The new news 24 thread

[gm]

i popped in to see my mam on the way to work on monday, the stupid bini refused to start when i left so i had to borrow her astra  

it was pouring down yesterday so i only had a brief look, i tried the second key - nothing, i hooked up jump leads - nothing, i gave it a stern look - nothing. so i gave up  and borrowed the astra again.

then it occurred to me that i may have breakdown cover on my insurance ?

nice one - even if it’s fucked, i can get it towed home to work on.

i rang the number which sent me a text with a weblink to a form to report my breakdown. sounds rather convoluted but it worked well.

expecting a bit of a wait, i put the kettle on and was pleased to see a message forecasting attendance in approx two hours. so i cancelled the coffee and headed down to me mams house to wait there instead. 5 mins later the phone is ringing and the rac guy will be with me in 10 mins. 

rightly enough, he turned up promptly, stuck his mega jump leads on and pronounced the starter motor dead. he moved his van then gave me a shove down the street and i bump started it in reverse  

you can’t fault service like that - well done, the rac !

i nervously drove it up to scaryoldcortinas place, desperately trying not to stall. as he had just finished doing the mot on the mx5 we swapped over and he will sort the bini in the morning.

 

[stuboy]

21 minutes ago, gm said:

he moved his van then gave me a shove down the street and i bump started it in reverse  

save straining a muscle

[egg]

Pollen filter is another easy win on i10.

Ford Fusion - crawl in footwell
Mondeo - remove scuttle and wiper arm
Mazda 323 - comes in three awkward parts that have to be fitted exactly right
Astra MK4 - can't remember?

Anyway, i10 is simply drop glovebox down with removable side lugs, pop off cover and slide in. No tools needed.

Febi might be an upgrade to Blue Print here.

[Bren]

22 hours ago, Pat Earrings said:

Thought I’d update on the Vectra.

since acquiring it, I’ve already wet/dry sanded and DA polished the headlamps, fixed the floppy indicator thanks to @Popsicle help, replaced the blown heater resistor, and given it an oil/filter, fuel and pollen filter. Fuel filter wasn’t original which was good to see, at least it was done once in the cars life 😂. Even cleaned out the rubber bung and surrounding area of the pollen filter so it doesn’t suffer the flooding in the footwell that it can cause. 

getting underneath there is clearly a small oil leak which, I suspect is from the weeping rocker cover given how it has slowly accumulated over time. Absolutely rinsed brake clean everywhere to clean it all off. I’ve ordered up a Febi rocker cover/gasket set which I hope arrives by the weekend. I’ll replace the plugs then too.

I’ve also changed the nasty plastic steering wheel with one from an SRi which is miles better. 
 

I’ve also had the timing belt/water pump and auxiliary belt done. It was on the original belt as well so glad this is sorted for peace of mind.
 

also put 2 new rear tyres on, as they were so old I couldn’t even see the dot code on one of them! It starts immediately with barely a crank and the engine is really torquey. I think it’s definitely had a clutch in its life as its immediate and a good biting point, again good to see.

I am clearly going beserk but as people know me I’m incredibly pedantic and have to get stuff done asap, else it really itches my brain. The interior is what lets the car down, it’s just tired seats which are typical cheap Vauxhall. I’ve found a guy breaking a VXR and I’m travelling there Saturday where it’ll have VXR recaro seats which will just lift the inside.

I’ve ordered the rear drop links and bushes as they are audibly knocking and for the sake of about £33 all in I may as well do it this month.

next month I’ll replace the thermostat as it’s lazy, and I’ll see about doing the front discs and pads as although pads have plenty on them, the discs are pretty poor in my opinion.

overall, enjoying this car. Will serve me well for a bit.

For the money they are hard to beat. As an insignia owner it makes the vectra look old - which it is. However if I needed a cheap car I would have one in a heartbeat.

At least you don't have the 16v diesel - injectors have to be pulled before you can get the valve cover off.

[Bren]

I managed to change the bulb in the mondeo that had defeated me a couple of weeks ago.

While I was there I remembered one of the screws was mullered on the airbox - it was imposdible to extract the air filter without removing it.

