The new news 24 thread

[RayMK]

3 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Went to the Wirral classic car show today. Only took one picture. 
 

Not because there wasn’t a really good range of chod there, there was - it was a lovely show! But it was busy, very busy. Took 45 mins to escape the car park!

It was also Chumly/Cholmondoerlingerly today… totally missed that! 

I've never been in a rear engined Renault but have always liked the R8 and longer nosed R10.  Extremely rare in the UK now.  Curious colour scheme, but I think I like it.

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

I know a lot of you folk get on really well* with printers, so this news is bound to go down a treat if your printer is affected by this 🥴

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/hp-printer-block-unofficial-cartridge-29959820?

If mine is affected then I'll probably set fire to it and go back to my early 90s bubblejet lump of a thing.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

Went to the Wirral classic car show today. Only took one picture. 

Not because there wasn’t a really good range of chod there, there was - it was a lovely show! But it was busy, very busy. Took 45 mins to escape the car park!

It was also Chumly/Cholmondoerlingerly today… totally missed that! 

You didn't waste the shot!

[SiC]

Is that a Lancia Delta on the left?

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Is that a Lancia Delta on the left?

Could well be. What's ahead of the BM tho?

[brownnova]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Is that a Lancia Delta on the left?

Yes, yes it is. Integrale too. 

8 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Could well be. What's ahead of the BM tho?

Some kind of American hot rod. Sounded and smelt awesome. 

[puddlethumper]

14 hours ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

I went to Brighton one day last week , that must be the biggest slide out caravan in the World, presumably the owners’s.

One of the owners. He is overall site boss. It was made in Italy and took 3 years and is full of Italian marble, and remote controlled everything. I have no idea what it cost but obviously lots. There was a similar sized one in Paignton at the fairground last year that cost a million.

[stuboy]

Yesterday's monthly meet with the hazzard people consisted of 1900's Austin Morris to brand new BMW m4... and stuff in-between...

 

 

 

 

... and idiot bought a crappy mk3 mondeo with them.  No taste whatsoever.

 

 

[junkyarddog]

Spotted this beauty today in North Norfolk.

Sheringham recycling centre to be exact.

Oh my!!!😍

[Six-cylinder]

I have always been in favour of MOT not needed for 40+ year old cars.

Complete idiots should be excluded from this exemption. This weekend I met a man who boasted he pulled his car out of a barn declared it not needing a MOT to tax it and is now driving around. I pointed out the obvious deep cracking in the tyre and he told me he had been on the M4 at 70 mph this week and it is just fine. It was perfect until it wasn't!

I had a second go and told him it was 3 points and a big fine and he dismissed me as if I was the idiot. 

[Stinkwheel]

8 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I have always been in favour of MOT not needed for 40+ year old cars.

Complete idiots should be excluded from this exemption. This weekend I met a man who boasted he pulled his car out of a barn declared it not needing a MOT to tax it and is now driving around. I pointed out the obvious deep cracking in the tyre and he told me he had been on the M4 at 70 mph this week and it is just fine. It was perfect until it wasn't!

I had a second go and told him it was 3 points and a big fine and he dismissed me as if I was the idiot. 

This, totally this. Im all for the 40 yr exemption for people who arent driving death traps, those who are, MOT's every 6 months instead. 

[BeEP]

32 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I have always been in favour of MOT not needed for 40+ year old cars.

Complete idiots should be excluded from this exemption. This weekend I met a man who boasted he pulled his car out of a barn declared it not needing a MOT to tax it and is now driving around. I pointed out the obvious deep cracking in the tyre and he told me he had been on the M4 at 70 mph this week and it is just fine. It was perfect until it wasn't!

I had a second go and told him it was 3 points and a big fine and he dismissed me as if I was the idiot. 

Was that the car parked next to you Chris?  If so he said he'd owned it seven years prior to which it had been stored in a container for a long time.  So presuambly he's been driving on those tyres all that time.

[vulgalour]

This sort of behaviour does highlight why things like MoTs have to be in place to at least try and protect the rest of us from numpties like this.  Here's hoping when that tyre does let go it's not a dramatic event and he steps in dog poo when he gets out of the car to fix it and generally has a day full of minor inconveniences until he absolutely loses it in the middle of Tesco much to the amusement of all present.  And then he drops his keys down a grate when he gets back the car.  And then a seagull does the biggest pteradactyl sized bombing running across the lot.

[BeEP]

The Austin Allegro is 50 on 18th May.  To celebrate the club had a weekend of events, the main one being at the Gaydon motor museum yesterday.  Initially we'd thought it would be great to get 50 cars together, but as interest grew our hopes expanded to maybe 75.  In the end exactly 80 turned up!

[Pat Earrings]

Finally got around to getting a new key cut for the bluebird as the supplied one had a hairline crack in. I bought a NOS Nissan one and found a random key cutting place to do it. Much better!

[320touring]

First run out in the Oxford with new dynamo.

