Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[richardmorris]

59 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

You have always looked down on my cars, Japanese Mazda, Australian Sigma, junk to you. Then you want to save an under nourished, basic Mk3 Carlton saloon with DIY gearbox!

Biting the hand that feeds you, or don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

[Six-cylinder]

3 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Biting the hand that feeds you, or don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Really!

We have a Citroen CX, Range Rover Classic, Discovery one, Alfa Giulietta, Saab 95, Renault 4GTL that need help and you choose this!

[richardmorris]

9 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Really!

We have a Citroen CX, Range Rover Classic, Discovery one, Alfa Giulietta, Saab 95, Renault 4GTL that need help and you choose this!

Well, I wouldn’t, but anything that gets helpful hands on the premises….

[hairnet]

42 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Really!

We have a Citroen CX, Range Rover Classic, Discovery one, Alfa Giulietta, Saab 95, Renault 4GTL that need help and you choose this!

oofatron

please fiddle with it

[Mrs6C]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

I doubt it has been converted, but for the small leisure mileage I will do I will take my chances.

You could treat it to a few litres of proper 4 star now and again...

[mintwth]

On 13/12/2025 at 17:13, Six-cylinder said:

Really!

We have a Citroen CX, Range Rover Classic, Discovery one, Alfa Giulietta, Saab 95, Renault 4GTL that need help and you choose this!

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life… But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got a Carlton?

Choose a Carlton

[hairnet]

i read that as choose a starter motor oops

[Six-cylinder]

2 hours ago, mintwth said:

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends.

Choose a Carlton

Not entirely true!

My boss choose my first Carlton for me in 1993, after I slid my few month old Cavalier CDi off the road backwards into a ditch and damaged it.

Up to then I had had a fairly free choice choosing my own company cars. After the accident my boss said he would be choosing my next company car. I worked for a Vauxhall dealer so my guess was I was going to spend some time in a low spec Astra as punishment. My boss would not tell me what he had planned, my sales administrator and the service manger had been sworn to secrecy. The day came and he took me and some staff outside and had the Carlton bought around the front. I was handed the keys with the words "I thought you would be safer in this". 

[richardmorris]

25 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Not entirely true!

My boss choose my first Carlton for me in 1993, after I slid my few month old Cavalier CDi off the road backwards into a ditch and damaged it.

Up to then I had had a fairly free choice choosing my own company cars. After the accident my boss said he would be choosing my next company car. I worked for a Vauxhall dealer so my guess was I was going to spend some time in a low spec Astra as punishment. My boss would not tell me what he had planned, my sales administrator and the service manger had been sworn to secrecy. The day came and he took me and some staff outside and had the Carlton bought around the front. I was handed the keys with the words "I thought you would be safer in this". 

Were you safer?

[Six-cylinder]

2 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Were you safer?

Slower.

[High Jetter]

7 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

Unfortunately Mrs6C needed to go out 

Did you allow this, and in what? 😀

[ianbmw]

18 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

You have always looked down on my cars, Japanese Mazda, Australian Sigma, junk to you. Then you want to save an under nourished, basic Mk3 Carlton saloon with DIY gearbox!

That’s an incredibly long and complicated way to say….

 

i want to fix the superior car.

[hairnet]

carlton fixed yet?

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

carlton fixed yet?

He is banned from touching the poverty spec Carlton until my luxury Sigma is running!

[Six-cylinder]

A change of flavour today. I could have collected my Rolls Royce from service, but when @ianbmw said he could spare me some time today for the Sigma I jumped at the chance.

More reassembly is completed and the first test start. It turns over but unfortunately did not have a spark. With the distributor plugged back in we had a spark and could smell petrol, our reward was only a couple of pops though. The battery seemed weak so we need to jump it to get oil pressure to fill the hydraulic tappets. Also just check the distributor is not 180 degrees out. Somebody switched the sun off before we were ready and we had to give up for today.

The Manta was pushed down from its staring role today, to just being my transport!

[ianbmw]

This I love in life…… Japanese cars……..reassembling cars I didn’t take apart and I have no idea where it all goes.

 

*touch of sarcasm! Hope that Carlton appreciates the sacrifices I’m making for it to live!

[Six-cylinder]

Triumph Sports Six Club meeting tonight so I took the Fiat!

[Six-cylinder]

37 more miles for the Manta this afternoon without breaking down!

