The new news 24 thread

[beko1987]

Popped to mums with Eva for a bit to pick something up that Amy wanted, no stepdad. "Oh, a tyre keeps going flat, so he's at kwikfit (lease company make him got to KF).

 

Not 3 seconds later the phone rings (10.20 by now), they can't do it until 3pm... I've just picked him up, will run him back later. 

 

Shame, as if he could have gone to the local tyre place up the road it would have been fixed by now! And as the tyre has 4mm of tread left the lease co won't authorise a repalcement so it needs to be fixed!

 

I know I moan about the cost of lots of stuff but I'm glad I can just go anywhere for tyre work!

[Pillock]

Rather go to Kwik Fit and not pay, than anywhere and it come out of my wallet.

 

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

[320touring]

320 is not working, toledo needs rear wheel cyls, the 335 is running like crap, clio is buggernated and the only working car is a Vectra...

 

anyone got any motivation available?

[beko1987]

Buy another vectra? Or a cavalier for something we can call shite

[tooSavvy]

Rather go to Kwik Fit and not pay, than anywhere and it come out of my wallet.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk

My van goes to KF for tyres. Nice chap agreed to put my spare (brand new) onto the other side, as I got a new replacement - and hang the roadworn one as spare.

 

Happy with all that & 45mins off the road (something about keeping us moving)

 

 

TS

[beko1987]

They expected my stepdad to wait 6 hours in town! Glad I bought him back now, it's raining quite hard

[fordperv]

the saph is all back together now and purring away, finished it in the pissing down rain

 

[andy18s]

Rf900 went to its new owner in Norfolk yesterday,and have just dropped off the Iveco in Gloucester....down to 1 legal car at the mo,and the wife has someone on the hook for that as well...

Just need to find a suitable van this weekend and I'll be a happy chappy..

And our house buyer has confirmed she will be wanting to be done and dusted by the 30th of Sept........less than 4 weeks away..

Yikes!

[Tickman]

320 is not working, toledo needs rear wheel cyls, the 335 is running like crap, clio is buggernated and the only working car is a Vectra...

 

anyone got any motivation available?

Obvious solution starts with a collection thread, has the 205 gone already?

[Supernaut]

320 is not working, toledo needs rear wheel cyls, the 335 is running like crap, clio is buggernated and the only working car is a Vectra...

 

anyone got any motivation available?

 

Time to crack on with the CX!

[320touring]

Time to crack on with the CX!

 

 

christ no- I don't have the means to get over to it!

 

 

Obvious solution starts with a collection thread, has the 205 gone already?

get behind me satan!

[RobT]

320 is not working, toledo needs rear wheel cyls, the 335 is running like crap, clio is buggernated and the only working car is a Vectra...

anyone got any motivation available?

As beko said, buy another Vauxhall. They have a habit of being reliable, or atleast the older ones do!

 

 

 

Now I've said it, mine will probably break now....

[BavarianRetro]

320 is not working, toledo needs rear wheel cyls, the 335 is running like crap, clio is buggernated and the only working car is a Vectra...

 

anyone got any motivation available?

Poorly running M30b35 should be easy, cheap, simple fix? Loads of AFMs, ICVs, ECUs and other acronyms available here if it helps?

[Ghosty]

Old Man tried to take the diff out of the A4 today to change the guts, got as far as removing a driveshaft and the CV joint fell apart. 

 

I wish he'd bought something else, he got it because OMG LOW MILES but almost everything on it's fucked mechanically, none of the previous owners gave a shit.

[Richard]

 

anyone got any motivation available?

 

None to spare here.

[richardmorris]

Not hearing anything by email I popped over to the body shop near work to book the Mercedes in for some new paint.

 

https://en-gb.facebook.com/Multi-Tech-Automotive-Body-Paint-Repairs-201796866499712/

 

Had another chat with the owner, Barry, who had a lovely 380 107sl which has had 60 hours so far with still another 40 estimated to put it back again! The owner had got a nice looking car at a decent price, spent a lot on mechanicals and then found the sills and floors were fibreglass!

 

More money still was a pagoda SL - California spec which means no canvas hood, just a hard top, that he has quoted the customer £50,000 to complete!

 

Good news is that he needs smaller jobs like mine to keep the cash flow going. It's booked in for the 14th November for the week. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Supernaut]

Old Man tried to take the diff out of the A4 today to change the guts, got as far as removing a driveshaft and the CV joint fell apart. 

 

I wish he'd bought something else, he got it because OMG LOW MILES but almost everything on it's fucked mechanically, none of the previous owners gave a shit.

 

He's soldiering on further than I did with my A4 quattro...

[Coprolalia]

Currently highest bidder on a car that's had no MOT in 2 years, spare or repairs and 150 miles away.

It's a very cheeky bid and a car I would love to own, so we'll see...

[fordperv]

please tell me if you win it your going to do a heroic collection thread driving it back on a pre booked m.o.t

[spike60]

Today this happened

 

 

to this

 

 

It's quietly pleasing to a buy a car disused for a year with a grenaded gearbox, do some fixeration and take it from 233k miles to a quarter of a million in just over a year. It's a comfy and rapid if slightly shonkey old bus. The mpg Lie-O-Meter is off by about 10% but that 44.1 is recorded since May last year, an average over 16k miles. OK for a lardy 3L diesel.

