The new news 24 thread

[dollywobbler]

Tricky to call it from that. Any petrol engine (diesels don't seem so bad) will pump steam out of the exhaust on a cold day, including actual water droplets. I know this because I've made the mistake of revving the 2CV's engine when my wife has been standing near the tailpipe...

 

Oh well. Head's off now so as mentioned, it's a case of making sure it's properly flat, new gasket and fingers crossed.

[trigger]

I haven't checked the head yet with a flat edge, I should do that really, This is smoking more then a normal engine on a cold day Ian, thick white steams coming and it's splattering lots of water out the back, not just a few spits.

[cobblers]

is that water connection thing that goes onto the inlet manifold owt to do with it? it's not gone porous has it?

[trigger]

Funny you say that, that's what my dad was thinking, it all looks good but as the water was in the carb, and the water was milky white looking? in the manifold he wondered if the gasket or somethings gone there rather then the head itself.

[dollywobbler]

In other news, I'm glad this doesn't end for quite a few days as I'm feeling like having a flutter on it. 4.5-litre transverse V8 and a speedo stolen out of a Sixties Austin. Love it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221187072133

[vulgalour]

It's wrong that I saw that Caddy ad and instantly thought "Princess engine donor".

[Spiny Norman]

In other news, I'm glad this doesn't end for quite a few days as I'm feeling like having a flutter on it. 4.5-litre transverse V8 and a speedo stolen out of a Sixties Austin. Love it.

 

That's fabulous! I love the combination of Austin 1100 speedo and the 80s Saisho stereo LEDS below, it looks like two entirely separate dashboards.

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

For the first time in 2 months I have LITERALLY done some work on the maser today, flippin ace. New cambelt on plus made and fitted a new cambox gasket, then half-dismantled the gearbox and helicoiled the exhaust mounting flange before making another new gasket and boshing it all back together. Unfortunately i forgot my camera so I only have one shitty pic of the engine aqnd bits strewn across the floor

 

[wuvvum]

The XJ-S failed to sell on eBay today. I didn't think £600 was excessive for a running V12 XJ-S with almost three months' test, even if it does have a certain amount of tinworm, but the market obviously doesn't agree. Oh well, looks like it's going to be adorning the driveway for a little while yet then.

[Cavcraft]

Bloody hell, B01, you make that sort of thing look easy!

 

Wuv: Is there not a kit car forum of some sorts you could advertise it on? Surely someone would give that much for the engine alone?

[vulgalour]

I'd be inclined to think it's the time of year. Car prices for stuff like old Jags (and classics, and butchered VWs, for that matter) seems to pick up about March/April time, peak at about July/August and be back down to Shiter budget from October to February. I reckon if I'd tried to buy the Princess when there wasn't snow on the floor and it was closer to show season I'd've had to pay double what I did without the seller doing anything to it. £600 is reasonable for a roadworthy V12 Jag, but at the moment I'd be surprised if you could net more than £400 for it unless it was pristine.

 

Our neighbour recently bought a '98 Volvo V40 saloon in black with the desirable alloys and all the toys for just under £800 with tax and ticket. It looks like a £1,200-1,500 car but because of being off season it looks like he bagged himself a bit of a bargain.

[Tayne]

Our neighbour recently bought a '98 Volvo V40 saloon

 

Aren't you worried about him hitting your cars with his new Volvo?

[vulgalour]

A little bit, yes.

[dollywobbler]

I've just watched a D-reg Jaguar XJ40 with tax and test go for no bids at £300. Gawd know how I managed to resist. I think the 'selling for a friend' description with sod all actual information saved me. But only just.

 

I've got my eye on a V8 Discovery (no, I still can't decide what I want) at the moment. This new cold spell is not ideal timing. Maybe I should wait another month.

[vulgalour]

Get a world globe that spins. Print off lots of very small pictures of cars you might want to buy. Stick those pictures all over the globe before giving it a spin. Close your eyes and put your finger on the spinning globe, wherever it lands that's where you end up living what car you buy.

[eddyramrod]

Buy the Cadillac, DW! You'll never* regret it. And even if you do, you'll be so comfy you won't care.

[philibusmo]

This week I have done literally nothing to any of my fleet, due to constant rain, other than look at panhard65s Fiat Coupe and decide to do the sensible thing and not buy it, no matter how lovely it is.

Have some old news instead from last weekend instead:

 

The Rover leaks, badly. I know cars made by BL are not renowned for their water tightness, but this is rather exceptional. The front footwell looks like this:

The rear foot well is even worse:

As I have no idea where quite such a large boating lake has snuck in from, the interior will have to be removed and the leak found and plugged. Although this is not exactly possible as it is currently being used as a storage shed for the extra Lancia Y10 parts I dragged off the scrapper in Wrexham some months back, so it has all had to come out through the boot that doesn't stay up, mostly because the rams say 'mk2 metro' on them and the hatch weighs about as much as an entire Metro.

Luckily I have someone coming down to take these extra parts from me at the end of February, so they shouldn't be here too long. In other pleasing news, insurance quotes on the rover are already pretty favorable, so I may not have to wait to get it insured and start wafting about in velour lined, V8 luxury. All it needs is new tyres as the current Matador ditch finders have larger cracks in the side walls than a a house suffering from subsidence from an old mine shaft and new wiper blades for the MOT along with a patch in each front arch.

I am more than a little excited.

