The new news 24 thread

[Cavcraft]

Are 944s easy to live with, Barefoot? Quite fancy one one day.

[barefoot]

We've had it since 94.

Wife drives it from J24 to J28 every day.

Superb, if revvy motorway car.

Acceleration is fun, cornering is more fun.

I've only ever managed to do 125mph, but I'd left it in 4th so I suspect it would show a lot more in top gear!

Fuelly signature is accurate.

Parts dear, back box £380, distributer cap/rotor arm £100+

but it is massively over engineered & doesn't go wrong

Although I do spend a few bob having it serviced / maintained by a local specialist to make sure it doesn't go wrong.

1987 car currently on second speedo at about 240,000

[Wilko220]

I popped into a local bodyshop today whilst out in the Cortina to get a quote on getting the bodywork sorted, They said to strip it right back, weld the tops of the wings, prime and paint the car to a good standard and do inside the door shuts it would cost £2000.

 

A bit more then i was expecting, I'm still really tempted to throw caution to the wind and get it done but I'll shop around first, the trouble is that i spend £2100 on the car, then if i spend another £2000 on the bodywork would i ever see my £4100+ again?

 

Might be a bit far for you to travel, but these guys are worth a shout for a top job at bargain basement prices:

http://www.google.co.uk/m/place?cid=171 ... nghamshire

[trigger]

Thanks for the heads up but that's a bit far, I'm in no panic it's just that I'd really like to make it look good again, it's quite patchy up close.

 

I could do a lot of the prep work myself but i know they I'll end up losing interest and leaving it half way through.

[Cavcraft]

We've had it since 94.

Wife drives it from J24 to J28 every day.

Superb, if revvy motorway car.

Acceleration is fun, cornering is more fun.

I've only ever managed to do 125mph, but I'd left it in 4th so I suspect it would show a lot more in top gear!

Fuelly signature is accurate.

Parts dear, back box £380, distributer cap/rotor arm £100+

but it is massively over engineered & doesn't go wrong

Although I do spend a few bob having it serviced / maintained by a local specialist to make sure it doesn't go wrong.

1987 car currently on second speedo at about 240,000

 

Sounds pretty reasonable that (except backbox costs!) what's the script with belt changes on these please, seem to recall there's three that have to be done so imagine it's an expensive job?

Cheers.

[cort16]

Thanks for the heads up but that's a bit far, I'm in no panic it's just that I'd really like to make it look good again, it's quite patchy up close.

 

I could do a lot of the prep work myself but i know they I'll end up losing interest and leaving it half way through.

 

You're better just getting someone to do the prep as for one thing it's a miserable thankless task (I'm spending the next 2 days doing it) and for another you don't want your expensive paint job let down by some prep not up to pro standard especially if there's filling involved, which is a black art to get looking right.

I've spend 3 days trying to 1 wheel arch on my Rover looking right and it's almost driven me to insanity.

 

I'd maybe think about sticking a little wanted add up on RR as there's some good painters on there and even more who've had their car painted.

[trigger]

I used to do prep work so i know I could get it up to a good standard the trouble is i haven't got a compressor or the equipment to do the work and I'd get bored midway through doing it, Another garage had a look at it this morning and said if i strip the chrome and bumpers off they would do the work for £1600 cash, A XR4i in the workshop they just done the same thing to looked really good but that £1600 wouldn't involve doing the door shuts.

[Pete-M]

I'd say bring it up here and get it done, but it's more than 25cm from your front door.

 

If, however, you decide to venture past the corner shop I'm sure it could be done for less than £1600....

[trigger]

Cheeky git!, I travelled 400 miles to collect the bloody thing!

[Pete-M]

Heh, but you didn't go and look at it before bidding, did ya?

[trigger]

That is true.

[wuvvum]

Decided to replace the glow plugs on the Rover of Doom today, to avoid any failure to proceed incidents should we have another cold snap. First surprise was that the L-series is only fitted with three plugs; second surprise was that one of them (the easiest one to get at) looked almost new. So I only bought two, and fitted one - fiddly but doable. The other one is going to be impossible to get out without removing a coolant hose, which means refilling and bleeding the cooling system which I really can't be arsed with. Still, with one brand-new plug and one nearly new it should have a better chance of starting quickly in Arctic temperatures.

