The new news 24 thread

[cort16]

Are you still in the same area? No spannering at all ?

[Brodders]

The 75 passed its MOT yesterday with no advisories, so decided to celebrate gaining a clean sheet by doing this on the way to the ECR show this evening.

 

 

However the strategic application of cable ties at the side of the road rendered me mobile again after 10 minutes of swearing.

 

 

Nonetheless, an excellent time was had at the show. Around 200 cars made it, including these highlights.

 

Very tidy Bluebird

 

 

Pair of 205s

 

 

Granada and Sierra

 

 

Yet another time that I have been in the exact same place as SpottedLaural and still not met him.

 

 

Although not particularly old, I really liked this tidy Mondeo Ghia X. Unusual to have seen a Mk2 in good condition.

 

 

Very original Mk2 Escort GL

 

 

Along with two other Mk2s

 

[Brodders]

Very comfortable XM. I had forgotten how nice 90s French executive vehicles are to sit in.

 

 

Pair of V6 Mk2 Granadas (including the 2.3 L which was behind me when the undertray decided it didn't want to be attached to the car).

 

 

And some Mk3s

 

 

Early Metro with patina

 

 

Although there were a few U.S. barges, this Chrysler was my favourite

 

 

Nova saloon

 

 

Along with a very tasty Belmont

 

 

And this interesting Viva, which was surrounded by police at the side of the road when I was making my way back.

 

 

Along with numerous other cars I failed to get a picture of, including a very unusual black Renault 12. I wish I had got a photo of it.

 

And one of the highlights of the evening, getting a spin out in Trigger's SD1. It convinced me that I will need to get one at some point.

 

 

As usual, thanks again to Trigger and co for an excellent event (and the SD1 spin). Overall a really enjoyable evening.

[phil_lihp]

Fiesta collection coming to you LIVE from the top deck of a bus. It's a beautiful day, had I been more prompt about getting out of bed I should have cycled there. Never mind, plenty of time for that later.

[skattrd]

I collected my new daily last night, no thread as it's a dull modern (well to me anyway).

It's another 16yr old Merc 203 auto dizzle, I've gone for the 4-pot c220 koop to replace the 5-pot c270 avantgarde estate.

 

Brief summary, it's ok.

 

Expanded, I think I prefer the 5-pot wagon. The 4-pot doesn't sound great, or (unsurprisingly) pull as well as the 5-pot. The koop has crap visibility out of the back and sides and no rear wiper. The handling of the koop is very bland, but has better feel to the brakes. Fuel economy seemed good on the way home, dash said 54mpg, but I usually reckon they're about 10% off. If it doesn't get near 50mpg over a couple of tanks then I don't expect it to be here long. I paid a little under a bag for it, it's got a bit of history, 87k on it and it needs a service.

 

Quick pez shot:

 

 

 

[HMC]

The facts- what you needed to know in 2 diagrams

 

Now it has new metal holding the rear together I can actually drive to places rather than keep it as an expensive wood store. Hence I (dis)graced the local dealers picking up a few parts.

 

Then took a quick snap on my return.

281k and not out (yet)

 

[SiC]

The sight of your Mercedes appears to have made the little boy cry!

 

Or is he looking away and shielding his eyes in disgust?

[Timewaster]

The sight of your Mercedes appears to have made the little boy cry!

 

No no. It is the overpriced plastic tat in the showroom that caused the tears.

He has come outside to admire the W124 and lament that he was born to late to enjoy MBs glory years.

[trigger]

Glad you enjoyed the evening Conor, 202 cars in the end all pre 2000, That Nissan belongs to a chap called Howard I think, not Spottedlaurel. The Vivas gear lever snapped too, apparently he pulled over to help the broken down Ford Pop and ended up snapping the lever off!

 

Hell of a night though as so many good and positive responses to it, much better than the Shipwreck location!

[alcyonecorporation]

Got some Tekno and Spot-On models to move on. 

They don't appear to be selling on eBay. 

Is there anywhere worth listing them on? 

[Amishtat]

What Spot-ons have you got?

