The new news 24 thread

[Vince70]

No more bus w-/(&@/ for me as I get the rover 400 back tonight from the garage.

It cost me £196 all in to get it through the ticket,

The only problem is I’m only using it for another couple of weeks then I will start using one of the BMWs.

So I guess I will give it a quick wash and wax once I’ve finished with it then fill the sills with old engine oil and disconnect the battery till next autumn.

The only problem is having a dumped rover on the drive upsets the neighbours lol.

[Ghosty]

Well that took a while. Two blokes came down from Newcastle in an 11-plate Modus to look at it, fella says he's just sold a Scimitar and wanted a bigger classic.

 

He spent two hours(!) looking it over. Was really taken with how tidy it is, happy with the way it drives but he's suspicious there's early signs of HGF, the cambelt is due on age and the front brake discs need replacing.

 

Still, he said he wants to buy it and he'll offer £875 and collect next Weds if his more knowledgeable Volvoist friend says it won't be hard to sort (of course it won't). That's fine by me, and I'll know by the end of the day.

[loserone]

I'll be surprised if he takes it...

[Kiltox]

He sounds like the usual fucking stroker “buying” cars like this

 

Like the guy that came from Liverpool to Cheltenham to view a S3 Land Rover that I described as needing trailering and was pissed off/didn’t buy it when he couldn’t drive it home

[Hertz]

Well that took a while. Two blokes came down from Newcastle in an 11-plate Modus to look at it, fella says he's just sold a Scimitar and wanted a bigger classic.

 

He spent two hours(!) looking it over. Was really taken with how tidy it is, happy with the way it drives but he's suspicious there's early signs of HGF, the cambelt is due on age and the front brake discs need replacing.

 

Still, he said he wants to buy it and he'll offer £875 and collect next Weds if his more knowledgeable Volvoist friend says it won't be hard to sort (of course it won't). That's fine by me, and I'll know by the end of the day.

 

Hmmm, I reckon you won't see or hear from that guy ever again.

[The Moog]

Surely either the head gasket has failed or it hasn't - or is it like schrodinger gasket?

[Ghosty]

To be fair he's been a good buyer up to now, keeping to his word etc.

 

The HG is leaking oil and the exhaust does blow out some white smoke - I always just thought that was an old car thing.

[Datsuncog]

Hmmm, I reckon you won't see or hear from that guy ever again.

 

Au contraire, in my experience guys like that tend to suddenly phone you at 11.20pm eight months later, asking if you still have the car... because the one they bought instead of yours has just lunched its cambelt or some such and they need to get to work tomorrow...

 

Seriously though, GLWTS.

[Jim Bell]

To be fair he's been a good buyer up to now.

 

 

Hes not bought the car. Hes not a good buyer. Or a buyer of any kind other than "potential".

 

Anyone that goes to look at a car and doesnt take money is just having a day out.

 

 

Hope it works out smashing for you dude but dont bank on it.

[richardmorris]

The 2cv managed the 200miles trip back home this morning in about 4hours including a petrol stop. I’ve just limped the Mercedes over to the Citroen specialist. It wasn’t making a sound when I left but 18 miles later it’s creaking and groaning like it’s making its final 200metres. Lee will now investigate and let me know.

 

In the meantime, behold the magnificence of today’s courtesy car.

[beko1987]

The 2cv managed the 200miles trip back home this morning in about 4hours including a petrol stop. I’ve just limped the Mercedes over to the Citroen specialist. It wasn’t making a sound when I left but 18 miles later it’s creaking and groaning like it’s making its final 200metres. Lee will now investigate and let me know.

 

In the meantime, behold the magnificence of today’s courtesy car.

Oooh lovely, a proper citroen!

 

 

/runs away

[dave21478]

Ghosty, if he was going to buy it he would have left a deposit at least.

 

So what now....? he will ruminate on it for a few days, definitely* get back to you, say he will take it, make an appointment to collect....thats a week or so right there....and he expects you to just sit on your hands during that time? Because i will guarantee he will be furious if you sell it to someone else in the meantime and he does decide to take it.

Fuck him.

[vulgalour]

I drove the 1100.

 

The seats are nice, the steering wheel is nice, the suspension is nice, the brakes work.  Unfortunately it's as uncomfortable a seating position as a Mini.  It's got to go.

[SiC]

I drove the 1100.

 

The seats are nice, the steering wheel is nice, the suspension is nice, the brakes work.  Unfortunately it's as uncomfortable a seating position as a Mini.  It's got to go.

What was the problem with the clutch in the end? Air?

[vulgalour]

It was air, a bad hose, a bad slave cylinder (all replaced with new, apart from the air which was replaced with fluid).  The clutch isn't 100% working yet, it's still dragging but as the car gets warmer, the clutch gets better.  Managed a 1st to neutral change and a 1st to 2nd change while it was running today and I can *almost* select all gears when the car is idling.  I just need to keep driving it around the yard until it frees off, which is tricky as I'm quite short on time this month.  Providing the video Mike took on his phone is good enough, you'll be able to see me driving around in circles very slowly later on.

