The past week in Car repair

[Briano1234]

Nothing like having a 3 year old rear wheel cylinder crap out.... then having to drive 14 miles in rain with no....effective brakes.....Gotta love the coast and go for the red lights.

[CalAltaDubber]

Well I just had a three day week end where I thought I would get some of the major things done on the project car. Boy was I mistaken.

First, on the way to get som parts, some woman spins her car out right in front of me on the highway. I thought I was going to hit her with Topless Bunny. Luckily, I didnt hit her and some how she managed to get her car streightened out with out a scratch.

Next, The parts I need to do the struts aren't available till Monday. OK I'll just do the brakes.

First brake went well.

Drivers side, the screw that holds the rotor in plase is siezed. No problem, I just drilled it out.

Problem, not enough thread to get a pair of vice grips on it.

So I drilled it out. No big deal , just run a tap through the hole, right? Broke the tap.

Two hours later I finally got the broken tap out and ran another tap through the hole.

Started on the rears. Got one off and found the wheel cylander is bad. No problem, got new ones thinking it would be an issue.

Problem, the screws that mount the cylander to the wheel housing are siezed

So I will be back at it tonight.

[gull]

I don't think you really need the screw that holds the rotor to the hub. The wheel will clamp it in place. It mostly just makes sure the lug holes stay aligned while you put the wheel on. Mine have been missing for ages and it hasn't caused any problems I've been aware of.

[Briano1234]

Drivers side, the screw that holds the rotor in plase is siezed. No problem, I just drilled it out.

Problem, not enough thread to get a pair of vice grips on it.

So I drilled it out. No big deal , just run a tap through the hole, right? Broke the tap.

Two hours later I finally got the broken tap out and ran another tap through the hole.

Problem, the screws that mount the cylander to the wheel housing are siezed

So I will be back at it tonight.

Good trick, and I have used it a lot, no more tapping out seized broken bolts.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsea ... =left+hand
Best 8 bucks I ever spent.

Buy a set of Left hand drill bits from harbor freight.
Place the left hand drill bit in the chuck
Drill in reverse.
Center drill the bolt use the smallest that you can without hitting the side walls.
As the Drill cuts, it will bind on the screw and the Vibration of the drill and the heat it will back right out of that hole in a
couple of minutes.

For the rears I have drilled the allen bolts out and used 10mm hex to go back with, but then again I use plenty of never-seize on those and the rotor bolt.

For the bleeder nipple I place never-seize on the tip, then wrap the rest with teflon tape. Always replace the rubber cap after bleeding.

[CalAltaDubber]

I don't think you really need the screw that holds the rotor to the hub. The wheel will clamp it in place. It mostly just makes sure the lug holes stay aligned while you put the wheel on. Mine have been missing for ages and it hasn't caused any problems I've been aware of.

Quite right, the purpose of that screw is to align the rotor for mounting the wheels. But I'm kinda anal about that sort of thing. If it was designed to be there, then it should be there.

[CalAltaDubber]

Good trick, and I have used it a lot, no more tapping out seized broken bolts.

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsea ... =left+hand
Best 8 bucks I ever spent.

Buy a set of Left hand drill bits from harbor freight.
Place the left hand drill bit in the chuck
Drill in reverse.
Center drill the bolt use the smallest that you can without hitting the side walls.
As the Drill cuts, it will bind on the screw and the Vibration of the drill and the heat it will back right out of that hole in a
couple of minutes.

For the rears I have drilled the allen bolts out and used 10mm hex to go back with, but then again I use plenty of never-seize on those and the rotor bolt.

For the bleeder nipple I place never-seize on the tip, then wrap the rest with teflon tape. Always replace the rubber cap after bleeding.

Good idea Brian, I will look into it.

[CalAltaDubber]

Got the brakes sorted out last night (finally). Now to move on!

Next, the struts and then to attempt the magic of making it run.

