The new news 24 thread

[loserone]

Gosh that thing is awesome.

 

Great video, and now once again I'm looking at badly painted amis with no MOT and full of wob on ebay.  

 

Wonder if they'll swap for a pretzel.

[twosmoke300]

Ref the focus smart charge probs check the loom that goes to the 3 pin plug on the alt . They used to have probs with the wires breaking or rubbing and getting corroded inside .

[stuboy]

Repaid favour to gf's father letting me use his press to do my wheel bearings, he wanted plates welded on to a frame so wheels can be added for mobile work bench, had bit of mare with conductivitt being galvenised

[fordperv]

This evening I have been prepping the centre caps from mrs fp's wheels for paint, they were bloody rough, the wheels got powdercoated so the centres couldn't be done, anyway I could have got a brand new set for £32 but I would have still have to paint them so it was worthwhile to sort these ones

 

This is how they started, the gouges were really deep

 

 

After a bit of time with the wet and dry paper they looked nice and crisp again

 

I dusted the top right one as I wanted to check the colour match of the paint against the wheels, my local paint shop did me the can to match the powdercoated wheel I took up but I wanted to be certain

 

 

I'm planning on painting and lacquering tomorrow

[The Moog]

Yes. But check the relays, like I said earlier in the thread. Not saying that the alternator isn't trashed, but they're the cheap and easy bit to go through.

Will do.

 

Wire to plug looks fine (no obvious crispiness) but you need a scope to do that diagnostic which I don't have.

 

Seems a bit over engineering for something that never really has been an issue.

 

All modern carz etc.

[phil_lihp]

The Prelude is off to the garage tomorrow morning for a new rear wheel bearing - at least I hope it's only one.  It's gradually changed from a distant hum to a distinctive howl and the radio only goes so loud.  There's also some proper Honda alloys with four nearly new tyres organised too, with the kind help of Anoymous User, which cost less than a pair of new front tyres for the OZ wheels it's currently wearing.  The tracking is way out and it's eaten the inner edges of the fronts so once that's sorted and the little jobs are all done it'll be going up for sale.  I like it but it's just a bit too impractical and I haven't really warmed to it despite its brilliance,  A family member has first dibs but if he changes his mind I'll wave it around on here.  I really ought to wash it too I suppose, it hasn't been cleaned since I bought it and deserves a good polishing session.

[xtriple]

No I did not bloody buy it! One huge money pit is enough for anyone.... but I was tempted enough to go and look. I'm fascinated to be honest at just how bad and neglected people let expensive cars get. Seriously, that one is just a spares car and didn't even have the spirit of ecstasy on the grill.

 

To be honest, I would love to have a first year car and a last year car but then, I am sad like that!

 

Also, I am pretty much broke now until I sell the Honda so no go. I am a timewaster!

[stuboy]

Also changed lambda sensor on gfs tino with help of her lil boy

[Lord Sterling]

My job takes me into many streets in Birmingham which enables me to see shite up close and personal, take the odd pic and even talk to owners if they are around, which most of the time they are not.

 

Yesterday I got speaking to the owner of a seriously lovely and original 1990 E34 5-series. They really are great looking cars even today.

 

A bonus of my job is that although I don't always have a van, my crew have a seriously decrepid Beige and rust coloured X-reg Renault truck 6.1 diesel manual which needs a jump-start every morning. Pics will be put up later.

[tooSavvy]

MrSavvy had a 'spitty fit' and choked on 4gallons.

 

Fuckking spat a horsetrough full of 4* back at me.... rinsed my jeans bottoms/socks/loafers. God did it humm in the car going home.

 

Bastard airlock!

 

Shoes & socks binned.

 

TS

[vulgalour]

No need to bin them, didn't you know petrol just burns off?

[Asimo]

 

 

Bashed my way through some work, then distracted myself after finding I'd never got around to finishing this video.

 

 

 

Excellent!  Never mind 40 years old, that car is 50! I was offered a 10 year old, grey Ami 6 for nowt when I was 16.  I said ta, took the log book home with a big smile, but sadly let Mum talk me out of the offer. It did sound good too, because the silencer was missing........

 

My desktop picture this week

[dollywobbler]

I'm a bit miffed with the video actually, as the sound has got corrupted somehow. I've traced it back and it was when I pulled the video clips into Cyberlink Power Director. For some reason, all the sound ended up on one channel. I've re-edited it now but of course, you can't change a video on YouTube, so I'll have to upload it again as a fresh one. Which takes hours. Ugh.

[phil_lihp]

My phone rang this afternoon, turns out it's time for a game of 'wheel bearing roulette' on the Prelude.  My mechanic thinks it might be the passenger side, a friend who had a lift in it last week said the same thing but I thought it was the driver's side.  It's now so intrusive it's hard to tell but they both turn nicely when it's on the ramp.  In the end I gave the go-ahead to change the passenger side one with fingers crossed that's it.  If it wasn't, or both are shot, it's going to get pretty expensive.  Oh well, it wouldn't be right to sell a car without making a substantial loss on it and at least I'll know it left me in better condition then when it arrived, which is always satisfying.  It's in lovely overall condition anyway so I reckon it's worth it.

