The new news 24 thread

[High Jetter]

That's posh, having yer own vicar! 😄

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Never heard of a Clarity before - is that one of those JDM stereos that will only pick up Radio 2?

Sounds like some Aldi middle isle copy of Clarion

[RoverFolkUs]

Spent this afternoon putting the Christmas tree up 👍

Decided to spice things up a bit this year because for some reason everyone seemed a bit underwhelmed last year: 🤔

[richardmorris]

18 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Spent this afternoon putting the Christmas tree up 👍

Decided to spice things up a bit this year because for some reason everyone seemed a bit underwhelmed last year: 🤔

Yours has more decorations than mine. Only put it up as I was writing cards as last posting day is tomorrow.

[MJK 24]

11 hours ago, artdjones said:

Mk1

Mk2

Ambassador 

Is it controversial to claim the Ambassador is by far the most attractive of the three?

[artdjones]

45 minutes ago, MJK 24 said:

Is it controversial to claim the Ambassador is by far the most attractive of the three?

No, but if they had made it a hatchback from day 1 and given it the 5 speed gearbox it deserved it would have been a much bigger seller. I still enjoyed mine ( Princess ll 2.0 HL auto).

[stuboy]

Nothing exciting all it just snowed a bit...

[Ghosty]

3 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Sounds like some Aldi middle isle copy of Clarion

Does a bit. Aldi would be Tevion though surely?

[vulgalour]

9 hours ago, Asimo said:

All of the pre autochoke BL / BMC stuff I have driven had “choke”*** controls that locked when turned. Has this feature been forgotten / worn out / omitted from cheaply made replacement cables?

*** Pedant mode  “chokeing”not possible on SU carbs., mixture enrichment by lowering the jet.

 

In my limited experience, the BMC era ones tended to be notchier and more inclined to stay put even with a lot of use.  BL era ones aren't as notchy and are far more difficult to persuade to stay in one place.  Even the brand new one I fitted to the Princess lasted about a week before it refused to lock, you could twist it to set the position and it would simply untwist itself and release. Could be worse, could be an Ambassador auto-choke.

[Asimo]

2 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Could be worse, could be an Ambassador auto-choke.

Yes indeed, worse than useless. Maestro’s stepper-motor driven thingy wasn’t much better. 
All they needed to design was a better choke cable!

[Noel Tidybeard]

45 minutes ago, Asimo said:

Yes indeed, worse than useless. Maestro’s stepper-motor driven thingy wasn’t much better. 
All they needed to design was a better choke cable!

mine worked fine

[ruffgeezer]

7 hours ago, Ghosty said:

Old radio out.

Pleased to find a proper job done of the wiring and install.

New one in:

Alas the aerial lead is too short so it's strictly Bluetooth, but that's what I want it for anyway. The old radio can go in the other MX5.

 

Was also surprised to find the emergency flare from Japan is still intact! 

And lol at the window sticker. 😄

I believe I have an aerial extension lead in the garage if you'd like?

[Rust Collector]

Whilst getting fuel earlier I saw a land crab in the wild:

Apologies for the shit photos, I have a water ingress problem in the truck currently…

[wuvvum]

/\ That's a Maxi that is.

[Rust Collector]

4 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

/\ That's a Maxi that is.

I saw something British and ugly and automatically thought land crab, my bad 😅 it was very tidy, the boot lid was just badged as 1750 or something oddly specific.

[adw1977]

They were badged 1750, until Maxi 2 launched in 1980 and the 1500 engine was dropped, at which point they stopped putting the engine size on the badges.

[wuvvum]

Got pretty much bugger all done this weekend, due to a combination of being busy and the weather being shite.  Literally the only thing I got done on the fleet was to fit a cover to the front passenger seat of the Visa, whilst trying not to go arse over tit on the icy car park.  I had been hoping to give the 107's headlights a polish - it'd be nice to be able to see where I'm going in the dark, given that it's dark most of the time at the moment - but I'm not sure polishing products work very well when it's -5 outside.

I've ordered some Osram Nightbreaker bulbs as well, which should help a bit.  I've also ordered a carb rebuild kit for the Visa - it comes with a new float and a new needle valve and for the sake of £22 I thought it was worth a go.  Probably won't be here until after Christmas though so will have to wait for the first dry and mild weekend of 2023.  Once the carb is sorted and the ignition is fitted properly the old girl should be fully mobile.

I got a new phone this weekend - I did what I often do, went into the shop knowing what I wanted and came out with something different.  I'd decided on a Galaxy A53, but the salesman talked me into a deal where I get a Galaxy A13 and a Samsung tablet for less per month than the A53 on its own, and with a much higher data allowance.  We went through the comparative specs and I decided that the areas where the A13 is lower spec are areas that I can put up with.  The tablet is quite nice - I've not used it much yet but it'll be good for Internet browsing when on collection missions etc.  It came with its own sim card with a separate 2GB of data per month, which should be enough for what I'm likely to use it for.

