My B5.5 TDI diary.

[Col]

More MOT prep and this is mainly for the OCD of it !

Only for the OCD among you.

Summer wheels layed out ready to fit


Center caps in


Cleaned the wheel nut covers


Goodbye to the winters until next winter


I only cleaned under here the other day


So I had to clean it again


Brakes were looking a bit scabby


So a quick lick of paint, a very quick blat only on the outwardly visible bits


Back one with the paint still wet, that'll dry down to a nice satin finish


Summers all on

[Col]

It has been a long time.

And now I've got the ability to post pictures again, it'd be silly not to. (I'll have a go at filling in some blanks up thread when I have time).

A few of the car in general first, it is still clean and still good.

The old hector itself


Immaculate rear wheel


Immaculate front wheel


Onto the current project which is rear brakes. Here we have a pair of new calipers, pre painted satin black by me, discs, pads, brake pipes and hoses and a roll of Cupro / Kunnifer / Copper Nickle brake pipe just in case things get nasty.


Since I last updated this thread, I acquired a stealth sub set up second hand, which was nice.


And of course the amplifier


More to follow when I get stuck into the work. Fingers crossed that things that need to come undone, come undone without drama and I don't need to make any brake pipes.

[caldirun]

Looks really good, best of luck with the callipers

[Col]

Not rushing, in fact copious squirts of plusgas and waiting for "the pans to soak".

Got the old caliper, main hose/axle brakepipe and flexi hose off.


And there is the problem, I'm not sure how but the seal was ripped and water obviously got in and seized it.


New stuff mocked up


Schoolboy error in **** poor planning. I need four of these clips. I could go full bandit and refit the old rusty ones but that would be a bodge. Hope to get some tomorrow.

[Col]

Good new. The passenger side brake union also undid without issue so there is no need to make any new brake pipes. I'd rather have an unused roll of cupro pipe than the hassle of running new pipes, especially the drivers side one which runs above a heatshield.

Popped into my local VW dealer earlier as well and ordered some of the spring clips for the princely sum of 60p each! I'll collect them tomorrow morning.

Old calipers, axle brake semi flexi / semi rigid pipes, and main flexi's all off. All will be replaced.


The rear brake pads. The set on the left are those from the binding caliper side, they are about twice as worn as the other side.


I've taken this opportunity to take the arch liners off and have a look. Things are holding up quite nicely from when I last did this back in 2016 although there are few bits to touch up. There is however a bit more work to do at the drivers side sill end.

Drivers side sill end, a mud and water trap and some tell tale rust staining.


No such issues on the passenger side except for a bit of surface rust from a sill cover fixing screw.


Touch ups from 2016 doing well


All the work I did cleaning off and painting the suspension components is holding up very well also.


After a quick jet wash that sill end rust looks a bit ominous.


I'll wait for things to dry then get the grinder and cup brush out on the sill end a bit later and touch up with some POR15 paint (my new favourite). I will also give the arch liners a clean.

More to follow...

[Col]

And there is the problem owning an old car that you care about a bit too much. That quick rust job is turning into a bigger one. I've just spent the best part of an hour and a half digging out a block of seam sealer which must have been 40x60x60mm to establish the extent of the rust.

Whilst doing so I've come to the conclusion that sometime in it's life the car been accident damage repaired at that exact point on both sides of the car with the drivers side (this rusty bit) taking the main brunt. I reckon the car had been reversed back too far over a drop and once the back wheels cleared it grounded at this point. When I bought the car there was no visible evidence on this (now rusty) side of any damage but some on the other side, some cracked plastic.

Pictures can say more than words, these are after I'd dug out the seam sealer.




And there is the pile of it painstakingly removed


In this picture you can see where I believe to be the extent of an accident repair with the difference in paint colour. I looked at it from various angles to eliminate "the light" causing it but it is there and the camera picks it up well.