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colino

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Everything posted by colino

  1. I really like that, "Layer Cake" Range Rover. Saves embarrassment from the neighbours when the AA drag it home and it camouflages itself.
  2. Nothing to show this morning apart from a hard frost, but the indicated minus 10 on the XF dash is probably the reason I ripped my bastard door seal opening it up.
  3. For just a minor thread divert, I recall when one of my driving instructor friends got a new car, I think it was a 1.9 diesel Clio. The Driving Test Centre (Paisley) were furious as they believed it was unstallable and gave her clients an unfair advantage. Probably true but it was only quirky because it was so unusual with most driving schools having 1.1 Fiestas or Metros at the time.
  4. I seem to remember Clarkson saying in the early days that with TG you wouldn't see him lifting a bonnet because he didn't understand what the oily bits did and the audience didn't care. He was right and the trio evolved well into a light entertainment show involving three mates cocking about with cars as a common link. As can be seen by recent imitators, they pulled it off bloody well and nothing else on council telly comes close.
  5. It's been a while, but isn't there a relay below the aux battery and/or it's wiring that monkeys around with its charging so a lot of aux batteries get replaced but only temporarily relieve the problem?
  6. Not to hex you, but if the accelerator goes on old school stuff it's quick and easy to disconnect the choke cable and substitute for the accelerator and enjoy (limited) hand throttle fun. If you're even closer to home, just tweak up the idle speed and drive it like that.
  7. It's been a while since I used them, but try Star Radiators in Govan, they might even be able to fix your old one.
  8. colino

    Bus Shite

    The BBC are now reporting the 23 year old bus drivers death is being investigated as a murder.
  9. While I agree it may well just be a battery that is offering a mere 99% output that is upsetting it, just remember all cars are just big computers now and even mild fluctuations in temperatures, "confuse" them. Just disconnect the battery terminals for ten minutes, after touching the cables to wishfully discharge any residual power, and reconnect. Basically the first (and often only) thing I do now with any car with electrical gremlins.
  10. I don't know this set-up at all, but is there any chance the car has been fabri-cobbled before and the post where the air line goes has been inadvertently switched with the locating post? It would all fit, then go out of geometry when it actually operates.
  11. I got rid of my petrol 3 litre s type and moved over to the dark side and got a diesel 3 litre XF. Real man maths at work there, went from averaging 23mpg on petrol to 27mpg on diesel.
  12. Sellers in Europe strongly maintain their prices to preserve the brand and they know they will still achieve a decent volume of sales. Other economies won't tolerate such price maintenance so parts prices have to reflect the market. Shorthand - they screw us because they can.
  13. Took me ages to type that email address and pp then showed you as a contact!
  14. So he has a repair centre to call his own, a team to fix things when he breaks things and can't be bothered, generates income by selling a series, and just a reminder, you pay tax on profits, not turnover. What a terrible situation to be in.
  15. Other than a mk3 cavalier, when would the cost of the part influence you to waste your time on a second hand clutch?
  16. That 2cv reminds me, did Hubnut sell his softtop to Bigclive who's now wearing it as a hat?
  17. I'm going to hazard a guess that everyone on here has an acute degree of mechanical sympathy:. However everything from lazy/cheap previous owners to fastidious, service book full stampers (the easiest to cheat, because they look after their cars so they'll, if too busy, just put white grease on the door hinges and do it "next time") really make all service histories a fable for the uninitiated. The real reason allegedly good cars go pop unexpectedly, or no amount of catch up work goes unrewarded, the damage has already been done.
  18. I think these are the same as the e39 and have the flow and return doing a quick 90 degree bend from the floor and go up the front face of the tank. Then. If they've sat in mud for a few years, the pipes rot out. A bit of DIY with 8mm hose, pipe and jubilees and your good.
  19. Tired of, "Brake lines covered in grease so cannot be inspected" lies or, "Underside fitted with undertrays so cannot fully inspect", or "coil springs/underside/subframe corrosion, although no weakness detected" from my most used MOT station to, "cover our backs". Newbie tester.
  20. Incidentally, if you're having problems getting a smaller fwd up a slippy hill, try backing it up. Last resort, but it sometimes does the trick.
  21. Not uncommon if you are trading a handful of cars to have cheap mobiles with the name of the car taped to the different phones. It really does work with buyers working through the buying tips from the AA book of the road.
  22. colino

    End of shite?

    I appreciate there is not overwhelming sympathy with the trade, but in my area now with the WBA/BCA/Cinch cabal and Arnold Clark swallowing up Central Car Auctions (with plans to expand massively down south) even the, "normal" supply has disappeared. (I'm told BCA sell over half of all auctioned cars in Britain - that's a hell of a monopoly). This contributes both to overheating in Gumtree/ebay/faceache where local traders are now fishing and to the demise of some well respected traders. A friend who weathered the covid storm (no grants and no reduction in rent) had a plot for 40 cars. He now has 6 trendy shopping trolleys prepped to the heavens and no older than 8 years old at retail +. He's now less stressed but spends even more time each week locating stock that when he was turning over a car a day.
  23. colino

    End of shite?

    As Eddie Hawthorne of Arnold Clark is currently smacking his chops as last year being their most profitable ever (high demand/low supply) those 3 year finance deals mean the bar has been set and the market has moved on as people expect to pay these crazy prices for new cars. Even if some can't afford the finance due to the state of the economy, there will be plenty other eager buyers waiting to scoop them up. Bangers are gone and I'm going to scrap anything under £1000 just for my good health and sanity.
  24. I've never known an S Type where the drivers side wiper arm didn't hit the bonnet; probably why there is a brisk trade in second hand linkages and motors.
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