The new news 24 thread

[Tadhg Tiogar]

32 minutes ago, Cord Fourteener said:

I figure once everyone has panic bought and calmed down a bit then there'll be some dizzle fuel sooner or later. Just hypermile a bit the next few days, fly- by- fuel light then see if there's heavy oil road fuel. 

If not then maybe chuck some heating oil in... ssshhh!

I was going to go out, but the traffic around here has been so bad (mostly caused by fuel panic-buying queues) that the idea is banjaxed.

[Dyslexic Viking]

On 21/09/2021 at 10:24, Dyslexic Viking said:

Bought a carburetor from Germany on ebay and got a battery gauge instead. Have contacted the seller and wonder how this goes.

 

On 22/09/2021 at 21:49, Dyslexic Viking said:

The seller has gone quiet so I'm starting to think this was done on purpose. So looks like I've been screwed over but this is a weird way to do it.

Strange things have happened now. Was called yesterday by a Norwegian who had got my carburetor also it turned out that the gauge I had got he had ordered. So then the only big question was where does he live? Arendal, ARENDAL? It's less than an hour's drive from me. So we met halfway today and exchanged packages. What is the chance that something like this can happen? So now I got the carburetor but it unfortunately lacked the choke parts I hoped it had. And seller, I have not heard anything from.

[Cord Fourteener]

51 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

 

Strange things have happened now. Was called yesterday by a Norwegian who had got my carburetor also it turned out that the gauge I had got he had ordered. So then the only big question was where does he live? Arendal, ARENDAL? It's less than an hour's drive from me. So we met halfway today and exchanged packages. What is the chance that something like this can happen? So now I got the carburetor but it unfortunately lacked the choke parts I hoped it had. And seller, I have not heard anything from.

I hear that, in Arendal, occasionally the Queen goes mad and creates snow and ice in summer.

It's true, Disney told me. 

[mintwth]

6 minutes ago, Cord Fourteener said:

It's true, Disney told me. 

What a brave new world

[Supernaut]

3 hours ago, HMC said:

I’m not bothering getting any fuel and going to fill up as and when I normally would do.

Rational citizen or asking for trouble?

I don't see what the problem is.

I got fuel perfectly easily in Tesco Northampton last night. Apparently it was queued out of the car park this morning though.

 

Even better was that I didn't even queue for a pump. I pulled up to a pump on my left, pulled the hose out, and filled my right-hand side filler cap on the E36. All the queues were based on which side people's filler necks were on. Some pumps were almost queued out the gate.

 

Morons.

 

It was even a reasonable price, too.

[SiC]

Clutch on the Bini now starting to smell when you boot it. I don't think it's got long left on it now. 

I was going to scrap it/sell for spares and repairs but looking at alternatives, there is sweet feck all about. Even bloody boring stuff like early/mid 2000 5dr hatch Fords, Vauxhalls, Peugeot and the like are £1.5k to £2k. Barely any sub £1k vehicles about and they all appear completely fucked.

Basically it seems my options are:
 - I sell the Mini for £500 and spend £1k on getting something else at £1.5k budget. Probably something very boring but admittedly cheaper to fix. But then inevitably spend money on something else.
 - I spend £900 on the Mini to get the clutch and flywheel changed. Then probably need to spend £300 or so getting the other bits fixed. (Plus a fair bit more if the exhaust doesn't hold out)

😐

[clayts450]

Have barely lifted a finger on any of the cars of late, but pending MOT meant I had to find time to order and fit a new starter motor to the Streetwise.  Got a reconditioned Lucas one off the Bay for a smidge over £40 and fitted it this afternoon. Amazingly it all went well, and the car now sounds much better - gone is the grating metallic noise which graced the turn of the key, present now is a much happier go-go noise. Can now confidently lob the 'Wise in for an MoT, happy in the knowledge the tester won't be facing something which happened on more than one occasion to my good self, a FTP. 

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Cord Fourteener said:

I hear that, in Arendal, occasionally the Queen goes mad and creates snow and ice in summer.

It's true, Disney told me. 

That's a bit of a Fantasia...

[PhilA]

Renault isn't even dented.

What the hell.

[Austat]

A package came in the mail today...

... full of interesting late 50's/early 60's chod:

One of my best eBay finds, it was up for auction and only had one hour left when I found the listing. I got it for $30 for the job lot which is pretty good, as these 1950's/early 60's copies of Wheels go for $15-$20 each. They're very good condition considering how old they are, I'll scan some articles for Shite Magazine Scans.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

10 hours ago, HMC said:

I’m not bothering getting any fuel and going to fill up as and when I normally would do.

