Citsncycles XM

[mds141]

Keep a note of where and when Mike. Some low life individuals use this kind of 'incident' as an insurance scam. All of a sudden his car has severe damage and fifteen passengers develop whiplash.

[White Exec]

With Mark's comment in mind, it's always a good idea, nowadays, to take some photos of the scene - and of the other driver/passengers (or lack of). Particularly photograph damage/lack of on both vehicles.

[citsncycles]

No pics of the location, but yes, a note of the time etc. has been made, and I'll take pics of the back of the car and the tow hitch mounts to show no damage or recent repair work.

We didn't exhange any details, so I'd imagine the only way he'd find me is to either run into me again (and I'm very rarely on that bit of road at that time on a Sunday), or involve the police, which if it was for a scam I doubt he'd do.

I had a local farmer try to scam me after I but my Montego through one of his hedges while dodging a deer years ago. Once I managed to prove to his insurance company that not only was the fencing he was claiming for a much higher standard than that currently there, but that due to the location and shape of the fence I'd have had to have made 2 90 degree turns in order to damage the length of fence he was claiming for, it all went away. Stupid thing was that my initial cash offer for repairs (which was rejected) would have been more than the cost of putting right the damage anyway, and I ended up not paying a penny!

[russ92xmsed]

Oh Mike, they are out there aren't they! Sorry to hear, that, even if it was a tiny bump. Thank god for towbars. Although it made a mess of my chassis, it saved most of the back of the car.

[Dieselman]

Oh Mike, they are out there aren't they! Sorry to hear, that, even if it was a tiny bump. Thank god for towbars. Although it made a mess of my chassis, it saved most of the back of the car.

Towbars shove the damage forwards. Personally I would rather the back of the car got sacrificed and left me more cushioned.

[russ92xmsed]

Yes very true, and that has happened to mine. But either way, with the shunt I had, it wasn't going to be good and was always going to be written off. At least I have most of the back for spare parts. Still amazed all the rear lights survived.

But for little taps like Mikes, they come in useful. And also for people who like to play bumper cars when they park.

[citsncycles]

First thing I checked when we got out of the traffic was if the tow hitch had transferred any damage forward. In my case it helped but after I did a similar thing to an Astra years ago, only harder, I know how having a tow hitch on the car in front can actually do more damage to both vehicles in some circumstances.

[citsncycles]

Had a few days off shift, but didn't get much done on the Visa due to weather and other issues which will be explained shortly. Anyway, the one day I did get to the barn the rain arrived when I did. I took that opportunity to wash the XM (as it saves me rinsing it), then when it dried out between showers I moved it under cover so that I could give it another polish and change the fuel filter. The base of the housing was full of crud when I took it apart:



After cleaning it out and fitting the new filter (once I worked out where all the seals belonged) most of the hesitation I've been feeling when accelerating through the gears has gone, and definately has better lower down power now.

The next day I loaded up the car ready for another trip to the barn, only to find the passenger side spoiler mout had failed! It was looking poor when I got the car, but was alright the night before. My guess is it was on the point of failing and either the act of closing the tailgate killed it or someone knocked against it on the way home from the pub (it was on the pavement side and I've had mirrors disturbed this way in the past).



The remains of the base - from the corrosion on the studs and the deterioration of the composite materials I'd say it's been letting in moisture for a long time.



The base of the piller where it had broken didn't look much better - the darker grey material was very flaky and had to be cleaned back to solid material so that I had something to work with.



Rear vision is improved without the spoiler, but it looks kinda naked!



I made new studs by cutting the heads off a couple of 6mm bolts. The original studs had much coarser threads where the were bonded into the spoiler, but they were only part the length of the holes they were inserted into, so these were inserted the full length of the holes after the holes were filled with resin, and the base built up with glass mat and resin in stages.



After the spoiler was trial fitted to the car to chack for stud positioning and pillar height the repaired area was smoothed over with filler.



According to Halfords, this is the same paint code as the car! It'll do until I can get some mixed the proper colour at Middletons in Gloucester.



After cleaning up the spoiler, and taking the opportunity to clean and polish around the mounting holes, the spoiler was bolted back in place - only time will tell if my repair is strong enough, as I'm a little rusty on composites work.

[russ92xmsed]

Great work there Mike. Hope it holds up well. Interested in your paint place in Gloucester. I am going to need some mandarin mixed up at some point.

[citsncycles]

Middleton's are one of the main paint suppliers in the area, and will mix paint either to a code or to match a panel and put it in a tin or an aerosol. They're on the bypass to the west of the city.