The new news 24 thread

[cort16]

 

?

[HillmanImp]

^^^ Right colour

[Keymaster]

MOT success for the camper! Excellent. Not so excellent was the short journey home as it stubbornly refused to do 50mph and kangaroo'd most of the way down the M57. And then I notice a brake light had blown too. C- could do better :-/

[bub2006]

He's probably done every journey in that car with his foot on the clutch, I used to know a old lady with a Dolomite 1300, in 15 years and 40000 miles she'd gone through 4 clutches!

Grandma's husband who passed away last year had a j plate 940 manual. In 10 months it 8 clutches. I really don't know what the hell he was doing to it. Grandma told him he had to have an auto after that. He had a habit of starting car up then getting in,foot on pedal then engage drive. Problem was the pedal was usually the throttle. Toyota carina died at top of Huthwaite after he filled up, did this trick and fucked off over the road into the hedge,mondeo after that he did the same trick in Huthwaite again and wrote off the mondeo,2 parked cars in front of him,one behind parked up,3 coming down hill and 1 coming up. The proton after that met it's maker being wrapped around a market stall in Sutton-in-Ashfield then the vectra after that ended up in someone's front room. Grandma told him he couldn't have an auto again so bought a cavalier manual. After owning it for 3 weeks it was off the road needing a clutch and was broke into so the insurer gave him a courtesy car Which was a mondeo auto with about 400 mile on the Clock. Titanium trim and I think it was the 3.0 v6. He used that to go to Skegness and got pulled up on Newark/Lincoln bypass for doing 25mph. He managed then to rip front bumper off in Skegness. On the way home he killed the car completely by driving from skeg and got as far as Southwell before the car died. He had driven all the way with his foot on the throttle and brake. Blew engine,gearbox and I think it fucked the brakes too. He blamed the police who stopped him for the damage as they said he had to speed up and the car was too fast and this was the only way he could control speed........ Words honestly defeated me. If anyone here was ever held up in Mansfield, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Kirkby or surrounding areas by a 10mph car than I apologise for him.

[Richard]

When we bought the V70 I was unconcerned about the limp mode and SRS light because I had the diagnostic software and cable. Except I didn't, what I had only covers up to 1998.

 

I ordered a knock-off kit from eBay, which arrived earlier in the week. It took all evening but I've got it installed now and the SRS light is no more.

[alf892]

He's probably done every journey in that car with his foot on the clutch, I used to know a old lady with a Dolomite 1300, in 15 years and 40000 miles she'd gone through 4 clutches!

We used to have an old farmer near us (Known as Floppit for some reason)who drove his Hillman Hunter everywhere in third........some wags used to shout 'open the door' as he revved past. Apparently it was a reminder to let the clutch out.........

 

boom tish

[twosmoke300]

Missus done good . Baby girl born at 5 am . 7lb 14oz . She only used gas and air , what a trooper . No name sorted yet cos 9 months just ain't long enough to decide 😄.

Over emotional dad over and out

[fordperv]

Congratulations twosmoke300

[twosmoke300]

I only had a small part in it !

[Six-cylinder]

Missus done good . Baby girl born at 5 am . 7lb 14oz . She only used gas and air , what a trooper . No name sorted yet cos 9 months just ain't long enough to decide .

Over emotional dad over and out

 

Congratulations twosmoke300, but the joy wears off when they are 26 and 34 and still both want to borrow cars from you!

[fordperv]

I only had a small part in it !

That's what she said, ba boom tish

[dollywobbler]

I only had a small part in it !

There's no need to be so hard on yourself. They say size doesn't matter...

 

Trig - regarding brakes. Has it actually got disc front brakes? I can't recall what they had. I personally don't have a problem with having to give the pedal a good shove IF the car can actually stop quickly when you do. When my wife first drove the 2CV, she just shouted "she won't stop!" as we went down a hill. Now, she hates servos and prefers a pedal you actually have to press.

[twosmoke300]

I was always told that where it doesn't reach it will spit !

And that it's big enough to fill a pram

[derskine]

Trig, I fitted mk3 Capri front brakes to my mk1 and it made a world of difference, I didn't fit a servo but they're fine.

