Split_Pin Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 2 hours ago, Mally said: The rear bottom arms also rot badly. They generally have a protective* plastic cover. My MOT man said they will break at some point, but I can't see, so I cant fail it. Advisory for rust. Mine were all replaced in 2019 a year before I got the car (it's the upper arms that rot badly as they contain a recessed spring seat, no drain hole and are made from mild steel. New ones have been remanufacture now by DMGRS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoverFolkUs Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 43 minutes ago, Zelandeth said: Wasn't there a specific failure item on the MOT for welded repairs to suspension components (seemingly irrespective of how they were originally assembled)? If I can't find appropriate replacements I think re-bushing the originals sounds a bit less sketchy! Yeah, comes under unsafe modification Whether it's actually unsafe to cut and reweld a drop link could be up for debate 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 29 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said: Yeah, comes under unsafe modification Whether it's actually unsafe to cut and reweld a drop link could be up for debate 🤔 My T2 has been running on dropped spindles for a decade or more, which obviously makes the bus look incredibly* cool. Are they just cut & welded together at a different length? And should they be an MOT failure? RoverFolkUs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said: Yeah, comes under unsafe modification Whether it's actually unsafe to cut and reweld a drop link could be up for debate 🤔 Depends how bad your welding is. Or how good your grinding is. RoverFolkUs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 2 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said: Yeah, comes under unsafe modification Whether it's actually unsafe to cut and reweld a drop link could be up for debate 🤔 Thought so. It was a shock absorber mounting lug that got me. Despite it having been held on by two tiny crap welds from the factory (which is why this car had already had the wishbone swapped once because the mount broke off the original one in exactly the same spot). Having welded it back on following the weld cracking on the replacement wasn't deemed acceptable. Wound up having to replace the wishbone for a second time in six months...which I was rather cranky about. Especially as I couldn't find a used one so had to buy a new one at a couple of hundred quid. After I'd already paid to have the mounting lug repaired! RoverFolkUs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesacosa Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 A house I pass when walking the dog which has an abandoned Cinquecento parked outside is for sale, looking on the ad the house is empty and decor suggests it could be an elderly person so perhaps a deceased estate. Guessing its likely to get scrapped. If it was a yellow sporting I would have already put a note through the door but not sure I am interested enough in a cooking version to try and save it but would be a shame to see it gone. That said I'm sure the brother in law of the person dealing with the sale has seen a few episodes of wheeler dealers and is convinced its worth 20 grand or something grogee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyersey1234 Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 On 1/1/2023 at 5:05 PM, brownnova said: A great time. In Wrexham??? Can’t be right. Aah yes but don't forget @Cavcraft joke book 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 1 hour ago, Eyersey1234 said: Aah yes but don't forget @Cavcraft joke book 🤣 But they did raise £1700 for the nightingale house respite care unit. https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23238483.wrexham-chester-vintage-bus-day-raises-money-nightingale-house/ MJK 24 and Eyersey1234 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyersey1234 Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 1 minute ago, richardmorris said: But they did raise £1700 for the nightingale house respite care unit. https://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/23238483.wrexham-chester-vintage-bus-day-raises-money-nightingale-house/ Excellent news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 8 minutes ago, Eyersey1234 said: Excellent news I’m always in two minds about this, 1 that such charity shouldn’t be necessary and government should fund it, and 2 that gov doesn’t fund it and we need to. nightingale house was started a couple of decades ago by Dr Arthur who worked with my mum in the wrexham maelor hospital for many years. It was originally called Dr Arthur’s. They have a couple of shops in wrexham taking in furniture, clothes and electrical stuff. All our family unwanteds go there. What clothes aren’t good enough to resell go to the local homeless shelter. which, incidentally do need underwear, socks and toiletries - eg hotel shampoos and soaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoverFolkUs Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 5 hours ago, barefoot said: My T2 has been running on dropped spindles for a decade or more, which obviously makes the bus look incredibly* cool. Are they just cut & welded together at a different length? And should they be an MOT failure? No they'll (hopefully!!) be manufactured with the spindle higher to raise the wheel in the arch, thus achieving an overall lowering. It's not really lowering, because the suspension (and it's geometry) is unchanged, the wheel just sits higher and "lowers" the vehicle that way. A cut and reweld