Largactil

The Visa GT had TRX rims - The Visa Cabriolet had the exact same design of alloy wheel in non-TRX 🤪

I bought a set of 6j banded steels for my LNA, which had undergone a similar process: However, I thought the 'lips' on TRX rims was also an issue, when it came to sealing a non-TRX tyre?

True - South-west might have been a better direction. 7 years have passed quickly - Still annoyed at myself for not using it as much as I'd hoped. I did have a reasonable excuse when it was in the UK and I was in Ireland (with no parking for it), but it's 4 years since I imported / registered it. I think it falls down to my lack of faith in its ability to start - and I've a sinking feeling it was the rubbish £5 eBay fuel pump fitted by me back in 2014. (Although the starter solenoid did also jam at one point and the ground cable from the starter disintegrated). If you have no confidence in a car's ability to at least start, you tend not to want to use it often, as it has potential to become a major hassle if you're just popping down the shops to grab a few things. (If I'd fitted an electric pump way back then, it might have been a different story). I suppose I'd expected it to be more akin to the 1989 205 XE 954cc / 4 speed I bought when I lived in London - It was only 6 years younger, but I didn't think twice over whether it would start / get me to my destination, with it eventually making the return trip from NW6 to Stirling 6 times and from Stirling to Dublin and back fully loaded. The LNA never left me stranded, but did require a fair bit of cajoling on a few occasions - i.e. I was at the head of a queue of cars about to disembark the ferry in Belfast and it wasn't playing ball in terms of starting initially, which certainly bumped up the blood pressure...!

The Merc left last October (£4.5k in running maintenance / repair costs in just over a year 🤣 ) Maybe I should just seek to blend in by buying an Irish staple - The roads are still infested with these if you head a couple of hours west (or south) of Dublin 😛

The LNA is departing soon for pastures new, so I decided to try and tackle the 'hot start issue', which has gradually become a 'hot start issue'. First step was to have a look-see, at which point I noted the breather hose to the oil filler cap (situated directly above the plug holes) had popped off - Whether it resulted in the below is up for debate, but I'd be surprised if the stem seals all failed en-masse, especially as the car drives well enough. New plugs fitted, I also fitted a new fuel pump - I'd replaced it before, when I bought the car from @wuvvum in 2014, but I'd made the rookie error of fitting some very cheap eBay tat. It appears to have lost all spring in its diaphragm, so hopefully the Valeo replacement will last a bit longer. Lastly, I fitted new ethanol-safe J30 R9 fuel hose along with a new in-line filter - I used thermal reflective sleeving in a vain attempt to protect them from under-bonnet temps, which do get high with the spare wheel stored on top of the engine. (Yes; I do need to re-route the line further away from the alternator belt). Seems much happier starting now, so long may that continue - The new owner may elect to fit an in-line electrical fuel pump / Filter King, which would probably be the best long term option. Despite not using it quite as much as I'd hoped, I will miss it; it keeps pace fine with modern traffic, and its squishy ride is a world away from the modern shift to sports suspension & low profile rubber. There's something quite endearing about its face, being the runt of the 104 / Samba litter, and it offers an amusing 1970's driving experience for very little money.

I have this chap in my LNA, picked up for £20-30 about 5-6 years ago from eBay - It's actually a VW dealer fit option, but seemed to fit the 1983 vibe quite well...

I thought it was Bobbydoo who had one? (Also long gone from here)

A rare old bus nowadays - A friend's father had one back in the early noughties - Same vintage / colour. I remember copious amounts of alcantara and the fact that it shifted very well for a 1600cc vehicle. Looking forward to seeing more 😃

Prisma Symbol?

Seen this, which was recently spotted on teh internets , and thought of you Mr Boll

Just after seeing this now! We're away to Kerry this weekend for a staycation (not in the Citroen ? )

@hairnet Proper Irish-spec modifications to the front bumper and NSR wheel arch ?

Ah - I'm near Balbriggan in North Co Dub and always keep an eye out, but the place seems bereft of chod!

Nice work - The Senator has an NCT till the 23rd of October this year? Where is this purveyor of shoite on the Emerald Isle?

