The new news 24 thread

[BorniteIdentity]

There's a red 306 sedan on ebay for £200 - and it looks utterly fugging brilliant.  

 

Such french.  Many retro. So economies.  Wow.

[egg]

my cousin aims to drive it down to Cornwall first for family visits, and then get the Plymouth - Roscoff ferry and drive it back to southern Brittany. I wish him well!

[meshking]

I appear to have turned into the people we love to hate. Realised I hadn't checked the oil for a while on my focus. Bit low, topped up. Then, thinking about it, I haven't changed the oil in a while. Err, hang on, since I had the cambelt changed. Four years ago. Oops.

[trigger]

The in laws have upgraded their shit Sky internet with a BT one but are struggling to work out how to set it all up so this afternoon we went over to take a look, once this was up and running i had time to check in on the Dolomite which i haven't even seen since the start of December.

 

The battery was unsurprisingly flat so i jumped it off my Focus, that was a bit daft as it's got the lights which turn on when you open the door, after i started the Dolly (which took a few turns to get the fuel up) i parked the Focus back up and locked it only to see the lights still on... Shit i think, I've bollocked up one of the modules and it will cost me a fortune.

 

After 20 minutes Googling, messing about with the key and swearing i finally notice that the boot wasn't closed probably... What a wally! Still i took the Dolly for a drive for a hour where it still drives lovely! Roll on the summer!

 

 

[nacho man]

That's mega that dolomite. You did a cracking job getting it looking mint.

[Skizzer]

^ Wot Dan said. Haven't seen the Dolomite in a while and it still looks gorgeous. I'm off to Flickr now to perve over the grey cloth seats.

[BorniteIdentity]

National Lampoon's European Vacation is on CH5 ATM.

 

I'd have told you sooner, but that yellow Austin had my typing hand rather tied up.

 

Chod. Fest.

[Cheggers]

 

 

Diesel doesn't really go off.

It's doesn't "go off" as such, but heaven help you if the dreaded diesel bug strikes. I had to flush the boat engine out 4 times before it was all gone.

 

 

 

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[Spottedlaurel]

Still i took the Dolly for a drive for a hour where it still drives lovely! Roll on the summer!

 

It's looking great! It was good weather for trips out in the old crocks today wasn't it? I took the Laurel out earlier on and it went really well, didn't feel like I hadn't used it since October/November.

[trigger]

Thanks guys, I'm really proud of how good this one now looks!

[Lacquer Peel]

It's doesn't "go off" as such, but heaven help you if the dreaded diesel bug strikes. I had to flush the boat engine out 4 times before it was all gone.

 

 

 

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I think that mainly affects boat engines. My engine donor Xsara had been sitting for 3 years and the diesel was okay

[reb]

I've been looking at polish/wax type things so I can make the puggo mega shiny, seems to be a lot of decent stuff available for ok money. At the other end there's bloody hell how much? £60 for a tiny tub of wax!? That's not even the worst of it. Chemical Guys stuff seems ok, but their uk website is shit, which puts me off a bit.

 

 

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[beko1987]

Poorboys world natty s blue wax, chemical guys black hole, autoglym super resin Polish and a clay bar are your friend!

[xtriple]

I bought some polish/wax stuff from Halfords yesterday which is supposed to be 'easy' and not strip the protection off that was lovingly (and expensively) applied last year. It is utter sHIT! I have never seen so many streaks and smears in my life. Liquid Gold or something, give it a severe swerve!

 

However, Autoglym stuff always seems to me to be the top bollox. I have a pretty good range of their stuff and it is good. The posh wax that comes in a little tub with a microfiber cloth and sponges and stuff is expensive bt good and last really well.

[spike60]

A couple of years back at Le Mans i wandered into the Spyker sales spot where in the reduced to clear they had a small case of polishes,lotions and potions. It was reduced from 999 Euro to 699 Euro. £900 for car polish? I assume they rely on rich mens wives stuck for a present for the other half. I asked the humourless young Dutch salesman if he used it but no, he didn't.

[EssDeeWon]

I can't believe its now been THIRTY years since my dad rocked up home in this

 

Dads Rover 2600  - Circa 1987 by steve wilson, on Flickr

[Guest Hooli]

The in laws have upgraded their shit Sky internet with a BT one but are struggling to work out how to set it all up so this afternoon we went over to take a look, once this was up and running i had time to check in on the Dolomite which i haven't even seen since the start of December.

 

The battery was unsurprisingly flat so i jumped it off my Focus, that was a bit daft as it's got the lights which turn on when you open the door, after i started the Dolly (which took a few turns to get the fuel up) i parked the Focus back up and locked it only to see the lights still on... Shit i think, I've bollocked up one of the modules and it will cost me a fortune.

