The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

Got the sill welded up on the Maxus on Saturday - or rather my mate welded it up, I just did the prep work with the angry grinder.  That's the main (known) issue it had - now I just need to tidy it up a bit and then stick it in for an MOT to see what happens.  I'm expecting to have to spend a bit of money on it to get it through, but with the prices of big vans being where they are at the moment I can't really afford to replace it so touch wood it doesn't need anything too major.

Sunday I felt like shite for most of the day so got very little done, but I did get the brake caliper off the Renault 6 to fit the new piston I'd bought for it.  Except that the piston turned out to be the wrong one - it's the correct diameter but about 3mm too long and as such it can't actually be fitted in to the caliper.  I've found one the right length online but for now I've given the existing piston a good clean and grease up and I've also cleaned up the caliper sliders and replaced the previously-applied rubber grease with wheel bearing grease, which is a bit less sticky - hopefully that'll keep the brake working properly for a while, it's only a couple of months until the car gets put away for the winter and I'm not sure I can be arsed taking the brakes apart again before then.

Today the Maxus got pulled onto the drive for a wash, the first in my ownership - partly to make it look a bit more presentable in advance of the MOT but mainly to clean off the sills as I'm going to give them a nice thick coat of underseal in an attempt to stop any other bits going rusty - the existing paint is quite chipped and there's a few small blebs starting to appear.  I've refitted the passenger side door card (removed to investigate the non-functioning window, which is still non-functioning but I've decided I don't care) and treated it to a new nearside wiper blade as that was getting rather manky.

The Maxus' battery has pretty much had it, but I've discovered that the shiny new 075 battery I bought for the Volvo has actually got enough grunt to start the van.  The rather older 075 from the Mazda will happily start the Volvo, so I now just need a nice little 063 to go in the Mazda, which is a lot cheaper than buying a new van battery.  In fact I could probably have got away with borrowing the Innocenti's battery when I need to move the Mazda, but for the sake of 30 quid or so I might as well buy one.

I took the Volvo to Tesco today.  I had to brake fairly hard at one point and it does pull slightly to the left in that situation, but it's perfectly manageable.  The engine is still behaving itself, as is the gearbox.  I'm loath to take it any real distance though because I don't trust the tyres to hold up on a prolonged 60mph run, and the correct size tyres aren't cheap (even Nankangs are 50-odd quid a corner plus fitting).  I might actually have another go at selling it - I can't afford to get it to a state where it's properly usable, I don't have anywhere under cover to keep it in the winter, and it's a bit pointless having it if all it ever does is go to Tesco or the occasional run to the next village and back.  I might sell the Mazda as well - that barely gets used either.

I went for a spin round town on the Mobylette this evening.  It's running OK but I lost the exhaust at one point and had to come home - it was still running but it was seriously loud.  It really needs a new exhaust pipe as the lip that the big retaining nut pushes against is damaged, but once I'd tightened the nut up properly and added a couple of extra washers to the bottom mounting bolt to help it clamp the exhaust in place properly, it seemed secure enough.  I now need to sort the wiring out - I've been looking at wiring diagrams online and I think I'm getting an idea of how it all goes together, but I'm going to need to rig something up for the indicator switch as the setup on the Mobylette flashes front and rear indicators alternately and the switch pack I've bought is designed for "normal" indicators where front and rear flash at the same time.  Previously it had a pair of cheapo motor factor on/off/on switches taped together on the handlebar, but ideally I'd like something that looks a bit more elegant and a bit less like it was cobbled together by a clueless 16-year-old...

[mitsisigma01]

Liking the Mercedes Ponton , my dad had one in Singapore for a couple of years, 68 to 70 , not that I was big enough to see out of the windows, but it was definitely my earliest memories of motoring

[Split_Pin]

7 hours ago, SiC said:

It detects ionisation in the cylinder through the spark plug. Allows the Engine ECU to detect Cam position, misfire and knock without any additional sensors. Something clever that Saab did.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Direct_Ignition

The 9-5 has the module built into the DIC coil pack. 9-3 uses a more traditional cassette coil pack (far cheaper) and had that module separate. It's why the 9-5 and previous old 9-3 would die completely if the coil pack failed. 