All you need is mk3 capri calipers, lotus cortina discs and rs2000 caliper bolts (they have a metric shank and imperial thread).

Your's will have discs, as only early ones had drums on the front.

[plasticvandan]

 

im collecting this this afternoon....

[cort16]

Did anyone see the Mythbusters this week? The were trying to replicate the story of that guy who supposedly converted his broken 2CV into a motor bike in the Desert?

They managed to build a bike out of a 2CV with just basic hand tools but it was completely un rideable. They then went back and looked at the pictures of what the guy had built and changed it to be exactly the same and it was still un rideable mainly because it was setup so it only ran in reverse and couldn't get enough speed up.

 

[RobT]

Yesterday I went on a tyre buying spree.  The fronts on the 440 were old crap budgets, and the wrong size, so I got a couple of Falkens from my local tyres place.  The old ones were 185s and these are 175s.  The steering is now a lot lighter and ride is improved, to the point where the cacophony of trim rattles has calmed down a bit.  I love getting new tyres, they really can transform old shite into something much more driveable.  Whilst there an old giffer rolled up in a W reg Cortina estate.  It looked great with one of those full length roof racks on, but he didn't look the sort to engage in old car talk so left him to it.

 

Then I bought some Barum tyres for the 75 last night, £44 a pop from Tyreleader.  A few people on the 75 forum say they help with the already comfy ride, and seeing as mine has been a bit crashy of late I figured new rubber should help.  Wear can be a bit shit reading the reviews, but I can live with that and it’s not like I do mega miles.

[gordonbennet]

Just done a few jobs on the Landcruiser took advantage of the lovely weather, changed all three diff oils (rear axle oil clean but the transfer box and front diff were dirtier, no doubt cos the pretty serious undertray has to come off to get to em), first of three sumpfulls of auto box fluid changed, two to go a few days apart each, and dropped the Diesel engine oil i put in the engine a thousand miles ago, my ''had a spare gallon going spare'' version of engine flush, so new proper oil and new filter are in place....to be fair the Diesel oil has got dirty quickly, the new oil after running is so clean you have a job to read the dipstick.

 

Oil filter surprisingly for the marque and model (90 series 3.4 V6 petrol) is in a right awkward spot requiring flexi jointed elbows...and i had to buy a socket ended strap wrench to get the old one off with, my trusty many years old chain wrench wouldn't fit round the bugger so close is it to the block.

 

Softy that i am the rug i lie on when under the motor the Cocker looked so comfy lying on in the sun that i scrabbled round on the block paving instead of moving her...talk about having a dog and barking yourself.

 

At one time i'd have shinned round these jobs and done a few hours pre rustproofing prep after and still been fine, but i'm knackered now...SWMBO is back from the gym so we'll take a nice stroll with the two half wit dogs up the fields in a while.

[Angrydicky]

Back home for Easter. Drove the A35 down to Kent, swapped it with the Somerset in the lockup and brought the A40 home.

 

Today I decided to have another look at the leaking rocker cover gasket on the Victor. It had been sitting alongside the Maestro on the front garden, for a week since Wuvvum came around and drove both of them. Tried to start it, flat battery. No problem, fetch jump leads, jump it off the Maestro. But of course, the Maestro wouldn't start either. This time it was the notorious autochoke, after a lot of trying it started but ran really slowly like the choke wasn't doing anything.

So now I've got the Victor battery on charge, while I attempt to find some replacement unleaded proof o-rings for the stepper motor on the Maestro carb. It's probably going to be those, it's been getting worse for a while and was pretty awful when I started and attempted to warm it up when Wuvvum was here!

 

I've also booked the MoT on the Victor for Monday, and booked it into a garage to have the clonking universal joint replaced. The garage is only a mile from my house, and although I've never used them before, the inside and outside were full of old motors so that bodes well.

 

So for the time being, the Somerset is my only fully working car, although that's not such a bad thing. I love driving it!

[Asimo]

Having decided to get rid of the MR2 In the spring I havn't driven it for weeks so today I took it out for a whizz, just to get the rust of the discs.