 

Also came up with another theory as to why the DS is playing up. I hadn't spotted when I was driving it home ('cos it was dark) that the coil feed is ballasted down to 6 volts, and the resistor is getting seriously hot (as in too hot to touch after 5 minutes of running). So I suspect this may be where the problem lies - further investigations tomorrow, weather permitting.

[Pete-M]

Jeep passed its MOT yesterday. Which was nice.

[Mike D]

I took the 840 to my local Polish car wash today for a good clean and interior shampoo to get rid of the overpowering smell of stale fags - as always they came up trumps

 

 

Here is the result too of my radio handywork - from this:

 

to this:

[ashmicro]

Nice work. You should get a few quid from the Barrys for the DVD player. (to my shame, I have one in my Rover.)

[DSdriver]

Good News: Free diesel. Bad News: you have to go to Russia to get it.

 

The tanker Karakumneft remains aground off Kurilsk, Iturup island, Russia. Divers were able to make a survey and found several holes in the vessel’s tanks. A slick has formed from the leaking diesel fuel. Reports state there might be as much as 900 metric tons of fuel still on board. The island lacks the facilities to pump off the remaining fuel. So, a hose was stretched from ship to the shore and diesel fuel will be pumped into the cars, tank trucks and transported to the shore tanks.

 

 

Take De-icer with you

[trigger]

I've been busy with the 'Tina today, I popped round my dads this morning (as i suck at mechanics) and firstly got the slide plates fitted in the brake calipers which were missing, No more squeally brakes at last.

 

Then we fitted my new Dixie air horns which i acquired via Greengartside off here (Thanks Pete), We fitted them behind the grill infront of the radiator and i painted all 5 Matt black so that they didn't stand out as red's a bit obvious and them plumbed it all in, We spend about 5 hours on it and it's still not finished as they didn't come with enough pipe for the pump to the horns, bugger.

 

Still we got it all wired up and gave it a blast with the two horns that are connected, fook me it's loud!

 

I tell you one thing though, I've never had a car that's such a fanny magnet, even the bright orange Kadett didn't get as much attention from that ladies as the Cortina!, I had one young girl taking photos of me on the A12, another one pull up beside me and give me a massive grin and thumbs up, My cars such a whore, even Mrs Trigger now fancies it after i let her take the car around the block when i got home which was a big mistake, she doesn't want to give it back now!

[cort16]

Trig your cortina is ace. PHAKT! It attracts me and I'm a total fanny.

 

In other news my SD1 is now in primer and I'm ready for beer and my bed.

 

Primer by cort16, on Flickr

[Cavcraft]

My lad has continued stripping the Corsa C we got for parts. Whichever garage/bodge artist was responsible for the last Cat C or D 'repairs' wants a good shoeing alright. The sill covers were held in place with wood screws and mastic and there was all manner of horrible bodges all over the car.

Bit pissed off to find the rear beam has drum brakes not dics as there probably would have been some money in removing it. Not to worry, it'll be weighbridge fodder within days now.

[barefoot]

Sounds pretty reasonable that (except backbox costs!) what's the script with belt changes on these please,

seem to recall there's three that have to be done so imagine it's an expensive job?

Cheers.

 

Every 40,000 miles £700 at Porsche, about half that at the local specialist.

 

re; the back box, the original lasted 9 years, took the £380 price on board & spoke to Euro Car parts who quoted about half.

I spoke to the manager & asked specifically if it was anywhere near as good as a proper one & was assured that it was every bit as good, if not even better.

18 months later I rang the bloke back told him that he was a liar & that I wanted my money back.

I was so unbelievably furious with the bloke on the phone threatening to come & park outside his shop that he gave me back the money.

I bought a used one from the local breaker / specialist for £90 & it's still on!

[Cavcraft]

£700

 

Sod it, I think I'll get one at some point. I quite fancy something I can drive round in then use on a track day here and there for a laugh. Cheers for the info!

[Lankytim]

Fitted electric rear window gear to the rear doors of the 240 today. Just need to fit the extra loom under the carpets, plug it all in and i'll be in business. The rear windows go up and down a treat, but you need a car battery on the rear floor with a special home made plug adaptor to actually work them at the moment!

