The new adventures of Brownnova! Another Saab joins the fleet… 13/10/24

[brownnova]

14 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

No!

This is my feeling also... but... 

Main ideas are Sensible (and reversible) suspension lowering and he wants to put some black stripes on it. 

[New POD]

23 minutes ago, brownnova said:

This is my feeling also... but... 

Main ideas are Sensible (and reversible) suspension lowering and he wants to put some black stripes on it. 

Just a set of 14 inch daisies. In white and maybe white stripes? 

[Cord Fourteener]

32 minutes ago, brownnova said:

This is my feeling also... but... 

Main ideas are Sensible (and reversible) suspension lowering and he wants to put some black stripes on it. 

There are few original early mx5s, sacrificing this one would be a shame.  Reversible mods could be a compromise I guess. 

[Six-cylinder]

This made me think of you, 100 BHP!

[brownnova]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

This made me think of you, 100 BHP!

Oof! Mine won’t be anywhere near that... probably.... although i may have to look for more details and consider options! 

[Six-cylinder]

8 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Oof! Mine won’t be anywhere near that... probably.... although i may have to look for more details and consider options! 

It is a 1500cc X1/9 engine with a cam and carbs.

 

[brownnova]

Hmmm... I wonder what else might fit...

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, brownnova said:

Hmmm... I wonder what else might fit...

Keep your hands off mine! 

[brownnova]

Turns out my old MX5 has gone through an MoT today!! 

Project Patchwork quilt apparently! 

[Minimad5]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

Turns out my old MX5 has gone through an MoT today!! 

Project Patchwork quilt apparently! 

This offends me, as I was called a quilt once when I was 5. So from now moderator man you have to use the term Duvet.

Also you and the good lady are mad (in a good way) for piloting that American thing about the Welsh mountains 😅

[brownnova]

2 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

This offends me, as I was called a quilt once when I was 5. So from now moderator man you have to use the term Duvet.

Also you and the good lady are mad (in a good way) for piloting that American thing about the Welsh mountains 😅

The lanes are an adventure for sure! 😂

[brownnova]

A bit of a fleet update!

With the latest arrival were up to 10 at Chez brownnova, things are a bit tight so car Tetris was the order of the day... 

Once some were turfed out on to the road I could check over some of the fleet and attend to a few minor issues (or so I hoped) 

 

The 9000 has an exhaust blow, I’ve tried to gun gum it once, but it was tricky to see exactly where it was so it was still blowing. It is only putting off the inevitable, new back section is needed. 
The 900 hasn’t turned a wheel for a while, delighted to see some furry critters were in the engine bay again today! Main reason for not using it is a power steering leak from the cooling pipes which has gone from an occasional drip to emptying the system after about 30 minutes driving. I have used some sealing putty for now and will see how that fares. The roof still doesn’t operate, that’s next on the list, and then sell. 
The C5 was out on loan to the BiL, and was returned yesterday, broken of course... well not too bad, but every time you push the brake pedal it now bings at you to tell you the brake pads are low... I’ve looked, I’d say there’s at least another 6 months in them! So this needs sorting and then it may be up for sale, Mrs B fancies trying something else. 
The Pontiac has a squeak from the rear. We identified it as the offside rear wheel today. But even on full extension my trolly Jack couldn’t get the wheel off the floor to investigate! Drive is sloped so I don’t fancy trying the cars own Jack... it’s not getting any worse, but I might pop it to my new friends at the American car garage next week as I hope to do a trip to England in it in a couple of weeks. 
The yellow 2CV is the paragon of health! 

I took it for a spin now it is released from its scaffold prison! Interior tidy up and a go on the grease gun is next. 

Green 2CV, needs welding and I’m reluctant to take anyone other than one passenger in it until it is done. Now we have a little more freedom quotes shall be obtained. Then we can get to tidying the cosmetics.

MX5, the only thing which lets it down is the roof: 

The rear window zip is fucked. So today I tried to do a repair using heavy duty Velcro... that failed after less than 10 seconds... ffs... I’ll try something else. Fail! 

Nova: thought I’d get it started today, but it ha no battery. I pinched the one off the Yugo, which I charged a couple of weeks ago.... except that it was actually a couple of months ago and it was now flat again... so that didn’t work... fail! 

Nice to see it out in the sunshine.

The camper: 🤷‍♂️ Should probably try starting it at some point. 

And the Yugo.... just waiting for me to actually do something with it... I have a plan, I just keep buying more cars and not doing it! 

[hairnet]

mx5 lol

ignore it i did for 3 months - until it was really fucked

2cv how much to be chauffered in it

nova ftw

pontiac nice bus m9

[brownnova]

Update.... MrsB went to Bath the baby, I’ll gum the exhaust I thought.... 

