HMC- Return of the Cheeky 500

[Rod/b]

On 8/18/2019 at 9:05 PM, HMC said:

Spent an age cleaning the 940 today - on and off over 4 hours. No snow foam was used (what is that?) in fact I spent all my time on the interior. To be fair to the vendor they said it was filthy inside...... 

They had dogs and it’s fair to say it was probably never vacuumed whilst they had it. Hence 4 hours on and off was spent removing dog hair from every possible nook and cranny. Stickers need not state the outdoorsy credentials- there was plenty of the outdoors smeared on the carpets.

End result Quite demoralising as it looks tidy but not 4 hours worth of tidy; it looks no different on the outside. Probably the dirtiest interior of any car I’ve bought. Why no before pics? I’m embarrassed to admit I drove it around for a week in that state so avoided taking the pics. Reading this back I sound like a clean freak; not in the slightest it was just grim.

I had an Audi Coupe that had once belonged to a bloke who did dog sitting / boarding. The interior on that was so bad i stripped it out and replaced it with one from a spare car - there was just no amount of cleaning that would get rid of the smell. 

[HMC]

The stance that says boot full of crap..... or that  the air struts on this particular banger e39 are a bit leaky overnight

[Flat4]

Looks familiar!

[83C]

I do like that Volvo. 

Last year Mrs 83C & I had to go up to Wigan to collect a pair of Volvo 960s - a hearse and a limo (her uncle is a funeral director). It was a hoot driving them both back to the south west, got some funny looks from people as what initially appeared to be a high speed funeral cortege overtook them on the M5. I've since decided I'd like a 9-series limo, just for shits and giggles.

[Marm Toastsmith]

1 hour ago, 83C said:

I do like that Volvo. .

Yeah me too...

only time i’ve briefly driven them 240s and 740s i’ve found them a bit boring though.  Do they grow on you?

[83C]

2 hours ago, marm said:

Yeah me too...

only time i’ve briefly driven them 240s and 740s i’ve found them a bit boring though.  Do they grow on you?

The 960 Limo certainly did, though I suspect there was some novelty factor too. The seats were brilliantly comfortable though, big leather things that didn’t encourage anything more than mildly exuberant cornering.

[HMC]

The set of plates for the old number it’s gone onto arrived today. I used fancyplates where I selected a pre 2001 font variation  (note the curly “3”) and an oversized rear plate as the chunky recess was begging for it. I also went through the history and found the supplying dealer was lex in Birmingham.....

[Split_Pin]

I nearly went for that font for my Audi plate but opted for the standard style instead. Fancyplates made a good job of it.

[HMC]

I had the feeling I’d finally cracked de niggling the e39. There was still an issue with a breather on the fuel tank leaking or something  connected to the equalliser tank pump in the horseshoe shaped tank. Also there was still intermittent power loss and what seemed to be coolant loss even after properly bleeding the system.

Heavy traffic, battery light on and pas down. Nowhere to pull in. Shit. Limped it what felt like ages up a long long hill temp climbing. Must have thrown the aux belt, stopped in an unsafe place, limped it a bit further, another hill (because Devon) boom! Huge blue smoke, awful noises and finally a hell of a lot of steam.  

One dead e39. HGF/ other related mechanical carnage. Perhaps the headgasket was on its way out (see earlier) and this had pushed It over the edge.

Its been fighting me with various niggles and this was the last, non viable straw. I made the call and it went to the bridge.

To end on a more positive note: shiter relay later where the MG van is collected from me and I acquire a new member of the fleet, something that’s been advertised on here.....

[gadgetgricey]

Talk about one out, one in

Now off to have a look at the cars advertised recently, to see if I can guess.

[gadgetgricey]

ok i guess 8. 

[Marm Toastsmith]

BMWs do seem to get to that point...of no return...for numerous small things...well done for trying to fix it and also for finishing it off properly!

look forward to seeing what comes next, and possibly dibs on the ovlov if the new one turns out to be a sort of keeper

[HMC]

I met wuvvum off the coach at Plymouth in TEH Volvo and we made our way to the mg van....

