The new news 24 thread

[phil_lihp]

The Nova sold on ebay and the winning bidder phoned me this evening to arrange collection tomorrow evening. Mixed emotions here, I'm glad it's going so I don't need to worry about storing it or doing any more work to it but a little sad too. That might be however because there was only one bid so it went for a mere £450 which is considerably less than it owes me and what I thought it was worth. Still, a sale is a sale, hopefully it'll go to a good home to make the effort worthwhile.

 

I used it this morning to run a few errands including a dump and scrapyard run to clear out the garage, it performed faultlessly and got a few comments from the recycling centre blokes of 'cor you don't see many of them around these days' which was nice so its had its final farewell.

[Lankytim]

The Wife's Astra estate has been playing up again recently. The O/S/F brake caliper keeps binding with the result that the wheel gets very hot, pours smoke and gives the Astra a top speed of 40 MPH flat out. It's an ongoing problem solved by periodically working the piston in and out and walloping the caliper with a big hammer. Recently this highly technical method has been failing to get the desired results meaning I was getting my ear bent pretty much every day after the Wife had smoked her way home from work. I popped down to the local scrappies today and I managed to get a perfectly serviceable caliper for £10. It took 20 mins to fit and now the Astra is transformed. Why didn't I just do that 6 months ago? Cheap bastard.

 

Oh, and I got a pair of VOLVO rear mudflaps for my Dad's 740 estate, cost all of £4. That's the present for his 70th Birthday in March sorted.

[Mr Lobster]

The only news as such concerns my Seat Toledo. Water ingress has returned it seems. Last summer both front doors were leaking through the useless bit of now rotten foam sealant that Seat considered sufficient to seal things. Waterproof silicone sealant cured the problem for a bit but now I've got wet carpets again.

 

Not sure if the back ones need doing or whether I should stop being miserly and go and buy the proper stuff from Seat and do all four. A nice dry / warm day would help...

 

R4 van is waiting for a clutch cable which should be winging its way from France as we speak.

 

Mazda still suffers from ridiculous lack of grip / traction in anything other than warm, bone dry conditions thanks to the AutoGrip (how ironic) tyres fitted to it. Despite having loads of tread left they shall be getting binned shortly.

[ProgRocker]

After some horrid smells and smoke coming from the Almera's nearside wheel arch, I took my car for a brake test. Front nearside caliper is seized, rear brake pad is binding and front brake pads are needed too (whole load of other items too no doubt). Estimated cost £500. Arse!

[dollywobbler]

Slightly alarmed by all this seized caliper stuff. I tend to check wheel temperature every now and then to make sure there isn't an issue (if you can't touch the wheel, something is badly wrong!). The heat generated by a stuck caliper is terrific, and will generally cause your wheel bearings to fail as all of the grease will run out of them.

 

Another clue is to listen for a constant whistling when you're driving along, which disappears when you apply the brake. This is the clue I missed on my old Saab 900. A wheel wobble at 80mph indicated that the wheel bearing was starting to suffer, which I got checked immediately. I pay more attention these days...

[ProgRocker]

Thanks, dollywobbler.

 

I had the car serviced back in April 2012 by unDESIRAble Nissan. On top of the fixed price service, they charged me an extra £130 odd for new front brake pads. I think I shall write a curt letter to them requesting a refund as front brake pads shouldn't fail after 5,000 miles.

 

Edit: stupid typo.

[dollywobbler]

If the caliper has been seizing, it'll wear down the pads in very short time. The ones on the Maverick were down to the metal when I got it.

[ProgRocker]

If the caliper has been seizing, it'll wear down the pads in very short time.

 

Ah right. So any claim for a refund will probably be denied on the basis of the seized caliper?

 

I really need to bone up (fnarr!) on my car mechanics. The Almera turns 10 in December so will be pretty much in Autoshite territory.

[phil_lihp]

I don't know Almeras but I managed to change the brake calipers, pads and discs plus a full fluid change on the Nova with absolutely zero experience - the most ambitious thing I'd ever done prior to that was changing some spark plugs about 8 years ago. If I can do it, anyone can! Maybe there's money to be saved by getting a recon caliper or one off a scrapper then doing the swap yourself? Will be satisfying when it's done, believe me!

