The new news 24 thread

[vulgalour]

I'm going to call an MoT station tomorrow and actually book an MoT. I'm fully expecting the Princess to fail, but I can't figure out what on. I'll try not to crash on the way this time.

[dollywobbler]

Finally got the exhaust sorted on the 2CV yesterday and with the sun shining, it was time to have a dose of Tin Snail action. I got so carried away that we took the neighbours with us as we headed out for a walk. Four up really is a struggle for the 2CV around here! We even took in a small section of Byway to park up.

 

I didn't get a pic with everyone on board, but just imagine that shot but OMG SLAMMED INNIT.

 

Then headed into town for a rare urban night-time shot. Lovely evening.

 

I seriously need to put some more miles on this car. 3000 a year is not enough. In two weeks' time, we're doing Somerset and Devon, so that'll be a good start.

[michiel]

^hey man, nice shot^

 

I'm home, exhausted .... I now own a Daihatsu Storia X4 ... I think I like it.

 

Can't wait! I'd love a Storia to complement our 1.3 'wheelspin everywhere' special.

[worldofceri]

Volvo failed it's MOT the other day. Bit annoying as I've just spent £350 on the broken front suspension and another £300 on tyres, but it was only the handbrake letting the side down, so not too bad really.

 

I've tightened up slack in the cable and it feels better, but I'm not sure if it's enough to get it to pass. I wonder if the calipers are sticking a bit, as the pads on the back are pretty new. I started to investigate but discovered that I've 'lost' my axle stands. I really can't understand it, as I only have a small garage and never take them anywhere. I can only imagine that I left them on the drive some time and pikeys have had them away. Grr...

[wuvvum]

This weekend I have mostly been buying Fiat Ducatos.

 

You may recall that a couple of months ago I bought a turbo diesel LDV 400 to replace my terminally rotten Transit. Well, to be brutally honest, the LDV's turning out to be a bit of a lemon. First the exhaust snapping on the way home, then this mystery brake binding issue (which helpfully never manifests itself when I get someone to try and diagnose it), and since we had all the snow it now won't start from cold without the primer on the fuel filter being pumped first. And it smokes like a bastard for the first five minutes, and it doesn't have a side loading door (which I should have checked before I bid really), so it's less than ideal. I want to like it, I really do, but the fugging thing isn't making it easy.

 

So I went on eBay to look for a replacement. I'd had a Ducato before and quite liked it, and they generally seem good VFM, so that's where my search started, and straight away I spotted several likely candidates. Due to a spot of not very clever bidding, I ended up winning two of them. They're both white, both 2002 year, and were both exactly the same price, but other than that they couldn't be more different.

 

The first one I won is this:

 

 

It's a SWB light duty model with the 1905cc Peugeot XUD9T engine. It's a bit of a stopgap version which was built to fill in between the old 1929cc Fiat engine going out of production (presumably due to being unable to meet emissions regs) and the JTD being brought in.

 

Nominally it's almost identical in terms of power output to the 2.8 non-turbo Ducato I had before, but they're very different to drive. The gearing on this one doesn't appear to have been altered from the non-turbo 1.9, so the thing takes off like a scalded cat but runs out of revs at 76mph in fifth. Fuel economy also suffers a bit from the low gearing, although it's still better on juice than the Transit - but not as good as the 2.8, which had much taller gearing.

 

It has a few issues - the usual Ducato weak synchromesh, the code light is on on the dash (although touch wood it hasn't affected the van's startage skillz), and the heater blower doesn't work, although at anything over 30 the ram air effect is enough that it gets pretty warm. It looks pretty solid underneath, and overall it's not a bad little van, although it'd be fairly useless on a long motorway journey. It's actually noisier at 70 than the LDV - the engine is slightly quieter, but road noise is a lot higher as it doesn't have a bulkhead.

 

The second one is this:

 

 

It's a long wheelbase jobbie with the big 2.8 JTD engine (basically the old Iveco Turbo Daily engine with common rail added). This was actually a tenner more than the 1.9, but the seller knocked a tenner off when I picked it up because the oil level was on the minimum mark. I won the auction late last night, but the van was only in Ipswich so I jumped on the train this morning and picked it up. It's not in great cosmetic condition, but mechanically it seems pretty good, although it jumps out of third gear (I'm hoping this is a selector issue, not uncommon with these vans). The engine is plenty torquey enough to cope with going straight from second to fourth though, and in fact has some pretty serious poke. It's also far more sensibly geared - 75mph is just under 3,000 revs in fifth, not 4,200 as in the 1.9. I've not wound this one up to its top whack, but I reckon it'll do the ton easily enough. It's the most powerful van I've ever owned - 128bhp - and seems to be more than capable of keeping up with more modern vans on the dual carriageway. It also seems so far to be managing better on fuel than the 1.9 - probably due to a combination of the higher gearing and the fact that the engine is less stressed. The only real downside I've found so far is that being a LWB the turning circle isn't all that brilliant. Other than that I really like it - if I can get third gear working and fit a bulkhead it'll pretty much be my ideal van I reckon.