Superb knowledge,  thanks man!

[Lankytim]

When you inherit a shed, erect it but don’t leave enough room to get your shite around it, leaving it marooned forever in the back yard. 

[mitsisigma01]

Shite is even better when it's cheap shite !!!

NORTHERN RAIL £1 FLASH SALE .... might of started already if not soon ...

Making shite collections even cheaper 🤞

1 million cheap tickets !!!

See website or hotukdeals page .

 

[JJ0063]

Campervan page on FB, photo someone posted of their wheel refurb they did this weekend. 
 

Yep. 

[trigger]

I'm posting on the news 24 thread so I must have bought another shitter 🤦‍♂️

So a lady in the village rings my wife saying Trig likes old cars would he be interested in her Husband uncles old Capri 2.0 Laser? Both him and his wife have died of old age and the property has been left to them and it needs clearing out and the Capri needs to go as they want the garage space and it a burden now... 

Obviously I say I yes! The next thing I get is a text to say her mother in laws at the house if I want to head over, it's a hour and half away near Ware and I'm on nights but I jump in my car and head over immediately. 

Upon opening the garage I'm greeded with this! 

It's sat there since 2003 when the owner got Parkinsons and stopped driving, he bought it new from Gates in Harlow in 1986 and done 95000 miles before parking it up not to be touched until now. 

It's a proper garage find, lot of cobwebs and dust but it's in great condition, the drivers seat is worn, a few scabs on the bottom of the arches and a few dents and bent bumpers, all as expected from a elderly owner 

The engine is a bit corroded but hopefully OK, I couldn't turn it over but I'm sure it be fine, the suspension strut top has seen Stevie Wonder weld it for a mot

That will need sorted but on the whole is fantastic 

So I agreed to buy it, of course and its coming home this Friday, exciting times! 

[Split_Pin]

Superb man, you've resurrected and saved a fair few cars by now! Can't wait to see the progress on this one after the 240 turned out grand.

[Noel Tidybeard]

hold the phone!

have another look at this Ledbury Maestro- abyone else notice something unusual?

[wuvvum]

Getting there...

[Rustybullethole]

15 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

hold the phone!

have another look at this Ledbury Maestro- abyone else notice something unusual?

Melted turtle on the bulkhead?

[SiC]

38 minutes ago, trigger said:

I'm posting on the news 24 thread so I must have bought another shitter 🤦‍♂️

So a lady in the village rings my wife saying Trig likes old cars would he be interested in her Husband uncles old Capri 2.0 Laser? Both him and his wife have died of old age and the property has been left to them and it needs clearing out and the Capri needs to go as they want the garage space and it a burden now... 

Obviously I say I yes! The next thing I get is a text to say her mother in laws at the house if I want to head over, it's a hour and half away near Ware and I'm on nights but I jump in my car and head over immediately. 

Upon opening the garage I'm greeded with this! 

It's sat there since 2003 when the owner got Parkinsons and stopped driving, he bought it new from Gates in Harlow in 1986 and done 95000 miles before parking it up not to be touched until now. 

It's a proper garage find, lot of cobwebs and dust but it's in great condition, the drivers seat is worn, a few scabs on the bottom of the arches and a few dents and bent bumpers, all as expected from a elderly owner 

The engine is a bit corroded but hopefully OK, I couldn't turn it over but I'm sure it be fine, the suspension strut top has seen Stevie Wonder weld it for a mot

That will need sorted but on the whole is fantastic 

So I agreed to buy it, of course and its coming home this Friday, exciting times! 

You do get all the best phone calls! I wish I got calls like that.

[Noel Tidybeard]

on any other A series maestro/montego i would expect the S.U to be where the orange arrow is

but here we find it by the blue arrow seemingly with a turbot?

[Stanky]

1 hour ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

hold the phone!

have another look at this Ledbury Maestro- abyone else notice something unusual?

There's a man wanking in a bush behind it?

