The new news 24 thread

[320touring]

10 hours ago, 320touring said:

Got the 182 back yesterday. Fair bit of work done to it, and was driving brilliantly.

Went out later to it, and its developed two new faults - a Misfire and the passenger outer door handle doesn't work.

This means that- 

Current fleet of legal cars is:

182 - misfiring

807 - no reverse, noisy wheel bearing

Elgrand - front end knocks like a junkie at his dealers door, screenwash pump inop

Golf - light misfire and no blower motor 

Oxford - new points fitted, won't fire.

 

So it looks like a Sunday of investigation for me..

 

Old cars, just don't!

Sit rep:

Tried turning the advance/retard wheel on the Oxford Dizzy. 

Still turned over funny but in different ways depending on where the wheel was.

Still not fired.

Golf - LHS headlamp bulb connector only shows 8.5/9v, not enough to get the bulb to light.

Battery looks weak, alt belt or alternator screeching. Get 12.7v at idle, 13.5 when revved 

Now to watch the GP..

[wuvvum]

I made a little friend today.

The Renault 4 made a friend too. 

[Ghosty]

Come to the realisation I'm scared to put miles on the Merc, it just feels wrong.
I could make an extremely healthy profit on it and replace it with something that's a bit more of a driver's car, which seems tempting.

Unless anyone fancies a swap for a classic of some sort 😂

[Back_For_More]

3 hours ago, 320touring said:

Any way you could please describe this process? The Oxford dynamo (now a new refurbished unit) is still not outputting anywhere near that.

Cheers

I'd second that...... Never seen or heard of it being done. 

[MrGTI6]

Picked up our new car today. The reason we got it is because the missus won't drive my 306 and over the last couple of months she's been relying on me to drive her about. Also, the 306 is a three-door which can be impractical at times.

She rarely drives so I'll be using it most of the time. But since I've bought loads of cars (and a bike) over the last few months, I thought I'd let her decide what to get. Her parents have a Hyundai Kona and - on that basis alone - she wanted one. I tried to convince her that an older Focus/Astra-type car would be far better value. But she wanted a newer car because apparently it will last longer. So now we have a Hyundai Kona.

It's a very uninspiring car but has good spec and managed 52mpg today, despite an hour of stop-start traffic on the North Circular. The lane assist feature can fuck off, however.

One particular moment was a bit disconcerting. Driving at 70mph on the M25 I noticed it was picking up speed downhill while in 6th. Looked down and the rev counter was on 0! WTF!? I feathered the accelerator and the engine spun back into life. First time I've known a stop/start system to work on the move in a manual car that's in gear! It must disengage the clutch on its own somehow!

I would post a photo but it's so boring that I didn't bother to take any, and probably never will.

[stuboy]

5 minutes ago, MrGTI6 said:

I would post a photo but it's so boring that I didn't bother to take any, and probably never will.

oh go on....................

[PhilA]

3 hours ago, 320touring said:

Any way you could please describe this process? The Oxford dynamo (now a new refurbished unit) is still not outputting anywhere near that.

Cheers

Re-flashing is only required if the dynamo fails to charge at all.

This one had sat so long it had lost the magnetism of the soft iron in the field plates, and was making about 0.4 volts when spun over. 

In that case, I connected the field terminal of the dynamo to the battery + for about a second, which polarizes the iron core into holding a bit of a magnetic field.

Then spun over it makes about 7 volts which is enough to create a stronger electromagnetic field in the windings and start making electricity in the armature. 

If yours starts charging and puts out the light, it does not need to be flashed. That 14.4 was at 2500 rpm, where the output of the dynamo started to exceed what the battery required to charge, and everything stabilized. 

If yours doesn't put out that well, check the field contact on the regulator isn't burned up. If it cannot pass current well then the field will not be strong and the output will be mediocre.

I unscrewed this one and it's like craters on the moon. I believe you can get replacement terminals that screw in. The screw in part is sacrificial, designed to burn away and save the contact on the top of the regulator solenoid.

Phil

[Popsicle]

Ding dong round 2 - time to have a shufty behind the rear wheel arch liners on the Caddy. Thankfully VW hadn't put any sound deadening sponge around the rear tubs, so minimal rust to deal with around the arch, just a small bit by the sill.

