Crazy Cat Lady

Black Stitch Leather Speedo Thong! LOL! I'm sure it will be a good snug fit.... Can anyone recommend the best leather to plastic adhesive to buy? Debs

A handsome young UPS driver brought a couple of things today... I found it very easy to put the tool drawer cabinet together, and i really like it, just the right size. It's given me the incentive to give the garage & shed a good tidy up and organise, wish me luck! Debs

Some FreakyParts arrived today!

A couple of eBay purchases arrived today: New booties & slider pins for my recon Pagid Avensis callipers and RattleMatt - 300mm x 10m roll of sticky-backed sound deadening Going to stick most of this on the boot floor, and in other easy to get to places... i'm not going to get too obsessed with sound proofing, i don't want to evoke the law of diminishing returns Debs

Thanks, Guys! I'll heat 'em up!

I hacksawed though the ball shaft itself, so now committed to getting it out and using the replacement. Will try some wd40 + heat + vice grips

The old ones i have don't come out of the ball joint, i tried that. How can you re-use the old ball joint if you hacksawed them? They also round off using a well fitted socket, i didn't damage them at all with a spanner.

The originals have pre-fitted balls, one needs to remove it from the tailgate and fit the new ones provided with the new struts which are held in by a little cir-clip.

it's funny you should say that, cos after applying as much considerable pressure as i dared using an open-end 12mm spanner i could feel the nut would round off, so i hacksawed the old strut off so i could use a 12mm socket, a really good fit too, but it rounded off anyway. Toyota must of employed a gorilla in the factory wrenching them on at 1000 Nm. I'll try again tomorrow using a pair of vice-grips, they look a big big for the job, just hope the jaws can fit in the gap. For the time-being i now have a one-strut tailgate...

A pair of Nitrolift tailgate gas struts arrived today. They look okay but i didn't manage to fit them, can't get the soft-as-shit lock nut off of the old one that ball joints onto the tailgate Debs

One pair of used front Avensis brake callipers arrived here today from a breakers yard in Cardiff, and wow i got my hands dirty! They are big dirty Bosch type with the 295 on the carrier ends... Managed to separated the carrier parts, remove the sliders and clips. Carriers now reading for shot-blasting clean. The used callipers are ready for exchange for Pagid replacements. Thinking of buying a Bremtech slider pin kit... This maybe a worrywart question but do the slider holes in the carrier need to be plugged up while getting shot-blasted, or is it harmless and better to leave open? I expect the bloke in the refurb shop will know anyway, but i like to check :rolleyes: Debs

The brake-bling kit!

In yesterdays post: Swizöl 1043590 Swissvax Cleaning BrushFrom Amazon: £3.78 [...& FREE Delivery in the UK on orders over £10] I watched someone on YouTube using one of these brushes to clean leather car seats, This little brush is just the right stiffness to agitate the leather cleaner, but soft enough to prevent any damage. It seems to be the only thing from the extreamly expensive Swizol range that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. The Swizol leather care products are well out of my price range but this little brush is a very handy tool to use with any leather cleaning product you choose. I've chosen Gliptone cleaner & conditioner which is fab and affordable, and comes with a free tin of elbow grease Debs

Just arrived!... Two bucket wash system; one bucket to wash car with, one bucket to drink when you'e worked up a thirst This duo set of Gliptone leather cleaner & conditioner seems a particularly good deal... Cleaner and Conditioner GT11 & GT12 250ml ....£12.50 from eBay - metalfinishingsuppliesltd / includes 1st class post - i only ordered it yesterday! Also arrived today: my V5C from DVLA ...

The postman delivered 3 things today: 100% lambswool wash mit (only got one, not a whole bagful like in the picture!) 10 x microfibre cloths - Green, large super soft Clay-Roberts Premium Fibre Kent applicator pads with handle set All the above 20 quid from Amazon - to include the postage Yesterday i had these delivered... Wheel Woolies! Marvellous quality, not going to use them until my wheels have been refurbed and brakes overhauled Also arrived yesterday: Certificate of Entitlement [my private plate number] Hoping to get my Two-Wash buckets delivered tomorrow... Debs