The new news 24 thread

[Ghosty]

There was apparently a heck of a storm in Birmingham (where I'm currently staying) in the early hours of this morning, but I slept through it.

 I passed through Brum today about 4pm and the humidity was in the 90s without a question. As I was on my train through the West Midlands it was very dark, very rainy, and lightning was frequent.

[GrumpyCat]

Those of you attending classic car shows, please post pictures of the most modern or otherwise questionable vehicle displayed, just for the LOLs like.

[chatsharris]

Any interest here in a 2007 '57' plate Honda Jazz, light blue colour, circa. 54k miles in fair condition? My brother will be selling soon I think, has replaced it with a Focus ST on one of those dreadful PCP schemes.

How much do these even go for nowadays? Belting little motors.

[egg]

As I was on the milk run, worth adding to the basket at Aldi for £2.99? We'll see.

 

[vulgalour]

Is anyone else having trouble with the forum image uploader?  It keeps just freezing whenever I try, no matter how tiny the image.

[HMC]

My news is that I've no news; the e46 330d simply just keeps working, and at the time of writing it's still my only car. Mind you it's test is up at the end of June. Unusual for me to buy something with such a short ticket. Basically I was being lazy and impatient as it was local and convenient.

[sierraman]

I got my insurance renewal come thru today for my Focus from ERS, £422! I nearly spat my chardonnay everywhere! so had a look on Go Compare and managed to find the same policy but with a lower excess (£100 instead of £150) as well as still having the breakdown, legal aid & PNC all for £240 with Churchill, how can it be £200 cheaper for the some policy?! So for the first time in 10 years I've changed provider.

£422 sounds cheap to me!

[Timewaster]

Thought you'd moved the focus on Trig.

 

Or do you mean the cmax?

[Ghosty]

I've been offered a major cosmetic replacement part for my new purchase for £bargain and it's even the right colour (mostly).

 

It's in Merthyr Tydfil... suppose I can make a diversion on my collection caper.

[vulgalour]

Can you not get Dollywobbler to pick it up for you on his way home from Bulgaria?  It's practically on his way back.

[Floatylight]

Oh buggeration! It was a lovely warm evening so I thought I would have a go at fitting the replacement air con condenser I purchased from eBay last week to my wife's 2003 C3, all went well with the strip down, wheel arch liners, bumper, n/s headlight and crash bar got top hose off no prob but old one seized solid and corroded, I'm assuming the cause of the leak, result of a bit of gentle persuasion - pipe broke off fixing. Only option. Now I can see is to replace pipe which looks to go all around the wheel arch, engine bay and into the bulkhead, Any other wise ideas, other than telling Mrs Floatylight to keep the window open..

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

[chaseracer]

Blimey, have you STILL got that C3?  I remember collecting that...

[panhard65]

Also remember the cost of R134 has gone through the roof so the days of a 30 quid re-gas have long gone.

[Skizzer]

My news is that I've no news; the e46 330d simply just keeps working, and at the time of writing it's still my only car. Mind you it's test is up at the end of June. Unusual for me to buy something with such a short ticket. Basically I was being lazy and impatient as it was local and convenient.

IMG_4365.JPG

Quick man, buy that Series 3 Daimler Sovereign I found for you in Bodmin. Put some proper unreliable old shite back in your life.

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/31602-ebay-tat-volume-3/?p=1514982

[Kiltox]

If anyone is selling a sub £1000 (ideally sub £500) automatic hatchback give me a shout

[Steve79]

Rover 820 of any interest?

[bramz7]

Tons of cool stuff on eBay. Tons of stuff old me would have bought and worried about later.

 

Sadly I've had to rein it in. Two cars is enough and it means I'll have room to approach the owner of my dad's old Subaru when I pluck up the courage.

 

 

Also I found out today that one of my colleagues from training was fired! He was really happy to get the job too after years of hating his previous career. Gutted for him.

[wuvvum]

Had one of those days today where I was busy all day but without really seeming to accomplish very much.

 

I was going to have a bash at bleeding the nearside rear brake on the 205, but that idea was very quickly curtailed when the bleed nipple sheared off.  So I bled the other side again, and I think the pedal feels a bit better now, although that might just be me.  I'm going to try and see if I can bleed the nearside down to the end of the pipe (if any air's got in that side it'll be at the top) - I'm going to pop into the motor factor's tomorrow and see if they have any 13mm brake pipe spanners in stock, although I'm not holding my breath.  Later on I tried to fit the rack boot back onto the rack, but gave up in the end as I was running out of daylight - it really is going to be a twat of a job as access is hopeless.

