Chat New car in the CHB household!

OK, so today the weather was better (though still 10 mins of freak hail stone).
Today it was time to fit the rear suspension and clean up the rear calipers while the wheels were off.
The job of suspension has been written up by others and the "definitive parts guide gave me the list of bits I needed.
What I thought would be useful to some is a series of pictures of part and part number so that folk know what they are ordering and why!







 
Well today was a big day in the HB household.
After 10 years of being an A2 passenger, today no1 son became an A2 DRIVER!!!!
Don't worry, he always looks this enthusiastic.



I still need to do the front suspension this weekend, but the car sailed through the MOT today with only one small ball joint cover needing replacing to pass.
 
Well! Last Saturday was the shortest trip ever to my good friends Mark and Sharon (who are coming to the Yorkshire social... in a Volvo!!).
Three miles from their house (25 miles from ours!) in Steeton, warning lights came on to announce that the alternator was dead and the battery was not happy.
One mile from their house the power was so low that the power steering failed.
We (me, wife and two urchins) limped to their house.
Called the break down as they often take hours to arrive. In this case they took 28 minutes.
So we wolfed down the exquisite chicken with prunes...and promptly left.
The recovery guy had the idea of using his battery pack to power the car through the cigarette lighter. This would have worked, but for the fact his pack was a bit rubbish.
It decided to die catastrophically on the fast section of bypass near Bingley 5 Rise locks.... emergency parking manoeuvre required!!!









We made it home safely, but not the Saturday evening we expected. We never even got pudding (and it felt rude to ask for a take out).
 
To quote the great Caractacus Potts: "From the ashes of disaster, come the roses of success".
Shiny new Bosch alternator fitted courtesy of ECP next day delivery. Its rated higher than the old unit (110A vs 70A).
Fitting was fairly straight forward.
I removed the air duct pipes and also the oil filler housing (two screws and a quick coupling), in order to get better access.
The bolts were pretty tight and limited for access. The best socket I found was my Halfords 3/4 ratchet with a long socket fitted directly to the handle.
The alternator is secured by only two (very long) bolts.
Don't forget to disconnect the battery before starting.
The alternator has a quick coupling D-plug and a bolt on +ve connection.
For locking out the drive belt tensioner I found a 4mm allen key to be the perfect size.








 
Good to hear CC2 is back on form again. Wish I could have helped with the replacement alternator but long since sold from the breaker you worked so hard dismantling.
 
To quote the great Caractacus Potts: "From the ashes of disaster, come the roses of success".

Does "CC" stand for "Chitty Chitty" then Conrad ?. :)
 
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So with the car on Ebay and the auction finishing on Wednesday, we took CC2 out for a trip to the coast.
My wife spotted a wonderful acer, so for the journey back from Pickering we had an A2 Arboretum:









Even if I get an i3 with a sunroof I don't think it will be as splendid as full OSS on a sunny day.
 
Is that theft? You wil have "Special Branch" after you if they ever "twig" on!

You could always say that the police planted it on you?

Steve B
 
chb said:
Leaf it you guys! That's the first new tree I have had in the car. The car does however come with new bushes fitted!
Click to expand...


We all know that your "bark" is worse than your bite!

You have beaten me, of gorse.

Steve B
 
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Well I guess to sort of finish this thread. We have another new car in the HB household, picked up from Ayr on Saturday and driven the 220 miles back to Leeds!
It's a 2013 i3 in silver, with HK sound, Suite (leather) interior and LED headlights and parking camera. Very impressed so far and just what the A2 would be if you were to design it 15 years later.





CC2 (the black A2 that fills most of this thread) now has an appreciative new owner in Whitby.

Given that CC1 has been in our family for a decade, I suspect Wall-e as the i3 came to us called will be with us for some time.
 
Nice one
looking forward to getting mine (end of the month) it is still on its way to the Uk

Similar spec but without the camera (and in blue).

Tgey drive very nicely and as you say you can't help comparing the to an I3.

Steve B
 
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Dave, the electric range is 90 miles. The REX can be used once charge drops to <75%. So I drove it till battery was 74% and then manually activated the REX. This got me to the services near Penrith with 60 miles battery and a nearly empty fuel tank. I then filled up the fuel (all 7 litres of it, which is about 80 miles worth) and continued driving with the REX running. The REX can't keep up over about 60mph, so due to M6 stretch the battery was down to about 45 mile range (ie half full) by the time I reached Skipton. I left the REX running till I had 40 miles to go and 45 miles of battery left and then deactivated the REX and arrived home with fuel in the tank and 5 miles of battery left. Total cost from Ayr was about £11 petrol and £2 electric. Steves car has a bigger 94Ah battery so has 50% more range.
 
Thankyou.... I know nothing about electric cars but I,d like to learn for future reference. What is the REX please... is it a petrol powered back up motor... I thought the i3 was totally electric ?. Are there now plenty of charging points around the country .... I,d be concerned about where my next one was on a long journey ?.
 
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