The new news 24 thread

[busmansholiday]

I can thoroughly recommend Lidl's 3 in 1 gas soldering iron. Remove the soldering tip and it's a flame, a flame that's small easily directed, and hot. Did a cracking job of heating the bleed nipple and fittings on the osf of the Merc so I could remove the flexi that failed the MoT.

Shame a well known UK supplier of car parts, with blue vans, couldn't have supplied me with the right flexible. Bollocks!!

[richardmorris]

8 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

im going to find out soon enough!

well to be fair i'm just hoping i can get it insure it AT ALL 

(it doesn't have to specifically be a "classic policy" per say but any normal company wont touch cars older then 20 years let alone what I own so im guessing it will have go via a classic car insurance broker)

is that technically allowed because that sounds like the car equivalent of fronting LOL

although I guess if they have nothing in their policy against it then its fine?

(tho I imagine if it did become a problem like fronting did they would write something against it)

My 1994 Mercedes is insured with aviva as my standard car policy. 2cv and x1/9 with FJ as agreed value classic policies.

[barefoot]

I have '02 Rover 75 / '87 944 / '87 Scirocco on a single policy with Peter James - unlimited mileage & the 944 is agreed value @ £15k - about £350

T2 agreed value @ £25k / 6k miles - Lancaster - £123

& Vel Satis - ordinary policy - Aviva - £155

[clayts450]

I try to take the 214 out for a run a few times a week to keep it ticking over, a mix of urban, rural and Mway. Got home last night and it sounded like a bag of nails. Too dark to see what was going on.

Got home from work today.

Ah....that'll be it then : alternator hanging on for grim life. God only knows what's happened to the bolts... both missing. Fucking lucky the thing didn't drop off.

 

[mitsisigma01]

2 hours ago, busmansholiday said:

I can thoroughly recommend Lidl's 3 in 1 gas soldering iron. Remove the soldering tip and it's a flame, a flame that's small easily directed, and hot. Did a cracking job of heating the bleed nipple and fittings on the osf of the Merc so I could remove the flexi that failed the MoT.

Shame a well known UK supplier of car parts, with blue vans, couldn't have supplied me with the right flexible. Bollocks!!

Was it in "the middle of Lidl" this week? 

Lidl's down here never seem to have fk all of the current promoted items ever in store and no way of checking where they are in stock... Their advertising gimp must be fkd out of his head on something ?

[barmatt]

Not been up to much Autoshitey since I acquired the Focus off Scaryold cortina / JBell unwanted roffle win . It has proved to be utterly reliable, dependable and did everything that was asked of it apart from entertain me in the slightest. So as the emoty was running out I did a little exhaust bodgery and had a good check around it, bunged it in for a test and it went straight through.  

Only one thing for it then......flog it and buy something utterly broken to replace it as is the AS way. Meaning this happened...

 

06 Accord icdti thingy that's allegedly* been chipped by someone.

 

It has a coupe of issues, the handbrake not working at all the other big one is the crankshaft pulley outer ring managing to seperate itself from the inner. It was an interesting few miles home with no p/s or alteranator and constantly watching the temp gauge waiting for it to overheat due to not having a spinning water pump either but that's part of the adventure hey?

Some fettling has occured, it now has a working handbrake, the new c/s pulley arrived late today meaning I didn't have time to fit it so instead of waste time I decided to clean the living bejesus out of it starting with polishing the headlights which were pretty fubared. I let you guess which is before and after.

 

Quite satisfying. Although the car looks really angry without its eyes

Should hopefully have it all done and Mot'ed by the end of next week, never had a modernish Honda before and this seems quite civilised. 

 

Tldr? I'm waffling. 

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just bought a new heap of MEGA SHITE off Facebook marketplace tonight. 55 plate Fiat Croma JTD 150!!! Its got no MOT but seems clean and tidy and honest. Few clonks off the front suspension but it's all Vectra stuff so I'm sure it can be sorted cheaply. I paid £400 which seems a lot for an untested one of these but I just properly wanted one! 

[J-T]

2 minutes ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

I just properly wanted one! 

Possibly the only time that sentence has been written about that car!

Good luck with it Bo11, looks dismal! How long did they persevere with them in the UK?

[r.welfare]

I do hope that’s a pic of your drive and you’ve bought a PT Cruiser you haven’t told us about as well, you rascal.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

They only tried selling them for a couple of years I think. They did a 'facelift' (that looks even uglier) on the continent, but never bothered importing them here. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

[bramz7]

Yeah the facelift ones had Bravo front lights. 

There's loads in Italy but that's a given with any Fiat so not sure if that's a sign they're hardy or just Italian. 

 

Good luck, I hope it's worth the wait you've put up with to find one. 

[J-T]

I didn't think it was long, I only ever remember seeing them parked outside the Fiat dealers, I'm not sure I've ever seen one on the road.

It no doubt shares indicator stalks with my 147 or seat runners or whatever (other than the bloody engine, obvs!)

Look forward to hearing about it

[HMC]

Not your first “croma” I remember a white 80s one that you rescued?

[egg]

Well done, I've been waiting for someone to get one of these!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

The logbook states the weight as being '1605kg!!!!' Can you believe that? Appalling really

[bramz7]

That's more than the C5....

 

[J-T]

I've just had a read of the Wikipedia for the Fiat Croma. This bit made me giggle:

" In February 2007, Fiat UK announced that the Croma would no longer be generally available in the United Kingdom, after less than 900 were sold in the whole of 2005"

It was a bloody Giugiaro design as well! Happen he was a bit blind by then? Apparently it was described by Fiat as a "Comfort Wagon".