 

I removed various bits of C4 to get to the throttle body - it wasn't actually as much of a PITA as I was expecting, amazingly, although the wiper arms needed some persuasion to part with their spindles..  I also found that once I'd removed the airbox I had easy access to the two exhaust flange bolts that I'd been contorting myself trying to get to from underneath.  Oh well.  Anyway, I gave the throttle body a good blast of carb cleaner, and from the colour of what ran out it did remove at least some gunk, so we shall see.  I'm going to use it to go to work tomorrow and see if the P0121 code comes back up.  I also went underneath and plastered some more gun gum around the manifold-to-cat join.  Didn't work, it's still blowing - although less than before.  Problem is that with there being very little room around that bit of the exhaust and it getting hot almost instantaneously when the engine is started, it's a bit difficult to find a blow with one's hand.

 

Got the Renault 6 out to give it a quick going over.  I was intending to give the calipers a quick clean up and grease, but couldn't get them to part company with the discs - the bolts came out OK but I couldn't get the pads far enough in to clear the lip on the edge of the discs (although I was pleased to note that, despite being 22 years the Peugeot's senior, the front bleed nipples on the 6 came undone with no complaint).  Still, the brakes aren't sticking too badly - the offside frees off immediately with a quick tap from a hammer on the back of the caliper, and on the nearside even after standing on the brakes I can still turn the hub by grabbing the wheel studs, so that's barely sticking at all.  For the time being I've decided to take the unscientific approach of just driving it and seeing if they free off further with use (but keeping a hammer in the boot just in case). 

 

Otherwise it hasn't gone downhill too much at all for its lack of use.  The brake pipes all look sound - I found a short (maybe 2") section which looked a bit grotty, but after going over it with a wire brush it doesn't look like it's about to let go - I've greased it to avoid it deteriorating any further.  The bit of rot in the floorpan is much the same as it was - I'm not going to worry about that too much at the moment, as the floor is double skinned at that point and the upper skin is completely solid.  Plus to weld it up properly you'd have to remove the torsion bar, which I really can't be arsed with.  I did take out the (glass) expansion bottle and give it a good clean out to get rid of all the gunk, then refilled it with neat antifreeze.  I should really give the radiator a flush out as well, but didn't get around to that today.

 

The main area of concern is the exhaust - both of the rubbers on the centre hanger have given up, so it's now only held up at the downpipe and the silencer, which isn't ideal, and will really need sorting before I take it on any long runs.  One side of the hanger bolts up through the "sill" into a 10mm nut, which needless to say is rusted solid, so will have to ponder how to get around that - don't think I can get a nut splitter in there.  Other than that it's minor stuff like the driver's screenwash jet not working, the rear number plate light cover needing fixing on properly etc.

 

Then I took it for a drive.

 

[egg]

Do you know, i didn't know you had a 6 Wuv, what engine has it got?

[mercrocker]

Spent too much of this weekend fannying about with Cowley brakes.   Still can't get adjustment to stay in trim, I think there is a fault on one of the adjusters because its like a hair trigger between full lock-up and back-where-you-were.   One side's OK, front's are both fine.   Better send off for some new rear ones, I suppose.  Friggin' hate cocking around with drum brakes - they are fine on laid-up shit but a pain in the ass on dailies.

[wuvvum]

Do you know, i didn't know you had a 6 Wuv, what engine has it got?

It's the "posh" TL, so gets the 1108.

[xtriple]

Having some fun wth this MB, fettlin' away. Today, I bodged like a giffer - slight corrosion on the wheels round the valves, so scraped off, etch primed and sprayed... but just round the valves Normally I would have spent £50 per wheel having them re-furbed, today I spent 14 pence and 3 minutes on each wheel, end result looks rather better than the meagre effort would imply

 

Also got the rear seat cover from the BGD to fit in the SGD (Small Grey Dollop although its actually code 189 - metallic Black Onyx which looks greem or blue or black or grey depending on the light, nice) by wedging it in the rear cover that goes over the hood. Probably jammed now forever and will require more money spent on it than the car cost to get the roof fixed! Also, why do electric roofs have to be so slow? MX5, 2 clips and chuck it back, total time, 2 seconds. MB, undo front latch and press button, various things whirr and loft, things move and disappear only to re-appear seconds later. All very flash but it takes about 20 - 30 seconds to raise or lower the roof and makes your finger ache with the effort of pressing a button

[SiC]

All very flash but it takes about 20 - 30 seconds to raise or lower the roof and makes your finger ache with the effort of pressing a button

First world problems!

