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Today, @Talbot kindly dropped the Princess wing off for me and we had a chinwag for much too long about basically everything, the new wing will allow me to replace the one currently on the car that's cobbled together from three wings and a bit of sill.

In other good news, the weather and our work schedules aligned so the other half and I have just finished the conservation of one of the Lanchester's door cards.  This is the original fabric and fixings, with new tacks and copper rivets to hold everything together, as per the original construction.  New padding too, which has really improved the look and feel of the card.  We're looking forward to getting the other cards done and back in the car soon.

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1 hour ago, N19 said:

Maybe this isn't the best time of year to take the Capri down a muddy wood track round the back of Croxley? The resultant mess at least forced me to wash it, which I've been putting off for ages! 

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Very nice!! Is that a factory colour?

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1 hour ago, sickboy said:

Very nice!! Is that a factory colour?

Yep - although as said...

45 minutes ago, Shite Ron said:

Corsican blue is a lovely colour. A proper 1980 colour, I think only available for one year.

...only available in 1979 model year. More often than not seen on Cortinas.

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I bought one of those cheap Chinese Bluetooth FM transmitters off Amazon and stuck it in the Streetwise. Forgetting the lighter socket is permanent live and isn't switched to the ignition, naturally the car wouldn't start yesterday morning. Swapped out with spare battery. The car always does something unusual when I re-connect the negative terminal. Sometimes it will automagically wind down the drivers side window by 2mm. Today it just gave me a solitary toot of the horn. 

Elsewhere, the usually reliable 620 tried (but failed) to stuff me in Halfords car park in Ilkeston yesterday by not starting with the ignition key. The barrel has always been a bit sus, but yesterday was the first time there was nothing, absolutely nothing. Yanked the key out, polished it on my jumper, stuck it back in, started first time.

I'm also trying to sort out a few pre-MoT wrinkles on the 420, the first priority being the lack of a forward/aft driver's seat adjustment. Got the seat out and identified one of the plastic clips which attaches to the runner had lost a critical piece of 'holding in' structure. Tried bodging, but failed. Probably could yank one off the passenger seat (that not being adjustable wouldn't be an MoT fail would it ?) but opted to buy a dodgy replacement clip from Rimmers. Price of part £2.45. Price of postage £4.45. Fucking Rimmertax

ETA I also now have Android Auto in my van, on a standalone 8 inch tablet (so no good for phone calls but I have a Parrot for that). Sideloaded the APK and have to say, it works really well - Deezer for my tunes, Maps for navigation, automatically fires up when the tablet connects to the bluetooth transmitter (yes another cheap Chinese one). Hoping to get a more modern stereo from Amazon Warehouse which has Bluetooth built in. I did get  (yes a cheap Chinese) one for a tenner, but it doesn't play nicely so will bite the bullet and get a proper Pioneer or similar for £50 hopefully.

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Capri voiced its' displeasure by losing the bottom nut and bolt from the alternator arm. Hence belt lost pretty much all tension. Delightful but fortunately fixed in 5 minutes... Think the belt is a little out still as it is clattering slightly, but I have a new alternator and belt to put on at some point. 

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2 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

2CV did a non start on me last week, and has resisted all attempts to encourage her into life without actually doing any work. Finally gave in and replaced the spark plugs. Started instantly. I think those were the plugs I fitted in Belgium last July, so they've done a fair few miles...

NGK? They seem to unscrew the cap in my experience. The old equem never did.

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2 hours ago, stuboy said:

Been round to misses deceased uncles house to remove boarded up back door and rebuild the door as dodgy area and possibly get broken into whilst empty, thought I'd look in garage spot the lada parts and ford zephyr 

 

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Bodyshell and chassis, respectively. Hur hur hur 😁😁😁

 

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1 minute ago, dollywobbler said:

Yes, NGK. Caps were still in place but the plugs did look like they'd had enough of this life.

When I first had my 2cv back in 1993, my dad put the plugs in the oven to bake out the moisture before we gapped Them. I was doing 100 miles a day in it then!

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Family day out to Llandudno today, took the 9000 rather than Mrs_b’s modern. This proved not to be the wisest move as the suspension was making the most awful noise by the time we arrived.... think it’s the bottom joint on the suspension arm. Should’ve taken the 2CV! 

