The new news 24 thread

[RobT]

Sodding Honda engines. Sorry, I evidently sold you a Haunted Rover.

[Ghosty]

I think I have the curse, since Conrad sold his P6, nobody else in the GGG has a Rover...

 

I think it might also be getting a respray in the colour of the bonnet, it'd look good.

[theorganist]

Well I have ignored everyone's advice and replaced the Mercedes with a Citroen C3. It is a silver 52 plate (an early one) with a few old giffer scratches on the bumpers. It has done 80,000 miles and seems solid and seems to drive well with no obvious defects. It is a posh one with the 1.6 16 valve engine in Exclusive trim level with plush seats and presumably more to go wrong. This is the most modern car I have ever owned the previous being a 51 plate 206 automatic!

 

It has a nice deep boot with plenty of room for mothers wheel chair and the seats are quite high so she should get in it fairly easily. I am going to get the cambelt changed I think as there is no evidence as to when it was done.

 

So WCPQW!

[HMC]

I’m a bit slow, had no idea the j-bcl R8 of robt/robt_snr was now ghosty’s

[bub2006]

Now have a jeep compass whoop dear fucking doop .........

[xtriple]

I have reglued the headlining on the XJ, it's not perfect as all the foam on the cloth had disintegrated but it does look okay(ish) and the proper glue certainly sticks... especially to the bloody dogs who kept getting under my feet so got sprayed (accidentally). Black dogs with white glue streaks looks a bit dodgy!

[Noel Tidybeard]

fleet update.....

 

black mini? well i'm not talking to that.... i assume its ok as i've not bothered even looking in on it again this week (shame.....) though whether it comes out to play anytime soon remains to be seen. have tried to fix* the flickering reversing lamps on the boot lid. by screwing in the switch into the gearchange housing. its worked so well that the reversing lamps are on all the time in 4th as well as reverse. little twat.... no more signs of OMGHGF save the dampness George saw in the exhaust port for cylinders 1 and 2, no mayo under the cap or clouds of clag outta the (now commically?) small exhaust. BUT i wouldn't trust it to go to the end of the road and back..... its gotta go. end of.

 

 

iirc with lever in R screw switch in enought to put lights on then another 1/2 turn

[mark1986]

Been offered a 2nd chance bid on something I'd had a cheeky punt on a couple of weeks back. It isn't very far away, it's very very cheap, so perhaps a collection thread tomorrow!

 

**Edit** And barely 5 mins after I reply to the message, it's miraculously sold to someone outside of ebay. 

 

Probably didn't need it anyway etc etc....

[richardmorris]

Took the Mercedes over to the local body shop specialist this morning. The lacquer is literally falling off the nearside, there are two rusty patches on the rear wheelarch and one by the rear lamp unit. The estimate for prepping and painting the nearside with blending into the door and including a full machine polish was £650 which doesn’t seem terrible. It’s booked into his first available date, which is 3rd December- I was also half expecting it to be into next year.

 

Then this afternoon I took the 2cv sans roof down to see a display of the proposed Esso pipeline renewal. Esso are replacing the whole aviation fuel supply line from Fawley to Heathrow. 90km! Round here they want to dig up Chobham common, a SSSI!

[clayts450]

Cruiser prepped for MoT next Saturday and given a good old clean inside and out - I always do this as testers must get to see some right shit buckets.

 

Also converted it back to a 5 seater rather than a van.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Went to fill up the screenwash on the Golf yesterday.

 

Bonnet went up and I found a pair of surgical scissors on the left hand side slam panel.  Fortunately there's a gap there so nothing was damaged.

 

Must've left them there from about 6 weeks ago when I serviced it!  No ill effects...

[egg]

We should have done an engine inspection last Sunday

[taxi paul]

Well after all the advice in my scooter thread. I went out today and did indeed buy something with two wheels and a spare wheel in a carrier. But it's a cardinal folding camper.so don't need crash helmet and leathers. It was very cheap and came from a very good home. Isn't it great when you have savings for something then see a totally different thing and think woo I like that and then buy it. Anyway I shall get some photos when sorted and Chuck them in the caravan thread.

[MikeR]

In case u missed it .....

 

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/1045301145592193024

[brownnova]

Turns out I’m a sarcastic fucker....

 

Saw this post on a fb group...

 

And couldn’t help but respond thusly.

 

 

I amused myself at least....

[wuvvum]

Well the 45 now has brakes again - the flexis went on relatively easily and nothing was seized, the most awkward bit was the circlips holding the flexis into the top brackets.  Refilled the master cylinder and bled both front brakes (as well as one can with a pipe going into a jar of fluid) and they're working - the pedal's a bit softer than I'd like (I might try bleeding the rears in case air has got in there too) but it stops well enough, as proven when a fox ran out in front of me on my test run.  I've also sorted the breather pipe - that's about as much as I can do until the cat and the wheel bearing get here.  Then once those are done it'll just be that bastarding ARB bracket to sort and we'll be away.