Rational citizen or asking for trouble?

I only learned about the fuel thing last Wednesday. I've got about 400 miles range and I'll use the train this week. I fuelled Alison weekend before last! 

However; refer one of the pictures for knock on effect type shit:

Edited September 26, 2021 by Leyland Worldmaster
EFA

[artdjones]

It's just been in the news that cars taking the NCT (Irish Most) are going to be plugged into OBD shortly, covering the engine and safety systems. At the start any codes found will be an advisory item, but sometime next year will become an outright fail. I presume the next stage will be to check that the egr or dpf haven't been mapped out, and maybe to check that the car is still running on the factory map.

It's going to be awkward for owners of PSA 1.6 HDis. Every one of them has a code for a glow plug fault. And changing the glow plugs is a horrible job. I'd say it will result in a lot of them being scrapped.

Edit:- I just went to the NCT site. Engine codes are not part of the test so far. They will check the VIN, odometer mileage, ABS and EBS. HDi owners can breathe again. But I'd say checking for egr and dpf operability will be the next stage.

[Cord Fourteener]

15 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

 

So then the only big question was where does he live? Arendal, ARENDAL?

I didn't realise it was a real place, albeit anglicised in the film to Arendelle. 

And yes I have a little girl otherwise I would not have ever seen this film. 

 

[reb]

There's an 850 estate in my local* scrappy, I don't presently need any bits but I'm going to go and rob it of hard to find bits I might need in the future. Love a good scrappy visit.

[sdkrc]

37 minutes ago, reb said:

There's an 850 estate in my local* scrappy, I don't presently need any bits but I'm going to go and rob it of hard to find bits I might need in the future. Love a good scrappy visit.

BBC: Volvo 850 parts shortage nationwide. Scrapyards overwhelmed across the UK

[reb]

Having just listed the C2s engine for sale I'm already having second thoughts, throttle bodies and some hot cams would make it a lovely engine for a saxo/106 track car. Maybe I should keep it after all.

[anonymous user]

15 hours ago, SiC said:

Clutch on the Bini now starting to smell when you boot it. I don't think it's got long left on it now. 

I was going to scrap it/sell for spares and repairs but looking at alternatives, there is sweet feck all about. Even bloody boring stuff like early/mid 2000 5dr hatch Fords, Vauxhalls, Peugeot and the like are £1.5k to £2k. Barely any sub £1k vehicles about and they all appear completely fucked.

Basically it seems my options are:
 - I sell the Mini for £500 and spend £1k on getting something else at £1.5k budget. Probably something very boring but admittedly cheaper to fix. But then inevitably spend money on something else.
 - I spend £900 on the Mini to get the clutch and flywheel changed. Then probably need to spend £300 or so getting the other bits fixed. (Plus a fair bit more if the exhaust doesn't hold out)

😐

Remind me again, how many cars do you have at the moment? 

I'm sure if you got rid of the Mini you could just about manage for a bit until something else turned up.

I hasten to add, I never listen to my advice, so I don't expect anyone else to either.

 

[Bren]

Gave the vectra a clean. It still looks good for it's 14 years. Had the other two tyres replaced on Thursday so it has a full set of boots. I need to get a can of lacquer for the headlights as they are a funny shade of yellow. I am not buying new headlights.

[SiC]

41 minutes ago, anonymous user said:

Remind me again, how many cars do you have at the moment? 

I'm sure if you got rid of the Mini you could just about manage for a bit until something else turned up.

I hasten to add, I never listen to my advice, so I don't expect anyone else to either.

 

6 ... But really only 3 are fully operational 🤣

(A4, MGB and Boxster)

I think I'll pull out the Boxster and park away the Mini for a bit. Give me a chance to decide what next. Do kinda fancy doing the clutch on it even though I know it'll be an utter ballache once doing it. 

Clutch on it is enough still to move it about but I reckon it's only got a few hundred stop/start miles left max in it. 

Kinda like the car though, so if it goes I'll probably get another. Just I hate loosing money on cars when selling. 

[Zelandeth]

The worst part of driving the Jag in the real world in 2021?

This.

I know it's a low car, but this is ridiculous!

[anonymous user]

I like your style, fuel panic so takes V12 Jag out.