Aint no amount of gun gum gonna fix that!!

New exhaust time! 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Brownnova's Easter Story: Days of Blunder?

[brownnova]

3 hours ago, hairnet said:

mx5 lol

ignore it i did for 3 months - until it was really fucked

I’ve successfully ignored it so far... mainly due to the fact it has a hard top, but I want to be able to take it to work on a sunny morning with the roof down and not be too worried it may rain a little... 

[Skizzer]

That’s not a day of failure, that’s a day of pre-success.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, brownnova said:

Update.... MrsB went to Bath the baby, I’ll gum the exhaust I thought.... 

Aint no amount of gun gum gonna fix that!!

New exhaust time! 

You call that a blow... what's the Welsh for Big Gap?

[hairnet]

tidy up the end of the pipe and take the silencer off

[Skizzer]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

You call that a blow... what's the Welsh for Big Gap?

Bwlch mawr. Hope that helps.

Sadly it looks like it’s not in a place where an empty can of Spaghetti Hoops, jubilee clips and some exhaust paste is going to fit.

[brownnova]

I tend to prefer beans and sausages to spaghetti hoops for exhaust repair....  

My local Saab guy offered me an exhaust a couple of months ago for a reasonable price. He said he’d keep it for me, so I hope he has! 😂

 

[brownnova]

Exhaust collected, so after a visit from our support bubble the Saab went over the pit.... 

Turns out the bolts attaching the front 2/3rds to the section I need are rusted completely solid and rounded off on both sides when I got my ratchet on them. 

Arse... 

I have no decent cutting equipment.

I R Frustrate! 

[Sunny Jim]

How far are you from me (I'm near Bangor)? I've got grinders and a dremmel if either are any use to you?

[brownnova]

4 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

How far are you from me (I'm near Bangor)? I've got grinders and a dremmel if either are any use to you?

Just under an hour, but a kind offer!

I have a new bolt removing set (will come in handy on the Yugo and Nova projects too) which has arrived today and a bottle of penetrating oil which will be here tomorrow. I shall give that a go and see how we get on...

Today I had my own MoT in the form of a health check and dentist visit (part a passed with advisories, part b - some welding needed) and I took the Mazda. On the way back I treated it to a quick hand job with the local Eastern European chaps who normally do a great job.

Wasn’t until I got home and had a proper look that I was disappointed. Normally they bring a lovely shine to the paintwork. But...

Looks shit. I was initially worried the paint might have taken a battering from the pressure washer. So I broke out the polish... and no it’s all fine! 

Thats better! Nosecone is a bit faded... but apart from that it’s shined up lovely. 

 

[Talbot]

7 hours ago, brownnova said:

I have a new bolt removing set (will come in handy on the Yugo and Nova projects too) which has arrived today and a bottle of penetrating oil which will be here tomorrow. I shall give that a go and see how we get on.

on an exhaust I would say forget it and just break out the grinder.  10 seconds to cut each bolt/nut off, bin the lot and just use new when assembling.

Exhausts bolts are a special breed of won't-come-undone-ever-again.

[brownnova]

2 hours ago, Talbot said:

on an exhaust I would say forget it and just break out the grinder.  10 seconds to cut each bolt/nut off, bin the lot and just use new when assembling.

Exhausts bolts are a special breed of won't-come-undone-ever-again.

If I owned a grinder that would be sound advice.... and would have been done. Alas... 

[Talbot]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msag750-750w-4-electric-angle-grinder-220-240v/970gf

Next day delivery.

You'll never know how you coped without one.  I (somehow?) have three.  They used to be a little cheaper than this, at one point you could get a cheapo one for about £12.  Ebay may produce some cheaper ones, but given that a half-decent one will last many years, it's probably not worth skimping on a cheapie.

Wear gloves and eye protection as a minimum.  Add ear protection and a filter for your breathing air for ultimate protection.

[Minimad5]

The C5 sneaking in behind the MX5, much want for Citroën

[Saabnut]

20 minutes ago, Talbot said:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/mac-allister-msag750-750w-4-electric-angle-grinder-220-240v/970gf

Next day delivery.

You'll never know how you coped without one.  I (somehow?) have three.  They used to be a little cheaper than this, at one point you could get a cheapo one for about £12.  Ebay may produce some cheaper ones, but given that a half-decent one will last many years, it's probably not worth skimping on a cheapie.

Wear gloves and eye protection as a minimum.  Add ear protection and a filter for your breathing air for ultimate protection.

This! Over 30+ years I have killed 3 good make grinders (and lots of cheap ones when we had the workshop) and now have 2 mains ones and a battery one. Most useful and often used tool in the box.

[brownnova]

I shall heed this advice, didn’t realise grinders were so reasonable.