 

Also sometimes has optional Cavcraft type dog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[plasticvandan]

Really getting depressed at insurance.I have no idea why,but I cannot get a quote on general white (let's say favorit for exampelz) for under £600.I live in a nice quiet area,with a driveway,in full time employment,and have had a full clean licence for over 9 years. Wtf?!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Old Man tried to take the diff out of the A4 today to change the guts, got as far as removing a driveshaft and the CV joint fell apart.

 

I wish he'd bought something else, he got it because OMG LOW MILES but almost everything on it's fucked mechanically, none of the previous owners gave a shit.

Do you think your dad has a clue what he's doing, I imagine on an A4 Quattro, the (front) diff is like the first part they start with then the rest of the car is assembled round it. Are we talking front or rear diff?

[vulgalour]

Just caught up on the "you're imagining it" comments about the Rover feeling smoother after the cambelt change and I don't think I am.  Mostly, it's a lot quieter than it was, the strange scooshing and unexplainable noises have all gone.  It idles better, it used to sort of wander about a bit which it now doesn't.  It's not so shunty changing gears at parking speeds which is definitely an improvement.  No noticable improvement in speed, that's still much the same, it just feels a lot smoother and more refined to drive now and because I'm not fighting with the gearbox so much or balancing the idle it's a lot more relaxing.  The old belt was a marginally longer than the new one so a stretched belt does seem likely and the old tensioner wasn't in the first flush of youth.

 

So to balance out this loveliness, the other day the Rover threw off one of the bumpstrip inserts, making sure to keep one end attached to the car and the other end skipping along the road so it made a noise much like something had broken in the engine.  I was only a little bit scared.  Now I'm concerned about the Shite Balance because I've fixed quite a few things - camblet, tensioner, leaking thermostat housing and roof aerial - but only one thing has broken in retaliation.

[Bucketeer]

Thanks a bunch Angyl, I've just had the starter motor fail to start. Extensive post FTP analysis suggests the starter motor isn't working and that I should go back to bed and forget about it. Bump starting shouldn't be a problem, there are some advantages to living on a mountain.

[Ghosty]

Do you think your dad has a clue what he's doing, I imagine on an A4 Quattro, the (front) diff is like the first part they start with then the rest of the car is assembled round it. Are we talking front or rear diff?

LOL probably not, it's the rear diff. He has a s/h one he got off eBay using a part number he found fuck knows where, but the casing's wrong so he's dropping the diff out and swapping the internals.

I bet the new diff has more miles on than the old one.

[fordperv]

what's wrong with the original diff? if its bearings and hes going to the extent to swap the diffs internals why doesn't he just put new bearings in

[Negative Creep]

Just had an idea that a Ford Puma would be a great car. Are they really that bad for rot?

[phil_lihp]

I'll let you know!  I'm collecting mine at the end of the week.

 

Short answer: yes.  They rot like any 90s Fiesta/Ka.  Sills and rear arches mostly, apparently.  Good ones are out there, mine is a bit scabby and was welded for the first time in May for its MOT according to the history but doesn't seem too bad overall.

 

I still think that the smart investment is finding a clean 1.7 (allegedly the 1.4 and 1.6 are somewhat underwhelming), underseal the bejesus out of it and lock it away for a few years in a dry, warm garage.  They can only really go up in value now, they certainly can't get much cheaper.

[beko1987]

As Phil said, normal Ford stuff re rust, and apart from the engine they are identical to a fiesta of the same vintage in nearly every way. Theres no hbol for a puma, but the fezzer one covers 80% of it.

 

Unless you pay top dollar for one that has proof the arches have been done, then they will be rusty somewhere. Mine rusted on the floor plan too under the carpet. Pay a bargain price, and you can have fun and either pay for the welding, or bin.

 

Only the Black or Millennium edition had leather, and when I scrapped my black the interior got me £250 and was quite sought after, so if you can find a cheap one that will help you make some money back.

 

A certain variety of mondeo calipers discs and wheels are a common upgrade too, but I found my standard setup ok, but I don't drive to the limit of stuff like that.

 

The metal gear knob is gr9 fun at - 4 and +29 degrees too. But I think all the 1.7s had aircon as standard.

 

Heater control valves die and kill the heating, genuine Ford is the fix, I had a euro car parts part fail after 2 weeks, the Ford one was only £17 and its accessible under the scuttle, I fitted mine to amys cousins fiesta when I scrapped it as his had gone as well

[Asimo]

LOL probably not, it's the rear diff. He has a s/h one he got off eBay using a part number he found fuck knows where, but the casing's wrong so he's dropping the diff out and swapping the internals.

I bet the new diff has more miles on than the old one.

Is he changing just the differential or the crownwheel and pinion as well?

If the gears are changed then all sort of precision fiddling is neccessary to ensure that the pre-load is correct. ie precision shims and measurements or new crushable spacers or some such. this work might even be needed if the diff. only is changed. Tolerances etc.