Topic: What did you do to your car today?

[sailor723]

Did a clean of the very grungy film on the inside of my windshield. I found a Youtube video that suggested a 3 step process. Number1 was rub vigorously with a dry microfiber cloth ....2. scrub with a wet Mr Clean Magic Eraser and then wipe dry with a fresh micro cloth.  3. clean with glass cleaner as normal (I used Invisible Glass and a 3rd fresh clean cloth)
Seemed to do a decent job.

Edit   They do warn you to cover your dash with a good layer of newspaper or plastic bags.....I guess drips from whatever cleaner is in the eraser might stain or bleach the plastic

[me_2]

Took Mrs. Hire's M5 for a longer run after a long while. Had a few misc. errands to run and then we went for a boot through the countryside. Car pulls like a freight train - absolutely delightful. Now sporting period-correct 1999-2000 era license plates, too...

Such a beauty, IMHO one off their nicest sedan design line & period if compare to now, not much 

[ktm525]

It's been downhill ever since for BMW. Nice sled.

[Dante]

So what started off on last Friday as a routine engine bay cleanup and cosmetic work on the BMW, turned out to days long (still ongoing) saga with two cooling hoses broken and one strut mount stud snapped... At least the engine bay is clean now ...
Picking up a new hose now and hopefully will be able to install it tonight without anything else breaking in the process..... The beauty of working on old cars....

[Fobroader]

Took Mrs. Hire's M5 for a longer run after a long while. Had a few misc. errands to run and then we went for a boot through the countryside. Car pulls like a freight train - absolutely delightful. Now sporting period-correct 1999-2000 era license plates, too...

Man what a beautiful car, like they haven't made anything close to it for ages.

[rrocket]

So what started off on last Friday as a routine engine bay cleanup and cosmetic work on the BMW, turned out to days long (still ongoing) saga with two cooling hoses broken and one strut mount stud snapped... At least the engine bay is clean now ...
Picking up a new hose now and hopefully will be able to install it tonight without anything else breaking in the process..... The beauty of working on old cars....

Seems like every time you touch that car, it costs hundreds!   

[Gurgie]

Washed it & used Iron-X to get all the rail dust off as well. This thing is a huge pain to wash, no wonder I don't do it often

Parked in front of the neighbors place to avoid the sap from the tree in front of my house! If it wasn't a City tree I'd be chopping the down, such a pain in the ass all summer spraying our cars with a mist of sap everyday.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[HeliDriver]

^^ It’s probably aphid poo, not sap. The GTI is covered in it as well. 

[rrocket]

Washed it & used Iron-X to get all the rail dust off as well. This thing is a huge pain to wash, no wonder I don't do it often

Parked in front of the neighbors place to avoid the sap from the tree in front of my house! If it wasn't a City tree I'd be chopping the down, such a pain in the ass all summer spraying our cars with a mist of sap everyday.

Put a nice topper spray on between washes to make washing easier.

[PJungnitsch]

^^ It’s probably aphid poo, not sap. The GTI is covered in it as well. 

Yep, filtering out the protein and letting the water and sugars go

Maybe try hosing the tree down to shift them

https://blog.davey.com/2018/08/how-to-get-rid-of-treat-aphid-infestations-in-large-tall-trees/

Tougher job if it's scale insects

https://www.elitetreecare.com/library/tree-pests/tree-scale/

[Gurgie]

Washed it & used Iron-X to get all the rail dust off as well. This thing is a huge pain to wash, no wonder I don't do it often

Parked in front of the neighbors place to avoid the sap from the tree in front of my house! If it wasn't a City tree I'd be chopping the down, such a pain in the ass all summer spraying our cars with a mist of sap everyday.

Put a nice topper spray on between washes to make washing easier.

I have the Opticoat-Plus ceramic coating, so usually it's a foam cannon wash for it

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[rrocket]

Washed it & used Iron-X to get all the rail dust off as well. This thing is a huge pain to wash, no wonder I don't do it often

Parked in front of the neighbors place to avoid the sap from the tree in front of my house! If it wasn't a City tree I'd be chopping the down, such a pain in the ass all summer spraying our cars with a mist of sap everyday.

Put a nice topper spray on between washes to make washing easier.

I have the Opticoat-Plus ceramic coating, so usually it's a foam cannon wash for it

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

I'd still have a hydrophobic topper on it...  spray on, wipe off.

