The new news 24 thread

[grogee]

On the topic of shite air con @Yoss and @IronStar I noticed some scrap Maestro and Montego in Spain with air con. I wonder if any of the brochure nerds can tell me if it was a UK option? @Marina door handles? 

I do wonder if it was a proper factory-fit thing or something cobbled together by the dealers? 

I remember seeing a Japanese spec [original] Mini in the works car park that had AC, that's an impressive packaging feat. 

[richardmorris]

1963 Aston Martin DB4 Convertible | London 2024 | RM Sotheby's

[wuvvum]

18 minutes ago, grogee said:

On the topic of shite air con @Yoss and @IronStar I noticed some scrap Maestro and Montego in Spain with air con. I wonder if any of the brochure nerds can tell me if it was a UK option? @Marina door handles? 

I do wonder if it was a proper factory-fit thing or something cobbled together by the dealers? 

I remember seeing a Japanese spec [original] Mini in the works car park that had AC, that's an impressive packaging feat. 

I don't recall seeing aircon as an option in any of the UK brochures.  The diesel Countryman my Dad had as a company car when we first moved to France in 1993 had aircon, but that was a dealer fit option.

[richardmorris]

48 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

amazing, dont think ive ever seen one that wasnt silver, i like the 'well used' look

estimate £100-150K

1968 Aston Martin DB6 | London 2024 | RM Sotheby's

 

[IronStar]

50 minutes ago, grogee said:

I remember seeing a Japanese spec [original] Mini in the works car park that had AC, that's an impressive packaging feat. 

Oz also got an Og Mini with an aircon. As you can guess, I'm hunting for either to shove into mine so it can be driven for more than two months a year. 

Have you considered repatriating Airconed Montego/Maestro, or is it too much effort for something not really necessary over there?

[Yoss]

14 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

estimate £100-150K

1968 Aston Martin DB6 | London 2024 | RM Sotheby's

 

Looks like we're having a bit of an Aston Martin weekend coming up then. 

[Marina door handles]

58 minutes ago, grogee said:

On the topic of shite air con @Yoss and @IronStar I noticed some scrap Maestro and Montego in Spain with air con. I wonder if any of the brochure nerds can tell me if it was a UK option? @Marina door handles? 

I do wonder if it was a proper factory-fit thing or something cobbled together by the dealers? 

I remember seeing a Japanese spec [original] Mini in the works car park that had AC, that's an impressive packaging feat. 

Pretty sure the Japanese spec mini air con was factory.

Don't know about the Maestro or Montego. I suspect for hot climates Austin Rover would have spec'ed vinyl seats, windows that only wind down about  an inch and no air con for maximum misery to absolutely guarantee sale success!  

[IronStar]

23 minutes ago, Marina door handles said:

Pretty sure the Japanese spec mini air con was factory.

Don't know about the Maestro or Montego. I suspect for hot climates Austin Rover would have spec'ed vinyl seats, windows that only wind down about  an inch and no air con for maximum misery to absolutely guarantee sale success!  

Fun* and interesting* fact - I never heard anyone talking shit about BL products before I started visiting / reading British forums. They were always regarded as a nice but oddball choice, always nice place to be in and well specced. People that bought them usually bought another one, or sung praises about how amazing their Rover was and how their new car couldn’t come anywhere close. 

[grogee]

48 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Oz also got an Og Mini with an aircon. As you can guess, I'm hunting for either to shove into mine so it can be driven for more than two months a year. 

Have you considered repatriating Airconed Montego/Maestro, or is it too much effort for something not really necessary over there?

Power steering is my first priority, not really for the steering effort - more for the quicker rack. 

I think AC would have to wait for the lottery win...

Here in UK we had opposite problem with our summer: there wasn't one. This was the sky on the 12th July 2024.

[artdjones]

42 minutes ago, Marina door handles said:

Pretty sure the Japanese spec mini air con was factory.

Don't know about the Maestro or Montego. I suspect for hot climates Austin Rover would have spec'ed vinyl seats, windows that only wind down about  an inch and no air con for maximum misery to absolutely guarantee sale success!  

I know that a lot of US spec Morris Minors still had the door lock on the right hand side. So you had to open the wrong side door and slide across.

[wuvvum]

47 minutes ago, Marina door handles said:

Pretty sure the Japanese spec mini air con was factory.

Yup - for one thing it involved the radiator being put back on the nearside (even on later cars) so the condenser etc. could fit in front of the engine - a bit much to expect a dealer to carry out!

[stuboy]

Popped up local car themed pub... many civics..some nice mustang, a flash datsun sunny and a lotus I can't name.

 

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

Looks like we're having a bit of an Aston Martin weekend coming up then. 

