The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

Had a nice day out in Ely today for my birthday.  I took the newly acquired Micra - it really does go like f*ck for a 1.2-litre shopping car.  It did the 150-mile round trip on £20 of pez, which isn't bad going considering I wasn't particularly sparing the horses.  The EML came on at one point but didn't seem to make any difference to anything.  The behaviour of other drivers was interesting though - it's almost as if nobody is used to seeing a metallic beige K12 Micra making decent progress...  There were a number of cars which I overtook and which then went blasting past me a few moments later, and a lad in a newish VW Caddy TDI who was getting seriously pissed off that he couldn't out-accelerate me away from the roundabouts on the A11.  I don't intend to keep the car long term, but I'm having a lot more fun with it than I had expected.

[STUNO]

12 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Had a nice day out in Ely today for my birthday.  I took the newly acquired Micra - it really does go like f*ck for a 1.2-litre shopping car.  It did the 150-mile round trip on £20 of pez, which isn't bad going considering I wasn't particularly sparing the horses.  The EML came on at one point but didn't seem to make any difference to anything.  The behaviour of other drivers was interesting though - it's almost as if nobody is used to seeing a metallic beige K12 Micra making decent progress...  There were a number of cars which I overtook and which then went blasting past me a few moments later, and a lad in a newish VW Caddy TDI who was getting seriously pissed off that he couldn't out-accelerate me away from the roundabouts on the A11.  I don't intend to keep the car long term, but I'm having a lot more fun with it than I had expected.

 

 Agree. Many years ago I had 2 cars, a Morris 1300 and a Daimler V8. it was quite noticeable how other drivers treated me. Push the Morris around, but don't mess with the Daimler was the best way to describe it.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

10 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

.... do not understand why ebay should hide this and make it so difficult to find.

eBay are good at burying stuff. 

[spike60]

Called to see an old friend this morning, I bought a 2.8 Z3 about 10 years ago from him which I still have.  Current stock a 1960 Ford pick up fitted with Lexus V8!

 

[Lankytim]

I’ve started to take the donor V70 I bought last week apart. It’s the same paint code as mine and the spoiler looked pretty nice so I looked at swapping it over. It’s straightforward enough but involves drilling the tailgate and cutting and resoldering the wiring for the brake light, it has to be fed though a small hole but won’t fit with the connector still fitted. 
 

In the end I decided to swap the entire tailgates over. Being fibreglass they don’t weigh much so with the assistance of Mrs LT they were soon exchanged. The wiring was all the same as simply plugged in. The donor was a slightly earlier model which meant the wiper parked on the opposite side but it was a doddle to exchange the motors, although it wasn’t really necessary. The D5 badge was removed, numberplate fitted and the various functions tested. I was never a fan of spoilers but I do think it looks nice. 
 

While working in the boot area I noticed the interior trim was much better than mine so that was exchanged too. My Volvo’s PO used it for carting rescue dogs about and although it had been shampooed multiple times it still whiffed and had some staining, I also took the opportunity to vacuum everything including the areas that were previously hidden by interior panels.

I’m pretty pleased with the progress although it was a pretty well sorted car already, it feels weird driving around in a tidy car for a change! This thing also passed it's MOT this week with only two advisories for corroded springs and exhaust which I think is a record for me. 

 

[SiC]

19 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Sadly your premiums will go up as you have made a claim ( fault or not ), the NCD can stay in place but it’s still a discount on the full premium. Basically a no win scenario.

All 3 non fault claims I've made on mine and Mrs SiC policy have not increased the cost of our insurance. Windscreen claims haven't either. 

[artdjones]

The  T25 that had a timing belt change on Monday decided to expire with a failed fuel pump on Wednesday. Luckily a spare was available, but why it had to wait until after Monday can only be put down to natural perversity.

[vulgalour]

It's the car parts version of "Ooh me!  Do me next!" and just as annoying.

[richardmorris]

Busy day today. I’m amazed I get any work done sometimes.

[artdjones]

2 hours ago, artdjones said:

The  T25 that had a timing belt change on Monday decided to expire with a failed fuel pump on Wednesday. Luckily a spare was available, but why it had to wait until after Monday can only be put down to natural perversity.

Oh good, on the way home it popped its head gasket.

[TheOtherStu]

Duh. Posted this in the wrong thread... I'll have another go

Very nearly bought a car! Someone else ended up beating me to it.
No idea what was wrong with it either - Seemed a bit too good to be true. Was a 2006 BMW 320D with around 140k on it. Brand new MOT on Tuesday with no advisories (which is shocking for one of these - they normally have at least brake line corrosion at least). Fella only wanted £1500 for it.

Was looking at this too. At nearly 50, I might be a bit old for this look

I'm not sure these are shitters yet. They will be when me and my dog have finished with them. I'll no doubt wreck the paintwork. Dog will no doubt wreck the interior.

[anonymous user]

On 9/22/2021 at 8:10 PM, stuboy said:

Rescued this from being scrapped .. I k ow it's a generator,  Villiers make, its heavy as f.....lipping an elephant 

All it needs is a bit if wax to preserve the patina and a piece of plate glass to go on top and you have your very own hipster, decorative salvage coffee table. 

[JJ0063]

335D passed its MOT today with one advisory - slight misting to one front shock.

 

I’ll take that. Phew.

