N19
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N19 reacted to a post in a topic: '96 Galaxy
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N19 reacted to a post in a topic: '96 Galaxy
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egg reacted to a post in a topic: 1987 Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8L - Bumpers sorted, I think - see page 19
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I think one of the local motorfactors has one on the shelf. He did have a set of hatchback ones which ended up on the bASe a few years ago. I'll make enquiries.
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Thanks for taking on the unsexy shite jobs that means we can discuss shite in peace.
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N19 reacted to a post in a topic: N19's fleet - OMGHGF
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sierraman reacted to a post in a topic: N19's fleet - OMGHGF
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Thanks guys. I guess it's a confidence thing on my part - not wanting to start having it to bits and then getting stuck, or doing something stupid. But, as you say, what have I got to lose? The car is effectively un-usable as it stands. And, I suppose, doing it myself will save quite a bit on labour costs...
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N19 reacted to a post in a topic: N19's fleet - OMGHGF
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No noticeable oil loss prior to the issue, and no major rattles etc. An odd wandering idle occasionally, but that's it.
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N19 reacted to a post in a topic: N19's fleet - OMGHGF
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I haven't the ability or time to do it myself, so I'd be asking the garage to work on it. Clearly this comes with a cost. Cambelt done 4 years ago and a clutch put on 3 years ago so it's not that it's been undisturbed forever. I suppose I've nothing to lose.
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Mondeo news is not good. Garage vacuum filled, took it on a trip up the motorway to have a look, overheat o'clock again. Combustion gases in the coolant and water out the back, yes, OMGHGF. Options - engine swap, head skim, or scrappie. It's a 23 year old Mondeo with 186000 on the clock. I've had it for 4 years / 26000 of those miles. It's not ULEZ compliant so is restricted to out-of-London journeys with a few local trips thrown in. I like the car, it's behaved well over the years, very good long distance, cosmetically tired but otherwise was always fine. Estate incredibly useful for moving stuff around and saved me quite a bit on van hire over the years. Towbar come in handy a couple of times. Anywhere else than AS it'd be a no brainer... So do I... (A) chuck another Zetec in it, having (A1) bought something off Ebay, or (A2) paid £££ for a brand new unit (B) get the garage to repair the existing engine (C) write it off as a goner, strip anything I possibly can for spares, and scrap it, with possibilities (C1) buy something newer, bigger, and ULEZ compliant, (C2) buy something older and non-ULEZ because it takes that 'slot' in the fleet and because why not. I'm really not sure what's for best at the moment in all honesty! Have I got any chance of finding a car in the sub-£1k category that will do what it did, in today's market... equally, would I throw £££ at it on an old car. Decisions decisions. Thoughts and bad encouragement welcome. @sierraman I almost know what you'll say, but you're the resident expert.
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N19 reacted to a post in a topic: ❗❗🚨 Major Autoshite Server Maintenance and Downtime - Completed 🚨❗❗
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1295 miles completed in the last week. Left London at 6.30am on Monday. Notice the shininess of the Focus, compared to later pictures... Stopped at Ferrybridge where there are shiny new electric milkfloat chargers available.... powered by, err, a big diesel generator?! How does that one work?! Anyway, pressed on to Newcastle, stopped for fuel and saw a 2CV. A couple of days later and I found myself going up the Cairn o'Mount with beautiful* weather... comparison - here's a picture taken with the Capri just behind where I was in the pic above - just without the fog oh and I suppose I should complete the set with when the Bluebird (I miss that car) did the same journey years ago The atrocious visibility was confined to just the higher bits of ground, fortunately. Some very nice roads up there. The Focus behaved impeccably, it's more capable on long journeys than I had thought, although it's definitely not as comfortable as the Mondeo with motorway cruising. More miles covered and eventually we were back home. ... in dire need of a wash, but that can wait.
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Caliper replaced with a new one, £39+vat from the factors, no exchange required. Slide pin thread screwed, which is sub-optimal, new ones on order. Nice when things feel a little less crap!
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I'm fairly sure that's what it is - it began about a month after I changed the coolant. As the garage is at the end of my street and can look at it tomorrow and won't take the pee with costs (but will take the pee if i've overlooked something!). Hadn't looked into vacuum filling, but the cost of the kit to do so is likely more than any labour charge? Yeah, it just has moments of frustration when you trip over a stored exhaust manifold and go "why the hell did I do this, the car went perfectly fine beforehand, I could have been out driving it today" etc etc but, of course, you're right. It'll go together and there'll be the satisfaction of having done lots of it myself.
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I let the car cool, then filled up with water, ran around locally, then headed for home (I was in WGC at the time) - similar thing happened about a mile north of South Mimms. As I'm planning on taking it a long distance soon, I am pondering throwing it at the garage and letting somebody with the time, facilities and brains look at it rather than running myself ragged during a busy week.
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Fuck a duck The Mondeo has been having a few moments of late, coolant wise. I thought I'd managed to bleed the system again properly, there were a few moments without hot air through the heater but broadly speaking everything was fine. Bowling up the A1 on a test trip, prior to a 400-mile journey next week, and the needle flops into the red. More scarily, presumably the overflow was making it difficult for the alternator to catch up, as everything electrical became that little bit dimmer and slower. Predictably this happened just after a turning, carried on at 50 to the next junction. It's vomited out the expansion cap... Just waiting for things to cool down and see what's going on.
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Every so often, as I've been clambering around a Capri in the throes of dismantling, repair and rebuild, over the last 18 months, with yet more being added to the list and no end in sight.... every so often I think to myself, "why am I doing this/ I should have left it as it was!". Then I scroll back to the pictures to remind me of the problems it had hiding below the surface.
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Not a terribly exciting update, but then again, I don't promise to be terribly exciting! Driving around late last night in the Focus, I noticed a 'hot' smell, and slower acceleration than usual. Worried it might be the clutch, I did the tried and tested clutch-strength-test which it passed (stalling the car in 5th from a standstill). When I got home I had a feel around and the heat coming from the NSF wheel was something to behold. Investigation began at lunchtime with suitable consumables to hand. Seized caliper, it will release with a pry bar, but then when applied it's not releasing again. I took the slider pins out and greased them up to high heaven, but no dice. Sadly the only motorfactors open today near me didn't have one on the shelf, so I'll pick one up from the local place in a couple of days and fit it.
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I'm due to do a lot of mileage in the Mondeo in the next few months, so I want to make sure that it's going to be ok. Done a few long motorway trips and the temperature gauge doesn't budge, although the heater is on and off, but not as dramatically as it was before (going cold for 10 seconds, before staying toasty warm for the rest of the time). I've been told collection of the Capri for paint in the next 2 weeks.
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I remember Volvo B7TLs of that era sounding like a howling vacuum cleaner a couple of years after being new, in the hands of some less well-maintaining operators - shame that they are still groaning around.