 

After 20 minutes Googling, messing about with the key and swearing i finally notice that the boot wasn't closed probably... What a wally! Still i took the Dolly for a drive for a hour where it still drives lovely! Roll on the summer!

 

 

 

It's Dollymint!

[garbaldy]

National Lampoon's European Vacation is on CH5 ATM.

 

I'd have told you sooner, but that yellow Austin had my typing hand rather tied up.

 

Chod. Fest.

I wonder if they drove it around with no tax, naughty.

 

[wuvvum]

As others appear to have done, I took advantage of the pleasant weather today and took the DAF and the CX for a quick run - their first in well over a month.  Now that it's dry and a bit warmer, the DAF's occasional missfire under load seems to have disappeared, and it now takes off like a scalded cat (or as close to a scalded cat as anything powered by a 1108cc Cléon is going to get anyway).  The CX still drives as well as ever, although it still has a bit of an LHM leak from the nearside front strut gaiter.

 

Didn't get a great deal else done, mainly because I was quite slow getting going this morning after yesterday's early start.  I fixed the exhaust on the Getz (again), took the battery off the Pigsarsehole to charge it up (left my little lithium jump pack attached to the jump points under the bonnet to keep the electrics alive), and cleared the Transit out (and loaded the removed seats back into it) ready for it to go to its new Essex home tomorrow. 

 

Oh, I did experiment with the little jump pack and found that it's capable of starting the (batteryless) 218 on its own, so the fact that it wasn't helping much in getting the Picasso going appears to have been more due to the massive current draw of a 2-litre HDI rather than any defect in the jump pack itself.

[For Fiats Sake]

After three days of being officially on the sick I'm looking to get the donor panda stripped down and gone.  I think I can forgo an engine hoist and just jack the car up over the engine instead.  

Took the dog on a new walk today:

 

Canal shite

 

Log cabins made of metal shocker!

 

Fixing a shite canal bridge

 

Lucy gives me the look

[Lord Sterling]

Washed the Sterling today, not great but it took the several months worth of residue and cobwebs off it. Filled the expansion tank with water and drove it up and down the carpark. Swapped spaces with BMW so neither car looks abandoned. And...er...that's it

 

Exciting eh?

[AMC Rebel]

Changed the steering damper on the Crying Pumpkin.  Steering now lighter and smoother.

 

The creaking noise hasn't gone though, nor the shudder on nearside bumps.  Was worth it though - the old one was deffo shagged.

[reb]

I have various autoglym things already and am pretty happy with them for general keeping the cars presentable. I get the feeling though that it's a good safe bet but not the best if that makes sense? Since I won't be dailying the 205 and it'll be kept in a garage I'd like to go a little bit further. Beko, that sounds like my conclusion too, any particular brand of clay bar or are they more or less interchangeable?

 

 

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[beko1987]

Bilt hamber is the nuts, it comes in a little box, costs a tenner (or did last time). It uses water for lube too so no needing a separate product to go with it.

[brownnova]

There is something rather therapeutic about washing the car... however washing all three is a PITA. I reckon the only problem with having multiple cars is when they all get dirty...

 

Went to wash the MX, thought whilst the hose and bucket are out I'd better do the Ka too as it's equally dirty... and it would just make the drive look weird to have a filthy modern and two clean older vehicles so that got a wash too. Then the light went so no polish for anyone!

 

Not looking forward to the impact on the water bill....

[SiC]

All my cars are in dire need of washing. Laguna had bird crap all over it. Civic is hard to see what's in the wing mirrors as they and the door glass is so filthy. Roadster looks like it hasn't been cleaned for a while - however given how many leaks it has/probably has, I'm a bit wary of washing it! Especially by using a pressure washer...

 

I don't think I could ever brave it through a car wash either. Saying that, I used to put a mk3 mx5 through a car wash all the time! Just that was far less sieve like.

[Guest Hooli]

Changed the steering damper on the Crying Pumpkin.  Steering now lighter and smoother.

 

The creaking noise hasn't gone though, nor the shudder on nearside bumps.  Was worth it though - the old one was deffo shagged.

 

Do I recall something about the swivels needing work? could well be the swivel bearings on the NSF causing all that.

[Guest Hooli]

All my cars are in dire need of washing. Laguna had bird crap all over it. Civic is hard to see what's in the wing mirrors as they and the door glass is so filthy. Roadster looks like it hasn't been cleaned for a while - however given how many leaks it has/probably has, I'm a bit wary of washing it! Especially by using a pressure washer!

 

 

I've not washed the Saab yet either, it's properly minging now.

[SiC]

I've not washed the Saab yet either, it's properly minging now.

Gives it more road presence! I used to just bung it through the local, cheap car wash. Seem to survive just fine.

[Guest Hooli]

If I paid someone to wash it, it'd be a significant increase in the total cost of the car!