[dollywobbler]

What Phil says is true. I'm not mechanic but brakes aren't that scary. I'd only changed pads before I attempted to rebuild the Mini's calipers. It was pretty easy. Changing discs on more modern stuff is made more annoying by the screws that hold the disc in place. After the nightmare of a rusted stud on my BX, I 'helped' a mate with his second-gen Skoda Octavia which used Torx screws to hold the disc on. Naturally these round horribly and we ended up using a trusty garage after mangling them ourselves (he just did what I'd been trying to do but with better tools - try and drive a chisel into the edge of the screw, and then hammer it around.)

[ProgRocker]

Thanks chaps. On this occasion I'll let the garage sort it out. I work weekdays and with these dark evenings doing any kind of car maintenance would be awkward.

 

Might have to invest in a Haynes manual, trolley jack and a set of axle stands!

[cort16]

TR7 is gone. Cheerio tae..

[trigger]

I went to change the front drop link on my Mondeo yesterday only to find the front spring has broke, looking online the spring might have to be purchased from the main dealer as the pattern parts don't always fit the ST so that will be a nice cheap fix, also I'm pissing in water somewhere into the rear offside footwell and I can't find where. ALL MODERN CARZ ï SHIT.

[Angrydicky]

I've bought a MK2 Consul! Needs a bit of work but it's taxed and MoT'd and was a steal at the price I paid.

 

To be honest, it will probably be a quick tidy up and back up for sale for £££.

[mk1_4dr]

NicelyNicely AD. Chuck some pics up, I do love a Zcar...

[Angrydicky]

I won't be collecting it for another two weeks, but here's some photos from the advert:

 

 

 

[mk1_4dr]

Oh man, that is FINE, very well purchased.

Want to swap for a 940 Estate and a slightly bumped Mk1 Escort?

[dollywobbler]

Nice buy. They're very nice to drive, and I think you'll find the column change a revelation compared to Oztins.

[philibusmo]

I spent this afternoon with some MEK, degreasing the Fiesta's engine bay ready for a quick blow over with the correct colour paint when the engine change goes ahead in the next couple of months. I'm pleased the waxoyl has protected the inner wings so well. I am less pleased about how much of a ball ache it is to remove.

 

Good job I'm not planning a mint engine bay for my OMG OLDSKOOL FORD YO engine change, just plan on getting it to be one colour as opposed to five and approximately the same shade of blue as the outside, so I don't mind too much if a couple of areas aren't perfect and react a little as it will still be better than 50 shades of hammerite.

 

The Lancia's previous owner also popped round today to deliver a few useful spares he still had knocking around. He was visibly shocked when he saw the state of it, and even more so when I found the pictures of it from a few months back and when I showed him the section around the rear seat belt mount which I have kept as a bit of a trophy.

[Angrydicky]

Nice buy. They're very nice to drive, and I think you'll find the column change a revelation compared to Oztins.

 

I haven't driven it myself, but the gearchange looked to be nice and easy. To be fair, the Cambridge one is pretty good, but the one on the Atlantic is hopeless - like stirring a very large vat of extremely sticky porridge.

[philibusmo]

 

You might want to check the back end for dodgy crash repairs, looking at the state of that Xsara Picasso that is in perfect alignment to be reversed into.

[trigger]

I saw that for sale on Car & Classic and thought how cheap it looked, I think you've done well there, These and the Zodiac are among my all time dream cars, it's only the juicey and gutless Thames van 1700cc engine in these that put me off them. You should make a nice few quid on that.

[garycox]

That Consul looks excellent, great work!

[ProgRocker]

The Consul looks great!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I have finished fitting a towbar on my Mondeo today, wired it all in with proper soldered joints, check me out!!! I will be popping its A-frame cherry next weekend.

[mk1_4dr]

Can Aframes be used on removable towbars? My 940 has a pukka Volvo one but I don't want to get 1/4mile down the road and it fall off due to the stresses involved...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I would have thought so, the being removable bit does not add a secondary lower towing weight AFAIK

[mk1_4dr]

It looks and feels substantial enough. Meh, I possibly still may be able to blag a trailer.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I just LOL'd at your avatar!

[mk1_4dr]

Hypno-tashe