The new news 24 thread

[R9UKE]

IMG_20180923_170408.jpg

 

Parked up at the coast and when I came back there was another Aero estate in steel grey parked next to me. The owner was nearby and popped over for a chat. His (the facelift model) was in far nicer condition than mine, but then mine was £500.

 

 

Having recently changed my daily from a Saab 9-3 Convertible to a Merc CLK Convertible, I miss the run ins with Saab eccentrics already.  And the wave you have to give when another one with the top down comes towards you.  If I waved at any CLK drivers around here, I'd be waving at nothing but glamorous 52 year old bank clerks called Debbie who think I want a bonk.

[bramz7]

So after telling myself no more cars, something rare, insanely weird and must have (for me) appeared on the internet earlier today.

I'm just waiting to hear back if the sellers parents are happy with a deposit....

 

The tension is killing me.

[xtriple]

Having recently changed my daily from a Saab 9-3 Convertible to a Merc CLK Convertible, I miss the run ins with Saab eccentrics already.  And the wave you have to give when another one with the top down comes towards you.  If I waved at any CLK drivers around here, I'd be waving at nothing but glamorous 52 year old bank clerks called Debbie who think I want a bonk.

Yep, another CLK owner here and I reckon I am the only (vaguely) male owner in the area! I have an excuse as my roof is down 'cos the dog likes fresh air!

[R9UKE]

Nice one mate!  Glad to know there's at least one other looking like he's borrowed the wife's car! 

 

Cracking car though.  Well pleased with it, build quality, comfort etc all streets ahead of the Saab.

[xtriple]

I bought mine for 'cheap summer roofless fun' as the mX5 was too small for me and das mutts. After a very few teething troubles (roof handle falling off being the worse!   ) I actually started to use it and it's....really rather good! I did the gearbox reset on mine which made sod all difference, or so I thought until I put it in 'sport' mode and it was transformed. Before in sport, it was horrible and hung onto gears forever and a day, but now, it is exactly as you would wish a 5-speed box to be. It's still naff in 'winter' (waft) mode and still hangs onto hears to long for me - I like things like the old BW 35 that has you in top at 15mph!   

[trigger]

I sold this last Saturday.

 

 

I've been umming and ahhing about it for a while, and I've had someone bugging me for a while to buy it, I was just going to sorn it over winter but with cash being waved under my nose I bit.

 

I wasn't sure I had done the right thing until I saw him drive away and the big cloud of blue smoke pouring out the back behind him. The valve stems need changing and I couldn't be arsed to do it, this way I've got all my money back that it owes me and I've had a year's worth of fun out of it.

 

I've still got the van and the Marina, the van might go too as I fancy something else and the Marinas being prepped to be displayed at the NEC in November.

[HMC]

Gave the new shape 900 a bit of a shakedown today. As it’s got winter tyres fitted already it’s top of the list for Germany transport at the end of the year (obv assuming boredom hasn’t set in) No hot running, happy at various speeds on the A38 and th climb over the moor on the route back. It reminded me of the “birdlip route” that standard-triumph used to use for testing, odd to think that the engine in this GM platform sharer has origins amongst those woodbine smoking standard triumph engineers.

 

Anyway it drove fine, and at a stop off I got a quick pic before my phone died. I’m not sure of the exact colour, but it was almost a match for Dartmoor...

[RobT]

Nice colour, can't recall ever seeing one in that before.

 

New username for you: Wallander!

[HMC]

That’s a great one! My avatar could be either Branagh or either of the Swedish blokes

[GeordieInExile]

Best colour and best wheels for a 9-3. I like.

[davehedgehog31]

I gave the Alto a good seeing to yesterday. 

 

The little scamp drives perfectly, but I don't think it had any attention paid to it's cosmetics in a long, long time. Even after it's jet hosing, there was a layer of various indeterminate crud all over it. 

 

It was going to need quite an aggressive scrubbing. First of all, I gave it a thorough washing and instead of using car shampoo I used (avert thine eyes two bucket wrong uns) fairy liquid. This had quite a good effect and made a good dent in the crud. Seeing as I was going to polish and wax it I just wanted to really strip it back as far as I could and didn't want the waxy additives from car shampoo.

