The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

Didn't get a great deal done today as I got up rather late and then the lawn mower wouldn't start so I wasted quite a bit of time in a (thus far futile) attempt to get it to work.

I did make a start on doing the driveshaft on the Renault 4.  Without wanting to tempt fate it doesn't look like it's going to be as bad of a job as I'd feared, assuming the driveshaft I've bought fits.  The driveshaft looks like it'll pull out of the hub reasonably easily - it only needed a moderate smack with a rubber mallet to get it to move.  The entire hub carrier needs to be removed to change the shaft, but even that doesn't look like it's going to be too bad of a job - the upper and lower wishbone ball joints are removable (held on to their respective arms by three M6 bolts apiece - Renault 4s are delightfully flimsy), and somewhat to my astonishment the track rod end ball joint nut just unscrewed all the way with the ratchet and then the ball joint just lifted out of the steering arm.  Literally the first time that's ever happened to me.  I could possibly have finished the job today, but I was a bit worried about running out of daylight if reassembly threw up any unexpected issues, so I've left it with everything held together by a couple of threads and I'll have a go at finishing it next time I get a free couple of hours in decent weather.

I'd been hoping to flush out the rather manky brake fluid in the Ampera, but my original plan of cracking off a rear bleed nipple, letting the fluid drain and flushing it through by pouring fresh fluid into the reservoir fell at the first hurdle when the rear bleed nipple showed no interest in budging.  I tried siphoning out as much fluid as possible from the reservoir with a syringe and then replacing it with fresh, but that has only marginally improved the colour, so if I go down that route it's going to end up wasting rather a lot of fluid until it's clear.  I might try opening one of the front bleed nipples as the front calipers didn't look quite so rusty as the rears, but jacking up the front of the car is a pain in the arse as it's so low so that is also going to have to wait until I have a bit more time.

The brakes seem to be behaving though - I took the car to the FOD and back yesterday and they were stopping the car fine with no binding and the horrible scraping noises have gone.  Whether they'll be up to MOT standard or not is something I will find out in a couple of weeks when I take it in for a test...

[vulgalour]

@richardmorris From the description, sounds like it might have been a Stutz Blackhawk.  You could get an accessory that made the headlights even bigger with the tripoint design incorporated. Vinyl tops are surprisingly rare on these, given the excess of everything else about them.

 

[Lankytim]

5 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Ouch. That looks like a fairly significant chunk of metal to have simply vanished...

I imagine the expending foam aided a lot in completely rotting it out.

That foam stuff is added at the factory to aid sound deadening, I'm not even sure what it’s made from. Hopefully not asbestos or something! 

[Stinkwheel]

On 9/2/2023 at 12:25 PM, Stinkwheel said:

Todays news from the home front,

collected a load of cheap visa parts, I’d won the wings and doors on eBay and when I turned up the guy said I’ve got more, extra 50 quid and it’s yours, so I said yes naturally. I don’t need all of it but I think it would have been rude to decline 

Bit of an update on this, Sunday morning, was tinkering at the workshop when i had the excellent idea to go for a drive in the Visa, first stop, petrol station 4 miles away. 25 quids worth of your finest unleaded later i was pulling up the junction to leave and rejoin  the main road. Whats this, no brake pedal, all the way to the floor, with no hint previously of anything wrong. Judicious use of handbrake and a very cautious bimble back to the workshop, guess what had failed, master cylinder, total and abrupt failure - Guess what was in the parts i collected day before, thats right, one new master cylinder - that was lucky 😊

[dozeydustman]

Had a weird one on Friday after work. Saab would tick over as in not fuelling properly. Gauge on 1/4 no reserve light on. Tame fitter had a look and reckons the sender in the tank may be bollocksed. Gave me 10l of diesel and after a bit of stuttering normal service resumed. Went to petrol station nearby and on way gauge plummeted to empty and refill fuel now ding dong. Another £20 went in and after the 20 minute drive home the gauge finally went up to about half way. Had been fine all weekend until yesterday afternoon car lacked power on way home from lunch out with the mrs.

2 things I can think of is clogged fuel filter or a banjaxed lift pump. Just on my way to collect the filters from the local Halfrauds - it could be a paper element or a spin on canister so ordered both.

If that doesn’t sort it I’ll be looking for a lift pump!

gives me an opportunity to find which wheel bearing is grumbly as well.

[davehedgehog31]

His neighbours love him, learn his secrets with this one weird trick.

