from EBC and Genuine Parts search.
Basically a complete set of 4 discs and pads along with OEM rear shoes and a genuine GM fixing kit, marvellous!
While the front pads were still in pretty good shape (they were EBC Ultimax pads fitted about 6 moths ago), both front and rear discs were looking very tired:
Time to get to work!
Using my handy brake cylinder rewind tool:
The old and the new:
All sorted:
After that it was ready for the big day, or so I thought.
It ended up failing on 3 counts of rust; both sills and a rear spring seat.
Unfortunately after the clutch, alloys and brakes the old bank account was looking a bit bare so there was nothing for it other than to wait and take it off the road for a while.
This was doubly unfortunate as it coincided with the CD manual's MOT which didn't go so well either. The car itself was fine. So how can it be bad you ask?
Well, a major downside to owning 4 Cavaliers all taxed, MOT'd and insured is there are allot of dates to remember and in this case, I totally forgot about it until about a week after it had expired!
So basically that was off the road as well until I could book an MOT for her.
All this meant that the CD auto and the LS had to be dusted off and rather unhappily put into frontline service in the middle of winter. They both performed their duty admirably in the face of such terrifying unseen adversities such as rain and road dirt and I'm glad to say they both pulled through.
After putting allot of unnecessary miles on the CD auto (it's now done over 45,000
) the CD manual finally had it's MOT which it thankfully passed with flying colours.
By this point the current account was looking healthier and it was the Diplomat's turn once more to get some attention.
A couple of pattern sills and a genuine GM rear spring seat later and she was structurally sound again and had a clean bill of health from the MOT man!
I decided to leave the new sills unpainted for now as I plan to have some major work done later this year to address the sorry state of the rest of the Diplomat's paintwork. Watch this space!
The new spring seat was seam welded all the way round so should see off the rust for a good few years.
The new sills however, look very scruffy at the moment but it's only temporary I promise:
After that saga, it was time to get back to sorting out a few minor problems.
I inevitably blew out a fog lamp a few weeks ago, probably owing to the fact I always leave them on.
Like a true pro, I decided to do this job in the dark!
It's a bit like breaking into Fort Knox for this job, these bulbs are locked down tight:
The old bulb sporting an interesting shade of blue:
Ta da!
After the success I had reconditioning the LS's electric windows, I decided to do the same thing with the Diplomat's windows which were straining noticeably going up and down:
Just a bit small titbit of info if you ever find yourself struggling to remove these panels; Vauxhall cleverly designed a little notch at the bottom, into which you can fit a flathead screwdriver enabling easy removal:
I find that a liberal application of grease on this runner seams to do the trick:
Ever since I got the car it's had this terribly annoying rattily knocking noise coming from the passenger door. It happened everywhere; sooth roads, rough roads, it didn't matter, just a constant, droning, nondescript, knock. Very hard to explain what it sounded like but it was extremely frustrating believe me. I had until now thought it was the door card itself and had attempted to fix the problem with foam pads in the past (see photo above). But yesterday I managed to fix it.
As I was lubricating the windows I noticed that the door latch was just catching on the top of the striker as it closed. So as they are adjustable, I thought I'd move the striker down just a tad. This worked perfectly and now the door shuts really easily and there is no need to slam it. Incredibly it turns out this has also fixed the knocking sound. Fantastic!
After that major victory it was time for a wash.
Guess what all this was, and no it's not the worlds biggest bird poo:
Ah, much better!
Without a doubt, Underground car parks are the most flattering environments for cars, it doesn't look like this in real life.
Time for some scenic photos, where the car magically becomes dirty again!
