The new news 24 thread

[anonymous user]

I have the day off and the weather was reasonable so I have been to visit the Alvis to take it out for an hour.

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, Mr Livered said:

I'm trying to educate myself about multi vehicle (and multi driver) insurance policies, to try and make things a bit simpler for me. May I ask what policy you have that has such a stipulation please? Thanks

What Ghosty said.

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 20/02/2022 at 11:33, MrGTI6 said:

Great news! It took a bit of cranking, but the Berlingo eventually clattered into life. No Lynx required, just a set of jump leads hooked up to my trusty 306! Now running sweet after a few seconds of lumpiness. 

 

Obviously the battery was dead flat, but I'm satisfied with the condition and levels of fluid, etc., so will leave it running for an hour to get up to temp. 

@Cookiesouwest, I will report back in an hour or so on whether or not the battery will hold a charge. The date on the battery is 2005 so I'm not holding out too much hope, but you never know!

if you close your eyes you could be listening to a Class31 start up video 🤣

[Spottedlaurel]

My mum had this Mini brand new:

We got talking about it when mum visited today, I was pleased to find from DVLA that it is still around with the colour now listed as orange. Wonder what it looks like now then?......

[junkyarddog]

Quite different,but it's obviously loved.

[Sunny Jim]

@dollywobbleryou been driving over used nappies?  https://nation.cymru/news/road-to-aberystwyth-resurfaced-with-4-3-tonnes-of-used-nappies/?fbclid=IwAR0-9QzZK96-M19z7iNcu79bkd-_6jujYv1HDk_LPBZw1wHjGm25so6Tft4

[Shite Ron]

23 hours ago, Mr Livered said:

I'm trying to educate myself about multi vehicle (and multi driver) insurance policies, to try and make things a bit simpler for me. May I ask what policy you have that has such a stipulation please? Thanks

Despite always having more than one car I only recently got a multi vehicle policy, mine is with Adrian Flux, it is limited mileage and cars must be over 30 years old so I couldn’t  add the modern Rover (1996)  or Mercedes (2002) but as of next Tuesday two of the Cortina’s and the Granada will be road legal. It cost me £185 to cover three cars and each has 60 days cover on the continent included. The cover is for me and my girlfriend but does not cover driving other vehicles so the insurance on the Mercedes covers that issue.

[Split_Pin]

Easy* job changing a bulb on the Civic this morning. Halfway through:

I also tried to remove the boot side trim to get to the bumper mounts which I believe are the source of the deluge of water coming in but it wasn't for budging. I'm just going to take the rear bumper off to get to it as I've done that before. 

Still a good car this, returning around 46mpg. It would be more but my wife's work is only a mile away.

I haven't touched the Audi since the beginning of January. It passed its MOT on the 7th but the NSF caliper subsequently seized badly. I have a new one but not the smedum to go and fix it as the exhaust is blowing again which has annoyed me after all the bother I went to to sort it last time around.

75 is fine.

Saab is fine. Needs a wheel bearing and has a few suspension knocks all of which I am ignoring. 

[Fumbler]

Going to jack up the front of the BX tomorrow so I can have the front wheels spinning while I'm looking at the bottom speedometer cable. Hopefully that'll show the issue.

[Dyslexic Viking]

I will soon be off to look at and hopefully buy a slightly large and tall Frenchman who is camouflaged as a German and conceived in Spain. Will come with more later but will take some time as I reckon around 6 hours possible more with driving.

[grogee]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I will soon be off to look at and hopefully buy a slightly large and tall Frenchman who is camouflaged as a German and conceived in Spain. Will come with more later but will take some time as I reckon around 6 hours possible more with driving.

Breakfasts? Defacations? You're really keeping us in the dark here. 

[Fabergé Greggs]

 

[Yoss]

On 2/25/2022 at 4:53 PM, Noel Tidybeard said:

if you close your eyes you could be listening to a Class31 start up video 🤣

 

On 2/20/2022 at 11:33 AM, MrGTI6 said:

Great news! It took a bit of cranking, but the Berlingo eventually clattered into life. No Lynx required, just a set of jump leads hooked up to my trusty 306! Now running sweet after a few seconds of lumpiness. 

 

Obviously the battery was dead flat, but I'm satisfied with the condition and levels of fluid, etc., so will leave it running for an hour to get up to temp. 

@Cookiesouwest, I will report back in an hour or so on whether or not the battery will hold a charge. The date on the battery is 2005 so I'm not holding out too much hope, but you never know!

Oddly enough my YouTube algorithm threw this up afterwards. 

It's a 50 year old East German class 120 with a two stroke V12. Actually built in Luhansk in what is now Ukraine and used all over the Eastern Bloc. 

Needless to say it started much easier and ran far smoother than your Pug. 

