The new news 24 thread

[lesapandre]

Funny place the internet.

[chadders]

8 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

"So begins an advert for the Ram 1500, a pickup truck slightly bigger than the Panzer I tanks of Nazi Germany and almost as heavy".

One is a US truck manufacturer.

The other is despotic regime responsible for the deaths of upward of the 75 million people including the worst genocide known to mankind.

Any comparison is invidious.

I think Stalin was worse overall, starting with the Holomodor.

At least Hitler didn't systematically starve his own people to death en masse.

[reb]

Writing off an entire article and claiming it is comparing a company to the nazis because of something that is at the end of the day just a clumsy statement of the creators of a piece of the war machine is honestly so daft.

[chadders]

10 minutes ago, reb said:

Writing off an entire article and claiming it is comparing a company to the nazis because of something that is at the end of the day just a clumsy statement of the creators of a piece of the war machine is honestly so daft.

I found it quite useful in appreciating the actual size of the Ram, better than longer than two Fiestas for example.

[calebaaront]

Thought I’d get into the spooky mood and buy a mascot for the Hearse. I present Steven 

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Some of these might be of interest:

 

[richardmorris]

7 minutes ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

Some of these might be of interest:

 

Yes, I’d love a bertone volvo coupe please . Can you deliver the red one?

[Supernaut]

NC500 with a bunch of weirdos from the internet; completed.

Taken at John O Groats this morning:

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, chadders said:

I found it quite useful in appreciating the actual size of the Ram, better than longer than two Fiestas for example.

Less than 0.05% of vehicles registered in the EEA last year were Rams. A Ram is 20ft long, about the same as most LWB vans.

It might be a problem if 10% of vehicles sold were full size US pick ups, but are there many people around who could afford to run one? Really the article is a typical "why oh why" piece written by and for bed wetters. It would fit in the Mail just as well.

[comfortablynumb]

57 minutes ago, calebaaront said:

Thought I’d get into the spooky mood and buy a mascot for the Hearse. I present Steven 

Had one for 30+ years, he lives in my kitchen, and goes by the name of dead Tom.

Was a Muppet treasure island reference so the kids friends weren't scared stupid by him, although a couple still were

[somewhatfoolish]

Dead Tom looks like he might be an anatomically correct skellington for a medical student?

[comfortablynumb]

54 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Dead Tom looks like he might be an anatomically correct skellington for a medical student?

Yeah he is, Mrs cn was studying to be a paediatric nurse, and I thought he might come in handy.

It was him, for £40, or another one in Hertford, which the bloke reckoned was a historical real one, at £900!

Apart from not having £900, I didn't feel comfortable with a real one...😱

[stuboy]

Boot fair this morning.. thought u all enjoy the honda...and few in the auction lot..

[Leyland Worldmaster]

2 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Yes, I’d love a bertone volvo coupe please . Can you deliver the red one?

Consider it done sir! 😜 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, calebaaront said:

I present Steven 

He looks a bit shaky 😀

[brownnova]

Oops… that’s another one in then! 

[stuboy]

Also today nip up the pub for a Pepsi cherry max pint.. the classics..

And now the mordern vag..

 

[Split_Pin]

Checked both driveshafts on the red A4 this morning. I've no idea how it's actually still driving. There must be about 15 degrees or so rotation on the wheel before the drive shaft starts turning and even when it does, they sound like someone stirring a bag of marbles. Nearside sounds like the inner joint is fucked too.

Not driving that again until they're both replaced 😅

[wuvvum]

Got a few bits done this weekend, although not quite as much as I'd hoped as it started raining rather earlier on Saturday afternoon than the forecast had been predicting.  I had the Z4 up on the ramps and gave the rear subframe a good wire brushing and a coat of underseal, and sprayed some rustproofing wax into the holes in the box sections.  The subframe had been an advisory on the MOT and while it isn't bad this will hopefully stop it from getting any worse.  The ungrateful fecker rewarded my efforts by putting the ABS light back on - it's the nearside front sensor again, I think I'm going to have to fork out for a new one.

