The new news 24 thread

[vulgalour]

Finished another door card on the Lanchester, this time the front one.  This is the one that had the carpet section hand sewn back onto the rest of the door card.  The map pocket has shrunk a lot and took some coaxing with the iron and a tea towel to get it back to something like the proper shape.  Really happy with the end result all the same.  The minor wrinkles you see should mostly settle out, the light is making them more prominent looking than they are.  I have learned that tiny tacks and brittle old fabric are not the most fun things to work with, fortunately it's been a rewarding process more than a frustrating one and these have turned out much better than anticipated.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I will have great difficulty to not crack a smirk at 62% leave-voting Sunderland losing its major employer as a direct consequence of the sheer stupidity of its own people. It literally voted to shit on its own doorstep. 

[Zelandeth]

Ah...that moment where you realise that when you Rain-Exed the side windows of all the cars a few weeks ago that you forgot to go back and buff one of them off.  This becomes very clear the first time you encounter headlights shining through the glass after dark.

Thankfully I did have a clean cloth in the car so sorting this slip up took all of two minutes.  Stupid mistake though.

[mitsisigma01]

2 hours ago, Tim_E said:

If I start a 'Show us your garage' thread

This apparently is the garage of a hoarder... Fk off, he can still see the floor!!! 

I fkin wish, I took 3 pick up truck loads out of my garage and I didn't touch the floor once !!!

[Cord Fourteener]

5 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

This apparently is the garage of a hoarder... Fk off, he can still see the floor!!! 

I fkin wish, I took 3 pick up truck loads out of my garage and I didn't touch the floor once !!!

There's a lot of stuff! All useful I take it?

[barefoot]

The Rover appears to be losing an unexplained drop of coolant every so often, so I booked it into the garage for investigation - tomorrow. The fair wife then decreed that she will be going into her office - also tomorrow. Obviously she will be taking the Scirocco which of course decided that rather than start easily this morning, it would simply flatten its aready aging battery. Rather than piss about trying to rejuvinate it, I simply took it as a sign, and bought a replacement.

In other news; You may remember that the magazine I worked for closed down recently & I got a part time job with the local volunteer bureau as transport supremo.  Since then I have managed to get a couple of travel writing jobs for other magazines, a contract to write a cookery book and today, a regular monthly column for another campervan magazine!

I am a happy bunny.

[egg]

2 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Hmmm...BBC has a  current 'comments' section of a news story on the impacts of easing the lock-down - when I posted it may be hard for Sunderland because of the rumour of  Nissan close-down as cited in the German press...BBC removed my comment. So maybe it is true - but they don't want to see it on their site prematurely.*..and aliens did land at Roswell.

They did hint at the issue a few days ago

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54986195

Quote

Nissan said there must be agreement on a free-trade deal by next week if it is to be ratified in time for the end of the Brexit transition period.

"If it happens without any sustainable business case obviously it is not a question of Sunderland or not Sunderland, obviously our UK business will not be sustainable, that's it," Nissan's chief operating officer Ashwani Gupta told Reuters.

 

[lesapandre]

5 minutes ago, egg said:

They did hint at the issue a few days ago

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-54986195

 

I saw Nissan said it did not want to take any subsidies from the UK Government - ie tax breaks on any forthcoming additional costs.  Pretty ominous for the workforce. But we'll see if it was a negotiation position or if they are going to quit.  Only time will tell. The German story is industry gossip...

Vans will still be made a Luton I suppose.

[Lacquer Peel]

2 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I will have great difficulty to not crack a smirk at 62% leave-voting Sunderland losing its major employer as a direct consequence of the sheer stupidity of its own people. It literally voted to shit on its own doorstep. 

It's not stupidity. It's wanting things to change and having no agency except for a vote.

There are stupid remainers too, their minds melted by that vote. 

[mitsisigma01]

1 hour ago, Tim_E said:

There's a lot of stuff! All useful I take it?

My garage has a wide-ranging collection of useful shite... but to some people it is just shite😒

[Cord Fourteener]

5 minutes ago, mitsisigma01 said:

My garage has a wide-ranging collection of useful shite... but to some people it is just shite😒

True.

I did start trust thread, it's currently in the open forum... Just saying!

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I will have great difficulty to not crack a smirk at 62% leave-voting Sunderland losing its major employer as a direct consequence of the sheer stupidity of its own people. It literally voted to shit on its own doorstep. 

You'll be paying for them from now on so I wouldn't smile too hard...

[andy18s]

3 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I will have great difficulty to not crack a smirk at 62% leave-voting Sunderland losing its major employer as a direct consequence of the sheer stupidity of its own people. It literally voted to shit on its own doorstep. 

Didn't the Nissan management actually tell the workforce that they would close if the vote went to leave?

