The new news 24 thread

[cort16]

My dad left the handbrake off our cortina and it rolled into a river.

[dollywobbler]

I learnt never to trust a handbrake on my very first day of 2CV ownership. I was at my girlfriend's house, and heard a load of beeping outside. My 2CV had rolled off her driveway, out into the middle of a busy dual carriageway, then gently back into the kerb! Horse stable door and all that, but I can firmly recommend a wheel chock (if there doesn't exist a handy kerb).

[Lord Sterling]

My Sierra Sapphire rolled away as well. I just happened to be looking outside when I saw it starting to move. I dashed out the house, unlocked the moving Sierra and managed to jump in and apply the handbrake. Thankfully there were no other cars parked nearby, lucky escape.

 

From then on I always parked the Sierra with the wheels pointing to the kerb.

[egg]

Phone my local friendly* Mazda dealer

 

Me: can you please give me a quote on an exhaust down pipe for my 323?

dealer: (after giving the VIN, doesn't recognise the reg) certainly £126.81 + VAT

Me: thanks, would you be able to give me the part number?

dealer: No, company policy is that we don't give them out

Me: Is the part in stock?

dealer: no, no longer manufactured by Mazda UK

Me: Oh, so you can't supply the part nor give me the part number so I can find it elsewhere?

dealer: That's correct, sir

[mrbenn]

Phone my local friendly* Mazda dealer

 

Me: can you please give me a quote on an exhaust down pipe for my 323?

dealer: (after giving the VIN, doesn't recognise the reg) certainly £126.81 + VAT

Me: thanks, would you be able to give me the part number?

dealer: No, company policy is that we don't give them out

Me: Is the part in stock?

dealer: no, no longer manufactured by Mazda UK

Me: Oh, so you can't supply the part nor give me the part number so I can find it elsewhere?

dealer: That's correct, sir

 

For fuck sake!!

 

GTis handbrake gave up in the night, the fucking things rolled down the hill into someone's works Navara.

 

 

For fucks sake.

 

Ouch. Hope you get it sorted with minimal hassle, Ghosty.

[DodgeRover]

Took son to school this morning as I have a job that direction, I got excellent precise directions from my other half, who unfortunately forgot to mention both the width restriction sign showing the exact width of my van and then a 3t weight restriction over a bridge / dam, good job I wasn't fully loaded!

[Floatylight]

My Sierra Sapphire rolled away as well. I just happened to be looking outside when I saw it starting to move. I dashed out the house, unlocked the moving Sierra and managed to jump in and apply the handbrake. Thankfully there were no other cars parked nearby, lucky escape.

 

From then on I always parked the Sierra with the wheels pointing to the kerb.

Had similar with my cavalier, I've got a steep driveway that slopes towards the house, woke up with a start to the sound of what I thought was a trailer handbrake being released, odd I thought as I peered out of the curtains to see my Cav going down the drive and winding the engine over as it went, managed to get some trousers on get down stairs and stop it before it went through the garage door!

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

[Ghosty]

The guy showed up, and is willing to sort it out without insurance.

 

THANK FUCK.

[Guest Hooli]

You're not having a lot of luck with this one are ya?

[Ghosty]

I'm really bloody not.

 

Since Conrad sold his P6, I seem to have inherited the curse of the Haunted Rover from the GGG.

[Ghosty]

If I were to find front end parts would anyone be able to assist in me collecting them?

 

I have one possible lead so far but it's in Shropshire.

[Ghosty]

Old Man has already stripped the front end.

[Datsuncog]

Owch!

 

Hoping all goes well for a speedy repair; my brother once managed to let my dad's new Alfa GT roll into the front of the house (though he swore blind he'd put the handbrake on tightly). Not good for either Alfa nor house, it turned out... there's now a variety of wooden chocks in the driveway for the use of all-comers...

[chadders]

Our last house was on the side of a steep hill and the drive sloped towards the house.

 

Three days after the missus got her brand new Punto  there was an almighty bang - it'd rolled into the side of the house.

At least she was the last one to drive it.

 

The house was OK, just a few bits chipped off the bricks, but the Punto wasn't.

[Guest Hooli]

Old Man has already stripped the front end.

 

Bugger.

[fordperv]

Had similar with my cavalier, I've got a steep driveway that slopes towards the house, woke up with a start to the sound of what I thought was a trailer handbrake being released, odd I thought as I peered out of the curtains to see my Cav going down the drive and winding the engine over as it went, managed to get some trousers on get down stairs and stop it before it went through the garage door!

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

I was once replacing the heater matrix in a mk3 cavalier, I was upside down in the passengers footwell fastening the bolts up when i heard a clunk of plastic the bastard thing started rolling down grandads drive backwards, it somehow let its own bastard handbrake off, luckily I got up out of the footwell and ragged the handbrake up before it rolled into the road

[BorniteIdentity]

I always park a car in gear, handbrake up hard and wheels turned in. I had to stop when my wife started using the car too, as she refuses to start a car with the clutch down.

 

It was just a year ago that I watched the Avensis start to roll into a Corsa. Fortunately no damage or witnesses!

[Guest Hooli]

I always park a car in gear, handbrake up hard and wheels turned in. I had to stop when my wife started using the car too, as she refuses to start a car with the clutch down.

 

 

By a yankshed they force you to do that, at least the Jeep my parents had did.

