The new news 24 thread

[Jim Bell]

And it's broken! One day and I busted it. Tried to open the roof this morning and the sod would not unlatch at the front. Gave it a bit of a tug/twist/pull sort of thing and the bloody handle fell off! I was properly impressed I must say. Not MBs fault it seems, bodgers have been at it and it was all a bit mangled/gubbed.

 

I got out the tools and did what any self respecting cripple would do... cried a bit. Then I got all the covers off, opened the roof, took all the linkage and latches off and took the dogs out for a walk while I had a think as to how best to fix it all.

 

Got home, drilled out the old rivets, drilled far enough to put a self tapper in each side, re-assembled the whole lot, screwed it all together and then, having put it all back on the car, realised that with it assembled I couldn't get the handle back on! Aargh!

 

So I bodged. I am not proud, but there was no way I was taking it all apart again 'cos it was a right palaver getting it all in and lined up, so I drilled the handle on a slant so I could waggle the fancy screw in and then straighten up and do the actual screwing bit.

 

You will all be amazed to learn that it now works perfectly, opens and closes and I even got the windows to open automatically when the top is unlatched (don't actually know how, they didn't work before, now they do). I am quite enjoying having something I can faff with. The BGD was too precious to fuck up whereas this, I have no qualms about a tiny bit of bodging

 

 

Bad news broke.  Good news bodged.

 

Youre due some good luck man, get the lottery on for tonight!

[Timewaster]

I thought of triple X this afternoon when I walked past an 88 Bentley.

 

Not seen one up close for a while and was struck by how small it looked.

 

I expected it to be enormous but the X5s and Q7s of this world have skewed our perception of a big car.

[clayts450]

Just found your auction from that limited information! Haha

 

I do agree on the diagnosis of "should be a cracker" though.

 

 

Yeah, I'm very happy so far, particularly with this on the rarity front:

 

 

 

Should have some photos tomorrow.

 

I like this quote the best from the seller:

 

 

The engine is faultless...only really looking for a return on outlay for expense on tyres.The car itself is actually free.

[trigger]

I got my insurance renewal come thru today for my Focus from ERS, £422! I nearly spat my chardonnay everywhere! so had a look on Go Compare and managed to find the same policy but with a lower excess (£100 instead of £150) as well as still having the breakdown, legal aid & PNC all for £240 with Churchill, how can it be £200 cheaper for the some policy?! So for the first time in 10 years I've changed provider.

[MikeR]

Churchill were good with my Focus , the girl tried very hard to hit £200 for me , we had a laugh over it as well , seems they listen when you have a few policies with them .

 

I am not one to claim for every bump or scratch , in fact I only claimed once in my whole life for a self inflicted injury on a Fiat .........looking back .. it was a Fiat , I should not of claimed , but it cost me in the long run more than if I had just lost the money by leaving it alone ......it was also my last Fiat   .. dam Tipo ... it was a load of sh....

[wuvvum]

The 205's brakes are continuing to test my patience.  Got everything back together this afternoon (albeit with the old shoes - new ones are on their way thanks to a kindly shiter but haven't arrived yet) - the brake pipe hasn't flared quite as well as I would have liked as my flaring tool was struggling to keep a grip on it, but it'll do.  Got the shoes fitted back in with little problem thanks to the handy Youtube video I've found, but the pedal is now spongy as fuck despite me bleeding the new cylinder through.  It firms up lower down the travel and the brakes stop the car fine, but it doesn't feel right - although to be fair it's been so long since I drove a properly sorted 205 that I can't really remember what they're supposed to feel like.  Last weekend the fluid in the rear half of the reservoir was proper low - I think the leaking cylinder had got worse through me pissing about with it and had been steadily dripping - so I think air might have got into the rear circuit.  The problem is that the bleed nipple on the nearside drum looks in a similar state to the old one on the offside, and its chances of coming undone are therefore going to be similarly slim, so if there is air in the pipe I'm going to be a bit stuck.  Unless I fit a new wheel cylinder to that side as well, but I'm really not sure I can be arsed to go through all that again at the moment.

[stuboy]

because ive not grown up i scooped out soundeading fibre from the original centre section to make the slushomactic focus more sexyful..

 

[spike60]

My BMW 530d touring which slightly disgraced itself in Holland last week with a popped Ebay suspension air bag has been having further attention. When we got it 3 years ago it had 2 marks on the drivers side front arm, the one that goes forward taking the braking strain and I assumed they were old wheel rubs caused by damaged or badly adjusted steering. While I was in Germany I had cause to look in the arch (rattley backplate) and it became obvious the damage was ongoing and wasn't happening on full lock. 

 

I would never have thought the battered plastic brake cooling duct could move and cut deeply into the hefty suspension arm.

 

 

 

When I changed the arm it fought me every inch of the way as 19 years old aluminium does and now the tatty plastic duct along with the rattly backplate have been flung.

