Aconite purple, like the rear wing on the other side. Here's a link to the Princess' story:
http://autoshite.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13257" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and a picture of Aconite purple, a short-run BL colour.
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Today's challenge was to remove the pedal box so that I can get it repaired. Doing the repair in situ was not going to be possible, access is severely limited and there are too many meltable things that could melt too near the pedal box. Last night I hit the allen bolts a couple of times with a hammer and doused them in WD40 so that they might soak overnight. This is a method I've used on other stubborn bolts to good effect.
The two bolts that wouldn't budge yesterday put up no fight at all today and were a doddle to remove.
I couldn't find any definitive information on how to proceed from this point. The pedal box was now loose, but wouldn't come out and I couldn't see what was still attached. Dad disconnected the clutch cable (I didn't look to see exactly how he did this) in the engine bay which gave me a bit more play and then I just wiggled and the box carefully until it eventually came free. The plastic 'arrow' clip on the throttle cable came out very easily and cleanly, but then pinged one of the tines off without me touching anything so I'm going to have to fix or replace that now.
This little metal bracket was squished into the soundproofing under the accelerator pedal and I don't know where it should live. Any ideas?
One liberated pedal box, finally! I'd like a rubber tread for the accelerator pedal too, always feels nicer than plain metal.
It's quite badly damaged, there's no wonder you couldn't get any pedal travel on it. I've got some suitable bracing material after having seen someone else repair a pedal box this way and thinking that was a very good idea.
I had the car up on the highest setting with the trolley jack under the factory sill jacking point to gain a bit more access. The trolley jack is a bit poorly so I couldn't get things high enough to put an axle stand underneath so I was very careful about what I did and didn't do as I don't fancy getting squished. I made a bit of a booboo when I tried to use the trolley jack on one of the chassis rails which, though solid and not rusty, is apparently made of Emmental. On both sides I found a wire with nothing on the end, the passenger side one tucked away neatly and the driver's side sticking out, any idea what it's for? Dad suggested it might be a brake warning wire with the sensor removed.
I wanted to have a look at the inner arches too, they're bubbling in the engine bay in the usual place. Some loose underseal had flaked off to reveal a couple of small holes, one each side, in a different place to the bubbling up top. I anticipated this so it's no great surprise, but the holes don't look as big as I was worried they might. In the meantime, they'll get cleaned up and Kurusted until I can get the welding paid for in a few weeks.
The only other bit of damage of note is to the leading edge of the passenger sill. Looks like it's had a bump here but isn't particularly rusty or soft so it'll probably just be a repair job. Another bit to add to the list. Many of these areas will be dealt with when I can afford the welding to be done and have some paint to cover up the repairs, I'm in no huge rush providing it gets done before the MoT is due in June.
After all that, it was cleaning time. On making a started with the bonnet I found that some of the tiger stripes were loose around the edges so I removed them. Tiger face, 'Team Green Tiger' and the BXagon charity sticker are all pretty firmly attached, particularly the latter, so I'm working around them. You can very clearly see where I have and haven't scrubbed that front bumper too. I wonder, should there be trims under the headlights?
I was quite surprised at how well the bonnet came up. I only managed about a third of it, there's only so much you can do in one sitting, but it's looking rather respectable.
Rear driver's side door shut likewise cleaned up very easily needing little more than a quick wipe over with a soapy cloth.
Here are some pictures of one (almost) finished side of the car. There is a lot more cleaning to do, but the stripes are gone and the true length of the car is much more apparent. The window surrounds (I'll be repainting those) and the wheels let things down a bit now.
Finally, tried out the Skoda wind deflectors to find that while they are indeed an extremely similar profile to the BX window, they're far too small. These are up for grabs now if anyone is interested.
