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Six Cylinders Motoring Notes


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Posted

Lovely car the Dino. In the late 90s they were usually in the 6-12k price range. Not anymore sadly. I prefer these to the spider (a different design house did each IIRC)

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Mr6c, earlier.

Posted
2 minutes ago, The Mighty Quinn said:

It could have been, yes. But it wasn't like the Golf or ARG stuff where you had to use 5000 rpm in third and then snick it into fourth. The economy box was very effective though (especially in the Mini) and it meant that you could cruise at 85-90. A mate had a Primula yellow City E from around 1983 with the 10 inch wheels and we had the speedo needle pointing at the fuel gauge on a downill section of the M40  - probably around 100 mph.  We were racing a Cavalier at the time.

The 1275 engine was okay but a good 998 was the nicer engine. On a run, the economy was astonishing, a genuine 50+ mpg on a steady run doing 60 mph.  The Metro was let down by the usual BL quality, variable at best. Some would rust like a bastard, others were OK. As a car they were excellent. Great handling and huge glass area and I felt the facelift spoiled it with that horrid dashboard. The original dash was just genius, a big binnacle with huge instruments plonked on top of a wide shelf.

Our current Metro is a MK1 MG with short gearing and before it I had a Rover 114 SLi with 5 gears, even now I look for 5th from time to time!

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  • Like 5
Posted
9 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

It is a long time ago but I seem to remember the Metro HLE gearknob marked 1-3 + E?

I can't find a picture of a Metro HLE gearknob, but here's a Maestro HLE from a 1984 brochure:

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  • Like 3
Posted

I have been sold a car two cylinders short of a real one!

Since I got the CLK I have noticed in a local village there are two other CLK convertibles that live just a few hundred yards apart. Sometimes I have seen one, sometimes the other but today I decided to photograph them as they were both there. Imagine how small and insignificant I felt when I found out they are BOTH V8s!

I crept away in shame in my V6.

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Posted

Umm I’m blaming the go to cause for all late 90s Mercedes problems- it has to be the water based paint that’s to blame!!!!! 

Posted

That silver one has a different coloured door. It would match your Alfa.

  • Haha 1
Posted
Fun fact. The Jag V6 is a V8 with two cylinders in the casting blocked off. 
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Wow, didn’t realise that engineering like this still exists.
Less power but virtually all the weight and bulk.
Posted

Wonder if anyone's been heroic enough to machine the castings and put the extra 2 cylinders back in one? 

Posted

Wow, didn’t realise that engineering like this still exists.
Less power but virtually all the weight and bulk.
I believe it was supposed to be a short term thing to allow time for replacement i6 engines to come along. Which hasn't seemed to have happened yet.

Even though it appears to look a bit wanky engineering, it does have benefits to JLR like using the same jigs and assembly line as the V8. Also the extra cost of pistons, Conrods, extra machining time on crank+cam, etc are all saved. Of course massive amounts of engineering time and tooling costs is saved too. Still produces 340bhp/380bhp/400bhp in different configurations, so not too lacking in power for the real world.
  • Like 3
Posted
1 hour ago, Stinkwheel said:


Wow, didn’t realise that engineering like this still exists.
Less power but virtually all the weight and bulk.

I had an S-Type with the 3.0 V6 and it felt good, smooth and powerful. Better than the 3.2 V6 in the CLK.

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  • Like 3
Posted
26 minutes ago, SiC said:

I think the s-type V6 was a Ford derived unit. The one above with a cylinder blocked out was a later unit used in many of the current generation cars:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_AJ-V8_engine#V6

Edit: article on the V6 used in the S-type: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_AJ-V6_engine

Before you cleared this up , I was thinking about why nobody had created a V16 out of an Aston V12 , which was two Ford V6es stitched together.  As you were.

Posted
Before you cleared this up , I was thinking about why nobody had created a V16 out of an Aston V12 , which was two Ford V6es stitched together.  As you were.
Getting a little side track from being short changed cylinders, but the Aston V12 had a bit more engineering involved when they stuck two V6 end-to-end. Admittedly on the CAD side they mushed them, but the casting tools will be all new.

Duratec V6
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Aston Martin V12
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  • Like 4
Posted

My 2CV has now had it MOT extended by 6 months to November, shame I can't drive it because it is not at home.

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  • Like 3
Posted
5 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

My 2CV has now had it MOT extended by 6 months to November, shame I can't drive it because it is not at home.

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wonder how long it would take @dollywobbler to notice, if we swapped Elly and TWC for your 2CV and Dolly :mrgreen:

Posted
I had an S-Type with the 3.0 V6 and it felt good, smooth and powerful. Better than the 3.2 V6 in the CLK.
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I’ll keep quite then, it obviously works as it should and isn’t just a dodge.

To be fair my only more recent jag experience was a V8 S type and that thing was everything I wanted in a jaaaag.
Posted
6 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

My 2CV has now had it MOT extended by 6 months to November, shame I can't drive it because it is not at home.

edit becuae my eyes hurt

someone showed me a pic of a bamboo for sale at 6600

looks restored

is that an ok price for that?

Posted
someone showed me a pic of a bamboo for sale at 6600
looks restored
is that an ok price for that?

Depends who you ask.

Johnny come lately to the 2CV scene will tell you it’s worth every penny.

People who have been around them forever (me) will tell you it’s a bloody ridiculous price no matter how nice it is.

Truth is somewhere in the middle.

2000-3000 still buys a pretty solid useable 2CV. 4-6 should buy you something pretty damn nice.

Anything over that, they are probably speculating.

My first 2CV cost me 50 quid, the last one I bought was 800. They still appear at good value.
Posted

We have a single car with Admiral Insurance and they have just sent us a £25 refund because of lockdown.

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Posted

To add to the good news of finding the Insurance refund today a friend messaged me to say she is bored silly, her and her partner's car shine brightly did I want one of mine cleaned! I jumped at the chance and nominated my Mercedes CLK convertible to receive special attention. I should say this lady knows how to clean a car properly not just a wash, but clay bar preparation then polish and wax. Also all the nooks and crannies get done inside.

The CLK is being taken away, I added some petrol this afternoon as it was about empty so they could enjoy it a bit. More joy Tesco Buckingham is now 99.9p per litre.

Posted

Never thought I’d see petrol below a pound a litre ever again.
At least there is something to be said for the looming recession.

Posted
2 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Never thought I’d see petrol below a pound a litre ever again.
At least there is something to be said for the looming recession.

I know what you mean the economy is going to shrink and taxes go up to pay for all the furlough measures etc.

Posted
I know what you mean the economy is going to shrink and taxes go up to pay for all the furlough measures etc.
How many do you think you can get the tank brimmed on...

Sent from my SM-A505FN using Tapatalk

  • Haha 1
Posted
6 minutes ago, Floatylight said:

How many do you think you can get the tank brimmed on...
 

I would make sense to do the further 8 cars we have at home although 3 are diesels.

Posted
12 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

We have a single car with Admiral Insurance and they have just sent us a £25 refund because of lockdown.

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they did you a FAVOUR M9

:D *runs

Posted
11 minutes ago, Floatylight said:

How many do you think you can get the tank brimmed on...

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veg innit m12

Posted
veg innit m12

M12, my favourite size bolt.
Posted
4 minutes ago, hairnet said:

veg innit m12

I am not sure which pumps the C15 and ZX TD have, but too much mucking around as Mrs6C has deserted her ZX for the XM and we never did many miles on the van.

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