There was plenty of crud behind the liners and after a wire brushing down a few bits of surface rust, more than at the front, but not too bad for a 14 year old commercial vehicle. Some Vactan was splashed about to work its magic.

Then went with a couple of coats of zinc primer, followed up with two coats of Toolstations finest underseal.

Looks factory fresh 🤣.

While doing all this I noticed some animal debris by the leaf spring hanger - I'll hide it in case anybody is eating or a bit squirmish.

Spoiler

I was behind a truck that hit a bird on the M5 on Friday, feathers and stuff flew up in the air and the bird landed right in front of me, it shook its head for a split second probably thinking wtf at least I'm alright, as I heard the thump as I hit it. I always have a guilt trip after hitting things but in reality theres nothing I could do to avoid it.  Poor thing is splattered all under the van, feathers and guts everywhere!

I'll have to deal with it when round 3 starts, undersealing the main floor of the van next.....

[SiC]

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday. So I snow jizzed the Boxster.


Then both went out to see a big house (Kingston Lacey near Poole)



Then some big boats by the front



And some little boats too


This lovely Mini Moke was parked by the front




I wanted to take the Spitfire but it was still looking like this yesterday morning.


Boxster did 32mpg. I don't think that's too bad for a 90s flat-6 engine with its roof down (less aerodynamically efficient) and air conditioning on.

This is on near me later today. If I can get all the house/garden chores done, I hope to pop down for a bit and have a gander. I've finished wiring up the Spitfire and put it all back together, so may give that a whizz down there.
https://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/lazy-monday-classic-car-display-coming-to-east-huntspill-on-bank-holiday-monday/

[castros_bro]

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2023-05-28/remembering-the-austin-maestro/77964

[The Vicar]

A lovely Sunday spin in the Volvo. Covered 70 miles in supreme comfort and sat comfortably at motorway speeds. I love this car 

[RoverFolkUs]

Down the car boot this morning I actually picked up a HBOL for the MK2 Focus!

I'll never need or want to use it, but it's nice to have a relevant HBOL on hand for the sake of it 🤷

Anybody else share that feeling or is it just me!?

[RoverFolkUs]

Further to yesterday's post, I think car boot sales bring out the worst in people. 

1st encounter was a remote control I looked at "Three quid that mate, brand new" he exclaimed before I even asked. Except it quite clearly wasn't as the battery cover was missing and it had clearly been chewed by a dog given the teeth marks in it...

2nd encounter was a pair of locking pliers, I picked them up to take a look, and like the other person, he exclaimed "two quid for them, they're good ones" except they weren't. Just unbranded junk and they were probably the worst quality grips I've ever felt. The jaws were bent and didn't even line up and the teeth were pretty much smooth. Why say "they're good ones" when they quite clearly aren't? Just say they're £2 and I'll make my own mind up. If he didn't try to tell me they were good then I would have probably just bought them for £2 but it just put me off.. 

3rd encounter, bloke very loudly exclaiming to someone how glad he was to be there on a Monday because "it's just all the Romanians here on a Sunday" . I don't think the person he was talking to or anyone around him was actually agreeing but he still continued to bleat on about it...

4th encounter, I looked at a Freeview box, probably worth about £2 at a car boot realistically, I asked and he said £20. Immediately put it down then he said "tell you what I'll do £15 how about that" and as I'm walking away it's "how about a tenner" - I think the same principle applies to people who overprice cars. They have absolutely no idea on what it's worth so just act greedy 

5th encounter, another Freeview box but this time a Humax recorder so it had some value. I asked and he said a tenner, which was fair enough. Came with the remote. I asked if he had the power lead, it was a specific proprietary one, "no mate all the wires get weighed in" - how fucking stupid can you be? Weigh in a power adaptor and get maybe 10 pence for it and make a £40 Freeview box pretty much worthless!? 

[New POD]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday. So I snow jizzed the Boxster.


Then both went out to see a big house (Kingston Lacey near Poole)



Then some big boats by the front



And some little boats too


This lovely Mini Moke was parked by the front




I wanted to take the Spitfire but it was still looking like this yesterday morning.