No squealing
Starts fine on half choke with new fuelling, settles down to happy idle off choke after a minute.
Pulls well in all gears, doesn't feel as boggy as it used to.
Horn works

Wipers not working
Blower doesn't work
Fuel gauge not working.

Suspect the switched fuse is a bit cranky/poor contacts 
 

[Pat Earrings]

Well spurred on by the good weather I’ve just done the air filter, fuel filter, rocker cover gasket, warm air duct pipe and spark plugs on the Bluebird. Old plugs were very old as was the fuel filter. I treated it to Bosch “super 4” plugs. 

It drives so much smoother and better than ever! Transformed the throttle response and acceleration. Had a lovely drive out to get some super unleaded.

next on the hit list is an oil and filter change, wet vac the interior and clean up the engine bay, and use it regularly in the lead up to FOTU for its debut. 

[SiC]

I've just deposited my TT to have the exhaust sorted and air con regassed at the Wizard of Wellingtons place. The air con works but it's weak and the compressor doesn't cycle. I imagine it's probably not been regassed in a very long time. It hasn't got any worse since I've owned it but now it's (eventually) getting warmer, it would be nice to have it at full pelt again.


On the other hand, the exhaust blow has definitely worsened recently....

 

If I hadn't put four new tyres, cambelt and other bits on it, I'd probably have chucked it away and got another. However I have and better the devil you know sometimes.

It's a handy little car for running around and longer journeys. Definitely not the most exciting car that I own but it's a pleasant GT cruiser and runaround. Especially with its Cruise Control fitted. Which is why I want it fixed and I'll end up still using it over the summer.

 

[mercedade]

Getting daylight late into the evening is such a balm for the soul. 

Yellowing headlights on the 95 swiftly despatched in under 40 mins with a drill and some 3M, plus a UV sealant. 

Before

After 

[Sunny Jim]

Looks like a good job @mercedade. Would you mind explaining what you used please? Is 3M a cutting compound and was it a sponge you used on the drill? I'm going to have to do the headlights on the Skoda soon. Thanks.

 

[Popsicle]

On 13/05/2023 at 23:51, Popsicle said:

About a year ago I upgraded the stereo in the couriering Caddy to a DAB+ unit from newer VW stuff, it works pretty well, but one major annoyance is when my dashcam is charging the DAB and FM signal goes to shit. VW in their infinite wisdom built the aerial into the top of the front windscreen and the DAB aerial I fitted was the windscreen type too. Moving the dashcam to the bottom of the windscreen improved signal strength, but it was still poor when the dashcam was charging. I've fitted a couple of ferrite cores to the cable, but it only gave a slight improvement. So I left the dashcam unplugged for a few months, Mrs Popsicle goes mad at me for doing this (long story), I promised her on my return to couriering that I would always have a dashcam fitted.

So another solution was required, particularly with the Ashes starting next month! Picked up a cheapo DAB and FM roof mount aerial with signal booster, I also needed a couple of extra cables to make it fit the back of the stereo.

So dropped the roof lining in the back, measured 20 times and drilled once, seems to be in the middle.

Professional use of insulation tape and cable ties.

One tube of silicon sealant later....

Lots of swearing, scrapped knuckles and broken trim clips later.....

Tentatively plugged the dashcam back in and went for a drive, remarkably for something I've done it seems to be working perfectly.

I'm sure the back of the van will be soaking next time it rains and the battery will probably be flat tomorrow as I've wired it up wrong, but for tonight I am an auto electrical and hole drilling roughly in the middle of the roof genius 👍!

Got to say I'm well chuffed with this new aerial setup. Had a delivery to the Airbus factory at Broughton today and took the rural scenic route past Nantwich and Tarporley, no dropped signal at all, even when the dashcam was charging.

This £20 aerial is the best spend on the van yet, fingers crossed it doesn't let water in when it next rains.

[AnnoyingPentium]

44 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Looks like a good job @mercedade. Would you mind explaining what you used please? Is 3M a cutting compound and was it a sponge you used on the drill? I'm going to have to do the headlights on the Skoda soon. Thanks.

 

I did mine, as like yours they go a bit 'cateract'. The kit I used was 3M branded and came with the compound and the bits for the drill. Substantial amount of guides online for it, and I'm sure there was instructions with the kit too.

It worked well (as you can see above) but in the end up I replaced the light units themselves, and although that was quite costly it made the biggest difference.

[Bren]

Booked my HGV theory test. End of June.

[MrGTI6]

Sent an email to Triumph Motorcycles last night requesting a certificate of conformity in an attempt to make my newly-acquired 1999 Triumph Sprint ULEZ exempt.

A lot of manufacturers seem to charge for this service, but much to my surprise I received an email around midday with the certificate of conformity attached. Even more surprisingly, not only are the NOx emissions stated on the certificate, but they are well below the ULEZ limits.

Just forwarded it onto TfL so fingers crossed...

