Monday, June 27, 2005

I've moved...

Just thought i'd post a quick message to say that Qwesto's pug has now moved to a new address so i've got more flexability when it comes to design and what not.. Still in the early stages, but i will be adding more & more bits to the new site...

So check it out and update your bookmarks!

The PUG:Blog

See you there ;)

Thursday, June 09, 2005

It's been a while...

Exactly 1 month since my last post here... Good innit! lol! Not a great deal's been happening with the Pug. No mods yet. I had my insurance up for renewal. That's £15 cheaper a month that what i was paying before, Bonus! Car needed to be taxed, which is another £60.50 down the drain!. D'oh

Oh, and i had my MOT done. The one thing which i have been dreading since the last MOT haha!. Countless things have gone wrong with the car over the last year. New Clutch, New Discs & Pads, New "outlet to heater matrix" hose, several new tyres, new steel wheel, new valve, new backbox & pipe, 5 new bulbs, 2 new headlight units, new rocker cover gasket etc. As i said, loads of things gone wrong, but i thought, "Right, this is silly. The MOT needs to be done (UK Law), so let's get it done & out of the way!". The main thing that was concerning me is that over the last month or 2, ive had this weird creaking noise coming from my front suspension. Not having much money to replace this, i was dreading the MOT just in case the examiner muttered the words "Sorry mate, your suspension is knackered, im going to fail your car."

But anyway, last friday was the day that the MOT. Jumped in the car, and headed to one of my favourite MOT Stations, Mersh Bros in Lewisham. Having previously phoned them to confirm the price (£42.00!!!), they said they had been very busy that week! So as i pulled in, i expected a long wait, but as luck would have it, there was 1 car on the lift, and that was it, so i was next in line. Pulled up, switched the engine off and relaxed in my seat dreading the events over the next half hour!

"Come on mate, pull on the lift" the examiner shouted, which woke me up from my sunny daze. I started my engine, and gingerly rolled onto the car lift. At that point, the car was raised 10ft in the air!...

The guy didnt say a word about the suspension while he was under the car... Bonus! Fingers crossed though as he may mention it later on. 5 minutes later, the car was lowered down again, and the lights were checked. This was the next thing i expected to go wrong as my dad & i fitted these light units ourselves, so i was expecting the beam to be way out, but as a matter of fact, they were spot on! Result!

After the half hour had passed, going up in the lift again, and coming back down, the car had already been on the rolling road to test the brakes, emissions had been tested, and everything had been done.. Was this going to be the time when the examiner told me it had failed??..

"Can you mark this down as some advice" the examiner shouted to his collegue, who pulled out a pad and pen, and got ready to scribble. "Hand brake pivot worn". Hand brake pivot? What the hell is that? Why is it worn!? I've been very careful with the handbrake as that's what stops the car running away on a hill!.. "Is that a problem?" i asked the examiner.
"Jump in" he said "and ill show you the problem".
So i got in the car with a rather miffed yet confused look on my face.
"Pull back the carpet by the handbrake"
"yeah"
"you see that bolt there?
"yeah"
"well that's your handbrake pivot, now if you move your handbrake from left to right" (it's quite wobbly!)
"ok" i said as i started moving the handbrake
"Do you see that bolt moving about?"
"Yup... What can i do to fix that?"
"Well the metal has worn alot, and pretty soon, that could break and cause your handbrake to fail so i would give you some advice to get that welded up!"
D'oh, i thought!.. It's going to fail!... "how much will that cost?" i said.
"About a tenner mate, shouldn't be more than that!"
"Cool, do you do welding here?" i asked
"yeah we do mate, unfortunatly not today as the guy who does our welding is off on fridays"
hmm.. no matter.. i will get it done soon!.. But he hasn't told me the car's going to fail it's MOT yet.. We're at the end, but nothing so far?.

The examiner goes to mouth something, and i wait with baited breath... "Ok mate, if you want to go in the office, your car's passed the MOT, it's just that bit of welding which will need to be done. Follow my collegue into the office, and you can pay and get your new certificate"

WOOOOT.. the car passed =).. Cashback!... i've just got another 365 days until my next MOT now...

Oh, and after returning to the office, my boss offered to pay for the welding to be done to my car!.. Back Of The Net!

Till next time...