So I put the roof down and went for a real thrash in the sunshine, it worked perfectly and was really good fun.

Want to keep it now.

But I want less cars.

And something new that is older. But not slower.

[dollywobbler]

There was a bit of a late panic, but the XM got finished. New timing belt and fresh gearbox oil. Good grief is it nice! After a week of 602cc or a heady 847cc, it's sooo nice to have more power than you need! 70mph is just bliss.

Not all good news. Got stuck in a big traffic jam on the M5 and then remembered that I'd removed the cooling fan relay because of all the false alarms...

Got VERY worried when the temp went over halfway but thankfully, XMs have very powerful heater blowers...

So, I made it to Devon. 130 miles after filling the tank (for once) and the needle is still above full!

It almost makes up for having to give the Ami back.

[Inspector Morose]

Well, after spending a fortnight playing in Watford with this:

 

 

 

I was back in the yard for a twirl of the screwdrivers, spanners and hammers. Today this was delivered:

 

 

 

 

Quite a rare beastie, it being a DAF DB250 but with an Alexander body instead of the usual Optare Spectra effort. Only London, i think, specified them but I'm not sure.

 

Anyway it's here to be converted so on Monday it's out with the seats and fittings and the build starts to turn it into its new role, whatever that is. 

[mat_the_cat]

Just needs a mk2, a mk4 and a mk5 to go with it!

 

And a Mk6?

 

[vulgalour]

What's the 'grab handle' on the outside of the top deck of double deckers actually for?  I've heard all sorts of theories but never a conclusive answer.

[cobblers]

I presume to stop tree branches putting the glass through

[Inspector Morose]

Tree defender. Branches will hit that instead of the screen and be pushed away. Or in one operators case the tree defender will be hit hard enough to bend it around into the screen!

Waiving a large heavy pice of laminated glass up in the air whilst easing it into position on your own is not an enjoyable job. Worse with single piece screens (like the one with the bent tree defender above). Bloody heavy and pretty expensive if you break them.

[hairnet]

for some reason theres a london bus the same reg as that parked in west penine in manchester

[Pillock]

Trent just used to fit plastic windows, presumably to save money on tree defenders. The noise as the driver pretty much aimed for the largest branches was deafening.

[HillmanImp]

Well the Shaguar has moved to Castle Volksy and there is a new kid a Imp Towers:

 

 

First impressions? Er......mixed.

 

Driven it up from Sheffield tonight. Its an Activa (not Danone, Muller, Actimel, Ski etc) 2.0 Turdo and is amazing wanging itself round corners and propelled me at quite some speed up the M1, so much so that I was thinking I was tootling along at the speed limit but was happily cruising in 3 figures without noticing.

 

However, the clutch is going on it and I think there might be a problem with the O/S rear suspension as it doesn't feel as solid turning left at high speed and seems to move up and down a bit every now and then when you pull up. The clutch is not a worry but the suspension is. My degree was not in Xantia Activa suspensions and even if it was, I only got a 2:2 so would be out of my depth anyhow.

 

However this car was cheap. So cheap I could even forgive the smell inside it. Other things wrong are that it seems to have a warped brake disc, the airbag light is on (and sometimes flashing), there is no history, the wheels need balancing, the girl I bought it off was a pikey, the blower keeps cutting out when you put it on full power, there was no V5, here appears to be a bullet sized hole in the rear wing and the interior really smells. I know I already said that it smells but its so bad I think its worth mentioning twice.

 

But it really was quite good on the corners. Not had a cornering challenge with any other cars yet so have not been able to compare it, each time I look behind the car I was trying to race seems to have turned off or something? It really does feel good. Will have to keep driving up roads with right hand turns trying to make boy racers look stupid.

 

Now, this thing can only appreciate in value from what I paid for it, although there is that much wrong with it I will probably pay 4x what the appreciation will be. If I can sort the suspension, I need to start enquiring about how much it would be to replace the John Wayne engine (as its done 184k) with a V6 instead so that I can live the dream. 

 

More photos to follow.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Great film that 'Ex machina', I loved it