 

Both vans have another advantage over the LDV - with its filth-belching Indenor engine, it can't go into the LEZ, but the Ducatos are fully LEZbianised, which is a bonus - I missed out on a couple of interesting bikes last year because the Transit couldn't go into London to pick them up.

 

Not 100% sure what I'll be doing with them all yet - the most likely scenario at the moment is that I'll bung the 1.9 through a test and, assuming it passes reasonably easily, punt it on with a full MoT; the LDV will probably also be going once I've got the fugging brakes working properly; and I'll spend part of the proceeds on getting the 2.8 fully sorted. Of course, me being me, this is subject to change - once I get the LDV sorted I might suddenly decide I love it after all and hang onto it.

[ruffgeezer]

If the ldv has 4pot calipers, it's bound to have one or more pistons sticking, they are a bitch for it.

[trigger]

You should have PM'ed me Wuvvum, I only live about 5 mins away from the train station, I would have picked you up and ran you over if you wanted.

[andrew e]

Wuv clean up whatever ducato and list it as a motorhome - the self builders love them because of the lack prop shaft underneath and the 6foot wide internal width.

[dollywobbler]

Wuv clean up whatever ducato and list it as a motorhome - the self builders love them because of the lack prop shaft underneath and the 6foot wide internal width.

 

That or OMG SURF BUS!

[wuvvum]

Ruff - the LDV does have four-pot calipers. It could be a sticky piston - I certainly don't think it's a flexi as if it was, the brakes would bind on every time I pressed the pedal, which isn't the case. When they do bind on, releasing the bleed nipple on the caliper frees them off - don't know if this is consistent with a sticking piston?

 

Trig - cheers for that, but probably wouldn't have had time to arrange it as I got on the train more or less straight after speaking to the seller. He picked me up from the station and ran me down to the marina where the van was stored (looking rather out of place amongst the multi-million-pound yachts) - he turned up in a scruffy green VM-engined Range Rover Classic.

 

The Ducato I end up selling will probably be the SWB low roof one - don't know if this will be suitable for a camper conversion due to lack of standage room. The LWB high top would be a better bet for a conversion, but at the moment that's the one I want to keep...

[dollywobbler]

That brake issue sounds like either a flexi issue (it might not necessarily cause a bind every time) or a master cylinder fault. If it was a piston, I'd expect it to either stick on or off and opening the nipple shouldn't make an difference. There's clearly pressure getting behind the piston that isn't easing when it should. With a flexi, it might be the steering angle that causes/clears the problem.

[M'coli]

As I mentioned before, that brake problem sounds identical to the one I had on my Metro, finally cured by a new master cylinder

[RobT]

This weekend I have mostly been buying Fiat Ducatos.

 

 

And selling a Sierra The dosh didn't stay in that envelope for long then...

 

I collected Wuv's bargainous Sierra on Saturday after a (relatively) agreeable trip on public transport from London up to Norwich. One of the highlights of the day was being driven a few hundred yards round the corner in a V12 XJS to pick up some tax from the post office, what a way to travel!

 

The Sezza made it home fine and with reasonable economy, and despite being an auto is quite good fun if you decide to chuck it around some corners. It's now parked up awaiting a bit of tinkeridge to sort out an occasional power lag that Wuv detailed in the For Sale ad, but I'm hoping a service and running some injector cleaner through will sort that. Will start a thread on it soon.

 

In other news, my Dad tells me the Montego is proving a bit of a bugger these last few days, fouling its plugs and generally not wanting to run properly, if at all. Might be farewell to the old boy if it's not an easy fix then (the car, not me Dad).

[skattrd]

Fingers crossed for your MOT Angyl.

[theorganist]

Sold the Megane Scenic for a little more than expected. I assumed it would bought for spares or racing.

 

It was bought by a chap in Wokingham as someone he know has just had one the same colour wrote off and wanted to replace it with one the same, even though mine would have needed £500 at least (my estimate) spent on it.