So I got my drill out - 

The rest came out with a pair of end snips -

[320touring]

Hard graft!

[loserone]

18 hours ago, stuboy said:

save straining a muscle

I got some proper hacky looks before Christmas, picking up the kids from school in the Clio when the starter was a bit sticky and having to single handedly bump start it in the dark and snow.  I thought I did pretty well doing it smoothly though!

[wesacosa]

Some dreadful news from the classic Citroen community 

Paul was a nice bloke, generous with his time, knowledge and spare parts and a big reason a huge amount of XMs and Xantias are still on the road 

RIP

[Ghosty]

Added a rear ARB to the Yaris. It's made a huge difference, the car feels loads more confident and planted - new springs and dampers probably help too. Close to pretty much fully overhauling it!

[beko1987]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

Some dreadful news from the classic Citroen community 

Paul was a nice bloke, generous with his time, knowledge and spare parts and a big reason a huge amount of XMs and Xantias are still on the road 

RIP

Read that earlier, such a shame. He was a wonderful guy, messaged me alot when I had my xm 😥 was practically begging people to come take the spares he had over the last few months too so they went to a good home

[17-Coffees]

Two weeks ago I posted about the Proton Saga I bought, well I found and bought 2 more! 🤣

And a RAM Rebel, to add to the growing collection of Mopar I have. 

 

[Pat Earrings]

Diagnosed that the camshaft adjusters on the Vectra are making that common noise that they all eventually do. No rattle on startup, but once up to temperature when oil pressure naturally drops it becomes audible. I didn’t clock this, and I wish I’d done so before doing the cambelt as it could have been done as a “while you’re in there” job. 🤦‍♂️

I took the solenoids out and removed the filters and gauze which didn’t do anything really as it didn’t have any startup rattle to begin with. Duly booked in on payday as yes, I could live with it till it got much much worse but seeing as it’s my daily, I don’t want it to give way or cause issues down the line. Both pulleys come in at about £200 as well which is a kicker. I’m going to replace the solenoids with new ones just so it’s all done. 
 

Providing sterling workhorse duties for the two tip runs earlier too

[SiC]

Just had a letter from the current owner of my P4 after finding my name in the history. Has given me a load of questions to answer 😂

I'm most glad it's gone to an owner who is going to restore it!

[stuboy]

Just found my friends old lady for sale... 2 grand.... I used too love driving..  looks bit rougher now...

[stuboy]

[stuboy]

16 minutes ago, stuboy said:

God knows where the txt gone too..

 

Well another run roo the tip , trying to get the missus drive with a trailer as she has a show to go too soon and needs to get dragging the thing.. but she declined .. I told her ok ill hook it up and load and unload it and she can do the rest... lol

[richardmorris]

Bought a new toy and polished the car. Before and after door pics. Not bad for a first attempt. 

[egg]

A design fail in the i10 is these sun visor surrounds that double as 'card holders' but therefore break with age.

Even plain low spec grubby replacement visors are £25 on the bay, which seems a bit expensive. The MK2 i10 dropped the card holder thing, but they have different fixing attachments, so probably don't fit as a swap/'upgrade'. MK1 Picanto ones look different too. So araldite instead, might last 5 minutes.

[Snake Charmer]

On 11/04/2024 at 18:07, wesacosa said:

Some dreadful news from the classic Citroen community 

Paul was a nice bloke, generous with his time, knowledge and spare parts and a big reason a huge amount of XMs and Xantias are still on the road 

RIP

My condolences for the loss of your friend. 

 

[wesacosa]

12 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

My condolences for the loss of your friend. 

 

thanks although I was just posting someone elses Facebook post. I did know Paul through the XM forum and Facebook and had met him at Citroen events but it was one of his actual friends who's post I used here

He will be a huge loss to the XM community though for his knowledge and his hoard of spares

 

[Snake Charmer]

17 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

thanks although I was just posting someone elses Facebook post. I did know Paul through the XM forum and Facebook and had met him at Citroen events but it was one of his actual friends who's post I used here

He will be a huge loss to the XM community though for his knowledge and his hoard of spares

 

Ah, OK. I just Googled him and found a post on the French car forum from January. Sounds like he had an awful time at such a young age as the average diagnosis is around 70. 

