My Mandarin 2.1

[Dieselman]

MOT time this morning...

Took the XM in at 7:45 this morning and at 8:40 was walking out......

With a clean PASS....Whoo,Hoo...NO advisories and a smoke test of 0.42 against a limit of 1.5.


That covers it through to January 25th 2012 now..Happy Days....

[robert_e_smart]

Excellent, passing was the only thing that car should do with the attention you have given it.

[jorgy]

Haha great, good job!

Your XM looks smashing, with the S1 alloys also -was just looking at the photos-. You say u have refurbed them, I wonder how much have they charged (is it costly to rework the diamond-cut parts?)

What comments do u get now on this XM, I wonder? (from lay people, I mean)

G

[Dean]

Good news Will, she does look really nice now, it looked lovely at cxm last year but a little under wheeled in my opinion, although i do like the plain disc wheel trims these aloys are the bbest and they really compliment the shape of the car.
Looking good .

D

[Dieselman]

Haha great, good job!

Your XM looks smashing, with the S1 alloys also -was just looking at the photos-. You say u have refurbed them, I wonder how much have they charged (is it costly to rework the diamond-cut parts?)

What comments do u get now on this XM, I wonder? (from lay people, I mean)

Surprisingly, no comments...

I had the wheels painted in two colour, Grey FTU and Sparkle silver, rather than diamond cut. Diamond cut would have been a lot cheaper but the lacquer always lifts of the cut section and causes corrosion again. These are acid etched so the paint bonds well.

Diamond cut are available for about £50 per wheel, two colour somewhat more...

I didn't use these people but have heard good reports of them.. http://www.rimfurbish.co.uk/index.html

I used a local refurber that only offers paint as a finish, no cutting. http://www.belmontmetalfinishing.com/

[jorgy]

What comments do u get now on this XM, I wonder? (from lay people, I mean)

Surprisingly, no comments...

haha wait for a bit of warmer weather, then they will notice it

Thanks for all the info, the fact I thought u had had them diamond cut just goes to show how successful the sparkle silver solution has been.

[Dieselman]

Another year, another MOT test. The car has been idle for about 6 months and I took it without checking it over.

A pass, but collected an advisory for n/s CV boot splitting. on inspection both inner and outer boots were splitting, so I fitted a new pair yesterday.
Another job that has needed attention is the clutch. since fitting the new clutch the release seems to so close to over centre that on fast changes the pedal sticks down for a second then comes up quickly, which makes changing gear jerky.
I though this was due to the pedal assistance spring being out of adjustment, but on inspection find the position to be fixed. What I deduced is that the pedal has pressed the carpet and soundproofing a bit thinner, so is traveling further than it should.
After packing some wadding under the carpet the problem is resolved.

[MTXM]

That is an interesting problem and fix Will! Regards, Matthew T.

[Dean]

Good result there Will, its a nice clean car, is it this one you are swapping the roof skin on or are you trying it on the cobalt car first?

D

[Dieselman]

The only other reason I could think of is the friction plate being slightly thicker then it should be, but this is a genuine Valeo clutch, so I think that is unlikely.