CARLTON DIPLOMAT 1993 , A WORK IN PROGRESS

[vauxhalljohn]

Thanks for the thought craig . at least you tried .

[vauxhalljohn]

My efforts to keep my skirting attached to the car are going down hill , as the other side is becomming loose again , so i think the doulble sided mounting tape is wearing off . I dont really want to use a industrial based glue or adhesive yet as i am not sur if they will need to caome off again for the mot next summer . I guess it will have to be a trip to leadenham and order some replacment clips and have them put the skirts back on for me properly.

[carlton_mad]

craig iirc you are going to scrap the hybrid soon what are the doors like on her?

[HMK]

Well, here's my advice, John.......

To start with, your car looks like a good example, so it's probably worth spending the £200 quoted on the door bottom. Having said that, there's no way that I'd spend that sort of dosh on just one door of a 14 year old car. My advice would be to go out & buy yourself a cheap angle grinder & carefully grind the rust scabs away. If it's anything like the satin red estate I bought the other month (not too far from you as it happens - out towards Grantham). It had a very nasty rust scab on the bottom of one of the rear doors which I thought would go through into a rot hole when I took the angle grinder to it on Friday. I was surprised to find that the metal was solid & after a coat of zinc spray, just needed a trace of filler to fill in the pitting before painting. The most important thing to do next is to remove the door card & treat the inside bottom with rust inhibitor to prevent the rust from re-appearing, as the metal is bound to be very slightly porous - what I do is to first spray the inside door bottom with WD 40 to act as a penetrant & water displacer, then perhaps some 'duck oil' followed by Waxoyl.....you could also use spray grease.

As for the sill covers, what happened to the original clips?? I removed one of mine on the blue saloon to do some welding & kept all but two in tact. The two I managed to break I hope to glue back together with Araldite!

I know all about trying to stick trim on with double sided tape!! ......I tried to do this on a bit of door trim on the girlfriends Metro & it lasted about three days

[Scatmancraig]

craig iirc you are going to scrap the hybrid soon what are the doors like on her?

Mainly crap i'm afraid - will double check before it finally goes though!!

[vauxhalljohn]

Well, here's my advice, John.......

To start with, your car looks like a good example, so it's probably worth spending the £200 quoted on the door bottom. Having said that, there's no way that I'd spend that sort of dosh on just one door of a 14 year old car. My advice would be to go out & buy yourself a cheap angle grinder & carefully grind the rust scabs away. If it's anything like the satin red estate I bought the other month (not too far from you as it happens - out towards Grantham). It had a very nasty rust scab on the bottom of one of the rear doors which I thought would go through into a rot hole when I took the angle grinder to it on Friday. I was surprised to find that the metal was solid & after a coat of zinc spray, just needed a trace of filler to fill in the pitting before painting. The most important thing to do next is to remove the door card & treat the inside bottom with rust inhibitor to prevent the rust from re-appearing, as the metal is bound to be very slightly porous - what I do is to first spray the inside door bottom with WD 40 to act as a penetrant & water displacer, then perhaps some 'duck oil' followed by Waxoyl.....you could also use spray grease.

As for the sill covers, what happened to the original clips?? I removed one of mine on the blue saloon to do some welding & kept all but two in tact. The two I managed to break I hope to glue back together with Araldite!

I know all about trying to stick trim on with double sided tape!! ......I tried to do this on a bit of door trim on the girlfriends Metro & it lasted about three days

Advice has been noted and when i get an nice day , i might give it a go . As far as the clips go ,nearly all of them snapped when i took theskirting off , somtimes wish i had`nt , but i needed to know the sills were not rotten through like they were on my poor old last carlton .  So removing the covers was the only way but as they had not been removed for some time , probablly since she left the show room . They snapped as the skirting was removed , but i did try to do it gentally .

[vauxhalljohn]

six months tax £94 !!!!. 

Thank god its not a three ltre , id would have cried even more . But im now legal again for another six months ,and at least she still on the road .

[carlton_mad]

the correct way to remove them is to undo the "buttons" underneath and any screws and slide each respective section forwards or backwards until the fall off!!!

[Dave the Builder]

the correct way to remove them is to undo the "buttons" underneath and any screws and slide each respective section forwards or backwards until the fall off!!!

cheers Chris 
Gonna get the buggers off the cdi and treat the sills before they get infected .

[bstardchild]

the correct way to remove them is to undo the "buttons" underneath and any screws and slide each respective section forwards or backwards until the fall off!!!

Perfect description

I would add the correct way to refit them is clip the top edge over the clips on the sill and then shut the cover by pushing down at the bottom and towards the middle of the car so it snaps in and locks

These clips get brittle with age but aren't very expensive so it's worth getting new ones each time if you want the sill covers to look right - it only takes one broken clip to make them sit funny.