[Steve79]

Also remember the cost of R134 has gone through the roof so the days of a 30 quid re-gas have long gone.

Groupon have a deal on for regas with ATS for £29.50

 

https://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/ats-euromaster-ltd-8?keyw=aircon%20regas&crea=270126988783&netw=g&adpos=1t1&utm_campaign=UK_MB_SEA_GGL_TXT_TTT_SR_CBP_CH1_NBR_k*aircon%20regas_m*e_c*270126988783_d*UK-RTC-KWService-National_g*RTC-KWService-ats-euromaster-ltd-8-EXACT_s*495_t*kwd-299275453183&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&loc_physical_ms=1006567&loc_interest_ms=&template=ETA_DKI_Short_Title_1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0a7YBRDnARIsAJgsF3PDbmgP3UUelCfKRwuk3usl4cNbKSKol7AFILZDxfT4xq1UtRfmXkYaAoCAEALw_wcB

[richardmorris]

My sister and family came over today for us all to go for a ride in swinley forest.

All started off well and they enjoyed the ride, but ended up with me driving their Renault scenic through the forest following the ambulance and crown estate ranger. We got a few looks! This was at 1.30 and I’ve just picked them back up from frimley a&e at 10pm.

 

Typically just when I needed it I couldn’t get a phone signal on EE so had to give the ranger’s number to someone else to call. It’s no point going to 999 as they have no idea where you are- rangers will call the ambulance despatch and have their own call sign.

They had said it was a lowish grade rating (six year old with head and shoulder injury ) and so would be two hours wait for the ambulance, hence them telling me i can drive in and they can lead us out the other side ( once they knew I lived on the estate). Turns out the ambulance was less than ten mins and I followed it in through the farm entrance.

 

Oh the excitement!

[binhoker668]

So, obviously collectioneering happened on Friday - and still no thread.  I'm not sure I can be arsed if I'm honest!  It was fairly uneventful really.  In short, it's a really sweet car and very low mileage at 92,259.  I've put nearly 500 miles on it since picking it up in Norwich (Nottingham - Leeds - Haworth - Malham Tarn then back),  and it's been just great.  BUT.  The clutch is defo slipping.  And it's doing my head in - BIG BUCKS to have changed and I have just wazzed the last of my cash on this high-bottomed piece of French history...  And kind words involving the sentence "it's alright mate - probably just needs adjusting" will be gratefully received.

That crushing blow aside, it's a great drive - solid as a rock on the motorway, and surprisingly hard to keep down to 70mph.  The guy I bought it off was an 83 yr old retired forces engineer, so you can imagine how meticulously clean it was inside.  4 brand new Avons and Citroen heavy duty mats too.

I hope to hang on to this one for sure - so belongings are gonna have to be sold for OMGCLUTCHGATE.  It might even have to be cymbals this time.  Yikes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been a fair bit of French bothering on here of late - certainly a decent variety too.  Hopefully get to a few meets this year....

So, there ye go!

Nice innit?

 

Chris

 

[DodgeRover]

Nakamachi (or something like that stereo, are they any good/? Sounds nice as I have just put a CD in (Pink Floyd - Division Bell) and it sounds really good, bass/treble/midrange adjustments and they actually DO change the sound! Amazing. Just cleaned a few bits insid, steering wheel is really ground in muck which doesn't seem to want to relinquish its death grip but the armrest and door cards cleaned easily and well. Alarm has gone off twice while it was parked outside, so now unlocked and all the windows down so anyone can nick it - security conscious me!!

Yes those used to be top end stereos, they've been bought out now though so the new ones aren't.

[Kiltox]

Rover 820 of any interest?

Too big unfortunately, thanks though.

[Ghosty]

If anyone is selling a sub £1000 (ideally sub £500) automatic hatchback give me a shout

 

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C994620

 

See if this is still available.

 

The stalling issue will be timing or a clogged PCV.

[dollywobbler]

Can you not get Dollywobbler to pick it up for you on his way home from Bulgaria? It's practically on his way back.

Not sure I'm going home before Shitefest...