The new news 24 thread

31,838 · Sunday at 20:37

56 minutes ago, JMotor said:

I'm happy you gave it bloody good go!

Yes it's an arse ache.

It's getting the practice time in and you'll start figuring out how to go about repairs and wonder why you didn't learn sooner.

However. I do also understand it's an stress you don't need either. Ultimately it's up to you, but can you throw the car in a corner/park it out of the road until you are sorted?

I'll definitely see the sill repair through, good practice as you say!

24,568 · Sunday at 20:49

4 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Well fuck, that was an arse of a welding session.

A tiny plate to repair the inner sill was all I had to do but would it fuck stick to the car. It's like the sill was made of brick or something. I just don't think the metal was clean enough. Anyway, the plate is on now, that's all I'll say about that. Hopefully the outer sill will work better as it's back to clean thick bright metal.

I've got a migraine now!

Welding is a miserable experience at the best of times.

31,838 · Sunday at 21:14

24 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Welding is a miserable experience at the best of times.

Glad it's not just me 😅

25,623 · Sunday at 21:22

29 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Welding is a miserable experience at the best of times.

4 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Glad it's not just me 😅

I like the actual welding bit. I find it quite therapeutic in a weird, hot burning kind of way!😄

It’s all the prep and cutting masses of rotten metal and mess at the beginning I hate. It’s much more fun if it’s on a project car you don’t have to get back on the road though. Just take your time and it gets done when it gets done.

Good on you for getting stuck in though @Split_Pin 👍

1,662 · Sunday at 21:47

I always find that if it's something I'm just sticking together for a use in the barn/house/gate, or nothing to do with cars, or no pressure, it goes really well.

If it's something I've got to do because I needed the bloody thing yesterday it all goes tits up

60,966 · Sunday at 22:59

Got the Renault 6 extricated from the garage yesterday. There's no room to get to the front of the car with the boat hung on the wall next to it, so I did my usual trick of climbing in through the tailgate to knock it out of gear, then grabbing hold of the back bumper and pulling it out backwards. It actually started pretty easily this year - it needed a jump from the Rover, as I'd expected it to, but it didn't take a lot of cranking before it fired up. I drove it round to the car park just as PBK and support crew were arriving to pick up the Visa, which was a fortunate bit of timing.

Once the Visa had departed Nor'-West'ard I decided to try and start the Mobylette, which had also been stood in the garage since October. That fired up third kick, and I took it for a quick buzz round the block. It did cut out once but restarted straight away - I think I'm going to have to whip the carb off and give it another clean, and perhaps replace the fuel filter, as it did the same thing a couple of times last year.

I also got the nearside drop link fitted to the Leaf. That was an arse of a job - the bottom nut actually came undone with a bit of persuasion, but the top nut undid part way and then seized solid. I had to take the angle grinder to it in the end. The new link is on now, but it hasn't completely cured the rattling over bumps so there's obviously something else going on there.

As it was such a nice day today I took the Renault 6 for a drive to shake off the cobwebs. I did about 11 miles in it - it drove OK but a couple of times it bogged down and would only run with full choke, although it recovered after a minute or two. So that's going to need looking at - I need to have a play with the carb anyway as it was running way too rich last year, so I might take it off altogether and give it a clean out. The fuel filter might be due for replacement too actually.

I then went for a spin in the Volvo and the Innocenti - both behaved fine, and for some reason the Volvo's odometer has started working again for the first time in a couple of years. There were a few classics out and about, including an Austin 10 coming the other way as I was waiting to turn into my road in the Volvo.

I got the Merc up on the ramps to have a look at the rear diff and see if I could get the plugs undone in advance of doing an oil change. They took a bit of heaving but both cracked off - I didn't go any further with the oil change as the fill plug is quite awkward to access and I wasn't in the mood for getting covered in gear oil.

So I drove it down off the ramps and jacked it up to have another look at the parking brake situation - the main issue now is that the brake back plates are too rusty to hold the shoe retaining springs in place, so I need to get them off to fit the replacement back plates I've bought. They're held on by four bolts, two Torx which came undone with a bit of buggering about and poking extension bars through the holes in the hub, and two 13mm hex bolts which I couldn't get undone with the tools I have - I need to get a low profile 13mm socket. So that's a job for another weekend.

It's also going to need a gearbox oil and filter change soon - a couple of times it's not gone into gear when I've selected reverse and I've had to move the lever to neutral and back again, and it's always been a bit jerky on upshifts from cold - it's fine when it's warm though.

