Jump to content

The new news 24 thread


Father Ted

Recommended Posts

10 hours ago, Joey spud said:

I laugh when people say I won't use Kwik fit as they're crap and robbing bastards.

I visit around 150 of their sites twice a year to calibrate their tools and can honestly say there are probably a dozen or so that are I think are below par and I am a fussy bugger.

They do not nut gun up wheel fixings to 11 they use a torque wrench.

I've found a lot of their sites are managed and staffed by guys that have been in the motor trade for decades.

Strood is one of my depots and they're decent guys their master tech is ex JLR and the mot tester is older than me.

I had a guy tell me recently that he wouldn't use a dodgy company like KF and always had great service from his local Tyre Pros so stuck with them.

I didn't have the heart to tell him Tyre Pros is owned by KF too.

Like many trades it's hard to retain good staff many depots are undermanned a few ATS sites I visit can no longer open on a Saturday anymore.

I haven’t been to a Kwik Fit for years so can’t comment on recent service levels but remember an incident around 1989 when my then Cortina was booked in for tracking and rear brakes.

They did the tracking and then removed and refitted the steering wheel so it was straight 🤔

As for the brakes, on return from the work they did, it was parked on my parent’s drive and soon rolled backwards, missing my brother’s mate but hitting the wrought iron gate. Bent the gate, smashed the rear light and creased the rear wing. They paid for all repairs to car and gate to be fair.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Joey spud said:

I laugh when people say I won't use Kwik fit as they're crap and robbing bastards.

I visit around 150 of their sites twice a year to calibrate their tools and can honestly say there are probably a dozen or so that are I think are below par and I am a fussy bugger.

They do not nut gun up wheel fixings to 11 they use a torque wrench.

I've found a lot of their sites are managed and staffed by guys that have been in the motor trade for decades.

Strood is one of my depots and they're decent guys their master tech is ex JLR and the mot tester is older than me.

I had a guy tell me recently that he wouldn't use a dodgy company like KF and always had great service from his local Tyre Pros so stuck with them.

I didn't have the heart to tell him Tyre Pros is owned by KF too.

Like many trades it's hard to retain good staff many depots are undermanned a few ATS sites I visit can no longer open on a Saturday anymore.

Last time I used them they told me my brakes pads were dangerously low. I'd changed them myself a month or two prior, so just smiled and said I'd get them looked at. I did double check afterwards and the pads looked barely used. Lying shysters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

As long as you ignore the advice of fast fit outfits and/or get a second opinion then they're generally ok if you go there knowing exactly what you need and don't get frightened into spending £500 for rear discs and pads on a car with drums on the rear !

 

Some cars do have discs  on the back with drum handbrake on the inside. Subaru and Kia to my knowledge, but agreed some fast fits do take the piss  but so again do main stealers at twice the hourly rate.

Best one I had was being told my shock absorbers were leaking oil. (Feel around find some grease, viola, they’re leaking . )

Funny that, as they were gas filled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/4/2022 at 8:05 AM, SiC said:

A local village hall had a classic and cherished show today. Very badly advertised, it only was announced on their Facebook page yesterday. I didn't bother taking the MGB as it was walking distance and I couldn't be bothered to pull it out of storage.
8066f4762c2ac6596007c66841b79013.jpg
715b8a7a606accd07887db5bb8564120.jpg
0d6aaf77bef20f0cb8171d189970474b.jpg
153133a5f704f56909b92991e5e9e249.jpg
8d0db5e29ccf67d01c357b8310fb8370.jpg
8746a921b9eb8ff4f2262a803e3b25d7.jpg
0502c26b01851e2cc2294a15cfba597e.jpg
e7bdb4d349a6899e1e5ba5e96c2dae2d.jpg
e49357fdc12bd1f59618bc748fd8a6fb.jpg
6b039693167a2387689371b0ed7b792c.jpg
d685f5994e83650e8f26e24088283aab.jpg
5d6adb97e028c5279b90a776a16196d7.jpg
6133c9a01a4f25771e8bc640ca646c3f.jpg
 

Oh  gee those toyota Hiluxe pickups are nice. We're unallowed to buy those in my country(former colony south of Canada).

