The new news 24 thread

[GrumpiusMaximus]

My alloys got dropped off this morning so i got them fitted and took the old girl for a run down to the marina at Levington, 

 

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Phwoaarrrrr!

[Skizzer]

Flamin eck Trigger, thats looking amazingly gorgeous. Very jealous.

 

Looks like you've sorted out the ride height as well, wasn’t it sitting a bit tail-up at one point?

[wuvvum]

I also went to visit my XJ-S this morning and bring the bill up to date.

 

It’s had an MOT, alternator, wiper motor and fuel gauge in the last round of fettling over the winter. I suspect they’ve undercounted quite a lot on the number of hours’ labour.

 

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It’s now misfiring when warmed up. Suspects are the ECU, gummed up injectors or elderly underbonnet wiring. Hoping it’ll be ready to come home next week.

Heh, I'd forgotten how wide XJ-S bonnets don't open.

[Skizzer]

Yes, the back of my head is now mostly scar tissue.

 

That’s one of a great many reasons why it now gets shipped off to Mister Matic whenever it goes wrong. They told me they’ll miss it when it’s gone home.

[richardmorris]

Heh, I'd forgotten how wide XJ-S bonnets don't open.

You mean that’s it?

 

I’d always assumed they had a workshop vertical setting like Mercedes.

[xtriple]

It's not a happy day for xtriple, dollop 3 has FTP'd and it's the same AA bloke he saw recently, with ungrateful dollop2, if I was Dave atm, I wouldn't stop swearing for at least an hour. Has that poor bloke smashed an entire mirror factory output for a year? He really does need some good automotive vibes in his life

I'll have you know this car is only 'dollop 2.0' and yes, it did ftp, and again, yes, it was the very same AA chap that came out to stricken heap of shit number 1. However, this time we seem to have a happier outcome.... I hope. I knew it was the serpentine belt, I booted it away from some lights to show my mate Mark that it did indeed, have some ;go' in it. As it went into second gear, there was a bit of a bang and the battery light came on, steering went heavy and so did the weight in the pit of my stomach!

Seems a pulley shattered and threw the belt off, amazingly, the AA had one of each in stock, so Lee went off to Exeter to get them, came back with bottled water for us and the dogs and in the blink of an eye, the car was fixed. £67 for the parts which is a tad steep but no labour (other than the tenner I gave him)  so a result as far as I can see. That pulley could have failed at any time, glad it went then to be honest. Sadly the mission we were on, got aborted so attempt number two possibly tomorrow.

[trigger]

Thank you!

 

 

Flamin eck Trigger, thats looking amazingly gorgeous. Very jealous.

Looks like you've sorted out the ride height as well, wasn’t it sitting a bit tail-up at one point?

 

I did buy new shocks for it but after looking at others it seem the suspension wasn't high at all, it's just the way these look with 14" wheels and the non-Vitesse suspension, It looks pretty normal in the photos! 

 

I keep getting dirty thoughts of selling it again, it's a lovely car, don't get me wrong but i get more enjoyment now from my Ital van, i think it's the way that you have to actually drive the van, it feels engaging and rewarding where as the Rover is just a case of putting it in drive and letting the powerful brakes and the power steering do all the work for you.

 

Plus the fact that I don't use it much is making me fancy a tax exempt car again, I'd love to get back in a 70's car, maybe a Triumph 2500 or Vauxhall Victor, I'm not sure. Ideally i should sell both and use the money to buy something i really want.

[Felly Magic]

So glad you had a happy outcome Dave, and the AA patrolman lived up to their old advert slogan, £63 isn't a great deal in the scheme of moderns, and I do suspect when floppytoppydollop started up, a huge sigh was breathed, and him going above and beyond fetching water, that is top drawer customer service

[Skizzer]

Thank you!

 

 

 

 

I did buy new shocks for it but after looking at others it seem the suspension wasn't high at all, it's just the way these look with 14" wheels and the non-Vitesse suspension, It looks pretty normal in the photos!

 

I keep getting dirty thoughts of selling it again, it's a lovely car, don't get me wrong but i get more enjoyment now from my Ital van, i think it's the way that you have to actually drive the van, it feels engaging and rewarding where as the Rover is just a case of putting it in drive and letting the powerful brakes and the power steering do all the work for you.

 

Plus the fact that I don't use it much is making me fancy a tax exempt car again, I'd love to get back in a 70's car, maybe a Triumph 2500 or Vauxhall Victor, I'm not sure. Ideally i should sell both and use the money to buy something i really want.

Wow. I'd swap it for my Vauxhall Victor (and some cash if required) in a heartbeat.

[Felly Magic]

Thank you!

 

 

 

I did buy new shocks for it but after looking at others it seem the suspension wasn't high at all, it's just the way these look with 14" wheels and the non-Vitesse suspension, It looks pretty normal in the photos! 

 

I keep getting dirty thoughts of selling it again, it's a lovely car, don't get me wrong but i get more enjoyment now from my Ital van, i think it's the way that you have to actually drive the van, it feels engaging and rewarding where as the Rover is just a case of putting it in drive and letting the powerful brakes and the power steering do all the work for you.

 

Plus the fact that I don't use it much is making me fancy a tax exempt car again, I'd love to get back in a 70's car, maybe a Triumph 2500 or Vauxhall Victor, I'm not sure. Ideally i should sell both and use the money to buy something i really want.

 

 

Austin Maxi 1750HL?

[cort16]

I’d recon that’s the best 2600 in the country . There was some guy on eBay selling a red one claiming it was the best in the country but yours is nicer .

