The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

On Saturday I spent nearly 10 hours sitting on a bus (two buses to be pedantic) to Plymouth, to pick up this beast from HMC's Pukka Motor Sales Ltd. Inc.:

Then I dropped HMC off at simon8201's to pick up the Polo, and then hooned up to my parents' new house in Portishead to spend the weekend.  Drove back to Norfolk this afternoon.

It's an interesting thing to drive - it has ZR suspension and silly 17" alloys with rubber band tyres, so the ride is a bit sudden, but it turns in to corners very well for something so nose-heavy.  Seats feel a bit odd to start with but they were comfy enough on the 250-mile drive home this afternoon.  Brakes are definitely better than the 200's, and the steering is noticeably quicker too.

It needs a few jobs doing - it's definitely down on power, feels like it's losing boost from somewhere so that will be investigated at the weekend.  It still keeps up with traffic OK, and I managed to shave 23 minutes off the sat nav ETA between Simon's and my parents', but it definitely doesn't accelerate as well as it should and doesn't seem to have much oomph up motorway hills.  The only other issue needing immediate attention is that the screen wash and rear wiper don't work - I suspect the stalk as it's rather floppy.  I might borrow the one from the Rover of Doom and see if that sorts it.

Other than that it's a great wee thing, and once it's got its full complement of horses back it'll be great fun to roar around in.  Thanks to HMC for picking me up from Plymouth, and to Kiltox for facilitating the transaction.

Here's a pic of the MG and HMC's Horsey Horseless Volvo 940 together:

[Fat_Pirate]

I'm in the USA, and yet this is the sort of thing I photograph:

 

 

[reb]

I'm on the banks of loch Lomond.

Eating McDonald's cheeseburgers.

 

They're still hot.

 

Isn't rampant consumerism just the thing?

[Ghosty]

Viewing another car on Thursday. The seller's address is on a new build estate, on the grounds of the factory where the car was built. 

Locally registered too, and in one of the 'right' specs.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

23 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

Viewing another car on Thursday. The seller's address is on a new build estate, on the grounds of the factory where the car was built. 

Locally registered too, and in one of the 'right' specs.

Peugeot?

[paulplom]

That paraffin heater you have will be worth a few quid to someone with a greenhouse. I used to grow show leeks and a dual heater like that would be the mutts nuts as it were.

[MorrisItalSLX]

5 hours ago, Ghosty said:

Viewing another car on Thursday. The seller's address is on a new build estate, on the grounds of the factory where the car was built. 

Locally registered too, and in one of the 'right' specs.

Longbridge?

[dollywobbler]

Today, I drive over 200 miles in the Matiz. Yesterday, I found a split in the air intake pipe which may well explain why it's been feeling a bit tardy lately. I fixed* it with gaffer tape. Have a poorly composed photograph.

That was a distraction while I was fitting a new radiator to the Fox, when what the Fox actually needs is a new temp sender. 

[wuvvum]

8 hours ago, reb said:

I'm on the banks of loch Lomond.

Are they as bonnie as the adverts would have us believe?

[reb]

7 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Are they as bonnie as the adverts would have us believe?

I don't know, it was dark and there was a lot of lorries.

I slept in the car and headed further west as soon as I woke up. I was too early to buy coffee anywhere that wasn't McDonald's, so I just kept driving. More than two hours later and a fair bit of not actually knowing where I was, I'm in Dunoon drinking lovely coffee.

This is neither Loch Lomond nor Dunoon, but the views were lovely despite the fog.

[davehedgehog31]

8 hours ago, reb said:

I'm on the banks of loch Lomond.

Eating McDonald's cheeseburgers.

 

They're still hot.

 

Isn't rampant consumerism just the thing?

McQuacks in Balloch? Always thought it was oddly placed.

[reb]

8 minutes ago, davehedgehog31 said:

McQuacks in Balloch? Always thought it was oddly placed.

The car park was designed by a blind man who didn't know what a car was. The location was obviously chosen to maximise trade from passing Americans and other foreigns, right on the west road up the loch.

Considerably more people have left the shop I'm parked outside than have entered, is this some sort of west coast voodoo?

[BorniteIdentity]

20 minutes ago, reb said:

I don't know, it was dark and there was a lot of lorries.

I slept in the car and headed further west as soon as I woke up. I was too early to buy coffee anywhere that wasn't McDonald's, so I just kept driving. More than two hours later and a fair bit of not actually knowing where I was, I'm in Dunoon drinking lovely coffee.

This is neither Loch Lomond nor Dunoon, but the views were lovely despite the fog.

McDonalds’ coffee is genuinely very good to my relatively trained palette.

I’m never going to get into any arguments about takeaway coffee, no will I win any competitions with my tastebuds. But it’s far more appealing than some of the shite I’ve suffered whilst on the road. 

Happy travels!

[davehedgehog31]

2 minutes ago, reb said:

The car park was designed by a blind man who didn't know what a car was. The location was obviously chosen to maximise trade from passing Americans and other foreigns, right on the west road up the loch.

Considerably more people have left the shop I'm parked outside than have entered, is this some sort of west coast voodoo?

Balloch is where driving went to die. That Mcdonalds is stow full in the summer, then deserted for the other 9 months of the year. 

Sounds like a drugs front to me. Enquire within.

[brownnova]

5 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

McDonalds’ coffee is genuinely very good to my relatively trained palette.

I’m never going to get into any arguments about takeaway coffee, no will I win any competitions with my tastebuds. But it’s far more appealing than some of the shite I’ve suffered whilst on the road. 

Happy travels!