[anonymous user]

Despite Skizzer's recommendation I shall not be setting fire to the red Land Rover; however while waiting for that one to come back I have been working on the grey one. Nothing too difficult, just fixing the driver's window. It didn't like to go up or down due to a regulator which was partly seized and with stripped teeth, also the guide channels were rotted/missing. Surprisingly everything came apart and went back together easily and with no swearing. The window now works but annoyingly the bit that the handle goes on sticks out a bit more so the bezel is too shallow, I can live with that though.

[phil_lihp]

Fiesta collection coming to you LIVE from the top deck of a bus. It's a beautiful day, had I been more prompt about getting out of bed I should have cycled there. Never mind, plenty of time for that later.

 

Brief update: it looks pretty smart and drives very well, certainly feels like a 40k miles car and I can't really complain for the money.  It even has 3/4 tank of fuel.  Full update to follow but I'll leave you with these images which should keep you going.  I've got a bit of cleaning ahead of me this afternoon, it's gloriously hot and sunny here so might as well be outdoors.

 

 

 

 

Despite an argument with my irrational, all-the-cars-must-be-saved side, I will not be keeping it or getting it MOT'd as it needs too much for it to be worth me putting the required time and money in to it.  I will bung it back on eBay and the local Facebook ads, but if someone on here fancies it, give me a shout.  It certainly would live again but needs to go to someone handy with a welder to be really worthwhile.

[egg]

Hot vactan action on the Mondy, with rusty PAS advisory pipes pictured.

 

[Ghosty]

Why are sad face Fiestas in vogue all of a sudden?

 

 

I hate the bloody things.

[sierraman]

That's a lot a grit in the footwells, were they going for the ballast effect?

[alcyonecorporation]

What Spot-ons have you got?

 

Amazons. I have a boxed one which I was going to keep; make a good enough offer and it yours. 

 

 

 

Tekno stuff is thus: 

 

 

 

LV420 fire appliance is a project really; you'd have to make most of the bits yourself. 

[Fat_Pirate]

The Mini needs an exhaust (it's rotted where it meets the backbox so beyond effective bodging).  Tyre depot said £198 fitted, but being tight I bought one for £95 from GSF instead.  Now I have the bother of fitting the thing in what feels like tropical heat.  I'm all tired and hot now, and all I've done is spray the bolts with WD40.

[junkyarddog]

Went to visit a mate this afternoon.

 

He was tinkering with his industrial Massey Ferguson 135.

 

 

 

[bub2006]

Alright then,which one of you heroes were driving a silver 405 towing a red 405 up the a42 at around half 3 today?!

[Lacquer Peel]

The Bora was running great in foreign lands, until I decided to fiddle with it. I changed the fuel filter and didn't prime it properly, abandoning me and the car in a layby in Northern France. I realised a long time ago that the only way to prime these filters properly is with an old gear oil bottle (didn't bring one) and whatever fuel you have to hand. European breakdown cover has an age limit of 15 years so winging it was the only way.

Luckily two guys in an ancient pre-facelift first gen Sprinter stopped to help me with my lack of electricity.

On the road again, 50MPG on almost straight veg, sometimes keeping up with 130kmh* traffic. I'm surprised it's going so well.

TL;DR cheap 17 year old car is reliable. Owner is not.

A Belgian C25 to make up for the waffle.

 

 

EU 4 LIFE

 

 

[HMC]

^knew our resident diesel guru would get it sorted, glad you got on your way again soonish.

[richardmorris]

Sitting outside after getting the roof rack sorted on the merc.

 

Someone over towards t’ big hoose (see Hamish and Dougal) has just fired a couple of rounds. Scared the birds and sheep, not to mention me! No retaliatory gunfire though so the rabbits were probably unarmed ( see Douglas Adams).

 

I think it was a shotgun not an ak47, but you can’t be too careful with the opposition these days.

[phil_lihp]

I've had a pleasant afternoon of Fiesta fettling.  It was a nice easy (albeit unintentional) eBay transaction; seller was a nice bloke who apologised for not being able to find the spare key.  He also had the good grace to look slightly embarressed when the subject of the interior came up...

 

 

It was absolutely honking.   However, that aside, it drives really, really well.  It pulls very smoothly, idles nicely and generally seems in good health.  It was a tad low on oil, now topped up, and I suspect it hasn't seen a service in some time but the oil wasn't filthy and the air filter looked OK - it hasn't done much mileage any time since it rolled out of the dealership and the interior shows a comparitive lack of wear as you'd expect.

