The new news 24 thread

[Wilko220]

This evening's events included watching about 20 minutes of the Top Gear 'India special' before finding something better to do.

Perhaps, in due course, someone else can fill me in on the absolutely fucking hilarious way in which they ended up mindlessly wrecking the four classic cars.

[Richard]

Simply tune into Dave and watch whatever episode is playing there, it'll be exactly the same.

[Cavcraft]

Just watching it now. Already had one 'completely unstaged' incident involving a Mini with some cans of food on the roof, a bit of getting stuck in traffic and some twattish driving.

[gdhaydock]

And venting the aircon on the Rolls (Probably R12 gas) straight to atmosphere ....... (Staged or otherwise, I bet they get a few complaints)

[ashmicro]

And venting the aircon on the Rolls (Probably R12 gas) straight to atmosphere ....... (Staged or otherwise, I bet they get a few complaints)

 

 

Was thinking the same thing myself.

[RoadworkUK]

Yes. It wasn't very good.

 

Been out shopping in OMG JANUARY SALEZ. There's something wrong with me because I genuinely enjoyed it; spending money Nic and I got at Christmas on pots and pans, towels and ephemera for the house we should be moving into in Jan some time...

 

I'm even looking forward to decorating.

 

I should probably think about working on the cars at some point, too.

[dollywobbler]

I should probably think about working on the cars at some point, too.

 

Indeed. Some of us are eagerly awaiting Rover Cambelt Part Two - this time it's even more painful!

[CreepingJesus]

Part worn Pirelli P6 sourced and fitted for £25. Now the ten ton Volvo goes round right hand bends as well as lefts...

Luckily it's got about the same tread depth as the Hwa-Fong Slidemaster on the other side, so I'll run them out and fit a couple of good 'uns in a month or two, depending on what pops up on t'Bay.

Oh, and I washed it, and threw out all the Twix wrappers. Hardcore car maintenance.

[dieselnutjob]

at lunchtime I pulled three of the side trims off the 604 that had been glued on, scraped off the glue and refitted with the proper clips which cost 20p each

 

then I put the car through a car wash on the way home as I'm no longer afraid of trim being ripped off

 

now one of the rear wings is full of water no idea how it gets in there

[Pete-M]

at lunchtime I pulled three of the side trims off the 604 that had been glued on, scraped off the glue and refitted with the proper clips which cost 20p each

 

then I put the car through a car wash on the way home as I'm no longer afraid of trim being ripped off

 

now one of the rear wings is full of water no idea how it gets in there

 

Mine won't have the same clips will it? I'm wondering how to get the side trims on properly. Last time it turns out was a mixture of self-tappers, double sided sticky tape and prayers.

 

Actually, thinking about it, they can't be. Mine's not got any holes in the sides....

[trigger]

Just put my 18 year old Golf Cabriolet in for it's MOT, luckily it's passed, mind you it has only covered 3695 miles since it's last one, I did get a few advisories for a tyre, corroded brake pipes and a worn hand brake ratchet but I'm not going to worry to much about that.

[Cavcraft]

Bollocksed up fitting the temp gauge sensor on the Audi. Lost a clip and now the sodding gauge doesn't move at all. I shall wait for junior to get home and have a look.

Oh well, took off most of the stupid 'Monster Energy' sticker from the boot of his Corsa and fitted the later model slightly tinted lights to the rear which look a lot better than the clearer ones it had fitted.

[Lankytim]

I have a cold, so I took the opportunity to work on my spares 240 in the rain. I now have full-blown MANFLU but I salvaged a height adjustable seat base to go in the passenger side of my road going 240, plus I traced and removed the wiring loom for the electric rear windows. Its all plug and play by the looks of it. I had loads of people on the Volvo forum telling me it was pretty much impossible to fit electric rear windows to a 240 which didnt have them fitted as the wiring was completely different. Maybe my road 240 is unique or something, as its all there ready to plug and play with the new loom.

 

I also drained the last 6 litres from the fuel tank. Lovely.

[dieselnutjob]

at lunchtime I pulled three of the side trims off the 604 that had been glued on, scraped off the glue and refitted with the proper clips which cost 20p each

 

then I put the car through a car wash on the way home as I'm no longer afraid of trim being ripped off

 

now one of the rear wings is full of water no idea how it gets in there

 

Mine won't have the same clips will it? I'm wondering how to get the side trims on properly. Last time it turns out was a mixture of self-tappers, double sided sticky tape and prayers.

 

Actually, thinking about it, they can't be. Mine's not got any holes in the sides....