[brownnova]

Aaaand back to cars. 
 

This is why I drive old cars... to be lay on my back on the drive in the dark in November chasing a suspension creak... 

Honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

Creak appears to have been coming from the bottom suspension arm, I think a bush has worn and it needed lubricating. So it’s greased up and we’ll see how long it stays quiet, which will judge how urgent the problem is. Didn’t appear to be any play in it, so that’s good. Hopefully just a good lubing needed! 

Plus my 2CV exhaust arrived today, that’ll be tomorrow nights job, that’ll be luxury though. I can do that in the garage! 

[lesapandre]

5 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Aaaand back to cars. 
 

This is why I drive old cars... to be lay on my back on the drive in the dark in November chasing a suspension creak... 

Honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

Creak appears to have been coming from the bottom suspension arm, I think a bush has worn and it needed lubricating. So it’s greased up and we’ll see how long it stays quiet, which will judge how urgent the problem is. Didn’t appear to be any play in it, so that’s good. Hopefully just a good lubing needed! 

Plus my 2CV exhaust arrived today, that’ll be tomorrow nights job, that’ll be luxury though. I can do that in the garage! 

Plenty of moral support here. I remember last winter spending an hour in the pouring rain in a car park Aralditing in the headlamp on my AX Citroen so it would be dry when I went to the MoT the following day.

[Ghosty]

On 11/22/2020 at 7:25 PM, clayts450 said:

a proper Pioneer or similar for £50 hopefully

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-MEX-BT2500-BLUETOOTH-CAR-RADIO-CD-PLAYER-MP3-AUX/164532052925?hash=item264edfe3bd:g:SEsAAOSwYaNfu8dT

I have these in both my cars, they sound flippin class. Easy to use too.

[DVee8]

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Just picking up a report in the German car press that Nissan intending to close it's Sunderland plant. Not maybe but yes definitely. Announcement in a few days. We'll see how accurate that is.

Do you have a link to this? As I work for Nissan in Sunderland

[Agila]

Nissan have made lots of noises regarding leaving etc. It would be pretty devastating for the area so I hope it's all a bluff. 

[lesapandre]

17 minutes ago, DVee8 said:

Do you have a link to this? As I work for Nissan in Sunderland

It's featured in a German car magazine.

'Automobilwoche' apparently.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

2 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said:

It's not stupidity. It's wanting things to change and having no agency except for a vote.

There are stupid remainers too, their minds melted by that vote. 

It's mind-boggling stupidity, with a light misting of racism and arrogance. I studied in Sunderland, and I know the city is built around the friggin Nissan factory. The factory is entirely predicated on single market membership, and about 70% of the cars leaving it have the steering wheel on the left cos they are headed over the channel. It's the golden goose of industry in the North East. But greedy, selfish people chose to buy Farage's racist slogans and worthless bullshit rather than bother their arse to make their own rational appraisal of the situation. The tragedy is the fact that it will go down in the history books as self-inflicted, a colossal own goal. Fucking idiots.

[Talbot]

1 minute ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

It's mind-boggling stupidity, with a light misting of racism and arrogance. I studied in Sunderland, and I know the city is built around the friggin Nissan factory. The factory is entirely predicated on single market membership, and about 70% of the cars leaving it have the steering wheel on the left cos they are headed over the channel. It's the golden goose of industry in the North East. But greedy, selfish people chose to buy Farage's racist slogans and worthless bullshit rather than bother their arse to make their own rational appraisal of the situation. The tragedy is the fact that it will go down in the history books as self-inflicted, a colossal own goal. Fucking idiots.

Hammer/Nail interface right there.

[lesapandre]

Let's see. This may be incorrect or it may be an 'off the record briefing' as part of a negotiation strategy. Time alas will tell - but a massive reorganisation of the motor industry is underway. Without a battery factory the UK is in some jeopardy.  Reuters reported in September that Tesla’s battery packs cost $156 per kWh in 2019, according to electric vehicle consulting firm Cairn Energy Research Advisors, which would put the cost of a 90-kWh pack at around $14,000. That's a lot of import/export cost as a %  of the value of a vehicle unless you assemble the battery in the UK. 

[Agila]

Regards Sunderland. 

The factory isn't the whole of Sunderland and Sunderland isn't the whole of the U.K.

Even if the whole of Sunderland had turned up to vote and voted remain it wouldn't have made a difference.

I've no idea how the campaign went in Sunderland but it definitely looks surprising. I certainly wouldn't gloat or assume they are racist etc.

Anyway some screen shots for information purposes.

[egg]

Umm, Alfa 90 carabinieri spec. 

[Cord Fourteener]

2 minutes ago, egg said:

Umm, Alfa 90 carabinieri spec. 

