850 Cars: Replacing the exhaust (possibly all of it)

[ITSv40]

I bought a Sealey 3ton trolley jack 45 years ago and it is still providing good service. It would appear the quality of current models has deteriorated. I suspect the owner of a 45 year old Volvo would argue that current models are built to a lower quality..

[CNGBiFuel]

I bought a Sealey 3ton trolley jack 45 years ago and it is still providing good service.

That'd be 'old skool' Sealey. Likely made in Italy or Japanese. It won't be carp, but you might struggle with odd seals when it goes.

...I'm sure even you will agree that any trolley jack is better than the deathtrap jack which comes supplied with the car.

Completely. Factory supplied jacks are roadside only, and not called 'widow-makers without warrant! Fine, in a pinch, we won't make a habit of it.

Most of us, if we could have such things would see a 2/4 post lift in the garage, a hi-lift jack and 4 x decent jacks gets pretty near to it. My point was that, Halfords/Sealey/Draper etc jacks don't lift high enough for much. Of course we can all manage with a Halfords jack, more so if you all you're after is a pad change, a brake bleed, or the odd wheel-bearing swap, they're fine.

My point was not their safety, few would tell you to rely on a jack regardless of who made it. Any jack is for lifting, not supporting. I've never owned a jack yet, that doesn't suffer failure at some point. That's what seal-kits are for. The mark of a decent jack is the availability of its seal-kit. The very best don't need seal-kits per se, walk into any hydraulics outfit with the old seals and they'll be stock, off-the-shelf items.

[4x4]

Originally Posted by CNGBiFuel

Most of us, if we could have such things would see a 2/4 post lift in the garage...

I built my garage 12/13 years ago, the plan was to have a pit but when I dug it out it filled with water as it was above the natural water table, so it was filled in and a ramp installed instead

[CNGBiFuel]

Oh I want... you don't need a Bradbury do you!

[ITSv40]

I have a 3 tonne Bradbury.

[CNGBiFuel]

I'm humbled, that has to be about as good as it gets.

Just noticed, what are the boards for, and what is that tool on them, seen sitting on the near-distance boards, The RH board has one too - (peeping out from under the tail-pipe, I think?). A pair of something? Alignment tooling? How is it used?

[ITSv40]

Originally Posted by CNGBiFuel

I'm humbled, that has to be about as good as it gets.

Just noticed, what are the boards for, and what is that tool on them, seen sitting on the near-distance boards, The RH board has one too - (peeping out from under the tail-pipe, I think?). A pair of something? Alignment tooling? How is it used?

The tool is a set of Dunlop tracking gauges- real old skool I am😀 The lift has a wheel free facility and the floor plates have a safety lip along the outer edge so the guage cannot sit level. The boards are to raise the car up so there is a level platform to set the guage on. I can then lower the lift to read the guage and then raise the whole lot to make any adjustments from underneath. For the rear wheel alignment I just read the gauge back to front and then move on to the fronts.

[CNGBiFuel]

Thanks, my guess wasn't far off. Jesus wept. You've more old sh*te than me!
I've just bought a Picador Drill sharpener (about 1975) and what with my father being the 'magpie' he was, I'm pretty much rammed with what, other than the likes of you, anyone with sense would see as more scrap.

I reckon hte oldest thing in there is the vice, at 70 years old, that is if you don't count the 'penny farthing'.

[2Diesels]

My original back box disintegrated at 18 years old, I bought a genuine Volvo replacement which was a rationalised version designed to replace the various options, I had to modify the rear hanger as the tailpipe sat too low. Recently at 7 years old the tailpipe rotted off where the rear finisher fits on & melted my brand new rear bumper which was upsetting. The rest of the box & pipework is still mint. The front end is still the original at 26 years old & 250000 miles

[Juular]

You may well find a garage willing to stick a bit of weld on the blowing sections. I agree that this may well last longer than an aftermarket part.

The rear section fell off of mine - I just welded it back on and I don't expect it to fail anywhere else. There's definitely common places where it rots through, but the rest is quite sturdy.