 

Mine has more than twenty holes down each side. It would be obvious. Probably that double sided black foam which you can get from bodywork places would be best for yours. eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180727731135

[Lord Sterling]

Right! After the expansion tank problem my Sterling had I'd decided to stop using it in case the crack got bigger and blew. Looking through my small collection of expansion tanks brought nothing up, everything I had was either broken or heavily cracked. So last week I decided to borrow Ma_Sterlings Micra and get up to my garage to see if I had anything there. The Micra was parked at the local train station (As Ma_Sterling commutes by train) but whilst walking there I caught out in a minor storm and got soaked, great, things werent that great at the garage either, the only expansion tank I could get my hands on was also broken Not only that but I couldnt get into the back of my other Sterling due to tons of stuff stored around it (Mostly belonging to the fella I rent the garage off) I manage to open the boot but couldnt shut it due to something fallin gh behiond the rear bumper

 

A mate of mine had a tank for me but I wasnt sure when we'd be able to sort it out, so I took a leisurly drive up to my garage, go a tank off my 87' Sterling (Something I didnt want to do) got my gloves soaked in stale coolant and popped back home, I popped off the old tank trying to save as much coolant as I couldnt instead getting my gloves soaked in yet more coolant, I gave up and let it spill out, I popped the new 'borrowed' tank on, took a walk up to the motorfactors and bought some 5 year long-life coolant (stuff thats already in my car) took it for a spin and now all seems well so far..........

[dollywobbler]

BX still undergoing surgery.

 

Rot cut out of the LH inner rear wing. A BIG hole!

 

Still lots to do, but it's starting to get there. Hopefully I'll get it back tomorrow, with the new tailgate fitted (a working tailgate! Luxury!) and without a huge hole in the boot. Tailgate hinge has been repaired. More rot has been unearthed, but the chap needs his workshop back for some other jobs, so that'll have to wait until the next session in 2012. I can only afford to attack bits as and when, so this arrangement works pretty well.

[wackywacerwill]

Be careful not to burn that big bit of liquorish ^^^, it would ruin the flavour.

 

Current vehicle status is as follows;

Van - Now has non flat battery and tyre Put a tube in the 'repaired' tyre as I was sick of trying to inflate it to 60ish psi with a hand pump.

Fiat - Stripped bentness and will have a new wing tomorrow for lining up to see what needs pulling where.

Pug - Running sweet with new HG and oil and the back quarters are looking smoother with 1/2 pound of pudding in them. Currently in yellow filler primer as it was all I had to hand, will no doubt need a bit more work when viewed in the light of day as it was dark by the time I'd finished hand sanding them.

Leon - Had petrol and new tax disc applied for (only because it can be cashed in come mot time)

Cortina - Now officially off the road, sorned with no mot or progress made due to time spent on the other shite:(

Bikes - All broken apart from the sandracer cb and ty250. TY got it's first wash in about a year which is pretty bad for a well used trials bike. As well as the regular service stuff I also fixed a few bits that were falling off and only got noticed when I washed it. Air cooled 2 strokes take some serious abuse, proper shite machine

[Pete-M]

BX still undergoing surgery.

 

Oook. That feeling when you find more rot than expected is a mighty miserable one innit? Got me a fair few times with the 604, that did.

[dollywobbler]

To be honest Pete, I knew it was pretty bad and we haven't yet found any really nasty, unexpected stuff. Just reminding me that getting it sorted is going to take an awfully long time. The biggest challenge will be stopping it falling apart before I can get it all sorted! Especially as the 2CV is undergoing a similar programme and still needs a fair bit of welding before April. Might need the body off the chassis (which is a few hours work thankfully!).

[Craig the Princess]

Bit of a shite weekend, RichieG came up on Thursday in his freshly welded and resprayed Talbot Alpine Rapire

and we got the FSO running (again) on Friday with help from our housemate's Morris 18/22 (which will soon be for sale).

 

Today theorganist came over to by a Maxi exhaust section and I very kindly let me drive his Renault 14 . I now want a Renault 14

 

No pictures because I'm an idiot

[Richieg]

Had a wicked couple of days Mate!,will you thank Jen and peter for the warm hospitality!

And i need to speak to Peter about the wedge . . . . hmmmm lol

[barefoot]

threw wife out, backed up

shouted, take picture,

 

 

& a happy new year to all you shiters

[Shep Shepherd]

TV2 went over the bridge today - the weighbridge at work to be precise - as I was curious about how much it weighed and I had nothing better to do:

 

 

Heavy Car is heavy:

 

 

Probably not quite as heavy as The Volvo, though!

 

Does anyone know how much money 1500kg of TV2 would net me at a scrapyard? I'm not scrapping the car, by the way

[Richard]

I think a lot of current shopping cars would beat that, I'm sure the last model of diesel Astra was over 1700kg.

[Skizzer]

threw wife out, backed up

shouted, take picture,

 

[of Scirocco]

 

Nice car. I wish mine looked like that

[Lankytim]

I took my old 16v 940 estate over a weighbridge once and it weighed 1500Kg too!

