Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - a Workshop Day Today

[wuvvum]

48 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

When I was researching some Citroen Visa 14TRS stuff

Not planning a trip to Malvern at the end of the month, perchance?

[Six-cylinder]

2 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Oh, do I hear a plan hatching? Go for it Chris

No I have told senior management that I am not going to go for it!

[Stinkwheel]

No I have told senior management that I am not going to go for it!

That’s a shame. But sometimes sense has to be sensible.
Which is why I’ve been enquiring about the blue 1.4 romahome thats on the visa forum.


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[SiC]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

When I was researching some Citroen Visa 14TRS stuff I clicked on Parkers site and was suprised to be staring at a picture of my own car!

 

 

Is it because it featured in a Bauer Media publication? Parkers is owned by them.

[Six-cylinder]

I had a bit of a tussle today with a French stick today, it said it did not want to ride in an Italian car!

The reason I took the 156 Sports Wagon out today is it had been standing for a month and I wanted to give it a run. I was concerned it would have a flat battery but it was just fine starting instantly.

Since parting with my AX11 I have been driving around in the 156 saloon and driving them back to back showed me the gear change on the Sportwagon has lost its spring to centre so it will have to go back for that to be sorted.

[Andyrew]

My Alfa itch has been getting really bad recently.  Woman parks outside work in a black 159 with the larger (ti?) Wheels. Really not helping me. 

Must . . not  . . scratch . .

[Six-cylinder]

We have owned Alfas for 25 years on and off starting with a 1976 Alfetta 1.6, which unfortunately is one of the few cars I don't have a picture of. The following year we got this Giulietta 1.8 at Mrs6C insistence.

 

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

We have owned Alfas for 25 years on and off starting with a 1976 Alfetta 1.6, which unfortunately is one of the few cars I don't have a picture of. The following year we got this Giulietta 1.8 at Mrs6C insistence.

 

 

Looked a lot better back then, admittedly. 

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Looked a lot better back then, admittedly. 

I am not sure what you are saying, this is not the Giulietta 2.0 we have now? 

Or are you saying older Alfas looked better because the 156 is a stunning looking car. Even moderns like the current Gulia and Giulietta look great in a way current Audi s and BMW s have forgotten how to do. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 minute ago, Six-cylinder said:

....are you saying older Alfas looked better ....

This.

Alfas were somehow more noticeable to me back then.

Not sure about the current Alfa generation. Yes, the 156/159/166 genre look alright at certain angles, but they exist in an age where all cars (except SUVs, obviously) are generally aerodynamic, and blandly so.

[Six-cylinder]

10 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

This.

Alfas were somehow more noticeable to me back then.

Not sure about the current Alfa generation. Yes, the 156/159/166 genre look alright at certain angles, but they exist in an age where all cars (except SUVs, obviously) are generally aerodynamic, and blandly so.

156s are stunning from any angle, this was my first one which I had over 10 years ago and I am still not bored with them.

[hairnet]

make wid da welders and hammers and shit - capiche?

 

[richardmorris]

The gearchange on my c5 lost its spring and occasionally needed two attempts moving the lever to get out of gear. One of the gear linkage cables had worn through and rusted. Both replaced at the same time. Not good for a five year old car with 40,000miles! 

[Six-cylinder]

2 hours ago, richardmorris said:

The gearchange on my c5 lost its spring and occasionally needed two attempts moving the lever to get out of gear. One of the gear linkage cables had worn through and rusted. Both replaced at the same time. Not good for a five year old car with 40,000miles! 

When we bought the Sportwagon 5 years ago the first thing we had to do is sort out the stiff gear change and the reluctance to go into 5/6 gears. Fortunately it was all external but the car ended up with a 5 speed gear-knob on a six speed box.

[Six-cylinder]

Coming home today I spotted Mrs6C coming the other way on the Buckingham ring road so I waved enthusiastically,  as the red ZX got closer I realised it was a hatch, M reg and not Mrs6C driving it!

I have got to the point where there are so few ZXs about I assume a red one locally must have come off our drive, but it was still there when I got home.

 

[hairnet]

21 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Coming home today I spotted Mrs6C coming the other way on the Buckingham ring road so I waved enthusiastically,  as the red ZX got closer I realised it was a hatch, M reg and not Mrs6C driving it!

I have got to the point where there are so few ZXs about I assume a red one locally must have come off our drive, but it was still there when I got home.