 

The Volvo gang over on the VOC assured me it was next to impossible to do, but it seems to be all plug and play. Its great having the donor car to hand to see where everything goes and to pilfer all the little clips and brackets from!

[CreepingJesus]

The Volvo gang over on the VOC assured me it was next to impossible to do, but it seems to be all plug and play. Its great having the donor car to hand to see where everything goes and to pilfer all the little clips and brackets from!

 

Half the time, what that shower of fuckwits 'know', could be written on the back of a postage stamp. With a chisel tip. Well done on getting that fitted!

[wuvvum]

Today I have been having fun with tyres. First of all I swapped the rear wheels on the A3 (which have nearly new tyres) onto the front, put one of the fronts and the spare on the back, and the other front (which is fooked) in the boot. That's the short version, which leaves out the turning the car upside down to find the locking wheelnut key, and jumping up and down on my 2' breaker bar as some twallock had rattle-gunned the wheel bolts in to about 500 lb-ft. So it now has four decent tyres, with the ones with most tread on the front, which makes sense to me on a turbocharged FWD car. Unfortunately the slight shaking through the steering when turning enthusiastically to the left is still there, so it obviously wasn't the tyre - I think some suspension bushes may be required as the OSF clonks a bit over bumps too.

 

Then I took the SVX, the 156 and the Solara in turn up to the Tesco garage to pump up the tyres - ageing alloys + cold weather = about 8psi in the offside rear of the Solara, slightly more than that in the fronts of the Alfa and Scoob. The Alfa started first flip once I'd put a battery on it, despite not having been fired up since before Christmas - it's a shame about the water pump issues as it's actually not a bad car at all other than that, and it's still enormous fun to drive for the brief period before it starts getting hot. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the bloody thing. My head says flog the alloys and weigh the rest in, but then my heart remembers what a giggle it was when it was running right.

 

The SVX needed a jump but started fine; the Solara fired up OK but wouldn't idle, so I stuck a gallon of petrol in it and took it for a blast (it's not been out for a while as I won't drive it when there's salt on the roads) and once it was warmed up it was fine. I think it had just got damp.

 

The Rover of Doom nearly met its match on the Norwich ring road this evening - an innocuous-looking P-reg Fiesta Mk4 in that grey/mauve metallic colour, with a Baby on Board sticker in the back window, and what I am fairly certain was a 1700 Puma engine under the bonnet. It went like the clappers and had a nice rasp to the exhaust note, and the Rover had to work pretty hard to avoid the ignominy of losing a traffic light GP - something it has yet to do. I know, I'm such a child...

[catsinthewelder]

Had a pleasant afternoon tinkering with the BX today. Changed the oil + filter and adjusted the handbrake and clutch. I'm a little confused with these though. Both had new cables last year but adjusting them up at the time resulted in 75% of the adjustment thread taken up. Now it's 90-100% with todays tinkering so a bit of research is called for.

[dollywobbler]

I've got 320 miles to cover tomorrow. Probably not in the Maverick as it's too thirsty. That means an ear-bashing in the 2CV or risk the BX, which isn't keen on starting unless I bleed the fuel system - so it's clear that the air leak is getting worse. I feel like I'm taking steps backward with the BX rather than forward at the moment.

[messerschmitt owner]

Had a pleasant afternoon tinkering with the BX today. Changed the oil + filter and adjusted the handbrake and clutch. I'm a little confused with these though. Both had new cables last year but adjusting them up at the time resulted in 75% of the adjustment thread taken up. Now it's 90-100% with todays tinkering so a bit of research is called for.

Try this trick with the BX!

 

Start engine, then put foot hard on the brake, pull handbrake on and off a few times as hard as you can and then take foot off brake and try pull handle up again - I bet it self adjusts without touching the cable adjuster. I have never had to adjust a handbrake on a BX ever!

[dollywobbler]

It's true, though it doesn't always work. The above should force it to self-adjust.

 

Spent the morning finishing some writing and then clearing out the garage. The BX is inside again! It must have been pleased as it started first time for the first time in over a week. Still unsure whether to trust it for the mileage marathon tomorrow. Unlike the Maverick, it does at least have breakdown cover!

[Cavcraft]

Hey Wuv, have you still got the taxi?

[catsinthewelder]

Thanks guys