The new news 24 thread

[Cord Fourteener]

31 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I was in 2 minds whether or not I would polish this one as there's quite a bit of lacquer peel. In the end I went for it and the good paint came up very well. Dressing the black plastics helped enormously. My son is desperate to go for a spin in it! 

Did you use some kind of back to black? What did you use?

[Cord Fourteener]

Day 2 fighting with the 740 sunroof and headlining. 

Net result: improvement. 

Journey was long. The sunroof is kaput, needs a replacement but at least it sits straight now.  And now I understand a bit better how it works.

I broke almost every piece of plastic trim, lost a couple of screws, I forgot that the headlining is meant to tuck into the sun roof hole in the car body, not the hole in the head board. So there's a gap all the way around the sunroof. Plus i messed up the glueing in a couple of places. 

I'm an idiot. 

Thanks to FiL for the help, that was not a one person job. 

However it all went back together and looks OK, I know what's wrong but maybe it looks good, I'm not going to do that again for a few more years anyway. 

Like I said, net improvement. 

[Split_Pin]

11 minutes ago, Cord Forteener aka Tim_E said:

Did you use some kind of back to black? What did you use?

I use Simoniz Bumper Shine. It's quite thick although  it's in a spray bottle. They've stopped making it now although B&M sell it under the Turtle Wax brand now.

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

I use Simoniz Bumper Shine. It's quite thick although  it's in a spray bottle. They've stopped making it now although B&M sell it under the Turtle Wax brand now.

I'll be in b&m then...

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, Cord Forteener aka Tim_E said:

Day 2 fighting with the 740 sunroof and headlining. 

Net result: improvement. 

Journey was long. The sunroof is kaput, needs a replacement but at least it sits straight now.  And now I understand a bit better how it works.

I broke almost every piece of plastic trim, lost a couple of screws, I forgot that the headlining is meant to tuck into the sun roof hole in the car body, not the hole in the head board. So there's a gap all the way around the sunroof. Plus i messed up the glueing in a couple of places. 

I'm an idiot. 

Thanks to FiL for the help, that was not a one person job. 

However it all went back together and looks OK, I know what's wrong but maybe it looks good, I'm not going to do that again for a few more years anyway. 

Like I said, net improvement. 

Sure you could find some sort of trim strip that would go around there which would make it look like that was meant to be like that.  Despite that looks a tidy job.  I never did pluck up enough courage to take on the job in my Saab.

[Cord Fourteener]

7 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Sure you could find some sort of trim strip that would go around there which would make it look like that was meant to be like that.  Despite that looks a tidy job.  I never did pluck up enough courage to take on the job in my Saab.

Yes, I could find a piece of trim (masking tape?) 

Also, @Amishtatalso confessed to using drawing pins.

A previous owner from a long time ago did the same in mine, they were all very rusty. 

But mine was gone beyond what's tolerable, the cloth and foam backing was actually melting and dripping from the roof.

Well, I mean if it was just me in the world I could have lived with it but absolutely all my family and friends hated it and made me do it 🤣

[Zelandeth]

10 minutes ago, Cord Forteener aka Tim_E said:

Yes, I could find a piece of trim (masking tape?) 

Also, @Amishtatalso confessed to using drawing pins.

A previous owner from a long time ago did the same in mine, they were all very rusty. 

But mine was gone beyond what's tolerable, the cloth and foam backing was actually melting and dripping from the roof.

Well, I mean if it was just me in the world I could have lived with it but absolutely all my family and friends hated it and made me do it 🤣

When I got the Saab the headlining was pinned up but they were just randomly scattered - those photos were after I'd tried to impart some sort of order to it at least.

Was a shame as other than that the interior was almost unmarked.

[Cord Fourteener]

2 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

When I got the Saab the headlining was pinned up but they were just randomly scattered - those photos were after I'd tried to impart some sort of order to it at least.

Was a shame as other than that the interior was almost unmarked.

I did notice some order in the pins!

Mine is decent inside, now the headlining is done its a vast improvement. 

I'd almost recommend doing the job.

[wuvvum]

I've mostly been working on the Innocenti this weekend.  Got the front half of the new exhaust fitted - that involved getting the angry grinder out, the old exhaust was soft enough to chop through fairly easily with a hacksaw but the new bits I would have been there all weekend, but the grinder with a 1mm cutting disc made short work of it.  I still don't like using the bloody thing though.