Beretta sub machine guns, cocaine and suitcases full of cash in the boot then.

That's before they catch any crims...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I bet those Alfa wheeltrims are specifically designed to fly off on corners when chasing the bad guys, to make it all look a bit more exciting

[RobT]

Fleet update time.  The Rover 820 finally has brakes again, after a month on and off replacing calipers, and cocking up various aspects of the job.  The final hurdle was replacing a brake hose.  I got a bit carried away with the heat torch on the banjo bolt, causing the hose to melt, smoke and fizzle.  Fire extinguisher was there just in case.

But the pipe union wouldn't loosen and I ended up rounding it off, so I cut the pipe and had to flare the short section remaining.  The point of no return...

Surprisingly I've never had to flare a pipe before, but after a test run the in situ SAE flare tool in the pic is easy to use.  I just hope it passes the MoT next month after all this effort.  Wheels move freely enough, and no one wheel is hotter than the other after a run, so hopefully I won't get a 'brakes imbalanced across an axle' fail.

In the meantime, the Xantia developed an LHM leak so the Morris became my main car for the past two weeks.  Wasn't sure how that would pan out but it's been marvellous, being used almost every day for various medical appointments and errands.  My other half has a long term illness and is unable to work (Long Covid, began end of March and it's a total bastard) and having at least one vehicle that isn't fucked has proved essential. 

Good old Morris.  Still jobs to do, but it moves and stops (eventually).  Cadence braking is the norm until I work out what the issue is.

I'll keep using it for local trips throughout the winter.  This year has taught me life's too short and to just get on with stuff, albeit I still agonise about the cars...Xantia is the next on the list.  Compression joints and length of hydraulic pipe are on order.  WCPGW.

[DVee8]

Nissan dismiss the report that it is going to close the sunderland plant..

https://www.sunderlandecho.com/business/nissan-dismisses-reports-it-set-close-its-sunderland-plant-3045230?fbclid=IwAR2Q3Iesweam_B-klm27z7Sdz-_-KeygmlXBL-djRRZHU8koTQ7GgIjB6F4

 

 

[brownnova]

12 hours ago, brownnova said:

Aaaand back to cars. 
 

This is why I drive old cars... to be lay on my back on the drive in the dark in November chasing a suspension creak... 

Honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way though.

Creak appears to have been coming from the bottom suspension arm, I think a bush has worn and it needed lubricating. So it’s greased up and we’ll see how long it stays quiet, which will judge how urgent the problem is. Didn’t appear to be any play in it, so that’s good. Hopefully just a good lubing needed! 

Plus my 2CV exhaust arrived today, that’ll be tomorrow nights job, that’ll be luxury though. I can do that in the garage! 

Well that was a waste of time as it turned out, passed the bounce test at the time and this morning, and drove silently for the first few miles of my commute, but the loud creaky squeaky noise returned for the final couple of miles. 🙄

[lesapandre]

7 hours ago, RobT said:

Fleet update time.  The Rover 820 finally has brakes again, after a month on and off replacing calipers, and cocking up various aspects of the job.  The final hurdle was replacing a brake hose.  I got a bit carried away with the heat torch on the banjo bolt, causing the hose to melt, smoke and fizzle.  Fire extinguisher was there just in case.

But the pipe union wouldn't loosen and I ended up rounding it off, so I cut the pipe and had to flare the short section remaining.  The point of no return...

Surprisingly I've never had to flare a pipe before, but after a test run the in situ SAE flare tool in the pic is easy to use.  I just hope it passes the MoT next month after all this effort.  Wheels move freely enough, and no one wheel is hotter than the other after a run, so hopefully I won't get a 'brakes imbalanced across an axle' fail.

In the meantime, the Xantia developed an LHM leak so the Morris became my main car for the past two weeks.  Wasn't sure how that would pan out but it's been marvellous, being used almost every day for various medical appointments and errands.  My other half has a long term illness and is unable to work (Long Covid, began end of March and it's a total bastard) and having at least one vehicle that isn't fucked has proved essential. 

Good old Morris.  Still jobs to do, but it moves and stops (eventually).  Cadence braking is the norm until I work out what the issue is.

I'll keep using it for local trips throughout the winter.  This year has taught me life's too short and to just get on with stuff, albeit I still agonise about the cars...Xantia is the next on the list.  Compression joints and length of hydraulic pipe are on order.  WCPGW.

Gosh the Italian styling of these is crisp - what a nice looking thing. Growing up with them as everyday cars I don't remember that many two doors - but then I wasn't really looking at the time. 

Elsewhere reporting on the site classics stolen.  Have you got security for it? - I use Stoplock steeing bars and chains through the wheel spokes as a deterrent.