 

Also had an attempt at sorting the catch on the back doors of the LDV, but that was a failure.  I got the catch mechanism refitted in the door OK, but the door itself is too bent out of shape for owt to line up properly, so I'm going to have to continue keeping it closed with a padlock for now, until a cheap rear door comes up locally.

[chancer]

Well I have ignored everyone's advice and replaced the Mercedes with a Citroen C3. It is a silver 52 plate (an early one) with a few old giffer scratches on the bumpers. It has done 80,000 miles and seems solid and seems to drive well with no obvious defects. It is a posh one with the 1.6 16 valve engine in Exclusive trim level with plush seats and presumably more to go wrong. This is the most modern car I have ever owned the previous being a 51 plate 206 automatic!

 

It has a nice deep boot with plenty of room for mothers wheel chair and the seats are quite high so she should get in it fairly easily. I am going to get the cambelt changed I think as there is no evidence as to when it was done.

 

So WCPQW!

Probably nothing! The C3 is a great wee thing. Never seen one stranded...an never seen one with a hint of rust! Bought a Pluriel brand new in 2005, and while it never leaked or done whatever folk said it would, it was far too slow due to the strengthening the car needed. Was sold off within a year to make way for a Puma, but it was spotted the other month about 40 miles from home looking just as good as it did when i traded it in. TL:DR...C3's are fuckin ace

[theorganist]

Probably nothing! The C3 is a great wee thing. Never seen one stranded...an never seen one with a hint of rust! Bought a Pluriel brand new in 2005, and while it never leaked or done whatever folk said it would, it was far too slow due to the strengthening the car needed. Was sold off within a year to make way for a Puma, but it was spotted the other month about 40 miles from home looking just as good as it did when i traded it in. TL:DR...C3's are fuckin ace

Nice, I do love the Pluriel, good to see it is still around. I think people just see the Citroen badge and panic! I think basically it is a 206 underneath certainly the drivetrain is and the heater controls looking at them. I have heard they do like to have random electrical problems but that is more likely to be an irritant than anything serious. It seems to be a good mix of a conventional modern* car with a touch of Citroen's individualism.

[meshking]

Took the Mercedes over to the local body shop specialist this morning. The lacquer is literally falling off the nearside, there are two rusty patches on the rear wheelarch and one by the rear lamp unit. The estimate for prepping and painting the nearside with blending into the door and including a full machine polish was £650 which doesn’t seem terrible. It’s booked into his first available date, which is 3rd December- I was also half expecting it to be into next year.

 

Then this afternoon I took the 2cv sans roof down to see a display of the proposed Esso pipeline renewal. Esso are replacing the whole aviation fuel supply line from Fawley to Heathrow. 90km! Round here they want to dig up Chobham common, a SSSI!

They wanted to come past my house, one of the routes was under the cricket pitch and school. They chose the different route, but I'm surprised they're digging Chobham common. I got the impression that it was all under ground with very little disturbance above ground.

[M'coli]

Re: Saab 900 handling - I bought Dollywobbler's 900 and ran it for a wee while, I found no problem with the handling per se, as in it went around corners well enough but I did find it very easy to smack the sump off of the road on lumpy roads at speeds lower than I'd have been travelling at in the Cavalier I had at the time. This was frustrating because the Saab had nearly twice the power of the 1.3 Cav, so it should have been travelling faster than the Cav had managed to...

[Richard]

Don't forget that the 900 is a 1960s car with extra nose weight added.

[DVee8]

Cruiser prepped for MoT next Saturday and given a good old clean inside and out - I always do this as testers must get to see some right shit buckets.

 

Also converted it back to a 5 seater rather than a van.

I also like to present a clean and polished car for a MOT,i think it may set a tone.

[davehedgehog31]

Up bright eyed and bushy tailed to swap the Altos fan belt over.

 

Of course eBay seller has sent entirely the wrong part. Wrong number of ribs and miles off in length, no use whatsoever. 

 

[Saabnut]

I don't think I can procrastinate any longer. Grass mowed (hopefully the last time this season) and sausage roll & coffee demolished. Now to the Sonett...

 

I hate working on carburettors and one appears to be flooding (started at the end of the day at Prescott) so needs a strip and a look to see what is going on. I may be some time......

 

Those of you who are bright(er) in the morning will have noticed I am posting a follow up the next day. I am not sure yet whether it is a grin or a grump so will post it here!

