Today I started my hose replacement project on the '07 Mustang. Part One.

These are almost all the components.
I didn't realize at this time that I was still missing one heater hose.
 I also had been given the wrong upper hose.

Here's a picture of all the hoses. 

Here's the serpentine belt kit.

This kit from Rock Auto is the most economical way to secure the parts. 
It was less than half the cost of the parts from the auto store.

Now that I've got the parts, I need to prepare the car. I had to determine a time when my Daughter wasn't going to need the car for a couple of days. I didn't think that the project would be too involved but as always, unseen problems and complications can arise. Best to have some wiggle room in the scheduling.

To get started, I've got to jack up the car and place it on ramps and jack stands. This arrangement gives plenty of working room underneath the car. 

The ramps usually give me enough room to work underneath.
I use a floor jack to raise the car and set it on the ramps, I don't try driving it up.

Always place jack stands underneath the car as back up.
Safety first.

Then to drain all the coolant. I have an old brass planter that works out great for this task. It has a wide opening and plenty of capacity. I placed in inside an up side down  large storage container lid to catch most of the spills. It fits easily under the car.

The Mustang doesn't have a drain petcock on the radiator, you've got to pull the hose and catch the wave! I've done this a couple of times on my '96. Good old Ford, anything to save a nickel.

Removing the air intake tubing gave me an unobstructed view.

A few years ago I had a problem with the thermostat housing weeping coolant, the techs at my quickie oil change place never even mentioned it to me. The housing looked like a grey piece of extra crispy chicken! I ended up replacing the top of the housing as well as the thermostat, bypass hose and upper radiator hose.

That by pass hose is only five years old but doesn't generate a lot of confidence.
It was actually okay but I think the hose was a bit big for the fitting. The new hose fit much better.

The white residue is evidence of current seepage.  Ford loves using plastic parts and
you have to keep an eye on them.

This time I'm replacing everything, not because its leaking now, but because it will leak sometime in the unknown future. 

Upper and lower radiator hoses, bypass hose, all four heater hoses, thermostat and housing, and coolant tank cap. 

I'm also replacing the serpentine belt and tensioner assembly. 

You can also take a picture with your phone
to keep track of how it goes back together.

The adoption of the serpentine belt was a great advancement in engine design. The downside was the loss of the ability to remove a dedicated belt from a component, from the a/c compressor as an example, should that unit malfunction and seize up. The benefit was to ensure proper tension on the drive belt via the automatic tensioner. Not to mention a reduction in clutter. Combine that with a modern cars radiator mounted electric fan, and the deletion of the separate distributor, and it's much easier to work on these motors. The life span of these belts far exceeds those separate fan belts of the past. 

There used to be a diagram illustrating the belt routing pasted under the hood. I looked, but couldn't find one here. Another 2 cents saved by Ford. I dew up my own diagram.

Things proceeded smoothly I didn't spill much coolant. As I was laying out the replacement hoses I realized that I was short one heater hose. I had sourced three of them through my local Napa supply and had ordered the last one from the Ford dealer.

Things had been pretty hectic around the house, I thought that I had ordered the hose, but had I misplaced all my receipts and I wasn't sure. I called the dealer and asked the parts guy if there was a hose that was supposed to be picked up by me, the parts guy didn't sound very helpful, but then I could even provide the date of the transaction, let alone the invoice number.  I told them that I would call back with more info. I asked my Wife if she had noticed a charge to the dealer and she had noticed a thirty something dollar charge the day that I bought the remote key cover for the Flex. The date was June 16th. It turns out that I paid cash for the cover and charged the hose. I called back and this time, a women answered my call. I supplied her with the date of the transaction, she was much more helpful and told me that the hose had arrived, but that they had been unable to contact me. I had provided my burner phone number, which I often have turned off. 

It was available almost a month ago, but a lot keeps happening around here, and it had slipped my mind. A quick trip to the dealer and I had my hose. I stopped at the auto parts store on the way home to pick up my thermostat housing, some hose clamps and some coolant. Did you know that the concentrated coolant sells for 30.00 dollars a gallon? I needed three, and the bill was going to be close to a hundred dollars. Holy Cow! I told the parts counterman that I would do another NAPA bucket 20% deal, like I did when I ordered the thermostat housing the day before.  He agreed to give me a discount without my buying another bucket. I ended up paying only 17.00 a gallon. It pays to do business with a local store! 