I had one of these 22 years ago, when it was only 7-8 years old - Usual Lotus Bitsa (i.e Mk2 Astra front calipers / glovebox lock and McLaren F1 windscreen) - Hood in mine leaked like a sieve when it was comparatively young, so I can imagine some decent footwell puddles in this one. Having lived in NW London from 2009 -> 2013, it's probably the place I've seen the most old rammel parked in the streets (e.g. Vauxhall Belmont / Saab 900 / Nissan Cherry all lived near my Queens Park gaff)

@Alan_Green - Did you ever get anywhere with that RWD 626 I put you on to in NW London?

Well spotted - A result of lockdown boredom on my part. I've been a member of PH for almost 20 years; back to the days of 56k dial up interwebs and Petrol Ted. Much like this place, it's changed a lot over time, but there's still a core of decent folks on there. I figured they'd be more interested in my modernish Vee 8 S Class Coupe thing, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they preferred the LNA. I haven't done much with the LNA lately - I made another trip North to see Faker in mid-December and drop off some parts from the rotten Samba Cabrio I stripped. For a car with its roots in the 1970's, it copes amazingly well with motorway driving, cruising at ~75 mph (Irish speed limit is 120 km/h). It then slumbered in the garage for 3 months on a battery conditioner, till I pulled it out in March, washed it and fired it up. My lockdown list is to sort out a dent on the passenger door, wire a switch for the engine fan and try and tune the carb so that it hot starts a bit better. The Samba cabrio rear arms need refurbished / fitted too, in order to fit the 6j wheels on the rear (they're slightly narrower and avoid the need to roll the rear arches).

Sorry to hear - I can relate to a degree, as I took on a W216 Merc CL500 last June and have spent ~£2.5k on it in the last 7-8 months with it still pinging up the odd dashboard light of doom (this, with a FMBSH) - Complicated cars = complicated issues, and you can't just throw parts at them to try and sort them (bits are far too expensive, even if you can find them!) I spend most of my time in Scotland and would really love an 8.32, but missed the boat when they were more affordable (mate had a late Thema Turbo LS, which was a fantastic car) - Hope you find a solution, for your own sanity's sake ? (If you do decide to sell up, PM me - I can ask aforementioned mate if he fancies another, although he's left the Italian fold and moved on to a minty E46 M3 these days).

This Seat was a new one to me...

I'm inclined to agree - Most of the automobilia stands were peddling the same overpriced tat that they were 2 years ago. Lots of very high-end dealers with lovely cars, but not the oddball French stuff I'd like to see, like Renault 14's and Talbot Tagora's ? No - They have a different 'special display' every year - in 2018 it was 1960's Abarth and Jean Pierre Wimille

After 2018's moment of madness, deciding to go on a day trip to Paris on my ownsome to visit Rétromobile, I decided to repeat the exercise this year. Caught the 06:05 red eye yesterday from Edinburgh to Paris, returning to my gaff in Dublin on the 21:55 from CDG. Obviously loads of mega-money F cars / Gullwing Mercs / Lambos present, but also some chod I thought I'd share - I really liked the Bertone collection in particular (€24.5k for a Mk2 - G60, or not!) (Yours for €9k) (Had the toy car version of this - Pretty cool to see the real thing) (1972 Citroen GS Carmargue) (1976 Ferrari Rainbow) (1979 Ovlov Tundra) Lots of over-priced automobilia tat, so didn't buy anything, but did have a good chat in pidgin French /English with the guys at the 104 Club Peugeot stand, boring/wowing them with some pics of my LNA ("right hand drive?! Zut alors!!")