 

The Sonett has a very complicated fuel system for a simple set up due to the triple carbs plus the two stroke oil mixing set up means there are lots of pipes! Spent many hours stripping, blowing through etc etc and found absolutely nothing wrong. Put it all back together, and low and behold, all seems fine now. Starts and runs fine with no fuel dumping itself on the floor. This is because a) I cured the problem without seeing it or it is waiting to come back and bite me.

 

One of my local car clubs is meeting up for coffee this lunchtime, so think I will take the Sonett and see what happens. There will either be a grin or a grump later!

[Fumbler]

Today I empty some oil based paint into a jar so I can steal the can for nefarious purposes.

[R9UKE]

Went to see that Laguna V6 yesterday.... yeh, the one I followed and left my number on a few years back.

 

Anyway, arrived to the absolutely beautiful period property in one of the poshest suburbs of Belfast to see the Laguna parked around the side of the house and an 18 plate Qashqai in it's usual spot at the front of the house. Oh dear.

 

The husband answers, hands me the tatty key card and says his wife will be out in a mo.  The equally tatty Laguna awaited.

 

 

I just love seeing this thing about town.  Not even a rear spoiler, a pretty anonymous colour and a discreet V6 24v badge on each door.  With Laguna IIs becoming less and less common, it's wonderful to see something like this still living it up.

 

The wife arrived out all smiles, a lovely woman.  She launched straight in with the Laguna love. "My husband got it brand new as a company car, we bought it when the term was up and it's been with us for 15 years.  We've thought about changing it a few times but realistically there's nothing to replace it with, modern cars have just become moulds of each other, and it's very difficult to get something that isn't flashy but with meaty engine.  I would never drive a diesel".  Where do I find a woman like this?  

 

"Haven't you replaced it with a Qashqai?".  "Oh no, we were renting that while the Laguna was in getting an alternator last week, I can't wait to give it back, it's dreadful".

 

Anyway..... It turns out they're in no rush to replace the Laguna, mainly because they think the absolute world of it and seem to consider it irreplaceable. 

 

It's certainly well used.  Despite having just 69k on the clock, the driver's side rear door and arch have come up against something and been resprayed by S.Wonder's Bodyshop.  The rear bumper is hanging off on the passenger's side. It's filthy inside and out.  But there's just something so admirable about their relationship with it, and great to see that there are normal non-enthusiasts out there who will miss the V6 family car that is an extinct class.

 

I thanked her very much, told her to keep enjoying it and call me whenever the time comes, no matter what the state of the Laguna.

[Bren]

Polished. Poorboys black hole the polish of choice. Paintwork is good for a 14 year old car.

[Saabnut]

Somewhat inevitably, it is a post in the Grump thread!

[Lord Sterling]

Nothing much ever happens with the Mo_Sterling fleet. However, yesterday, I went and paid for my storage and decided to to actually do something with the Rovers. I set about pulling off the completely disintegrated tarpaulins. The G-reg Sterling still needs a cover as it still leaks inside into the passenger footwell.

 

The interior of the G-reg is horrible now, the headlining is utterly fucked and disintegrating fast, some of the interior is starting to mould and I had to get rid of more water from the passenger footwell again and now the leather seats feel hard. The E-reg Mk1 is strangley better, but then it doesn't leak inside, the Mk2 827 Sterling is much nicer, it still has that nice leather smell inside and feels as if it could be used again with little work, although, it doesn't start at all now.

 

I gave the 2 other Sterlings a wash (yes! An actual wash and scrub up) I opened the doors to give them some air and got rid of the cobwebs building up. As I whimsically wished I could have some proper under cover storage for my cars so I can tinker with them and make some actual progress, I had a peek in the unit next doors window and what do I spy? A White H-reg Mk1 Sterling!!!!

 

 

Outside the unit is a MG ZR and a Mini, I assumed they owned by the same guy who had the unit so I asked the yard owner for the phone number but somehow there must have been some sort of miscommunication as he gave me the phone number of the guy who owned the Mini.

 

Today I went up and met the owner of the Mini, who, it turned out had nothing to do with the unit next door Anyhow, I'm kind of glad I met him as he likes tinkering with cars and rebuilt his Mini himself. He has offered to help me out fixing the Sterlings if needs be and we are probably looking to go on halves on a unit depending on costs.

 

I swept off all the cobwebs on the engines and coated the metal parts in WD40, it'll help but it isn't exactly a preservative.

 

As always, as soon as I got back into town I popped into my local charity shoppes to pick up a couple of DVDs I'd had my eye on.

 

Annoyingly, they also had these in:

 

 

Yes, they are proper floor mats for a Daewoo Lanos, a fucking Daewoo Lanos like what I got for Jim Bell a few months ago, I've bought the floor mats in case anyone wanted them, they are proper Deawoo items. They'd have happily have finished up in that Lanos, what ever happened to it anyway?

[Ghosty]

For Sale ad for the GSi is coming.