@Tim: if he still has them in a few weeks/months (depending when work picks up again) I'll drop him a line, Skeggy isn't too far from me. I think those C5 wheels are a 16".
@mat: Arts and crafts, primarily artwork by commission. When it's good, it's very good, when it's bad it's a ball ache. Good luck with the venture!
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I was going to crack on cleaning the engine bay today. I like a clean engine bay, it makes leaks easier to find and maintenance is more pleasant when there isn't gopping globs of oily greb everywhere. The bitterly cold weather meant it wasn't to be, but today was not without some work at least. I started with this.
Most of the dirt is road muck and some oil, there seems to be little in the way of stubborn grime and what I have cleaned came off mostly with very hot very soapy water, some rags and a toothbrush. The airbox got cleaned up, as did most of the inner arch on the same side, but by this point I was losing feeling in my nose and fingers so I called it quits.
I did still take the opportunity to do more investigating. Starting in the engine bay, I know the oil and filter need changing from checking the oil and finding it was as black as black thing but I hadn't checked the air filter. Happily, the air filter seems good so that's one thing off the list.
I was perplexed by the battery earth strap which, rather than the braided strap I'm used to seeing, appears to be household electric cabling wrapped in electrical tape. Surely this can't be right?
Diesel pump next. The pipes connected to this are rock hard so they will want replacing, I haven't removed them as I don't have replacements to hand but I wouldn't be surprised if they break when removed. If possible, I might end up taking the pump apart to clean it out too.
There's quite a bit of oil about the place, I wanted to try and find out where it was coming from. Some of it is getting sprayed up behind the back of the engine by the looks of things, the rest is running down the block and collecting all manner of detritus to make a sticky, clumpy mess.
A quick examination seems to point to the top gasket, particularly this corner where there's some very wet oil. There's not much oil to speak of above this point, but lots further down, as though it's run from the gasket down over the block.
Uncovered another little rust blister that will want dealing with too, on the inner wing.
Checked the exhaust and found the source of the blow easily enough. Looks like the backbox has exploded.
While I was checking the exhaust, I had a good look at the rear hanger which is, amazingly, still attached.
This gave me chance to use the camera as a second pair of eyes to have a proper look underneath. The flat metal sheet that joins the wings and bumper to the structural elements mostly has the consistency of wet cornflakes, what's left of it, but it does at least look easy to replace. All the structural bits look scruffy but solid and certainly don't seem that willing to bend or drop off when handled. Have some pictures of some rust.
And now you see why I daren't take the back bumper off to investigate further; I doubt it would go back on. You can just make out two little holes where the seal, light cluster and bumper meet in each corner.