Boxster did 32mpg. I don't think that's too bad for a 90s flat-6 engine with its roof down (less aerodynamically efficient) and air conditioning on.

This is on near me later today. If I can get all the house/garden chores done, I hope to pop down for a bit and have a gander. I've finished wiring up the Spitfire and put it all back together, so may give that a whizz down there.
https://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/lazy-monday-classic-car-display-coming-to-east-huntspill-on-bank-holiday-monday/

Why air conditioning with the top down? 

[SiC]

53 minutes ago, New POD said:

Why air conditioning with the top down? 

Keeps my feet cool and a cold whiff of air when sat in the sun for hours on end is quite pleasant. 

[Back_For_More]

Messing with the Passola and apologies whoever roffle it - but 

FOUND IT 

[Weird Car]

47 minutes ago, Back_For_More said:

Messing with the Passola and apologies whoever roffle it - but 

FOUND IT 

I wondered if I’d left it in the top box? Guess so

 

how are you getting on with the passola btw? Had it running yet?

[New POD]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

Keeps my feet cool and a cold whiff of air when sat in the sun for hours on end is quite pleasant. 

Makes sense 

[richardmorris]

Spotted by my mum near the ardeche gorge today. 

[GingerNuttz]

New sill and a pillar for this side done.

Still needs bodyworked and the door check stray hole cut square and that.

Thought I'd get away with just replacing the back part of the sill but it needs to right down to the front bit.

Sill over a sill and an inner arch over an inner arch but at least the inner arch is sound.

Not a bit of the centre strengthening panel left so they just threw sills over it and called it good

Cheeky bastards never even painted the insides of the new sills.

Aw naw my grinder with no guard has ended up in one of the pictures 😂 

[stuboy]

Excitement for me was going to a boot fair and spending a quid on 2 screwdrivers...

 

 

[Pat Earrings]

Goodbye my friend…

A friend in Rowley spotted this yesterday as he and his father like old Nissans. I agreed a sale at a fair price not wanting to push, so sold it what I’d have sold it on here for. Sold it a touch earlier than I wanted to but, in the future it probably needed a touch of welding on the rear sills and I’ve spent enough money and time on this beauty to ensure it’s survival. I’ve never been more sad to sell a car, but, I’ll still see it around and that’s what matters.

the sale will fund me hopefully going towards getting a motorcycle licence so new things to look forward to.

[JakeT]

9 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Down the car boot this morning I actually picked up a HBOL for the MK2 Focus!

I'll never need or want to use it, but it's nice to have a relevant HBOL on hand for the sake of it 🤷

Anybody else share that feeling or is it just me!?

Absolutely. Useful to thumb through when doing a job and the hands are too grubby for the phone. Of course it’s usually void of just the information that one needs.

[Bear]

After much chaos that eventually ended up with paying a taxi to Peterborough because buses and trains are shite (I did try - cancellations) - got my orange car back and was able to go back to home turf for sister's birthday.

Always have to visit familiar landmarks.

Stepway can shift on that Newcastleton road.

[Back_For_More]

The irony is not lost..... A man who owns a ML55 AMG saying a stepway can shift.....  Tea everywhere.

On another HBOL shout - farmer boy here told me Santa had dropped by - HBOL for my Lada sitting on the seat. Nice freebie..... It'll definitely come in handy as it's running like a bag of spanners at the moment. 

[Ghosty]

Saw a Florida registered Corvette going up the M5 earlier. The driver looked a bit familiar and gave the Civic a thumbs up. 

Then I twigged - VINwiki... Think it was a certain one of them. 

I think someone's having a go at LEJOG tonight. 

 

A bit later I saw Atomic Shrimp, another YouTubist, bobbing up the M6 in a Jazz. 

[Bear]

1 hour ago, Back_For_More said:

The irony is not lost..... A man who owns a ML55 AMG saying a stepway can shift.....  Tea everywhere.

On another HBOL shout - farmer boy here told me Santa had dropped by - HBOL for my Lada sitting on the seat. Nice freebie..... It'll definitely come in handy as it's running like a bag of spanners at the moment. 

