What was the last thing you repaired?

Don’t think Heals stuff is as well made as it was – wasn’t very impressed on examination. 

We’re on our second Marks and Spencer sofa. The first one was ex-diaplay from the Chester store and still lasted at least 15 years before being given away. The next one got a collapsed arm after 6 months,  warrantee repair that needed a new arm ‘card’ which was exactly as described.  Cardboard in a £1k plus sofa. Absolutely shite.  

My Heals sofa broke so I fixed it.

Impressive work.

Just after lunch Mrs Reeksy alerted me to the misbehaving 19 year old washing machine. Drain pump appears to have failed.

Not the end of the world given we gave another identical model in the shed with a burnt out motor.

Nevertheless from long experience I anticipated many hours of frustration leading to dummy spitting.

Tear down of the old machine went smoothly though and soon I came back to the house brandishing a replacement pump and the knowledge and confidence to strip down the in house machine.

Apart from an awkward jubilee clip things continued well.

Put everything back together and tried an empty rinse and spin. Yahtzee! We’re in business. Pump it out…water everywhere. Oh yeah forgot to put the drain filter bung back in. Much laughter from my admiring wife.

Try again. Works a charm.

Hang on, what are those two little screws there? Oh yes, the ones from the door latch I mislaid. Maybe they would be better than the long ones I used. It’s quick to swap them. But as I removed the long screws, yes sure enough that’s a tear in the seal right there. Where the long bastard **** screws were.

Definitely the first time my kids have heard me say”**** ****!”

Karcher pressure washer that’s at least 20 years old. Leaking low pressure water so the motor was cutting in and out. Took the plastic “cylinder head” off and identified where it was leaking from three seals, located replacements at E Spares but actually replaced the whole “head” including lots of tiny pistons and springs for just over £30. Back together, working a lot better than it’s been working for years so hopefully it’ll see me out!

That’s great. I had similar luck with a pressure washer a while back. Found the same one on Gumtree and was able to swap bits over and have loads of spares left. Very satisfying

Mrs asbrooks’ hair straighteners. Replaced the cable, now as good as new. She was going to throw them away and spent £200 on new set. Oof! Who knew they cost that much?

Got the 45-year-old mower running smoothly again. Good as new, needed a good clean out of the carb + new filter, spark plug, oil and blade. Ready for when the rain stops now.

The next one got a collapsed arm after 6 months,  warrantee repair that needed a new arm ‘card’ which was exactly as described.

M&S refused to replace the collapsed cards on our 6-month-old sofa when we got it. Said the arms weren’t supposed to take any weight 🙄 This year the frame cracked just after the 6-year warranty expired, they weren’t interested. Took it apart like the Heals one above, but it was so shoddy decided to get rid.

Yesterday I repaired a sideboard.

Recent house rennos, so trying a new TV cabinet. Only problem is the amp I’m putting in there is super deep and just didn’t fit (amp plus banana plugs / cables.

Quite literally sick of moving furniture in 35c heat I kind of used a hammer to smash the back panel off the new sideboard.

Whaddya know, the amp fit perfectly.

Replaced a cracked/delaminated Vision SC40 carbon rim on my road bike rear wheel

Was lucky enough to find a Ribble Level carbon front wheel brand new from their website for £100 delivered

The Level rim is pretty much identical to my damaged Vision SC40 one, delaced both wheels and rebuilt the Level rim into my exsisting Vision rear hub, even found some new decals online for £10, result!

Said the arms weren’t supposed to take any weight

(It’s a while ago now, but…) yeah, I was told not to use the arms to lift yourself up when standing. FML, it’s rubbish. The other arm is sagging now. Might have a go myself with some heavy duty webbing if I can get the cover off.

The cable that I put a screw through earlier.

Battery powered PIR light.

It was getting more and more erratic.

Having a couple of matching capacitors I replaced the ones on the board – this fixed the “once on, always on” issue, but not the detection issue.

Found some “similar” PIR sensors on internet (cost:buttons, delivery time measured in elephant pregnancies).

Fitted using my shovel ended, “furnace rated” soldering iron – and it works!

Could have bought a new one etc., etc.,

Old Kitchenaid mixer, given to us as it was broken.  It’s a horrible thing to dismantle as it requires a pin being hammered out with a drift…  However, once open the fault was obvious.  A new worm for £8 and ta-da!

Except that it sounds like a bag of spanners, so much investigating and we identify the noise is a weird govenor on the end of the moter shaft that’s opening and closing a pair of contacts and making the noise, I couldn’t work out how it could be quiet with that design so in desperation I looked on youtube.  Turns out the horible noise when running is a ‘feature’.

Chainsaw bar last night. Cleared out of the old mans shed. Seemed a shame to chuck it so half an hour with a vice and a big hammer and it is straight. The raspberry cage on Sunday. Getting ropey and a bit small. Got a pigs cot roof to do over Easter and off to turn 2 bent rear mechs into 1 straight one when I finish hear.

A BMW K1200S.

Bought as a write-off last year. Must’ve been rear-ended and consequently dropped as the exhaust was bent, rear light had popped out (no damage) and some scratches down one side.