[sdkrc]

9 minutes ago, davehedgehog31 said:

His neighbours love him, learn his secrets with this one weird trick.

[wesacosa]

Well in today's instalment of kick a man when he's down....

Following on from the Panda shitting its gear linkage on the way to the last pre ULEZ MOT opportunity and on the very same day the XM starting to run like a bag of shit.  Today I went to look over the XM and found that despite the most miserable summer weather we have had in a number of years we have managed to have a deposit of Sahara sand and then a few days sun which seems to have fcked all the paint on the roof.   Given one of the main selling points of the car (along with its low mileage) was the lovely paint I am beyond gutted.   Now left with 3 cars I can't drive without paying £12.50 which need a load of work before I can shift them and an owner with zero motivation left

[SiC]

11 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

Today I went to look over the XM and found that despite the most miserable summer weather we have had in a number of years we have managed to have a deposit of Sahara sand and then a few days sun which seems to have fcked all the paint on the roof.   

Too gone/damaged for polishing it out with some aggressive compound?

[wesacosa]

19 minutes ago, SiC said:

Too gone/damaged for polishing it out with some aggressive compound?

not sure, I need to have a proper look.  Those 90s Citroen metallic greens do tend to suffer on roof/bonnet. Not sure if its like the Alfa red where you just end up polishing and cutting the lacquer and don't touch the paint.  Suppose I have nothing left to lose but to try it

[GingerNuttz]

22 hours ago, Lankytim said:

I wouldn’t speak too soon! I’ve been working on the brakes, refitting the master cylinder when I spotted a very old looking  welded patch on the NS chassis next to the steering idler, I poked about at it and it fell off.. I kept poking and poking…… Unfortunately it looks terminal as it would need a lot of dismantling and skill to fix. It would be easier to simply replace the chassis. I was already considering replacing the body tub with a better one, but what do you have when you replace the chassis and the body? Might as well start with a different car.  It’s a shame but I factored in something terminal when I bought the Rover, the rust was well hidden until I pulled the patch off, I’m just glad I wasn’t too many ££££s in when I found it. 
 

I’ve definitely got the P4 taste now though, they’re just such fun cars to work on! Perhaps I should keep my eyes peeled for another project and use this one for spares….

That's fuck all, get it fixed 🤣

[Dyslexic Viking]

As a result of dad's Yaris mot failure last week, Operation shit box was set i motion at 7 on the dot this morning. And was completed exactly 9 hours later.

And it was successful, for not much he was able to buy a 1999 Yaris with only 92,000km and only 2 older owners. And it is in much better condition than expected. It has some damage thanks to older owners who like to drive into things, but has been professionally rust protected when it was fairly new which has saved it as it is very solid.

Support vehicle was my i10 as dad wanted to save miles on the van and I didn't want to drive his old Yaris. And in total it was just over 400 km and 9 hours on the road and I'm broken and worn out.

And the color of this Yaris is worth mentioning as I have never seen it before. It is a kind of blue purple and changes color a little depending on the light.

[Barry Cade]

Bugger. Ragin.. someone twatted the Astro mirror. Put me in a right bad mood. Within 5 mins of posting up on Facebook someone is sending me one FOC. Restores your faith etc..

[Tickman]

Liked for the someone sending you one

[vulgalour]

3 hours ago, GingerNuttz said:

That's fuck all, get it fixed 🤣

You say that but you're the Spiders Georg of rust repair.

[RoverFolkUs]

Ok, saw one of these today. 

Anyone know what the point is of a cabriolet cr*ssover? 

Because I don't! 

Didn't they learn their lesson with the Eos? 

[richardmorris]

20 hours ago, vulgalour said:

@richardmorris From the description, sounds like it might have been a Stutz Blackhawk.  You could get an accessory that made the headlights even bigger with the tripoint design incorporated. Vinyl tops are surprisingly rare on these, given the excess of everything else about them.

 

Close, but I don’t think the front was quite that chromed. I think the car was black with beige highlights . And a lot squarer, rather than flowing lines. Headlamps though are VERY similar.

[vulgalour]

AMC Matador, maybe?  These more commonly had vinyl tops.

I love the slightly goofy look of them.

[dozeydustman]

Also, I installed my garage door motor this evening. Please excuse the mess as still have acres of crap to sort through post house move.

This has made me far too excited.

[richardmorris]

6 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

AMC Matador, maybe?  These more commonly had vinyl tops.

I love the slightly goofy look of them.