 

I went over the full car with a clay bar which done a good job at removing some more of the assorted deposits and the car was pretty smooth and looking a lot better.

 

I don't have a rotary polisher unfortunately, so some good old fashioned elbow grease would have to do, I used a bottle of "Mer ultimate polish" I had in the shed and vigorously applied it by hand. Conditions weren't ideal as it was unusually bright and the paint was getting quite hot, but I think I covered most. 

 

Last of all, I went over the whole lot with paste wax, it smelt nice and looked pretty presentable after all this. Cleaned all the glass too.

 

It has various dents and scabs all round which no amount of polishing will sort but it does look much more presentable now and it was pretty satisfying.

 

 

I've done over 250 miles in it since Saturday and it's absolutely fine. I'll probably do a full review at some stage or maybe even a comparison to the Citroen C1. Although they're both small cars, they're quite a lot different. You can definitely tell the Alto is very much of a previous generation, but it's still capable transport on a shoestring. 

 

Of my 250 miles, most have been motorway and it's actually fine. Hills must be anticipated and it will struggle up an incline in it's long fifth gear, probably best to think of it as a four speed with fifth being an overdrive for flat or higher speed cruising. 

[Hertz]

That’s a great one! My avatar could be either Branagh or either of the Swedish blokes

 

Your avatar is Tony Blackburn is it not?

[Spottedlaurel]

Dropped the Laurel off on Saturday at local garage for MoT and a basic service. No prep done whatsoever, but a quick check online this morning shows it to have a shiny new certificate with no advisories. They hadn't rung me, so I can only assume it went straight through.

 

Looks like 2017-18 has been the first year in my ownership when it's done less than 1,000 miles between tests. Not great, particularly when it's a such a usable thing, but that's a combination of my job change giving me a shorter commute and a hectic period of hospital visits meaning the old cars got forgotten about for a while. Must try harder in 2018-19......

[cort16]

I gave the Alto a good seeing to yesterday.

 

The little scamp drives perfectly, but I don't think it had any attention paid to it's cosmetics in a long, long time. Even after it's jet hosing, there was a layer of various indeterminate crud all over it.

 

It was going to need quite an aggressive scrubbing. First of all, I gave it a thorough washing and instead of using car shampoo I used (avert thine eyes two bucket wrong uns) fairy liquid. This had quite a good effect and made a good dent in the crud. Seeing as I was going to polish and wax it I just wanted to really strip it back as far as I could and didn't want the waxy additives from car shampoo.

 

I went over the full car with a clay bar which done a good job at removing some more of the assorted deposits and the car was pretty smooth and looking a lot better.

 

I don't have a rotary polisher unfortunately, so some good old fashioned elbow grease would have to do, I used a bottle of "Mer ultimate polish" I had in the shed and vigorously applied it by hand. Conditions weren't ideal as it was unusually bright and the paint was getting quite hot, but I think I covered most.

 

Last of all, I went over the whole lot with paste wax, it smelt nice and looked pretty presentable after all this. Cleaned all the glass too.

 

It has various dents and scabs all round which no amount of polishing will sort but it does look much more presentable now and it was pretty satisfying.

 

 

I've done over 250 miles in it since Saturday and it's absolutely fine. I'll probably do a full review at some stage or maybe even a comparison to the Citroen C1. Although they're both small cars, they're quite a lot different. You can definitely tell the Alto is very much of a previous generation, but it's still capable transport on a shoestring.

 

Of my 250 miles, most have been motorway and it's actually fine. Hills must be anticipated and it will struggle up an incline in it's long fifth gear, probably best to think of it as a four speed with fifth being an overdrive for flat or higher speed cruising.

Check the suspension arms they’re notorious for rusting through!

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

I gave the Alto a good seeing to yesterday. 

 

The little scamp drives perfectly, but I don't think it had any attention paid to it's cosmetics in a long, long time. Even after it's jet hosing, there was a layer of various indeterminate crud all over it. 