[richardmorris]

11 minutes ago, anonymous user said:

I like your style, fuel panic so takes V12 Jag out.

I started the 2cv for the first time in six weeks. Went to ascot to the farmers market.  Queueing traffic on the a30 to get into the one Esso that has fuel. Must have had a delivery as it was closed y sterday,

[Zelandeth]

42 minutes ago, anonymous user said:

I like your style, fuel panic so takes V12 Jag out.

I had it in my head it was low but apparently I'd fuelled up recently, so no issue!  By the time I need more everyone who's panic buying will have done so and it won't be an issue.

Only a local run anyhow.  If I hadn't been needing to carry bulky things back I'd just have walked.

[Dyslexic Viking]

4 hours ago, Cord Fourteener said:

I didn't realise it was a real place, albeit anglicised in the film to Arendelle. 

And yes I have a little girl otherwise I would not have ever seen this film. 

 

Now I understand. Did not understand a shit of the other post you wrote earlier as I do not have kids or watch such movies.  And Arendal is a real place it is a small town with about 45,000 inhabitants.

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 20/09/2021 at 16:58, Zelandeth said:

*Sigh...*

you are giving the gauges a gentle tap to wake them up aren't you? 🤣

[reb]

Update on the scrapyard visit, only thing of any use was the headlights, fucking bolt heads rounded off they were that rusty though. Nothing of any real interest there except a couple of NA XUD 306s, and two C2s with better sills than mine.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Have spent the last 2 days helping my father build a new part on a shed that will house the newly purchased tractor driven fire wood machine.

 

I have also spotted a Beaver

[clayts450]

After 20 months of this

I did this today

The Streetwise also spent 30 minutes in there, as I'd taken that one up with a load of tools, jump leads, tyre inflaters and all sorts of other shizzle, as the 620 needed loads of shit pulling out of the boot before storage occurred, and I wasn't even sure it would start.

Any road, 214 battery flat as a pancake unsurprisingly. Stuck my Chinese £20 jump pack on it. Started first time. Blimey. Drove it home, somewhat* illegally (no MoT), but needed to move it today because (a) the tax runs out on 30 September, and if I didn't move it today it would have been forever locked in the garage and (b) the rozzers are a bit preoccupied with OMGFUELKAOS, so chances of being stopped on the 3 mile journey home were slim to nil.

Drive pretty uneventful, but took it slow, but gave it the beans on the 40mph stretch - still got it. Mind you it doesn't have any fuel in it. Logistical problem there.

Jury is 75/25 in the 'scrap it' camp.  This car is fucked. There's a godawful vibration which has been there since I got it (fucked clutch, bottom end gone, who the fuck knows ?), it idles fast, it's got K-seal in the coolant (previous owner but one admitted it to me on Facebook), one tyre has a puncture (don't worry I put the spare on before I stashed it away), the CV gaiters are rotten, and there are spots of rust all over the outside - cosmetic not structural.  I just don't have the capacity or the enthusiasm to do anything with it.

Anyway, did give it the dignity of a wash to blow all the accumulated garage dust away.

Dirty bastard

Clean bastard

Still got a  mouldy seat to deal with, but have to say after 20 months of doing fuck all, it looks okay really.

Shuttled the 620 over to the garage, via dropping a heavy ratchet handle on my bare foot (ouch). 620 has a blowing exhaust and a seized brake caliper, along with a few other annoyances, most particularly a serious case of lacquer peel all over the bonnet, roof and boot. The previous owner had spent £2,500 on a respray. Seems they used clingfilm as lacquer. Pondering what to do next, but chances are it will be scrapped (original cat, ker-ching), mainly because I just don't get the chance to drive one car let alone four - scrap it jury at 50/50. Mothballed for now, battery off, handbrake off, door closed.

Streetwise took exception to being temporarily stashed in the garage by throwing its passenger door into my face and splitting my lip. Ouch, again.

Smug bastard

[cort1977]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

 

 Just I hate loosing money on cars when selling. 

You mean... there's an alternative?

[SiC]

1 minute ago, cort1977 said:

You mean... there's an alternative?

When I sell, I usually like to break even on what it owes me or a very small loss and very rarely a profit. None of this factors in my labour and if it did, I'd be on a sub third world salary. Kinda ignore that as often I do the work for learning/enjoyment. Also not including insurance, storage, road tax, etc...

But yeah, if I sold the Mini now I'd realistically be loosing ~50% of what it owes me. That hurts too much for me to even consider doing that.