Bargain Basement Motoring

[NewcastleFalcon]

Gave the Bargain Basement Micra a bit of a treat today...new wipers back and front. This 2-pack front, and the rear one were surprising good value at about £20 from Halfords.

Falcon Original
Bosch via Halfords

Falcon Original

MOT/Tax at the end of the month, mile-o-meter is now at 74,792 from 72,851 at the last MOT. Around 2,000 useful workhorse van like miles around the doors, with just the occasional bit of pleasure motoring.


Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

MOT time looms, only done 2000 miles since the last one, but tyres may well need doing, probably more borderline now than they were for last years pass.

Last MOT I did the flexible brake hose at the RH front, its a double length thing with a silly little hook thing and a banjo fitting at the caliper end. To pre-empt a possible failure and it does no harm to present a bit of newnesss, I intend to replace the LH one. Went to my usual source of unbeatable prices the much maligned Eurocarparts and even cheaper for the same stuff sidekick Carparts4less, only to find things have changed. Overpriced at Eurocarparts at £32 ish and the same price with none of the usual additional discount through Carparts4less. GSF have it too but same sort of price £32.51 (after discount so they aren't any better)

I may have to take my bargain basement pound somewhere else. Quick look at the net and without trying many options for the right hose at £20 and less inc new Quinton Hazell branded, and free postage. Just looked back, and the RH one as below was £30 last year . I must have grown more bargain basement than last year being shocked into looking for something cheaper

Last years part

Doing some more shopping at carparts4less. Flexible brake hose to sort the rusted ferrules. Micra's is like this at the front



£30 after discount at ECP, check every time but there is an Extra £6 discount if you order through Carparts4less
and you can collect it from ECP, which I have chosen to do this time to save wasting a day or 2 hanging around for delivery which would be free and which I would normally use. So far I have had none of the woes of others sometimes expressed on here quite the opposite. I find they are unbeatable on price and well suited to this BB motorist They obviously both have a sale on all the time and both have discount codes to use to get the cheapest price. (things appear to have changed! 2023)

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Just need to deposit this here so I can find it again, window dressing for the Flexible Brake Pipe job

Surprising how expensive, for those with a bargain basement mentality, little bits of tat are.



Regards Neil

[myglaren]

Mine is in on Monday for MOT and service. I just let them get on with it and fix whatever needs fixing although I did fit new cups to the registration plate screws, and no expense spared, new screws too to replace the rusty ones.
All comes at once though, Tax, MOT, Service and Insurance. Bought a C3 from them last week for daughter#1 so the coffers are empty bar the odd moth.

[CitroJim]

Have you tried Autodoc Neil?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Have you tried Autodoc Neil?

Not in so far as ever purchasing anything from them Jim, but aware of them. They never used to beat the price convenience and ease of getting stuff at ECP/Carparts4less. I am a rare car tinkerer these days, MOT time is the top and bottom of it, and if the car happens to fail I'm on the 10 day ticking clock to sort it and not waste time waiting for parts to arrive. Probably why I paid £30 for the hose last year without thinking too much about it . As mentioned above you could collect next day from any ECP any orders placed on-line with Carparts4less no hassle, but with a little extra discount for the same thing.

Looked at Autodoc first Jim after judging that £32 appeared too much for a flexible brake hose, and they had innumerable links for the hose from many manufacturers for half the price. Didn't dig much into their delivery charges. Was quite happy with the QH one at £20 from a UK supplier with free postage. Doing it Pre-MOT does give a bit extra time for the waiting for it through the post.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Partsinmotion on e-bay have had a few mentions on here in the past, generally positive, and they have a Bosch branded LH front Brake Hose for the 2005 Micra K12 1.0 at £19.82 with free postage. Referenced up nicely with the Nissan Original Part no 462109U01A.

Partsinmotion
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235006608455 ... %3A2047675

As well as the full set of Nissan Technical Manuals for the BB Micra being available on line, the parts catalogue is too
https://nissan-europe.epc-data.com/micr ... 2/46201MA/

Neil

[MattBLancs]

Autodoc .... Didn't dig much into their delivery charges.

£8.45, unless over £140 then it's free.

There's a £3.95 sneaky thing they add on each time (which extends how long you have to send anything back to 200 days) but no problem to knock this off.

The waiting time is only negative I have with them. Had an issue (pack of 4 ordered, single item delivered - twice!) But the electronic chat thing is pretty good, once you've bamboozled/ proved too complicated for the auto response robot !! and they got a replacement sent out pretty quickly.

The prices are up and down like a yo-yo 25% off, 39% off, up to 41% off and very rarely 43% off sometimes only for a few hours. Generally Monday's seems to be the day for the "never repeated, best ever, we've never been cheaper, blah blah" 41% off day each week.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Autodoc .... Didn't dig much into their delivery charges.

£8.45, unless over £140 then it's free.

Thanks for the additionals Matt, looks like the bargain basement route to go for that single hose is e-bay with partsinmotion looking as good as any.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looks like its Leeds, and Burnley who have won the Falcon pound for the hose, and the clips respectively.

Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looks like its Leeds, and Burnley who have won the Falcon pound for the hose, and the clips respectively.



Neil

..and Leeds and Burnley have come up with the goods today

Falcon Original

Neil

[CitroJim]

Excellent!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Thought I had better make a start and fit my new parts. Simple job...undo a metal brake pipe to flexible hose union, and a banjo bolt at the calliper end. Remove old hose, fit new one.

I have the appropriate hex brake spanner and unlike last years struggles...there was a cunifer pipe and decent hex on the union nut. Promising. Fascinating trivia the cunifer name comes from ( copper, nickel and Iron (yes the fer bit)).

Same story as last year as it turned out. The join between the metal pipe and the flexible hose would just not undo. Sorted it by making a new pipe with new ends going from the ABS block to the flexible hose.

You know what I should have ordered...new banjo bolts and copper washers. Never come with the flex hose and where do you get them from...the internet only I am guessing. Had to nip it up tighter than I felt was right to dry up the drip. That's enough prose...like to keep things visual...

Falcon Original
The Undoable Nuts 2023 and 2022

Neil

[CitroJim]

That job nearly became a bit of a 'mare Neil...

I know what you mean about new copper washers and banjo bolts. Seems crazy not to include new ones... I think I'd get new ones given you are not 100% happy.

I've tried annealing previously used copper washers in the past but I still find nice new uncrushed ones work better...

[NewcastleFalcon]

I know what you mean about new copper washers and banjo bolts. Seems crazy not to include new ones... I think I'd get new ones given you are not 100% happy.

I've tried annealing previously used copper washers in the past but I still find nice new uncrushed ones work better...

Another 40p spent on the BB Micra's MOT. What are agricultural engineers workshops renowned for A treasure trove of of useful little bits and pieces in many nooks and crannies for bargain basement fixing purposes. Bet everyone knows this, but I just found out, a crush copper washer is different from an ordinary copper washer. Yes the torque for that banjo bolt is only 18 Nm, and with the new crush washers installed the drip stopped pretty much straight away, no overtightening required.

Falcon Original
Audi Badge recreated in Crush Washers

Neil