My lovely Austin Metro has finally been packed off to the scrapyard and I've bought a cheap Citroën AX as a replacement. Of the many things wrong with it, the most frustrating has been the spare wheel cage. The securing bolt had been tightened up to the limit of the thread and seized in that position. After spending all day trying to shift it with the lousy wheel brace supplied, I finally bought a nice strong hacksaw blade and sawed through the cage and (eventually) the bolt. Replacing them with bits from a scrapyard. Daft design, if you ask me. If you must have the spare underneath the car, then at least give the screw that holds it a nice hexagonal head to grab hold of like Ford. Better still, stick it in the boot floor like a metro... I've smeared the new bolt with lots of grease and not tightened it anywhere near as tight as the old one. What can I do now to stop it from seizing again? Also, how do I stop the local scallies from sawing through the cage and stealing the spare?
David.
(Reluctant owner of a French car)