Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - a Workshop Day Today

[Six-cylinder]

8 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

I love that car

That is the Series 1 and Mrs6C won't let that go.

One day when I prepare it I might let the Series 2 go.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

15 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

In @Zelandeth thread I looked at the cost of the cheapest 1300cc Ado16 against the VP1300 Auto.

 In April 1968 my Morris 1300 listed at £698 and the VP1300 Auto at £1135. The VP cost 63% more.

My poverty model, Morris 1300 2 door had saved the first owner £26 over the 4 door!

---

This week with @Slowsilver working on the Vanden Plas 1500 we pondered what the cost difference was between base and VP Allegros.

In 1976 the year of our VP1500 the base Allegro 2 door 1100cc cost £1626. The cheapest 1500cc was the Super deluxe at £2015. While the VP Auto was £2775. The VP1500 cost 38% more than the standard 1500 Allegro.

I guess you can't really put a price on Plah. 

[Six-cylinder]

Be jealous!

After 18 months our Alfa 156 V6 six speed manual Sports Wagon has finally come back to us in full working order.

The intermittent non starting turning out to be corrosion on the wires to the fuel pump relay.

[Six-cylinder]

As  @ianbmw took his Monza to the NEC this weekend I got second dibs on his welder.

So back to my Discovery MK1 today, the repairs to the offside bulkhead and inner wing has been completed.

[hairnet]

10 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

In @Zelandeth thread I looked at the cost of the cheapest 1300cc Ado16 against the VP1300 Auto.

 In April 1968 my Morris 1300 listed at £698 and the VP1300 Auto at £1135. The VP cost 63% more.

My poverty model, Morris 1300 2 door had saved the first owner £26 over the 4 door!

---

This week with @Slowsilver working on the Vanden Plas 1500 we pondered what the cost difference was between base and VP Allegros.

In 1976 the year of our VP1500 the base Allegro 2 door 1100cc cost £1626. The cheapest 1500cc was the Super deluxe at £2015. While the VP Auto was £2775. The VP1500 cost 38% more than the standard 1500 Allegro.

apart from maybe a kadett what opel could you get for that /contentious

[hairnet]

alfa door lol

park the 308 and the rangie on the drive

@IronStar will be round to nick the alfa

 

[Six-cylinder]

25 minutes ago, hairnet said:

apart from maybe a kadett what opel could you get for that /contentious

In 1968 Olmpia started at £1040 and Records at £1351.

In 1976 Ascona started at £2000 and Record at £2900.

[Six-cylinder]

17 minutes ago, hairnet said:

alfa door lol

park the 308 and the rangie on the drive

@IronStar will be round to nick the alfa

 

We bought the 156 with minor damage to the offside front wing, then a nurse visiting next door forgot to turn the steering wheel and dented the front o-s door. The big one was a run away Focus from my neighbour drive that pushed in the o-s rear door right in and pushed the car into a tree in the hedge.

I bought a new door from a silver car 2 years younger and it was a different shade.

We have had it 10 years and it has lived a life!

When it was delivered back today I took it for a drive and can report it is still a great car to drive with a peach of an engine. 

[hairnet]

id have been upset only if it biffed the c15

 

[IronStar]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

We bought the 156 with minor damage to the offside front wing, then a nurse visiting next door forgot to turn the steering wheel and dented the front o-s door. The big one was a run away Focus from my neighbour drive that pushed in the o-s rear door right in and pushed the car into a tree in the hedge.

I bought a new door from a silver car 2 years younger and it was a different shade.

We have had it 10 years and it has lived a life!

When it was delivered back today I took it for a drive and can report it is still a great car to drive with a peach of an engine. 

This will be Grigio Sterling 694, sticker is on the right side of the boot door to confirm. The wrong colour door is Grigio Stromboli 651/A.

Yes I can tell the color code without even looking it up, just by looking at the photo. Yes I’m that sad.

Lovely, lovely cars.

@hairnet Depending on the immo box, stealing it ranges from needs immo box replaced to fairly trivial as ROM can be dumped. The box is under steering column and single-plug, not in the ECU itself, so fairly easy to swap out for the one you have the right key for. You need to virginise ECU for it to accept the new immo box though, but that’s also trivial.

No, I’m not into stealing cars. I just lost the transponder in the key when swapping out the key shell, as it bounced never to be found again and learned all this whilst locksmith was pairing my car with new immo unit. 

[flat4alfa]

I'll buy it

Because it is ULEZ and I have a set of GTA sockers to fit and refresh it 

And my (owned 15 yrs) 2.4 JTD Wagon isn't, and I need to get in and out of London Boroughs with job at moment

All-round vision in a 156 wagon is brill, compared to moderns

 

[IronStar]

5 minutes ago, flat4alfa said:

 

All-round vision in a 156 wagon is brill, compared to moderns

 

Except that huge blindspot caused by the rounded mirrors. Caught me out more than once after driving other cars for a while. 🫣

[flat4alfa]

Can't say I've ever had a problem there...  I'm going to be watching out for it now arghhhh

The Giuletta poor visibility when reversing drives me nuts so the 156 is my go-to for urban parking efforts, because of that

[hairnet]

51 minutes ago, IronStar said:

 

Lovely, lovely cars.

 I just lost the transponder as it bounced never to be found again 

oopsie

[dollywobbler]

The Discovery is wearing Disco 2 wipers for some reason. I am pained. Lovely colour though!

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, dollywobbler said:

The Discovery is wearing Disco 2 wipers for some reason. I am pained. Lovely colour though!

I didn't know about the wipers but I do believe the headlights are Disco 2.

I am not keen on the colour.

