What a pig of a job.

Try changing the starter motor on an XJ12 without a hoist on a 40 degree day.

Fraser

Ultimate "naaah it'll only take five minutes" lie is changing the spark plugs on an air-con equipped XJS V12...

pics woulda made this post more interesting :) be cool to see a before and after hehe

I am not usually a violent person but after that job I was ready to kill the person who designed that motor. It took 8 hours over six days. Professionals who do it all the time and have the right tools for the job can do it in 4. I did the one in Nissan in about 5 minutes.

Fraser

Nothing would have made it interesting. It was a boring job that needed=20 to be done for my peace of mind.

Had the news KYBs, TRD front top mounts, Eibach springs, and the alumium=20 diff cushion and diff mount poly's fitted this week. Parts came to about=20 =A3600 and the labout came to =A3391. Car drives nice now. Doesn't jerk=20 about either like it did, no loud banging and thumping over pot holes.

Also, yesterday afternoon after the polishing marathon, I took the ST205=20 stick I bought, stripped off the mounting bits I didn't need, worked out=20 the length difference, and made some copper spacers from 15mm dia=20 plumbing pipe to make up the difference in the pivot ball height, and I=20 now have me a quickshift. Shifter cost me =A350 from a club member,=20 instead of the =A3300 that a new one from Toyota would cost, or the =A3200= =20 that a quickshift for the 185 from TRD, C-One, Toms and the likes would=20 have cost.

Shifts work well now, throw is much shorter, action is much tighter=20 because the end bushes on the stick don't have as much wear, reverse is=20 where you expect it to be, instead of hunting for it, and it still looks=20 factory because the original knob and gaitor fit straight back on, and=20 the stick height works out roughly the same.

--=20 "Sorry Sir, the meatballs are Orf" The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

!!!!!!!

That's a kilo-pound !

If you spent a little more when buying the cars in the first place, then they wouldn't require any maintenance :) (in theory)

You still bought it, even though it did that ?

I could do with something similar on the Pug - the gear change is par-for-the-course Peugeot (read SHITE...)

Yup. My mate with one has got it down to just a full morning's work...

Nothing would have made it interesting. It was a boring job that needed to be done for my peace of mind.

Had the news KYBs, TRD front top mounts, Eibach springs, and the alumium diff cushion and diff mount poly's fitted this week. Parts came to about £600 and the labout came to £391. Car drives nice now. Doesn't jerk about either like it did, no loud banging and thumping over pot holes.

Also, yesterday afternoon after the polishing marathon, I took the ST205 stick I bought, stripped off the mounting bits I didn't need, worked out the length difference, and made some copper spacers from 15mm dia plumbing pipe to make up the difference in the pivot ball height, and I now have me a quickshift. Shifter cost me £50 from a club member, instead of the £300 that a new one from Toyota would cost, or the £200 that a quickshift for the 185 from TRD, C-One, Toms and the likes would have cost.

Shifts work well now, throw is much shorter, action is much tighter because the end bushes on the stick don't have as much wear, reverse is where you expect it to be, instead of hunting for it, and it still looks factory because the original knob and gaitor fit straight back on, and the stick height works out roughly the same.

There is always something you miss though. =20

Well, when it isn't your car, even though you test it hard, you never=20 give it that last 10% that you would if it was your own. Didn't notice=20 it at the time.

Th shift didn't appear too sloppy compared to the Saab, the guy I bought=20 it from lived close to a pretty recent bypass that was still moderatly=20 new.=20

And the diff bush/cushion bang only happened on fast up and downshifts,=20 which you felt rather than heard, through the back of the seat. I did=20 notice though that it didn't do it so much with weight in the back, and=20 on the test drive, he was in the back and the missus was in the front=20 passenger. It's a common fault that Toyota never changed through the=20 three models. They reckon they last 60k miles, Toyota say 3 hours by the=20 book to change, AA garage and MrClutch reckoned 5 hours min. With the=20 instructions I gave him, he reckoned 1.5 hours because it was the first=20 time he has done one.

The documentation with the car (pretty complete) lists no mention of it=20 being changed in the past, and the shocks were originals too. They had=20 done 140k, so I figured, if I was going to renew the springs, shocks=20 might as well be done too.

