casasteve

From what I've read, just use a large C clamp and squeeze the piston flush with the caliper (using one of the old pads to spread the load).

Oh, and when I moved the car for the first time, I'm pretty sure the front left calliper had seized on. I got a good clunk noise as it freed itself. Since, it's been giving me a ticking sound as the pad rubs on the disc in one spot. I'm going to drive it this week and see if it frees up some more, as I don't do many miles normally. If not, I'll take a look at the weekend and see if I can do anything.

So, back in the country. Had a bit of a s**t time of it so throwing myself at the car as a distraction. So, I came home to a flat battery so I whipped that out and charged it. When I hooked it up the central locking went nuts. So, clearly that's why the fuse had been removed by a previous owner. So I've got to pull out the IR receiver and check for corroded wiring etc. I've just ordered discs and pads for all corners. I opted for Brembo discs and pads but nothing fancy. Hopefully I can do the work myself. Also, still got to do the brake bleed, transmission fluid change and oil/oil filter change. Then air filter and cabin filters also. I'm sort of half looking out for some cheap 16" wheels/tyres but I think I should save the funds for more of the mechanicals at the moment. I really should get the cam belt sorted...

Bit of a dredge, but would this also work on and mb2 1.4i?

Its got electric sliding doors on the side. Its a beast Drives nice though.

Currently I'm borrowing a car of some relatives. All I was told was that it'd be a "van". Guess what I got!

It sucks being in the US for this reason, but at least we have a cracking view!

I read something about re-programming them but not sure how accurate it was. Something to investigate when I get back. 5am coach to Heathrow tomorrow

Any reason that the key fob (2 button style) seems to light up but it doesn't do anything? Sitting in the car pointing it at the receiver and nothing happens.

Thanks for the well wishes So, today I should be packing a suitcase, but I decided to try and get a few jobs done My heater resistor pack showed up, so I fitted that, and now heater 1&2 working. I checked out the fuse box to see if the central locking fuse had gone. Strangely there was no fuse at all. I posted on the facebook group but ended up fitting a fuse. Voilà , central locking working from the key. Annoyingly, the fob isn't working, even after I figured out someone had pit the batteries in the wrong way around! Lastly, I had a go at the door cards to play with the window mechanism. I didn't have much luck getting the handle surround off, so I gave up. I used silicone lube down the side window rubber runners and its made a big difference So, some small jobs done before I go away

Family emergency. Got to the US and help my Bro and family, as he's sick.

Also, I was thinking about de-chroming. Whilst I like how many do it, blacking out the chrome, I want to do something different. Being a silver car, I wondered about scotchbriting the chrome front and rear to a more subtle brushed effect. Maybe attempt to do the same with the headlight chrome too. I'd then sort the front/side/rear bump strips in a gun metal grey perhaps, and suitably matching coloured 16" 5 or 6 spoke alloys. All finished off with VTi lips either in silver or again, gun metal. Maybe swap the honda badge for one of the red inlay style for a tiny bit of colour. Anyway, pipe dreams

Well, looks like my tinkering activities are on hold for the time being as I'm out of the country for 5 weeks at short notice :/

Excellent. I had read that this was the order so good to have it x2!

On the "links to share this photo" on the right side of the page, use the "direct link" option

This is the place I'm talking about: http://www.rampandwrench.co.uk/main It's half way between work and home

Where abouts can you get the cap for £9? Will be checking mine this weekend!

I'll have a buddy with me who, whilst not a mechanic, has a bit more experience tinkering. The main job will be brake bleed, and then hopefully have time to tackle some of the other things too.

Jumping in at the deep end, so to speak. I'm going to book in a few hours next week at this ramp hire place I talked about in my introduction post and tackle some things. Brake bleed is top of the list, then oil/filter change, maybe transmission fluid (sounds easy enough to do) and air filter change. Hell, I might even look to do spark plugs for the hell of it.

Thanks for the tip, I'll check the levels at lunchtime. Previous owner said that its not worked in the 18 months he had the car, but no telling if he actually filled the washer bottle much A stupid question about the front strut brace - will this actually make a big difference to handling? I don't really sling the car around much, I've only been driving 5 months so the confidence isn't that high! I have, however, noticed how easily she will under steer if pushed slightly. I assume a strut would help a bit with this. Also, I've read mixed information regarding fitting one. Is there a simple bolt on brace I can get or do I need to retrofit one off an MB6 or something?

I don't think they replaced the callipers. I have the paperwork somewhere so I'll have a dig through and figure out what they did. Any advice on fixing the rear washer jet? I've seen it spit out a tiny amount of water but generally it does nothing (makes all the right noises).

Oh, and my first "mod" went on today, some Bosch Aerotwins They're so much better than the wipers I had on it.

So I bought an MB2 from a friend at the weekend. It's a W plate 1.4i S with 96k miles, and it cost me £300. It has a few issues that need to be looked at. Primarily the brakes need attention. My friend had a seized calliper late last year which his local garage sorted. Since then the brakes have been spongy. The garage bled them but it didn't seem to fix the issue so they say it needs a new master cylinder. Other than this, it needs a cam belt change, as it's some miles past it's due date. And so I'm slowly getting ideas for things I'd like to do with this car. I'm not planning anything too major. I'd like to tidy up a few things and improve some others. So far my planned fix and mod list (which I'll be adding too) is this... To Fix/check out: Brakes/Master cylinder Cam belt Rear washer jet not working Heater 1&2 not working (new resistor pack in the post) Gear box feels a little slack Boot carpet fixings Upgrades and mods wishlist: Jazz/Xsara washer jets VTI or equivalent centre arm rest Cup holders VTI front lip Front bumper rub strip (or whatever) refurb VTI seats/interior Re-spray wiper arms Front strut brace smoke/clear side repeaters Money is tight, so this is probably going to be a long one I'll take some better photos soon. http://i.imgur.com/JxmtMU4.jpg

OK, thanks for the info. I'll look at plastidip if it becomes too much of a bugbear.