 

Stuffs so expensive now finding nice cars is hard that’s why I gave up and bought a z4

[trigger]

I saw that one! It made £3350 but mine is definitely nicer, his had a spoiler and tow bar and didn't look as tidy, it's always a bit strong to claim yours is the best of something because a better one always comes out of the woodwork!

[cort16]

Most 2600’s are tatty moonraker blue cars. Being red it really stands out.

[Talbot]

You mean that’s it? I’d always assumed they had a workshop vertical setting like Mercedes.

IIRC they do. It involves the use of a spanner, and the removal of the bonnet mounting bolts...

[Felly Magic]

Those photos Triggs look straight out of an Austin Rover brochure circa 1983. I notice ACA have a Triumph 2500 auto with an estimate under £3k. Plus a lot of stuff that shouldn't be in the auction.. Advertise that for £5k with a brighly lit white room, and job done

[Brodders]

Those photos Triggs look straight out of an Austin Rover brochure circa 1983. I notice ACA have a Triumph 2500 auto with an estimate under £3k. Plus a lot of stuff that shouldn't be in the auction.. Advertise that for £5k with a brighly lit white room, and job done

The last MoT didn't look great for that Triumph to be honest. If it were me looking at 70s shite at ACA next weekend, my eyes would be on this Vauxhall Viscount instead.

 

 

https://angliacarauctions.co.uk/classic/saturday-16th-june-2018/1971-vauxhall-viscount-33-auto/

 

However, every time I see Trigger's SD1 I remember how superb it is. It is an absolutely gorgeous car (and the velour is another paragraph alone). I would keep it for a bit longer (until something I really wanted came along).

[wuvvum]

Ideally i should sell both and use the money to buy something i really want.

You're not allowed to sell the Ital van until I've had a go in it.

[trigger]

Coming to Shotley on Friday 22nd?

[wuvvum]

Hopefully, yep - although won't be able to stay late as got to be in Surrey for 10am on the Saturday.

[MorrisItalSLX]

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Looks wonderful! I have always fancied SD1s and I love the red!

 

But what happened to the classic pioneer stereo!

[trigger]

I didn't work probably, radio kept dropping out signal and the tape player didn't work so I ended up upgrading, it doesn't look out of place to be fair and sounds a lot better,!

[MorrisItalSLX]

Heh, I'd forgotten how wide XJ-S bonnets don't open.

 

That's nothing compared to an XJ, same amount of room but with the added bonus of the spikey spring pins that stab you in the back and leave a great big grease stain on your shirt. Plus you can release the gas struts and pivot the XJS bonnet forward a bit more, only solution for a XJ is full removal, which is a 2 (3 is ideal) person job.

[MorrisItalSLX]

I didn't work probably, radio kept dropping out signal and the tape player didn't work so I ended up upgrading, it doesn't look out of place to be fair and sounds a lot better,!

 

We are quite different people, When I got my XJ I ripped out the new-fangled CD/AUX jobbie and lobbed in a late 90's tape deck. Sounds rubbish in comparison but looks much more at home and plays tapes! In an ideal world I would find an original stereo, but good luck finding one!

[Fat_Pirate]

 

I finally visited the hovercraft museum, it's bloody ace!  I've gone from 'meh' to avidly watching SRN4 videos on YouTube, it's disappointing I'll never get to ride on one (other than the tiddly IoW one).

 

Apparently there's going to be an auction of parts from the scrapped Princess Margaret, I definitely want some seats to go in my garage.  I don't know if the museum will see much of that money though, or if it'll all go to the previous owner of the craft (Homes England).

[xtriple]

I love your red Rover, it is effin' gorgeous! But I could NEVER own one, too many memories of the sods when the last hands that fetteld them was a scabby bastard at the factory who hated everyone with a passion and treated the cars accordingly. All the SD1s I had made my Bentley look reliable!

[busmansholiday]

From the news today, looks like the Germans are trying to outdo us in the World Cup again.

 

German soccer fan Hubert Wirth is driving all the way to Moscow with his dog Hexe in a pre-1960 tractor.

Where's DW and Cats when you need them.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Moving house is when an estate car, even a small one, comes into its own.

[xtriple]

 

This is the little sod that caused yesterdays breakdown. I was vaguely aware that the belt was in less than perfect condition and plans were in place (not a very close place, but still) to replace the belt at some point in the future... Didn't twig that the fact the belt was only fraying/wearing on the inside and that I should have paid more attention to this! Obviously, this has been cracked or broken for a while (the break is NOT clean, oily and dirty so been like it for a while). To be honest, apart from the fact it was a bit of a wait for the AA to get to us, I am quite grateful it happened then! Could have been any time or anywhere and this way, it got changed and I didn't get my hands dirty

 

Thanks Lee (the AA man who also came out when the Bentley died) for the efforts on my behalf.

 

 

Yes, the three bits (and the ones missing) should all be one piece!)

[SiC]

Bristol to Sidmouth, Devon. Keeping to mostly 70mph. If the spoiler deployed (after exceeding a certain speed...), I manually retracted it to keep the body slippery.

 

Better fuel economy than our old Golf Mk5 1.6 FSi too. That only managed 32-34mpg on a cruise.

[clayts450]

The PT Snoozer has been left out in the cold of late with the V6's arrival and the Streetwise being 'the daily'. Thought I'd treat it to a nice little run out this afternoon.

 

It rewarded* me by FTP due to the usual flat battery, and then to further kick me in the nads the troublesome rear view mirror dropped off again.

 

Getting the battery out is a ballache as it lives under the passenger seat, but that's on charge now, and the PTSD is firmly back on the naughty step again.

 

The sooner I get shot of this POS the better.