Shifting is relative - and I no longer own an ML55 AMG but on a road like the one from Hawick to Canonbie via Newcastleton, there's more to making progress  than just power.

Sidewalls that can cope with crumbling road sides and a car light enough to almost-yump, catch on a downshift and change direction also help

[High Jetter]

12 hours ago, SiC said:

It was our wedding anniversary yesterday. So I snow jizzed the Boxster.

That's impressive! 🤣

[wuvvum]

Didn't really get a lot done in the way of fettling over the weekend.  Saturday was spent at the FoD - I ended up driving down in the Maxus, that hadn't been my original intention but I had a few bits to do in the van first thing, and as I was running a bit late and traffic was getting shite I decided to just carry on in the van rather than going home and getting the Rover.  It was the first long run the van had had in probably 6 months or more - it actually wasn't too bad, there are far worse vehicles in my fleet to do ~300 miles in a day in.  I stuck 60 quid of diesel in and it didn't quite use it all, so that works out at something over 30mpg, which is acceptable for a big old van, although I was cruising at 65ish rather than hammering down the outside lane with the Sprinters.

Sunday I was busy most of the day but I did refit the carb to the Mobylette - then as soon as I turned the fuel tap on it started pissing petrol out of the overflow hole.  Turned out that the float had somehow got stuck and wasn't closing the needle valve, so the carb had to come off again.  

Monday I refitted the carb for a second time - the bike fired straight up and I let it run for a bit while I sorted out a dodgy earth on one of the front indicators.  I went back to it a bit later to take it for a ride, it started straight up again but wouldn't rev, it died as soon as any throttle was applied.  It was behaving like the carb jet was blocked, so I took the carb off yet again, unscrewed the float chamber and blew through the jet - that got the bike running again  and I took it for a quick spin but it's still buggering about a bit - at one point it cut out at about 30mph and ground to a halt, only to restart after a couple of kicks and carry on like nothing had happened.  I'm not sure what's going on - I'm sure it's a carb issue but I'm not sure what yet.  Fortunately bits for Dell'Orto SHA carbs are piss cheap so I can afford to play a bit of parts darts with it - I really do need to get it running well enough that I can trust it enough to ride it more than pushing distance from home.  I did also want to fit the new rear tyre I bought for it a month or two back, but I couldn't find my proper tyre levers and I don't think the levers from a Poundland puncture repair kit are going to make much of an impression on a moped tyre.

Next job was to check the gearbox oil level on the Visa.  That was a bit awkward because I couldn't get a socket on the level plug as the steering column was in the way, and my spanner set has every size except the one I needed (21mm).  I eventually found a Whitworth spanner which was a pretty good fit.  The oil level was actually more or less where it should be, which was good to see - both the Renaults were noticeably low when I checked them.

Last job for the day was to get the carb off the Renault 4 to see if I can see why it's running like a bag o' shite on a light throttle and refusing to idle off choke.  It was actually very easy to get off, much less of a faff than the Volvo carbs.  While I was poking around in the engine bay though I did notice that two of the spark plugs were finger tight or less, and were essentially being held in position by the plug leads.  Tightening these up didn't make any difference to the running though.  Some of the nuts on the combined inlet / exhaust manifold studs weren't as tight as they could be either - that's the next port of call if servicing the carb doesn't work, as there might be a bit of air getting in round the manifold which wouldn't be helping the running.  Manifold looks rather more awkward to get off than the carb though, especially since the gasket does both inlet and exhaust so both need to come off to replace it, so I'm trying the carb first.

Tomorrow I have the Rover booked in to the local garage for them to pressure test the aircon system - if it seems to be holding pressure then I'll make another attempt at fitting a belt to the aircon compressor, if it's leaking from every joint then there doesn't seem to be any point...

[Ghosty]

On 5/28/2023 at 12:00 AM, HMC said:

SpOtted a typical looking (for west devon)  well worn RM combo from my bedroom window

They look much the same here in Manc, still have them here too.

RM are really hanging on to those Combos, they love them as they're massively more dependable than the Partners that were supposed to replace them.