mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701 
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Sept 3, 2018 20:46:11 GMT
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Ah I see, no the bus is still perfect for me in all ways except for how thirsty it is with rising petrol costs and the fact that I don’t really want to put 15000 miles a year on it. I had the alto for a year but then the bus didn’t get used at all with the Acty being my show pony this year. Yeah makes sense I guess. Basically, you need an elgrand that does 70mpg and is free tax |
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Sept 3, 2018 22:47:32 GMT
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Ah I see, no the bus is still perfect for me in all ways except for how thirsty it is with rising petrol costs and the fact that I don’t really want to put 15000 miles a year on it. I had the alto for a year but then the bus didn’t get used at all with the Acty being my show pony this year. Yeah makes sense I guess. Basically, you need an elgrand that does 70mpg and is free tax Let’s not be greedy, I’d be happy with half that mpg and tax is negligible at £20 a month any way.  |
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mgmrw
Part of things
Posts: 701
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Sept 4, 2018 20:49:19 GMT
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Yeah makes sense I guess. Basically, you need an elgrand that does 70mpg and is free tax Let’s not be greedy, I’d be happy with half that mpg and tax is negligible at £20 a month any way. Keep the Elgrand and cut down on expensive hobbies like ... Eating? |
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Sept 29, 2018 5:57:58 GMT
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Sorry I’ve been quiet on build progress lately, this little one has been taking up all my time for the last couple of weeks ...  10 week old cockapoo puppy named Rusty. Peskier than a rusty 10mm nut when you can’t find your socket! Any way I’ve taken to more elgrand dismantling to get some niggles sorted. This time the off side sliding door cable that snapped a year ago. First was to unclip the seat leg from the floor rails. Then remove the plastic cover / cubby at the side of seat where the levers are by pushing the centres of the push clips in then removing them, which reveals ....  ... Remove the 17mm bolts in red squares to remove the rear seat, and remove the yellow circled 14mm bolts to free the seatbelt and remove the bracket...  I’ll retrospectively take photos of the clips etc but first the upper section with the cup holders pulls off and then to remove the main plastic panel you need to remove the 14mm bolt for the middle row seat belt, the hook just behind that is removed by pushing in the peg lower middle and pulling off, the hooks near the rear need to have their fascia circle levered out first then will pull out, the lower tailgate trim needs to be pulled off first, remove the cubby cover, and a few more push in centre clips, then just pull and checking for other clips as you go. Once loose remember to unplug the 12v socket and light before moving out of the way...  The centre bar panel with the av sockets on pulls away separately to reveal the motor and my shredded cable...  I was hoping to repair it but any metal sleeve would get caught in the reel. Next the outer panel was removed - Philips screw at the front end visible when the door is open then pull along the length until poppers are free...  The next bit’s what spanners my plan, 90 degree pliers needed to free these clips which hold the cable tight to the door...  I’m yet to work out where the cable has a join in as it seems to be a big loop that circles around with movement unless my cable has shredded at the point it joins. Hopefully more will be revealed when I get it completely free. |
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Sept 30, 2018 16:25:47 GMT
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Until I can get it perfect I thought I’d at least get it clean, a few marks showing as this was after a thirty mile drive picking up a set of original black Elgrand seats to swap out mine for...          So then let’s get some plans on the board... First up is the completion of the repair / replacement of my broken driver side automatic sliding door. Whilst I await parts for that I’ll fit the OEM black seats on the rear row and the full middle row. Which means the amps will be coming out and being relocated and covered with a better looking panel. I also want to house the door speakers and possibly tweeters in a more stealth way too. The last interior bug bear is the hole in the floor which I cut for speakers but didn’t use - I’ll fill them with foam and get some floor mats made properly to cover them. Then to get the exterior PERFECT i would want to get both front wings, the front bumper, the upper grill, and the bonnet sprayed. Maybe save that for springtime... |
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First OEM Black seat fitted on today’s lunch...  |
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Second seat fitted...  And if you all remove your legs we can get ten in easily  |
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Third seat swapped, the end of the armrest is worn but can’t complain for free. I’ll probably remove them if i do any more shows in the Elgrand.  |
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braaap
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,750
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Are you adding the seats for better resale value? Or is your wife pregnant again?  |
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Are you adding the seats for better resale value? Or is your wife pregnant again? No chance of that happening - puppy is the only addition to the family that’s going to happen and the reason for adding the middle seat back in. The reason for swapping to different seats is because they’re standard black seats rather than grey velour with covers so more OEM. |
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I seem to literally go round in circles with wheels! To summarise I’d always kept the original alloys I bought for my bus (the mint pair and bronze pair) as winter wheels but back in the summer I decided I didn’t need them as I had a daily in the Suzuki alto. Since then I decided it was a waste leaving the elgrand sitting all week so sold the daily. Now that’s not the end of the story. The RH toplines are merc fitment 5x112 and I’ve always run 20mm adaptors. These make the rears sit absolutely perfect and they were great on the front until I decided to go up from 235/40/18 to 235/45/18. They looked great but over harsh dips in the road the tyre rubbed the arch to the point of causing damage - hence the arch repairs being a new snag list item. A couple of weeks ago I removed the adaptors and fitted PCD variation nuts which take advantage of wheels having a wider recess than the actual stud diameter and the loose nut collar seats slightly off centre to the stud. All great on one side but unfortunately I tightened one up a bit too far before doing the opposite star pattern tightening and I’ve threaded two of the studs on the driver side hub. So back to a pair of 5x114.3 wheels on the front...  Whilst these are on I’ll get the front pair of the toplines redrilled with inserts fitted of the correct PCD. I did consider selling this set and buying some manufactured to the right PCD in the first place but I know I’ll regret letting these go as I haven’t seen any polished 5x114.3 18” wheels at the right price - ie the same price as mine for a direct swap! |
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Another seat swapped...  A black pair of front seats next on the agenda and then I’ll look into relocating the amps and fitting the middle row middle seat. |
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Angle pliers arrived, £1.89 off eBay...  For this...  A few minutes of frustration with the pliers and a kitchen knife and the first clip was free, and it is just a Bowden cable after all ...  Then two 10mm nuts to free the clip that the cable threads though to go inside...   I was getting frustrated and wet from the fine rain that gets you wet while I was trying to remove the other clip that holds the other end of the Bowden cable so will do that another day. Then I’ll measure up the cable and get one made up and thread it all through, although I need to find out if you can get screw on Bowden nipples of the right size as I think the rubber hose is too narrow to thread the ends through, and see if it’s fixed. |
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Well I couldn’t have the middle and rear seats plan black and the front seats diamond stitch could I?   Just need to get some box sections cut and drilled to mount them to the original floor bolts. |
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braaap
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,750
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So you´re not wanting to sell it anymore?
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So you´re not wanting to sell it anymore? I can't live my car life in limbo thinking it might sell so just fine tuning it as i go and see how things turn out. |
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Oct 22, 2018 12:02:58 GMT
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After some pliers savagery the front clip is out....  I’m hoping the same clip is used in UK Nissan vans like the nv200, it may still be functional but would rather use new to prevent future issues. Now I need to try and find new nipples of the right size. (8mm length x 6mm diameter) I’ve found some that are 2mm too long so they will work if I file off 2mm but would rather get right size off the shelf.   |
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Oct 22, 2018 12:11:34 GMT
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Oct 24, 2018 19:01:26 GMT
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Galvanised steel cable of the right thickness has arrived...   |
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Oct 25, 2018 18:34:12 GMT
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Heat shrink (not yet shrunk) and ferrules (not yet crimped) have arrived...  Just waiting on the nipples. |
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