Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[Bucketeer]

3 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Also today I refilled the VP with petrol after 199 miles, guess the mpg? 

Lead foot driver + car not quite tuned right + possible Vmax runs up the bypass = 23.4mpg.

[The Moog]

Lead foot driver + car not quite tuned right + possible Vmax runs up the bypass = 23.4mpg.

Nah - slippery shape (in reverse) plus backwards action -26.8mpg

[richardmorris]

Well the new roof on the 2cv looks good in daylight.

 

[busmansholiday]

This sounds a bit like a competition I remember when living in kilt land back in the late 70's. 

How many miles per gallon will a Marina coupe do on a run up some motorway north of Edinburgh. Think it managed over 40, at a steady 60, I was lucky in not guessing the correct amount as you won it.

 

[Bucketeer]

1 hour ago, snagglepuss said:

1 hour ago, Bucketeer said:

Lead foot driver + car not quite tuned right + possible Vmax runs up the bypass = 23.4mpg.

Nah - slippery shape (in reverse) plus backwards action -26.8mpg

Minus 26.8mpg is very pessimistic.

[Six-cylinder]

Sorry I never gave the mpg answer, a slightly disapointing 25.2 mpg.

[Six-cylinder]

Things did not go to plan in Aylesbury this morning as the VP died at traffic light and then the starter would not operate, a car stuck behind me had to help push it up onto the grass.

 

 

I checked for a loose wire and gave the starter solenoid a tap but still no go so I rang the RAC. Two hours to get somebody to me they said, at this point I came over all “Basil Fawlty” but unlike that kind gentleman I set about giving the VP 'a damn good thrashing!' using the largest thing I had in my tool bag a plumbers wrench. Bingo the starter worked again and I made it to join 17 other Allegros and 11 Maxis at Nuffied Place the former home of William Morrris.

[timolloyd]

Well done for getting it going again!

[Noel Tidybeard]

applejack just seems such a naughty colour for a plarh, but oh so very leyland!

[SiC]

Why did it die at the lights in the first place?

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Why did it die at the lights in the first place?

I don't know, it is not in a habit of stalling once up to temperature.

[SiC]

Does it have a HIF SU still with those silly poppet valves in the throttle disc? Those damn things caused most of the running issues I had with my BGT. 

[Six-cylinder]

10 hours ago, SiC said:

Does it have a HIF SU still with those silly poppet valves in the throttle disc? Those damn things caused most of the running issues I had with my BGT. 

I don't know and was not even sure if you were talking about the VP or BGT so here are both, when I say both I mean all three carbs!

[SiC]

All look like HS carbs. Dunno then, I'm quickly outside my area of expertise when it comes to carbs!

Maybe the wax stat causing problems? Iirc captain_70s had trouble with his on the Dolomite. I think when he removed it solved a lot of his idling troubles?

Hopefully someone with expertise in these contraptions will respond soon!

[Six-cylinder]

I like it when a plan comes together!

 

The VP 1500 came without music not even the string quartet that I believe was standard on these cars! It is a 1976 car and my spare 1990s radio CD looked hideous in it and a period radio with FM costs a fortune so I decided to fit the cheap Radio with USB, jack plus SD card slot I had bought for the Gamma. While very cheap and looks it, much better than the 1990s alternative.

 

I had pushed the new radio in the open hole last Sunday to take it to the Allegro show and tonight I set about wiring it in as the plug left in the dash did not fit my radio. The plug there was simply wired into chock blocks both for power and speakers so I changed the old plug for the new ones that came with the radio and bingo it all worked first time with one speaker in the front and two in the rear parcel shelve.

 

Even my ipod plugged straight in to the USB and played now controlled from the radio unit. Now for me the next bit is a step too far in an Allegro, a remote control for the radio!

[Mrs6C]

Nodding Cat can now nod to the bangin' choonz...

[beko1987]

You can play your drum and bass now! Phat sub in the boot next

[Six-cylinder]

6 hours ago, beko1987 said:

You can play your drum and bass now! Phat sub in the boot next

I have a spare car sub under my desk!

[hairnet]

19 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Nodding Cat can now nod to the bangin' choonz...

radio 3

18 hours ago, beko1987 said:

You can play your drum and bass now! Phat sub in the boot next

radio 4 for that

'i love it when a plan comes together.....'

well you ARE C Smith

[dozeydustman]

I approve of the mousemat!

[Six-cylinder]

News of the day is the Gamma has been taken back to the garage that returned it to the road to investigate why the engine made such a horrible noise and bought the car to a halt.

 

Our Metro now has a new MOT just needed one repeater bulb.

 

Due to drive congestion the 2CV has gone back into storage already.

[anonymous user]

The Berlina is such a lovely shape, I know just about everyone else prefers the coupe, but they're just wrong 

[Shirley Knott]

On 5/20/2019 at 7:29 PM, Nyphur said:

Another thread that I'm only just catching up on.
Excellent updates as ever. Bad luck with the BX.

Likewise I'm just catching up on this thread.

 It'll take me a lifetime to get through it all but I'm working my way backwards page by page, it's making for a great read

[brownnova]

That Gamma is simply stunning!!! 

[Six-cylinder]

My favorite garage has taken the heads off the Gamma today and it has revealed a broken off valve head on the o/s. He says o/s head is scrap, but piston and bore ok. Also camshaft plus rockers are badly worn on the n/s.

 

[Mrs6C]

^^^ Not entirely sure that LIKE is the correct response to the above post but good to know the starting point for repairs...

[SiC]

Ouch! Big bills for the Gamma then?

Those cheapy classic style radios aren't half bad. The controls feel cheap (especially the right knob) but they play decent enough sound. Plus they are inevitably connected to average speakers and a car where acoustics aren't designed in. However I have to say that the majority of the time, the one in my BGT is being used as a clock! Often because I've forgotten to pull up the aerial...

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

 

Those cheapy classic style radios aren't half bad. The controls feel cheap (especially the right knob) but they play decent enough sound. Plus they are inevitably connected to average speakers and a car where acoustics aren't designed in. However I have to say that the majority of the time, the one in my BGT is being used as a clock! Often because I've forgotten to pull up the aerial...

I agree sounds ok in the VP so I have ordered two more, one ready for the Gamma and the other for my MGB GT as the radio started to get hot and I had to remove it last year.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

8 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

^^^ Not entirely sure that LIKE is the correct response to the above post but good to know the starting point for repairs...

How easy is it to find a new / good used head casting for Gammas nowadays?

[Six-cylinder]

24 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

How easy is it to find a new / good used head casting for Gammas nowadays?

I will let you know when I have found out!