Then I pulled the Renault 6 onto the drive to remove and attempt to unseize the heater valve - it'd seized closed so I wasn't getting any heat.  I knew roughly what to do as I'd already done the job a few years back, but it's still a massive pain in the arse as the heater valve is in a narrow recess between the scuttle panel and, erm, the other scuttle panel (it's French, don't try to find any logic in there).  Once the valve had been extricated, a good soaking in Plusgas and a few minutes in the vice with me turning the shaft with a spanner had it moving more or less freely again - shoved everything back together and the heater gets lovely and warm now.  I also topped up the antifreeze as it's been not far off freezing at night a couple of times recently.  I did notice that it seems to have a small petrol leak from the fuel pump, but that's going to have to wait until next year now.

Today it was the turn of the Ampera to go up on the ramps, for an oil and filter change (which I managed this time almost without spilling a drop, although I used my Lidl special electric pump rather than undoing the sump plug), and to crack on with rustproofing the front subframe, which again was an MOT advisory.  Getting to the whole subframe (or as much of it as possible) involved attempting to remove the front arch liners, which wasn't entirely successful as some of the fixings showed no interest in coming undone.  I was able to get them loose enough that I could prize them away from the subframe enough to get a flap disc in the gap, although this involved using the grinder with the guard removed so I got a faceful of sparks, rust and assorted debris which was fun*.  The less accessible bits I attacked with a wire brush attachment in the drill, and the really awkward bits with a small handheld wire brush.  

I've got it about as good as I can as far as removing loose paint and surface rust goes, but I ran out of time to finish the job - I have done the inside of the subframe (with cavity wax) and given the whole area a jet wash to get rid of any muck and loose bits of rust, but I still need to do the Lanoguarding, which I'll do if I get a dry lunch break this week.  Then it should be as ready for the winter as I can make it.

The Volvo got its antifreeze topped up as well, but that now seems to be leaking coolant from the thermostat housing, which is an embuggerance.  It might just be the hose - I need to take it off and get a proper look.  I'm hoping it's not the housing as the bolts don't look like they'd be particularly keen to come out of the head.

[ruffgeezer]

Finally got my arse in gear over the weekend to get this one finished up.

It was decided in end that the new floor panel would be filleted and the resultant 2 pieces let in to replace the flimsy originals.

Much seam sealing and painting later, Ingave my new schultz gun an outing and thoroughly treated the underside to some under seal. 

After a day's break to allow the paint to dry and my lungs to recover from breathing too many fumes, I set about putting the interior back together, along with a new front carpet from the same van I removed the floor from.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Looks solid. I'm intrigued by the background though - is the signal box converted into a house? 

[EyesWeldedShut]

Tanya Batteries 👍 
Ordered 9am on a Sunday morning - delivery notification for between 10am and 11 am Monday.
That's service.

***** 11/10 would buy again

[Lord Sterling]

1 hour ago, ruffgeezer said:

...along with a new front carpet from the same van I removed the floor from.

Nice. Good to see what looks to be an original mat in there.

As DL said, is that a signal box converted into some sort of residence?

[ruffgeezer]

Nope, I that is a picture I took whilst unlocking the gates at work this morning, it's still a working box.

[cort1977]

Spent a good bit of time this weekend wrestling with fitting a scrapyard cat to my ungrateful bastard of a Berlingo. Awkward access and multiple connections for adblue etc. but I did eventually manage it last night. Top tip, one of these tools is very handy for PSA exhaust clamps.

New cat is £1200 so very hopeful this will fix the emissions warnings, just need a competent garage with the Diagbox software. Car runs sweetly otherwise but the Euro 6 emissions gear is a pain in the arse.

[Rust Collector]

14 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

Spent a good bit of time this weekend wrestling with fitting a scrapyard cat to my ungrateful bastard of a Berlingo. Awkward access and multiple connections for adblue etc. but I did eventually manage it last night. Top tip, one of these tools is very handy for PSA exhaust clamps.

New cat is £1200 so very hopeful this will fix the emissions warnings, just need a competent garage with the Diagbox software. Car runs sweetly otherwise but the Euro 6 emissions gear is a pain in the arse.