I decided to re-use the original spring type clamps on my connections but those on the bypass hose were best fitted with worm clamps. I used to wonder why GM used the wire type spring clamps on their OEM installations, I noticed that when I used to work there, many years ago. Once I brought it up to Dad who also worked there.

He told me they were used for production efficiency. They were, a one and done deal. If they were in the proper location they were always the right tension, it was engineered in. The next time I was at the body drop area I noted the special locking pliers that held the clamps and how quickly they could be installed. It made sense, the worm type clamp, though of stainless steel, took quite a bit of time to tighten and you weren't always certain that they were properly tightened. It was one thing to go back and tighten a clamp on a home repair, quite another to tighten them on 45 units an hour production. line.

I'm only mentioning this because I was introduced to Ford's ( new to me) push on heater hose connectors. Of course these were used on the firewall connections where space is very tight. These two hoses connect to a manifold of metal tubing that is bolted to the right side of the motor. This connects to the hoses on the right side of the engine itself. It would be quick to snap the main hoses on before the engine was installed then merely connect them to the manifold which is already installed on the motor. 

There they are, hidden in a recess behind the motor. I learned that restricted
access to the hoses is now a Ford thing.

I ended up watching several Youtube videos which helped me understand how they worked. Hopefully I'll be able to remove then tomorrow. It looks like I'll have to remove the coil pack to gain more access. The guy in the video referred to it as the distributor, but the motor doesn't use one. That should be simple, I had already removed a breather hose, and a wire conduit  that passed along the back of the intake manifold

It is usually easier to work on the smaller engine variant of a car. The motor isn't as long and there's usually more room to work. The Mustang is not too bad, actually the later V6 motors have proven to make a very practical Mustang.

I was going to at least button up the front of the motor after installing the belt, but I discovered that I'd been given the wrong upper hose, oh well, another trip to the store. 

This seems like a good time to take a break. 

 

I almost lost sight of my goal and succumbed to a distraction.

These are 17 inch. XJR wheels.

So I settled for another distraction, one that was much cheaper.

While cruising through my local CL I stumbled upon a listing for several sets of Jaguar alloy wheels. 

 There was a set of rare XJR wheels and a set of 16 inch turbine wheels which would fit my XJS. They were offered at a bargain price of 400.00 a set! I'd seen some XJR wheels on Ebay offered for 275.00 a piece! So it was a great bargain and an opportunity for someone looking for some wheels. That person really isn't me. I like the 16 inch dimpled alloys on my XJ6, I prefer the non-chromed units and have found another one at Pick and Pull I am only lacking two more for a complete set.  The XJR wheels make any XJ look like a highway tough guy, but that isn't the look that I'm going for. 

The 16 in. wheels for the XJS would be nice but I'm really a fan of the flat faced "aero" units used on the first face lift models. 

I'm not really looking for wheels at all, but these just came along. Luckily I avoided the temptation to buy. Why would I want to buy something that I really don't need? Just to cheer myself up and feel like I was doing something to make some progress. 

It's a bad idea to buy too much stuff ahead of your actual progress. For one thing, you deplete your funds and second, if you bail out of your project you are to just going to give away the extra parts as a sales inducement. I've heard of this happening to DIY home re-modelers, they snap up a good buy well before they are going to use it, sometimes the expenses are enough to doom the project if they run into financial trouble. 

So I thought that I'd amuse myself with something cheap, instead.

I found these seat covers while I was checking out the floor mat section at my local O'Reilly's.  What caught my eye initially was the color combination. Tan and black. Then the texture of the perforated and smooth vinyl. The box also claims that these are designed to fit bolstered seats. I wasn't expecting miracles, but they were relatively cheap, 14.00 ea. so I decided to take a chance. It might also scratch my itch for doing something constructive with the car.

The driver's seat bottom cushion is in very poor shape.The front of the cushion is cracked with sections of super dry leather broken off. The sides of the seat cushion are also in bad shape. There was no chance that I could soften the leather enough to stitch any patches on. It would be like trying to stitch together two strips of bacon.

There was no real need to remove the seat but I did it anyway, believe me, I wont do that on the passenger's seat! I took the opportunity to remove the plastic cover for the reclining lever and even the seat bottom hinge, all in an effort to gain a better fit. I also won't be doing that again!