Yes, could have more to see tomorrow. And Oscar India v8 and x pack.

[andyberg]

Jazz news🙁 the bearing noise that only affected 1st to 3rd is now evident in all gears and at idle  with the clutch up. I think it’s terminal. Gearchange is still smooth and clean, but the noise is definitely much worse. To the point where I’m thinking it’s going to go pop at any moment. I knew all about the noise before I bought it so it no reflection on @Sigmund Fraud at all, it’s just one of those things. It could have gone on for years more. I don’t have the funds to get it repaired. Scrappy price is about £160 so I’ll sleep on it and make a decision in the morning. It’s a shame because it’s really a fab little thing, comfy, roomy and sips fuel. 
Looks like the Safrane will be moved to daily duties. 

[IronStar]

9 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Jazz news🙁 the bearing noise that only affected 1st to 3rd is now evident in all gears and at idle  with the clutch up. I think it’s terminal. Gearchange is still smooth and clean, but the noise is definitely much worse. To the point where I’m thinking it’s going to go pop at any moment. I knew all about the noise before I bought it so it no reflection on @Sigmund Fraud at all, it’s just one of those things. It could have gone on for years more. I don’t have the funds to get it repaired. Scrappy price is about £160 so I’ll sleep on it and make a decision in the morning. It’s a shame because it’s really a fab little thing, comfy, roomy and sips fuel. 
Looks like the Safrane will be moved to daily duties. 

If everything else is good, surely it’s cheaper / more cost effective to replace the gearbox with 2nd hand one then take a gamble on a bargain basement car? 

[andyberg]

4 minutes ago, IronStar said:

If everything else is good, surely it’s cheaper / more cost effective to replace the gearbox with 2nd hand one then take a gamble on a bargain basement car? 

A recon box is about £200 but I can’t fit it. I can get the job done in that London for about £450 all in but as it stands 1. I don’t have £450 and 2. I’m not sure it would got to London , I mean it may go on as it is for ages but I have lost a bit of faith I think. My Safrane will do the commute but I don’t really want to use that, that’s why I got the Jazz. 

[IronStar]

1 minute ago, andyberg said:

A recon box is about £200 but I can’t fit it. I can get the job done in that London for about £450 all in but as it stands 1. I don’t have £450 and 2. I’m not sure it would got to London , I mean it may go on as it is for ages but I have lost a bit of faith I think. My Safrane will do the commute but I don’t really want to use that, that’s why I got the Jazz. 

Park it, save £450, get it repaired when you can afford it, drive Safrane in the meantime? If £450 is unaffordable, car to replace it will be a liability with distinct possibility of grenading itself as soon as you get it. Better the devil you know and all that? 

[andyberg]

20 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Park it, save £450, get it repaired when you can afford it, drive Safrane in the meantime? If £450 is unaffordable, car to replace it will be a liability with distinct possibility of grenading itself as soon as you get it. Better the devil you know and all that? 

Yeah I get where you are coming from. And it is a bloody good car apart from this. 
Thank you. A view from the outside helps. 

[IronStar]

On 27/10/2024 at 13:26, Yoss said:

There was a chap on Briskoda (a Škoda forum) in the Dominican Republic who had a Felicia with a carb and after asking around found out they sold them like that in a lot of places, Egypt springs to mind. I guess anywhere with more relaxed emissions laws. 

I was thinking about this, as we usually were prime dumping ground for that kind of shit, and sure enough 

This tanks my hopes of actually finding a fuel injected Favorit over here. If we got Felicia on carb, would they even bother bringing a fuel injected Favorit? Especially as Yugoslav wars were raging, as all the ones available seem to be just-as-war-started ‘91 ones. Keeping the eye on the classifieds in hopes of running into one. Alternatively, find a non-rusty Favorit and terminally rusty Felicia and do the magic of a swap? It’s the same car so should bolt right up? This would defeat the point of cheap + not a project though…. Swings and roundabouts.

[Wibble]

A mate has just, after much deliberation, pulled the trigger and bought this ST170:

Hopefully I’ll get a proper look at the weekend but it’s had a lot of work done and looks pretty decent.

[Sigmund Fraud]

32 minutes ago, andyberg said:

Yeah I get where you are coming from. And it is a bloody good car apart from this. 
Thank you. A view from the outside helps. 

I completely agree with @IronStar on this.

I know this is AS and we're all prone to the old "fallacy of investment", but I really don't think you can get anything comparable to the Jazz for the cost of the gearbox repair.

[Bear]

I fixed the Nissan Juke's heater fan. It was every bit as horrible as they say, except I think I can do it faster by ignoring the workshop manual.

