AndrewC Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Thanks Gordon. Its a family that bought the place and they are doing the work themselves. From what I can see on the Bexley website there is no planning permission in place for the property. I think they are just pushing the boundries of what is acceptable DIY v a full re-development. Basically they've gutted the place bit by bit to the brickwork and started again. Not sure I want to go down the road of grassing them to the council. I'd rather them just get on with it and finish. From talking to the chap he thinks another 3 weeks and they'll be done. Bad news on the car, looks like the alternator has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. Queue visions of £££ at the dealer tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Nice one BoD! Technically still "bleeding cold" here and looking to Monday it 'll only reach about 17f for a HIGH = about -7C. Then yet more snow on Tuesday and Wednesday. The locals say that the cold weather kills all the bugs........ More anon. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Still pretty chilly here - it is also snowing, but only very small flakes blowing around in the wind. I've been doing that ever since my wedding day. Excellent! A couple of Paracetamol sorted my headache out - not so easy for you BoD! The day was cut short when the Landy started having a disco with the charging system light. I'm hoping its nothing more than a loose belt or the sensor wire to the alternator. What sort of Landy? Couldn't you pop down the scrappy for an Alternator? Having said that, if it's a new Landy that probably won't work - and scrappys are getting harder and harder to find. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 45156 Posted January 23, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 23, 2011 Bad news on the car, looks like the alternator has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. Indeed, bad news - but hopefully it won't cost that much to get it fixed - can't you get a new alternator from a factor's and fit it yourself. or is it one of these jobs that needs to be done in the dealer's because it is just to bl**dy awkward to get to it, and too many other things might be affected? Cold here this afternoon - feels warmer that it really is, oddly. Mrs 45156 said it was much warmer out, but the thermometer is saying +2. Had to get some more logs locally as going through them at a rate of knots - unfortunately, they've been stored outdoors in the rain, so the logs are soaking, and the bags had water in the bottom - they'll need to be stacked beside the stove for quite a while before I can get them burning. Regards to All Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Indeed, bad news - but hopefully it won't cost that much to get it fixed - can't you get a new alternator from a factor's and fit it yourself. or is it one of these jobs that needs to be done in the dealer's because it is just to bl**dy awkward to get to it, and too many other things might be affected? Its beyond bl**dy awkward. Its a 2002 Freelander which means its got to be done from below. Remove most of the cooling system, then the air-con compressor, finally the alternator. The spares place is quoting £140 for a refurb replacement. A new one from Landrover is around £220. I figure by the time I pay for a refurb, rent a pair of ramps, and spend 4-6 hours crawling under the damn thing its not worth saving a couple of hundred. Can't be a*sed really. I'd rather just pay to get it done and stay clean. My days of crawling under cars getting covered in oil & muck are long gone. Robert, my first car was a 72 Datsun 510. Paid $200 for it the day I turned 16. By the time I traded up to a Cortina a year later I think I'd replaced about half of the car with parts from a wrecker's yard. Even with all the parts I bought I still made a profit on it. The alternator in that thing was dead easy and took about half an hour to replace. 3 bolts and voila. Just looking under the hood of the Freelander gives me a headache. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Just looking under the hood of the Freelander gives me a headache. I know exactly what you mean! I'm no car expert, but I enjoy tinkering. I own an old Mini, and have done a fair few jobs on that, up to changing the radius arms and suspension cones. Sometimes things are tricky, but that is usually because a something is seized and difficult to get undone. My daily driver (an Opel Zafira) is horrendous - I leave that to the garage. Even changing the right hand front headlamp bulb necessitated removing the air filter box . Modern cars are obviously designed by people who don't have to repair them. Of course, being cynical it is fair to assume that they want you to have to take it to the main dealer to get any work done - because then they make more money out of you! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 23, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2011 . Just looking under the hood of the Freelander gives me a headache. When I look under the bonnet of my Freelander 2 there seems to be very little visible at all. Apart from the colour coded washer replenishment bottle cap, everything is very disguised. At least if it is done at a garage the work will have some kind of warranty I suppose. I put in an order to Signal Box in Rochester yesterday but it was something to do with my European interests rather than the American ones. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 23, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2011 . Modern cars are obviously designed by people who don't have to repair them. Of course, being cynical it is fair to assume that they want you to have to take it to the main dealer to get any work done - because then they make more money out of you! I had an Astra GTE 16 V once. Now I expect the original Astra designer didn't think someone would ever stick a big 2 litre engine in it but there wasn't much room to work. I had a heater hose go on the M1 once and managed to do a temporary repair (Swiss Amy penknife) by basically taking the heater feed hose straight back to the place where the return hose went on the engine. No heater but I got home. I took it to the trusty garage on the industrial estate and they said it was a horrible job as it didn't seem to be accessible from above or below, they ended up laying the tiniest mechanic across the engine, passing the tools to him from below. I suspect that the hoses were attached at the heater end before the engine was installed at the factory. The Haynes manual was unusually vague on the "remove the hose" section. I had a Cortina that was really easy to work on, lots of space, easily available parts, but eventually so rusty it ran out of places to attach parts to. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Replacing the 2" long by pass hose on a Cooper S was virtually an engine out job. Almost impossible to get to and totally impossible to fit.... I've got wound up just thinking about it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 23, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23, 2011 Best watch your back then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning All, There has been a light dusting of snow overnight, but nothing much. The office network seems to be down this morning... The Haynes manual was unusually vague on the "remove the hose" section. It probable said something like - Simply remove the retaining clips and pull the hose off of the connector. Simple if the car is new, and straight out the showroom - but somewhat more difficult when several years of road grime have come into play! Replacing the 2" long by pass hose on a Cooper S was virtually an engine out job. Almost impossible to get to and totally impossible to fit.... Nearly everything on the Cooper is an engine out job! Fortunately, taking the engine out isn't too difficult - just time consuming. Have a good day everyone... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning all... Temperature's hovering around 0° at this time and the forecast predicts it to remain in the lower single digits for at least until the weekend. My plan for today includes work and some additional revision...plus some food purchases. Have a good day all! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning all,another iffy nights sleep undecided about going to work computer chairs don't give the required support. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold SouthernRegionSteam Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning all. Didn't want to get up this morning, but I actually made it into college on time unlike last week! Today I've got three lessons and then I'm back off home to do some revision for my exam on Friday. Then I expect I will have to finish my essay on water sustainability before doing a bit more modelling - who says teenagers have too much time on their hands? Have a good day all! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning all. It is probably slightly warmer inside than outside. The wireless signal on the new Homehub router is supposed to be better so I'll try my netbook in the pleasantly warm kitchen later. I hope the boiler can be fixed, but I have been carrying out research (chatting to neighbours) about which boiler they had replaced and recommendations of who should do the work. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning All, Monday again then. Pretty much a full set of oktas in evidence. Vacation day today so I have the joys of stripping off the last of the artex from a bedroom ceiling. The stuff is either flaking off in sheets or stuck like excreta to a bulk material handling device. Guess which bits are still to do! Have a good one all. Cheers Dvae Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 stripping off the last of the artex from a bedroom ceiling. You have my sympathy. Artex is terrible stuff to remove... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2011 We found using a steam wallpaper stripper softened the artex's grip to the plaster you just had to be carefull about the drips of hot water. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixoh8sixoh Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Morning all. How does Monday come around so quickly? Going climbing again tonight if I can persuade my body that it's a good idea! It's still rather complaining from the competition on Friday night. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2011 Vacation day today so I have the joys of stripping off the last of the artex from a bedroom ceiling. Cheers Dvae One of my neighbours just pulled the ceiling down, put new plasterboard up and skimmed it. It didn't take him long, but he was a plasterer before he went into his present occupation! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Artex makes me shiver................. Another cold day here near Gotham: -0.6f or -18.1C as you prefer. Only expected to reach a high of -8C. Yet is is very beautiful with mediterranean blue skies - so there is a good side. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I had the Artex problem. Much the easiest way is to pay someone else to skim it over. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24, 2011 I had the Artex problem. Much the easiest way is to pay someone else to skim it over. I quite like the Artex on our ceilings but it is one of the more subtle pattern styles. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted January 24, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 24, 2011 I hate Artex! Unfortunately skimming over the ****ing stuff is not an option. It is flaking off in places so another layer of plaster would bring those bits down. Boarding over was considered but there is a large radius rounded join between wall and ceiling that makes things awkward. Just supping a cup of tea and girding my loins to do battle with the last few square feet. Then it's out with the filler(s) and stabilising paints to try and get what remains into some sort of decent shape and eradicate some chimney staining. As you may have guessed this room is a challenge. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaP4 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 *lurk lurk lurk* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now