Purging Demons

September has arrived and with the mercury nudging the mid twenties, I set out with a tin of Zinga (Zinc based, weld through marine primer) in time for some much needed sill surgery. Eyeing the bubble paintwork and rust blemish oozing through the previously treated sections, I feared the worst. However, forty minutes continual sanding stripped the affected areas to bare and ultimately, sound metal. Zinga is designed for marine environments and chemically leaches into the parent metal for superior protection. True to the blurb, it was touch dry after five minutes, although leave an hour between reapplication and eight before the colour coats. Seeking a complete rust redemption, six were applied through the day and left several hours to fully cure.

Structurally, Zinga doesn’t require further treatment but I’ll get some Neptune blue mixed and applied to the affected areas to coincide with a liberal under body and chassis Waxoyling before October beckons a bony finger. The engine light’s unexpected engagement along a deserted lane induced an intensifying sense of worry, resulting in the time honoured “stop and turn off the ignition and re-start” wishful thinking procedure but to no avail. Fearing the onset of something costly, I dropped it to Palmer's who plugged it into the laptop and diagnosed a very slight misfire, corrected for a calming £17.50 + VAT.

Now to the small but infuriating leak into the driver’s footwell…Extensive internet research and reference to the Haynes manual lead me to suspect it emanates from poor sealing at the bulkhead (located immediately behind the expansion tank) thus allowing the water to channel inside. My other bet suggests it’s a faulty seal at the steering column grommet. The most obvious home remedy  is a concentrated bead of good old fashioned bathroom mastic but this dubiously monikered “Captain Tolleys Creeping Crack Cure” might offer the Eureka moment we’ve hungered for. Designed for use in classic cars, boats, motor homes etc its co-polymer construction is reckoned to seek out and seal tiny cracks, holes and imperfections at source…Time will tell. Seems as if this unspoken fault is hereditary, the latest generation built alongside Fiat’s funky little 500 in Poland are displaying disturbingly similar symptoms.

Screaching to a halt

The sickening sound of metal on metal coupled with little feedback from the brake pedal suggested 63,480 would chime new discs, pads and related consumables. To my surprise and Palmer's credit, servicing revealed pristine discs but glazed pads. Cleaning both and re-greasing the rear drums has restored serene, progressive braking. However, the driver's side suspension arm bushings had disintegrated, necessitating replacement to the tune of £75 inc VAT. The next big, foreseeable expense will be the clutch, although being as urban driving is kept to a minimum, I'm hoping it'll hold out past the 75,000 mark. While an unseasonably temperate March permitted healthy application of Waxoyl to both chassis, under body and panels; surface corrosion rears its ugly head along the sills, despite several coats of Hammerite. To counter this, I've ordered some marine grade zinc primer and will sand the affected areas to bare metal before applying several thin coats. Realistically, this won't completely eradicate the problem since galvanising was a dirty word on the Valencia lines but is a step in the right direction nonetheless.

Frequently driving through the UK's once prosperous industrial heartlands and having witnessed Ford's Dagenham body plant first hand, I am struck by the paradox that factories were hard and monotonous environments claiming the lives of their local communities, yet conversely defined and kept them alive. Car plants in particular paid well for semi/unskilled labour and provided continuity for many generations. The disappearance of manufacturing left behind a sense of hopelessness and indeed worklessness for many who for whatever reason couldn't make the transition to other industries including the service sector and "knowledge based" economies. In the mid 1990s I wrote an academic piece entitled " Last Tango in Dagenham" concerned with the low educational attainment in Barking and Dagenham compared with neighbouring inner city boroughs. My hypothesis suggested it was the area's historic links with Ford that perpetrated a myth that schooling/education per se was immaterial since there would always be jobs for life on the line. However, this philosophy didn't account for the changing demands of industry and according to the School's liaison officer, most leaving the school gates within the catchment areas wouldn't meet the basic requirements for even the most routine assembly line duties.

A multitude of factors have influened a yearning to write a book about the former midlands car industry and specifically those working within it through the 70s, 80's to the final days of Peugeot...Got a story, know someone who'd like to contribute? Drop me a line.

60,000 miles: Wet footwells & dodgy geezers selling very dodgy motors

60,000 miles and several days relentless rainfall has induced a soggy driver's s side foot well. Now long past warranty and with middling balance sheet, my fingers took a quick wander around the web in search of inspiration and dare I say, a Haynes manual. This is a fault common (but not exclusive) to the breed emanating from a myriad of possible sources. Casual conversation and forum topics implied leaves could be blocking the water drain-off, thus channeling water through the point of least resistance...A good purge here didn't betray anything obvious but engendered a more intimate understanding of the Ka's geography.

Enlisting the help of my long suffering mother, several buckets of water were poured continuously around the bulkhead while I turned contortionist and looked for moisture... faint traces around the brake and accelerator pedal assembly but nothing conclusive-the idea being to pinpoint the region so the offending area could be treated with mastic or substitute automotive sealant.

Two hours' diagnosis led me to the conclusion it ranks as an irritant as removed from serious fault- water entering through the dash and contaminating the electrics would be an entirely different(not to mention expensive) proposition. Spraying some of my home brewed corrosion inhibitor around the suspect areas seems to have formed temporary barrier while the search for a cost effective cure continues.

Elsewhere, the inclement conditions and layers of road grime aren't particularly kind to the bargain basement "lick and a promise" finish but regular Waxoyling of the chassis components and nourishing wash and wax formulas have kept the livery lovely and Joe rot firmly in the shadows. The close of January cold snap rendered central locking and boot closure mechanisms temporarily arthritic but liberal squirts of Teflon based water displacer provided easy remedy.

Having run a few cars and discovered the motor trade's darker side on the seamy streets of South London, I found myself looking over a suspiciously low mileage '97 plate Toyota with a friend. 55,000 and full service history eh, part exchange, one owner...first to see will buy (from this dealer doubtless posing as a private seller I thought). The car in question was a Carina GL that had winged its way down south via the auction houses. Tight lipped about his precise location, said trader met us at pub before leading to a remote farm house. After brief pleasantries, he left us the keys and the opportunity to cast a not-too critical eye.

Red is a notoriously tricky colour and this one clearly "had paint" at some point. The obligatory internal valet certainly looked clean but my suspicions were aroused upon opening the bonnet and inspecting the engine oil which clearly hadn't been changed in some time and contained creamy deposits, indicating possible head gasket woes.

Running off a few quick shots using my venerable Fuji compact, I was about to engage in more intimate perusal when the vendor emerged from an outbuilding with disconcerting haste. Unsettled by my approach, his patter became decidedly passive- aggressive and this presented the perfect opportunity for a test drive. Meena at the wheel we drove half a mile, discussing concerns and examining documents in greater detail. A distinct lack of servicing in three years coupled with some very obvious bodges elicited a general feeling of unease. We returned, smiled a lot, thanked him for his time before making good our escape, muttering something about viewing two Corolla that afternoon...