Unlike every other manufacturer Jaguar doesn't use captive nuts for the seat bolts. The advice on the forum was to glue the nuts in place by reattaching the seat bolts. A good idea that I also ignored. I thought that it would be faster just to pop them in and out, wrong! 

I ended up taping the nut to a strip of cardboard to help position the nuts in the proper location, it would have been better to glue them in place. There's plenty of nice wool carpeting under the seat, which sits low to the floor. 

This idea was only partly effective.

Here is how the seat cover looked when fitted. Still kind of puffy looking. I thought that I could take some of the slack out of the fit by tying a cord that would pull the material into the headrest gap a bit.

It tightens up the fit a bit. I went a bit too tight the first time. I found that out when I tried sitting in seat and it tore the bottom seam.

It can only stretch so much.

A curved needle and thread was used to sew up the seam. I would have used a similar needle to sew in patches on the seat upholstery. I made sure that I didn't tighten up the back panel too much this time.

The installation is finished. Hopefully the vinyl will eventually smooth into a "proper" fit. Any similarity to an old duffle bag stuffed with dead monkeys is purely coincidental!

Am I satisfied with the results? Not really, a set of lambswool fleece seat covers would probably have fit much  better. I had the set that I had used on my '70 Mustang, but gave them to my Son to use on his Nissan Pathfinder. I know that there are better fitting covers available for considerably more money, but as I said, I shouldn't be spending any money on things that aren't essential. 

Maybe the fit will improve with use? 

 It's time for me to start on my accelerated maintenance program on my vehicles, 

That would be me, Tim!

This is for my cars that don't need rebuilding or substantial repairs. This will apply to the '07 F150 and '07 Mustang. Also to the '96 Mustang, eventually.

Last week I had made a comment on the Jaguar Forums concerning a 2007 XK. The new forum member was asking for advice about his Mother's car, the XK. She had purchased it new, but it was now proving to be unreliable and was requiring frequent repairs and expenditures. He asked what he should do with the car, his Mom had already replaced the car with a lease on a new Jaguar E Pace. He asked if it still had any value, should he scrap it or donate it to get rid of it. I think that he was being disingenuous about it and his situation. Several forum members provided him with advice, one seriously addressed each of his listed concerns and advised him that an investment of five thousand dollars would probably get the car squared away. 

I thought that the question of value was kind of funny, as last year I had gone and seen a low mileage 2007 XK at a Toyota dealer that was priced at 17,000 dollars, so I knew that it certainly wasn't worthless. But an older Jag with an accumulation of problems wasn't going to be in high demand. 

I replied that at a certain point a car gets to an age where routine maintenance isn't enough, it's really becomes a candidate for "minor" restoration. In other words, entire systems on the car have to be completely, preemptively, replaced. Things like batteries, cooling system hoses, fuel system items, drive belts, ignition components, some brake and suspension parts. Replacing the parts piecemeal will not be satisfactory as they will just fail in a series, one right after another. Each failure will result in disappointment, frustration and a general loss of confidence and enjoyment with the vehicle.

The typical beater will be run out in this manner, but it's not the best path with a "Better Beater." 

My own two older Jags are in a different situation as they still require more "substantial "restoration. 

First things first, will be the '07 Mustang. I plan to start with replacing all the coolant and heater hoses, and the serpentine belt, idler pulley, and tensioner. Then it will be rear brake pads and rotors, and a brake fluid flush. Next will be transmission fluid and filter change.  Front brake inspection and wheel bearing check. Front strut and rack and pinion inspection, replacing what is needed. 

I'm going to have to duplicate the process with the F150, it's got about the same mileage. 

My first surprise is just how difficult it can be just to source the parts. My Mustang is only 14 years old and Ford built tens of thousands of the things! The dealer didn't even have the heater hoses in stock! My second surprise was how expensive the parts can be, especially if you choose to buy them from a brick and mortar store. 

I had decided to look up the parts on the Rock Auto site first, even though I thought that not everything would be available. There was a substantial savings on the website. The serpentine belt kit was a hundred dollars cheaper than my parts store could provide. They could not order the complete kit and had to supply each item individually. They were able to source the radiator hoses, but for almost twice the cost. Now, I want to support my local business, they've had a tough time during the pandemic. My local parts store is part of a small chain that has provided me with good service over the last thirty years and I do want to help them stay afloat. My Wife suggested that I buy my parts there. But they are so expensive, so I decided to compromise. I'd buy the radiator hoses there, order the belt kit from Rock Auto and probably buy the heater hoses from the dealer, as they are generally not available as aftermarket items.  