16-18 mpg around town, but as high as 28 mpg on a sustained 70 mph M Way blezz...(!) I'm coming round to the opinion that the Merc is defo Autoshite material - I was heading for the Cairnryan ferry to Belfast at the end of August, and it comprehensively shat itself in Glasgow city centre rush hour traffic. ***PING - "ABC Suspension Failure!!" ***PING - "Engine temperature high!!" Power steering stops working - Feels like the steering lock has came on, trying to turn 255/35/20 tyres unassisted ***PING - "Battery low!!" ***PING- "Low coolant - Stop immediately!!" I wacked the heater up full, before limping off the M8 sharpish and into a housing estate - Engine fans roaring. Stepped out to see a nice puddle of coolant forming under the OSF wheel. Popped the bonnet to find this: Yarbles. Great bolshy yarblockos. Idler pulley had collapsed shredding the serpentine belt which ran the water pump / alternator / ABC pump / PS pump / AC compressor Recovery was not the work of a moment - The car was sat on its bumpstops (hydraulic suspension, innit?!), so the AA had to dig out the kit they use to recover broken McLarens. Repair actually wasn't too bad at a specialist - New pulley / belt / coolant was just over £200 including the dreaded. Unfortunately the temporary lack of electricity has played havoc with the Logic 7 amplifier (the MOST loop detects an error on start up), meaning I have no sound for the stereo / phone / sat nav - The parking sensors are now also playing up, and like to randomly give the same ***PING when sat in heavy traffic, instantly making my arsehole twitch like a rabbits nose, based on the last rather stressful experience. Oh, and the electric wing mirrors have randomly stopped working too ? It does scrub up well, so hopefully I'll get to the bottom of the above maladies (I have a laptop /MUX running the MB diagnostic software, so need to get around to plugging it in to see what the score is). Considering I paid 8% of what it cost new, I mustn't grumble, I suppose. Anyway, this means that the LNA is officially the most reliable car on the fleet - I investigated the banjaxed cooling fan, and found it to be totally seized. Luckily I had a working spare from a Peugeot 104, so changed the connectors & fitted that and it all works fine. Wirewheeled and primed up my Samba Grp B subframe Then celebrated with a run North, to see another member of this parish ...and collect these honeys ? I also had the 'hot' cam which came with my 8 Port Rallye head refurbed by Technoprofil in France, and that arrived back too (Have a lead on the last few bits for my high-comp / Grp A 1360cc build, so need to get cracking with that soon). Last job was to stick the original dealer plates on the car, and snap a few pics to send to the original owner who purchased it new: While it's tucked up in the garage for Winter, it remains taxed / insured / NCT'd, so hopefully I'll get a few opportunities to drag it out if the weather holds ?

Decided to lower the tone of the Citroen stand at Terenure the other week - This HONEY was on the stand - (So much want...) LNA behaving well at the moment, but reckon the radiator fan has karcked it (bearing was hella noisy, and now can't hear it kicking in, so it's probably seized completely). Bought a new modern, too - Wanted to scratch the V8 itch before we're all forced into hybrids, so figured a 5.5 litre would fit the bill. These W216 CL500 are practically worthless now, in the times of PCH /PCP, but someone paid £91k for it 12 years ago... I'm a bit in love - need to get a snap of it with the LNA, to demonstrate the ridiculousness of a 5+ metre long, 2 door car.

? - Any suggestions? I was thinking gold with black script? (And are you coming over for Terenure this year? I'll be on the CCC stand for the first time in 4 years).

Possibly, but rare even in France and the Arvor kit would mean removing the LNA side mouldings to fit (as would the 104 ZS2 arch extensions), so not too fussed. I have a front spoiler from a ZS2 104 (bit like a Mk1 Golf GTi chin spoiler), so might bodge than on. No roffles at the moment - Others may disagree, but I bought this from Wuvv 5 years ago, when worthless old rammel like this was a lot more common on AS - Times have changed, and the LNA seems now to have transitioned a bit to 'classic car', and I doubt I'd be able to replace it for what I got it for - Plus it's definitely a conversation starter every time you fuel up (thankfully replacing the perished rubber tank joint has stopped petrol pissing all over the forecourt ?), which is always amusing. I don't want to go all blue forum, but fitting a heap of Samba competition parts from the early 80's appeals in a weird way - I have the bits to put together a 115bhp Grp A-spec engine on a Grp B subframe, with the wheels, brakes & suspension to match. Hopefully I can do it in a tasteful / reversible manner, but time will tell.