Project Bumble Bee- Black with a hint of Yellow

[Scotty1.7]

Neil, Dal- I can't do that to Bee guys- He'll end upwith someone who won'tcare for him and will jus make him even worse then he is. Under all of this stuff there a car which i care for alot. Thertes nothing out there that I want to swap or change Bee for, and can afford.

Z- when i can afford it I will do, I'm doing running repairs at the minute to just keep it going till i can sort everything out fully and to my own standards. There is a good car under all that and i intend to bring it out and make it good again

Mart- I've gone down that route. The only thing they will do is put it in for a more therough(sp) test at a cost to me of £250( somewthing simalar to putting a total loss car back on the road). The garage who did the tests won't have any action brought against them till all details have been chacked and they have had 6 months of tests monitered. And even then, there is a slim chance of getting my £250+ Mot costs back. So slim i am not willing to risk monwy i don't have and need to spend on the car.

You'll all think- no scratch that- You all know i'm insane ( drive through ice cream please) and i won't let what is a great car be ruined- Bee is right on the edge from being a total mess- it just needs some 'more' money spending on it to bring it back from the brink and restore it, mechanically speaking.

I'm not bothered about how Bee looks, i want to get him mechanically sound.

Think about it and look at the list. Its just regular maintaince stuff. Ok fair enough its not been done and the longer i drive the car about the more it could/ might cost- but its just maintaince.

 

[nippydee]

Did you get Bee checked after the pot hole you hit?
You said you had a quick check and it seemed ok.
Maybe that could have accelerated the buckling issue.

 

[Scotty1.7]

yeah i did tina.

Got given a clean bill of health on passenger side and poss slight buckle on the driver- but only very slight.`

 

[badger_]

You have to do what you feel happiest with I had a similar thing with my 106 GTI, I decided to sell up because I don't love him anymore - just doesn't make me smile when I drive etc...

 

[martinthrapston]

if bee passed the mot then i cant see why you would have problems like this,as it is a genuine mot you have had done,i think you just need to sit down and think things through mate,and stop looking for things that have happened in the past,if there was something serious i would hope and expect the mot inspector to have high lighted the problems to make you aware of them,i know my mot person would......

 

[Dal]

The MOT is just the opinion of the tester on the day remember. The first one I had on my Puma, they highlighted the steering rack was slightly leaking at would need looking at sooner rather than later. Nobody even mentioned it again during it's further 4 MOTs.

As Martin said, if it passed an MOT recently, then that should mean it's road worthy. Move on.

 

[Scotty1.7]

Yes I know- And the last MOT It had, that highlighted the issues, that made me look into the history put a seed of doubt in my head. A big seed.

I have faith in the car, and I am happy that the car is road worthy. But I am very concerned that stuff that the paper work claims to have had done, hasn't been done. I'd ratehr get it doen and be happy in my mind that I am 100% certain it has been done, by someone i trust- Rather then taking the word of some were that has appeared to lie.

Yes Bee on the face of it has a good wedge of history. I'd rather do, what you all think is a waste of time proberbly, and get it done.

Clutch is a defo- the bite is quite high and it will slip if you dump the clutch from very high revs- ok you don't always drive like that.
Wheels need to be strightend out, they have a very minor buckle on the front two- most likely to due to pot holes. There will be quite a few people with the same sort of issue.

The rest- yes your proberbly right i should just wait and do it later. But unfortunatly I have the what iff thoughts in my head now.

 

[yippeekiay]

Do what you think's right for you buddy. I changed tons of stuff just to be sure even though there was probably bugger all wrong with 95% of it. Now I find after spending so much that stuff starts going on it and I can't bloody pinpoint what it is.
I'm away to Wales tomorrow so it's staying here. Decided this afternoon and started researching for a hire car for 3-4 weeks.

 

[Scotty1.7]

New clutch fitted. Going back in though to get some bits checked

Just needs

Wheel's strighting
Cambelt/Aux belt/ Rocker
Fuel Tank
Rear Subframe
Windscreen at some point.
New tyres as well at some point.

I also have been given something rather nice- once its here and installed I'll put some pictures

 

[Marcus000]

I just had my spare set of FRP wheels straightened and all the edges feathered on the lathe to remove the curbing marks prior to being coated, £30 a wheel but the guy does a cracking job!

It was cheaper for me to do that than pay £500 for a set of FRP wheels in good nick.

 

[Marcus000]

I'll leave Scotty to do the write up but here are pictures from todays activity!

Leather fitted

Muchas gracias for the pizza!

 

[Scotty1.7]

Dude thanks so much for the helping hand

Well folks as you can see Bee is great shape and now has some leather fitted.

Sod the past, look what the future has held for my Puma!!!

 

[spike.]

Looking great there, top job there lads

 

[Scotty1.7]

cheers spike, I'm well chuffed with the results there.

Was bricking myself about swapping the pre tensioners over, and left the battery for ages- must of been a good hour and half

They need a good clean and I have some leather wipes at home to do them, so I'll give them a rub tomoz

 

[spike.]

you need to keep them moisturised... you'll need some good quality leather balm

 

[Scotty1.7]

Cheers for the tip, I'll find some- will shoe leather stuff do?

 

[spike.]

no idea...

you could try a furniture shop, if you don't want to buy an over priced car one

 

[Scotty1.7]

good point that man

 

[yippeekiay]

Nice one Scott k:

 

[Scotty1.7]

Right so quick write up from this weekends swaps

Myself and Marcus set off to my dads at about 11ish

Arrived, and as advised by everyone straight away disconnected the Battery

Marcus then quickly had the door cards off- (This being Bee there were broken clips)

Then the rear seat disappeared.

Then the rear panels- bit of faff here, but that was soon sorted- again by Marcus

New rear panels slotted in place and seat belts threaded through.

Rear seat bolted/ clipped in.

Now the front seats, easy to remove- after you've taken the side cover off and dad has unclipped the pretensions- which didn't go off (they had been left for a good 2 hours though)

Seats out and the now the rebuild of them begins- Dad unscrewed the old ones- some slight swearing involved due to the change in design meaning access is, well not easy. Taking out the shot ones, is easy as the seat design is abit different around this area.

Replace new ones, fit new seats at front, re-attach door cards, tighten down and stand back and admire while Marcus takes shots.

Couldn't of done it with out a) Marcus's help and tools and B) Dad dealing with the explosives

And those of you thinking i did nothing- I didn't, I droped one of the leather seats when carrying it from were they were stored to the build area, and cleaned dirt from parts of my car. Oh and undid some bolts from the front seats.