lisbon_road

This has been covered elsewhere, but my parents have a Jaguar XF. It had endless problems with a NOx warning that the main dealers just didn't manage to fix. The bills were around £500 a time which added up. This caused huge stress as they would go away and the 500 mile warning would come up. Took it to an independent, replaced a few parts, quite expensive, but problem dealt with. Then timing chain got noisy. Main dealer, £3000 quote for two chains. Independent, £1200 for one chain not two. Said they'd only ever replaced both chains once. Went with them, been fine since. No posh showroom, no free coffee, but fixed at a reasonable price. In other ways the main dealer were ok. The car had a drastic oil leak when nearly new and the main dealer fixed it and gave them an extended guarantee on the car, as they were worried about engine damage. That seemed decent and allowed them to get a new air con condensor free after the normal guarantee would have expired (though whether the garage had a condensor they just wanted to off load I don't know). I am sure that the main dealer has all kinds of problems with recruitment and overheads, but I would go back to them. Perhaps they were just unlucky? I have no idea, can just give our experience.

Probably very sensible. I think we all know what happens to Sierras left outside. Hope it works out well.

Renault 25? Seriously? Wow, pictures please.

I reckon the non return valve in the master cylinder. Mine completely lost brakes - thankfully in a place it didn't matter too much - and I got it back by pumping the pedal, then replaced the master and all was well. I note in your other thread that @sierramansuggests a hose issue. Might be worth a set of hoses if they're original or ancient. I replaced them on my 28 year old Astra recently and was amazed that although they worked, they were really horribly rusty at the ends.

I put a giant battery out of a scrappage scheme car in my old Astra for a while. Lasted to ten years old. Did wonder what it did for petrol consumption being so heavy but it was free. Loving this thread and those pictures are great. Funny really, I remember not liking Smartie blue but now it looks great!

A chance to drill/wire brush the side of the engine and paint it if you have no wish to enjoy the fine sunshine we have now? Looks like good progress.

Back in 1991, I went on a 1929 Dennis Toastrack with Roberts Body bus to Latvia. While we were there, a local rock band had their picture taken on the bus for their latest album cover. I've never seen it, but if anyone has, I'd be really interested. Sorry - no cover, just story.

I used to get about that from my 2.0 litre Pinto Mk1. Could get over 40 if I really nursed it along. Great to see it out and about. Thanks for taking the time to do so many posts, really appreciate it.

I'm in the middle of doing the front suspension on the red Astra, new wheel bearings, shocks, arms etc and thought I'd try getting the main parts powder coated. A local place did them, six parts for £60 cash which seems a good price to me. They certainly look smart. I don't know how durable it will be but they talked me through what they do and it all sounded good. I've tried various different types of paint on suspension parts in the past and all of them seem to fall off quickly. This is polyester over a primer. Was tricky putting spring compressors on the springs without damaging the coating: I cable tied lengths of thick plastic material from a scrap suitcase thing. Worked well.

Thanks for sharing all the pictures. This thread is great, have really enjoyed reading it. Minor thing, I've found OEM radios do sometimes seem amazingly good, absolutely no idea why. Not sure I can conclude that based on limited experience but you're saying the same.

Very tempted to attend. Might even manage to get the Vauxhall Viva out.

@RobT, next time let's close the day with a tour, including the Tandridge Yew as suggested by @timolloyd Did anyone see the 'normal' people turning up at the Farm in their electric SUVs and looking over the fence at us and saying to their children 'Right Tarquin and Isobelle, we've no idea what is going on over there but under no circumstances go anywhere near those strange people'.

I'm more concerned about finding it than sending it. I think they came in different colours or something, someone on here will know. I'll start looking this evening. Perhaps.

I think I have a spare new Ford quadrant. Er, somewhere.

I could do it at the side of the road in about five minutes without getting under the car. I remember taking my grandmother out and the cable broke, and I asked her to wait a moment while I changed it. On Pinto Sierras, the cable is very close to the exhaust manifold and cables have a short life. I tried making a heat shield for mine. Cables are cheap so no real worries - I drove from Norwich to Southampton with a broken cable but worth having a spare. The adjustment is automatic. I know that there are different sizes of quadrant inside the pedal but I'm not sure the significance of them, perhaps @sierramanknows?

Could be actually. Can't remember the reg number. Was in Southampton.

Well we just had one, which was indeed down South - see the thread - but I daresay that it won't be too long until another.

Could you please also include the next Autoshite gathering where I think you'd get a fair amount of attention. To put it mildly......

Very good I'd say!

Couldn't resist a look. One of the visible regs last recorded in 2003 and the other 2005. Reckon the survival rate will be dismal. Well we know one has survived from the era and looks set for a while yet.

They might well be interested in seeing it. Then again, when I rebuilt my Sierra with a new bodyshell, the Parts Director of a Ford agent was very helpful with the process. When I said I could lend them the car for a while as thanks, his comment was 'whatever you do, don't bring it near us'. Ford as a company, he told me, wanted to disassociate with the past.

I saw a Y reg grey 1.6L go past me in the traffic a couple of days ago, with a mature (ie even older than me) gent driving. It looked absolutely immaculate, which makes me wonder how it could have survived so long. Every one has a story I guess. Fab progress on the smartie blue Sierra! That AI generated cr@p is sickening. We're going to drown in this stuff soon. Nice photo though.

Great day out. Good to meet everyone, some new and some not. Till the next time. Autoshite winner for me has to be the Rolls. Sitting in the back of that was fab - many thanks. The Chrysler New Yorker is a close second. Thanks @inconsistant

Right hand drive, wonder if it started out here?

It does look very good now. And so does your tidy garage!