Popped light back in, fitted new Delkevic exhaust, polished up some of the scratches (could still do with respraying), gave it a service – jobs a good ‘un.

Rode it for about three months then could hear an intermittent knocking. Ending up fitting a new alternator bearing, timing chain/sprockets, checked the clutch and transmission. Noise still there which made me think it must be a rod bearing – argh! (Later on checking the service history I have I don’t think it had had an oil change for 3 years!)

Should I give it up – sell it for bits? A second hand engine is £1000+ – not worth it. Second hand crankshaft with rods £175 on eBay – I’ll give it a go!

Engine out – taken to bits on kitchen table, one rod bearing kaput but no damage to valves (phew!). Took six months but the engine is back together, back in the bike, started first time! Just passed MOT, only done about 30 miles on it so far but no strange noises and running sweet!

Shark cordless vacuum, left on the side of the road, thought I can grab some spares parts, for ours at worst. Filters all totally blocked/dirty, along with a huge amount of hair behind the front roller of the ridiculously named “floor nozzle”. Unfortunately it was flashing the headlights & not spinning either roller of the floor nozzle. Dived onto the internet & was promptly informed sharks are a bit crap for self repair, but persisted & found a video about a microswitch. Took the floor nozzle covers off, which was an annoying mission, as i have a set of security hex head, but they seat some of them too deep for a swappable head to reach. Shoved an old electrical screw driver into them instead & got it apart! Messing with it, it started working, & I suspect the cleaning cover’s security microswitch/plastic rod had been the cause of the issues. Even managed to get it back together, still working (one little roller wheel does now need replacing, but that’s a minor note), & seems more powerful than our original (well used) unit. I was a happy chap, my partner just wanted to know where dinner was..

 I was a happy chap, my partner just wanted to know where dinner was..

I then replied “look dear…..I have a new vacuum cleaner for you”………

……..and that is why I am sitting in the shed with a snapped vacuum cleaner, nursing a scalp wound whilst eating a can of dog food with a garden trowel.

I soldered up some holes in my 1982 Alfa GTV petrol tank – great success ?

Err few things 

Exhaust on the van.  Had to grind all the fixings off which was nice.

Just done coloumn switches and ignition lock too!

Also been on with rot repairs 

Conservatory is a ballache.

Replaced the velcro on my Topeak MTS bag. Original velcro wasn’t that good and was too long to work properly on the two bike racks I have.

Re circlips on washing machines… And cars.

The proper pliers are great.

I soldered up some holes in my 1982 Alfa GTV petrol tank – great success ?

We now want to see the car……..love a GTV

Here it is:

It’s a 1982 GTV 2.0 ( I would have liked a GTV6, like I had before, but they’re all a bit too expensive now).

Car is currently in dry dock while I sort out an extensive job list.

I plan to change the wheels as I’ve never really liked that style (Purists will be offended of course but I’ll keep the originals – just in case I ever sell the car).

Car is currently in dry dock while I sort out an extensive job list.

That’s why the Alfa handbook has a number of blank pages at the back, to list down the “jobs to do”

It looks in helluva decent condition, what’s the mileage?.

Not quite repairing but I’m optimizing the liquid CO2 injection module (that I built 2 years ago) on this mixing head.

In the last two weeks….

1) Friends Cistern: the toilet wouldn’t flush so I repaired the Syphon with a section of 4pint Milk bottle.

2) Our Toaster: the Handle (that lowers the bread) had become detached. Dis-assembled toaster, drillled, bolted and soldered the handle back on and re-assembled toaster.

3) Replaced Clutch Slave Cylinder and flexible hose and bled the system on a Series 2a LandRover.

4) Cleaned, greased and otherwise refurbished all four hydraulic brakes, replaced the Master Cylinder and bled all corners on a Series 2a LandRover.

5) Re-wired my Locost 7 kitcar – this is an ongoing project. Has been ‘in-progress’ for a while! (too long)

Currently balls deep in my Mondeo.

Took it off the road in December to get some new wheels and front discs and pads before it got MOT’d. Never got that sorted till the end of March, failed it’s MOT on corroded suspension arms and broken spring, got new arms, springs and links, snapped bolts holding arms on, got new bolts, managed to cut out the old ones, got arms fitted, got front struts out on Saturday, springs off on Sunday (top thread rusted up), new springs on and rusted top mount screw off yesterday.

Which takes us to today. I still need to fit all that back in tonight and then pull the battery after I drill out the rusted airbox lid screws and hope it takes a charge.

So far I’d probably have been cheaper selling the **** thing or just paying a garage to do it in the first place. Front wheel bearing also needs done but that’s not going to be me doing that. I blame the corrosion on being parked up, it was nowhere near as bad before.

I’m just dreading whatever new horrors present themselves when I put it back through.

It looks in helluva decent condition, what’s the mileage?

GTV has done 84000 miles. bodyworlk is in very good condition as is most of the underneath. I’ve had to weld up two holes in the floor but that’s better than I expected.