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's been 3 days of hell, but we've finally moved into to our new house. Managed to bag a 70 plate transit from hertz for the move, which was nice. Even nicer was the half tank of diesel in it, so it didn't need filling afterwards!

Best bit after years of fighting with dickhead neighbors for parking? 

IMG-20221022-WA0004.thumb.jpeg.36947a6d0b46afc27f4cdf5a7c41d107.jpeg

Off-road parking! And the 8 bottles of ale and a welcome card from the new landlord are a nice touch too. 

Even George seems happier (excuse the ratty old settee- it keeps him off the decent one for now! (Going when I can afford a couple of decent armchairs that fit the feel of the place)

PXL_20221023_065407071.thumb.jpg.1664e1335f354ef3b57f352716050f9b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Throttle body clean up curb side live action.

image.thumb.jpg.64a27a14fb84b10518c7012028ab10d9.jpg

Dont look like the rains lifting think I’ll just get wet.

Edit;  Back indoors with a beer as suns just past the yard arm (metaphorically if not meteorologically) 

Could of should of put it down the side and whacked the gazebo up though neighbour had once again blocked my drive and I have fully run out of polite words to get him to move. This after banging on his door for ages then him appearing with me at his window with a club hammer about to swing about a year ago many polite requests to not park there before and since the man’s a prick and I’m out of patience. 
Anyway nice smooth idle now all cleaned up plus found and fixed a slightly loose vacuum hose win win if a little wet. Might crack on with the bikes in a bit.

Edited by Rustybullethole
Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG-20221023-WA0004.thumb.jpg.509fe6537e9bc4c99703b47b1ba763f5.jpg

After trying for sometime to eke 60mpg out of the vectra I did it today. Easy for something with a PD engine - however this has done 159k and is coupled to badermatic box - there is also a weight penalty with it being an estate.

The trip from Warrington to Gronant gave an average of 56.3 mpg.

Still looking for a replacement - however this is dependent on how I go on at hospital on Tuesday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Bren said:

IMG-20221023-WA0004.thumb.jpg.509fe6537e9bc4c99703b47b1ba763f5.jpg

After trying for sometime to eke 60mpg out of the vectra I did it today. Easy for something with a PD engine - however this has done 159k and is coupled to badermatic box - there is also a weight penalty with it being an estate.

The trip from Warrington to Gronant gave an average of 56.3 mpg.

Still looking for a replacement - however this is dependent on how I go on at hospital on Tuesday.

Keep it plodding along Bren, ours is on 227k now and has been behaving itself, other than having to get the warped manifold skimmed as it sounded awful, it just keeps working. Its had a few jobs this year but all routine stuff like cambelt/water pump, gearbox oil change, servicing, tyres and such.

Hope it goes well at the hospital, I'm back there tomorrow, hopefully get this bloody cast removed from my arm after two months of the thing.

Oh and the offer still stands, give me a shout when you want to let the Vectra go 😃.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roof is back on the Streetka. Just before the rain.

That can stay on until April. Surprising how better the radio sounds somehow.

There's only one speaker working, but it's on the same side as my working ear.

IMG_0731.jpg.83ebe267ff2583bd34690fe6c51f4d80.jpg

 

Makes me smile, whether looking at it or driving it.

Much in the same way as a 2CV or Minor does, but with more refinement and power.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to go up into Essex this Sunday - my van is still full of rubbish so I took the mostly reliable W124 which was last in France. 

Great Dunmow and back without a problem. I stopped off, as I was passing, at P & A Wood - Rolls and Bentley dealers and repairs at their pukka premises. Closed but still nice stuff in the window...

The aero engine is Crewe made - 1942. The car 1908.

