Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[egg]

On 10/1/2023 at 6:23 PM, Six-cylinder said:

It took just 7.2 gals to top off its 18 gal tank, driven 104.5 miles = 14.5 mpg.

The modern Rolls Ghost in theory gets 18-19. 90 years progress?!

[Six-cylinder]

4 hours ago, egg said:

The modern Rolls Ghost in theory gets 18-19. 90 years progress?!

There were other improvements like 0-600 in 4.8 sec instead of 31.4 secs. 155 mph max for the current Ghost compared with 76.3 mph with mine. Weight wise modern is 2500kg and I believe mine is around 1750 kg.

 

Interestingly I believe inflation linked the modern Ghost is a lot more expensive. I think a basic Ghost costs around £250,000 and you will probably spend another £80,000 on options so maybe £330,000 to drive away in your new Ghost. My 1933 car was £1060 for the complete running chassis and then £546 for the body, total £1606. Different inflation calculators give different results that vary from £94,000 to £141,000, but even so a lot cheaper than today small Rolls Royce saloon.

[hairnet]

couldnt  you buy a car for £10 in 1933

[Six-cylinder]

19 minutes ago, hairnet said:

couldnt  you buy a car for £10 in 1933

I think a new Austin 7 was about £150.

I would say new car today starts at about £16,000, a new Ghost £330,000 so a cheap new car is 4.8% of the Rolls Royce.

In 1933 Austin 7 £150, Rolls Royce 20/25 £1606 that is 9.3% of the 20/25 price.

[hairnet]

ask slowsilver hed have been a wee thing then

 

[Fumbler]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

There were other improvements like 0-600 in 4.8 sec instead of 31.4 secs.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

There were other improvements like 0-600 in 4.8 sec

You know that lift you offered? I think I'll pass

[Saabnut]

The cheapest new car in that period was the Ford Model Y which I believe is the only sub £100 car sold in the UK at 99 pounds, nineteen shillings and sixpence.

To put that into perspective though, a reasonable 2 bed terrace house could have been bought for £60

Cars overall have never been cheaper than they are now.

[TheOtherStu]

4 hours ago, Saabnut said:

The cheapest new car in that period was the Ford Model Y which I believe is the only sub £100 car sold in the UK at 99 pounds, nineteen shillings and sixpence.

To put that into perspective though, a reasonable 2 bed terrace house could have been bought for £60

Cars overall have never been cheaper than they are now.

Sadly, over the last 3 years, they've really jumped. In 2019, you could buy a brand new Dacia Sandero for under £7k.
They still make the cheapest car (I think it shares that plaudit with the Kia Picanto). £13,795. That's nearly twice as much.

Ironically, said £7k car is now worth nearly 8k from a dealer.

[wuvvum]

47 minutes ago, TheOtherStu said:

Sadly, over the last 3 years, they've really jumped. In 2019, you could buy a brand new Dacia Sandero for under £7k.
They still make the cheapest car (I think it shares that plaudit with the Kia Picanto). £13,795. That's nearly twice as much.

Ironically, said £7k car is now worth nearly 8k from a dealer.

That is at least partly because they've got rid of the bASe models though.  It's not all a "true" price increase.

[Six-cylinder]

5 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

That is at least partly because they've got rid of the bASe models though.  It's not all a "true" price increase.

And now electric cars are seeing the price for a car as basic transport double the starting point.

[TheOtherStu]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

And now electric cars are seeing the price for a car as basic transport double the starting point.

I don't think you're wrong there. I think manufacturers are using that as a way of pushing prices up.
The cheapest Ford Focus is currently £28,000.

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

That is at least partly because they've got rid of the bASe models though.  It's not all a "true" price increase.

A Kia Picanto Wave 1.0 is not a million miles away from a Kia Picanto "1".

It's now £13,655 compared with £9,233 for the old model. I get its a minor facelift, but realistically, nothing has changed. Same engine etc.
My Mum has just paid £12k for a 21 plate pre-facelift. Make of that what you will. It's more than the list price was.

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, TheOtherStu said:

I don't think you're wrong there. I think manufacturers are using that as a way of pushing prices up.
The cheapest Ford Focus is currently £28,000.

A Kia Picanto Wave 1.0 is not a million miles away from a Kia Picanto "1".

It's now £13,655 compared with £9,233 for the old model. I get its a minor facelift, but realistically, nothing has changed. Same engine etc.
My Mum has just paid £12k for a 21 plate pre-facelift. Make of that what you will. It's more than the list price was.

Back in 2009 I bought a new Pug 107.  I proceeded to then load it up with near enough every option available (except for the "automatic" gearbox for obvious reasons).  In doing that I managed to just tip the scales over £10K.  I just tried to look what the current equivalent would be...only to discover that the 1** series has completely ceased to exist now.  Guess it was too cheap and not making enough money...Oh, and everyone just seems to want a bloody pseudo SUV now so the small car is dying a death in general.

Talking of Rolls, my take is that they hit their peak really with the late Shadow/early Spirit.  Not maybe quite as pleasing to the eye as some of the earlier models, but in terms of producing a vehicle which completely isolates you from the chaos of the outside world and allows you to travel in complete and total serene comfort it's tough to beat.  Different kettle of fish to a 20s/30s car though!  I have been finding myself more and more drawn to things from that era lately, and really do quite fancy a Model T.  Albeit maybe not while living in Milton Keynes...That's frenetic enough in a Rover P4.