[bbrown]

Replaced my trim clips on both rear panels on the driver's and passenger's side rear panels. I did the trick with the thin washer behind each clip to get them out so the hold the trim better and there is a heck of a difference. Replaced my alternator with Steve's help. The alternator just quit and so I had to get it replaced (thanks for warranties and Steve). I got a new battery as my old one was also on the way out. I used 'cell tester and found that I had one good cell and it was only at 75% and the rest of the cells were at or below %50 and the little floater balls fell really fast. I got a yellow top, but I had to mount it on its side since it is a little tall. The battery being on its side is fine since they are leak proof, but I needed to make a holder. I got a chance to test my skills on stick welding thin metal. Its a little harder to weld on, but I got the art of tack welding down well enough to weld two pieces of all thread into the battery tray. Here are the results:





Over the winter I bought a boot for my top, but I am not sure if it for my Cabby. It was a steal ($40 or so) and the PO said he had it on his 1986 so I figured it would fit my '86. However, I am starting to think that the cover is for an earlier Cabby whose top doesn't fold down as far as mine. It seems to fit a little loosely, but not excessively. Here are some pics of it:



I am primarily concerned with the way that the top doesn't fit into the "shoulder pads" as seen here


Here are some better pics of my bumpers. Don't mind the bug splatters. I have my own theory on why the best seller Cabbys were created. The color keyed bumpers were just a way to mask the flawed chrome dipped/sprayed bumpers. I noticed this because my rear bumper had spotty chrome platting, but my front bumper appeared to have only a few minor flaws once I stripped the paint and primer. Anyways here are the pics:

[gull]

There should be two plastic stiffeners inside the boot at the back corners, to make it hold its shape better. Are those missing on yours? Other than that it looks OK; they really don't fit very tightly. As far as I know the only difference between years is some of them have cutouts for rear shoulder belts and others don't.

[Briano1234]

Up need to get some Budwiser labels printed up and place on the side of the battery.


As far as boots, the 80-81.5 tops were taller and the boots from those reflect it, they changed the hinges of the top to
allow it to fold tighter as folks complained about the lack of rear visibility.

[gull]

Learn something new every day!

Has anyone ever tried dying a vinyl boot? Mine is a beige one I got on eBay because it's what I could find, but it's the wrong color for the car and a bit stained anyway.

[Briano1234]

No but I sprayed my seats.
I cleaned the seats with soap and water.
I followed that with green-can Brake-Kleen and a lot of non-colored rags, you wouldn't believe how much dirt it pulled out of the cracks.
Liberaly sprayed it with about 4 coats of Vinyl dye. VHT.

Here is where I cleaned the boot cover with Brake-Kleen, it preps the vinyl




No flash

[gull]

Thanks, good tips.

[bbrown]

There should be two plastic stiffeners inside the boot at the back corners, to make it hold its shape better. Are those missing on yours? Other than that it looks OK; they really don't fit very tightly. As far as I know the only difference between years is some of them have cutouts for rear shoulder belts and others don't.

I have plastic in the front to protect the boot from the hinge area, but no plastic in the back corners. Guess I need to make my own. Any chance I can get a pick of the inside of your boot to see what it is I need?

Up need to get some Budwiser labels printed up and place on the side of the battery.


As far as boots, the 80-81.5 tops were taller and the boots from those reflect it, they changed the hinges of the top to
allow it to fold tighter as folks complained about the lack of rear visibility.

I was thinking Coke cans since I work for Coca-Cola. As for the boot that was my concern, that I have one for the 80-81.5, but I think those tops were significantly taller and thus the boot would be as well. Mine is just a bit "baggy."

[gull]

Actually, there aren't any in the back. I had it turned around in my head and was thinking of the hinge ones. Didn't realize that until I went out to look at it. Sorry about the red herring!

I think you may be overestimating how well they're "supposed" to fit. Mine's kinda baggy, too. I don't know if that's normal; most people don't seem to bother with the boot, so I haven't seen a lot of other cars with it in place.