First off – list of things done:
May 2019 x Move rear number plate light if rear bumper does not help - rounded so maybe not necessary - ignoring May 2019 x Re stick wires under wheel arches May 2019 x No holes in spokes of steering wheel!! - check grommets and full seals - ignored May 2019 x Stick edging around exhaust end - see how hot it gets May 2019 x Check if existing exhaust pipe end is curved back on itself and less than 150mm projection May 2019 x Check on 30deg cone for exhaust pipe and cut end appropriately or rear bumper? May 2019 x Check headrest requirements carefully - check height now of drivers - can it be made to set at 50mm or be removed to fit a collar May 2019 x Fit cable cover around mirror May 2019 x Call to get seats recovered by Garry - collected May 2019 x Engrave new VIN number
I am clearing most of the remaining tasks, but the major issue these last few days has been to pop in a new crossbox, following the MOT fail.
So ask me about the crossbox…..don’t ask! Four long days, so far!!
Taking the old one off was not too difficult. Undid the unions and slackened the bolts on the gearbox, and with some wiggling, it disconnected and down it came!
Then I had to put the new one on. Nothing lined up easily, and the box kept falling through the space. The gearbox lugs are designed to be inaccessible, and open such that the box does not sit on the bolts happily, using gravity! I needed to be on top to hold and guide it, and simultaneously down below to do up the connections
In the end – with the help of the jack, several unsafe bits of wood, plastic ties, a hammer, removing the exhaust pipe, and ordering longer bolts, I am part of the way there … I will never change a 2cv crossbox again!
That however was just the start of it. In order to be able to get the car high enough for me to get underneath I had used the big scissor jack that sits right under the car. Not trusting it – with the weight of the engine tilting the car forward, I used axle stands front and rear.
When it came to letting the car down the balance was all wrong and whatever I did the rear stayed on the axle stands. So I raised the car still further and managed to wedge the open bonnet under the roof truss!
This was now getting like Gerard Hoffnung. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUJLO6lMhI)
Lowering the car again to ease the bonnet down, I wedged the rear axle stand. So I pushed down at the front to raise the rear and in so doing re wedged the axle stand directly under the petrol tank – as the car came down, so the stand went up into the tank! ( I think it might be ok – will check for leaks tomorrow.)
In the end two pieces of wood, one on edge, on the jack, was high enough for me to retrieve the rear axle stand, and lower the jack just as the wood toppled……
I sat down and rested.
Does anyone sell M7 bolts over the counter – Screwfix, Halfords, B and Q? No chance. So longer bolts ordered on the web which should come Wednesday, at which point I hope I can pull the two remaining connections together!
Thank you for asking 🙂
Too exhausted to write any more. Will finish the box later in the week and then it is merely the speedo and the headlights and tightening bolts and checking over the car