David-Lee Rennie

Mountain Bike Mechanics:

I've been Mountain biking on tracks like Glentress for the past seven years, and in that time have had several instances where I have had to replace broken parts and upgrade my existing bike I've replaced disc brakes, patched inner tubes, cleaned and replaced cassette, and done some minor body work (cleaning up scratches and painting my own frame)

BMW Project Car:

This year I bought a second-hand 2008 BMW 320D with the hopes of learning maintenance and mechanical fundamentals To do this, I've carried out my own repairs, and plan to replace the front bumper (which was damaged by the previous owner), replace the brakes (discs, callipers, and pads), and clean up the body (scratches and dents) by tapping out dents and polishing the car

In February, two weeks after I bought the car, the front control arm snapped So I went online, found replacement arms matching my make and model To replace the broken wishbone, I had to take the front wheels off, then took off the two control arms, and replaced them with the new part It's generally not advisable to replace only one, as it can ruin the handling of the car

A few months later, the car wouldn't start After some diagnosis (starting the car, and the cabin filling with black smoke) I discovered that the DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) was broken There was a clean break across the weld-line, which would typically indicate poor weld quality I found new replacement part online, lifted the car, took the under tray off so I could access the exhaust system and found an oil leak (unrelated, but fixed by replacing the copper washer on the sump-plug) I then disconnected DPF from exhaust, and put fire gum on the exhaust and engine sides of the filter to help seal and prevent leaks before clamping the new DPF in place and reconnected the cables and rubber hose that had came off when the original part had broken

Other Vehicle Maintenance Experience:

Last year I performed the basic steps of a full service for a 2019 Hyundai i-10 I drained and replaced the oil, switched out the oil-filter, changed the cabin and air-filter, and replaced the three spark plugs within the vehicle

Last month, my friend had a minor incident involving a concrete pillar with his 2020 Seat Ibiza, and scratched his front bumper I offered to patch up the damage, for more experience in body work and paint correction I began by thoroughly cleaning down the damaged area with car shampoo and sanding down the harsh scratches I then primed the area and applied small amounts of paint in several layers, allowing a few hours between layers for drying Once dried I used blending solution and a small cloth to wipe away excess paint and blend the new paint to the undamaged area After it had dried I polished the front bumper and left the car alone for a few days to see if anymore imperfections would appear