[Shep Shepherd]

The Volvo-owning contingent at ConFuzzled out-SVM'd the SVM today:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cars all went down well, especially The Volvo, which was quite happy to idle away for a full two hours without any mishaps.

 

Also, we got given one of these each, which as nobody else appeared to receive one, I presume was some kind of Volvo awesomeness award:

 

 

All in all, a good time was had by everyone

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Currently at ConFuzzled, the UK's premier furry convention. Yes, really....

Maybe one day I'll be able to attend, if my costume ever gets completed....

[Shep Shepherd]

Wait, you're a furry? I had an idea that you were going by your user name

 

You don't need a fursuit to attend a furry convention; I'd say that a sizeable majority of the attendees of CFz don't have one. I do, but I currently only have constructive possession of it.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Incredibly storm over Kent this evening.  Video incoming.

 

It's been literally continual lighting for over an hour.  Hundreds of strikes a minute.  I can quite easily say that in my 29 years, I've seen more lightning in the last hour than I've seen in the rest of my life to date.

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Wait, you're a furry? I had an idea that you were going by your user name

 

You don't need a fursuit to attend a furry convention; I'd say that a sizeable majority of the attendees of CFz don't have one. I do, but I currently only have constructive possession of it.

I used to have a partial, but I'm now waiting for version 2 which is designed to be either partial or full.

 

Incredibly storm over Kent this evening. Video incoming.

 

It's been literally continual lighting for over an hour. Hundreds of strikes a minute. I can quite easily say that in my 29 years, I've seen more lightning in the last hour than I've seen in the rest of my life to date...

Blow, Wind!

Come, wrack!

At least we'll die

with harness on our back!

[Shep Shepherd]

Excellent! 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Excellent!

Got some photos of my old partial somewhere. It was designed to be ridden in.

[Shep Shepherd]

Here's a photo of mine, back in 2008, when both The Volvo and myself were much younger:

 

 

It's currently with its maker in the States, pending alterations. I really should get it back one day.

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Here's a photo of mine, back in 2008....

Difficult act to follow, but I've never taken things too seriously:

 

[Lord Sterling]

Here's a photo of mine, back in 2008, when both The Volvo and myself were much younger:

 

Shep5119.jpg

 

It's currently with its maker in the States, pending alterations. I really should get it back one day.

So you really are an alsation then! Must be hard to drive with paws.

[cort16]

U

[Angrydicky]

The whole day yesterday was spent cutting out two rusty brake pipes the Rover has just failed its MoT on, making up new ones and splicing them in. What a horrible job, I can see why the garage didn't want it. The hardest part was flaring the old pipes in situ, using a vice-mounted flaring tool I borrowed from work. I made a temporary workbench out of an old piece of steel shelving, with a vice bolted to it, then propped it up on two plastic crates to get the required height. It still needs to be bled up but I pumped the pedal a few times and no leaks that I could see, so...fingers crossed.

[Angrydicky]

That was the only failure point - I was expecting worse, so I call that a result! Another year's Rovering on the horizon

 

[egg]

Re the Kent storm, we either avoided it in Herne Bay, or I slept through it!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Re the Kent storm, we either avoided it in Herne Bay, or I slept through it!

 

 

From about 11.00 to 1.30.  Absolutely amazing.  Sorry you missed it!  I can't see how you wouldn't have had it, you're not that far from me...

 

I've never seen anything like it in my life (cue the song from Dr Doolittle...)

[egg]

I was awake to 11:45, so perhaps we just missed it here!

[GrumpiusMaximus]

I was awake to 11:45, so perhaps we just missed it here!

 

 

I suppose it helped that my bedroom window faces the direction the storm came in from.  It was like a strobe light, that got brighter and brighter.  Then it really kicked off about an hour later with window-shaking thunder and more lightning.

[davehedgehog31]

Going to head along to the "Scottish All Rover Rally" just shortly.

 

Hopefully I can just get entry to the grounds and park up, don't really want to enter my car... it ain't winning any rosettes. 

[beko1987]

We had the storm in thame! Was just lots of lightning when I went to bed, although I did wake up in the night and it was fucking it down with rain.

 

All dried off and back to being muggy today though

[SiC]

 

Rest in Pieces, you faithful 250 quid soldier.

7 years of work, Three Currys extended warranty callout, two DIY repairs and many eaten pieces of clothing in your dropped drum. You will not be forgiven for eating my brand new 80 quid cycling bibs however.

Sadly you didn't quite manage to finish your last cycle without letting out that fatal electrical dying smell. However you will continue to live on as welding practice or possibly even part of an Austin 1100.

Quite fitting that it died as Thunder and Lightening is blowing over.

[madrat]

Brilliant storm in Stratford at some point in the early hours of this morning, almost permanent thunder and lightning, would have got up and gone out, but I was just so sleepy I couldn't keep eyes open.

[clayts450]

We get our storms around 2pm today, and then another load at 7pm - hope it's a good un.