I want to replace all the hoses at the same time. My goal is to insure the reliability of the cooling system as it was when the car was new. If I leave an old hose in place, it is sure to fail, probably sooner than later! 

My experience with the Explorer has really affected my outlook towards my older cars. Can I achieve a satisfactory degree of reliability from an older car? 

I'd had lot's of older cars in my youth, many quite old. But I never really drove them that far from home. All of my long distance travelling was done by motorcycle, which was a much simpler machine than a late model car. 

When I got married I had a '77 Cadillac, my first "good" car, which had 50,000 miles on it when I bought it in 1980. We traded it off in 1984 for our first new car, an '84 Mercury Cougar. We traded that off in 1990 for a new Dodge Caravan, which we kept for ten years. And later that year, a new '90 Honda Civic SI coupe. 

Then we bought late model, three year old used cars with fairly low mileage My '94 Seville was three years old with 28,000 miles. My '97 Chrysler Town and Country was seven ? years or so old with 70k mileage? 

Then in 2007 we again bought two new vehicles, the F150 and the Mustang coupe. 

During this time I had started buying my hobby cars, some were better than others, but none were depended on for long range transportation or vacation trips. 

I've owned my '07's and enjoyed them as new cars and now they have progressed into being old cars. I have owned them for 14 years, longer than I've owned any of my previous, or current vehicles! That fact just kind of slipped my mind until recently. 

The realization has just dawned on me, I've been like any other middle class driver.  Buying new, then keeping the cars until they reached a certain amount of miles. None of my new vehicles were of the higher priced variety. But tat least they were new.

I've never really depended on an old car for long distance, vacation travel. 

Last year I rented a new Dodge Caravan to use for our Oregon trip, that van had only 5,700 miles on it when we began our trip. It was spanking new! 

Back to the original topic, can an old car, even one that has been well kept, provide the reliability that you need? 

A very good question. It's not like I've never had a problem with my new vehicles. 

My truck seized up the a/c compressor and had to be towed home from Santa Maria. Just out of the 60,000 mile warranty! 

My seven year old, used, Town and Country broke down coming back from So Cal  right at the top of the Cuesta Grade and had to be towed to the dealer in San Luis Obispo. It was fixed, but it was never the same after that. Many types of problems continued over the years. 

My STS developed a minor transmission problem, luckily still under warranty, driving home from work, less than ten miles from the dealer. 

I've had premium Triple A coverage for years, 150 mile tows with a single two hundred mile tow a year. We've got three memberships in the immediate family. That provides a lot of assurance, that you're not going to be stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, though my experience with the Explorer was not exactly what I would have liked. 

Still, the Explorer was towed, with cell phones an Uber ride was arranged, and with good, high limit credit cards we could cover all the expenses. Such as a rental car for the trip home. It was mostly all an inconvenience, compounded by the pandemic. 

Most people have endured similar if not worse mechanical problems on a long trip. Back in the early 1950's my Father was en route to Mexico with my Mom and my months old big brother when his old Ford burned up the motor somewhere in the Arizona desert. He had a three day delay while the gas station garage found a used motor in a local wrecking yard and installed it in the car. I don't know how much that cost him, I know that he had to have my Uncle send him some funds through Western Union. This episode resulted in my Dad's decision to learn about automotive mechanics, he had no idea up to that point. He later surmised that the motor had overheated due to a broken hose, or it had just run low on oil. I'm sure that it was an old oil burner. He saw the red warning lamp but didn't realize that he should have stopped immediately. Of course, the fact that he had my Mom and infant son with him probably colored his reaction, I'm sure that he kept driving until he reached someplace that he felt that he could stop safely. Having your family with you changes everything. The stakes are just so much higher. Once the repairs were made he continued on his trip. 

Come to think of it, he started to buy new cars a few years later. That's a common reaction after enduring an epic break down. It's not something that you want to repeat.

This whole reliability question is getting to be more and more complicated.

A few months ago I made the old joke about how far can you drive an old car. The answer being, how far are you willing to walk? 