There was just enough length on the front pipe once I'd chopped the old rotten middle section off it for the new centre section to clamp on, but unfortunately the slots in the end of the new section were rather long and were letting gas escape, so I had to put a bit of old exhaust bandage round the end before clamping it up, which doesn't look great but works.  The bit of stainless pipe I bought to extend the centre section (needed as the car is a LWB and the exhaust is for a SWB) fit perfectly, but my plan to use the superfluous inch or so I cut off the end of that to sleeve the tail end of the centre section to fit into the back box was a fail, so I'm going to have to buy another proper length of 38mm stainless pipe - it's only 6 quid so not the end of the world.  At the moment the car is somewhat on the loud side, as it only has one silencer, but it does sound rather meaty for a 659cc engine.  It won't pass the MOT like that though so I'm going to have to fit the rest of it next weekend.

I also got the new brake master cylinder fitted.  This turned out to be more of a faff than anticipated as for some reason the new M/C has two different sized unions, so I had to go out and buy a larger end and make up a new brake pipe.  I can't seem to get a proper pedal, annoyingly - I vacuum bled all four brakes and the fronts bled up absolutely fine, but the rears just put out a small amount of manky fluid and then nothing more.  I'm not sure quite what's going on there - I might have to see if I can pressure bleed them instead.  If it was just one that was playing up I might suspect a blockage somewhere, but for both to be behaving exactly the same is a little strange.  The brakes work - well enough for the car to be safe to drive - but there's way too much travel on the pedal for them to pass an MOT as they are.  Still, at least it means that once the rest of the exhaust is fitted I can get it off the drive and get the Renault 6 on for a good going over.  Speaking of which, I started it today to straighten it up as I did an appalling job of parking it last time I drove it, and the centre exhaust hanger has broken so the exhaust is banging around like a good 'un.  So that's another job to add to the list.

I got the horn working again on the Lancia Chrysler.  Not sure what I'd done wrong last time, but I took the airbag out again, made sure the horn mechanism was all moving freely (it was) and then refitted the airbag assembly, more carefully this time, and the horn is now working fine.  I also fitted a pair of LED bulbs to the DRLs - the existing incandescent bulbs were going black so the lights were rather dim - but the LED bulbs are a bit shit so I might fork out for a pair of standard bulbs again.  Other than that it's still behaving itself, although I still can't get Multiecuscan to connect to the body module.

The Toyota's brakes continue to be a pain in the arse.  I think there might be more wrong with them than just the adjustment - someone on the other thread suggested the handbrake cables might be on their way out which is my next point to investigate.  I was going to do that this evening but the weather looked like it was about to head south so I didn't bother.  I do need to get the brake sorted though - once that is sorted and the annual re-Gun-Gumming of the exhaust is done I can finally book it in for a pair of tyres and an MOT.

[RobT]

Could be the case that both rear cylinders on the Innocenti are blocked, or just generally fucked.  I had a similar problem on the Morris, where just a dribble of fluid would come out when using my eezibleed.  Took a pair of new cylinders to resolve it, so not a big deal really.

[artdjones]

Does the Innocenti have a load sensing valve on the back? 

[egg]

I cleaned up that free spanner a bit, still usable I think!

[BeEP]

10 hours ago, RobT said:

Could be the case that both rear cylinders on the Innocenti are blocked, or just generally fucked.

Ditto rear hoses.

[RobT]

I thought my hoses would be, but fortunately not.  With the cylinders removed I just pumped loads of brake fluid through, catching any shite in an old washing up bowl.  This was after I'd replaced the master cylinder and fashioned some new brake pipes.  All in all quite a satisfying job!  Hopefully having brakes will now stop me driving it into a garage wall again...roll eyes emoji.

[tooSavvy]

To Whom It May Concern....

IMP 1964 £4,500 

Wardley, tyne & wear

Facebook Mkpl

Ohhhhh

[wuvvum]

6 hours ago, artdjones said:

Does the Innocenti have a load sensing valve on the back? 

It doesn't appear to, no.

[Fumbler]

I forgot how long editing stuff took. This may take a while!

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, RobT said:

I thought my hoses would be, but fortunately not.  With the cylinders removed I just pumped loads of brake fluid through, catching any shite in an old washing up bowl.  This was after I'd replaced the master cylinder and fashioned some new brake pipes.  All in all quite a satisfying job!  Hopefully having brakes will now stop me driving it into a garage wall again...roll eyes emoji.

I'm going to have to see if I can persuade the flexis to come undone from the brake cylinders and see if any fluid comes out.  I was struggling to work out how a blockage in the rear brake circuits would make the pedal go spongy when it was fine before, but presumably changing the master cylinder might have allowed some air into the system upstream of the blockage, which is then unable to escape due to said blockage?  Brakes really are something I struggle to get my head around for some reason.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

250,000!!!🎊🎊🎊🎉🎉🎉😁😁😁

[RobT]

4 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Brakes really are something I struggle to get my head around for some reason.

Most of what I do is trial and error.  Just so happened that was a good day.

[trigger]

I'm off to view a potential new car for Mrs Trigger tomorrow morning but if I'm honest I don't know a lot about them. 