 

The Maxi should be ready by the end of the week so I will be back to driving a proper old car again.

 

Next job on the Maxi will be getting the Matt Black paint off which is coming off on its own accord. I have been told that a high pressure steam clean may get the rest off.

 

Then I will need to turn my attention of the 14 and decide what to do with it!

 

Pete

[mk1_4dr]

I've dragged escRot home and spent a happy couple of days clearing it out and poking holes in the floor.

 

 

This is going to get interesting.

[dollywobbler]

Eek! Looks quite scary, but it's only welding I guess.

 

With the BX estate heading to pastures new before long, I'm contemplating what to do with the fleet. Technically, having just two cars is fine, especially as my wife actually seems happy to drive both (she's rather taken to the BX). Once my finances improve, I really do fancy the idea of adding something else to the fleet, but I'm going to try and be sensible and take my time and not buy the first thing that I see which turns out to be hopeless...

 

I don't want a Citroen. Two is enough. But I'm not really sure what other requirements I have. The BX gets the long distance work (usually), the 2CV gets mainly nice weather use and is now installed in the garage. That means technically the new motor could be a bit of a toy, but it would have to be mildly weather proof. That, along with my meagre budget, rules out anything nice.

 

Oh and it needs to be over 20 years old for insurance purposes. This isn't necessarily a 'suggest me something' thread, just one to refer back to in a few weeks' time when I've bought myself a non-working shitheap with no hope. Ah. That reminds me. There's an Ambassador lurking on a driveway not far away...

[theorganist]

Talking of non working shot heaps do you want Renault 14?

 

Pete

[vulgalour]

That reminds me. There's an Ambassador lurking on a driveway not far away...

 

DO EEEEEEEET

[panhard65]

Talking of non working shit heaps do you want Renault 14?

 

Pete[/quote

Hi whats wrong with the 14 I seem to be getting a bit of a collection of them going on

[Cavcraft]

I realise that on a scale of 1-10 in the stupidity stakes an elderly (1993) XJ40 would rate at about 627, but are they really shit? I've been offered one (on the blue) as a leveller for my 306 and I still look at back at an S3 4.2 I had with rose tinted glasses.

Reasonably charitable thoughts welcomed, ta.

[cort16]

It's not that slammed one with the steel wheels is it? Other than that, yes you should.

[Cavcraft]

God no, I'd have back heeled anything lowered without thinking about it. It's this one...

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... ead=144237

[cort16]

That's the car bought off kinkersaab on this very forum a few weeks ago. I think it's a really goodun with just a little bit of localised grot.

[eddyramrod]

God no, I'd have back heeled anything lowered without thinking about it. It's this one...

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.c ... ead=144237

 

You have to ask? Do it! I wouldn't think twice!*

 

*Yeah, but look at my record.....

[dollywobbler]

Go for it Billy. Feels like the season for Autoshite Interchange (though that doesn't mean I'm taking the 14 on, sorry!)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I say give it a swerve, those things are a liability in 2013 unless you are actually collecting them and know that you'll have no wish to ever get rid of it (unlikely in your case i'd say)! Especially a cloth-seat n' wheeltrim flavoured one.

[theorganist]

Talking of non working shit heaps do you want Renault 14?

 

Pete[/quote

Hi whats wrong with the 14 I seem to be getting a bit of a collection of them going on

 

It is actually okay mechanically apart from the missing gearchange bush. It is tatty both inside and out and needs some welding in the rear quarters where they often go. I have thought of trying to find a straighter one in France and selling this. I want to own a Renault 14 but would prefer one with four undented doors and and interior that does not look like it has had a pride of Lions living in it! It is better than it looks really just that I do not have the money to get it looking pristine nor the skills to make it look better than merely tatty!

 

It is currently SORN'd (since July). I decided to get the Maxi done first. It failed the MOT on the previously mentioned welding, one door lock not working and a leaking brake servo, and maybe a boot IIRC. One sill is crusty but not in a structural area. Obviously six months on the drive may have changed the situation somewhat.

 

Have you still got the blue one from e-bay, just wondered what the condition of that was like compared to mine?

 

Peter

[eddyramrod]

It's still possible I could persuade the Mrs that we need a Jag again, so you shouldn't have too much trouble getting outside of it..... I have no objection at all to cloth seats and steel wheels. That dingy colour, on the other hand..... euch!

[Cavcraft]

Good point, Mr B.

 

To be honest I'd have had a dose of it but (relatively) short MOT puts me off and he's just pm'd to say the battery knackered and he doesn't want to lash out for a new one.