[yes oui si]

938 miles from 6am yesterday to 5am today, napped for 90 minutes at Scotch Corner on the way home. 

Volvo Repaired, MOT'd and to my friend to use until she's sorted. 

Corolla to Rhyl. 

MG home with me. 

Love it, proper sleek barge. 

[barefoot]

The nice man from Autograss popped round this morning to replace the cracked windscreen on (just trying to fit in here) Billy the blue car. He remarked, 'what a lovely blue car, Billy is'.

And when I was driving into Loughborough earlier, some lads in a newish Golf, pulled alongside me in Sammy the scruffy silver car and asked me if I'd like to sell it to them! What lovely lads they were.

[Zelandeth]

Blarg.  Just been faffing about trying to remove the timing chain tensioner on the Merc (because you have to take it apart to reset it...great design) and have ascertained that to get anything capable of loosening it I'm going to first need to remove the alternator.

Right, stepping away from this car for a few days now as I'm just starting to get frustrated with it.

[richardmorris]

James dean Porsche spider? Very odd roof.

[richardmorris]

Front page of the independent.co.uk 

[BorniteIdentity]

Panic buying is bonkers this way. Nipped to my friendly village garage who sell a bit of petrol here and there to keep the old boy busy: sold out. Big sign outside like it was 2000 again. In the ten minutes I was there booking an MOT the phone rang four times about availability of petrol and five people ignored the sign and pulled up. 

I feel sorry for my neighbour who is attempting to get his son to uni tomorrow. I went over with my Pela earlier and drained 30 litres from his MG Midget whilst he stuck it into his modern just so they can do the 200 miles there. Just hope he can get back with relatively little friction. 

[chaseracer]

7 hours ago, yes oui si said:

938 miles from 6am yesterday to 5am today, napped for 90 minutes at Scotch Corner on the way home. 

Volvo Repaired, MOT'd and to my friend to use until she's sorted. 

Corolla to Rhyl. 

MG home with me. 

Love it, proper sleek barge. 

Like that.  What are the wheels*?

* Other than round... 😉

[yes oui si]

5 minutes ago, chaseracer said:

Like that.  What are the wheels*?

* Other than round... 😉

On the MG? Just banded steels.

Pontiac (iirc) wheels on the e36. 

[brownnova]

7 hours ago, yes oui si said:

938 miles from 6am yesterday to 5am today, napped for 90 minutes at Scotch Corner on the way home. 

Volvo Repaired, MOT'd and to my friend to use until she's sorted. 

Corolla to Rhyl. 

MG home with me. 

Love it, proper sleek barge. 

I did spot that MG for sale, pretty close to me really! Looks nice! 

[artdjones]

23 hours ago, artdjones said:

Oh good, on the way home it popped its head gasket.

I didn't have any more time this week, so the owner got it towed to a friend's house, who has a T25 stored. They are going to borrow the engine from that, which is a 75hp 1.9td, and search around for another engine at leisure.

Hopefully he can get hold of a 1.9, which is a durable engine. The 1.6 TD isn't particularly. Once anything goes wrong they have a total nervous breakdown and need completely rebuilding, probably with a new head. Even the non-turbo 1.6s aren't very strong mechanically, especially the head gasket. The 1.9 has a much stronger metal gasket.

[yes oui si]

46 minutes ago, brownnova said:

I did spot that MG for sale, pretty close to me really! Looks nice! 

It rides really well and got 50mpg on the run back north, not bad despite the undersized tyres meaning that you're doing 60 when the speedo thinks you're doing 72.

[Dyslexic Viking]

13 minutes ago, artdjones said:

I didn't have any more time this week, so the owner got it towed to a friend's house, who has a T25 stored. They are going to borrow the engine from that, which is a 75hp 1.9td, and search around for another engine at leisure.

Hopefully he can get hold of a 1.9, which is a durable engine. The 1.6 TD isn't particularly. Once anything goes wrong they have a total nervous breakdown and need completely rebuilding, probably with a new head. Even the non-turbo 1.6s aren't very strong mechanically, especially the head gasket. The 1.9 has a much stronger metal gasket.

 

I almost bought an MK2 Golf 1.6 diesel a few years ago from an Estonian builder and it had 480,000 km on it and was mechanically in good condition. Unfortunately, it was too rusty for me to buy it.  So do not know if it was pure luck that that engine had lasted so long.

[artdjones]

31 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

 

I almost bought an MK2 Golf 1.6 diesel a few years ago from an Estonian builder and it had 480,000 km on it and was mechanically in good condition. Unfortunately, it was too rusty for me to buy it.  So do not know if it was pure luck that that engine had lasted so long.

Some do last. A friend's B2 Passat did about 250000 miles. Although it was drinking 20/50 oil for the last year or two. And once he stopped on an Autobahn service area in the depths of winter, and when they came back to the car after ½ an hour it didn't have enough compression to start. It only went when a passing auto club man gave them a quick free 24v jump start.

[MJK 24]

[Fumbler]

I do it right because I do it twice.

Second time's a charm.

[barefoot]

11 hours ago, yes oui si said:

It rides really well...

Compared to fucking what?

[yes oui si]

1 hour ago, barefoot said:

Compared to fucking what?

A lot of lowered cars are harsh and 'crashy' - this one is well damped and rides quite smoothly. I did 300 miles in it and got out feeling absolutely fine.