[Six-cylinder]

Yesterday was a car fixing afternoon. 

I had taken my Error 404 out for an early errand at 7:15am when it was cool, damp with a little local fog and the heater did not work in any form to clear the screen.  @Slowsilver set about sorting the tangle of wires under the dash and found the heater motor was disconnected. He removed some old radio wires and other added wiring going to nowhere. He then found the heater motor does work and set about rewiring it so now I have some air flow. I still not sure if I have any heat yet.

Flushed with his success and prompted by odd disconnected wires labelled door switch he tacked the interior light which also works. The dome switch now works along with the right hand door switch, but we ran out of time for the drivers so will need to come back to that.

In the mean time Mrs6C changed the n-s head light on her C15 van as some functions did not work and it was heavy corroded. She will need to revisit this job as the metal behind has flaking paint and heavy surface rust.

Also @Andyrew returned our Volvo V70 and attempted to collect his Allgro but one of the rear brakes is locked on so he has to revisit that. Lucky his van was there to take home.

[hairnet]

36 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

 She will need to revisit this job as the metal behind has flaking paint and heavy surface rust.

 

Lazy mare 🤣

[Mrs6C]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

Mrs6C changed the n-s head light on her C15 van

TBF @Andyrew did that...

[Talbot]

Shake-n-vac is completely pointless.  Although well marketed, it's just bleached sand soaked in perfume.  You'd do far better just throwing a handfull of dry sand from the beach all over your carpets and installing a magic tree.

If you want the carpets clean, a wet-vax is the best thing to do.  I am continually astounded by the amount of EEEEWWWWWWWYUUUUUUK! my basic vax manages to rip out of the carpets every time I use it.

[beko1987]

57 minutes ago, Talbot said:

Shake-n-vac is completely pointless.  Although well marketed, it's just bleached sand soaked in perfume.  You'd do far better just throwing a handfull of dry sand from the beach all over your carpets and installing a magic tree.

If you want the carpets clean, a wet-vax is the best thing to do.  I am continually astounded by the amount of EEEEWWWWWWWYUUUUUUK! my basic vax manages to rip out of the carpets every time I use it.

We should have taken a photo of the water we got out of it! Was a mild jet wash, light spray of G101 and brushed by hand then just sucked up with the vax. 

Next year I'll bring the Vorwerk VK150 and Kobosan setup over, it's damp powder you scrub in, let dry and vacuum out and whilst it's crap for stain removal, it freshens and revives the pile no end! Only worth it on a clean base though 

[Snake Charmer]

1 hour ago, Talbot said:

If you want the carpets clean, a wet-vax is the best thing to do.  I am continually astounded by the amount of EEEEWWWWWWWYUUUUUUK!

Carpet juice is outstanding!

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, Snake Charmer said:

Carpet juice is outstanding!

Although an acquired taste

[Snake Charmer]

5 hours ago, beko1987 said:

Although an acquired taste

🤣😂😁🤔🤮

[richardmorris]

On 10/9/2023 at 9:32 PM, hairnet said:

ask slowsilver hed have been a wee thing then

 

Ahem.. @Slowsilver

[Six-cylinder]

A change of flavour for todays transport and a taste for the future when I have the Vauxhall Royale to drive.

No I haven’t bought it, it belongs to @ianbmw!

I was offered a chance to drive it New Year’s Day or a Porsche 924S and I took the Porsche. I thought there would be another opportunity to drive the Monza, there was but it took over 9 months.

I love driving random cars.

[DSdriver]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:43 PM, Saabnut said:

... and the treatment for them was a 50/50 mix of kerosene and new engine oil. Mixed in a jam jar, shaken before use and ...

Duckhams 20/50 or Castrol GTX... and did you use Castrol R on the sporty stuff?

[hairnet]

42 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

 

No I haven’t bought it - WHY NOT?

 

needs teh oe wheel and the black opel wheels apart from that

TEH SEX

@Skizzer i know yours is a bit less sporty and moar wafty but get some updates on ta

[Six-cylinder]

Today I returned to my problem of the Rolls Royce not going into gear stationary without crunching badly. I took another trip to visit Ian who has a similar 20/25 and we checked the clutch bearing adjustment and did a minor adjustment. We took off the gearbox inspection plate and could see pressing the clutch did not cease the input into the gearbox from turning. The clutch is not properly disengaging and it looks like it is going to be a gearbox out to replace the clutch. Ian has the same problem with his car and intends to tackle that at Christmas and I intend to watch him and see what is involved. The good news is my car is still drivable with some crunching sounds.

While we had the floor boards up we checked the gearbox oil which was perfect. The strange thing is the dip stick is wood the same as Ian's!

[grogee]

Floor boards! See that's what's missing from cars today. Has it also got underlay? 

[richardmorris]

25 minutes ago, grogee said:

Floor boards! See that's what's missing from cars today. Has it also got underlay? 

Could have woodworm!

[Six-cylinder]

40 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Could have woodworm!

Woodworn are not allowed to ride in Rolls Royces!

[richardmorris]

26 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Woodworn are not allowed to ride in Rolls Royces!

They could hitch a lift unseen. Like bedbugs!