The new news 24 thread

[trigger]

That certainly has got a bit of a tilt going on. Has it got a tow bar? If it's been used for towing in the past then gas filled shocks as mentioned above would be used for such reasons?

I thought that but there's no evidence of one being fitted.

[xtriple]

I have got to recommend 'Premium Choice' insurance company. I had the Mazda insured with them for 3 years and every year, the price came DOWN! It started at under £200 and ended up at £112, classic policy so no 'no claims'. Just rung them to cancel and because I have recommended others to them (New owner is also now insured with them!) they waived the cancelation fee and gave me a £10 bonus for saying they were great!

 

I am the first to slag off insurance companies for being money grabbing arses, but they have been fab' so it is only fair that you commend when it is due.

[trigger]

I've cancelled the order for the springs and ordered a new pair of rear shocks now instead, I'm now thinking that I probably shouldnt have cancelled the rear springs either... My head hurts.

[richardmorris]

Sunny this morning waiting for the funeral, so thought I’d get the fiat out for a run.

[RobT]

Since collecting the 623 from Bo11ox exactly one month ago I've managed to cover 1,900 miles, so it's now on 162,000.  Good job my classic policy is unlimited miles!  940 of those have been in the last 7 days with a trip to France, coupled with a trip up to Worcester this weekend (caring for an ill father-in-law which was tiring but necessary).  After all that I still like it, which is a good thing as I want to keep it for a while.  Famous last words I know...

 

I took a wrong turn in Le Tréport and ended up in this underground car park.  Worthy of a pic I reckon seeing as the place was deserted.

 

 

Next up is another pair of tyres so it's got four new ones all round, which is a rare thing.  Can't remember the last time I had a car with a full set of new rubber.  LUXURY.  I'll also consider getting the AC fixed in time for summer, although I think there's some pipework missing last time I looked.

[wuvvum]

I've probably just spent £200 when I didn't need too!

I've just bought an entire car for less than that.

[Cleon-Fonte]

I couldn't tell what shocks they are, there's no way of telling. It would have originally been fitted with Nivomat self leveling shocks but they must have failed at some point and been replaced with a standard set up.

 

It sits 5 1/2" high and doesn't look right.

 

 

 

It looks to me like the standard springs are still fitted but the Nivomats have been replaced with conventional dampers. The normal SD1 rear springs don't have any bearing on ride height so the arse end of the car will tend to sit too high if the Nivomats are replaced with something else.

 

Those Rimmers 30mm lowered springs are also designed to be fitted alongside Nivomats (despite what the Rimmers website says) and usually cause the rear of the car to sag on its bump stops without them (as I found out when I fitted them alongside a set of Koni dampers).

 

There are springs you can buy that will work without the Nivomats, or if you have lots of spare cash new Nivomats can be bought from the SD1 Club for something like £450 each.

[bramz7]

Stilo is running a bit iffy suddenly. I'd thought the gearchange was a bit stiff and the clutch a bit heavy, but yesterday the engine fault light came on, stayed on, and then went off. Weird. 

It also sounds like the rear axle wants to break through the boot at times. 

 

Otherwise it drives fine....

[louiepj]

Running an aunts car in for mot

 

Fulvia 3 anyone? Or gtv6

 

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[trigger]

It looks to me like the standard springs are still fitted but the Nivomats have been replaced with conventional dampers. The normal SD1 rear springs don't have any bearing on ride height so the arse end of the car will tend to sit too high if the Nivomats are replaced with something else.

 

Those Rimmers 30mm lowered springs are also designed to be fitted alongside Nivomats (despite what the Rimmers website says) and usually cause the rear of the car to sag on its bump stops without them (as I found out when I fitted them alongside a set of Koni dampers).

 

There are springs you can buy that will work without the Nivomats, or if you have lots of spare cash new Nivomats can be bought from the SD1 Club for something like £450 each.

Hmm... So do you think I should have ordered standard rear springs for it too or will the ones already fitted be ok?

[Talbot]

the arse end of the car will tend to sit too high if the Nivomats are replaced with something else.

The Nivomats can actually pull the vehicle *down*? Against spring tension?

[Joey spud]

Going back to trailer tyre blow outs i find a lot of it is down to under inflation and over loading.

Once they get moving they overheat and quickly fail.

 

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-00-8-500-8-High-Speed-Trailer-Towing-Dolly-10-Ply-TYRE-TUBE-5-00x8-500x8/400305506851?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D8cdf818d8e944282bb0892d2798a0f11%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D20%26sd%3D401054595215%26itm%3D400305506851&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

 

The tyres fitted to our old breakdown towing dollies were these 10 ply rated and inflated to 112psi jobbies

[louiepj]

Engine shot

 

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[wuvvum]

Stilo is running a bit iffy suddenly. I'd thought the gearchange was a bit stiff and the clutch a bit heavy, but yesterday the engine fault light came on, stayed on, and then went off. Weird. 

It also sounds like the rear axle wants to break through the boot at times. 

 

Otherwise it drives fine....

Odd.  Did it lose power when the light came on?  I don't recall it ever coming on when I had it (apart from the time when I accidentally unplugged the MAF sensor like a twat).  Have you got a code reader?

 

Every modernish Fiat and Alfa I've owned has had a heavy clutch - I think that might just be a thing that they do when they're getting old.

[Talbot]

Going back to trailer tyre blow outs i find a lot of it is down to under inflation and over loading.

Once they get moving they quickly overheat and quickly fail.