The question might be, how far is far? What kind of distances are you considering? 

A further discussion is warranted.

 To all the cars I've loved before,

Sorry Julio, but your song just seemed to fit.

That no matter what, will never grace my drive once more!

Peter Egan once wrote a very personal column about how hard it was for him to sell each of his cars.

Of course in Peter's case he would have completely rebuilt and restored the car before returning it to the wild. 

Good for him, I don't know how many people would put all that work into a particular car just to sell it. But of course everybody does. 

Holding onto a favorite car for a long time is pretty cool, and quite an achievement, primarily because it's such a rare occurrence that it's worth remarking on. 

Egan told his Wife that it was hard to sell one of his cars because he thought that it was so beautiful. To  which she rationally replied,"It will still be beautiful, but now someone else will be enjoying it."

Makes sense.

He said one of his buddies once told him that unless he would go out and buy the exact same car after he received a big insurance check were it totaled or stolen, then you were ready to move on. 

That makes sense too. 

I haven't had much success trying to divest myself of some of my fleet.

I've tried to sell my '96 Mustang, '89 Jaguar XJS, as well as my '97 XJ6. No luck with any of them, I only successfully got rid of my Explorer because I had to scrap it! 

This post is not about selling and replacing a car, it's about revisiting an automotive relationship. 

In other words, would I ever go back and buy a car similar to one that I used to own? Nostalgia makes me think that I would. Experience makes me think that I wouldn't.

My first car wasn't really what I wanted, though it was a '66 Mustang coupe with a 289 V8 and a four speed! Not a bad car, and it's one that a lot of nostalgic car guys think that they'd like to own. In fact, an acquaintance of mine currently owns a very nice example. It fits in with the cars that his club brothers have and is welcome at their activities. That's nice. Even though I think that it's his first Classic Mustang.

Would I take the leap for a '64 Cadillac? I'd like to think that I might, that's the first car that I wanted and actually bought. There was a string of Cadillacs, that followed: a '70 coupe, '57 hardtop sedan, then an almost new '77 Coupe. Years later that was joined in my memory by my '94 Seville STS, another almost new car.  Then I finally bought my '56 hardtop SDV that I had wanted for years.

I'm glad that I bought each of those cars, I enjoyed owning and driving them. Would I buy a '77 Coupe de Ville because it would remind me of some of the best years of my life? Maybe, it has the greatest emotional attraction of my former cars, but....Probably not. Sometimes I think that I'd like an '89 CDV because it was the last of the series, though it isn't even that good looking.  I've even considered a 2000 era DeVille as I sometimes  think that I'd like to own another  Cadillac. But the Cadillac pales in comparison to my XJ6, it just doesn't seem that special.

I went through a string of Buick Rivieras, a very nice '71, then a few not so nice '66 and '67 models. My first '66 was my driver for several years. I did enjoy my Rivs, I once considered a late 90's "Fish face" Riv.  I even went and test drove one. It was nothing special, and the interior was just cheap looking, even when  compared to my former Cadillacs. Though I would still like to own a '63 -'65 model. 

I also had a few early Datsun Z cars. A real nice '77 2+2 with a five speed, and a '92 300 ZX T Top, N/A, five speed that was pearl white. It was a real beauty. I even had a '72 Z and a first year turbo.  The Turbo was really a parts car, and I guess I could even include my Son's '75 Z. I really liked the Zs and thought that I'd stick with them. Then I got rid of my Riv and decided that I really wanted a convertible. The only factory Z convert was the '92, the one with the roll bar hoop, it didn't look that good, and it was expensive, so I decided to go with the Mustang. 

To get back on topic, would I seriously consider a 60's Cadillac, Riviera, Mustang or other car? The quick answer is no. How about another old car like an old T Bird, early 50's Caddy coupe, Lincoln Mark V or even a Mark VII or Mark VIII?

I went and test drove a Mark VII and it felt pretty nice, but even with the 5.0 motor it wasn't going to be as quick as my '96 4.6 GT, so what would be the point? No way I'd really consider a Mark IV or V, just too big and baroque. And those things suck up gas. 

There are even some European cars that I had wanted, the Mercedes SL or SEC Coupe, and the BMW 635 Coupes. I got the chance to test drive a kind of doggy SEC, I liked the size but eh, nothing that I really  wanted to spend my money on.