No, the stutz is a lot closer. It was the outlandish outsize lights that caught my attention. As in standing proud of the bonnet by several inches.

Could be my memory and a closing speed of 100mph on opposite carriageways. One day I will walk down to the pub on a 1st Sunday and look at the cars!

[vulgalour]

13 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Close, but I don’t think the front was quite that chromed. I think the car was black with beige highlights . And a lot squarer, rather than flowing lines. Headlamps though are VERY similar.

The only other thing that's similar I can think of off the top of my head would be a '77 Chrysler Cordoba.

[richardmorris]

9 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

The only other thing that's similar I can think of off the top of my head would be a '77 Chrysler Cordoba.

I think that’s a lot more like it, but with the huge headlamps from the stutz. Thanks for the suggestions by the way, I really don’t know much about American models.

[richardmorris]

9 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I think that’s a lot more like it, but with the huge headlamps from the stutz. Thanks for the suggestions by the way, I really don’t know much about American models.

Like this superb photoshop…

[vulgalour]

Wait, I know that face!

1970s Cadillac Eldorado accessory Super Fly lights.

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

Wait, I know that face!

1970s Cadillac Eldorado accessory Super Fly lights.

That’s got to be it! Not pretty is it!

[vulgalour]

Finally, a use for all the hoarded ghastly car modification knowledge I intend to inflict on unsuspecting vehicles I've acquired over the years!

[richardmorris]

1 minute ago, vulgalour said:

Finally, a use for all the hoarded ghastly car modification knowledge I intend to inflict on unsuspecting vehicles I've acquired over the years!

No, thank you. I had no idea where to start looking.

[stuboy]

yesterday i went too the monthly hazard meet at eve-gate... id share the pictures but you tube isnt playing ball..grrrrrrrrrr

[reb]

Today I had to have a blood test, it was at 10:45, so I had to get the bus at 10:15, I woke up at 10:00 so that was a good start. I wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything but water past midnight, so no morning coffee.

Blood test was fairly painless. They weighed me too, I've gained nearly 10kg since December somehow.

Once I finished with that I went to Costa for coffee and a toastie before I got the bus home, I thought I had enough time to buy some fags at Tesco too but as I walked towards the bus stop I saw my bus leaving. Not particularly feeling like wandering about a town with fuck all in it for an hour I walked round to the bus stop at the train station, as soon as I got there the Dundee bus pulled in, that seemed like as good a reason as any to go to Dundee so on the bus I got.

Got to Dundee and immediately remembered that the city centre is a desolate wasteland with nothing of any particular interest except CEX and I really don't need more video games I'll never play. I sat on a bench smoking fags and peoplewatching til my arse went numb then walked to the bus station; the bus that would drop me right at the end of my drive was just pulling away. Obviously not time to go home yet! So I get a bus to St Andrews instead, knowing there's a regular* bus to the village from there. I get there to find it absolutely rammed full of students, turns out it was the fresher's fair today! I sit on a bench on Market Street peoplewatching again for a while, then order a pizza from the Domino's I used to work at. I have a brief chat with a couple of my old colleagues, one of whom is going on break and sits with me while I eat the pizza. We reminisce and lament the high staff turnover. Then I go to the bus station. You'll never guess... my bus has just left again! You may realise at this point, I'm not very good at buses! I find out there's a quicker bus goes from a stop around the corner anyway, right next to the pub I used to drink in with Dad. It's not for an hour and a half, so off to the pub I go. I go in and mercifully it seems to be relatively student free, though it is rather full of middle aged men telling eachother golf stories. I ask for a Strongbow, find out they only have the dark fruits one, that'll do I suppose. Then I find out it's a bloody fiver! Daylight robbery if you ask me. I sit at a small table in a little nook and drink slowly. After about 20 minutes my colleague from earlier turns up and we decant into the hilariously shit "beer garden". We chat about life again then it's time for me to go for my bus. I manage to not miss it this time and it's empty except me and the driver. By the time we get to the village, the sun is low and it's not quite as boiling anymore. Before I embark on the walk up the road to the farm I pause on a bench to admire the view over the fields. I say hello to the sheep. When I open the front door the cats run to greet me.

All in all quite a pleasant day, if not particularly exciting. It may not seem like much but it's a big step for me to spend an entire day out and about on my own, I've spent the vast majority of my time since dad died either in my cottage or in hospital. It's a nice reminder that the outside world isn't as scary as it sometimes seems.

[reb]

Some pictures