[MrGTI6]

I forgot to update about the Berlingo and it's 16-year-old battery!

Having been left running for a couple of hours last weekend, it had enough in it to fire up again after being switched off for an hour or so, which showed that it was at least holding some charge.

The real test came yesterday, to see if it would fire up after sitting for a week. Remarkably, it started on the first turn of the key. Despite my doubts, the battery still has some life left in it! I'll stick a voltmeter on it at some point. Very curious to see what it's putting out.

Thankfully the van was left in gear with the handbrake off. Nonetheless, both rear brakes were seized. The nearside rear released with a clunk after a bit of back and forth but the offside rear was a stubborn sod. It soon changed its tune when attacked with a hammer. I've only driven it around my mate's yard but it feels spot on, aside from the excessive travel on the brake pedal. Hopefully some brake fluid will cure that, as the reservoir is empty.

Both front discs have a lot of surface corrosion and the pads are wearing very thin. A set of discs and pads costs next to nothing so that will be the first job on the list. It will also need both front tyres replacing too, as the existing ones look old enough to vote. Then it'll be going in for an MOT!

Another added bonus is that the markings on the cam belt cover suggest that it was replaced less than 2,000 miles ago, albeit in 2015. And the best bit? It has a fully-functioning bright orange rotating beacon on the roof!

If only it was a C15...

[Dyslexic Viking]

9 hours ago, grogee said:

Breakfasts? Defacations? You're really keeping us in the dark here. 

It becomes too much for me to make a collection thread and pick up/buy cars at once. But if that makes you happy, I had pancakes for breakfast and pooped 3 times before I left (my stomach has been temperamental the last few days).

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

10 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I will soon be off to look at and hopefully buy a slightly large and tall Frenchman who is camouflaged as a German and conceived in Spain. Will come with more later but will take some time as I reckon around 6 hours possible more with driving.

It was a purchase and came home just before dark. And i am  completely worn out and broken, was a long day.

Will come more about this tomorrow I think.

[grogee]

7 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

It was a purchase and came home just before dark. And i am  completely worn out and broken, was a long day.

Will come more about this tomorrow I think.

Is that one with back seats or a camper van? Either way I love it!

[Dyslexic Viking]

2 minutes ago, grogee said:

Is that one with back seats or a camper van? Either way I love it!

 

It is a 3 seater van and I will convert it into a camper.

[320touring]

A better choice than the Sprinters you were looking at - hope you enjoy it!

[Dyslexic Viking]

Yes I also think this is a better choice than the Sprinters I looked at. Is so far very happy with the purchase, the history of this one is very good and just 2 owners since new. And the last owner owned it for 6 years and it was clear that he was sad to see it go. Which is a good sign.

[loserone]

Great work @Dyslexic Viking!

 

mine currently has no back seats.

Cause they're in the house

[Yoss]

The man (actually, I don't know if it's a man, I shouldn't jump to conclusions) on my delivery with the three matching Swifts has been busy the last week or so. For the first three weeks none of them moved and I was convinced they were abandoned. But the last week or so they seem to be in different formations every day with work obviously going on. Culminating yesterday in two being jacked up at once. 

Despite all the work obviously going on, it's never going on when I get there so I've still not met the illustrious owner. It can only be a matter of time with this amount of activity going on. 

[grogee]

19 minutes ago, Yoss said:

The man (actually, I don't know if it's a man, I shouldn't jump to conclusions) on my delivery with the three matching Swifts has been busy the last week or so. For the first three weeks none of them moved and I was convinced they were abandoned. But the last week or so they seem to be in different formations every day with work obviously going on. Culminating yesterday in two being jacked up at once. 

Despite all the work obviously going on, it's never going on when I get there so I've still not met the illustrious owner. It can only be a matter of time with this amount of activity going on. 

Please keep us updated, it's just the sort of shitey nonsense that tickles our fancy. So many questions!

[D.E]

23 minutes ago, Yoss said:

The man (actually, I don't know if it's a man, I shouldn't jump to conclusions) on my delivery with the three matching Swifts has been busy the last week or so. For the first three weeks none of them moved and I was convinced they were abandoned. But the last week or so they seem to be in different formations every day with work obviously going on. Culminating yesterday in two being jacked up at once. 

Despite all the work obviously going on, it's never going on when I get there so I've still not met the illustrious owner. It can only be a matter of time with this amount of activity going on. 

Maybe this bloke would fancy a fourth blue Swift? 😁@DoctorRetro

[Yoss]

19 minutes ago, D.E said:

Maybe this bloke would fancy a fourth blue Swift? 😁@DoctorRetro

If I ever actually meet him, I'll ask. 

[catsinthewelder]

On 2/25/2022 at 11:42 AM, Zelandeth said:

Have a look at the pulleys from above and see if they're properly lined up.