 

As I was aware, the back box is blowing, although it actually sounds quite good so I'd leave it if it wasn't an MOT fail.  Driver's side rear wheelarch is very rotten where it meets the sill and it all looks a bit grim under there.  Things I wasn't expecting was a dead driver's electric window, the clutch biting at the top of the pedal (although it doesn't slip at all, even in 3rd up a very steep hill at full throttle) and a dead MAF sensor causing it to hit an imaginary rev limiter at 4000RPM.  Nothing too exciting given it was so cheap.  The suspension bushes are a bit clattery - typical Mk4 Fiesta - and the CV joints chatter on full lock but really, dirt aside, this really isn't a bad little car.  It still possesses both original dealer plates and boot badge, although sadly there is no history with it at all other than some old MOT repair invoices from the last couple of years.

 

Once home, cleaning commenced with the interior being the first task, much to the amusement of my neighbour who was witness to the removal of the mould-encrusted coffee cup from the centre console and many journeys to the wheelie bin.  A definite rubber gloves job, enough rubbish came out of it to fill a carrier bag and my Dyson did not particularly appreciate dealing with the remaining stones, gravel and general dust and dirt I wasn't able to scoop out.  I attacked the dash, console and door panels with soapy water before turning my attention to the exterior, which was mostly festooned with copious amounts of your typical seaside bird shit.

 

Boot carpet demonstrating before-and-after...

 

 

I then turned my expert eye to the bashed-in driver's wing. 

 

 

It was an MOT fail as the repeater, although working, was set so deep into the wing it couldn't be seen properly.  Luckily, I am a bodywork professional* so I broke out my complete toolkit and set to work.

 

 

 

It's an appalling job, yes, I know but between my inadequate skills, limited equipment and time constraints, I'm actually quite pleased with the end result.  The worst of it is out and it should now pass an MOT.  I couldn't lever on it too much at the top as the washer bottle is behind it and as it's welded on so there was no hope of removing it for an easier time.  It was actually surprisingly strong metal, I was expecting something akin to Bacofoil but it was hard work getting it to move at all.

 

I swapped the dreadfully perished 2008 Firestone tyre on the rear for the equally aged but surprisingly immaculate spare and reattached the passenger wing mirror control, then cleaned the MAF sensor - which sadly did not fix the rev limiting issue so it needs a new one. 

 

Last job was a quick wipe over with some Super Resin polish (it really needs claying and cutting, there's a fair few marks and scrapes that wouldn't shift and the paint feels rough) but I had no intention of doing that today, as the car's future is uncertain anyway.  It did help make it look a lot less neglected and the end result is quite pleasing.  Hopefully when it moves on, someone can get it back on the road.

 

 

 

[17-Coffees]

Apparently having a vinyl record is proof of age for age restrictive’ products...

 

Bought a Tamiya model kit along with glue and paints, woman at the counter comments on the record in my bag and then said “if you know what they are then I guess I don’t need to ID you”.

 

Not sure what to make of that...

[phil_lihp]

That's a lot a grit in the footwells, were they going for the ballast effect?

 

From the crap I found all over the interior I guess he was an electrician working on building sites, the grit, stones and mud were everywhere.  There was plenty more of it under the mats.

[richardmorris]

Ok, that was a BIG gunfire noise ten seconds ago. Getting slightly concerned now!

 

Of course the sheep could be staging an insurrection- has anyone watched the film “Black Sheep”?

 

Or the duke of Edinburgh has been let loose on the Eastern Europeans. Who knows. There’s just been another shot as I type.

I have no idea of the sheep are firing back!

[richardmorris]

And another.

[richardmorris]

Apparently having a vinyl record is proof of age for age restrictive’ products...

Bought a Tamiya model kit along with glue and paints, woman at the counter comments on the record in my bag and then said “if you know what they are then I guess I don’t need to ID you”.

Not sure what to make of that...

 

MAMWV.

 

Middle aged man with vinyl,

[17-Coffees]

MAMWV.

Middle aged man with vinyl,

That doesn’t help me thinking I’m 24 going 50...