[wesacosa]

10 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

Ah, OK. I just Googled him and found a post on the French car forum from January. Sounds like he had an awful time at such a young age as the average diagnosis is around 70. 

yeah 47 is no age at all. All very sad 

[chancer]

Spotted this today. Probably one for the didnt know they existed thread...avon tuning triumph acclaim...it looked absolutely hanging, no doubt it doesnt need an MOT now....

[Wibble]

5 minutes ago, chancer said:

Spotted this today. Probably one for the didnt know they existed thread...avon tuning triumph acclaim...it looked absolutely hanging, no doubt it doesnt need an MOT now....

Wow! That’s a rare beast indeed.

[chancer]

4 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Wow! That’s a rare beast 

Yes it is. And if they dont address the rampant rust and poor quality repairs to the sills, it will be extinct. This is exactly the reason old stuff should still be subject to MOT test

[EyesWeldedShut]

4 minutes ago, chancer said:

Spotted this today. Probably one for the didnt know they existed thread...avon tuning triumph acclaim...it looked absolutely hanging, no doubt it doesnt need an MOT now....

Did better than me then - just been in Glasgow for the first time in 22 years. Stayed on the edge of the CAZ over at the SECC and we saw very, very little of anything older than a 2010 plate. Even with the CAZ nearby it was a bit naff (plenty of big, FO, modern cars of all sorts, they look a million dollars but the never-never would, wouldn't it?).
Ditto motorway - couple of Volvo 940/960, a 1999 Corolla and a 51 plated Almeira who did a wee bit of a 'Rubber Duck' convoy with us for a laugh.
We did have a good time - won the 'oldest car in the hotel car park prize'  - all three nights
Also a variation on six steps to Kevin Bacon - six steps to Arnold Clark. Players take turns to clock the motors driving past in batches of six. If you get a yellow, Arnold Clark sticker in your six cars then play passes to the next player. If you don't get a yellow AC sticker then you have to buy the next round.
There's a lot of AC stickered cars in Glasgow.

Car stuff? Took the Rover 75 diseasel  - very nice place to be. Reckon mpg was in the high forties  and it was v.nice to get out of a car after  7 hours driving and finding myself able to stand upright and walk without any swearing. 
 

[Split_Pin]

No old cars in Scotland because they salt the roads from late September until late May in  some areas.

Good choice to take the 75. Its a great way to cover a hundred miles and get out feeling like you've only done ten.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, chancer said:

Spotted this today. Probably one for the didnt know they existed thread...avon tuning triumph acclaim...it looked absolutely hanging, no doubt it doesnt need an MOT now....

That's a shame. It looked pretty clean when one of the previous owners shared his progress on it on here in 2020/1. 

 

 

[High Jetter]

I'd forgotten that thread, but remembered the car. Where is he now?

[Spottedlaurel]

After the LS400 got a fresh MoT last week I called into the garage to swap the Laurel for it:

They kept the Datsun all week, giving it a service and working towards this at the end of Friday afternoon:

Yay! I know it doesn't 'need' one, but having not had a test since 2020 I felt it would do no harm to go through a good checkover and get one if at all possible. Needed a washer pump (sorted by a similar-sized universal replacement), foglamps reinstated (loose wire) and a total of five gaiters on the front suspension and steering. No corrosion!

It had another Lexus friend when I picked it up on Friday:

With another one lurking outside:

No coincidence - they belong to Miss SL's BF and some parts swapping is on the agenda to get the R-reg one back on the road. S-reg DHP model is the nicer one of the two and is his long-term proposition.

In another bay they had a '90s JDM Toyota Estima which they're resurrected for a customer after it'd been off the road for a few years.

Was hoping to celebrate my LS400 returning to the road by taking it for a trip to Norwich yesterday, but Mrs SL wanted us to buy a tree so the Carina E was used instead. We briefly had a '90s Toyota convoy when this tidy Starlet followed us:

And we found a shiny Accent:

Don't think there'll be much car action to report today - got six bulk bags of gravel and one of bark mulch to shift.....