 

 

[richardmorris]

45 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Coming home today I spotted Mrs6C coming the other way on the Buckingham ring road so I waved enthusiastically,  as the red ZX got closer I realised it was a hatch, M reg and not Mrs6C driving it!

I have got to the point where there are so few ZXs about I assume a red one locally must have come off our drive, but it was still there when I got home.

 

And that your honour, is the case for the defence of why mr six cyl was spotted waving at pretty young blondes.

[hairnet]

i refer to my above comment

really?

ya think???

 

[Andyrew]

Been there, old mate of mine had a blue Corsa , saw him scream up the road and pull up sharpish behind me at some lights I was sat at. 

I Flipped him the bird, and made other rude gestures , He didn't respond. 

I pulled away, and looked at the reg number.

It wasn't my mate.  

 

[Six-cylinder]

Another dull day with wind and rain so an ideal day for giving a convertible a run out!

I have not said anything about Mercedes CLK convertible since I got in November because it has sat around doing nothing. It has not turned a wheel for a month so I thought it was time it did to do todays 60 miles for errands. It started up right away on its own battery and drives well, just the sidelight failed warning light to annoy me and I have looked and it is a bit more than a bulb as the holder is melted away.

While most of the errands were boring work stuff I did manage to get in a trip to my favourite garage to take them a new fuel gauge sender I had ordered and 20 LTR of petrol for the blue AX14TRS. Slow progress they have had it running but the carb just filled up again with muck so they are in the process of cleaning out the tank.

The 306 convertible is currently grounded as some of the stitching that holds the plastic rear window in the hood has bust open on the left hand side. I have ordered “Stormsure” which claims to be a Flexible and waterproof repair adhesive. I have also ordered some red strong thread and Mrs6C has offered to sew it back in for me.

14 days into 2020 and no purchases!

 

[hairnet]

3 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Another dull day 

 

14 days into 2020 and no purchases!

 

 

 

SHOCK!!!

and

 

[Six-cylinder]

The weather forecast for today was dry and sunny so I decided it was the day to tackle the dull headlights on the Mercedes CLK.

I have had a Meguiriar's kit ready and waiting, starting with a wash, then sanding with the pads provided in 4 grades, which left them misty. Next was the polish plastX, which brightened them up no end. Then the heavens opened while I was still planning a bit more polishing and then the application of "Headlight Protectant" which claims to help maintain clarity and provide UV protection as part of the kit.

The result is the headlights are much improved and should be fine for the MOT that is only 5 weeks away.

We have had a reasonable amount of rain lately so that it is now flooding the farm land opposite our house. There is a stream that flows in the valley bottom just in front of the fence and is only a 1 or 2 feet deep in summer, now the whole valley is a lake. We like the way it looks and are in no danger of flooding as we are quite a bit higher, but I guess the farmer would like his pasture back!

 

[Zelandeth]

Need to do something similar to the tail lights on the Jag as they're really matt. 

Haven't ever tried one of the special kits.  When I did the headlights on the Cappuccino I just used normal cutting compound (think it was probably AutoGlym colour restorer, the one with the pink label), and that worked fine for me.  Think that's one of only two cars I've had with plastic headlights though so not something I've had to worry about much.

[Andyrew]

Headlights came up well. 

Did you manage to sort the melted bulb? 

[Six-cylinder]

19 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Headlights came up well. 

Did you manage to sort the melted bulb? 

I had forgot all about it until I used the car Tuesday so yesterday I ordered a couple of bulbs. I can't remember did we check if there was power to it?

[Andyrew]

Hmm, I can't remember.  I recall it was a tad melted, but that would have stopped it working so it must have been a bulb. 

 

[Six-cylinder]

The big news of the day is project 2020 has started, my Visa GT.

This morning it has gone off for some welding, new sills, inner sills repair, floor repair, boot floor repair and rear subframe mountings.

It is a fill in job so progress may be slow, but I am still hoping to get it back in time to put it on the road by the end of the year.

[hairnet]

100% got t very bad (licker )

 

[Floatylight]

The big news of the day is project 2020 has started, my Visa GT.
This morning it has gone off for some welding, new sills, inner sills repair, floor repair, boot floor repair and rear subframe mountings.
It is a fill in job so progress may be slow, but I am still hoping to get it back in time to put it on the road by the end of the year.

Glad to see this getting some love, looked sad when I saw it last year.

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[Six-cylinder]

I have been sent pictures of the start of the Visa GT project today, nearside front inner wing much worse that offside. Open up the sill reveal was much as anticipated, sill are the only body panels I was able to buy for it.