The new news 24 thread

[320touring]

This was fun. 5year old Honda Civic. Doing the front brakes.

 

Disc retaining screw stripped. Drilled out ok.

Got the caliper off and pushed back, pads out and carrier off no bother. Came apart beautifully.

Disc rusted to the hub. Wouldn't move with hammer/block of wood despite braying it to actual fuck.

Godson sensibly decided to put it back together and head home.

It did get an overdue oil and filter though so at least it left better than it came in!

[SiC]

14 hours ago, 320touring said:

Thanks, will investigate further on that basis.

The exciter wire goes into the regulator electronics. I wonder if leaving it hanging unconnected has left it susceptable to picking up electrical noise (especially if it was generating at one point which suggests it was getting something flowing into it) and has now frazzled thr regulator. 

[stuboy]

I had a thought I carry some tools , twin subs in the boot and can get odd contact in the rear suspension? So I thought what about some spring assist cups like ones below?

[Yoss]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

I had a thought I carry some tools , twin subs in the boot and can get odd contact in the rear suspension? So I thought what about some spring assist cups like ones below?

I've got those on the back of the Triumph. The front suspension on the FWD cars is similar to the Dolomite so I was able to fit uprated springs and shocks meant for the Sprint. But the rear suspension is unique so there are no upgrades available so I put a set of these in. I too have a boot full of tools and spares so they are doubly useful. 

[Lord Sterling]

Came home this morning from work on the Vectra to hear the power steering moaning, discovered that the fluid level was even less than the minimum mark! In fact it was off the level.

Feeling a tad out of it, so I decided to sleep and sort it out later. So when I woke up and I found some Power Steering fluid, coolant etc... and topped up all levels. 

The inner side of one tyre is getting very low so some front tyres and an alignment at front.

[stuboy]

just watching this... old cars...etc etc... 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v4h4

[artdjones]

Looking through a gate in an Honfleur backstreet.

[Ohdearme]

Mot fail for the beige Octavia for things I expected but also a thing I didn’t.

Headlamp mount insecure…there’s a twizzly plastic screw in the top of the headlight that secures it in the mount.

It dark so no picture but it’s proving hard to find the part number.

It’s like a big black plastic screw head with a bulky head and a plastic thread.

Any ideas? Googling engine bays and stuff to find a part number or photo.

[Ohdearme]

4 minutes ago, Ohdearme said:

Mot fail for the beige Octavia for things I expected but also a thing I didn’t.

Headlamp mount insecure…there’s a twizzly plastic screw in the top of the headlight that secures it in the mount.

It dark so no picture but it’s proving hard to find the part number.

It’s like a big black plastic screw head with a bulky head and a plastic thread.

Any ideas? Googling engine bays and stuff to find a part number or photo.

It’s part number 14 on here but this is a mk1 diagram

 

 

[Rustybullethole]

8 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

It’s part number 14 on here but this is a mk1 diagram

 

 

Are you a stickeler for originality or could you nut and bolt it or cut a thread in a dice or similar bit of plastic? 

Or breaker's yard I guess. 

[Ohdearme]

3 hours ago, Rustybullethole said:

Are you a stickeler for originality or could you nut and bolt it or cut a thread in a dice or similar bit of plastic? 

Or breaker's yard I guess. 

Yeah, I’d prefer original tbh. Thought it would be a quick five minute eBay search and about a fiver but I couldn’t find it.

I will indeed be using some form of short term bodge with penny washers, hope and a long bolt to get back through MOT now but I’d rather it was original.

Thanks.

[DeanH]

12 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

Mot fail for the beige Octavia for things I expected but also a thing I didn’t.

Headlamp mount insecure…there’s a twizzly plastic screw in the top of the headlight that secures it in the mount.

It dark so no picture but it’s proving hard to find the part number.

It’s like a big black plastic screw head with a bulky head and a plastic thread.

Any ideas? Googling engine bays and stuff to find a part number or photo.

There's a VAG breakers in Huddersfield that specialises in the local taxi market. Might be able to just turn up and get one off a shell they have. It's at the far end of Lower Viaduct Street.

Or smashing VWs in Leeds?

[Snake Charmer]

1935 Duesenberg SJ.

 

[auntiemaryscanary]

Garage racking shelving now boarded out

@Mally My head is now safe 

Stuff going on the shelves will be that which is useful/required with a good chunk destined for a car boot sale. Anything that doesn't sell will go straight to the charity shop or tip. That's the plan, whether it happens or not is another matter.

[richardmorris]

I’ve been lying alongside the 2cv this morning with a wire brush and bottle of lanoguard. A couple of areas I knew about to keep an eye on, but hopefully most will go when I get the bulkhead floor done. However I did notice the absence of the near side rear bump stop. The bracket and thread in the plate are all there so it must have vibrated loose.

[Split_Pin]

Never too old:

Like when I was 10, I had some birthday money so bought this. For anyone interested, its in offer at Smyths at the moment.

This will go superbly with my Mercedes Arocs that I got 7 years ago.

[4wheeledstool]

Sent this one back to its owner last week.

And replaced it with this one.

Eventually I'll run out of G40s to give "the treatment" and I'll have to try something else.

[brownnova]

Led a 2CV club run to the absolutely superb Gwydir Castle in Llanrwst today. It was like stepping into the 1600s in there! And there were many many peacocks! 

