Topic

Lexus lights&rear spoiler,love the spoiler,I know many don't.Next week going in for a retrim in cream leather to replace the cloth seats.

The company I work for supply Thames Water with all their clean water parts, this means when they have a burst main and don't have the part to repair it we have to supply it within 4 hours. As a result we have to have a HGV driver on standby to deliver said parts if they are too big for a courier van. And this weekend it's my turn . As a result I can't have a drink, go shopping, the cinema, the pub etc. or get too involved in doing anything on the cars in case I get a call.....

However I managed to finish reconnecting the steering column to the rack, fit the driver side puddle light (but not wire it) and fit the alcantara panel to the door card in place of the "leather" one.

Cruising around in it..taking in some country...

Fixed a bad thread on one of my cross brace bolt holes, I noticed earlier this year that it would not tighten up and the thread was slipped.
most of us probably know how to Helicoil a thread, but a bit of a how to for the benefit of someone who doesn't.
It also gives me a chance to test out my shiny new repair kit, a whopping £25 off E-bay!

So onto my ramps and....
First the cross brace bolts have to be undone, the dodgy thread bolt removed

and also the one in the centre of the brace that fixes the brace to the underside of the spare wheel bay. I also slackened off the diagonally opposite bolt, just enough so I could shift the bracing bar out of the way.

Now the brace bar can be shifted away from the hole to allow access. You can see how bad the thread is!

The bolts are M10 so Use the M10 insert drill bit from the kit and drill out a tapping hole for the new insert.
Good idea to wear gloves and safety glasses here, the swarf drops downwards and is still nice and hot when it falls onto the back of your hand or eyeball!

Once the hole is drilled to size, use the tap that is supplied with the kit to tap out the hole to receive the new thread insert. Use a tapping lubricant and I usually turn the tap 1/4 clockwise to cut, then 1/2 anticlockwise to clear the swarf. Just how I was taught when I was an apprentice and it works. Do not try to tap the hole in one cut, as a broken tap is a pig to remove!

Now the M10 insert can be place on the applicator and screwed in to the new thread.

Once the insert is in and flush, use the bosher punch to break the small centre spigot off the insert, this is not needed and is only useful when screwing the Helicoil in.

Now the brace bar can be re-positioned and the bolt screwed back in. I used a smear of grease on the bolt shank to seal the thread before I screwed it in.
Now check the Torque setting for the bolt. In this case 30Nm

And torque up....

Now the centre bolt can be re-fitted and torqued and the opposite bolt torqued up.
Jobs a good-un and its time for a beer!

Sundance

Yesterday I popped over to work to finish taking the engine out of the "new" subframe, while Mrs TC and daughter went shopping. My socket sets, spanner set and impact driver in the boot.........except the 1/4 drive set that I'd been using the day before, forgot they were indoors, and of course that has all the screw driver bits too, the 3/8 sockets go down to 9mm and the 1/2 goes down to 10mm........couldn't remove any of the cooling pipes with out 8mm, 6mm or a screw driver.

Nor did I have any snips to undo cable ties on the wiring loom and when the impact driver started to round some of the gearbox bolts I couldn't use a spanner and hammer as I had no hammer, final "spanner in the works" was forgetting the punch and 36mm socket for the drive shafts.

Got a re-gas on my air con today, the refrigerant leaked out sometime over the summer when I hardly used the air con, as the top was usually down - they do say use it regularly to keep the seals good!
A local garage does it for £30, so they sorted it out and now I have nice icy blast back!
They also dropped a dye into the refrigerant, so if it leaks again, there is a good chance to see where from!
Sundance

Fitted some anodised washers and new stainless steel screws under the bonnet.
Sundance

Fitted an alternator to my latest TF. Then I found the wipers not working although the lights dimmed when the switch was actuated. So took it apart today, cleaned it up and they are now working! Next job to get the washers to spray. The motor is working but no fluid out of the jets so most likely a blocked pipe. The joys of fixing things!

SundanceUK wrote: wrote:

Fitted some anodised washers and new stainless steel screws under the bonnet.
Sundance

Loving those bolts and washers, Sundance! Really tidy.

Took Mrs TC up to London for the day to the British Museum, a place she's wanted to go for many years........a happy Mrs TC is less likely to be negative with me having some car time.

can you tell me where you got the hex bolts and the red washers, oh and can you get them in blue thanks

graham1 wrote: wrote:

can you tell me where you got the hex bolts and the red washers, oh and can you get them in blue thanks

VT Custom