SportKa MOT advisories question - oil leak

Joe_Horner

Give the "new" bits the same treatment you've been doing. They haven't just suddenly appeared, so they're obviously not serious enough (yet) to even warrant an advisory from the MOT guy. Don't forget, they've been there all the time, you just start to notice them more once you've been up-close & personal with it!

You'll find it goes a LOT quicker the more practice you get. Partly because you get the knack and partly because the first time everyone's naturally wary of taking sandpaper to their car's paint - the fear goes away the more you do it

You should already have some of the materials you need as well, so the cost goes down apart from top-ups.

AliceBanned

Thanks Joe. Just feels like I'll be spending a weekend a month on it at this rate. I'll have a go next weekend.


My new neighbours (we park in a shared car park) will think I'm mad.;)


Do you think I'm writing the car off prematurely then? It is a 53 plate. Must admit I am starting to like the idea of an upgrade, though can't afford it for quite a while realistically!:(


I have now had it for 3 years..

AliceBanned

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Give the "new" bits the same treatment you've been doing. They haven't just suddenly appeared, so they're obviously not serious enough (yet) to even warrant an advisory from the MOT guy. Don't forget, they've been there all the time, you just start to notice them more once you've been up-close & personal with it!

You'll find it goes a LOT quicker the more practice you get. Partly because you get the knack and partly because the first time everyone's naturally wary of taking sandpaper to their car's paint - the fear goes away the more you do it

You should already have some of the materials you need as well, so the cost goes down apart from top-ups.

PS there was me feeling all self satisfied for treating only one patch of rust!

AliceBanned

Also need to factor in the nearside alloy front wheel was described as 'slightly distorted' at MOT in Feb. I am loathe to spend money on this at the moment and it seems to be driving fine, with the odd creak. Since the new coil springs were fitted it is a lot better and is driving well though guess at some point I will have to get the wheel looked at.


I will be driving it quite a bit more than usual this summer, probably 1500 miles during July, August and September.

Joe_Horner

Take 15 minutes or so to give it a good look over (when the weather's dry) and note any bubbly bits you find. If you're feeling really brave, have a screwdriver with you and prod / scrape any you find. Don't be shy with it. If a patch is surface rust then you'll be sorting it before it becomes a problem, so damaging the paint doesn't matter. If you make a hole then better to know now before committing much more effort.

Once you've done that, you'll have a much better idea of how many weekends you'd be sat there to get it under control. Don't forget that 5 patches don't take 5x as long as one because you can save most of the "waiting to dry" time by moving from one to the next - clean one back and apply treatment. While that's "working" move on to the next, and so on. By the time you've finished the 5th the 1st will be ready for the next stage.

One good sunny day, with a couple of cans (and the keys left in the house!), should be enough to sort what you've found so far as long as you don't find holes

I guess what I'm saying is that you've shown yourself that you can deal with surface rusty patches, whether or not you want to probably depends on how many there are. The plus side of this car is that you know it, and it seems you can trust it mechanically, which may not be true for even a newer replacement - see many other threads on here!!!

So find them all first and then decide if it's worth the expected effort.

ps: wouldn't worry about the alloy. If it's not shaking all over the road at speed then any "distortion" will be a bit of a ding to the rim. That may devalue the car but it won't cause a problem in use, nor will it get worse over time.

Joe_Horner

AliceBanned wrote: »

PS there was me feeling all self satisfied for treating only one patch of rust!

You have every reason to feel that way :beer:

AliceBanned

Will do - I'll post some pics on here hopefully in a few days. It doesn't look any worse than the previous patch though, not on first inspection anyway, and I think they are further away from the seatbelt so may not even affect the MOT.


I did quite enjoy doing it last time, mad I know! I obviously need to get a life.:o

AliceBanned

Joe_Horner wrote: »

You have every reason to feel that way :beer:

Thanks. At least the other two patches are quite far from the first one - hopefully this means it is not necessarily rusty all along the sill underneath. I'll try and post pics at some point anyway.






I think you or someone else on the thread mentioned the tendency for rust around the petrol cap area on the KA..hadn't spotted that before.


You didn't answer my query on the jetwash - I am assuming that just exposes what is already there -previously caked in mud perhaps.

Joe_Horner

Yep, jetwashes won't cause damage if it's not already there unless you go really silly with them.

tberry6686

If you find quite a few more rust patches consider buying a cheap angle grinder and a flap disk. The time this would save compared with sand paper would make it very worthwhile. (should be able to get a cheap one and flapdisc for under £30, not the best going but certainly useable)