The new news 24 thread

[anonymous user]

We could start a new thread with this - "Fullsized stuff that resembles the Matchbox Toy version"

That has been painted by a child with humbrol enamel

[320touring]

Boss/mate starting a secondment, so jacked work at 4pm and settled down for a doom bar or twa..

 

Now hame, dinner on and innes and gunn ftw

[Largactil]

Does any one else suffer from chod apathy when the weather's rubbish?

 

Been feeling a tad guilty about the neglect I've been inflicting on the LNA recently - It lives on my parent's drive in Scotland, and due to life being busy / me being in Ireland more of the time / dismal weather whenever I was visiting, I realised it hadn't turned a wheel since the 15th of January.

 

I had hoped to give it a run while over visiting last month, but it wasn't for starting due to a flat battery (it did start after 24 hrs of trickle charging, but I didn't have time to drive it anywhere.

 

Finally got the chance to do so today, after reading the Peugeot 104 thread which spurred me into action - I crossed my fingers, stuck the key in the ignition and hoped for the best.

 

It burst into life after turning over for 20 seconds, and settled to a nice even idle. Result.

 

It's a stunning day in Scotland, so I took it for a good blezz up through Glendevon, to Gleneagles before heading down the A9 at a steady 70 mph.

 

Handled all of the above with ease - I'd forgotten what a fun little thing it is to drive, and nippy enough to keep pace with modern traffic. (The unservoed brakes and extreme body roll betray its age, but just focus the mind to drive a bit more carefully).

 

Think I've got my chod mojo back - might even fit the new carb & fuel pump which have been sat on the shelf for the past 5 months...

 

[Shep Shepherd]

Had The Saab's rusty and leaky PAS cooler pipes replaced by my local garage today, as I (correctly) decided that it wasn't such a good idea for me to attempt to replace them at home; I supplied the parts (genuine Saab) and the fluid, and they supplied the labour. They blithely quoted me 1.5 hours to do the job, but it took them closer to three to complete, as they had never done it on a Saab 9-5 before.

 

The mechanic said that they would have charged me extra if they had known what a pig of a job it was going to be. Clearly, they don't get many requests to do anything other than servicing on Saabs

 

Anyway, they did a great job of fitting the pipes, and after smothering them in Waxoyl when I got the car home, all is well. Hopefully they will never need replacing again

 

Happy Saab is happy:

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

That 9-5 looks really distinctive in that colour, I don't recall seeing another, they all seem to be silver or metallic blue. For some reason it looks more modern than the subsequent face lifted versions especially those ugly Dame Edna's

[Bren]

Passed a cyclist using the hard shoulder of the M62 westbound J8 - near ikea.

 

Must have been going for the meatballs.

[Shep Shepherd]

That 9-5 looks really distinctive in that colour, I don't recall seeing another, they all seem to be silver or metallic blue. For some reason it looks more modern than the subsequent face lifted versions especially those ugly Dame Edna's

 

I too prefer the 9-5's original front end, as it reminds me of the 9000, a car I always wanted but never quite got around to buying.

 

I've only seen a couple of other Imola Red 9-5s in the wild; a 2000 SE saloon in Leeds and a 2002 Linear estate on a salvage website. I love the colour

 

I wonder if either of the earlier 9-5 front ends will fit the Dame Edna versions without much hassle? Seems the best way to go in the future to me.

[doobietoo]

Mrs Doobietoo has finally ordered her shed after weeks of constant nagging and it arrives Sat so on Sunday It will get built and all the gardening bollocks that is in, on and around the 1100 in the much bigger garage will be evicted. I will then be able to continue the restoring and rebuilding process. To say I am looking forward to getting some more work done following an almost 6 month delay due to our house move is somewhat of an understatement.....

[dollywobbler]

Me and Anthony G spotted this Streetwise at PoL on Saturday. I think it works quite well. Just exchanged Facebookness with the owner and it is a lowered Streetwise.

 

Didn't have steel wheels, but you can't have everything.

[wuvvum]

I bought a car today.  Well it had been a while.

 

 

Some of you may recall I had one of these a few years ago, and was rather impressed by it.  I always said I'd have another if a manual one came up at the right price.  Well this one's an auto, but it was at better than the right price, so I bought it anyway.

 

It's only tested until the end of the month and it has a dent in the nearside rear door and a worn steering wheel, but it drives fine and (as these do) goes like the absolute clappers.  It was being sold by an older chap who was only getting rid because he'd bought another identical one, only with lower mileage and leather seats.  Not sure what the long term plans are for it, but I'm going to enjoy a bit of boy-racer-baiting between now and the end of the month, then I'll stick it in for a test and see what it needs.

 

In other news, the Merc now has its original stereo back in, which sounds rather better than the 17 quid Lidl job I'd shoved in there.  I was about to chuck the old one out when I noticed that the fuse from the back was missing, which struck me as odd.  I nicked one out of a spare Rover 75 stereo I have lying around, plugged it back into the car and it powered up straight away and asked for a code.  The original code card is still in with the paperwork, so that was easy, and I fitted it back into the dash - not without a brief battle with the cheap eBay removal keys I'd bought, which didn't want to let go.  Bizarrely, since I've refitted it, the "one touch" function for the front windows has started working again.  Reminds me of the A3 I had whose speedometer suddenly sprang back to life when I replaced the reversing light switch.  All moderns are etc.

[Shep Shepherd]

Looks a bit like a Cadillac if you squint

[Lord Sterling]

Due to some stuff at home, I was going to be late for my signing on at the dole office, so I jumped to my mates house hoping I could borrow his push bike, but there was something wrong with it so he chucked me the keys to his ever suffering T-reg Corsa!