Got to say I agree, McDonalds coffee is fairly good for the price. Plus every 7th one is free if you keep the stickers (which being a cheapskate I do religiously) 

That, Apple pies, breakfast pancakes and McFlurries are good. The rest can get in the sea*

 

 

*unless I’m really hungry

[Asimo]

9 hours ago, reb said:

I'm on the banks of loch Lomond.

Eating McDonald's cheeseburgers.

 

They're still hot.

 

Isn't rampant consumerism just the thing?

You are right in the crumple-zone there, where southern Scotland crashed into Northern Scotland.

(Half a billion years ago) 

https://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst7728.html

[reb]

My distaste for McDonald's coffee isn't based on the quality or lack thereof, mostly just because I drank my weight in it when I worked there doing nights.

Due to a minor* change in travel plans of Keith (who I was meant to meet off the ferry) I'm not 40 miles further south than I needed to be. At least it's a nice day.

Revvy 1.6 + shite Halfords cone filter + nice twisties = big grin

[gm]

I live in a rented flat so it's not unusual for mail addressed to previous tenants to drop through the door. A couple of months back, an envelope containing what was obviously a bank/ credit card dropped onto the door mat addressed to one such former resident. I "return to sender"ed it, guess what has just landed this morning ? Another replacement card, no wonder there is so much card fraud going on

googling the return address suggests Santander are to blame 

[Kiltox]

Just had word that some prime* shite has been delivered to my unit.  

[Tadhg Tiogar]

2 hours ago, gm said:

...... an envelope containing what was obviously a bank/ credit card dropped onto the door mat addressed to one such former resident. I "return to sender"ed it, guess what has just landed this morning ? Another replacement card, no wonder there is so much card fraud going on

googling the return address suggests Santander are to blame 

Why am I not surprised at the mention of the name Santander?

[BL Bloke]

Yesterday's news but here are a few pics from the Chaddesley Corbett Classic Car & Bike show.

There was quite a range of cars there as this pic shows.

DSCF0708 by timothy jones, on Flickr

I'll start off with some BL/ARG stuff.

DSCF0674 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0676 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0678 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0684 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0691 by timothy jones, on Flickr

A nice couple of Rovers, the black one is a VP EFi.

 DSCF0700 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0703 by timothy jones, on Flickr

This Escort Super made a pleasant change from the more commonly seen sporty examples.

DSCF0685 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Singer Gazelle

DSCF0686 by timothy jones, on Flickr

This Hillman Minx was one of my favourites at the show. 

DSCF0698 by timothy jones, on Flickr

There were some foreign cars there as well , including a  BMW 700 Luxus and a Ford Pinto Runabout.

DSCF0693 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0681 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0705 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0711 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Back to the 50's with an A40 sports and a lovely Morris Oxford MO van.

DSCF0677 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0680 by timothy jones, on Flickr

 There was some modern stuff there (17 reg Alfa Giulietta Veloce for one) but overall a good show with a packed field of cars and a large crowd.

[egg]

No idea how current (ha!) this website is - but this company supposedly turns black and white wiring diagrams into colour pics that break down the wiring system by system for a fee...

http://www.classiccarwiring.co.uk/epages/es142611.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es142611/Categories

Sample attached.

[kirton]

10 hours ago, reb said:

I don't know, it was dark and there was a lot of lorries.

I slept in the car and headed further west as soon as I woke up. I was too early to buy coffee anywhere that wasn't McDonald's, so I just kept driving. More than two hours later and a fair bit of not actually knowing where I was, I'm in Dunoon drinking lovely coffee.

This is neither Loch Lomond nor Dunoon, but the views were lovely despite the fog.

There are many places where the view is improved by thick fog

[puddlethumper]

Hey BL Bloke I was at Chaddesley as well. Pretty good show. I've put pics on Lazy spotters.

Coz lazee.

[meggersdog]

Driving back from the coast last night I noticed my 206cc offside headlight was out . I pulled into a layby and had a look. Wriggled the wiring and it briefly came on. Couldn't remove the terminal but now the sidelight was out too. It was starting to get dark so I ended up being one of those wankers driving about with one headlight and fogs on.

Lunchtime today I drove the Pug into the workshop to have a better look. The earth terminal was corroded to the bulb and the plastic block had melted. I prised the terminals off with a screwdriver but then using a small pick had to prise the bulb out. One bulb terminal had melted, must have got mightily hot. New bulb, melted plastic cut away, new earth terminal and success...Err no, even the fuse had blown. All done now although I will be keeping an eye on it.

[Kiltox]

[clayts450]

Bagged a cheap period Rover radio/cassette/CD controller off the Bay a few weeks back, and took delivery of the period CD changer needed last week, together with the all-important data lead.

Plumbed it all in to the 620 this evening . 

The radio (R960) would normally go for about a ton even on eBay, cos 'retro'. I paid 24 quid, as it was sold for parts. Took a gamble on it as knew I could get a code for 8 quid and the description was 'dead grandad's car, worked before the battery was disconnected, can't test no code'.

Job's a good un - now have top spec ICE on my 'just above base spec' vehicle.

[clayts450]

Other jobs done recently - Accord ATF changed (first change out of three in the next 9 months), rear number plate bulb changed (guess which was easier ? Clue, PELA).

[320touring]

Been to see a 306 1.9d with 11 months MOT. Aircon too, £250

Well, drove lovely, 10% discount agreed, just about to head to get cash, walked round the passenger side.

Big load of rust bubbles in the middle of the c pillar.

Torch application shows an inner wing of Swiss cheese consistency:(

Walked away.

 

No a bad catch when it's dark and drizzly at 9pm!

[loserone]

Lucky escape.  NA?