[skattrd]

The Storia passed it's MOT today which is good. The drive home was fun, but I'm slowly realising I should think about selling it

 

Volvo 850 (T5) is still broken, garage has no idea what is wrong with it. The error code (P0120) refers to TPS, which we've changed, along with cam sensor, crank senor and coil. It cranks but no spark, and everything is getting power or making a circuit ... maybe ecu? I need to see if Volvo forums can assist and/or find someone, hopefully not too far away, who can fix/diagnose the issue.

[anonymous user]

Saw some nice cars on the way home tonight and 1970 reg Lincoln Continental two door, a Gilbern Invader and a very nice, slightly lowered Mk2 Golf, this put me in a good mood until the Jaguar mpv thing pulled out directly in front of me, but then panicked and stopped so that I had to emergency stop. Fortunately the car behind me also stopped so I was able to smile nicely at the panicked driver.

[artdjones]

Phone my local friendly* Mazda dealer

 

Me: can you please give me a quote on an exhaust down pipe for my 323?

dealer: (after giving the VIN, doesn't recognise the reg) certainly £126.81 + VAT

Me: thanks, would you be able to give me the part number?

dealer: No, company policy is that we don't give them out

Me: Is the part in stock?

dealer: no, no longer manufactured by Mazda UK

Me: Oh, so you can't supply the part nor give me the part number so I can find it elsewhere?

dealer: That's correct, sir

Try mazdaepc.com

[dollywobbler]

I always park a car in gear, handbrake up hard and wheels turned in. I had to stop when my wife started using the car too, as she refuses to start a car with the clutch down.

 

 

Eh? What possible valid excuse is there for being so against that? You can always put it in neutral before starting the engine. She wouldn't get on with many moderns, that insist the clutch is down before letting you start the engine, regardless of where the gear lever is.

[BorniteIdentity]

Eh? What possible valid excuse is there for being so against that? You can always put it in neutral before starting the engine. She wouldn't get on with many moderns, that insist the clutch is down before letting you start the engine, regardless of where the gear lever is.

She forgets! So every start was greeted with a car lurching forward.

[dollywobbler]

She forgets! So every start was greeted with a car lurching forward.

 

Well, we all do that to start with. You soon learn not to. Our cars are often parked up for several days, so we're both in the habit if handbrake off, leave it in gear. The only exception is the Invacar, because you can't leave it in gear (well, you can, but as the clutch is disengaged with the engine off, it doesn't really help...)

[bramz7]

Yo Ghosty if you need bits from down here collecting, let me know and I'll get them for you.

[Kiltox]

She forgets! So every start was greeted with a car lurching forward.

My FiL, despite being a professional driver who has driven trucks, buses, coaches, tractors, etc etc etc for a living and all manner of old shite cars with undoubtedly knackered handbrakes is like this!

[Toledo71]

 

notables from Moseley School circa '78-82

• renner 4 in beige with factory side exit zorst- mr brown chemistry
• purple mk2 crapi 1.6L- mr (pete) anstey geography
• gold crapi 3 litta ghia- miss (bev) charmaine english
• orange allegro 3 estate- mr (roger) norfolk physics- this was the bloke driving the flying scotsman on bbc4 december 2016!
• pink xj6 sreies 1- mr (frank) kirby
• lancia beta spyder- mrs bradley art
• rover p6 followed by sd1 2000!- mr clarke year head
• series 3 swd landrover- mr (tony) stokes year head

 

 

 

Moseley School - I went there too.  But only on business when I worked for the property wing of Birmingham City Council and all the schools (of which there were hundreds) had to be inspected/valued on a regular basis for the accounts or rating.  Interesting and complicated place which I had to visit several times and I vaguely remember a Pete Anstey - by the 90s he was the head or deputy head.  

 

I particularly remember it for the amazing original building, like an Oxford college, which the first time I saw it was so derelict nobody was allowed in parts of it (even surveyors).  They got the money for a major rebuild later on.  There was understood to be a disused swimming pool under one of the floors which had been boarded over when the Council took over the running of the school in the 1920s, as Moseley Grammar.  The story was that they weren't allowed to keep the pool because then all the other schools would want one.  Then later they built a new comprehensive school next to the grammar.  Later still they merged the two schools into one.  

 

Edited to add - most of the time I was in Brum I lived in Moseley as well.

[bramz7]

Excuse my ignorance, but would leaving an auto in Reverse, and facing front downhill stop it from rolling? Obviously you can't then start it without putting it to neutral ..

[skattrd]

Excuse my ignorance, but would leaving an auto in Reverse, and facing front downhill stop it from rolling? Obviously you can't then start it without putting it to neutral ..

 

Most auto's I've had you can't take the key out unless it's in P or N.

[Toledo71]

Excuse my ignorance, but would leaving an auto in Reverse, and facing front downhill stop it from rolling? Obviously you can't then start it without putting it to neutral ..

 

 

In R or a forward gear, an auto will roll freely without the engine running because the fluid link in the torque convertor isn't being driven.  That's why, when you stop at traffic lights in D, you need to hold the car on the footbrake, and if you let go of the footbrake the car will creep forward thanks to the idling engine spinning the convertor slowly.   This is also why automatics started getting Park positions - it wasn't possible to rely on the additional security of parking in gear like with a manual.  Although I've never entirely understood why commercial autos never have a P position.  Guess it's because you don't need that as well as failsafe vacuum brakes.

 

Editing to add: Some very old systems had no P setting but a parking pawl which would engage itself if you switched the engine off with the box in R.  Early Rolls-Royce automatics for one.