The new news 24 thread

[Craig the Princess]

If that has a steel sump, check it too! BTW Pre 95 K has a closed deck block, and is reputed to be less prone to OMGHGFSTEAMPOTNOODLE shenanigans.

 

Thanks Ash, the sump looks ok (no oil, I think it was replaced 5/6 years ago due to London speed humps). Fingers crossed then

[panhard65]

Is anyone going to the new year classic car meet in somerset tomorrow morning ? It will be exactly 61 years since my hotchkiss was first registered so would be a good day to give it a first ride out in the uk. I might even try and persuade my girlfriend to drive the 14 there as well

http://www.merlinevents.com/2013/NewYearsDay2013.pdf

[Craig the Princess]

Filled Rover with oil. Pulled king lead off to spin engine over, pulled the connector off the lead.

 

Bugger this in the rain, I'm off to watch tv.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I have fitted an ebay special second hand towbar to the mondeo today, took the wheelarch liners out and found they inexplicably have a fuggin foam backing stapled to them. It was soaking wet of course and happily rusting the rear inner arches away. Hosed it all out, dried it and sprayed a shatload of waxoyl everywhere, then binned the foam layer before reinstalling the liners. Also left the boot carpet out in the rain like a massive fanny.

[walk]

Popped out to the secret bunker earlier to check on the Dedra's winter hibernation; I'd not visited since September but everything seems well. It's bone dry thankfully and there's no sign of any critters anywhere! It'll be put into daily(ish) use at the end of Jan when I've given it a fresh cambelt.

 

Here's a nice cheerful photo to take us into 2013

 

December 2012 003 by dick dedra, on Flickr

 

Happy new year folks from Stalag Shite!

[Lankytim]

I spent part of the Christmas break stripping the Puma for spares and cutting the donor Austin 1300 up. The Austin was cut just behind the bulkhead to allow me to keep all the juicy front end spares and the stripped out rear end was sent for scrap with the Puma. Apologies to Mr B as I feel I have killed part of his childhood! All the parts donated are being used though, so it kinda lives on in a way. As I no longer have a trailer I enlisted the help of shite stalwart JonCedric from the blue forum.

 

 

I don't think Mrs Lankytim's parents or neighbours were impressed by the mini scrapyard on their drive, but its all nice and tidy now, save for the Austin front end hiding next to the shed .

[Cavcraft]

/\

2014 calendar thread.

[Lankytim]

It was frigging rotten underneath!

 

 

Which made it easier to cut.

 

[oman5]

Have you tried driving the front half? that'd be the first thing I'd do after cutting it in half. You could have some little castors underneath to stop the sparks.

[Lankytim]

That was my first thought OBV but the hydraulics for the clutch are borked and i've not had the engine running. I will get it going though!

[ashmicro]

Meet the new bus, same as the old bus.

 

 

 

These things are serious value. My mate Davy and I have bought this one, and we're after a CLS that isn't fucked as well. We've got the contract to ferry around part of the Japanese contingent at the G8 Summit this year, which as you may know is in Northern Ireland. I've now got my PSV licence, and the S Class is up for PSV on Friday.

 

The Viano is a hell of a machine - his old one clocked up 262k miles when he sold it, and all it needed outside of consumables was 2 front springs and 1 injector. They're gonna be in shite territory very soon, I've seen decent ones for about 4 bags. GR8 4 towing as well.

 

Konichiwa!

[dollywobbler]

Have you tried driving the front half? that'd be the first thing I'd do after cutting it in half. You could have some little castors underneath to stop the sparks.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who thought that!

 

Sunshine today so the 2CV was dragged out of the garage after a two-week lay-up and we did 120 miles around south Wales. It's a sad sign of how little I've driven that car recently that I'm absolutely knackered! PAS really does make you soft.

 

My head hurts too as an exhaust clamp fell off with 50 miles to go. It sounded absolutely shit and very loud, just like a Harley Davidson.

[trigger]

Took my old Golf Cabrio in for it's annual MOT this afternoon, happily I've got a pass but there was a few advisories, corroded brake pipes which the tester said just need cleaning off, a worn tyre which still looks ok to me and a rust patch on the exhaust, the strangest one though was a worn upper suspension bush, I only replaced both of them last year/5000 miles ago!