I did muster up enough mojo to jack up the nearside front of the Eos and have a look to see if there's any chance of getting the strut off. So far it's behaved exactly the same as the offside - the pinch bolt came undone fine, but the drop link won't loosen off, and the spline bit I need to hold it in place snapped in half so I need to buy another one of those as well. My eBay basket is starting to look expensive again.

19,172 · Monday at 00:50

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

As it was such a nice day today I took the Renault 6 for a drive to shake off the cobwebs. I did about 11 miles in it - it drove OK but a couple of times it bogged down and would only run with full choke, although it recovered after a minute or two. So that's going to need looking at

francois cevert/jean ragnotti tune up needed nest pas?

10,510 · Monday at 10:33

18 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Well fuck, that was an arse of a welding session.

A tiny plate to repair the inner sill was all I had to do but would it fuck stick to the car. It's like the sill was made of brick or something. I just don't think the metal was clean enough. Anyway, the plate is on now, that's all I'll say about that. Hopefully the outer sill will work better as it's back to clean thick bright metal.

I've got a migraine now!

Always go for clean metal, than look again and then again.
If it isn't really clean then it will fight you all the way.
Try and get the earth clamp as near as possible to the welding you are doing and make sure the bit it clamps to is really clean too.

As you get more practice you will put in your own shortcuts on the prep you do. This will usually come back and bite you though.

Keep practicing and it gets a lot easier, just get yourself as comfortable as possible.

31,838 · Monday at 10:41

Cheers John, yep, the metal definitely wasn't clean enough, plus the earthed bit as well!

23,202 · Monday at 10:45

8,127 · Monday at 12:56

Took the 207 up to Knockhill for the SMRC event yesterday, glorious weather even if the racing schedule was a bit thin. Got up at 1pm and it was all wrapped up before 4pm.. usually goes on a bit longer than that.

207 continues to do as 207 does, 68mpg last fill and that was in pretty mixed driving, 700 mile tanks definitely possible.

2,573 · Monday at 16:13

I'm in the process of selling my house, which involves sorting out a Rover 820 Vitesse that I parked up 'for a few months' . In April 2022.

Having spent some time checking things over, fluids etc, I reconnected the coil pack and I gave it a quick flick to see how long it would take to fire.

Answer?

It started so quickly I didn't even catch it happening

After about 15 mins of idling, fan came on perfectly. It runs beautifully.

So.... anyone want to buy it?

4,341 · Monday at 19:05

2 of the fleet in for MOT's today, the forum bike yellow SLK and the longest car on fleet, the little Swift - can't believe we've had it for 9 years.

Remarkably we got 2 passes.

Nothing much to worry about on the advisories, just needs a little tidy up on the end of the Merc's sill.

2,841 · Monday at 19:43

On 06/04/2025 at 17:00, Split_Pin said:

I've got a migraine now!

Arc eye?

1,276 · Monday at 20:10

3 hours ago, mercedade said:

I'm in the process of selling my house, which involves sorting out a Rover 820 Vitesse that I parked up 'for a few months' . In April 2022.

Having spent some time checking things over, fluids etc, I reconnected the coil pack and I gave it a quick flick to see how long it would take to fire.

Answer?

It started so quickly I didn't even catch it happening

After about 15 mins of idling, fan came on perfectly. It runs beautifully.

So.... anyone want to buy it?

What a car really should get mine done and motd and on the road, They really are a special car.

31,838 · Monday at 20:19

36 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

Arc eye?

No just the onset of a cold and the stress of this car.

6,774 · Monday at 20:37

On 06/04/2025 at 20:29, vulgalour said:

Do we have a preferred person for car transportation in the UK on the forum these days?

I know @worldofceri got out of the game when I moved to Scunthorpe, I don't know if we had someone step in to offer a similarly excellent service.

If not I'll do the old-fashioned phone calls thing or maybe even brave Shiply.

Maybe post up what it is you’re needing. A few on here have trailers and might be able to help depending on location. Sadly not me at the minute tho.

31,838 · Monday at 20:52

Not gonna lie, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with the 75s sill.

It's a really complex shape and the lip on the inner sill, which is horizontal, is fucked as well. I can't get a grinder in behind there easily nor my welder. I've made a repair section but with a shonky bench, tiny vice and the head of a lump hammer for an anvil, I'm not exactly equipped to deal with this. I just can't get the repair to sit nice.

I mean, I couldn't have just left it as it was rotten, but I don't know what to do now. I can't just put the car away in my garage as we are planning on moving soon so it needs to be sorted.

18,508 · Monday at 20:58

5 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Not gonna lie, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with the 75s sill.