[wuvvum]

Took the Merc to the local tyre place yesterday to get the second new Uniroyal Rainsport fitted to the front, and at the same time they fitted the pair of part worn (>5mm tread, 2023 date code) 235/45x17 Falkens I'd bought off eBay on the back wheels.  So it now has a full set of decent tyres.  A run up the road confirmed that the vibration at 70mph has disappeared - how it'll cope with Autobahn speeds I'm not sure, there isn't really anywhere to safely wind a car up to 150 round here.  I've spent far too much money on this car, and I'm not entirely sure why - it's rather unlike me to splash out on new premium tyres for anything I buy.

I was supposed to be getting the new CV boot fitted to the Ampera this weekend, but I appear to have lost the locking wheel nut key so that was a non-starter.  I did manage to get the front end up on the ramps, with the help of some judiciously-placed bits of wood, so I was able to crawl underneath for a proper look at the subframe.  As MOT man said, it's looking somewhat scabby (most of the original underseal has peeled off) but it's still solid.  I started to have a crack at cleaning it up with a combination of grinder + flap wheel and drill + wire brush attachment, but to get at the front half the undertrays need to come off, and they are all of a piece with the front half of the wheelarch liners, so the wheels will need to come off, so we were back to square one again.  There's quite a bit of metal there to clean up - it's probably going to take half a day to get it properly cleaned and rustproofed / Lanoguarded and squirt cavity wax into the box sections - so I'm hoping we'll have a dry, mildish weekend in October so I can have a day of rustproofing shite (the rear subframe on the Z4 also needs doing, and I'll probably give the Merc a few squirts as well).

My original plan for today was to back the Z4 up onto the ramps and make a start cleaning up the rear subframe on that, but when I finally managed to get myself up and running this morning (I've been sleeping really badly recently) I decided I really couldn't be arsed crawling around under cars again.  So I spent some time clearing some of the crap out of the Merc (I'm still intending to take it on holiday in a week's time) and then fitted the new air filters that the previous owner supplied with the car - the old ones weren't in the first flush of youth so that was hopefully time well spent.

It's driving pretty nicely now, although I think the gearbox could do with a service in the medium term if I keep the car as it's a little jerky sometimes from cold.  It also still seems to be using a little bit of oil, but not enough to be a major issue - I'll just stick the gallon of cheap eBay Mannol 10W40 in the boot when I go on holiday in case it needs a top-up or two.  I possibly should have used 10W40 when I did the oil change, rather than 5W30 - that's the recommended spec but it seems a tad thin for a 19-year-old engine with nearly 200K on the clock, I'm pretty sure the tolerances won't be as tight as when it was new...

[egg]

Another family run indie garage closes, my dad used to supply parts to them.

“But there are fewer and fewer independent garages like mine. In Walmer and Deal 30 years ago there were at least 30 - now there are only three or four.”

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/deal/news/sadness-as-popular-family-run-garage-has-to-close-after-96-y-312853/

[andy18s]

Today's spottage whilst chasing up insurance issues.

[loserone]

@PSAPerv 

[Lankytim]

I’m the mystery buyer of @HMC’s P4!

It was transported up from the bottom of Devon to my Dads driveway in Birmingham last week and I collected it from him this Sunday and drove it home to Stoke.

First impressions are it’s a bit tattier than I hoped it would be, although it starts and drives pretty nicely, the straight 6 exhaust note sounding fabulous, it’s also no slouch either! 
 

Body wise it’s quite crunchy although on first inspection the chassis looks to be in good fettle. It will need rear arches, plating to the boot floor and both sills repairing, also much of the electrics aren’t working but they shouldn’t be too much of a disaster to sort. The rear springs have gone flat and also need replacement. 
 

It’s a nail but I had to pinch myself driving home that I’m at the helm of a P4, such a buzz! 
 

In other news, the Laguna has been throwing up a message for the ABS for the last few months and recently it became a permanent feature on the dashboard . I borrowed a code reader to find out which ABS sensor was the culprit only to find that it’s the ABS pump. This is in a really awkward position on the Laguna 3 and with a month of MOT remaining and some other jobs necessary it might be the end of the road. That Mondeo auto that was for sale recently fitted the bill as a replacement but it’s now sold so I’m keeping my eyes peeled for any cheap similarly sized cars that can munch some motorway miles. I’ve got a month or so to find something nice before the MOT runs out so hopefully something will turn up in time.    

 

[captain_70s]

Rubbing balm into my hide. Ooh er missus.

[somewhatfoolish]

Have you bought another old heap or is it just the seats? 😁

[Matty]

Ooff. Love it @Lankytim

[captain_70s]

44 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Have you bought another old heap or is it just the seats? 😁

I have a strict "one out, one in" policy and have sworn off projects. Especially ones old enough to have unobtanium parts, and which are full of rusty holes, and which have been entirely dismantled by somebody else...

Anyway. Here's a nice picture of my cardboard box of chrome that lives in the spare bedroom with the seats...

 

[doug]

On 14/09/2024 at 22:02, artdjones said:

Looking through a gate in an Honfleur backstreet.

Was in Rouen on Sunday.

[doug]

Also saw these wacky kids driving around tooting their horns. 

[wuvvum]

It was a nice evening, so after work I went for a bike ride to Peru.