[hairymel]

had a trip out today and secured mr tetleysmooths previa

 

 

quite a nice old bus

 

just have to work out the logistics for the uplift

 

have a niggling feeling that the fleet is getting a bit out of control

 

working:

 

merc c230 kompressor (multiple electrical item fail but much slippy fun today )

mondeo estate (sorned)

megane coupe (still running like shite)

previa (sorned uninsured and 45 miles away)

 

 

broken

 

escrot cab (fucked and a shed has fallen on it!)

uno diesel van (rusty arches and leaky clutch master cylinder)

alfa 75 twinspark (bit green, rot welded but 4 years ago )

yamaha xv750se (missing lights, seat etc)

mk3 transit dormer ambulance/minibus/camper conversion (hidden in my parents back garden - very green and full of mice and welding needed)

sunbeam (in many many bits and 4 years away from running at this rate )

 

i cant remember when i stopped only having one car,

 

and have only just realized that i am "forgetting" how many vehicles i have in the same manner as i "forget" how old i am

 

 

 

oops just shown the other half the list before i posted and she wants to know why i have not told her that a shed has fallen on her cabrio

[dollywobbler]

Phil - SD1s are notorious for windscreen leaks. Not sure what the solution is as I think it's bonded in. Dampness in the rear footwells would normally be a door seal on that side I'd suggest. Alternatively, your sunroof drains are blocked. A long piece of garden twine or a blast of compressed air should sort those out.

[Skizzer]

My 75 has sprouted similar ponds in the footwells over the last couple of months. These seem prone to leaking screens both front and rear but I'm buggered if I can trace them. There's now so much condensation, and continual rain, that a talc test is impossible. I'd hate to scrap a car for a leaky window (though it has other 'issues' too) but this is a tool not a toy and my patience is running out. Plus I need the driveway space.

[mk1_4dr]

Just had a text from the landlord RE escRot. It sounds like it can't stay there, even though I've started parking the LOLvo on the roadside making it my 'one' car in the driveway.

 

Not sure what on earth I'm going to do with it when it comes back from being jigged....

[Angrydicky]

Just had a text from the landlord RE escRot. It sounds like it can't stay there, even though I've started parking the LOLvo on the roadside making it my 'one' car in the driveway.

 

Not sure what on earth I'm going to do with it when it comes back from being jigged....

 

Have you got any nosy neighbours that may have taken a dislike to it? I would guess someone's complained to the landlord

[mk1_4dr]

Nah, my landlord lives downstairs, and he's been away on business for a week, so it was the first thing that greeted him in the corner of the drive when he got home.

 

I guess it's to be expected, the house is forsale (it has been for 3+years and will continue to be at £650K) and a grotty old escort outside is doing the place no favours.

 

Still, I don't remember agreeing to 'keep up with the jones' when I moved in, and even in its current borked state it is a damnsight prettier than the rusty as chuff early KA owned by one of the other tennents.

[Pete-M]

XJR gone. I'm officially down to one working vehicle.

 

As for SD1s, they've always been buggers for leaky windscreens. Bonded by Brummies...

[vulgalour]

@Mk14dr: I can offer storage on my driveway for you if you become completely unstuck. There's space for it and the neighbours know we don't care what they think so they don't say anything.

[dollywobbler]

XJR gone. I'm officially down to one working vehicle.

 

As for SD1s, they've always been buggers for leaky windscreens. Bonded by Brummies...

 

This Brummie would just like to state for the record that SD1s were never built in Birmingham. They were built in The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull until 1982, then Cowley, Oxfordshire. Though I will concede that my Brummie uncle worked at Lode Lane. He never fitted windscreens though. I bet that was a Silhillian.

[mk1_4dr]

@Mk14dr: I can offer storage on my driveway for you if you become completely unstuck. There's space for it and the neighbours know we don't care what they think so they don't say anything.

 

Thank you muchly, though, i fear bringing it to yours may put it too far away to make tinkering a possiblity.

 

The jig-man is coming on Wednesday, so I may be needed somewhere in a fortnight or so, unless him and I come to an agreement over some form of bodywork as his shop is massive, and pretty empty from what i remember.

 

I'm currently swinging wildly between huge excitment over seeing some progress, and palefaced dread over what happens if the jig rips it in half, or i can't find/afford any wings, or the holes keep growing/become too big to tackle.

 

There is a long way to go before MOT time (which in itself is a bone of contention, being a writeoff will it now need some form of inspection?)

 

*headache*

[hairymel]

my worry about too many vehicles has been lessened by the megane spunking mayo out of its dipstick this afternoon - it only has to last till thursday morning and off to a 99p ebay auction it goes

[Skizzer]

@Mk14dr: I can offer storage on my driveway for you if you become completely unstuck. There's space for it and the neighbours know we don't care what they think so they don't say anything.

 

Thank you muchly, though, i fear bringing it to yours may result in your neighbour driving into it with his Volvo.

 

EFA

 

Good luck with the jig-man, 4dr.

[dollywobbler]

Just added up that I've owned 54 vehicles since 1995. Hardly in the league of some on here, but not a bad tally. What concerns me is that of that 54, there's only one or two that I'd like to own again. Alfa Romeo 164 V6 is pretty much top of the list, though I won't get one for £375 with MOT these days.

 

In the first five years of my driving life, I somehow got through 14 vehicles! Though I do still own vehicle number 14. Oddly in 2002, the last time I was single, I bought only one vehicle.