Rescued a Ka....

[DreXeL]

So I overheard a workmate telling someone that he was scrapping his wife's old Ka, due to 'the steering being noisy'. So I butted in to ask him exactly what the issue is, basically he is the type of person who is scared of a spanner, and pays a garage to do all his work. He didn't even take it to the garage to enquire about the steering noise, as his Wife has a new car and he didn't want to spend any more money on it.

Anyway, knowing that from the symptoms he described it is likely to just be the pump, I managed to get him to let me take it off his hands for a small sum, it'll be handy to have a second car again as a runabout, plus my Son is currently taking his lessons so it'll be something for him to drive when he passes his test.

Here it is as of now:

Aside from the PS pump (already have one on the way), it has a tendency to wonder about a bit when getting on and off the throttle. Research tells me it is probably a lower wishbone bush, easiest thing is to replace the whole wishbone. I'll do both as they are dirt cheap at

[Corbs10]

its tiny against the landy

[DreXeL]

Looks even smaller next to it IRL, like it's a different scale

[andyllewellyn]

haha got to love the ka

had one a few years back and it was such a giggle to drive

andy

[Jacksprogis]

Much love for the defender mate

[animal47]

[Nitroholic]

It's just what you want as a runabout and car for a learner. Not too pristine, so if it picks up the inevitable car-park scrapes and such it don't matter.

Can't go wrong for

[Trans4Mation]

result nice to see another ford saved from the crusher . the rubber bushes that sit behind the rack to body are a fault on the ka's too so check them why under it...

[stebro]

Yep the wish bone bushes, or if they got new arms on the bolts aren't tight enough

[jordan_bench10]

what a bloody bargain but NEEDSa VAC and wash

[DreXeL]

It's just what you want as a runabout and car for a learner. Not too pristine, so if it picks up the inevitable car-park scrapes and such it don't matter.

Indeed I'll also get my lad to get his hands dirty as much as possible when we're doing the pump and wishbones etc, kids these days don't seem to know one end of a wrench from the other

Edited February 1, 2013 by DreXeL

[chewbacca]

It's a deal, it's a steal, it's the sale of the century.

[Bazzokajoe]

For

[DreXeL]

For

[landmaxdriver]

Indeed I'll also get my lad to get his hands dirty as much as possible when we're doing the pump and wishbones etc, kids these days don't seem to know one end of a wrench from the other

Exactly what my dad says! he has always got me to do bits and pieces to cars since I was quite little so now I'm driving I don't ever have to put my car into a garage saves a lot of money and I even do a bit of work on my friends cars

Great buy though mate! Cannot argue for

Edited February 2, 2013 by landmaxdriver

[Matt B]

For 80 quid I'd be chuffed to have that! Even if it is a Ka! Need to keep on the lookout for cheap car deals like that, that's cheaper than scrap value!

[Carl160180]

bit of a bargain there mate, but a bit of advice on these, check the power steering pipes arent leaking as they're REALLY common to corrode and burst and a replacement pair is

[DreXeL]

Thanks for the advice mate, I have read about the corroding steering pipes but I'm hopeful they are OK as there is still plenty of fluid in the reservoir, and there doesn't seem to be any drips of anything under the car. When I do the wishbones I'll check them out properly and cover them in underseal like you suggested

[Jack R8]

wow thats a bargain! think your son would prefer to drive the landy its a lot cooler however he'd need a loan IF he could get insurance for it!

[DreXeL]

Haha, I do let him drive it when I off road it, but there's no way I'm putting him on the insurance to drive it on the road, it's bad enough on the Ka.. :/

[DreXeL]

OK, the PAS pump didn't turn up as expected, so I decided to tackle that rust before it gets any worse. I just rubbed the worst of it down, treated it with some Kurust and blew it over with a rattle can. Was just going to leave it primer until I do a prettier job of it when the weather gets better, but luckily I found a barely used can of the correct paint in the boot.

Before:

After:

Not the prettiest up close, but not really noticeable from a distance, and much better then the two large rust patches, and should stop it getting worse for a while.

Anyway, between coats I had another look at the PAS fluid, turns out it was lower than I initially thought, so I topped it up and..........the noise has completely gone

It's obviously weeping from somewhere to get low in the first place, but it's certainly not ****ing out from anywhere, I'll investigate it properly when I do the wishbones. I'll just keep the PAS pump I ordered as a spare.

I also took a look at the boot as it won't open by either the remote release button, or the key. The lock seems to be damaged, and the solenoid itself is faulty as there is power getting to it when the button is pressed, however if I manually move the solenoid I can open the boot, so I have a solenoid on watch on the bay at the moment.

CBA has kicked in now, but tomorrow I'll be tackling the interior and giving the outside a good wash

Edited February 2, 2013 by DreXeL

[DreXeL]

Ok, me and the boy went out and gave it a bit of a clean up today. These are the kind of things that were all over the interior, dash etc:

It all came off the plastics dead easy:

Also tackled the stains with some upholstery cleaner, and gave it a hoovering out:

Seat stains are pretty much gone now, I'll go over it again when they've dried though. The carpet/mats need a deeper clean, I'll be borrowing a mate's Vax for that. Still, it's 100x better than it was. Onto the outside, I was going to get hold of some cheap wheeltrims, but I had some silver rattle cans lying about and some primer left over, so I thought 'what the hell', and painted the wheels. So here it is now, body washed and wheels painted, I was going to polish it too but it started raining:

Came up alright I reckon, and I quite like the steelies like that

Edited February 3, 2013 by DreXeL

[Noj]

For eighty quid and some elbow grease that is one very tasty ka, well done the pair of you! The steelies look ok in silver too....better than some cheap plastic trims IMO.

Next thing, find a good used 1.7 zetec s from a puma, virtually drops straight in...... Your lad will love u for it, not to mention the insurers lol....

[ScottPro8.5]

Loving the wheels lol, looks top job fella!

[b19jas]

With Ref to the PAS fluid level drop. The pipes are probably OK as you cannot see anything on the floor. PAS pipes are under a stupid amount of pressure and the slightest pin hole will literally squirt out like a cut artery. Check out the steering rack, They tend to leak either from the bottom of the the pinion through the blanking plate or into the boots. Usually by that age it would have had a rack or 3 so the nylon washers should have been replaced where the pipes enter the rack at the bottom of the column. Sometimes though people dont bother replacing the washers and they weep from the union.

Another place you may get a slight weep is from the bottom of the reservoir. The clips ford fit are rubbish and can leak over time.

Enjoy your bargain mate. I love driving them.