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.
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.