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12 hours ago, stuboy said:

Been round to misses deceased uncles house to remove boarded up back door and rebuild the door as dodgy area and possibly get broken into whilst empty, thought I'd look in garage spot the lada parts and ford zephyr 

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If you're flogging any Lada bits, do let me know (if you don't mind waiting till I get paid that is)

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AA on the money-go-round.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/23/aa-private-equity-takeover-offer-towerbrook-capital-partners-warburg-pincus

Myself - I always try and check to which robber baron my cash is going when I pay for stuff. The AA looks like something I would not want to give my money to however.

Apparently Top Shop are not doing as well as they were - the Philip Green effect. 

Perhaps all these entrepreneurs think people don't notice all this shenanigans. Perhaps they don't.

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I've had this old crate since 2006, back then it was a nice tidy £1500 daily driver '94 mini 1275 sprite. I ran it til 2008 then it sat round the back of my mates as i'd bought something else. I then decided it needed to be red. A LOT of metalwork later it was, but then life got in the way and it has spent the last 10 years festering in first my parents, then my garage. I cleared a load of shite out and got it dragged to the front of the garage yesterday so I can actually crack on with it. Plugs out, bit of Penol down the bores and a gently swing on the alternator with a spanner and she turns over still which is good :) I've ordered a shitload of gear to arrive this week, all new brake and clutch lines etc, new wheels, and i'll fit my vented 4 pots to the front to accomodate some 10" wheels.

 

Hopefully the next few weeks should see it back up and running.

 

 

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Comedy news.

I changed the fuse for the cigarette lighter 12v socket on the Mondeo. It's been broken since we bought it.

Easy enough, I though thought I'd just check it by pressing the lighter element.

Sure enough it worked, and burnt years of crap down there.

Now I've not smoked in 12 years or more, but I don't remember the hot element ejecting itself clear of the socket and flinging itself across the car...

It landed hot bit down on plastic trim while I was driving and the plastic burst into a small yet significant flame. Yikes!

Fortunately it was a piece of plastic trim in the now-removed ashtray space, and it went out quickly.

Yikes again 😂

Still, job done. Phone power in car, tick.

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On 10/26/2020 at 2:05 PM, phil_lihp said:

Raising this post from the deep past, how did you get on with your cheapo pump?  

And once again raising this back.

I had a stab at fitting the cheapo pattern pump this weekend. As per usual with VAG, the part is actually quite simple to undo, but access is shit.

I think it's going to need the PAS pump removing to get the bloody thing out, and possibly the air con pump as well. 

The pump on the car is mullered. The rivets have snapped and the top of the pump is wobbling around.

It's going in for an MOT this week, so I'm going to get them to do the work at the same time and save faffing about with the PAS system.

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10 minutes ago, Coprolalia said:

And once again raising this back.

I had a stab at fitting the cheapo pattern pump this weekend. As per usual with VAG, the part is actually quite simple to undo, but access is shit.

I think it's going to need the PAS pump removing to get the bloody thing out, and possibly the air con pump as well. 

The pump on the car is mullered. The rivets have snapped and the top of the pump is wobbling around.

It's going in for an MOT this week, so I'm going to get them to do the work at the same time and save faffing about with the PAS system.

Thanks for the update - mine is loose on its mounts as well and like you say, easy enough to access by hand but does look like it'd be a pain to get out.  I think it'd have to come out from below. 

I've just been running with it unplugged and the EML on but will have to do something about it come February when the MOT is due.  I'm inclined to go down the route of programming it out, the car doesn't seem to work any differently with it disconnected other than no longer sounding like a 747 preparing for takeoff when starting from cold. 

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1 hour ago, phil_lihp said:

Thanks for the update - mine is loose on its mounts as well and like you say, easy enough to access by hand but does look like it'd be a pain to get out.  I think it'd have to come out from below. 

I've just been running with it unplugged and the EML on but will have to do something about it come February when the MOT is due.  I'm inclined to go down the route of programming it out, the car doesn't seem to work any differently with it disconnected other than no longer sounding like a 747 preparing for takeoff when starting from cold. 

I tried to get it out from below. It's actually mounted on a sort of O-shaped ring mount, suspended from further up the engine bay. I'm trying to work out where the O hangs down from.

I feel your 747 pain. Mine has been doing it for years, and it has made bugger all difference other than irritating the neighbours.

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51 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Proper Minis are so small they make that single garage look massive 🤭

To be fair it's a reasonable size (11 x 26 ft) single when it's not full of all the other shite 😆

30 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

If I start a 'Show us your garage' thread, would you repost this pic there? It's amazing!

it's a right mess! I can do though 😁

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