Mercedes is 1989. Just got back before the rain closed in.

Great Dunmow a pretty little town  but all closed on a Sunday except the massive Tesco which was busy.

Mine as is usual now is the oldest car I saw on the road on whole trip - only interest was a 4-door Lada Niva and a Peugeot 306. Notwithstanding their reliability everyone with a 4x4 seems to drive Landrover out there - they were everywhere.

20221023_142753.jpg

20221023_142731.jpg

20221023_142708.jpg

20221023_143100.jpg

20221023_145602.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First decent thunderstorm we've had through here in years.

Of course it had to be the weekend we're halfway through having the roof replaced.  The water took roughly ten minutes to find new and exciting ways into the house.

Edit: Sufficiently thoroughly that it's tripped out the RCD for one of the ring mains and the downstairs main lighting circuit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didn't do much fettling this weekend.  Weather was shite today, and there wasn't actually much that needed doing.  The main job was to fit a new stereo to the Carina E - it had a Kenwood thing that my uncle had put in during his ownership which sounded good but was ridiculously over complicated and proper got on my tits because I could never get it to do what I wanted.

The replacement is this:

20221022_143246.thumb.jpg.b7a5f1c3c64d810c654235ff0b8d7ee0.jpg

It fits in the dashboard reasonably well, is less blingy than the Kenwood and doesn't look too out of place I don't think.  It also does this:

20221022_143614.thumb.jpg.476e542ca03abb0c255ef47dd29acd0c.jpg

Which is quite nifty.  There was also a reversing camera in the box, so I've installed that as the rearward visibility in the Toyota is pretty poor.  I haven't quite finished wiring it up yet - it came with a massive cable which would have been long enough to reach the front of the car but there was no way I could run the cable from tailgate to dashboard without taking half the interior out, and removing some grommets which would probably never seal again, so I'm going to go the wireless route again.  I already had to remove quite a bit of interior trim to track down the reversing light wire, which I've spliced another wire into to go up to the back of the stereo to tell it to change to camera view when reverse is engaged.  

The stereo itself runs Android 10.1 and has Wi-Fi connectivity, which was useful as I was able to bring the Spacy battery indoors and connect the stereo to it to power it up and download the sat nav maps over the house internet.  Overall I'm quite impressed for the 65 quid it cost.

Oh yeah, I also finally got round to running the Rover 75 down to the local tyre place to get them to fit the pair of part worns I'd had in the boot for about 6 months.  So the car now has the same size tyres all round for the first time in my ownership, and it's also got rid of the annoying slow puncture in the offside rear.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now in addition to the failing alternator, Focus has decided to start knocking on the rear suspension. 

I'm hoping it's just a drop link, but it's O/S/R and I put a Febi one on that side not too long ago, I'm dreading it's the upper trailing arm bush that's debonded or something. Given that it's onset suddenly and not gradually I'm preparing for the latter :(

Ho hum. I've got a chance to buy a cheeky £30 road tax Hyundai (diesel i30) for £scrap but it needs a gearbox as it's exploded .... Trying to weigh up if it's worth it ... Hmmm 🤔

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I investigated my loss of clutch pedal in the BX this eve. Can’t say it was a job I enjoyed, had to go upside down in the footwell to remove the pedal box as the cable is hidden behind it. Turns out the cable was snapped clean at the clevis on the pedal.

I’ve removed it and found that it has the wrong clutch cable. It has a cable for a petrol/non turbo diesel. The 16v GTi’s and turbo diesels had a slightly different cable. Also, whoever was in there removing the pedal box last has fucked every fastener they touched so that was a giggle.

The removal of the old cable was tedious enough that I’ve decided against borrowing* the cable from my other turbo diesel BX. Also the cable on that one appears to have snapped as when I touched the pedal it shot to the floor. Bugger.

New part on order, hopefully it will be with me by Friday. I’ll look to get the welding done in the meantime but it means I’ll miss my MOT retest window. Can’t be helped though.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...