[dollywobbler]

2CV is in pieces while I await a new exhaust crossbox. The flange had snapped off the old one (it was also hideously rusty). That's £66 gone which was meant to be a battery for the stripey BX estate.

 

New front pads fitted to the BX turbo diesel. I eagerly await their bedding in so I can see if braking performance is improved. I'm convinced the old pads were made out of granite.

[dollywobbler]

Thought I'd have a go at rear brake pad/disc replacement on the Green Tiger today. Mistake. I now have a disabled, knackered BX blocking the driveway again.

 

Cannot for the life of me get the brake disc off. Haynes is typically hopeless (remove screw, remove disc). The screw actually appears to be a screw-in stud. I can't find my molegrips and they're knackered anyway. Which idiot thought a stud was the way to go? Rubbish.

[Volksy]

Is the stud also to help locate the wheel when putting it back on? If so does it not have a bolthead at the base which a deep socket should catch?

[dollywobbler]

Ah. Apparently it SHOULD be a bolt, but has likely snapped or just rounded off. I'm utterly baffled. New set of molegrips purchased so I'll see if that does the trick. Will have to wait until tomorrow now of course thanks to OMG WINTER.

[John F]

Got Kristin's Twingo through its TÃœV (German MoT) today

 

So... the 1,100 mile round trip from Duisburg to Oop Norff & back, plus the 12 hours spent spannering and welding on Christmas Eve / Christmas day were worth it in the end, hehe!

 

(and I've been promised a BJ lol)

 

Pics to follow when I get back to Blighty.

[Lankytim]

Surely a video of the BJ would be more suitable?

[dollywobbler]

Anyway...

 

BX is sorted. The old chestnut worked a treat. I hammered a smaller socket over the stud and bingo! The one of the other side revealed that there should be a small hex head, so that side was a piece of the proverbial.

 

Slight issue now that the battery is still borked and it's sitting on my trolley jack. I'm brewing up a Success Cuppa before the other BX gets roped into jump start duty again. My jump pack doesn't seem interested in providing enough oomph.

 

I've now taxed it, so will enjoy a test drive shortly. I'm going to fill the boot with heavy things in order to get the rear brakes working properly to let everything bed in.

 

Then it's 2CV exhaust time as the new crossbox has arrived.

[wuvvum]

I received a letter this morning from the London LEZ office. I knew before I opened it what it was going to be about - I sold the Transit just before Christmas to a chap from Essex, and he'd obviously taken it into the LEZ. As I didn't send the logbook off until I got home from my Christmas hol, DVLA won't have processed the change of keeper yet so the letter came to me.

 

Sure enough, that's exactly what had happened. Except that rather than a "OMG u r a criminal pay us £200 now" notice, the envelope contained a very nice letter explaining in some detail the finer points of the LEZ and how to comply with the requirements, and explicitly saying that I won't be fined if the van is seen in the LEZ for the next 28 days. Is this standard procedure with the LEZ office? If so, it makes a refreshing change from the "fine first, ask questions later" approach of most of our "authorities".

[John F]

Surely a video of the BJ would be more suitable?

 

[mk1_4dr]

Just a couple of little issues showing their faces with the Volvo.

 

Firstly, the water pump has a little weep, so I'm having to top the coolant up occasionally, but Im changing the timing belt so I'll be doing the pump at the sametime.

The PAS pump or rack is noisey as heck, and sometimes, doesn't seem to be working at all - s/hand pump will see that right I hope.

Slight 'clunk' from O/S/F wheel, seemingly under braking, so Im thinking bushes or somesuch. Not had my head underneath yet to see what setup it is.

There is a slight miss/hesitancy under load. I've been told that this could be (and usually is) a cracked distributor cap.

 

And finally, it seems to be using a bit of oil. Its not coming out of the exhaust, or leaking out anywhere that I can see (no drips on the drive either) so Im at a loss with that...

[oman5]

Just got brochure through the post for the Dacia Sandero. I've never bought any brand new car, but this is fiercely tempting. The base model really is basic, but that'd be why its cheap. I'm gonna have to at least have a test drive, it'd be rude not to.

[dollywobbler]

 

Yup. They needed changing!

 

Back in action. I'd forgotten just how slow an NA diesel is...

