Jump to content

The new news 24 thread


Father Ted

Recommended Posts

8 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

You’re sure it’s not leaking or burning oil? It has to be going somewhere, scotty is not beaming it out.

If it was burning oil, there'd be blue smoke from the exhaust. There isn't any of that.

What I am getting is an absence of a reading on the dipstick. That's why I dipped it in unused Castrol to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Sure enough,  the Castrol shows up between the marks. Wiping it off and dipping it back in the engine gave a reading of...nothing visible. 

If there is an oil leak, it has only happened since the oil and oil filter were changed. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, spike60 said:

If there is no oil showing on the dipstick surely the level is low?  You can highlight dipstick oil by pressing the stick onto clean flat kitchen roll. 

Yes, this is exactly the point. It wasn't low when the oil was changed. If it is low, then it must be going somewhere. The question is.....where!?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I'm aware onto the floor, into the coolant or out the exhaust are the only options.  There's usually about 1L between min and max marks plus whatever below the min mark. If was leaking this amount I would expect you to see it where you park or smell it when it got onto the exhaust. A litre or more going into the coolant would float on top and be coming out past the cap messily.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, MikeR said:

I wonder if BAP245B is still on the road ?

 

DVLA says 1964 red Austin 848cc. Last changed owners 2015. No MOT results.  Awwwww.

But, . . . it's currently road taxed :-)  yaaaaayyy.  Tax due in August 2020.

Result.

Oh, just Googled it, it's the one from the 60s Randall And Hopkirk tv series.  Didn't know that. Have never watched any of these but look forward to seeing them one day, maybe on Netflix?   Fabtastic.  I think there may be some FD Ventora 3.3 rubbing-thigh moments there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

DVLA says 1964 red Austin 848cc. Last changed owners 2015. No MOT results.  Awwwww.

But, . . . it's currently road taxed :-)  yaaaaayyy.  Tax due in August 2020.

Result.

Oh, just Googled it, it's the one from the 60s Randall And Hopkirk tv series.  Didn't know that. Have never watched any of these but look forward to seeing them one day, maybe on Netflix?   Fabtastic.  I think there may be some FD Ventora 3.3 rubbing-thigh moments there.

Paging @simon8201 for Randall and Hopkirk mini anecdote. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's mum's birthday today, unfortunately my brain is mince so have been unable to get out and get anything for her. She did however express a strong interest in taking on LKX, she asked as if it was my place to say no! Having seen how my cars get of late, it wouldn't be right. Also Dad's Car for me is Mavis, LKX arrived just as I was leaving home I think.

I'm going to fire over to work to ask very nicely if I can come in and do a couple of quiet shifts, not that there's many going round, but I need to get back to work or I'll go mad!

She hasn't seen the car since last Saturday morning, it's normally parked up away from the house during the week, and dad was always off on adventures in it at the weekend. It looks a bit grim right now:

received_228591241672583.thumb.jpeg.7208e94ac37ee116ff2a1863ab693a16.jpeg

Just dirty from the state of the roads, so I'll beast mode cleaning that while she's at her parents. 

I got a little something made too, I'm better at tasks than buying gifts. As was dad!

20200321_142727.thumb.jpg.5a647028f2563b0cf0213b727a510e3d.jpg

Don't worry, it's not actually screwed down, I'm just an idiot and accidentally got it with holes, so chopped the heads off a couple of wood screws and superglued them in the holes. So completely reversible, even if it absolutely never will be. Though I can take it off if I'm deep cleaning the interior, so I'll be able to get some brasso on it without getting it everywhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/20/2020 at 3:01 PM, loserone said:

I can't make it play, but I am rubbish with technology most of the time.

It doesn’t do anything, I just too a photo of something out of the window that was making my cup of coffee vibrate across the desk.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went to go for a drive in the Porsche but the battery was flat again, somethings amiss there. 

So I took the Subaru. It really is well weapon. Sadly every other cunt in the world was also out driving slowly everywhere and whilst I did manage a few overtakes it was pretty crap.