 

It was going to need quite an aggressive scrubbing. First of all, I gave it a thorough washing and instead of using car shampoo I used (avert thine eyes two bucket wrong uns) fairy liquid. This had quite a good effect and made a good dent in the crud. Seeing as I was going to polish and wax it I just wanted to really strip it back as far as I could and didn't want the waxy additives from car shampoo.

 

I went over the full car with a clay bar which done a good job at removing some more of the assorted deposits and the car was pretty smooth and looking a lot better.

 

I don't have a rotary polisher unfortunately, so some good old fashioned elbow grease would have to do, I used a bottle of "Mer ultimate polish" I had in the shed and vigorously applied it by hand. Conditions weren't ideal as it was unusually bright and the paint was getting quite hot, but I think I covered most. 

 

Last of all, I went over the whole lot with paste wax, it smelt nice and looked pretty presentable after all this. Cleaned all the glass too.

 

It has various dents and scabs all round which no amount of polishing will sort but it does look much more presentable now and it was pretty satisfying.

 

 

I've done over 250 miles in it since Saturday and it's absolutely fine. I'll probably do a full review at some stage or maybe even a comparison to the Citroen C1. Although they're both small cars, they're quite a lot different. You can definitely tell the Alto is very much of a previous generation, but it's still capable transport on a shoestring. 

 

Of my 250 miles, most have been motorway and it's actually fine. Hills must be anticipated and it will struggle up an incline in it's long fifth gear, probably best to think of it as a four speed with fifth being an overdrive for flat or higher speed cruising. 

 

 

 

Beaten to it on the suspension arms........ deathly bad so please do check! 

Inner wings lower down rust through too - subframe mounts go quite badly and result in great* handling quirks. 

Ex had one - it was rotten and fucked underneath by the time it was 5yrs old - she bought it new!....... of course I wasn't there when the garage ripped her off for repairs*. They didn't put it back together again properly - the welding they did was horrendous - and the entire intake manifold came off while we were on the motorway....... Managed to get into a services and buy an adjustable and socket set  and bodged it together. It had mullered the cable to throttle so I ripped apart the rear wiper and used the metal strip insert to mangle it. Got us the 50KM home. 

 

Sadly it was stolen* and burned out - right in front of the garages workshop access - that had done the previous work...... legal case for shoddy/not done work went on for almost 4yrs..... 

 

Understandably I can't stomach the little fuckers now - worst vehicle I have ever come into contact with......... 

 

Hope yours is a good one! 

[Guest Hooli]

Just looking on the ATS website about aircon & it seems some branches are doing cheap clearance tyres, I've not looked but the info might be useful to any shitters needing them.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Dropped the Laurel off on Saturday at local garage for MoT and a basic service. No prep done whatsoever, but a quick check online this morning shows it to have a shiny new certificate with no advisories. They hadn't rung me, so I can only assume it went straight through.

 

Looks like 2017-18 has been the first year in my ownership when it's done less than 1,000 miles between tests. Not great, particularly when it's a such a usable thing, but that's a combination of my job change giving me a shorter commute and a hectic period of hospital visits meaning the old cars got forgotten about for a while. Must try harder in 2018-19......

 

You're doing a lot better than me; I'd only done about 1000 miles between MoTs (it passed the last one a few weeks ago) yet, as of this morning, I'm looking at a rebuild of my automatic gearbox. 

[captain_70s]

Found the cause of the Acclaim's deflated tyre to be the fact it was 10 years old and cracked to fuck. Four (CD spec) 165/70/r13 Uniroyal RainExperts have been ordered to replace the four random (L spec) 145/80/r13s that it is currently wearing. I'm hoping this will aid the car in feeling less skittish on the road...

 

I also added some style*

 

[RobT]

Just looking on the ATS website about aircon & it seems some branches are doing cheap clearance tyres, I've not looked but the info might be useful to any shitters needing them.

 

Blimey, just had a look and Michelin Crossclimates in Xantia size for £48.  That's good value if it includes fitting.