 

Plans are afoot to tackle the cambelt/clutch job in one hit by removing the engine. A drastic tactic perhaps, but gives a chance to attend to some other faults while we're at it. For now, the biggest problem is trying to get rid of all the mould that's happily living on the interior. Even the seatbelts.

[jonathan_dyane]

2CV is in pieces while I await a new exhaust crossbox. The flange had snapped off the old one (it was also hideously rusty). That's £66 gone which was meant to be a battery for the stripey BX estate.

 

A crossbox costs £66 now! My God; it doesn't seem that long since they were under £30...

[dollywobbler]

It is a bit alarming. Annoyingly, the thread's gone duff on one of the nuts for the crossbox to swan-neck clamp. I found the clamp in a random box of 2CV bits I had knocking about. "Brilliant!" I thought. Only it doesn't really seem to fit and the thread is fine pitch, so I can't just use another nut. I should have just ordered a new clamp...

[Cavcraft]

I received a letter this morning from the London LEZ office. I knew before I opened it what it was going to be about - I sold the Transit just before Christmas to a chap from Essex, and he'd obviously taken it into the LEZ. As I didn't send the logbook off until I got home from my Christmas hol, DVLA won't have processed the change of keeper yet so the letter came to me.

 

Sure enough, that's exactly what had happened. Except that rather than a "OMG u r a criminal pay us £200 now" notice, the envelope contained a very nice letter explaining in some detail the finer points of the LEZ and how to comply with the requirements, and explicitly saying that I won't be fined if the van is seen in the LEZ for the next 28 days. Is this standard procedure with the LEZ office? If so, it makes a refreshing change from the "fine first, ask questions later" approach of most of our "authorities".

 

 

Had the same when I sold my old recovery truck yonks back. They just sort of gave me a nice warning, as you said far better than a fine first.

 

 

Today I started on my latest supply of WVO. A highly complicated* filtering system was used involving hi tech engineering and many years of forethought. All carefully resembling a tyre changing bar balanced either side on two high empty 20 litre drums with a plastic bucket from the 99p shop underneath and the filter/old veg oil in the middle.

I got some 1 micron filters, supposedly you only need to run the waste through once and the fineness of the filters gets all the crap out. It certainly seemed to catch loads of crap, but I ran it through another filter again to be on the safe side. Test run in car reveals no apparent glitches/problems/hesitation/lack of power, so I'm really happy with that.

Since the handbrake was sorted the brakes themselves are loads better now, next job/s to include replacing the lockset as I chewed one of them up.

[skattrd]

Gearbox eventually changed on the Scirocco (only taken me 2yrs) relatively straightforward apart from 3-4hrs spent playing with gear linkages, but it now has 5 gears and reverse. It still needs a few bits doing, electric windows fixing, fuel gauge sorting and minor tidying. I'm a bit tight on cash after the accidental Lancia purchase, so I'm putting off taxing it for a bit. 2 other cars are due for re-taxing at the end of Jan as well.

 

The boring has been returned after being on loan and it now has a few issues. It was letting water in, hopefully solved by clearing leaves out of the channels. Several tubs of rice are now in the car to try and absorb some of the moisture. It looks as if the ccm may have got damp as central locking is playing up and one of the electric windows isn't working. Once the cars dried I'll clean the mould out of the car and investigate properly. Oh and the battery isn't holding charge and looks like it's been chewed by a mouse or something ... I may put a trap in the car just in case.

As part of my January economy drive I've just put 20 litres of Bookers finest in it and I'll be using it for work for a bit. It's nowhere near as comfy/nice to drive as the Volvo, but it gets 10mpg more and I have a stash of veg oil at home I might as well use.

 

Sticker removal has started on the Lancia - little bits of paint are coming off with some stickers

 

I really do need to cut down on the number of cars I have.

[meggersdog]

Yesterday whilst travelling along the dual carriage-way just past 3000rmp the car died.Hmm probably time for a new fuel filter then.I haven't used any veg for a month but seeing as I'd not changed any filters since owning it best to do so.Fitted new filter last night and this morning it does the same thing,like it's being starved of fuel.At just over 3k rmp it dies then struggles a bit until the revs are lower and it's fine again.I looked at the air filter and the service book lied.There is no way that dusty blackened sooty thing is a year old.New filter fitted and everything is fine.Wasn't fuel starvation it was air starvation causing the problem.