The new news 24 thread

[Mally]

7 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Polished the Audi with Autoglym SRP then used this Fuso 99Soft that was recommended to me. It's meant to last for 12 months. 

I'd put money on you selling it or polishing it again, well before 12 months is up.

Looks really nice.

[Mally]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

The black one will be Yvonne's so I'll keep this one for the time being.

I've almost bought it twice, but don't cross me off the list just yet.

[RoverFolkUs]

50 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Couple of things I wouldn't mind driving in there, had they not been scrapped mind you.

Health and safety at the moment 👩‍🦯👩‍🦯

[trigger]

I've been to view that Mk1 Astra today and unfortunately I'm disappointed to say that my wife won't be happy with me as I agreed to buy it 😁

It was absolutely amazing, OK it has a few dints and marks and the engine bay is covered in black zeebart but as a whole its excellent, we couldn't quite agree on a price, he wanted £2000, I wanted £1500, I left a offer of £1700, went home and thought about it and predictably rang him back up and offered the £2000 🙄 I collect it tomorrow 

I can't wait! 

[Split_Pin]

21 minutes ago, Mally said:

I'd put money on you selling it or polishing it again, well before 12 months is up.

Looks really nice.

Thanks man.

The 75 and the Audi are 2 I'd never sell though. You're right on the polishing thing though!

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Err, well I'm from the far South East, & I don't think I'm an utter fucking twat 😉😂

(*Opinions from others also available)

You are not unique, 95% of utter fucking twats from the far South East don't think that they are thought of as such by the rest of civilisation. 

22 minutes ago, stuboy said:

oi oi, whats wrong with majorie(mondeo) and i consider my self unique( nontwat)

See above*.

[D.E]

3 minutes ago, trigger said:

I've been to view that Mk1 Astra today and unfortunately I'm disappointed to say that my wife won't be happy with me as I agreed to buy it 😁

It was absolutely amazing, OK it has a few dints and marks and the engine bay is covered in black zeebart but as a whole its excellent, we couldn't quite agree on a price, he wanted £2000, I wanted £1500, I left a offer of £1700, went home and thought about it and predictably rang him back up and offered the £2000 🙄 I collect it tomorrow 

I can't wait! 

Great! I don't think £2000 is too much if it is really that solid. The Astra Mk I/Kadett D has somewhat risen in value the last years. Around ten years ago I could browse the local online marketplaces and consequently find several driveable ones without much serious rot for around 1000 euros. That's no longer the case.

[High Jetter]

35 minutes ago, stuboy said:

oi oi, whats wrong with majorie(mondeo) and i consider my self unique( nontwat)

Probably not your best post, M9 😀

[RoverFolkUs]

11 minutes ago, barefoot said:

You are not unique, 95% of utter fucking twats from the far South East don't think that they are thought of as such by the rest of civilisation. 

See above*.

Okie dokie. 

Focus #1 is now called Baxter the Blue Focus

Focus #2 is now called Rory the Red Focus 

Thanks for the idea 👍

[barefoot]

2 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Okie dokie. 

Twat.

[stuboy]

4 minutes ago, barefoot said:

See above*.

 

never named the mondeo

[Dan29]

9 hours ago, grogee said:

Reminds me of Steve Thomas from school who claimed he'd abseiled down Smeaton's Tower (lighthouse in Plymouth) with no ropes.

I don't think that's abseiling? I think that's just falling?

[catsinthewelder]

49 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Okie dokie. 

Focus #1 is now called Baxter the Blue Focus

Focus #2 is now called Rory the Red Focus 

Thanks for the idea 👍

My blue Focus has been named the okie dokie chief mobile by my workmates as apparently I say that a lot 

They've even turned it into a game where you get points for spotting similar ones and being the first to say it.

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, trigger said:

I've been to view that Mk1 Astra today and unfortunately I'm disappointed to say that my wife won't be happy with me as I agreed to buy it 😁

It was absolutely amazing, OK it has a few dints and marks and the engine bay is covered in black zeebart but as a whole its excellent, we couldn't quite agree on a price, he wanted £2000, I wanted £1500, I left a offer of £1700, went home and thought about it and predictably rang him back up and offered the £2000 🙄 I collect it tomorrow 

I can't wait! 

Fantastic work!  I also think £2K is pretty reasonable for a tidy Mk1 Astra in the current climate.  Looking forward to seeing it at Shotley at some point...

[brownnova]

Latest in the series of “cars Brownnova nearly bought this week”

Growing up my folks had an allegro, so I’ve always fancied one. But in recent years the values have risen. This one popped up locally and at a reasonable price. When that price was dropped to potential bargain levels I thought I’d best check it out… 

Looks lovely doesn’t it!