[Station]

I've been carless for the past six months, and with that brought things like not spending my entire bank account on insurance and petrol and increased health from having to walk/cycle everywhere. If I didn't have to work so far away, I'd happily continue this lifestyle.

So, I'll be needing a new car I said. Having borrowed my pa's 2.0 diesel Mondeo when needed, I didn't want anything big or luxurious - even doing 40 miles in it felt too much. I planned on getting a Isuzu diesel Corsa or a 1.0 Micra. I've had experience of both and you really can't go wrong. I missed out on a t&t 200 quid Micra, and running out of time I was getting desperate.

So I bought this of a mate of a mate:

 

 

It's a Skoda Felicia 1.3 LXi. I've never owned a 90's Volkswagen, never mind a Skoda and from the shite you hear about VW, I was fairly confident I was going to get a good enough car.

The good points are it's had a fair amount of servicing and from just looking at it, it's had a good life. To get the first 'problem' out of the way, it's the engine. Driving it, I'm transformed back to 1996 driving a mk4 Ford Orion with it's tappet-tastic CVH. I've had a few hours behind the wheel in the Felicia, and there's no way of blocking out that noise - it's horrific. Imagine slamming close the drawer where you keep your knives and forks over and over again and we have the 1289cc Skoda engine. 'It's a VW engine' I was told. I'm informed these engines are, like the CVH, very reliable and maintenance free. The ride is actually quite good. If you've ever driven anything from Czechoslovakia. Or if you've ever gone down a staircase on your arse.

 

To be honest, I'm expecting it to just do it's job as I'm pretty happy with it, although I'll definitely offload it at the end of the month.

[Felly Magic]

Do the valve clearances on it, and you will find it should quieten down a bit. I drive a 78,000 miler Felicia SE 1.3 MPi, and it isn't a bad old hector, and regularly does over 40 mpg. Grot spots are the arches and along the tailgate where the plastic trim is.

 

The 1289cc OHV lump is shall we say, somewhat crude, and actually a very old engine that is very closely related to the old rear engined Skuds. The LXi you have is very, very basic, and I don't think has as much sound deadening as the GLXi. I take it this is a series 1A model (no side strips/airbag & single point injection lump)

[Station]

I've heard about the valve clearances. I'll have to do that, I can't take the noise anymore.

Oh yes, very, very basic. The inside is actually very cozy, which I like in a car - everything is either brown or blue (I can't remember) and it just blends in. It reminds me of those Rover 213's, except less comfy and you've not got that nice 12v engine, with a 100 piece wash-board orchestra in it's place.

Although the bloke selling the car claimed it had no problems, I have so far discovered these problems that made themselves present the moment I drove the car:

 

Wiper relay - intermittent is controlled by a button (not the stalk) on a the dashboard. Some numpty has cut the wire under the steering shroud and wired to the switch. Is this the relay? I have a VW spare I think (the programmable one).

The heating through the vents is shite - is this normal? Worst ventilation/heating I've ever experienced in a car.

The speedo works, but the mile/trip meters don't.

 

Also, the thermostat is out, it's luke warm, but I know having coolant at that temp isn't that good for the engine or the temp sensor/fuelling.

 

A more generic one:

 

Car has run fine, but actually ran out of petrol yesterday (needle above red, wasn't driving, seller left tank dry). Since then it's been really difficult to start - even flattening a battery. Spark plugs flooded and thrice been on the stove to dry out. This may be linked to me giving the engine bay a quick blast with the jet wash, along with the arches, which were inches thick with mud.

 

[Felly Magic]

These buggers need a stat in (HGF is fairly common on these, and you must use VAG spec red coolant), and mine has a blast furnace like heater/blower. It's toasty warm inside after less than 5 mins driving. The mileometer failing is very common on these, often caused by plonkers pressing the trip meter reset whilst the car is moving, stripping the plastic gear drive inside. Replacement clocksets are available on ebay fairly often, but you have to remember to get the correct type, as the wiring loom changed over the years, due to more toys being added. (Mine has 2 airbags, and remote locks/leccy windows, all factory fitted)

It does sound like you gave the engine electrics a bit of a dousing too, which may be causing the immobiliser to play up, and there is no way to bypass this easily, as it is part of the engine ECU (if you have more than one key, try the spare), and my fuel gauge will go well into the red, and the low fuel light will come on before it dies. The wiper bodge sounds nasty too, and could have disturbed the immobiliser pickup on the ignition barrel too.. The fuel filter is a bastard on these too, which could also be your prob, as all the shite in the tank has been dragged up when it ran out.

 

By the way, this Felicia of mine is the 4th in the family, and my 3rd (Had a Mk1A GLXi, a 1.9D Cube van, and this 1.3 SE, and dad had an R reg Mk1B GLi)