[Delta Romeo]

Updated with pics, good to see. Not "done to my car" but, today, I got a knock at the door. Not only was Mr Knocker not standing back, but he continued to puff on his cig, which was nice for my hallway. Wanted to know if my Combo Tour was abandoned and if I'd sell it, because it looked nice.

Bit of a double-sided compliment; it's parked up on my front lawn because the gravel-job fell through but "abandoned???" - time to get the suds and wax out again.

I used to see a car on a driveway looking seemingly abandoned, but it was ratty and filled with crap, there was a sign in the window saying "This car is NOT for sale, do not knock!"

 

[ozsubrosa]

A thorough scrub yesterday evening, yet this morning still had some stubborn grime. How is that possible seeing as the rain couple of days ago was like 100psi? Anyway, got rid of those then went over everywhere with Turtle Wax hydrophobic sealant (UK's nearest to the Ice Seal 'n' Shine that the detailers rave about).

Of course, no sooner done than Mrs Oz fancied a lovely drive through those country lanes filled with horse cack. Driving on tiptoes:

 

[Delta Romeo]

It's looking lowered.... is there something you're not telling us??

 

[ozsubrosa]

I mentioned in my progress thread; these D SXi alloys are 16" (which helps) but the 195/55 tyres add about 1" to the diameter compared with 195/45s. The Combo, just about, has the room but it is a cheap and less jolty way of getting the lowered look.

Not having stiffer springs, though, a spirited run around the Trough of Bowland's bumpy roads does give me the occasional bottoming out grunch. I better not make a habit of that, and approach speed humps with more caution than usual. I shall definitely switch to the 185/55/15s for the runs to Malaga.

 

[corsaz22se]

Do the Combo vans run a larger diameter wheel as standard than the Corsa C like the Tigra does? Your speedo will be under reading otherwise. The Corsa D tyre size on a Corsa C car do tend to rub a fair bit even if not lowered.

 

[ozsubrosa]

I have seen Combo, like the Meriva, equipped with 185/60/15 rather than 55s but this speedo, along with the engine, was taken from a Corsa. In any case, 195/55/16 is still quite an increase.
I did check it out straight away. With my usual wheels and tyres, the indicated speed was a good 10% overestimating across the board vs my satnav. Now it's bang in agreement up to 60mph and a shade out above that - indicated 70 being more like 72.

With the Combo normally having a fair acreage between the rubber and the plastic, full lock and flat tarmac are no problems, nor the odd pothole. It's a sudden dip at pace, country road style, that brings about the brief scrub.

 

[Delta Romeo]

The Corsa D tyre size on a Corsa C car do tend to rub a fair bit even if not lowered.

Look how FAT these are!! Everything's standard, just on 185/65/15 Corsa D steelies!

 

[Delta Romeo]

Anyway to add my own contribution. I just got my next years' insurance for £190! Being middle aged has some slight benefits (I'm not wearing nappies yet at least)

 

[corsaz22se]

I have seen Combo, like the Meriva, equipped with 185/60/15 rather than 55s but this speedo, along with the engine, was taken from a Corsa. In any case, 195/55/16 is still quite an increase.
I did check it out straight away. With my usual wheels and tyres, the indicated speed was a good 10% overestimating across the board vs my satnav. Now it's bang in agreement up to 60mph and a shade out above that - indicated 70 being more like 72.

My Corsa's speedo's seem to be within 1 mph all the way through the speed range up to 75 Mph. Then goes a bit more out, always over reading.
I guess there is a calibration setting stored somewhere for tyre size? BCM or ABS at a guess?

With the Combo normally having a fair acreage between the rubber and the plastic, full lock and flat tarmac are no problems, nor the odd pothole. It's a sudden dip at pace, country road style, that brings about the brief scrub.

Look how FAT these are!! Everything's standard, just on 185/65/15 Corsa D steelies!

View attachment 35798

That looks like a monster truck!

 

[ROVER-25X]

Paying £480 for a 1.7 Astra J, they hate my postcode.

I want them thicc wheels on the Tigra lol

Back to the topic, just spent over £200 on service bits and mods for the Tigra this week.

 

[ozsubrosa]

That's DR's SRi with a set of D steelies (usually a 44 or 45 offset, rather than the C's 49) with 185/65/15 winter tyres. I got the four for £20 on ebay. They were in the armpit of nowhere in Kent but I was returning from Malaga through the Chunnel so it was a mild (and hairy pitch dark twisty lane) detour and DR is a short hop down the M61 from my place.

I keep forgetting (DR pointed it out to me a year ago) how much the D offset makes a difference to the looks. My black alloys have 195/55/16s which are a bit big but the offset really makes them fill the arches to the edges.

 

[Delta Romeo]

I ended up offloading those after last winter when the tread became too low to be effective in snow, that was when I bought the second set of SRi alloys. I really miss them though, I loved how much it looked like a little mean machine with those steels!

 

[Delta Romeo]

Well today I screwed up spectacularly and now my car has no brakes!

Couldn't figure out why my handbrake wasn't disengaging within the drum, so I bought new shoes and fitting kit to do them since I was gonna have the hub off. Took the hub off today and replaced the little section of the handbrake cable, still no change, it'll engage but not disengage. Decided to pump the ordinary brakes to see if there was any issues with movement and with the hub not in place to prevent the shoes moving too far, I burst the cylinder that I stupidly don't have a replacement for (nor the skills or equipment to do a bleed).

Lesson - don't cut corners doing half a job!

 

[NickHoughton567]

On Friday chopped in my car for a Volvo Xc40.

And then someone it found it fun to drive into it and scuff the rear quarter for fun.

 

[corsaz22se]

Have you checked the cable guides on the beam? they are well known for the cables sticking in them and not releasing the handbrake.
Or is the cable slack at the drum?

 

[ozsubrosa]

Sympathy, Nick. It seems part ex day has some voodoo risk. I know of a few friends that a random scrape has occurred to complicate the swap.

 

[Delta Romeo]

Have you checked the cable guides on the beam? they are well known for the cables sticking in them and not releasing the handbrake.
Or is the cable slack at the drum?

It turned out to be a combination of the runners on the beam and dirt build up under the rubber grommit where the cable enters the drum!

Mobile mechanic neighbour got two new cylinders and did the whole job for me, for £100, definitely less than any indy would have charged and I'm just pleased its done now!

 

[ROVER-25X]

Idiot, that was money well spent, how dare you!

Next time take it to a Halfords sevice centre!

(Sarcasm mode disengaged)

Might have a crack at doing my own rear drum brakes, not the cylinders though, not quite there yet with my skills.

 

[Delta Romeo]

It's an absolute pain in the arse. Either way it's all good now, and today I cleaned the car and put my refurbed wheels back on (tyres aren't great on them though but the look nicer).

I am an idiot though, some stuff should be left to the professionals!

 

[Mr drew]

Not for my car but..
A friend of mine has a BMW Z3 racer car, late last year we decided it needed to go on a diet. A fibreglass bonnet and doors were ordered and I was going to make moulds for the front 'wings' sills and boot lid and then make the parts. Any way the national covid lock down came in the day after I'd made the boot lid mould and everything was locked in his garage for months, last weekend I finished making the sill moulds and now Leeds is in lock down again so having previously collected the sill moulds I set about making them.

Still in mould

Released

Trimmed

On the scales.. not bad, the originals weigh about 3KGs