 

[stripped fred]

I just bought one of these for the Micra. Looks like a quality item but worth a try. I like the idea of isolating the power. I don't expect it will last a long time though.

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, IronStar said:

I was thinking about this, as we usually were prime dumping ground for that kind of shit, and sure enough 

This tanks my hopes of actually finding a fuel injected Favorit over here. If we got Felicia on carb, would they even bother bringing a fuel injected Favorit? Especially as Yugoslav wars were raging, as all the ones available seem to be just-as-war-started ‘91 ones. Keeping the eye on the classifieds in hopes of running into one. Alternatively, find a non-rusty Favorit and terminally rusty Felicia and do the magic of a swap? It’s the same car so should bolt right up? This would defeat the point of cheap + not a project though…. Swings and roundabouts.

If you really are serious I would suggest just buying the best one you can find regardless of it's means of propulsion.

Yes anything under the bonnet of a Felicia can go in a Favorit. The mechanical bits will be a straight swap, it's the wiring that will complicate things. The Pierburg carb has a single 12v wire attached to it for the shut off valve when you switch the ignition off. The injected cars have an ECU which will have to be wired in. Personally that scares me more than any carburettor. Also the MPI Felicias over here all had immobilisers fitted which also went via the ECU so you couldn't just remove them. But if, as you suggest, you have a whole donor car it's not a problem as you can transfer the immobiliser over with ECU if you're proficient in these things. Plenty of people do, I've just never learnt all that sort of thing. I'm used to my Triumph where you can follow one wire from one end of the car to the other and see exactly where they all go. 

As I said, I had a bit of trouble with the carb when I bought it but I bought a rebuild kit, watched a YouTube video, rebuilt it then removed the thermostatic idle control and its been fine ever since. I've had it nearly eight years and it gets used  nearly every day. The first thing to check on them is the rubber mount between carb and manifold which perishes and let's air in. 

Personally I'm not sure the SPI is much improvement over the carb as it merely squirts petrol in to  the top of the inlet manifold just like a carb does. The MPI set up is a whole different ball game as it also does away with the distributor in favour of coil packs as well as the multi point injection itself. So if you were going to do it that's the one to go for. 

But I'd still just buy the best one you can find regardless especially if it is one of the higher spec cars with the nicer seats and front fog lights and alloy wheels and stuff. I don't know the designations over there, again they varied from one country to another.

Here the mk1 went L, LX, LS all available with either the 135 or 136 engine. The 135 being the low compression 54hp one which is best avoided. 

The mk2 went LXi, GLXi and Flairline again, as previously mentioned with a small e to designate the 136 engine. 

There's plenty, relatively speaking, for sale in ČZ which is a lot closer to you than us but probably still not viable, I don't know what sort of hoops you'd have to jump through to import cars to Serbia. 

[IronStar]

6 minutes ago, Yoss said:

If you really are serious I would suggest just buying the best one you can find regardless of it's means of propulsion.

Yes anything under the bonnet of a Felicia can go in a Favorit. The mechanical bits will be a straight swap, it's the wiring that will complicate things. The Pierburg carb has a single 12v wire attached to it for the shut off valve when you switch the ignition off. The injected cars have an ECU which will have to be wired in. Personally that scares me more than any carburettor. Also the MPI Felicias over here all had immobilisers fitted which also went via the ECU so you couldn't just remove them. But if, as you suggest, you have a whole donor car it's not a problem as you can transfer the immobiliser over with ECU if you're proficient in these things. Plenty of people do, I've just never learnt all that sort of thing. I'm used to my Triumph where you can follow one wire from one end of the car to the other and see exactly where they all go. 

As I said, I had a bit of trouble with the carb when I bought it but I bought a rebuild kit, watched a YouTube video, rebuilt it then removed the thermostatic idle control and its been fine ever since. I've had it nearly eight years and it gets used  nearly every day. The first thing to check on them is the rubber mount between carb and manifold which perishes and let's air in. 

Personally I'm not sure the SPI is much improvement over the carb as it merely squirts petrol in to  the top of the inlet manifold just like a carb does. The MPI set up is a whole different ball game as it also does away with the distributor in favour of coil packs as well as the multi point injection itself. So if you were going to do it that's the one to go for. 

But I'd still just buy the best one you can find regardless especially if it is one of the higher spec cars with the nicer seats and front fog lights and alloy wheels and stuff. I don't know the designations over there, again they varied from one country to another.

Here the mk1 went L, LX, LS all available with either the 135 or 136 engine. The 135 being the low compression 54hp one which is best avoided. 

The mk2 went LXi, GLXi and Flairline again, as previously mentioned with a small e to designate the 136 engine. 