It was a silly time of day to go out for a blast though, should be early morning or evening for the quietest roads. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had pretty much a wasted weekend, on the fettling front at least.  This weekend's job was to try and sort out the water leak on the Scudo. 

I spent bloody ages removing the dashboard and the fuse box and loosening the blower motor assembly so I could trace the heater pipes back to the bulkhead and see where the water is leaking from.  Turns out they're not leaking at all.  The water is coming in through the air intake for the heater.  I'd previously ruled this out as a possibility as taking off the scuttle vent above the intake it was bone dry.  However further investigation revealed that the scuttle on the offside, due to a blocked drain and a stupid design, was holding an absolute fugging lake, and whenever I went round a right hand bend said lake would slosh across through the gap under the windscreen and find its way down into the cabin via the air intake.  It was slightly brown due to the accumulation of mud and dead leaves in the scuttle so I assumed it was coolant.  A quick poke around with a screwdriver unblocked the scuttle drain enough that the lake slowly dispappeared.

That still left the mystery of where the coolant was going.  I hadn't really investigated any other possibilities as I had assumed it was leaking out the heater pipes.  Turns out it's blown its head gasket.  The temp gauge sits rock steady, the heater works and there's no sign of fluids mixing, but opening the bonnet when running and up to temperature revealed a trickle of water down the side of the exmpasnion tank, and when I switched the engine off and unscrewed the cap, what can only be described as Mr. Matey poured out.

DSC_0951.JPG

So that's that fucked.  It's a shame as in every other respect it was pretty much the perfect van for me - sensible size, quick, economical, comfortable, handles well, even has cruise control.  If it had A/C as well it'd be perfection.  As it is though it's not worth me forking out for a garage to do the work, and there's no way I can do it myself (I can barely see the fugging engine let alone work on it), so I'm going to have to start looking for another van.  When I have some money to buy one with that is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yesterday I gave the Cavalier an oil change and wash.  It'll be my weapon of choice for taking the other half to work this week (she's a key worker and I'm most definitely not).  This photo is the good side.  The other is a bit battered and full of wob.

20200321_171745.thumb.jpg.fb8fd34587fac70659b14a67731ba1b8.jpg

I also awoke the Metro from its five month slumber.  I was grinning all the way home until I could smell pez, then pulled over sharpish behind the others as the fire extinguisher was in the back of the 406.

20200322_143959.thumb.jpg.9022e3fe29f2776da787332feeb0b713.jpg

A clip on the fuel pump needed nipping up, but it's still not A1, and the fuel hose should really be replaced so I'll do that tomorrow as I've got some spare.  It was spaffing out all over the exhaust manifold...been there before in something else and that didn't catch fire either, but still.  Anal sphincter got a work out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/21/2020 at 10:51 PM, holbeck said:

Paging @simon8201 for Randall and Hopkirk mini anecdote. 

Oh yes!

Almost bought this very car a few years ( 20 or more) ago from the then owner of Downton tuning. I went to see it in a barn in Norfolk and was so tempted, especially when I was told Tony Curtis drove it in The Persuaders as well as its regular role in Randall and Hopkirk.  The car was almost roadworthy at the time, needing brakes doing and it had quite a bit of surface rust. He was asking £2500 for it which at the time was about a £1000 celebrity provenance surcharge on the going rate for a mk1 mini. As I'm incapable of doing much more than changing a starter motor on a car I decided against buying. About a week later the chap contacted me and said he'd do the brakes if I bought it but I decided against, a decision I have often regretted but at the time was probably the right one.

Soon after that I bought HMB643C a similar cherry red mk1 Austin Mini which was in  much better order and cost less than BAP but i always felt it was lacking the anecdote value of having had Tony Curtis' arse sat on the very seats I was sitting on. I now content myself with my 51 year old mk2 Morris Mini and my downstairs lavatory which was previously owned by David Suchet of Poirot fame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...