 

I wanted to do it myself as I've never done one before and it didn't look too hard but haven't the time to spend on it - again - and for what little he's charging it hardly seemed worth the hassle and expense of buying a puller just for the one job.

[scaryoldcortina]

^Did either your friend or the mechanic look closely at the tyres while diagnosing the wheel bearing noise?

[Bren]

I am not sure my mother in law is going to drive again due to her health issues.

 

I have mentioned about disposing of her granada because I don't want everything on it seizing in the garage over winter - because you can guess who will have to sort it out when the time comes?

[phil_lihp]

^Did either your friend or the mechanic look closely at the tyres while diagnosing the wheel bearing noise?

It's got nearly new tyres on the back with virtually no wear on them so no clues there.

[Cavcraft]

I've found what looks like a 1992/3 Sierra abandoned (by the owner) on his/her driveway very locally. I might go and drop a 'if you want to sell this car..' letter through the box, though on the porch of the house does seem to be a note in the window. What are the chances of it being a 'the car is not for sale' job?

 

Fiat has repaid me getting a new MOT by starting to make an odd twingly twangly sound from somewhere, I think one of the n/s wheel areas is where the noise is coming from.

Nigh on 1200 miles on veg on the 306 now achieved, bought 3x20 litres the other day so brimmed it and added more to the Lucas pumped Berlingo, which aside from a couple of cold coughs, hasn't complained at all. The identical spares car 306 is still in the garage, mostly because I know the minute I weigh it in, I'll need something off it. Must get the Speedlines off and refurb'd and re-tyred though, also the indicator switch on the daily one is playing up so need to get that off, too.I suppose the best thing to do would be to strip it for as many bits as possible (inc. lights, bumpers, engine, box, wheels and relays etc) then give it to the scrap man so I get most of my garage back. 

[purplebargeken]

All Sierras need rescuing.

 

No. Just saying. 

[Cavcraft]

Also, I've 'Retro-Rided' my car. Deal with it, suckers

[Jim Bell]

S33n W8nKa

[Lacquer Peel]

Crisp 'n' Dry? It has expensive tastes.

[320touring]

Imma get " Mazola Powered" stickers furra skud

[cms206]

Gaffer is threatening to get shot of his trio of nightfire red Rover 400 Tourers.

 

I may* have accidentally* expressed an interest in the lowest (128k) or highest (250k) mileage examples

[Jim Bell]

Is it: Door number B Carol?

[vulgalour]

Is mossymossy philibusmo's Dad?

[gm]

electrical fettling on the aldi today :

 

for a while, the battery has been struggling so I finally gave in and ordered one from eBay on monday for next day delivery - it arrived today (thanks yodel for such great next day service ) the first problem I encountered was that I do not have the code for the radio, the solution presented itself in the form of a booster start gadget that dad bought me last christmas, one end plugged into the aldi, the other into the mx5 and I could swap batteries at my leisure

 

 

then I turned my attention to a new problem, the heater fan would only run on full whack, the other three settings were dead - I suspected the resistor pack which a bit of googling seemed to confirm. right then, how much for a new one? £120 !! ok, how about second hand ? anything between £15 and £60 depending on the part number. first things first, I ripped the glovebox out to identify the part - looks nothing like any of the ones I've found pics of - ffs, it's a bloody aldi a3, there must be millions of the buggers

 

here's the trouble maker

 

 

that little thermal fuse on the end seems to have blown, a bit more googling and a trip to maplins resulted in my being precisely 99p poorer but clutching a shiny new fuse

 

 

now the thing with thermal fuses is (surprisingly) that they don't like getting hot - so how do I solder the little bugger on ? it may be a bit of a bodge but I soldered a pair of crimp terminals to the resistor pack then crimped the fuse into place.

 

 

while I was in there swapped the pollen filter, the one that came out was absolutely minging, might well have been as old as the car

 

 

so everything fitted back in place, a quick test and it appears that i am some kind of electrical genius - all four speeds on the fan, improved airflow and an engine that started without all of the previous dramatics

 

fate was less impressed and decided I needed that smug look wiping off - I promptly locked the keys inside the car - Fuckabix !

 

the spare was handy so not a disaster but why do stupid modern cars want to lock themselves all the time ? my two Hondas did the same, what is the point ?

 

tools all packed away now and time for a well earned cuppa and stuff you vag with your ridiculous parts prices !

[andrew e]

Cor just spotted this in the latest (may be an outrageous lie) Car magazine:

 

[bub2006]

Resistor pack,pollen filter. You are me but less wall mounting. Aicmfp

[dollywobbler]

In which I try to make a dull day sound interesting, and end up coming over as a bit like Alan Partridge (one Twitter comment). 

http://wp.me/p1jtbd-Es