The new news 24 thread

[reb]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

Mrs Grogee had a brand new Europcar Corsa, quite high spec. The electronic handbrake switch broke off. Driver aids were downright dangerous on the country lanes and it smelled of McDonalds. Think it was list price £20k+.

The radio was alright though. 

Mums found the same with the driving aids, she tasked me with figuring out how to switch them off. The manual shows a completely different car!

[wuvvum]

Stage 2 commencing. 

[stuboy]

Well the standard 8 is sold, but wanted to drive it away, but sadly after sorting out dodgy King lead, grimey oily plugs, it fires over but fuel pump is past its best but she runs when fuel down the carbon, so next week they coming back with a new pump , fit it and drive it away.

 

[loserone]

19 hours ago, wuvvum said:

heap

Dibs? Has it got a proper full size sunroof?

[Timewaster]

50 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Stage 2 commencing. 

Is that a vinyl roof?!

[C3C3]

Got the bASe mk3 escort estate back on the road, bought an entire donor back end for £40 shocks n all. Got plenty of spares now. Replace all of the rubbers on the front end. Looks like the back tie bar sheared in half because of the rubbers being rock solid, flexing the bar so the rest is history. Dug around the box of rubbers in the garage and found two brand new ones. Had a poke around the drivers side sill and found a nasty bit of rot where the screw driver went straight through. Yikes. 

About to give the ute its final polish. It's pretty much done and looking for a new home if anyone is interested. 

[Cord Fourteener]

Easy peasy, one rear seat with child seat is still up and there's wiggle room even with bass and amp.

Very impressed. 

[EightMegs]

10 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Verdict in on Miss SL's Yaris:

Nothing too worrying. I drove it there and was reminded what a fun little thing it is.

Yet more work on the house, very productive. Several weeks ago we removed some trellis and overgrown bushes which were edging this bit of the driveway. Had a friendly groundworker round yesterday, after he'd removed some roots and stripped the topsoil Master SL got involved with some compacting:

Note drink in hand. Then whacking the top layer of stone:

So by early PM I coud do this:

Just some 20mm stone to move from the back garden and lay on it now, but at least it's functional. Should be ample room for the Yaris when it comes back.

What I hadn't considered is how much easier it makes getting parked-up - we can just drive in off the road forwards then back into this area, rather than the complicated reverse in backwards and manouevre around the gatepost that we were having to do (which was getting less fun on dark evenings).

It might also mean there's room for something else in the future.....

Don't even think about asking a Toyota dealer for new bushes, they won't sell them to you on their own and will instead try to charge you €400 for two new arms. Go directly for aftermarket bushes, I've had good luck with Borg & Beck.

[Spottedlaurel]

Just now, EightMegs said:

Don't even think about asking a Toyota dealer for new bushes, they won't sell them to you on their own and will instead try to charge you €400 for two new arms. Go directly for aftermarket bushes, I've had good luck with Borg & Beck.

Ta. I'm seeing the person responsible for sorting it tonight, I'm sure he'll sort it out in a sensible manner and I'll mention that option to him.

[grogee]

3 hours ago, reb said:

Mums found the same with the driving aids, she tasked me with figuring out how to switch them off. The manual shows a completely different car!

Did you manage it? I didn't find an option but I didn't resort to RTFM

[reb]

11 minutes ago, grogee said:

Did you manage it? I didn't find an option but I didn't resort to RTFM

There's a button for the lane assist on the centre console in front of the gear stick, you need to do it every time you start the car. That is assuming it's the same generation of Corsa, I can't remember what gen this one is, I think it's the current one though.

[Pete-M]

This week I finally decided to buy myself an R53 Cooper S.

Spent quite some time looking for one with the spec I wanted, and finally found one with all the bits I was looking for - leather, climate, nav, cruise,  xenon, chili pack, sport suspension, pre-facelift, Cooper S only colour (Electric Blue). 

It is bloody good fun. The R53 Cooper S is 20 years old next year. Don't see many like this anymore. 

Only modifications to it are R56 rear trailing arms (stronger), non-runflat Bridgestones and polybushes. 

 

 

[BorniteIdentity]

A good opportunity came up last weekend to upgrade my trailer. I’ve had the Erde 142 since we moved in 2015 and bought purely to move most of our shite to MiL’s to make our house look as minimal and as big as possible. I sold it to an Italian from Bedford for £150 and gave £notmuchmore for this.

I love it. It’s an Erde but for maximum AS points it’s a grey import. My friend bought it in France from a dealer about 10 years ago. It’s been all over Europe and been given a life of adventure I can only dream of, living all over - including Skye. It features gas struts on the lid, a Runrig sticker that I’m having preserved and advertising for his Ill-fated foray into self catering accommodation in France. 
 

The best bit is I can actually see it! I didn’t realise how good I actually was at trailer parking. Before, when guessing blind, I found it doable but difficult. Now it’s a doddle. 

First tip-trip complete and we’re looking forward to some serious campin’ (no G) next year. 

[wuvvum]

Mission complete. 

That's quite enough driving for one weekend. 

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

A good opportunity came up last weekend to upgrade my trailer. I’ve had the Erde 142 since we moved in 2015 and bought purely to move most of our shite to MiL’s to make our house look as minimal and as big as possible. I sold it to an Italian from Bedford for £150 and gave £notmuchmore for this.

I love it. It’s an Erde but for maximum AS points it’s a grey import. My friend bought it in France from a dealer about 10 years ago. It’s been all over Europe and been given a life of adventure I can only dream of, living all over - including Skye. It features gas struts on the lid, a Runrig sticker that I’m having preserved and advertising for his Ill-fated foray into self catering accommodation in France. 
 