The picture of that tool has just reminded me of something that happened this weekend… I was tidying my garage, and found a tool I’ve had for a few years but never used. I had (wrongly) assumed that it was a broken leather punch or something:

The fact that it’s a Blue Point tool should have been a clue that it wasn’t for that… I finally looked up the part number, and realised it’s a ratcheting tool for releasing those sprung steel hose clamps… All these years I’ve been making do by fucking around with various sets of pliers, when I could have been using this 🤣

[beko1987]

6 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

The picture of that tool has just reminded me of something that happened this weekend… I was tidying my garage, and found a tool I’ve had for a few years but never used. I had (wrongly) assumed that it was a broken leather punch or something:

The fact that it’s a Blue Point tool should have been a clue that it wasn’t for that… I finally looked up the part number, and realised it’s a ratcheting tool for releasing those sprung steel hose clamps… All these years I’ve been making do by fucking around with various sets of pliers, when I could have been using this 🤣

I've had a pair of those for years. When my thermostat housing cracked in my Puma I had to buy it to even think of getting to 2 of the hose clamps 😂

Used it occasionally since, their handy things! Mine was dirt cheap on ebay though. Mine needs a fairly square clamp on though or it slips off (probably because it's cheap shite) 

[chadders]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Got a few bits done this weekend, although not quite as much as I'd hoped as it started raining rather earlier on Saturday afternoon than the forecast had been predicting.  I had the Z4 up on the ramps and gave the rear subframe a good wire brushing and a coat of underseal, and sprayed some rustproofing wax into the holes in the box sections.  The subframe had been an advisory on the MOT and while it isn't bad this will hopefully stop it from getting any worse.  The ungrateful fecker rewarded my efforts by putting the ABS light back on - it's the nearside front sensor again, I think I'm going to have to fork out for a new one.

Then I pulled the Renault 6 onto the drive to remove and attempt to unseize the heater valve - it'd seized closed so I wasn't getting any heat.  I knew roughly what to do as I'd already done the job a few years back, but it's still a massive pain in the arse as the heater valve is in a narrow recess between the scuttle panel and, erm, the other scuttle panel (it's French, don't try to find any logic in there).  Once the valve had been extricated, a good soaking in Plusgas and a few minutes in the vice with me turning the shaft with a spanner had it moving more or less freely again - shoved everything back together and the heater gets lovely and warm now.  I also topped up the antifreeze as it's been not far off freezing at night a couple of times recently.  I did notice that it seems to have a small petrol leak from the fuel pump, but that's going to have to wait until next year now.

Today it was the turn of the Ampera to go up on the ramps, for an oil and filter change (which I managed this time almost without spilling a drop, although I used my Lidl special electric pump rather than undoing the sump plug), and to crack on with rustproofing the front subframe, which again was an MOT advisory.  Getting to the whole subframe (or as much of it as possible) involved attempting to remove the front arch liners, which wasn't entirely successful as some of the fixings showed no interest in coming undone.  I was able to get them loose enough that I could prize them away from the subframe enough to get a flap disc in the gap, although this involved using the grinder with the guard removed so I got a faceful of sparks, rust and assorted debris which was fun*.  The less accessible bits I attacked with a wire brush attachment in the drill, and the really awkward bits with a small handheld wire brush.  

I've got it about as good as I can as far as removing loose paint and surface rust goes, but I ran out of time to finish the job - I have done the inside of the subframe (with cavity wax) and given the whole area a jet wash to get rid of any muck and loose bits of rust, but I still need to do the Lanoguarding, which I'll do if I get a dry lunch break this week.  Then it should be as ready for the winter as I can make it.

The Volvo got its antifreeze topped up as well, but that now seems to be leaking coolant from the thermostat housing, which is an embuggerance.  It might just be the hose - I need to take it off and get a proper look.  I'm hoping it's not the housing as the bolts don't look like they'd be particularly keen to come out of the head.

If it's like my T2 heating it'll seize on and then you'll have to fix it again if we have a summer next year. 

[wuvvum]

It lasted a couple of years the last time I freed it off, but we will see...

[stuboy]

On 11/10/2024 at 20:49, stuboy said:

booked the galaxy in for its mot monday..

Woop it passed