There's plenty, relatively speaking, for sale in ČZ which is a lot closer to you than us but probably still not viable, I don't know what sort of hoops you'd have to jump through to import cars to Serbia. 

Thanks for all the info! 

I have absolutely terrible experiences and luck with carburetors which is why I’m shying away from them. They always seem to emit that old car stench, because seemingly no one has the right gear to accurately tune them (lambdas, intake air measurement, all the jazz), have random decisions not to play along, this is all being exacerbated by absolute neglect thrown upon these cars for the past number of years, resulting in a need of a full rebuild, or in many cases making the carbs beyond saving, for example if (improperly) drilled for LPG installation. General quality of parts and their availability, let alone number of places that will take a look at a car with carbs, have an idea how it works, or will want to bother with them is not great, and will only get worse. 
There’s no shortage of places that will test or rebuild your injectors, rebuild an ECU, delete an immobilizer, or any other fuel injection bit of the system though. They seem to deal much better with general neglect as they’re not as sensitive precisely machined mechanical parts getting gunked up and failing, and no provision for a backyard hillbilly mechanic to fuck them up as easily by drilling them, rounding off screws, warping them by thinning the mixture too much, and all the other joys* associated.

Importing would be an absolute nightmare (and would it even be worth it at this price point even if I could?).

I think they were badged differently here, but 135/136 designations are the same. I’ll keep an eye out on a 136, and see if I can snag one in decent nick for buttons, or at least get a test drive so I can get an idea of what it’s like. Not going to look super actively, but if something comes my way, I’ll give it a whirl. I’ll tell a few friends who spend stupid amounts of time flicking through cars for sale I’m looking for something, so they might run into one for me as well. 

[Yoss]

11 minutes ago, IronStar said:

Thanks for all the info! 

I have absolutely terrible experiences and luck with carburetors which is why I’m shying away from them. They always seem to emit that old car stench, because seemingly no one has the right gear to accurately tune them (lambdas, intake air measurement, all the jazz), have random decisions not to play along, this is all being exacerbated by absolute neglect thrown upon these cars for the past number of years, resulting in a need of a full rebuild, or in many cases making the carbs beyond saving, for example if (improperly) drilled for LPG installation. General quality of parts and their availability, let alone number of places that will take a look at a car with carbs, have an idea how it works, or will want to bother with them is not great, and will only get worse. 
There’s no shortage of places that will test or rebuild your injectors, rebuild an ECU, delete an immobilizer, or any other fuel injection bit of the system though. They seem to deal much better with general neglect as they’re not as sensitive precisely machined mechanical parts getting gunked up and failing, and no provision for a backyard hillbilly mechanic to fuck them up as easily by drilling them, rounding off screws, warping them by thinning the mixture too much, and all the other joys* associated.

Importing would be an absolute nightmare (and would it even be worth it at this price point even if I could?).

I think they were badged differently here, but 135/136 designations are the same. I’ll keep an eye out on a 136, and see if I can snag one in decent nick for buttons, or at least get a test drive so I can get an idea of what it’s like. Not going to look super actively, but if something comes my way, I’ll give it a whirl. I’ll tell a few friends who spend stupid amounts of time flicking through cars for sale I’m looking for something, so they might run into one for me as well. 

Fair enough, they are all valid points I guess. I'll just wait and see what happens then. 

[andyberg]

8 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

I completely agree with @IronStar on this.

I know this is AS and we're all prone to the old "fallacy of investment", but I really don't think you can get anything comparable to the Jazz for the cost of the gearbox repair.

I have had a sleep. I’ll see if there is anywhere local that can do the repair and see how much they will charge. I’ll do as @IronStar says and park it up for a bit and see if I can save the money after my holiday.  @Sigmund Fraud it is a perfectly capable car and does exactly what I bought it for. 

[Volksy]

Jizzes are known for failing input shaft bearings on the Mk1

Honda didn't recall these, although they did recall Jizzes for everything else, Airbags, Window Switches etc - I know as I had one. 

They did produce an uprated bearing kit (Part: 91002-PMW-305) but it does involve gearbox removal, so probably doesn't help.

+1 on mothballing until you can find a cheap box/cheaper Mechanic - provided it's not rotting away - Mine despite being garaged from new and only having covered 21k when I got it had pretty bad corrosion on all the suspension and it was creeping up the arches. To the point that to remove any nuts, it was easy to crumble them with a set of bolt cutters rather than even try and undo them.

 

[richardmorris]

https://rmsothebys.com/auctions/lf24/lots/r0068-1973-ferrari-dino-246-gts-by-scaglietti/

[Split_Pin]

£80 for the DPF from the Audi and £10 for the Bosch CP3 HP diesel pump out the 75.

Good times!