It's a really complex shape and the lip on the inner sill, which is horizontal, is fucked as well. I can't get a grinder in behind there easily nor my welder. I've made a repair section but with a shonky bench, tiny vice and the head of a lump hammer for an anvil, I'm not exactly equipped to deal with this. I just can't get the repair to sit nice.

I mean, I couldn't have just left it as it was rotten, but I don't know what to do now. I can't just put the car away in my garage as we are planning on moving soon so it needs to be sorted.

There might be a Mobile mechanic that who can do welding repairs?

31,838 · Monday at 21:00

1 minute ago, Schaefft said:

There might be a Mobile mechanic that who can do welding repairs?

Cheers, unfortunately nobody in my area does welding any more 😞

37,826 · Monday at 21:56

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Not gonna lie, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew with the 75s sill.

It's a really complex shape and the lip on the inner sill, which is horizontal, is fucked as well. I can't get a grinder in behind there easily nor my welder. I've made a repair section but with a shonky bench, tiny vice and the head of a lump hammer for an anvil, I'm not exactly equipped to deal with this. I just can't get the repair to sit nice.

I mean, I couldn't have just left it as it was rotten, but I don't know what to do now. I can't just put the car away in my garage as we are planning on moving soon so it needs to be sorted.

I'd be wanging a plate over the top and seam weld around for now. Don't have to pretty if needs must. Weld one edge and then hammer the fuck into the other edge till it fits. If necessary then wedge a screwdriver/something similar to hold it in place as you tack it. For shaping, find something to bash it around that is roughly the right shape.

You won't get it perfect. That takes practice. However this is a good thing to learn on for now.

Worse case you cut it off in the future and redo. Welding metal is an additive process, unlike cutting wood where you can't easily stick it back on.

10,510 · 2025-04-08T12:05:32Z

14 hours ago, SiC said:

I'd be wanging a plate over the top and seam weld around for now. Don't have to pretty if needs must. Weld one edge and then hammer the fuck into the other edge till it fits. If necessary then wedge a screwdriver/something similar to hold it in place as you tack it. For shaping, find something to bash it around that is roughly the right shape.

You won't get it perfect. That takes practice. However this is a good thing to learn on for now.

Worse case you cut it off in the future and redo. Welding metal is an additive process, unlike cutting wood where you can't easily stick it back on.

@Split_Pin This and nothing more.

It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional.

It also doesn't have to be one piece you weld in.

Take one bite at a time and it will all get done, don't aim to get it finished, just a little progress. Eventually it will be finished.

31,838 · 2025-04-08T12:12:11Z

Just now, Tickman said:

@Split_Pin This and nothing more.

It doesn't have to be pretty, just functional.

It also doesn't have to be one piece you weld in.

Take one bite at a time and it will all get done, don't aim to get it finished, just a little progress. Eventually it will be finished.

Normally I'd 100% agree but when I mentioned house move it could be as early as next month so I can't really have something unfinished. I'm dropping it off with our well-known saviour of our ~~hopeless wrecks~~ pride and joys tomorrow. I think the car deserves better than butchered sills.

I nevertheless had a wee go at joining together the wonky pieces I'd made to confirm I can still actually weld.

In our new place, if it has the space, and I don't need to build a garage first, I'm going to invest in a small metal folder as that is 100% the issue here. A tiny vice on a wonky bench with the head of a lump hammer as an anvil is pushing the limits of improvisation 😂

So I'll be back at it sometime!

15,701 · 2025-04-08T13:10:46Z

As I said, who could possibly want a 40 year old electronic organ? For free??

10,417 · 2025-04-08T13:17:55Z

I took the camper down to 'my little man with the big spanners' for its annual fettle. Then I'm planning to use it regularly for a bit before we go camping at the end of the month.

24,568 · 2025-04-08T14:09:08Z

Sometimes living in a rural spot has it's advantages.

Miserable most of the time though.

12,923 · 2025-04-08T16:03:47Z

Me: ARGH I have tooooo many not-quite working cars, I need them to go and need some space!

Life:

HELLO FRIEND DID YOU MISS ME?

1,662 · 2025-04-08T17:00:52Z

2 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Sometimes living in a rural spot has it's advantages.

Miserable most of the time though.

Nah, if I lived in a town I'd probably have killed someone by now! 🤣

42,956 · 2025-04-08T20:16:21Z

Trundled down to Weir Quay this evening as part of a shakedown before going to France in it this weekend…

60,966 · 2025-04-08T21:17:03Z

I can't be the only one who is astonished at how long you have kept this car.

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