It's this 1983 Golf Cabriolet, apparently its a GLi but with a 1.8 GTi engine from factory? Is that right? What do I need to look out for? I'm told it has no rust, it's had a new hood and is currently at a garage having a ew exhaust and fuel sender fitted. 

I've found a old advert from 7 years when it was sold by the last owner. 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1983-mk1-golf-8-gli-low-mileage-lagos-736746641

It's up for £3500, is that about right? 

 

[gm]

I think @320touring bought one of those for his mrs and has had no end of fun* with it 

[Jazoli]

£3500 actually seems quite cheap for one of them, they can be hard work with no PAS and the brakes are pretty shite, we enjoyed ours we had 20 odd years ago.

[Yoss]

11 hours ago, egg said:

I cleaned up that free spanner a bit, still usable I think!

Can't have too many 10mm spanners. Keep one in every glove box*. 10,11 and 13mm spanners and a couple of screwdrivers as a very basic set in the glove box will get you going again in most situations, at least if you drive cars like mine. 

 

*except the Triumph of course which is AF not metric. I carry more tools in that than your average garage. And half a spare car. 

[wuvvum]

Undid one of the rear flexis on the Innocenti earlier.  Ordinarily with a flexi detached from its wheel cylinder and left to hang down and with a full master cylinder reservoir, one would (I assume) expect to see a steady drip of brake fluid from the end of the flexi, rather than the half-arsed few drops (and then nothing more) that I actually got.  So that does suggest a blocked flexi - now all I need to do is work out what the car shares its brake hoses with - it definitely isn't standard Mini as it's a banjo fitting onto the wheel cylinder.

The drum is also binding somewhat so that'll need looking at as well - to my surprise the two drum retaining screws actually came undone, I was expecting to have to drill them out.

[Ghosty]

7 hours ago, trigger said:

I'm off to view a potential new car for Mrs Trigger tomorrow morning but if I'm honest I don't know a lot about them. 

It's this 1983 Golf Cabriolet, apparently its a GLi but with a 1.8 GTi engine from factory? Is that right? What do I need to look out for? I'm told it has no rust, it's had a new hood and is currently at a garage having a ew exhaust and fuel sender fitted. 

I've found a old advert from 7 years when it was sold by the last owner. 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1983-mk1-golf-8-gli-low-mileage-lagos-736746641

It's up for £3500, is that about right? 

 

That's fuffing cool, and the price sounds immensely fair. 

[beko1987]

18 hours ago, Fumbler said:

I forgot how long editing stuff took. This may take a while!

Ooh another resolve user! Hello 👋

[Soundwave]

Not really "news" since I did it a couple of weeks ago, but I successfully completed my first ever cambelt/water pump DIY job!

It was on my MX5 - I've been waiting a couple of weeks before declaring it "fixed", just in case. But it's holding its coolant, running up to temp with no issues, heating works, fan is kicking in at the right time... I'm still basking in the warm glow of a bit of spannering that actually went right!

[Spurious]

12 hours ago, Yoss said:

Can't have too many 10mm spanners. Keep one in every glove box*. 10,11 and 13mm spanners and a couple of screwdrivers as a very basic set in the glove box will get you going again in most situations, at least if you drive cars like mine. 

 

*except the Triumph of course which is AF not metric. I carry more tools in that than your average garage. And half a spare car. 

I find if I'm taking an old car on holiday I start out with that idea, surely I just need a couple of bits. Which ends with, "it's a big car, I can squeeze in the 1/2' set and the 3/8th set and may as well bring the small hydraulic jack, you never know..." 😁

[NorfolkNWeigh]

13 hours ago, trigger said:

I'm off to view a potential new car for Mrs Trigger tomorrow morning but if I'm honest I don't know a lot about them. 

It's this 1983 Golf Cabriolet, apparently its a GLi but with a 1.8 GTi engine from factory? Is that right? What do I need to look out for? I'm told it has no rust, it's had a new hood and is currently at a garage having a ew exhaust and fuel sender fitted. 

I've found a old advert from 7 years when it was sold by the last owner. 

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1983-mk1-golf-8-gli-low-mileage-lagos-736746641

It's up for £3500, is that about right? 

 

Re the GLi /GTi  thing. The engine in all GLis is the same as GTis , VW just didn’t badge the convertibles as GTi much the same as early Escort cab.s we’re  not XR3i, rather 1.6i. Probably an insurance thing.

I had a hire one for a couple months in 1984 and loved it, even new it creaked and rattled a bit if you abused it( I was 20, it was a rental) but it was still drove better than my new  XR3i when that finally got delivered.

Bought a Clipper a couple of years ago that never ran right because of a shit carb, obviously not an issue with this.