The Eibach springs and 20% uprated versions of standard KYBs are cheaper=20 than going to Toyota for standard versions (very few other places have=20 them as a standard shock even though they are the same as a similar=20 period Corolla with heavier springs, my other choice was =A3900 for Tein=20 superstreets, very harsh, Leda =A31300 and I would need to find a set of=20 front lower legs to send until they built them, $1700 JICs but wait for=20 shipping from the US).

the TRD top mounts are similar, cheaper to buy TRD from an independant=20 than standard KYB from Toyota, and they are stronger and made from=20 slightly stiffer rubber with ball bearings instead of plain metal, so=20 wear less.

It's odd getting used to it, especially pulling back. Feels really=20 weird, I want to pull a lot futher back.

Couple of months ago I fitted a set of solid brass shifter bushes to the=20 front of the shifter cables too, so it is slightly notchier, and a=20 little harsher to shift but a lot more positive, and I don't have to=20 fumble arround because there is no slack and wear unlike the standard=20 rubber bushes (the rubber damps a little vibration better), although=20 there is a guy on Ebay selling poly wrapped cartridge bearing versions.=20 Smoother because of the bearing, and poly damps a little better than=20 plain brass.

Does anyone make a quickshift for the pug? You wouldn't believe how much=20 of a difference it makes.

--=20 "Sorry Sir, the meatballs are Orf" The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

Peugeot's shift problems are because they insist on using shitty cable linkages. I have NO idea why ! But it means they're all sloppy and treacle-ish after about 30k. It never gets bad enough to stop you finding the gears, so I guess it's not really a problem. It just feels horrible !

This is a two cable system on the Celica, it was still usuable easily just not "New" anymore. Certainly felt worn than the Saab which had done less miles, but over 20 years instead of 15. Ths Skodas and the SAAB used a single solid bar with UJs to deal with gear shifts, using back/forward and Rotation to deal with shifts. When the bushes and joins in them go out, its' good night to accuracy.

I doubt the cables themselves are the problem. More likely pivot bushes. Cables can stretch, but can also have an adjustment for that.

I had an an Austin 1800 with a cable change. Later ones went over to rods. The rod change was like stirring porridge after a few thousand miles - the cable one lasted well. Only down point was it was stiff on a cold day until things warmed up.

Perfectly feasable to do.

Or the other option, cut a piece out of the top the shifter and reweld. Cyt the lower part of the shifter, weld the piece in.

None of the 4 Peugeots my family have had have cable gear linkages. My (1.9 XU 8v petrol) Citroen\ BX doesn't either. The gearchange feel on the 'boxes are/were all pretty poor, especially my Citroen, but it's probably had more abuse, its more of a grating, notchy feel I find, but it is common across the range of 205s and 306s I've driven.

Douglas

Are you sure ? I was under the impression that all PSA cars used cable-linkages, and that's why they were all shit ?

If that's not the case, then why ARE they all shit ? Both my 405s had shit-o-boxes, the 406 Coupe is even worse, and all the AX/106s that I get as courtesy cars are also shit. And my mate's 106 was shit. Infact, the only Pug I've been in with a none-bust gearchange is Dan's brand new 206 !

Note : All the above comments refer specifically to the gearchange. I love my Pugs :)

It still seems quite smooth...

Bit stiff when its v.cold tho.

in news: snipped-for-privacy@news2.newsguy.com, "Nom" slurred :

Nope. The AX, Xantia, 205, 306, 405 I've worked on all had mechanical linkages. In fact the last 4 all have the same gearbox :-)

The 405 is pretty horrible, and the one in the AX was a bit floppy, but the others have been fine to use (although compared to the ultra-sweet short-throw change in the prelude they are all a bit vague and notchy). I think you need to get the linkages set just right to get a fairly smooth action.

I frequently swear at the 'box in my 405 when it's cold, but once it's warmed up and I'm hooning along some B-road, enjoying the handling, I completely forget about it....

They DO grip nicely with 205 width tyres :)

in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net, "DanTXD" slurred :

Yup, especially with those sticky things you put on the fronts. Don't see 'em lasting much longer tho :-)