Two Ice Creams and a Breakdown

[MarvinsMom]

Today, as it was a bright and sunny day, with little breeze, we decided that today to go over to the father-in-laws to have a look at the Metro and the XJ6. Also its 3 weeks or so until the planned play date with Eddy's Rover Hyacinth.

 

The last time i lookined in on Marvin was Boxing day, the froint carpet was wet on the passenger side with all the driving rain we were having. i had taken up the rubber floor mats, craked open the windows and left it. i didn't really want to look at it at that point. bloody thing....

 

Kerry had been keeping an eye on it, though she did say that the interior was now covered in mould. fantastic, botulism on wheels, bugger.

Actually first sight of the inside of the car to me didn't look as bad as i was expecting. following the sage advice from this very forum i got myself some anti bacterial wipes and got to work. carpet, seats, dash, door pads, steering wheel, everything got a wipe. while i did this, the supervisor from a couple of doors down arrived to see what this stupid sod was doing.

lovely (not)

looking better?

dunno what his name is, so we call him "little friend" and he kept a close look on the standard of work been done.

the battery was as flat as a witches tit, so, once jumped off, a run out was needed. with the sun shining, we ended up in Scarborough for an ice cream. stopping on a hill, and then trying to restart marvin showed there was still no charge in the battery.... shit. at least the car was easy to get going, let the handbrake off, 2nd gear, bump and we are off.....

to prove it happened, these are the yellowtop icecreams, so many e-numbers........

which luckily is only 100 odd yards from Halfrauds. one new battery, a 3 year one, £84, while the 4 year one is £72??? whats that about?? then another £9.50 for a 10mm and 13 mm ring spanners to fit the flipin' thing....

then guess what? the little bugger then only went and started back up, first turn of the key!!

so, i'vehad what was i think the mose expensive ice cream in history, but the little car now starts properly! which is nice...

 

on a serious point though, i want to put a basic tool kit together for use in an emergency. currently, i'm thinking a small & large philips screw driver, small and large flat screwdriver, a pair of pliers, an 8mm, a 10mm, and 13mm ring spanners and maybe a pair of mole grips. does anyone suggest any other tools that i should be thinking of using?

[Roverageous]

I hope that ice cream was from Harbour Bar.

 

Ugh I miss the north so much.

[HH-R]

CLASS. That cat looks just like mine, but there's not a lovely Metro in the street so it's not mine.

[MarvinsMom]

no, we got the ice cream from Jaconelli's on the fore shore, it was the closest spot to where we had got parked!

[Roverageous]

no, we got the ice cream from Jaconelli's on the fore shore, it was the closest spot to where we had got parked!

Same block. Jaconelli owns Harbour Bar

 

(Or did about 4 years ago. I guess things could have changed.)

[MarvinsMom]

we think that is still the case, either way, it was lovely!

[twosmoke300]

Those double open end spanners and changeable screwdrivers that old bmws used to have in the tool kit are handy to have . Or an old jap bike tool kit . No 13mm tho

[EssDeeWon]

Nice little Metro.

 

Is it an MG Metro or another variant with MG bits?

[EssDeeWon]

And I love the air freshener, these are the ones that need a pin popping in? There was one in my dads Granada in the 80's 

[purplebargeken]

Cable ties, fuses, mole grips, Stanley knife.

[purplebargeken]

Nice pussy by the way. The cat! The cat!

[anonymous user]

My emergency tool kit these days consists of an RAC card, a mobile phone, a hip flask and lighter. Seems to cover most eventualities

[gordonbennet]

For tools you might be just as well off waiting till Halfords have another sale then pick up a briefcase sized self contained small/medium tool kit, that will probably cos the same as buying what you want individually and lots of bonus stuff like sockets etc.

 

A well bought jump pack is always handy too, jump leads are OK but its dodgy jumping from modern stuff now, and not so modern stuff if you get it wrong, my mate had a nearly new top spec Laguna and managed to blow the digi dash @  £600 all in  jump starting a mate.

 

Haven't had a nice proper seaside shop bought ice cream for years, can't even remember where that was but it had honey in the ice cream, yum.

 

Those Yuasa batts are the dogs danglers, always try to get them where possible.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I tried to buy my daughter asn ice cream last week.

 

'Don't be silly daddy, its too cold for ice cream'

[MarvinsMom]

Nice little Metro.

 

Is it an MG Metro or another variant with MG bits?

sadly no its not a real MG.

 

the car is a City X, with a 998 engine. but when the car is going, it ticks over near silently, it really is a sweet little engine. as such I'm just going to leave it as it is, and 1275's are now silly money to buy.

 

as a nipper I wanted an MG, especially the later all white ones, but the insurance was stupid daft, £1000 or there about's  for me as a 20 year old, which is now some 22 years ago.

 

when I got the car the metric tyres were about jiggered, so I got myself some mark 1 MG alloys, and things kind of spiralled from there. actually the main thrill for me was the looking for good trim and interior bits in autojumbles and on fleabay. from a distance the car does look the part, even if it isn't that quick!

 

by modern standards' though, even the MG turbo won't that fast now I guess. such is progress....

[dave21478]

Nice. Metros are for winners, but its true what you say about the speed of them....

I find a large part of the joy of driving a Metro (and Minis) is driving it well....catching the apex, holding momentum, rev-matching on the downshifts with a little heel-toe......And then you check the rearview and see some bored looking woman doing the school run in a Picasso keeping up with you without trying or even being aware you are going "fast".

 

 

As for the tools, I find a 1/4 inch Halfords socket set in the glovebox of each car will fix most things.

 

 

 

Fifty fecking quid according to their site....I never paid anything like that, I assume it comes down to a reasonable amount in one of their frequent sales.

 

 

[eddyramrod]

Hyacinth is looking forward to her date!  She's promised to have a wash before we set off...

[DVee8]

Great love a metro.

When i passed my test,1 mate had a W reg 1.3S and another a A reg (i think) MG metro.

[roygill]

 

 

on a serious point though, i want to put a basic tool kit together for use in an emergency. currently, i'm thinking a small & large philips screw driver, small and large flat screwdriver, a pair of pliers, an 8mm, a 10mm, and 13mm ring spanners and maybe a pair of mole grips. does anyone suggest any other tools that i should be thinking of using?

Spray lube and put some on starter motor and check connectors

 

Sent from my GT-I9195I using Tapatalk

[MarvinsMom]

And I love the air freshener, these are the ones that need a pin popping in? There was one in my dads Granada in the 80's 

 

its the modern version of orange flue, same stuff, but in a different, and smaller packet. same smell though, or as close as i remember it! the original ones needed the pin in the back, sadly those don't, it will be because of elf an safety no doubt!

 

i do have one of the proper ones, but since i gave £20 for it, i'm not going to use it.

 

and yes, that is right, £20.... i must have had a bang on the head when i saw that.

 

or i was drunk.

[DSdriver]

Something else for the toolkit: a roll of self amalgamating hose tape. 

The double ended screwdrivers usually get stuck with the wrong end pointing outwards when you most need the other one.

[SiC]

on a serious point though, i want to put a basic tool kit together for use in an emergency. currently, i'm thinking a small & large philips screw driver, small and large flat screwdriver, a pair of pliers, an 8mm, a 10mm, and 13mm ring spanners and maybe a pair of mole grips. does anyone suggest any other tools that i should be thinking of using?

This?

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=31306

 

Should pretty much cover most eventualities, cheap and comes in a handy case.

[MarvinsMom]

This?

http://www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showDetail&id=31306

 

Should pretty much cover most eventualities, cheap and comes in a handy case.

bloody hell, for £17 quid you cannot loose!