 

The poor thing has never been serviced during his ownership or recieved any attention. It's very jumpy at lower speeds and felt like it was dragging its arse. So after the dole office I took the little thing to the petrol station, chucked some air into the tyres, the rear tyres almost had no air in them, one tyre was down to 7psi! One front tyre is bald and there is some strange knocking coming from the rear suspension. I also checked it through a cheap car wash as its never been properly cleaned.

[tooSavvy]

My works Doblo has just this minute FTP... With a dash orange triangle & orange engine silhouette.

Running ok - oil/water ok - fan is running but engine is in middle temp as usual. Dash text says 'stop start unavailable' - I always switch the shit off as I hate clutch restarts.

 

So I'm squarewheels on the A69, heddon on the wall, waiting for AA.

 

I HAVE PORK PIES = WCPGW

 

*AA now diagnosed/lap top = DPF.

 

Off to swap the van.....

 

 

TS

[Semi-C]

My lass's Micra failed it's MOT, on a spot of welding.

 

Unusual for an L reg K11....

 

 

You know you're getting lazier when you bring the sill to you rather than lay under the spatter.

 

 

Can't fault the car really, it's coming to the end of it's second year with us and this is the first "work" it's required (short of service items and consumables), nayt bad for a car that cost 1 x scrap VW Golf.

 

Edit: Just received a call from my lass, all passed now.

 

[vulgalour]

 

Finally managed to acquire a paper template of a Rover 75 rear numberplate to try out on the back of the Xantia as the measurements are close to being what I need.  The side tapers irritate me though, I'm not sure I would be any happier with this than a standard plate.

 

I've had trouble getting a response from any custom plate maker, all of them seem to either ignore contact attempts or tell me they can't provide a plate in the correct shape or size.  I've also had no joy finding the acrylic and reflective yellow vinyl in the size I need for this job unless I buy a massive roll/sheet of both.  Not an option when I only want to build a single rear plate.

 

Last option is to find someone that can do me a paper template of a Range Rover Sport rear number plate as that's the next nearest standard plate in size and shape to what I want.

 

Your thoughts on the above are welcome, it's beginning to annoy me that I can't seem to find a solution to this other than fitting a standard plate that looks odd floating in the big black recess.

[scdan4]

New* 9-5 demanded coolant today via the media of many bongs, pixelated messages AND warning lights. Old coolant* at the bottom of the tank has sparkly little metal bits in it which are easily visible as the water in it is crystal clear. I now suspect the rocker cover gasket oil leak down the front of block might not be the rocker covers fault.

 

Have topped up with water and will endeavor to ignore it for as long as possible. 

[Bobthebeard]

DSCF2979.JPG

 

 

 

Your thoughts on the above are welcome, it's beginning to annoy me that I can't seem to find a solution to this other than fitting a standard plate that looks odd floating in the big black recess.

Paint the big black recess in body colour and use a standard plate? Maybe leaving a thin black outline in the recess around the plate. Around 10mm from the plate all round? Sort of like a border. Break up the white a bit?

Edit. Maybe smooth/file the edges of the standard plate slightly also to match the look of the rear?

[dollywobbler]

Hasn't the Rover 220 Autoshite bike got an oversize front plate on it? Where did that come from?

[vulgalour]

BtB:  I don't like the black panel painted white, doesn't fit aesthetically with the rest of the car.  I did have a bit of a think and wondered about just reducing the Rover 75 plate overall so there's an equal border around it that matches the outline of the recess, especially since I can get the Rover blank to trim down before getting the vinyl and characters added to it.  Also considered fitting a sheet of yellow reflective vinyl in the recess with the standard plate on top, but having seen that done elsewhere decided it just looked crap and not at all the smooth finish I want.

[Bobthebeard]

Maybe invert the rover blank in the black recess? Would match the black bit over the rear window and rear end body shape....

[vulgalour]

NOPE.

 

 

More paper crafts required, methinks.

[Bobthebeard]

NOPE.

 

DSCF2980.JPG

 

More paper crafts required, methinks.

No, must admit that looks wrong.... I iz no artist.

[Bobthebeard]

Leave it black with smaller square plate in middle?

Have no more solutions to offer owing to complete lack of artistic eye etc...

ðŸ˜Â

[Volksy]

The Jag of much beige has an oversized rear plate, and I think it looks odd, letters too small etc

 

 

The maker was Midlands Car Parts, according to the plate. 

[vulgalour]

That'd look better if the letters sat lower on the plate.  My other consideration was to get the recess reshaped to accept a standard plate between the lights, the tailgate isn't metal so I bet it could be done easily enough with fibreglass without risk of cracks.

[HMC]

Hasn't the Rover 220 Autoshite bike got an oversize front plate on it? Where did that come from?

Yes, provided by DMB graphics. In fact I measured the rear one, they made an exact copy of the dimensions and replicated the supplying dealer logo, really impressed also how quickly they reply to e mail queries and turn the order around. When funds allow I'm going to have a set made for the Volvo 760. This presently has the new style font and a gaping recess for the rear plate which IMO would suit a chunkier one, a bit like your ideas for the xantia.

 

As Volvo used a set square to style the 760, I've got an easier job as there's no need for fancy curvy plates on its rump....

[vulgalour]

DMB were one of the companies not to reply to my request.  Maybe I have to telephone them instead.

[barefoot]

Could you not simply fit a standard plate using those little yellow plastic bolts, but only fasten it to the car at the left hand side so it sits at a jaunty angle and fills the space better?

[vulgalour]

No, because I have no pineapples.

[anonymous user]

Could you not simply fit a standard plate using those little yellow plastic bolts, but only fasten it to the car at the left hand side so it sits at a jaunty angle and fills the space better?

or get some flourescent yellow paint and some black insulating tape and make your own