should be a fail. A part manufactured to a modified dimension would not be an unsafe modification. As an example - Cut springs - unsafe modification Lowering springs - not an unsafe modification They both achieve the same result (lowering the car) but one is manufactured to do that, the other isn't. I hope I'm making sense barefoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoverFolkUs Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 4 hours ago, Zelandeth said: Thought so. It was a shock absorber mounting lug that got me. Despite it having been held on by two tiny crap welds from the factory (which is why this car had already had the wishbone swapped once because the mount broke off the original one in exactly the same spot). Having welded it back on following the weld cracking on the replacement wasn't deemed acceptable. Wound up having to replace the wishbone for a second time in six months...which I was rather cranky about. Especially as I couldn't find a used one so had to buy a new one at a couple of hundred quid. After I'd already paid to have the mounting lug repaired! When you say mounting lug, do you mean a location/installation lug? The bit that simply ensures you locate it correctly, and doesn't affix or mount it in in any way? If so - I think that would be an incredibly harsh fail Do you have a diagram for me to better understand exactly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 15 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said: When you say mounting lug, do you mean a location/installation lug? The bit that simply ensures you locate it correctly, and doesn't affix or mount it in in any way? If so - I think that would be an incredibly harsh fail Do you have a diagram for me to better understand exactly? No, actually the thing the shock absorber attached to. Which I'd have said fair enough to not allowing it to be messed with if it weren't for it having been put together that way from the factory. I'll have to have a look when I'm next back at my PC. May have some photos of it, I do remember snapping a couple when the first one failed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuboy Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Been naughty and bought a new toy, do I need it Dunno, but I don't go out drinking and smoking.. and like the woman all said ohh I didn't realise it was that big.. Floatylight, Stevebrookman, grogee and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiC Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Just found out Moss in Manchester has closed down permanently. Bit of a shame. https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/about-moss-manchester Charles Ware Car Parts went broke the other week. That one is a bit more complex story. Parts and restoration split. Restoration went broke. Restoration then phoenixed as a new company. Now looks like the parts has gone pop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghosty Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 12 minutes ago, SiC said: Just found out Moss in Manchester has closed down permanently. Bit of a shame. https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/about-moss-manchester That's a shame, but Manchester is a loose term, it was in Cheadle Heath... the place looked deserted whenever I passed. mrbenn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghosty Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Anyone want an MX5? Six-cylinder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rust Collector Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 We have 6 family members visiting from abroad on Saturday. We do not have any 7 seater cars, so we are having to drive two vehicles up to Stansted airport to collect them, and then again a few days later to drop them back. Out of the fleet, the only three vehicles up to the journey are the Clio, the Insight and the Shogun Sport. The Insight is only a 2 seater so that is ruled out straight off the bat. This means the Clio and Shogun Sport are the only two vehicles that can be used for the job. Stansted airport is about a 225 mile round trip for us. The Clio sips petrol, but the Shogun Sport is ruinous at about 20mpg if that. I reckon it'll be in for about £150 of petrol for those two journeys, then chuck in the days out that are planned and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up putting £200-250 into the Shogun over the course of their visit. I've just seen a Rover 416 auto locally for scrap money with two months ticket on. Apparently it runs and drives just fine... Surely* it's good financial sense to buy the Rover, run it for a few days, save money on petrol and then sell it? 🤔😅 Saabnut, brownnova, Yoss and 14 others 13 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 The dream...and reality... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/12/halfords-shares-tumble-shortage-mechanics-profits Investment advice: sell. I have no evidence of it but I bet they don't pay and are ****'s to work for. Properly managed this is probably a good business but I bet it's being run by the usual cheese-paring-mingebags. £60M profit on an operation this big is pitiful: "As of June 2021, Halfords has 404 stores, 3 Performance Cycling stores (trading as Tredz and Giant), 374 garages (trading as Halfords Autocentres, McConechys and Universal Tyres and Autocentres) and 143 mobile service vans (trading as Halfords Mobile Expert and Tyres on the Drive) and 192 Commercial vans." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 1 hour ago, Rust Collector said: We have 6 family members visiting from abroad on Saturday. We do not have any 7 seater cars, so we are having to drive two vehicles up to Stansted airport to collect them, and then again a few days later to drop them back. Out of the fleet, the only three vehicles up to the journey are the Clio, the Insight and the Shogun Sport. The Insight is only a 2 seater so that is ruled out straight off the bat. This means the Clio and Shogun Sport are the only two vehicles that can be used for the job. Stansted airport is about a 225 mile round trip for us. The Clio sips petrol, but the Shogun Sport is ruinous at about 20mpg if that. I reckon it'll be in for about £150 of petrol for those two journeys, then chuck in the days out that are planned and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up putting £200-250 into the Shogun over the course of their visit. I've just seen a Rover 416 auto locally for scrap money with two months ticket on. Apparently it runs and drives just fine... Surely* it's good financial sense to buy the Rover, run it for a few days, save money on petrol and then sell it? 🤔😅 Not worth ringing round to see who'd do that round trip in a big cab - given the big on-costs and stress on vehicles and humans? Rust Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rust Collector Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 10 minutes ago, lesapandre said: Not worth ringing round to see who'd do that round trip in a big cab - given the big on-costs and stress on vehicles and humans? I've had a couple of quotes for 8 seater vans from local private hire firms that do airport transfers, the cost per trip has been around £300!! lesapandre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lesapandre Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 I know it's not very cosy - but the buses to Stansted run OK and are pretty reliable. But... Rust Collector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rust Collector Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 The idea of putting them on a bus/train/coach was floated when I mentioned the fuel cost to my mrs but I feel a little guilty as they would normally make the 45-60 minute drive to Vienna and back when we fly out to them, although as she pointed out there is only two of us and six of them! They don't speak any English either so there's the possibility of losing them if we send them out on their own - although some may say that's not such a bad thing when it comes to family visits 😅 I've had a quick look at the National Express and depending on timings it's about £200-240 for the 6 of them to go from Stansted Airport to Brighton which isn't far off fuel. Megabus is a lot cheaper but they'd get dropped off in London so we'd still have to drive up and collect them. It's mad really that it's so expensive to travel a relatively short distance in the most densely populated corner of the country. I suspect we will end up doing both journeys in the Clio and Mitsi despite wallet hammering fuel cost. lesapandre 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 A slight whiff of hot oil prompted me to check the BMW's motor - in particular the crankcase ventilation system. These N62 engines are very sensitive - it doesn't take much to get odd smells and a smoky exhaust. I pulled both diaphragms - one in each valve cover. Plenty of mayo - I was surprised as these N62 engines run very hot. They got a clean - brake cleaner and compressed air sorted out the pipework. Put it all back together. The diapraghms were not split but they are turning brown ( they should be orange) so they will need replacing at some point. It would appear that sometimes even a healthy motor will puff a bit. I got bored and put a coin on the engine cover while the motor was running - it stayed upright for quite some time. It could do with new plugs but replacement looks krypton factoresque. dome, lesapandre, Coprolalia and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puddlethumper Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 I would like to give a very big shout out to @Andyrew,@Six-cylinderand @Mrs6Cfor delivering a gearbox to me. Had a good chat and showed them round my hovel home on wheels. This place etc,. Rang the garage and they can fit me in on Saturday which is good news coz I needz ma weelz yo. chaseracer, loserone, Mrs6C and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs6C Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 8 minutes ago, puddlethumper said: Had a good chat and showed them round my hovel home on wheels. Great company, warm welcome and even chocolates! Really nice to meet you in person and what a winner of a motorhome! I look forward to grafting some new apple trees from your neighbour as well... puddlethumper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Application to form a limited company has been put in. All being well (proposed name is accidentally one word off a much larger company) I'll be a powerfully built company director by the end of the week. Next step is convincing someone to fund me/it. My plan for the rest of the evening is to transfer the business plan from my cranium to a PDF. Wish me luck. somewhatfoolish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 Well that was quick. Bren, brownnova, richardmorris and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 1 hour ago, reb said: Well that was quick. What’s the idea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 9 minutes ago, richardmorris said: What’s the idea? Pay my rent. Mally, AnnoyingPentium, PicantoJon and 7 others 1 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
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 accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now