[brownnova]

 

Had a flat on the TF, and my go to tyre place told me it was an unusual size. Put a call in to another local tyre place who went quiet, told me it was an odd size, and then asked me to hold. He had two part worns… that’ll do then. 
 

I’d had concerns about th tyre as I spotted a crack on the rear side. Yet they went through the mot just fine. 

Turns out they were quite bad!

Not that that’s why it had no air in it. 

That might explain it… 

 

[brownnova]

Oh and the 9000 goes to the Saab people tomorrow to be sorted! 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 minute ago, brownnova said:

 

Had a flat on the TF, and my go to tyre place told me it was an unusual size. Put a call in to another local tyre place who went quiet, told me it was an odd size, and then asked me to hold. He had two part worns… that’ll do then. 
 

I’d had concerns about th tyre as I spotted a crack on the rear side. Yet they went through the mot just fine. 

Turns out they were quite bad!

Not that that’s why it had no air in it. 

That might explain it… 

 

What sort of tyre is that? Reminds me of old Toyo Proxes I ran on a Corrado back in around 2001!

[SiC]

7 hours ago, brownnova said:

I’d had concerns about th tyre as I spotted a crack on the rear side. Yet they went through the mot just fine. 

If the tester can't see the cords or structure and it's not bulging, they can't fail. But doesn't really mean it's a safe tyre to use. 

[brownnova]

4 minutes ago, SiC said:

If the tester can't see the cords or structure and it's not bulging, they can't fail. But doesn't really mean it's a safe tyre to use. 

It was one of those situations where my tester failed it on the backs, but the garage who did the work let the retest period lapse and put it though their own mot test… which passed the back tyres, but failed the front for tread which hadn’t even been an advisory from my tester! I had fully intended to get them done before the screw in the tyre! 

[brownnova]

7 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

What sort of tyre is that? Reminds me of old Toyo Proxes I ran on a Corrado back in around 2001!

It was a Goodyear. 

[horriblemercedes]

3 hours ago, brownnova said:

It was a Goodyear. 

2001? Yeah, not bad I suppose 

[chadders]

11 hours ago, brownnova said:

 

Had a flat on the TF, and my go to tyre place told me it was an unusual size. Put a call in to another local tyre place who went quiet, told me it was an odd size, and then asked me to hold. He had two part worns… that’ll do then. 
 

I’d had concerns about th tyre as I spotted a crack on the rear side. Yet they went through the mot just fine. 

Turns out they were quite bad!

Not that that’s why it had no air in it. 

That might explain it… 

 

There's been a number of articles in the MGOC magazine about tyres for these. If I remember correctly the make can also have quite an effect. They were a while ago now so I can't remember the conclusions but are probably still available on their website.

[stuboy]

Midnight vigil was held as the Princess chariot has gone to be recycled.

[SiC]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

Midnight vigil was held as the Princess chariot has gone to be recycled.

Is that an MG6 above it too?

[Stanky]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

Midnight vigil was held as the Princess chariot has gone to be recycled.

19 years is a decent innings, and over twice the lifespan of the MG6 above!

[brownnova]

My local garage couldn’t sort the 9000 as it requires a special tool to release the drive belt tensioner. So I booked it in with the Saab specialist. Pleased to report that he 9000 made the 32 mile trip from my local garage to the Saab specialist perfectly, aside from the bearing noise which is why it’s going in the first place. It hasn’t driven that far in about 9 months. Forgot how much I love this car! 

[stuboy]

Today the mondeo rep mobile has passed its mot.. couple advisories but nowt major ..

[Zelandeth]

Bye bye BX.

Don't worry, she's staying in the fold and should be in very good hands.

My aim with this car was always to save it from the potential peril it was in when the storage situation became problematic and to move it on in a better state than I found it.  I reckon I've accomplished that.

I'll let the new custodian speak up for themselves, though they do already own a piece of rather rare, beige PSA metal.

[dollywobbler]

In sad news. Bother. A rather famous Cedric.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144699657034?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OFRhPSGuQ2S&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=iZ3IIUXiRZa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[OM646]

Got the C220 back from the paint shop.

Looks like the dent was never there in the first place.

Next is the roof, and then the rest of the car will get a full polish