Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - An open air picnic in mid September!

[Six-cylinder]

Not my Allegro!

Today I had an Allegro 1500 Special delivered, but it was not for me. This one is for @Andyrew.

The good news for me is I get to keep it and drive it for a few days before Andyrew takes it home.

[Six-cylinder]

I don't know if it was because I only bought Cavaliers and Carltons I found a swarm of Astra's gathering outside my house!

[Longbridge Apologist]

3 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

I don't know if it was because I only bought Cavaliers and Carltons I found a swarm of Astra's gathering outside my house!

I’ve got an odd soft spot for this gen of Astra, god knows why. Perhaps it was remembering seeing some spy shots for it in one of the weeklies. Looked much more “Teutonic” than the previous. 

[Ghosty]

They're a bloody good steer too for what they are. If I ever need a practical shitter they're the first thing I'll look for.

[wuvvum]

I have to say I definitely wouldn't kick one of the £30 tax versions out of bed as a daily.

[beko1987]

I have fond early 2000s astra memories, as my grandparents moved from 20 years of Nova ownership, with Grandad having a G reg astra for a spell as a work shitter into an new Astra! (current shape at this point in time) X reg 1.6 club. I remember going with them to pick it up and trade Granny's J reg saloon Nova Luxe against it. Coming back Grandad got it up to a ton and declared it very fast. 

Probably the last time it ever did a ton in their ownership, one of the reasons they moved to Hyundai after 5 years was the fuel economy and they 'don't need such a fast car' 

Cant imagine the astra had more than 30k on it when they got rid. The Nova was on less then 45k and granny owned that from under a year old, she used to drive more then though, I remember her blazzing about in it and the Green nova with carbs they had before that. 

It's a shame all vauxhalls are shit really as I have had them alot in my life 😂 I'd not kick a cheap one out of bed either, as you say @Ghosty they must cost pennies to run and maintain ad are comfy and fast enough to be a good An Car

There's a tidy looking metallic aqua green one I see around the office too, it's quite nice in that specific colour 

[Floatylight]

7 hours ago, Longbridge Apologist said:

I’ve got an odd soft spot for this gen of Astra, god knows why. Perhaps it was remembering seeing some spy shots for it in one of the weeklies. Looked much more “Teutonic” than the previous. 

I had one of these at a couple of years old 1.6 16v, very capable but tedious, predictable and reliable, exactly what I needed after an experience with a launch model mk2 Laguna Dci...

[Six-cylinder]

BiTurbo has now got a new stainless exhaust. It has gone for Service and MOT to a local garage and I hope to get it back by the end of next week.

[hairnet]

Pasta rocket

[omegod]

4 hours ago, hairnet said:

Pasta rocket

Lamblinguine ? 

[richardmorris]

Number plate deteriorated, but not likely to be misread.

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, omegod said:

Lamblinguine ? 

Flash sierra

[Andyrew]

Cctv catches older citroen lurking with much younger model by the bins . . 

[beko1987]

52 minutes ago, Andyrew said:

Cctv catches older citroen lurking with much younger model by the bins . . 

People have lost their jobs for that... 😂

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, beko1987 said:

People have lost their royal titles for that... 😂

FTFY

[Six-cylinder]

I own up I have broken Andyrew's Allegro.

The clutch had a variable bite and I thought it might be air in the hydraulics so I bled it. That left it without enough movement to disengage the clutch.

Andyrew came over to see what I had done to his car!

We tried to take off the master cylinder but could not undo the metal pipe. The metal pipe is a larger diameter to the brake pipe I have so making a new one was not a quick fix. Rather than risk it Andyrew took it all off with the slave and pipes. He has taken it to his workshop to see if he is able to separate the parts, clean and rework the cylinders. 

Stay tuned for the next episode!

* As his first older British car Andyrew has no AF spanners. If you have some lying around doing nothing getting in the way you could always give them to him.*

[Crackers]

Did you say you needed some heavy machinery to smooth out the field? 😁

[Six-cylinder]

10 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Did you say you needed some heavy machinery to smooth out the field? 😁

When are you delivering!

[Six-cylinder]

BBC says weekend 2/3 July will be warm and dry.

On that basis I am considering opening the FoD that weekend.

Any interest?

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, Crackers said:

Did you say you needed some heavy machinery to smooth out the field? 😁

That's get it perfect! The kids do keep asking when we can drive on the field proper again. 

Somewhere out there is Charlie's tiny torch from when we camped 😂 Dickhead took it with him then promptly dropped it. Lu kilt it's made of the finest cheapest amazon chinesium so shouldnt damage anything if it gets mowed over 

[3VOM]

1 hour ago, Crackers said:

The things you have to do to press bearings out on some cars.

[Talbot]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

When are you delivering!

He's en-route.  Will be with you by September.

[Crackers]

3 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

When are you delivering!

It's quite literally slower than walking.

Factoring in water stops, service stops, a longer route, and sleep, even if you double-shifted it it'd probably be a 3-4 day ordeal! 

[Six-cylinder]

4 minutes ago, Crackers said:

It's quite literally slower than walking.

Factoring in water stops, service stops, a longer route, and sleep, even if you double-shifted it it'd probably be a 3-4 day ordeal! 

That means you will have to leave in June to arrive for the July FoD meeting!

[beko1987]

Be a right laugh driving that thing round London I bet! Is it ulez compliant? 

[Crackers]

2 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Be a right laugh driving that thing round London I bet! Is it ulez compliant? 

Funny you mention it. I believe they are exempt from pretty much everything everywhere, and because they accelerate quite well for their size, they seem to do surprisingly well in cities as long as you have a steersman who's well and truly on the ball. 

A decent road engine will do 12-15mph in high gear flat out and the average speed of London traffic isn't much more than that, so you can do stuff like this:

Definitely something I'd love to have a go at. 

[davidfowler2000]

8 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

BBC says weekend 2/3 July will be warm and dry.

On that basis I am considering opening the FoD that weekend.

Any interest?

Of course.

Am I working that weekend? Of course.

[LightBulbFun]

8 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

BBC says weekend 2/3 July will be warm and dry.

On that basis I am considering opening the FoD that weekend.

Any interest?

you know me! as long as the usual FoD sleeping accommodation are available, I am pretty much guaranteed to be there!

if its not then no problems! always next time  

[catsinthewelder]

2 hours ago, davidfowler2000 said:

Of course.

Am I working that weekend? Of course.

Depends how long the strike lasts

I'm hoping to get down.

[horriblemercedes]

I might well make a day for this one 🙂