[Ghosty]

1 hour ago, ruffgeezer said:

I believe I have an aerial extension lead in the garage if you'd like?

That'd be great - radio does have its uses sometimes, especially if I don't know what I want to listen to! Let me know if you want any beer tokens/postage etc.

[bunglebus]

Some frosty pics from this morning

 

[Ghosty]

54 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Osram Nightbreaker

I've just put a pair of the 150% brightness Nightbreaker Lasers in my mum's car, they make a big difference.

[artdjones]

7 hours ago, Ghosty said:

I've just put a pair of the 150% brightness Nightbreaker Lasers in my mum's car, they make a big difference.

I'm tempted by this sort of thing, but also worried by how much difference they make to the people driving towards me. There's not much point in seeing better if I'm also increasing the risk of someone driving into me because they're dazzled.

[Asimo]

Dazzle has more to do with headlamp cleanliness, pattern and aim than with brightness of bulb.

[Pat Earrings]

Bluebird has been booked into my new found trusty garage to investigate the lack of heat issues. I could do it myself but it’s painfully cold and I’ve no time at the minute. Hopefully I’ll be toasty warm after Thursday.

I’ll investigate the dead stereo but after 32 years it’s probably given up the ghost. Can’t seem to find anything remotely period correct, so I may just fit a second hand Bluetooth one instead. Sacrilege I know.

[N19]

19 minutes ago, Pat Earrings said:

Bluebird has been booked into my new found trusty garage to investigate the lack of heat issues. I could do it myself but it’s painfully cold and I’ve no time at the minute. Hopefully I’ll be toasty warm after Thursday.

I’ll investigate the dead stereo but after 32 years it’s probably given up the ghost. Can’t seem to find anything remotely period correct, so I may just fit a second hand Bluetooth one instead. Sacrilege I know.

Which one is it? Blaupunkt or Clarion?

[grogee]

38 minutes ago, Pat Earrings said:

Bluebird has been booked into my new found trusty garage to investigate the lack of heat issues. I could do it myself but it’s painfully cold and I’ve no time at the minute. Hopefully I’ll be toasty warm after Thursday.

I’ll investigate the dead stereo but after 32 years it’s probably given up the ghost. Can’t seem to find anything remotely period correct, so I may just fit a second hand Bluetooth one instead. Sacrilege I know.

No shame in farming it out if you don't have somewhere indoors to work. I imagine they'll change the stat and reverse flush the rad and matrix, hopefully that'll clear it. 

I bought a Bluetooth cassette receiver for my Maestro, which means I can run a period correct cassette player but zap my tunes from phone into it wirelessly. It charges via the usual micro usb port.

For the Bluebird I'd say yes drop in any stereo you like but keep the original for eighties addicts like us... That era car usually has decent labelling on the stereo telling you which wire does what which will help with install.

[MJK 24]

How do they get away with it?!

 

[Pat Earrings]

9 minutes ago, grogee said:

No shame in farming it out if you don't have somewhere indoors to work. I imagine they'll change the stat and reverse flush the rad and matrix, hopefully that'll clear it. 

I bought a Bluetooth cassette receiver for my Maestro, which means I can run a period correct cassette player but zap my tunes from phone into it wirelessly. It charges via the usual micro usb port.

For the Bluebird I'd say yes drop in any stereo you like but keep the original for eighties addicts like us... That era car usually has decent labelling on the stereo telling you which wire does what which will help with install.

Yeah that’s my guess too, seeing as it runs perfectly and no overheating etc. I’m on the lookout for something so won’t rush it, enjoying the sounds of the car itself tbh. Yeah happy to let them tinker with it, it’s unbearably cold. Almost froze my hands doing the EGR delete on my TDi polo the other week.

33 minutes ago, N19 said:

Which one is it? Blaupunkt or Clarion?

Blaupunkt

[Rust Collector]

13 minutes ago, MJK 24 said:

How do they get away with it?!

 

I think it's one of those things where they get away with it right up until the point that they don't - luck only goes so far!

[Bren]

I have booked the BMW in for a recall.

I was advised the car would have a complimentary health check as well as a wash and hoover.

What the techs will make of an almost 20 year old e60 I have no idea.

[horriblemercedes]

3 minutes ago, Bren said:

I have booked the BMW in for a recall.

I was advised the car would have a complimentary health check as well as a wash and hoover.

What the techs will make of an almost 20 year old e60 I have no idea.

My E91 has an outstanding recall. This makes me tempted to send it in to see what the verdict is after 17 years and near 240k miles