I am very apprehensive to take the Manta out in case it breaks down and leaves me stranded on the side of the road. My friend Colin volunteered to shadow me and we headed out for a local run. There was a slight misfire for part of the journey, but then that self cured. The jury is out as to whether this was just it clearing its throat after all the standing about or will the misfire reoccur.

Colin had turned up in his modern BMW Mini so I lent him the Mazda as the shadow car.

The Manta is very damp inside with heavy condensation inside the windows  and even on the aluminium interior sunroof surrounds so I have put it in storage to dry out for a while.

As a reward for Colin we went via a local café only to find they were closed this afternoon. Oh well it was a lot cheaper to give him coffee and biscuits at home!

[Six-cylinder]

Today was a trip out to the Industry and Supply café Northamptonshire for the Long Buckby Classic Motor Club meeting, of which I am a member.

There were some lovely cars there, but I went all Autoshite and took the Mazda 323.

I play a game whenever I go to a car show, if I could drive home in any car from the show, which one would it be?  This is not keep it so cost or value and running cost do not matter. Todays winner was the Standard Vanguard phase 1.

Yes it was foggy in that area this morning.

[Yoss]

I'd have the Riley 4/72 please. My friend once had a 4/68 and I think it was the most memorable of his many Farinas. 

[Six-cylinder]

9 minutes ago, Yoss said:

I'd have the Riley 4/72 please. My friend once had a 4/68 and I think it was the most memorable of his many Farinas. 

My Grandad had an Austin Cambridge and my dad a Cambridge Estate so that is what I would prefer.

[Six-cylinder]

13 minutes ago, Yoss said:

I'd have the Riley 4/72 please. My friend once had a 4/68 and I think it was the most memorable of his many Farinas. 

The Riley was stunning and low mileage. He had had a special request to bring it out today from our group leader.

[Brigsy]

R5 maxi rep please. 

[Six-cylinder]

1 hour ago, Brigsy said:

R5 maxi rep please. 

I guess a real one would be left-hand drive.

[hairnet]

you need to bring an old crock to these too

 

 

[Six-cylinder]

Not much car stuff has happened over the Christmas holiday, but yesterday was the loose Alliance Christmas lunch gathering at Heath and Reach. A good turn out of 40+ people, but many more moderns than usual. I did not help by modernising to our 2003 Fiat Seicento.

Today was the Brackley town show this morning, but I waited at home to receive our Rolls Royce 20/25 back from service. One thing I had done was to temporarily fit a rev counter to find out what the revs are at the recommended 50mph cruise. I could not find the rpm per 1000 revs quoted anywhere, but now I know. 2460 rpm at 50 mph means 20.3 mph per 1000 rpm, seems as I suspected quite low gearing for a 3.6 Litre six cylinder, hi torque engine.

The 20/25 is now fitted with a folding luggage platform so I can take the picnic hamper.

The next outing for the Rolls Royce will be the New Years Day meeting in Stoney Stratford. After that it will be put away for the rest of the winter.

[Six-cylinder]

I went old on a winter's day.

Yesterday was Vintage Stony Stratford New Year gathering. It cold but dry so I took the Rolls Royce to the pre-war section . 

Most cars from the early 1930's did not have any sort of heater and my 20/25 is no different. Anticipating cold and a steamed up windscreen I bought a 12v fan heater. It draws 12 1/2 amps so not to burden the 20 amp dynamo I ran it from a jump pack. I tried the heater in my office and it seemed to work quite well. Trouble was it was drawing in 20ᵒ C air and warming that indoors, but when it got outside air it was only 1.5ᵒ C and the output was weak.

The whole town was full of Classic cars mainly with heaters!

[Zelandeth]

Sadly ~150W isn't ever really going to do much in a cold car cabin.  I guess it is better than nothing though!

Glad you were able to get along to it.  As packed full as previous years?  At least it was a nice dry day.

Hoping that when I next have the Rover out I'll have returned the portion of my cars with working heating to 100% again.  Guess time will tell there.

[beko1987]

You'd probably still want to run it from a jump pack but something like this?

https://ebay.us/m/5j3LDO

Could buy 2 and have one over you as a blanket 😂

[Six-cylinder]

24 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

You'd probably still want to run it from a jump pack but something like this?

https://ebay.us/m/5j3LDO

Could buy 2 and have one over you as a blanket 😂

The most important thing is to demist the Windscreen, which was my main reason for buying the 12v fan heater..