[mercedade]

1 hour ago, Sunny Jim said:

Looks like a good job @mercedade. Would you mind explaining what you used please? Is 3M a cutting compound and was it a sponge you used on the drill? I'm going to have to do the headlights on the Skoda soon. Thanks.

 

Exactly as @AnnoyingPentium has said, really. I had the 3M kit kicking around from treating various annoying plastic-lensed Mercedes over the years, but the final step polishing compound had run out so I ordered a similar Holts-branded kit.

A few discs, some microfibre cloths and the drill attachment are all included in both kits. 

The sanding discs in the 3M kit were significantly better than the wet+dry from the Holts kit, as was the polish, but the UV protective sealant in the Holts stuff (which also gave the final finish) seems really good at finalising the job, and is essential for protecting the newly exposed surface. 

First time took me nearly half an hour per light, but did the Saab in under 40 mins in total tonight. You soon learn the technique, the number of cloths, spray bottles etc you need. 

[Supernaut]

The Clio's first proper outing. 100+ miles today down to Stranraer (well just outside it).

It's still idling like shit when stone cold, but the replacement idle control valve should be waiting for me by the time I go home on Wednesday.

The A77 gets really fun south of Girvan. Think I picked the right car for this journey!

[calebaaront]

Mini is all fueled up ready for a roadtrip tomorrow to pick up some parts for my Trabant. I'm hoping to average about 33mpg but we'll see. It was either take this or the Trabant. Lol

[wuvvum]

Relatively little fettling got done over the weekend - partly because a chunk of Saturday was taken up with test driving this.

I'd been wanting for a while to have a go in an electric car and I finally got round to contacting the Gridserve branch round the corner from the office to test drive an MG4.  They offer all sorts of electric cars for test drives, including Teslas, but I wanted to try a car that was a bit more "normal".  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really liked it - very easy to drive and plenty quick enough, but also an extremely competent car - the handling and ride are excellent, it feels well put together and it's not over-the-top gadgety like a Tesla - it has physical buttons for essential functions like volume control and fan speed, and it's all very intuitive apart from the brakes which took a bit of getting used to.  I had to turn off the lane keeping assistance too as that got right on my tits.  Overall though I liked it a lot better than I thought I would, and I actually want one now...

I had a bit more of a poke around the Renault 4 - for one thing I wanted to see if I could find out why almost none of the dash lights work.  I got the steering column surround off which was enough to have a poke round the back of the cluster and check the bulbs, but that didn't reveal anything obvious.  Annoyingly, as far as I could ascertain, the trim panel surrounding the gauges can't be removed without taking off the steering wheel, and I couldn't be arsed with that so I didn't probe any further.  I know that it's charging and I can hear the indicator relay clicking so I know they're working, and the main beam warning light works.  The only thing that would be good is if I could see if the car is overheating, but you can't have everything...  I did get the interior light working though which was a bonus, and the front passenger door window also now opens so I'll have a bit more ventilation if we get a summer this year.

I also had a quick look to see if I could see any obvious reasons for the chugging and the poor idle.  Turned out the air filter housing wasn't fitted correctly and wasn't really filtering very much, so I've refitted that and ordered a new air filter element as the one in there is filthy.  It's still not running as smoothly as it should though - I reckon it's probably been running on unfiltered air for too long and sucked some crap into the carb, so I'll probably have to take it off and give it a clean at some point.

I got the new exhaust fitted to the Mobylette and took it for a quick spin.  It's definitely quieter and the exhaust is a lot more securely fitted, but it was maxing out at an indicated 28mph which I thought was rather odd, until I got it home and realised that the new exhaust sat slightly differently to the original and was catching on the centre stand as the engine swung backwards, which meant that the variator pulley couldn't expand fully.  So I removed the centre stand (which was an arse of a job as you'd expect from exposed bolts that probably haven't been touched in 42 years, added to the fact that the bolt head was only about 2mm thick so getting a socket to stay on it was a chore) and tried to take the bike for another run, but it started to bog down on anything other than a very light throttle.  I assume the carb has got gunged up so I've taken it off and I'm going to strip and clean it one of these evenings.

I got the Renault 6 onto the drive and had a bit of a poke at some of the rust in the front floorpan.  This turned out to be a bad move as the floorpan soon looked like this.

You can't see it very well here but the inner sills are a bit shagged as well, and quite a chunk of the floor that I'd previously thought was solid was actually made out of Isopon.  Yesterday afternoon I got the grinder out to try and cut everything back to good metal, so the holes are now even bigger.  I'm hoping my welding mate still agrees to take it on once he sees how bad it is - I'm a bit fucked otherwise...

 

[Steve79]

MOT time for this one today 😬😬😬

Shameless plug for my mates MOT station

[EyesWeldedShut]

Thought I'd see what the ATF looked like as there's nothing mentioned in the FSH*
Spot the difference? Not* a lot in it really.