And from ten foot it is, sadly a poor quality re spray only hides the mass of filler and grot… 

Underneath is swathed in underseal and a  good poke around reveals that it would unlikely to be up to test pass standards even though of course it is exempt and has been used on the road recently. The engine is sweet as a bit though, as long as you don’t look at the tailpipe… 

Doesnt look too bad here but James Bond would have been proud of the smoke screen at cold idle and under load. Valve seals gone. One or other I could have forgiven, and even despite I was still very tempted, but the issues meant it was too much of a project for me at this time of life. (If I’d had no kids I’d have been all over it!) 

A chap has apparently offered to put a deposit down and come and collect off the strength of the (poor) photos… good luck to him! 

[High Jetter]

Apparently, this:

will be negotiating this junction later today, approaching from the left and the turning to 'follow' the red and yellow cars. Anyone care to guess how long that will take?

 

[New POD]

16 hours ago, Dan29 said:

I don't think that's abseiling? I think that's just falling?

Or base jumping? 

[beko1987]

Had an SOS message this morning from a mate, car's dead, got any idea? 

Plenty, but none that would work over text message so put tools and the kids in the car and headed over. Hyundai i40 estate, dead as a dodo. 

Swapped the battery with mine and it was alive again! £85 for a new battery later and its even more alive, spins over better than it did with my battery 😂

Then we went to the park with his kids and had dinner and it was all very nice! 

He'd phoned the garage he bought the car from last year and they wanted him to trailer it over to them so they could diagnose it. Which I could sort of understand as all he had told them was 'it wouldn't start' and that's never easy to pinpoint over the phone, he's not very car savvy... 

[catsinthewelder]

I think those keep left bollards are fairly easily removed so it might not be too bad.

[cort1977]

Finished fitting new rear springs and shocks to the saab today. Bit of a bear of a job to be honest. Getting bolts off was pretty hard and even lining them up to go in again was an arse. All done now though and a test drive revealed no clunks and a nice smooth ride.

Checked the oil, cleaned the windows and fiddled with the ABS fuses which surprisingly turned off the warning light so a little win there. All set for a parts delivery run tomorrow and maybe drop in to FOAD's meet in Fife.

[richardmorris]

Got the 2cv running for the first time this year ( started ok when I’d pumped fuel through using the starting handle ). Then washed the modern car which was covered in half the Sahara. Now noisy free range Sunday lunches are making themselves heard.

[17-Coffees]

Filling out the Scottish Census, this is a question...

I don't want the Scottish Gov to judge me, a single person household, for the amount of cars I have! 🤣

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, 17-Coffees said:

Filling out the Scottish Census, this is a question...

I don't want the Scottish Gov to judge me, a single person household, for the amount of cars I have! 🤣 

I saw that one too and thought of AS. 😆

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, 17-Coffees said:

Filling out the Scottish Census, this is a question...

I don't want the Scottish Gov to judge me, a single person household, for the amount of cars I have! 🤣

By running older cars you are keeping an entire business sector going - servicing, parts, restoration, etc. 

In the England one the other year I put 4 cars, and commute by bicycle. Thought about putting down Jedi as religion but stuck to cofe.

[wuvvum]

Got the replacement front strut fitted to the Laguna today.

It actually turned out to be a piece of piss, relatively speaking - the only real issue I encountered was that one of the hub carrier bolts didn't want to come out, the rubber mallet wasn't making any impression so in the end I had to screw the nut part way back on and belt it with the lump hammer.  The only other awkward bit was holding the replacement strut up inside the strut tower with one hand whilst trying to wangle the bolts in from the top with the other (the Laguna has threaded holes in the strut top mounting, rather than studs which would have made life easier).  I didn't have to undo the bottom ball joint in the end - with the hub carrier bolts removed the assembly could pivot far enough forward on the ball joint that I could just drop the leg out.  Even the rusty stub of cut-off drop link still attached to the replacement strut came out without resorting to the grinder.

Took it for a test drive and things are a lot quieter up front, so that's good.

Things are not quite so rosy on the Rover 75 front.  I took it to the jet wash in the next village to wash the Sahara desert off it, and when I'd finished and got back in to drive home it wouldn't start.  It was churning over but not firing, and the radiator fan was kicking in.  After a short while it flattened the battery (which was fairly low anyway).  I called the AA but they were very busy and gave me a 2 hour ETA, so I walked home and got the Maxus and the jump leads.  With the leads attached and after a lot more cranking it eventually fired up, but all was obviously not well - after a few seconds of running it spluttered a few times and then the idle went up to 1,500rpm and the engine light came on.  Touching the brake took the idle speed back to normal.  Tried stopping and starting it a few times but no difference.  It was running though so I sacked off the AA and started to trundle home at 1,500rpm - which unfortunately is not quite enough to get it to change gear, so I was going quite slowly.  After a bit I discovered that if I floored the accelerator it would pick up, so I was able to get it up to 30 and nurse it home, then get on the pushbike and go back to retrieve the Maxus.