I think that the time for these types of cars is past, for me at least. I don't want to say been there done that, but maybe I have.

Especially now that these cars don't sell for chump change. Even cars that need a lot of rebuilding are selling for a lot of money. I'm not going to pay the price of a used late model Ford Mustang GT convertible to drive some fifty year old car. 

I suppose that a more modern retro style car like a 2005-09 Mustang, Chrysler 300, T Bird redux, or maybe even a Flex? 

Well I actually went out and got a Flex, that's what I really wanted, and I like it, and am enjoying putting the miles down. 

What I really miss is driving a long, low, sleek cruiser, that's what my Rivs were. Wait, don't I already have a long, sleek, low car, my XJ6? Yes, I do. I just got it back on the road, and while I was driving it around with a Brian Setzer CD playing, I thought, "why can't I cruise in this?" It's not an old De Ville, Buick, or even an Impala, but it's beautiful, cool, and I love driving it. The truth is, I'd rather drive it than an old  Caddy, Buick or Impala. 

Therein lies the crux of the situation. 

I don't really want another old timey car, I just have to be willing to admit that to myself!

And to be willing accept that as truth! I'll probably never again own a car that would be welcome in a Pepe Marquez video!

I need to free myself from that notion and just move on. 

I have come to some conclusions.

It is true that I have become tired of looking at cars.

Last week I took the XJS out for it's monthly jog.  I gradually realized how good that thing looks, with it's red color, looking too hot to touch, and the smell (?) of the interior and the smooth whooosh as the car accelerates

I slowly came to another realization, why am I even trying to sell this car?

No one seems to want it.

I still like it.

I won't get any real money for it.

It's tucked safely away in my garage.

To hell with everyone, I'm just gonna keep it!

This was built upon my decision to hold onto my Mustang convertible.

There's certainly no reason to rush in trying to replace it. 

I just drove it to a swap meet up in Alameda. It was all cleaned and shined up, the top was down, and I even put the tonneau cover on. It ran like a champ and was one of the few convertibles that I saw that day with the top down. 

A few days later I was looking at an old copy of Rod and Custom magazine. it was a Mercury special produced when Pat Ganahl was editor. Two stories in the mag really hit home. 

One was about a lucky guy that owned two '32 Fords and a custom chopped Merc. It took him fifteen years to acquire those three cars.

The second was about the Hirohata Merc. A high school kid had bought it off of the back row of a used car lot in 1959. He'd managed to hold onto the car for forty years! He fixed the motor and drove it through high school, his early married years, and until the kids started to come along. Then he parked it in a garage to wait for his circumstances to improve in time and finances. It took quite awhile until the time was right. A great part of those forty years it sat forgotten in his garage. Well, probably not to him! As his life moved on, the car was mothballed and waiting. 

It looks bad but there's my XJS buried temporarily
under some empty cartons.

photo source: hotrod.com
Could it turn into this situation?

I've had gotten only a little interest in my XJ6, I was going to sell it cheap if it wouldn't pass smog. Now that it has, and it's registered, maybe that doesn't seem like such a good idea!

For the most part, I've decided to stand down.

I'm just going to keep what I've got. I've got enough to keep me busy with my newer cars and I've got my Flex to drive anywhere the need and desire takes. My situation is actually looking better and better. 

I'm thinking that maybe I'll just let every car scenario play itself out. I'll see how things go with each of my cars, even the Mark VII Jag. There's enough there to keep me busy for the next ten years, at least. After that, I think that my old cars years will be behind me, and I'll buy something new that won't require any hassles.

I just need to buckle down and get to work.

 More progress on the XJ6, Repairing the broken cup holder in the front arm rest.

I will be using the super glue/ baking powder procedure.

In the above picture you can see how the hinge pin is still intact. This Jaguar was an expensive car, yet it was still filled with plastic mechanisms and parts that will only break over time. You might think that it would have higher quality metal hinges, but I'd bet that this assembly was made by the same suppliers that provided parts to the Detroit automakers. Either way, we have to find a way to fix and preserve these old cars. I found several videos on YouTube that demonstrated the super glue/ baking soda repair. 