 

Kindly Wuvvum had offered to drop me off on his route north to collect a car. Thanks again, it got a bit like a night stage as the light went and we were sent down little country lanes by the sat nav.  wuvvum skillfully despatching all that was thrown at him by the nav.

And on to collect a certain POLO open air from Simon numbers. Was great to meet you; had a great run back in the little VW.

Money shot Devon country garage style...

.

[Marm Toastsmith]

Eh nice! I was sooo tempted by that little polo. Glad it’s stayed in devon!

[gadgetgricey]

8 hours ago, gadgetgricey said:

ok i guess 8. 

Well I was totally wrong. Thought the BMW 323 was heading your way (3+2+3=8)

Polo looks great by the way. If it had been an Auto I probably would have had it when first advertised.

Cheers

[HMC]

Polo- the mint with the hole.....

 

[gadgetgricey]

What's the heater like? The 1.4 Auto we had of that shape a few years ago, had a heater that could melt your face off. Loved that car.

[HMC]

Picked up this end of lifer crate today. Drives ok, no rust as far as I can tell; well done GM excelling where others fail(looking at you Mercedes). Alas they did fail to inject it with much character.

It’s got faded headlamp lenses, peeling soft touch button surrounds, and dropped onto 3 cylinders and threw an EML when hot. End of life vehicle full house. Coil pack? Cheap OBD interrogation awaits. It’s shite 2019 style white goods; it feels like I’ve contracted a transmissible disease. Competent but worthless; and it’s got a shiter’s name all over it.

[HMC]

Also- it’s an LS But has cruise, A/c and a self dipping rear view mirror, whatever next?

[Bren]

The biggest killer of vauxhalls of this vintage is subframe rot - while the bodywork is well protected the subframe has just paint - the undertray covers the subframe so MOT tester cannot see much of it. Poor sod who decides to drop the oil finds something akin to a doyley.

Might be worth having a look before you decide what to do.

[HMC]

^ will do, never ceases to amaze the detailed knowledge on here

[BorniteIdentity]

An old boss had one of these - a crazy 2.2 even though it was the year 2003 and big petrols were as popular as headlice. I still remember the reg: GY52ZMO (Gizmo)

I still remember how you can see SFA out of the back, and how the one touch indicators confused the fuck out of me.

Well bought! 

[HMC]

Thanks! yes the indicatiors are confusing me, the cancelling of them especially, I was yearning fir those generic gm ones that graced so many 80s/90s/00s Vauxhall models; think they debuted on the mk3 cav

[cort16]

The indicators are so agonising to use BMW decided to put them in the e60 5 series. 

What engine has it got? Is the 1.8 not almost unburstable?

[Split_Pin]

Billy won't* like this at all.

As long as the belts/waterpump are up-to-date/look reasonable then these are a decent engine. 2.2 'Direct' is the one to avoid.

I quite like the cuboid interior in these early ones.

[HMC]

24 minutes ago, cort16 said:

The indicators are so agonising to use BMW decided to put them in the e60 5 series. 

What engine has it got? Is the 1.8 not almost unburstable?

It’s a 1.8

[cort16]

It's probably a coil pack causing the misfire, Vauxhall coil packs just seem to be a square of toffee with a wire sticking though them.

I'm not a fan of these but defo cheap practical motoring.

[SiC]

I don't think it's not unknown for these 1.8 to loose compression on a cylinder as they get the miles on them. Also ECUs can die when they age, being bolted to the engine and buggering them upside. Tends to identify as misfire when hot. 

Coil packs certainly aren't unknown to not go too. 

[Split_Pin]

I'd also check the MAF. That and the coil pack are Vauxhall weak points. Dont bother with a pattern part as they simply don't work. A known good 2nd hand genuine item will be a better bet.

The ECU crapping out is an Astra MK4 thing I think. Mine was showing the first signs of it but never got any worse in a decade.

[sutty2006]

Used to use one of these in an old job when going to Swindon on courses. Very bland indeed. Horrible interior. Used to love getting back and jumping back into my Mk3 Mondeo.