Once I was home I popped the bonnet to investigate and found the scuttle full of water.  Mea maxima culpa I hadn't checked the plenum drains in a while (they've never blocked before in my ownership) - they appear to have been coping OK with "normal" rain but the rather more intense stream of water from the jet wash had proven too much.  I got my longest screwdriver and rodded the nearside drain out and the water dribbled away.  The ECU wasn't under water but some of the wiring had got rather damp.  I'm hoping that once it's been left to dry out for a day or two it'll sort itself out - I could do without having to get the ECU repaired on top of everything else...

[SiC]

Just got back from a round trip up to St Helens to see my mate @purplebargeken. Six and half hour journey covering almost 360 miles. Went in the A4 and while it has poverty spec seats with no adjustable lumbar, I feel alright still and not slaughtered.

Audi diesels are shit.


I was busy trying to get his red Toledo running again.


While Ken was busy de-doggy-fying the A4.



Bit of an uneven work load as the Audi was filthy and the Toledo ended up being an easy(ish) fix. We had spark on all four plugs and spraying carb cleaner into the intake caused it to run from that. So we knew it was mostly there. Fuel in the float bowl and the float needle was operating correctly.

Going back to the dizzy I noticed the powerspark module was sitting on a rusty plate. I cleaned that up with some sandpaper. Also checked the dash pot level and that was low.

Tried to start it again but this time with the air cleaner off and it ran. Wouldn't accelerate without bogging down though. We decided that we would replace the powerspark module with standard points.

Straightforward job that I took the time to clean up the wiring. I made new flyleads as the original car ones were splitting at the base of the crimp. Originally the car would have had a ballast resistor but at some point it was taken out. So I spliced these two together and made a single fly-lead. The coil to dizzy wire was not OEM and very badly crimped too, so replaced that.




Dizzy vac capsule held vacuum perfectly. Been a while since I've seen an original Lucas one that hadn't split internally!


Plugs were a mixed bag. Also Bosch rather than NGK or similar. Ken is going to get some new plug wires and replace the plugs then.


Didn't have a set of feeler gauges to hand, so used a bit of cardboard that looked roughly 15thou. Timing was done with the engine running with a timing light.

Got it running again and much better. Still popping through the exhaust, so hopefully new plugs and leads will solve that. The current leads are rock solid and look possibly original. I noticed cyl 1 was jumping around a bit on the timing light too.

Carb looked in very clean condition inside. Likewise the needle float valve didn't look that out at all. I suspect the last owner had been through this fairly recently.



Choke mechanism is very similar to my troublesome Moggie one. I've managed to get the Moggie choke linkage moving correctly but it's still not great on pulling the jet down. This is suffering similar issues. I know PhilA said this design was crap and replaced later on.


The cars themselves are in pretty good condition. The green Dolomite is shiner but an older restoration. While the red Toledo is extremely original. Paint is faded and has been polished so much, it's come off in areas. However it looks like it's never been restored before and it's swage lines are still very sharp.


Been an excellent day, just knackered now. The bissle cleaner has got out a tremendous amount of dirt from the Audi. Hoping it's enough to reduce the smell. Mostly there when sat overnight, so will find out in the morning.

Tomorrow hopefully will be another day of car work but my own. Need to try getting the Dolomite sills on and a good push to finish the last bits on the Moggie.

[purplebargeken]

A fab day was had, much kudos to Si for Toledo fettling. I hope less doggie odor prevails!!

[brownnova]

Saab 9000 went for test today… failed. Needs welding on the inner arch

But for a car which has been sat for 6 months I’ll take that!

 

Had a pallava getting it too the test, my 21 month old loves the keys box and had pushed the Saab remote fob a few times opening the boot, turning the light on, and flattening the battery. Had to nick the Volvos one for the test! 

[Ghosty]

In a Premier Inn in Corby. 

 

There's a V10 diesel Phaeton in the car park, dumped across two spaces, no plates, collapsed suspension. It's been here so long it's on Street View. 🤣

[Leyland Worldmaster]

First meet of the year for me. Was a passenger in a Mini and a Rover P4 100... 

I wasn't fit to drive due to an evening of merry abandon. And Alison is covered in Saharan Sand...