Super glues have been around for decades and while it was shown to be effective holding a workman's helmet to an overhead beam, it has been problematical when applied to auto restoration and repair. For one thing it doesn't stick to every plastic. ( But it sure sticks to your fingers!) Second, it doesn't provide enough strength to hold and support the fracture point on a thin material joint. It works fine on china cups and vases, less effective on a cracked plastic part. It really needs more surface area at the fracture site to be effective. 

This is what the "good" side looks like. Just a typical injected plastic hinge assembly. Force applied to this area eventually resulted in the pin pocket cracking and then breaking. This resulted in the folding cup holder skewing sideways and popping open, where it would sloppily hang to one side. When I first bought my car, the cup holder was intact and still working. I have never been a fan of the "two holes on the console" approach to cup holder technology, though there is nothing to break, but they do tend to collect spillage, crumbs, and dirt. They are also not very attractive. At least some cars have a sliding cover over that opening. I may have contributed to the breakage by my use of well oversized aluminum coffee carafe/cups. They are big, heavy, and can exert a lot of leverage against the mechanism. I'll show you what I mean at the end of the post. I recall an incident where I was cut off in traffic, I slammed on the brakes and the coffee carafe was launched into floorboard. 

This was the only piece of the existing hinge pocket that I could recover. It's best to try to recover any pieces, they can be glued into place and will provide a foundation/framework for the following repair. 

Less than half of the existing structure is still intact. I studied the arm rest/ cupholder assembly but couldn't determine if I could disassemble the hinge, repair it, then reassemble it. So I decide that I would position the pin in the pocket and build up the surrounding area with "the mixture."

First I masked off the pin so that the glue wouldn't stick to it. Then I positioned it back in the pocket and securely taped the cupholder in position within the arm rest. I taped it on both sides, making sure that it was aligned properly.

I secured the cup holder in place securely.

Both front and back.

Then I glued the plastic fragment back into place. I didn't have to worry about where the glue went, it couldn't affect the movement. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph this step. It was just gluing a broken piece in, nothing out of the ordinary. I just had to be careful not to break the newly glued on fragment.

Just baking soda and a baby dropper. I don't know if the super glue and the baking powder create some kind of chemical reaction or if it just a physical bond. While baking soda dissolves easily in water, in superglue it seems to soak up the glue, kind of analogous to sawdust absorbing oil. Except that this mixture will cure "rock hard!" There is another method where regular writing paper is used as a laminating material along with the superglue. Depending upon how much access you have to the broken area and the nature of the broken part, for example, if the broken part is a large flat tab, will be the determining factor. 

I was going to fix this while the parts are in place, in the proper position.

The first of several applications. It was far too much baking powder, but that's okay. Baking powder is cheap and it's only going to stick where the glue is. Just shake or blow the excess off. Repeat until there's a good build up. 

Here's what it look likes after a build up. Not too attractive but it's on the underside where it's not going to be seen. Of course you can file it smooth and paint it if necessary. I didn't want to weaken the joint by sanding it. Maybe I'll put some black paint on the repair in the future.

Looking at the area from the top. The other side of the hinge pocket now needs to be built up. When I'm finished all the blue should be covered up.

The first of several applications. The advantage of the powder repair is that as long as you can apply the glue the powder will also find it's way to the spot. It's easy to build up the area.

My Wife asked why I didn't try to use a catalyzed polymer putty, something like POR 15, she uses a non branded type for her crafting. POR 15 is good stuff, it is very strong and easily formed. The question is whether it will stick to the particular plastic you are trying to repair. The other is whether you have the access to apply the material and shape it. These putties can be great solutions. I once used POR to form a rusted out section of wheel lip on one of my old Datsun Zs. Once cured and painted you couldn't tell it from the metal. 

This was after I'd tested the mechanism several times. I open and closed the cup holder carefully. At first it was a bit stiff, but as I anticipated, as the tape wore away it loosened up nicely. I finished up by cleaning the arm rest with Lexol cleaner

These are appropriate sized drink containers. These are the only types of containers that I should place in the holder. The weight of the item is supported by the plastic panel that forms the arm rest. The stress on the mechanism comes from an item forcing the hinge past it's limits. Too much force will crack the hinge pin pockets. My use of the oversized coffee containers wasn't going to contribute to the long term health of this assembly.

This is not a good idea. Look how much leverage this item can exert. That's what happened  when I slammed on the brakes and launched it into the floorboard.

These repair procedures and more, can be found on the YouTube site, Sweeet Project cars.