Word of warning if you do replace a sill section the rivetts are a dreadfull price!!!

[carlton_mad]

self drilling/tapping screws are a good substitute!!!

[bstardchild]

self drilling/tapping screws are a good substitute!!!

Yeah but I don't like doing that........ I don't know why either as both require a hole in the sill!!!

[Scatmancraig]

six months tax £94 !!!!. 

Thank god its not a three ltre , id would have cried even more . But im now legal again for another six months ,and at least she still on the road .

The tax on the 3.0 is the same as the 2.0!!!  There's only 2 different rates for older cars like Carltons etc, & all models of Carlton fall under the higher catagory!!

[ian]

lol got a hole car that colour ya could have for bits.,

[vauxhalljohn]

do you have cdx allys or diplomat allys . I want a spare set and have always liked the cdx alloys , is the door okay on the drivers side . And dose all the electrics work inside the door , ie mirrors and electric window. And how much ?

[Murph]

Are you still storing those 3.0 CDX/Senny alloys Ian?

[Scatmancraig]

do you have cdx allys or diplomat allys . I want a spare set and have always liked the cdx alloys , is the door okay on the drivers side . And dose all the electrics work inside the door , ie mirrors and electric window. And how much ?

To whom are you asking the question??

I have umpteen alloys in my shed, mostly with shagged tyres on due to my penchant for driving like a twat!!  I can help with the electrics inside the door as i have a spare loom, window motor, mirror & central locking soleniod.  I don't have a spare door though.  But i am local!!!

[vauxhalljohn]

i was asking ian , as he said he had a whole car .

My door electrics are fine , i was just wondering if the door he has on the car he was talking about had full elaectrics working.

I`ll be interested in a set of cdx alloys if you have some craig  , but i am skint at the moment .
Ive just put my last tenna in the tank so i cannot go anywere a great distance mate , as i would be happy to journeey over to you to have a look at your shed of toys.

[vauxhalljohn]

well i now got the dippy booked into tanvics in grantham , so that i can get the heater motor fitted and have the rear pads and discs fitted .

Its costing me £120.00 which is fitting and vat all in one price , and she is booked in on the sixteenth of this month at eight in the mornning .  So hopefully i will have a working heater and brakes which dont squeel and make you want to hide behind your stering wheel evry time you hit the pedal.

[vauxhalljohn]

Re: pics of your old cars (not just carltons)
« Reply #75 on: Today at 01:32:04 PM »

Just seen this , and now my brain is ticking and i love what i see

[HMK]

John!........I think someone should tell you that squealing brakes does NOT indicate worn out pads & discs! (Grinding & scraping is an indication of pads down to the metal). Worn & grooved discs often don't make any noise at all!!

My Carlton saloon (when I was running it - it's off the road at the moment), had brand new discs & pads fitted all round by the previous owner & you should have heard the squealing noise that made when you came up behind someone & braked hard

I fear you are a man with not a lot of cash & what little you have you may be throwing at this car for no good reason

You've got to get your hands dirty mate & get those wheels off & get your head under those wheel arches with a torch & check out those pads for yourself

You may find that in fact they ARE worn out, but on the other hand they may still have plenty of meat on them. If the squealing bothers you, you can stop it by 'carefully' filing a champher on the edges of all the pads with a file

If the discs are a little grooved it's nothing to worry about - the pads will wear themselves into the groves & work as well as they would on brand new discs. It really all depends on just how bad they are - a little scoring is quite normal, but deep ridging & a 'breaking up' of the surface with pad contact on only part of the disc is dangerous & the discs & pads should be changed

I hate to tell you this, but your new discs & pads may squeal as bad as the old ones did

It usually starts after they've bedded in after a few miles You'll just have to take them all out again & get the file to them

[Murph]

It may just be that the previous owner left out the anti-squeel shims, or neglected to apply enough copper grease behind the pads.

Both problems are easily sorted without the expense and at the end of the day it costs nowt to have a look.

Day

[vauxhalljohn]

thanks lads , i`ll will take your avice and have a look soon as i get time . If it looks nice tommorow i will get the rear wheels off and see what i can see.

I wil still have the work done in a week or so as i already have the new discs and pads and i am happy to to pay for this work  . As when it comes to brakes i dont muck about and i am happy to let the experts take care of it for me , as if anything should happen , at least i know when i touch the brake pedal the car will stop .

but i am thankfull for all advice that is given to me by all you fellas , its not that im  stupid , but i dont have alot of mechanical experiance and only know the basics .

[Murph]

Better to ask, look stupid (which you dont, by the way) and be safe, than look like you know your stuff and kill yourself!

Besides thats what we're here for after all!

[vauxhalljohn]

argh ..shucks , you guys rock !