[BorniteIdentity]

I’m minded to agree with the consensus on the Vulva. But there’s nowt as queer as folk; he might just surprise you. Your Dad also suspected HGF didn’t he? That was why he was going to pressure test it. If the symptoms are there, it’d make me think twice as a buyer. It’s galling to buy a car and have to immediately start on the spanners/bills without any honeymoon period at all.

 

Good luck tho. If he doesn’t take it, maybe a raffle is the way ahead?

[holbeck]

Just been out for a quick spin in the 205. It's a nice old thing, but probably gonna be for sale soon.

[Matt]

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.

 

Easier said than done. That one above is on a street near Central London and is now lined with parked cars and all the rest I'm sure are in continental Europe somewhere.

 

 

 

[Datsuncog]

Despite our combined best efforts over the weekend, the rattlecan Mk3 Cortina belonging to adammcc failed to achieve an MOT pass yesterday afternoon... apparently I'd left so much residual mess after changing the hoses and bleeding the lines that the examiner couldn't be sure they weren't leaking, despite showing good enough force and balance on the rolling road test. Shoulda gone over everything with kitchen roll. Oh, and a duff indicator bulb.

 

 

VIN plate check came back, though - Dagenham build car from February 1973. I'd heard tell that cars with Décor badges were Belgian-built strikebuster specials - am I wrong to assume that, or has the car just picked up a random bootlid badge from somewhere?

[Ghosty]

IMG_20180327_160734172 by max_burton, on Flickr

 

 

Put an Allen head socket on my 3/4 drive and used that to manually crank the sunroof. There was a bang, and it freed off. Pulled a couple of broken bits of plastic out of the mechanism and it now works fully.

[SiC]

The biggest question is ... does it close again?!

[SiC]

Civic is being delivered back on Thursday. I'm hoping, just hoping they haven't fucked around with it and ruined it.

 

My in-laws seem keen to take it on once I get it fixed and sorted. Which would mean I'd have to dispose of their Corsa C (I bloody hate Corsa Cs). Anyone got any clue what a 2004 1.2 example is worth? Pretty low mileage iirc - I think under 60k.

 

The Aldi TurboTart is also being driven up on Thursday too. So looks like I need to get this hire car out of the way asap, plus get the Civic turned around quick. Also maybe finally put the MGB up in the garage that I've been renting for ages!

 

The most exciting thing is that I'm having a proper mains feed put into the garage. This will replace the dodgy twin+earth that comes out of conservatory, disappears into the ground and re-appears into the garage. As whoever put it in didn't seal the hole, its full of earth and water, rotting out the back of the socket.

 

I dare not attempt to put too much load through that socket, overheat it and catch the polystyrene insulation that the previous owner also skimmed over. So hopefully with this new feed, I can safely* start to learn to weld.

[BavarianRetro]

Well that took a while. Two blokes came down from Newcastle in an 11-plate Modus to look at it, fella says he's just sold a Scimitar and wanted a bigger classic.

 

He spent two hours(!) looking it over. Was really taken with how tidy it is, happy with the way it drives but he's suspicious there's early signs of HGF, the cambelt is due on age and the front brake discs need replacing.

 

Still, he said he wants to buy it and he'll offer £875 and collect next Weds if his more knowledgeable Volvoist friend says it won't be hard to sort (of course it won't). That's fine by me, and I'll know by the end of the day.

 

You'll never hear from him again.

[Ghosty]

The biggest question is ... does it close again?!

Yes, it does!

[alcyonecorporation]

OK, does it leak?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo ghosty, if you wanna flog the Volvo I would change the cambelt. it's a piece of cake to do on those and wipes out probably the most-used price-chipping technique from 'buyers'. I always change the belt on owt I'm selling just to avoid discussing it with people. ("it'll cost me £200 straight off to get that changed" etc etc)

[r.welfare]

I concur, I'm a hamfistes fool and a 740 timing belt change is one of two that I have done successfully, it's a cinch and takes less than an hour. Discs also a piece of cake.

[Ghosty]

OK, does it leak?

Doesn't do that either.

[BorniteIdentity]

I’m having hankerings atm. I’m as regular as clockwork - 10-12 weeks and I find myself sharking around.

 

I was behind a Hyundai XG30 last night coming out of Cambridge. Actually, it looked really cool. There are a lot of ‘try hards’ around these parts - but this somehow looked effortlessly cool.

 

And shite.

 

It’s like a bunch of 9 year olds were shown the back of a Maybach, then plied with recreational drugs for their entire play time, and then asked to try and draw what they recalled.

 

I reckon I’ve got to have a go on one before it’s too late. Has anybody here owned one?

[twosmoke300]

IMG_20180327_160734172 by max_burton, on Flickr

 

 

Put an Allen head socket on my 3/4 drive and used that to manually crank the sunroof. There was a bang, and it freed off. Pulled a couple of broken bits of plastic out of the mechanism and it now works fully.

 

Christ a 3/4 drive to open a sunroof - must have been proper seized