Crackers

Is that specifically for autos? Mine was manual and had a new, higher-cored radiator put in by the previous owner. Whether it was supplied on exchange I don't know, but does it particularly matter if it is exchange?

It transpires that Lotus is sort of two companies, which not a lot of people seem to know. The Electoral Roll photographed above is a product of Lotus Tech, who are basically a spin off of Geely in China. Lotus Cars remain the Hethel engineering outfit and are responsible for the more conventional cars. The cars from both arms are sold under the single Lotus brand but it seems there is definitely a clear divide between the two. There's a lot more detail to it than that, but I recall hearing that Lotus Cars' cheif designer was keen to distance himself from any credit for the Electron Microscope at its launch and highlighted the difference between the two areas of the company. If EV SUVs are meant to do the numbers keep the company afloat whilst the enthusiasts can keep buying lower-volume models like the (gorgeous) Emira, then so be it.

Christ man, I hadn't looked at this thread for a while and suddenly it is ALIVE. *applauds*

OK, I want that.

From memory (when mine sprang a leak from the capped-off return line, that I never got round to reinstating) you should have access if you can get the car in the air high enough. Doing it from under the car on the ground was dreadful for access.

Viva?

Ah yes, comedy*

You know humour doesn't have to be related directly to factual statements? 🤦

Well the 9-5 has made a return to it's first road trip in my hands and come back to the Welsh highlands. We're staying alongside Llyn Celyn, named after the village of Capel Celyn which was submerged in the lake when the dam was built. Of course it's a trip for trains: Unfortunately I am not convinced the new radiator has fixed my coolant concerns as the coolant level seems to have dropped from the level it was at when I collected the car, which is giving me head gasket concerns. I know some people have solved oil and water issues on these by replacing and re-torqueing the head bolts, which is not too hard but a bit involved. Time will tell. I'm hoping for the best 🤞

Hang on a second, I recognise that flatbed... Don't tell me he's done it again!

Gosh she sounds good. I do miss that noise!

Another Saab appeared at Casa Di Crackers yesterday! Don't panic - just a courtesy car whilst the 9-5 was away having a new radiator and a couple of other leaks sorted out. A 9-3 estate, 1.9 diesel, 6 Speed manual. A bit leggy, and it was utterly filthy when I picked it up, but I put 100 miles on it in the evening and really gelled with it. Only a 120bhp diesel but it went well enough and seemed to run on thin air! So I treated it to a quick 2-bucket wrongun before I took it back. It came up OK! For a garage courtesy car that must get the worst possible treatment, it really did wear it well - rough around the edges, but pretty spot-on to drive.

Bums, I'm on holiday. Always miss the local ones!

Nothing of your doing, no need to apologise! It's a 18 year old car with 170k on it - there will be issues. Yes the rear speaker is a different part number to the fronts - no biggie, I'll just have to play the waiting game on a replacement! Yesterday's post sounded a bit despondent but it's only because I want to keep the car as nice as I can, because I can't imagine what I'd replace it with if I had to!

Well that's... unfortunate. I bought a replacement speaker for the door after it blew up the other day. Let's get it all apart then: Amazingly, only 1 trim clip broke! Masking tape is obviously the right fixing method for the door liner, right? Quick audio test, yes that's definitely the blown speaker. Let's whip that out and get the replacement in then...... ...oh. No, that's not right is it... It turns out I've got the Harman Kardon sound system in the car, which I had no idea of. I assumed it was the mid-range system so bought the Pioneer speaker, as I thought the HK-equipped cars had a different head unit to the one I've got. I expect the Pioneer speaker will blow up in short order if I stick the H/K amp down it, so it's time to find an HK speaker. Great news, there's a few on ebay... in Lithuania. Literally not a single one for sale in the UK. Don't really want to risk (or pay for) international postage so I've got a bit of sleuthing to do now. Never mind, door all back together minus the speaker, UFN. In an even more depressing discovery... Arse.... there's the coolant leak then. It's suddenly gone from a manageable monthly top-up, to a more concerning weekly refill, which means it's got 4x worse than it was. We're taking the car on a road trip in 3 weeks, so the clock is ticking to get that replaced as it'll play on my mind if I'm playing radiator roulette several hundred miles from home with other people driving it... Had a quick look online and I think I'll farm it out since, as usual, I don't have the time or space to do it before then, and whilst it doesn't look too bad a job there's a couple of potential balls-up points which I'm bound to make a cock of. No, I still haven't fixed the air con, handbrake, or suspension clonk... Chalk it up as one of those days.

Thurso is a lot further north than any of Skye.

The ungrateful prick heard me saying nice things about it. I've clearly thrown out the shite-equilibrium by improving one aspect of the car, so it just blew the passenger door speaker to balance things back out again. Can't wait to do battle with 18 year old trim clips... 🙄

Another job done: Cataract Surgery The headlights had developed some pretty bad yellowing since I bought it, so based on a recommendation from a thread on here I attacked them with a Holts restoration kit. The results speak for themselves, it looks years younger. Before: During: After: Still haven't fixed the air con, handbrake and Coolant leak, and it's just started a slight clonk from a bushing in the front somewhere. Leaving that one until the MOT and they'll hopefully locate it. A few jobs on the list then, but all easily achievable in the fullness of time. Still love it. ❤️

Yes, it reminded me of that one. Was custom built by Merc for the sole purpose of transporting that race car on the back. It was supposedly capable of 100mph loaded! Jay Leno has a working replica.

Some lovely trucks up at Statfold Barn this weekend. The COE Mack is one of 3 in the country apparently and the owner has driven all 3 of them at various times. I have never seen this before, apparently it was a prototype based on a Leyland Cub(?) bus chassis. And this... Well I've never seen or heard of an FTF before. Some kind of showmans tractor perhaps? The badge suggested it's Detroit V8 powered and has an auto transmission of some kind, maybe Allison. Looks pretty chonky!

Makes you proud to be BritishSwedish.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. A V8 P6 can cut a serious hustle down a good road. There's an almost Citroen-like quality to the balance of body roll and road-holding, I gave mine a proper leathering down some decent tarmac a couple of times and you can really get into a fantastic flow with it... And it still manages to be compliant, comfortable and smooth!

Just saw this on the Gram. Oof. ❤️

That's what I'm saying, it's the HRW, and late cars had a different switch.

I saw a photo of a late 2200 dashboard a while ago with the same style of switch in that location, and it's exactly where the HRW switch was on mine. The only difference is that mine had a pull-out switch. Not certain but I think they might have all had HRWs.