The best bit is I can actually see it! I didn’t realise how good I actually was at trailer parking. Before, when guessing blind, I found it doable but difficult. Now it’s a doddle. 

First tip-trip complete and we’re looking forward to some serious campin’ (no G) next year. 

Your tip has a roof? 😯 That's well posh

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, loserone said:

Dibs? Has it got a proper full size sunroof?

It has, although I haven't plucked up the courage to try opening it yet.

Dibs noted - it'll probably be hanging around for a while though, I really do like these.

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, Timewaster said:

Is that a vinyl roof?!

Yes it is.  Not sure why...

[Fumbler]

Yesterday I thought to myself "boy I like how all my binnacle lights are working"

Then of course, the one in the top left illuminating part of the clock blows today. The phone camera's exposure doesn't show it very well. At least I have a spare.

[Cheezey]

4 hours ago, Pete-M said:

 

Only modifications to it are R56 rear trailing arms (stronger), 

 

That’s a curious thing. Many, many years ago a colleague had an earlyish Cooper S that broke a rear trailing arm. We thought it was because he handbraked into a kerb in the snow a few weeks previous. 
I remember having a headache at BMW as what they wanted to order was different to what was on the car. Had to find one on the forecourt to look at. From memory the original was cast and the updated was two layers pressed in a U. 

[yes oui si]

On 24/09/2021 at 11:52, 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. 

Finally got the audi wheels on. 

I liked the steels, these work much better:

[alcyonecorporation]

5 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

A good opportunity came up last weekend to upgrade my trailer. I’ve had the Erde 142 since we moved in 2015 and bought purely to move most of our shite to MiL’s to make our house look as minimal and as big as possible. I sold it to an Italian from Bedford for £150 and gave £notmuchmore for this.

I love it. It’s an Erde but for maximum AS points it’s a grey import. My friend bought it in France from a dealer about 10 years ago. It’s been all over Europe and been given a life of adventure I can only dream of, living all over - including Skye. It features gas struts on the lid, a Runrig sticker that I’m having preserved and advertising for his Ill-fated foray into self catering accommodation in France. 
 

The best bit is I can actually see it! I didn’t realise how good I actually was at trailer parking. Before, when guessing blind, I found it doable but difficult. Now it’s a doddle. 

First tip-trip complete and we’re looking forward to some serious campin’ (no G) next year. 

not [M] erde 

[alcyonecorporation]

Took a picture of some Volvo with a DSLR for the first time.

[brownnova]

6 hours ago, yes oui si said:

Finally got the audi wheels on. 

I liked the steels, these work much better:

 

Steels looked much better IMHO. 

[Angrydicky]

No, those wheels look absolutely dreadful, don't suit the car at all, nor does the gangsta "stance".

Shame, don't see many ZT-Ts anymore.

[Cord Fourteener]

7 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

Shame, don't see many ZT-Ts anymore.

If I had the money (which I definitely don't) I might end up looking for the v8 ZT-T and converting the outside so it looks like a boggo 75.

But then each to their own.  I like the factory looks, I'm not into the goofy comic stance either but hey it can always be unmodified in its next ownership. At least its still a ZT-T on the road in use and loved. 

[Split_Pin]

20 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

No

EFA

[yes oui si]

40 minutes ago, Angrydicky said:

No, those wheels look absolutely dreadful, don't suit the car at all, nor does the gangsta "stance".

Shame, don't see many ZT-Ts anymore.

The suspension isn't any lower than before, and it's back on factory sized tyres so it actually rides a little higher than it did on the steels. 

Nothing 'gangsta' about it tbh 🤷🏾‍♀️

[yes oui si]

31 minutes ago, Cord Fourteener said:

If I had the money (which I definitely don't) I might end up looking for the v8 ZT-T and converting the outside so it looks like a boggo 75.

But then each to their own.  I like the factory looks, I'm not into the goofy comic stance either but hey it can always be unmodified in its next ownership. At least its still a ZT-T on the road in use and loved. 

Not really, no. Not without a fair bit of work. 

[cobblers]

13 hours ago, Pete-M said:

This week I finally decided to buy myself an R53 Cooper S.

Spent quite some time looking for one with the spec I wanted, and finally found one with all the bits I was looking for - leather, climate, nav, cruise,  xenon, chili pack, sport suspension, pre-facelift, Cooper S only colour (Electric Blue). 

It is bloody good fun. The R53 Cooper S is 20 years old next year. Don't see many like this anymore. 

Only modifications to it are R56 rear trailing arms (stronger), non-runflat Bridgestones and polybushes. 

 

Nice! I regret being an "it's not a real mini" bore when these were current and totally overlooked them.

A friend had one just like this about 10-15 years ago. It needed a set of tyres and runflats were astronomical money back then so on balance I told him to just put some normal tyres on instead and get a can of tyre foam in the boot for all the good it'd do anyway. I think we ended up with some midrange like Toyos or Kumhos, and it absolutely transformed the car - it felt like you'd taken off a set of hobnailed boots and put some proper running shoes on. The guy was proper impressed that he'd saved about £500 and made the car a lot better to drive.

A few months later it went in to the main dealers for a service and they said it was "very very dangerous" to drive with non-runflats and charged him £1000 to take off the new tyres and put some much worse new ones on. 

I'm sure one of the workshop lads there ended up with a nice set of part worns, too.

[dave j]

10 hours ago, yes oui si said:

Finally got the audi wheels on. 

I liked the steels, these work much better:

 

I love it! What did it look like with steels on?