[beko1987]

It'll look lovely once polished 👌

[High Jetter]

PERB! 🤣

[Six-cylinder]

11 hours ago, High Jetter said:

PERB! 🤣

I had to look it up "Public Employment Relations Board"?

[Talbot]

16 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

The Discovery is wearing Disco 2 wipers for some reason. I am pained. Lovely colour though!

It is.  Probably because a Discovery 2 somewhere is wearing the D1 wiper arms, as the blades for a D1 (generic) are significantly cheaper than those to fit a D2 arm (specialist).  It's seen as somewhat of an upgrade to put D1 arms on a D2.  As will come as no surprise, the mechanism between D1 and D2 is largely identical, and also similar to RRC.  Hence the interchangeability.

I never did it on my D2, but I wanted to.

[comfortablynumb]

My D2 didn't last long enough to wear out a set of wipers.

Come to that, it didn't last long enough to wear out a tankful of diesel either.....

[dollywobbler]

21 hours ago, Talbot said:

It is.  Probably because a Discovery 2 somewhere is wearing the D1 wiper arms, as the blades for a D1 (generic) are significantly cheaper than those to fit a D2 arm (specialist).  It's seen as somewhat of an upgrade to put D1 arms on a D2.  As will come as no surprise, the mechanism between D1 and D2 is largely identical, and also similar to RRC.  Hence the interchangeability.

I never did it on my D2, but I wanted to.

Interestingly*, if you look at early brochures for the D2, they kept the D1 wipers so it must have been a late decision to change them. I was never keen on the upgrade. Saw a D1 wipered D2 only the other day. 

 

Edited March 26 by dollywobbler

[Six-cylinder]

A lovely afternoon!

@Slowsilver and my non Autoshite friend Colin came over to progress the VP1500.

The first problem from last time was no fuel getting to the carburettor of the VP.

We back filled the carb and the fuel pump and the car started which ran nicely until it emptied the carb without pulling any petrol from the tank.

Slowsilver laid down under the VP and checked petrol out pipe and that all seemed fine.

Next was the pump and we connected the fuel pump to a can close by and it filled the fuel filter just fine. We reconnected the line from the tank and now it was primed it was able to draw petrol from the tank.

It leaked petrol from the carb float chamber top so very took it apart and the shut off valve worked again.

We found the VP clutch had stuck on, but Colin started it in gear and took it into the field to give it a talking too, it came back working fine.

Colin then gave it a run up the road and slowsilver a run in the field.

---

 

6 days and the Mini becomes eligible for free road tax so it was time to wake it up, a drop of extra petrol into the carb intake and it bust into life and had a run around the field.

---

So 2 of our 4 BL products are up and running!

[Mrs6C]

37 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

So 2 of our 4 BL products are up and running!

Think you may have missed some... 

[ianbmw]

So does that mean the barn is empty? Empty so a Carlton saloon could move inside?

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

A lovely afternoon!

@Slowsilver and my non Autoshite friend Colin came over to progress the VP1500.

The first problem from last time was no fuel getting to the carburettor of the VP.

We back filled the carb and the fuel pump and the car started which ran nicely until it emptied the carb without pulling any petrol from the tank.

Slowsilver laid down under the VP and checked petrol out pipe and that all seemed fine.

Next was the pump and we connected the fuel pump to a can close by and it filled the fuel filter just fine. We reconnected the line from the tank and now it was primed it was able to draw petrol from the tank.

It leaked petrol from the carb float chamber top so very took it apart and the shut off valve worked again.

We found the VP clutch had stuck on, but Colin started it in gear and took it into the field to give it a talking too, it came back working fine.

Colin then gave it a run up the road and slowsilver a run in the field.

---

 

6 days and the Mini becomes eligible for free road tax so it was time to wake it up, a drop of extra petrol into the carb intake and it bust into life and had a run around the field.

---

So 2 of our 4 BL products are up and running!

Calendar shot?

[RustyNuts]

On 11/02/2025 at 15:31, Six-cylinder said:

Not such a good day today!

The Renault Safrane V6 RT has come to me because of Andyrew’s clearout. Andy is convinced this car wants to die as after all the work Andy put into in, it now has a suspected head gasket failure.

I wouldn't be put off.

I have a ph2 from '98 outside with the 2.5 volvo lump. It was dead for 12 years and in that time i got through two engines (scrapping a 3rd and giving it away as scrap), did loads of rust removal and protection, had the shocks out, exhaust out, brake lines out and replaced etc. Still couldn't get it running right. Eventually 11.5 years into its deadness I finally got the HG done too (pig of a job that took me 11 months to complete for various reasons) and when even that didn't work I eventually found the electrical gremlin causing it to overheat and stopping the fans working.. Even now it has a coolant leak thanks to a defective pipe that is no longer available but i flogged that dead horse so hard it had no choice but to come back from the dead lol. It's now in daily use and still has other things i need to fix but it's a runner.

Sometimes it is easier for people to give up on a car but i'm skinter than most and although it took me 12.5 years, I managed to save and resurrect a PITA that threw absolutely everything at me.

Your car might bea bit more tricky as the head gaskets might be harder to find but it's not beyond saving.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Think you may have missed some... 

They disappear rapidly. Or hidden.

[Six-cylinder]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

They disappear rapidly. Or hidden.

We still have the Morris 1300 and MG Metro Mk1 to wake up, is what I was thinking of. 

What Mrs6C is referring to is should the two Daimlers. MGB GT and 1970 Triumph Vitesse be counted as BL vehicles? 

[EyesWeldedShut]

18 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

1970 Triumph Vitesse be counted as BL vehicles? 

I'd say yes as (I'm almost sure) my 1968 Vitesse had a small BL badge on each front wing just above the side locking levers.