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Now I'm into my 40's I'm all about 'comfort wagons'

[J-T]

Now you know it's super rare, you can do the full white room palaver when you shift it on, about how Mr. Stanley Panini Bolognase, long time Italian car enthusiast, traded in his immaculate Fiat Seicento S in anticipation of his life's ambition of upgrading to Fiat's premier executive comfort wagon, the Croma. One of fewer than 900 to indulge themselves that year. and now just -23 remain, making this incredible proposition truly invaluable blah blahhhhhhhhhhh

[Broadsword]

I've just been offered a drive of a freshly restored Jaaaaaaaaaaaaag XJR6 *manual* (just got its MOT). It urgently needs a MAF to make it go (which I can borrow from mine for a day). It needs to make it to a special Jag meet on the 18th. I helped out the guy by offering him advice on running problems and selling a couple of important spares (like a throttle body) and he amazingly has promised me a drive. I just need to make it from the East Riding down to Southend next weeknend so that we can get going on the morning of the 18th. Any shitters in the Southend area, able to host? It's a very impromptu potential trip and I don't have much cash to spare on accommodation (I can't get down early enough on Sunday so need to travel Saturday). Could be quite an adventure.

[MarvinsMom]

i, or should i say, we have been fixing things again, cos my other half was involved too.

see this-

the back window on a Rover estate, well so what? well now it has a working wiper, something its not had for a mo0nth or two.

today i have swapped the wiper motor in the tailgate for a second hand one off ebay, that has been floating about in the boot a "little while" which wasn't too much of a chew on to actually finish

seems part of the problem we had with the back wiper was the motor, see the brown, burin like marks on the old one, which also had a fragrant smoky smell to it

the other part of the problem was that the back spindle, going through the back window was seized up solid, and taking the circlip, washer and "big nut" off just like the HBoL said didn't release the spindle thing off the window. which the book said it would, but, as we all know, the book lies.....

while trying to get that bit loose, much WD40 was used, and then with the help of a good sized spanner and some small screwdrivers, Kerry did manage to clean out a lot of sealant type crap out from around the wiper spindle and then get it to move, and move freely.

deciding that a moving wiper spindle was better than a broken window, we packed as much grease around the spindle as we could and then put it all back together. 

so that is something else on the Rover that we have encouraged back into life. now just for the parking sensor things, anyone know anything about them?

 

 

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, Mr_Bo11ox said:

 

by golly thats a sad looking car

[stuboy]

Not much, snatched my galaxy back of the missus, she keep driving everywhere in her usual foot to the floor and 2 inchs from the car in front, now she can do it in her own dam car and scare my insurers...lol

 

And tonight lunch by the sea at littlestone, near where ww2 nonfloating harbour resides and site of operation pluto of ww2..

[busmansholiday]

10 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Was it in "the middle of Lidl" this week? 

Lidl's down here never seem to have fk all of the current promoted items ever in store and no way of checking where they are in stock... Their advertising gimp must be fkd out of his head on something ?

No, they were on a couple of months ago but Aldi also do them and they'll be back on again.

We are luck, our Lidl is also an "outlet" so a lot of things turn up from other stores that haven't sold. Sometimes get some really good bargins.

[wuvvum]

8 hours ago, MarvinsMom said:

now just for the parking sensor things, anyone know anything about them?

Aye, they're shite.

[nigel bickle]

Nice Croma buy....

i took Nige to look at this Croma a couple of weeks ago . £200 ( would drop to £175)  with several months MOT.

He turned it down, as he couldn’t see a use for it!  Ridiculously cheap, with very little wrong with it.

[MikeR]

thats the 4 wheel lift done on the car this morning , not much to report apart from a slightly loose heat shield , and 3 tyres that are still legal and 1 that is ok

and 3 empty rattle tins of black paint ... 

not bad for a 17 year old Ford Focus !

 

[egg]

This thing is so big you can actually see it causing global warming. Jeez.

[RayMK]

On 22nd July I mentioned that the clutch in my Tipo was behaving strangely.  Apart from looking at it sternly, dropping a few beads of oil on to the bell housing clutch lever pivot and viewing the car with distrust for a week I have not given it much further thought.  Yesterday, in an effort to see if a garage visit might be worthwhile, I drove the car 70 miles.  The route included 70mph cruising on dual carriageways, country lanes and traffic jams in Buckingham.  It behaved perfectly.  Today I've used it for 30 miles or so and again no problems.  I dislike intermittent faults which self cure but in this case I'm going to assume it was a temporary hiccup and just continue to enjoy the car.  It is so much better on the lanes than my modern Mirage.  The Tipo actually has suspension travel and proper tyres whereas the modern thing occasionally gets caught out, giving an almighty thump which scares the living daylights out of me.  

[reb]

I'm in the process of transferring back to the store where I started my pizza slinging days as they're a more stable source of hours for me being in a student town rather than the post-apocalyptic newtown I've been working in for the past few months. I'm going to miss the razzing around on near-empty ring roads but money has to come first. Bonus points for now being run by the manager who basically mentored me when I was training as a manager, who missed out on the Assistant Manager of the year award on the count of being too successful and becoming the store manager by the time the awards ceremony rolled around. Top bloke.

Supposed to be a temporary move while I sort something better, but I said that 3 years ago when I went full time...