If there's a harmonic balancer in the crank pulley and it's failed it can cause it to step out of line and put extra stress on the belt.

Here's the one from my Xantia where the outer of the pulley had "walked" towards frame left (they're facing each other in the photo).

You absolute legend, I've been trying to work out what's wrong with my 405 for about 4 years.  

Anyone got one of these for a 1905cc XUD for sale?

[catsinthewelder]

On 2/26/2022 at 1:30 PM, Sunny Jim said:

@dollywobbleryou been driving over used nappies?  https://nation.cymru/news/road-to-aberystwyth-resurfaced-with-4-3-tonnes-of-used-nappies/?fbclid=IwAR0-9QzZK96-M19z7iNcu79bkd-_6jujYv1HDk_LPBZw1wHjGm25so6Tft4

Guy I work with always grumbles that it's a shit road.

[wuvvum]

It's been a weekend of fettling - would have been rude not to given the weather.

The Laguna now has its repaired boost hose fitted, the repair section having been delivered on Friday.  Initially I thought that the metal joiner they'd included in the kit was the wrong size, but it turns out it's not a joiner at all but a reinforcement - the replacement section fits over the original pipe and the metal bit goes inside the original pipe to strengthen it.  Seemed a bit overkill to me given the fact that the original pipe is fairly rigid plastic and the jubilee clip only really needs to be wound tight enough to ensure a decent seal - the two sections can't come apart because there's nowhere for them to go.  The car is definitely pulling better now, so that's good.  Will be interesting to see if the fuel economy improves too.  I also fitted a new front drop link, but annoyingly that hasn't cured the knock from the offside front over bumps, so it may need a ball joint replacing.

I've repaired* the ABS light on the Maxus.  This definitely didn't* involve taking the instrument panel apart and sticking a bit of tape over the LED.  I had been looking to see whether it would be possible to wire the ABS light up to the EBD light (which does go out) but the LEDs are soldered directly onto the PCB so that wouldn't work without the kind of electronickery that is way beyond my skill set.  I also investigated the non-functioning passenger door window - it's definitely the motor unfortunately, the multimeter confirmed that the switch is working fine.  It's not a top priority at the moment but may become so when the weather gets warmer - especially given that it transpires the aircon doesn't work, due at least in part to the fact that half the pipework and the compressor are missing.

I had to go to south Norfolk this morning and I took the Maxus - it's the first time I've taken it on the dual carriageway since the collection mission, and today I was being a bit more liberal with the accelerator (I never thrash my purchases on the way home from picking them up).  It really is quite rapid for a big old van - the 75mph limiter arrives in very short order.  If it passes the MOT I might look at getting the limiter mapped out.  I've also ordered some better speakers to replace the hopeless factory ones - it'd be nice to actually be able to hear my choonz over the growl of the VM.

The Charade went up on the ramps so that I could trowel some Gun Gum into the blowing exhaust join.  In an ideal world I would have taken the exhaust apart and resealed it properly, but the nuts were rusty enough that I wasn't convinced they'd come undone without something snapping, so I left them alone.  It's booked in for its MOT on Tuesday.  Assuming it passes without too much expenditure I'm going to treat it to an ATF change as the fluid is looking rather past its best.

I had a play with the Volvo to see if I could eliminate a fuel line blockage as the cause of its running issues.  This involved strapping a can of Tesco's finest 99 octane unleaded under the bonnet and running a hose from that directly to the fuel pump.  It made no difference to the running, so I'm going to have to look elsewhere for the fault.  (I've posted a thread on the Ask a Shiter forum if anyone has any bright ideas.)

I took the Toyota to the jet wash to wash off the bird shite.  This was something of a mission as it seems the local seagulls have been gorging themselves on superglue or similar, and it also seems that the car's battery has finally decided to call it a day.  It was pretty ancient anyway so I've ordered a new one - 063 so not too expensive.

Apart from fitting a new passenger side wiper blade to the 75, that was about it.

[Metal Guru]

On 25/02/2022 at 15:05, Bren said:

Manchester united have cancelled their sponsorship with aeroflot. Maybe united airlines would be interested?

I bet they never flew with Aeroflot.

[Vince70]

Yesterday as the weather was nice I thought it would be a good idea to actually try the roof on the £250 Golf cabriolet as I actually didn’t know if it worked.

It stinks of fags inside so it needed a good airing but the £5 repair of a replacement dizzy cap had worked a treat and no more misfire.

I bought it back in November and the ticket is out now and I have a few days off next month so I will give it a good mop and polish and throw an mot on it as in May it’s going on a road trip down to Cornwall and can’t wait as although it was cheap it’s actually a very good rust free low mileage example.

Its my 3rd Golf Cabriolet and most probably my last as after the MK3.5 the cabriolet Golf just got that bit too modern for me.