[Dante]

So what started off on last Friday as a routine engine bay cleanup and cosmetic work on the BMW, turned out to days long (still ongoing) saga with two cooling hoses broken and one strut mount stud snapped... At least the engine bay is clean now ...
Picking up a new hose now and hopefully will be able to install it tonight without anything else breaking in the process..... The beauty of working on old cars....

Seems like every time you touch that car, it costs hundreds!   

Ha...ha... I knew you are going to say something like that. 

Well, hoses are not expensive, but it was the inconvenience of breaking without having the spare on hand. The strut mount will be expensive labor wise as I have to take it to the shop (parts are not that expensive).

On a 12 yo and 190K km car you would expect some cooling hoses to be cooked and plastic parts to be brittle. The hoses were original so they actually lasted quite a bit if you ask me.
When I come back from vacation I will preemptively replace the radiator (still original) and shortly after will do the water pump, thermostat and all cooling hoses. Then, I only have the starter to replace before winter (parts are cheap again but labor will be expensive).

Thing is I got the car for the price I got it for, with the mind set to refresh it end-to-end over time as I plan to keep it for the long run, so it doesn't bother me much.

The only thing is that the timing was bad as I go on vacation for few weeks in few days and I need to drive the car to my friend's house....and I have other things to take care before.

Anyway, I put the hoses in tonight and while I had to struggle to remove the radiator side of the upper hose, the front end is back together. The moment of truth will be tomorrow when I put everything else back, refill the coolant and bleed the system. Hopefully no leaks....

[Gurgie]

^^ It’s probably aphid poo, not sap. The GTI is covered in it as well.  [emoji14]

Yep, filtering out the protein and letting the water and sugars go

Maybe try hosing the tree down to shift them

https://blog.davey.com/2018/08/how-to-get-rid-of-treat-aphid-infestations-in-large-tall-trees/

Tougher job if it's scale insects

https://www.elitetreecare.com/library/tree-pests/tree-scale/

Yeah, I've gotta try to hose the tree down & maybe prune the branches a bit.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[rrocket]

Not me...but a co-worker changed his lady friend's cabin filter from a 2017 Spark.

Yuck!!

[JohnnyMac]

Not me...but a co-worker changed his lady friend's cabin filter from a 2017 Spark.

Yuck!!

Prior to the adoption of the cabin air filter, did all that crap just fly into the cabin from the vents?  I don't remember ever seeing random debris flying into the cabin back when I was a kid.

[tortoise]

I'd say so.

It probably took a few years for the filter to get like that. So it's not like you'd notice.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Not me...but a co-worker changed his lady friend's cabin filter from a 2017 Spark.

Yuck!!

Prior to the adoption of the cabin air filter, did all that crap just fly into the cabin from the vents?  I don't remember ever seeing random debris flying into the cabin back when I was a kid.

I've owned a few vehicles that were pre-cabin filters - a '97 Dodge Ram, and a 2001 Hyundai Accent.  I worked in dusty locations at the time, and yes, when I'd start the car, a cloud of dust would shoot out of the vents into the cabin, from where the dust had settled on the HVAC intake vent at the base of the windshield.  I think the bigger stuff would probably get trapped by the blend doors, or in the nooks/crannies of the ducting. 

Cabin filters are a massive boon when it comes to keeping the interior of your car spic and span, not to mention just general air quality. 

[BWII]

Picked up the truck last Friday just in time to go camping.  Almost 7 months after the accident and 2 weeks in the shop - it now has a new front left fender (had some scratches only but when they went to fix it, it blew through and it was only $50 more for a new fender vs fixing the rust - so he got me a new fender  ), 2 doors, rocker and cab corner, new running board/step, and new pop out step (he found one, which he said was almost impossible, but they did)...new wheel coming soon. 

Thing looks sharp, they did a fantastic job.  Showed me the rocker they cut out that I just had replaced last year...yup...that's why (because?) I paid $750/side instead of $4500 (what this shop would've charged) for both...what a facking mess.  Get what you pay for, but as my son said, I can get it crappily done 3 more times for what I saved lol)  So passenger side probably looks like shi# if you'd crawl under the truck, probably.  Might have to coat it in - what?  Fluid film?  Suggestions?  Or get hit on the passenger side?

[Fobroader]

I would just side swipe something with the passenger side. Find something terrible, like a  Journey or a Leaf and have at 'er