[xtriple]

Got the XJ-S back together and amazingly, it runs! But, all the work has produced precisely fuck all improvement other than it's not pissing oil everywhere. Temp gauge is still low, oil pressure still shoots up to the top.

 

Bollox!

 

However, it does 'seem' to warm up now and the idle does come down to a fair degree (though some clever bugger decided to reset it and has now got it wrong - wonder who that could be?) but the various gauges are still playing silly buggers. So, I am thinking I had more than one problem. Thermostats were a bit iffy and so were the oil pressure sensors as they were leaking oil badly but I think the instrument cluster is also being a git. Not only those two sodding about, fuel may be but the voltmeter definitely is: sometimes it reads fine and others, it just sits there looking sad and doing nuffing! The battery warning light goes out straight away, and it seems to keep starting and running, so... I have now got my jump pack on charge and it will go in the boot of the XJ. 

[Supernaut]

Sounds like a perfectly ordinary Jag, then!

[xtriple]

It does rather, doesn't it! Why do I keep doing this to myself? Oh, and the horn has packed up, I did check under the bumper to see if it actually had any.... yes, indeed it does. I'm sure (not sure at all really) they worked before.

[Fumbler]

Fire alarm at educational institute blared for 10 minutes straight because fault. Fault with what I don't know, but definitely unplanned and it also allowed me to find another really loud, old electronic horn that these people used in the 80s.

 

The fire company added a sounder next to the panel when it was installed last year but didn't know they put this angry sounding horn-of-the-devil in the void between the false ceiling and the roof ~30 years ago. Hiding in plain sight and I'm surprised I never saw it sooner.

 

The moral of this story: remove device and give it to me for things and stuff. While you're at it, get the other 10 or so that you still have installed.

[Guest Hooli]

Voltage regulator for the dash?

[Fumbler]

They're not sure. Facilities have reason to believe it could be the builders in a different building or a low current or whatever in a detector that caused the resistance to drop and trigger an alarm rather than a fault. I'm fairly certain it displayed a zone in alarm and since there was no audible prealarm it was either a very faulty smoke/heat detector or a glass break point was pressed in or decided it was activated.

 

Whatever it was, it was remote deep in the bowels of the ancient building that has had system bodged onto system with violating sounders still operational.

[iainrcz]

Turns out, based on personal experience.

A 1kg tub of Skyr yogurt with a load of Bailey's poured on it is quite splendid.

 

Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk

[Fumbler]

Sounds lovely

[iainrcz]

It is indeed

Sounds lovely

Sent from my VFD 710 using Tapatalk

[Fumbler]

I'm sure.

 

Temperatures went down to -1 on brother's Camry at 6 in the morning. Frosted some plants and I need to re-pot two hazels and plant a willow by then. Oh well, they're hardy enough I guess.

[17-Coffees]

I have the shame of having put a car to its first MOT and failing... (The Abarth)

Front tiers were much more worn that I expected on the insides. To be fair I'm surprised I've gotten 21k out of the original factory Pirelli's! 

 

I've lost interest in the damm thing due to being the most unlucky car I've owned...having hit a deer less than 4 months having bought it, windscreen smashed thanks to speeding trucks carrying earth/stone and such for the Aberdeen bypass as well as the front end being stone chipped to hell and hitting a badger the other month causing more front end damage. Earned the name of "Black Pearl"..as in 'Curse of the Black Pearl'.

Not to mention how backbreaking the ride is. Great handling,nipping about town and massive fun on a back road blast. Not to mention the drone of the exhaust when doing above 60 as well as how bright the dash is on its dimmest setting. Was't a problem when I lived in the city but now my commute is around 85% duel carriageway, and no streetlights are up yet on the road meaning im being blinded by the speedo. 

 

Was going to chuck it back at Arnold Shark before the end of the year, but now going to see off its contract (lets me fix up the damage Bodger the badger did) then take it from there. 

 

*Having posted this here, I see we have a thread for 'The news' in the moderns section that is more suited for this....ooop's!