You’re right about the extra pages in the handbook for jobbies but in my case I’d need 52 pages (one for each job). Most are silly wee things though.

Very cool car amongst a sea of bland modern vehicles, enjoy it.

In the process of fixing and servicing my Husqvarna ride-on mower.  It’s daunting but I reckon I’m going to save £600 in dealer costs. It’s a big old badger, 10 years old with twin blades and a 46″ cutting width. I use it to cut a very rough 1 acre paddock which is covered in molehills, slopes and dips. Yesterday I clipped a rock in the brambly border and it started making an awful noise and vibrating like a jackhammer.

Cue several YouTube videos today and I’ve removed the blades – both of which are damaged and need replacing, removed the deck and discovered the main fault which is a knackered blade spindle assembly. I decided to service and clean it whilst it’s in bits, so ordered all the service bits, oil, fuel and air filters, spark plugs, blades and the spindle assembly – £95 all in.  I cleaned about 2 bucket fulls of dried mud and grass from the deck then jet washed it and put some corrosion inhibitor on it. The parts  haven’t come yet, but with the help of YouTube I’m confident I can replace the damaged parts and service it.

I service my little Honda walk behind mower but I’ve always shied away from working on the Husky as it looks too intimidating.  Last time I had it dealer serviced and blades changed it was £450.  With the deck needing to be removed and a new spindle assembly I reckon that would be nearer £700.  I can’t afford that at the moment, nor a new mower and I do rely on it. So pretty chuffed at stripping it down, diagnosing the problem and ordering the parts. I just need to put it back together now!

This nugget

View post on imgur.com

Bought it about 2 years ago with a rattly engine, quite a lot of rust (*) and not a single properly functioning suspension part.

(* quite a lot of rust by normal car standards, it was actually pretty good by MX5 standards)

Pulled everything possible off the shell while the engine was out, and went back to bare metal wherever there was even a hint of rust. Basically one winter away from needing a load of welding but it should outlast petrol now

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Bought a Mazda 6 and scrapped that for its 2.5 litre engine, stuck a set of cams into it, and painted it orange because orange engines make 10% more horsepower

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Polybushed througout, new goodwin racing exhaust and tomei headers, Meister R shocks and IL anti roll bars

Just MOT’d it, not even an advisory.

Fixed a toilet that has ceased flushing in Mrs Gordimhor’s house . She was sceptical at first but mightily impressed  when I did it  without even consulting you tube.

The Mondeo is back together and the charger accepted the battery (down at 3.something volts!) so here’s hoping it can be saved and save me some cash!

Northwind – I have no idea how you start to do proper man mechanics, where do you put all the parts when they’re off the car? How do you know which engine will fit. So many things that I wouldn’t know where to start nit would love to given the time.

@stevet1 I learned by doing something little, I had a motorbike and no money so I had to learn to fix it, and then I started learning how to improve it, paint it, whatever seemed like fun and got addicted. I’m more of a practical learner than a theoretical person so it works pretty well just diving in, and if all else fails, there’s always a youtube video where an eastern european man tells you how to fix it. TBH there was nothing in this project that was especially clever, the hard part was just that there was a hell of a lot happening, all at the same time, hard to keep track of.

Conveniently I have a big shed but there was a point where there was stuff just <everywhere>, stuff in the garden, stuff in the attick, stuff in the kitchen, stuff in the other car… Wish I had a garage but if I did, it’d be full of crap too! Many, many takeaway food boxes full of bolts and stuff. The engine swap here was actually pretty simple, Ford/Mazda put versions of this engine in a ton of cars so even though the one that’s in now is larger capacity and more powerful, it’s almost the same shape and uses the same wiring etc as the original one. You have to do some tweaks and use a mix of parts from the 2 donors to make it work, and some more to make it work well, but it’s genuinely not much harder than “take old one out with little crane, put new one in”.

(there was an awful lot of “which bolt goes in this hole” and “I have completely lost this part” and a little bit of going on the owner’s group on facebook and going like “what is this bracket” for stuff I’d taken off 2 years before 🙂 )

I see image insert is working as well as ever.

An early 1960’s Adcock and Shipley 1ESG horizontal milling machine I bought for scrap money.  I did a complete rewire with modern components after someone bodged a 3ph to 1ph conversion at some point in the past.  I still need to fully strip, clean and repaint the machine and also remake the missing the coolant tank and plumbing but the first job is to make a set of gears so I can complete the metric screw cutting gearset for my 1950’s lathe.

@jonm81 – That’s a thing of beauty.

Fly sceen cables  on camper door broke last summer on our way back from the alps. I already had an injured rider with me so duct taped it open. Managed to do a running repair before we went this year and it lasted till the last day. Duct tape again til it went for its habitational check. Dealer said it couldnt be repaired and a new one was £1500 plus vat plus fitting. Couldnt find any thing on YouTube to help but bought some cord and with loads of photos as it was been dismantled and using three of the cords that hadnt broken to measure for length we replaced all the 6. 2 1/2 hours after starting and a bit of readjusting for tension and it’s  just like new

Brunsviga 13RK mechanical calculator. Now fully working.