I assume that's what I did with my trailer, but the other tyre was barely warm to the touch. Depends how hot "overheated" is on a tyre. I'd guess that 50°c isn't too hot for most tyres? That said, I could easily have had a slowish puncture (deflated over the course of 10 mins say) and not realised. Tyre gets down to 25-30psi and gets rapidly very hot indeed, leading to the gunshot-worthy bang that happened!

 

inflated to 112psi.

[dave21478]

Going back to trailer tyre blow outs i find a lot of it is down to under inflation and over loading.

Once they get moving they quickly overheat and quickly fail.

 

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-00-8-500-8-High-Speed-Trailer-Towing-Dolly-10-Ply-TYRE-TUBE-5-00x8-500x8/400305506851?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D8cdf818d8e944282bb0892d2798a0f11%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D20%26sd%3D401054595215%26itm%3D400305506851&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

 

The tyres fitted to our old breakdown towing dollies were these 10 ply rated and inflated to 112psi.

 

 

Aye, if you dont know the manufacturers spec for your trailer or its a home made thing, go by the tyre ratings. All modern tyres will say something like "max 450kgs at 46 psi" which means exactly that....if the tyre is loaded to 450kgs it needs to be at 46psi. A twin axle running tyres like that would be 1800kgs gross weight. If the trailer is plated for less, you could reduce the pressures accordingly, but not by too much...best not to stray too far from what the tyre maker says.

[fraser.innes.3]

Whats happening with the roffle Range Rover?

As stated previously, I have sold it to a fellow shiter. It is up to him to reveal who his is if he wants to, but I am sure that he will admit that he paid a pittance for it. In the last week I have forked out over £1000 on car related expenses, so just could not take this on. I even insured it, and will send you a copy of the policy, if you are that way inclined. I was really excited when I won it, but with my sensible head on, I realised that I just could not afford it

 

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[Cleon-Fonte]

The Nivomats can actually pull the vehicle *down*? Against spring tension?

 

I can't give a definitive technical explanation, but I've seen a few cases where SD1 owners have swapped out knackered Nivomats for conventional dampers without changing the springs and their cars have taken on a distinct dragster stance. Cue much panicking on Facebook SD1 pages...

 

Perhaps it's explained by the fact the rear springs on the Nivomat cars are really only there as helpers and are therefore not under a particularly great amount of tension. Most of the springing is done by the Nivomats themselves and the springs also have no bearing on ride height, nor do they support the weight of the car.

 

Hmm... So do you think I should have ordered standard rear springs for it too or will the ones already fitted be ok?

 

2000/2300 springs could be your friend here.

[Talbot]

Perhaps it's explained by the fact the rear springs on the Nivomat cars are really only there as helpers and are therefore not under a particularly great amount of tension. Most of the springing is done by the Nivomats themselves and the springs also have no bearing on ride height, nor do they support the weight of the car.

Odd. You would expect that if the item that is supporting most of the weight is removed and replaced with a standard damper, the tail of the car would be on it's bumpstops. Either way, something definitely needs to be done about the SD1 in question as it currently looks like it's permanently under some very heavy braking!

[trigger]

Thanks guys for the help, I think I'll fit the new shocks as they are on the way now and see how it looks, if it's still high I'll order some new 2000/2300 springs too. I probably have got away with just the springs rather than new shocks too by the sounds of it.

[dollywobbler]

EXCITING NEWS.

 

I fitted some new rubber mates to the Starlet.

 

They look absolutely horrible, but they're nice and tough, and might even help quieten the little thing down a bit. Bought them to keep and swap between cars rather than stay with the car. Lord Sterling will be crying at the mere sight of them...

[holbeck]

My RAV needs tyres for the MOT so I've got about 3 weeks to source some. Ebay has thrown up a set at a reasonable price but they are in Scotland and I'm a long way south. 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-rav4-steel-wheels-and-tyres-215-70-r16-mk2-01-05/183141795817?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

I've put a shitely request up, but it's a big ask of any shitter to even collect them, let alone shitely them anywhere vaguely closer to me.

 

http://autoshite.com/topic/31340-official-shitely-thread/?p=1463130

[Shep Shepherd]

Cambridge railway station car park is as good a place as any to park when visiting the city for the weekend:

 

 

The Volvo seemed happy enough to be there from Friday evening until this morning, in any case.

[dollywobbler]

TALBOT TAGORA SPORTS.

[sam simmons]

Love that Murena (just dropped a comment concerning my late fathers Rancho) oh and the 530 does look pretty special..

[Matt]

I wrote a letter to the Suzuki factory in Hungary about my Swift to see what they had on it (and just for the hell of it really) and mentioned that I would like to get a set of those plates that you see cars wearing in sales brochures, Suzuki GB replies by sending me a set free of charge! A bit silly I know but I think that was pretty neat of them.

 

 

 

Edit: Even if it's the wrong font The ones they sent me are for the 2005 model but still neat anyway.

[fordperv]

That's pretty awesome of them to send you those

[Noel Tidybeard]

golly the matra has maestro switches!

[oldcars]

I wrote a letter to the Suzuki factory in Hungary about my Swift to see what they had on it (and just for the hell of it really) and mentioned that I would like to get a set of those plates that you see cars wearing in sales brochures, Suzuki GB replies by sending me a set free of charge! A bit silly I know but I think that was pretty neat of them.

 

IMG_1694.JPG

 

 

Edit: Even if it's the wrong font The ones they sent me are for the 2005 model but still neat anyway.

That's brilliant i love stuff like this. I might write to Reliant, ahh maybe not.

 

Try and recreate a brochure photo with your car.

[Ghosty]

'Never buy a car in the rain'.

 

Well with any luck I'll be selling one in it shortly.