The new news 24 thread

[N19]

Went past a particular petrol station yesterday, showing 111.9p per litre. Filled up, half an hour later on it was on 119.9. Presumably a fat finger on the part of the proprietor! 

[Yoss]

On 3/2/2020 at 7:16 PM, Yoss said:

Started tidying the garage a bit as I'm planning on getting the Triumph out at the weekend. I opened the bonnet to see a little face looking at me. He then jumped out and managed to run along the door to the boot. 

As I get to the back he runs back to the front. 

And then back again. 

Then he comes round the drivers side and of course I'd left the window open so he jumps straight in the car. Bugger. Though it seems he's been in before as a polystyrene cup I'd left under the back seat had been nibbled away at. 

 

But he's obviously been living in the bulkhead which is not good. I keep a couple of rags in there for cleaning the dipstick and general wiping of oil and these had been chewed into little bits with lots of leaves added for extra comfort. This is after I'd removed most of it. 

I always leave the bonnet popped as if I don't use it for a few weeks (and it hasn't been out since before Christmas) it helps to prime the fuel pump before starting. So that little gap and this bit of nibbling of the seal that runs round the scuttle... 

... was enough to get in. 

I knew I had a guest in the garage because the bird seed I keep in there had been got at and all the sunflower seeds had been removed and taken to a different part of the garage to be opened. I wouldn't mind if he stayed in the garage and there are plenty of nooks and crannys he could make himself at home in but moving into the car itself is not good. You hear about them chewing wiring. Fortunately it all still works at the mo but I have now ordered some of these. 

And my job for the weekend is to get the Triumph out properly, take the seats out and give it a damn good hoovering. 

Mousey update. 

So the above humane mouse traps arrived the other day. As you can see one end has a little compartment in to which you put mousey foods, I used a few broken up peanuts. 

This drops into position at the rear. The front has a spring loaded door which is set off by a sort of springboard in the middle. 

 

So I half filled the compartment with the broken up nuts, then put a few loose ones inside the main body and a few just outside to entice him in the right direction. 

I came back the next day to find this. 

Definite signs of activity but no mouse. Why is that? 

Yes, he's just eaten his way out! Look...

And with my finger to give sense of scale. He is very small. 

 

But it gets better. That was all yesterday morning but I forgot to take pictures. Yesterday whilst there was no mouse there were still plenty of broken nuts about the place. This morning I went back to take pics for this report and the rest of the nuts had gone. Including the ones inside the trap itself. So not only has he escaped he's gone back in through his hole to go back for the nuts he left behind. I can't compete with that, mousey wins, the garage is his. 

 

Of course as I said before I don't mind him being in the garage, I just don't want him in the car. So as my friend pointed out I should probably just leave him food in a corner of the garage then he won't need to go looking in the car. 

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, Eyersey1234 said:

Does @dollywobbler still have a BX? 

He seems to have a GSA special today. @Six-cylinder has a bx though.

[chadders]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

Mousey update. 

So the above humane mouse traps arrived the other day. As you can see one end has a little compartment in to which you put mousey foods, I used a few broken up peanuts. 

This drops into position at the rear. The front has a spring loaded door which is set off by a sort of springboard in the middle. 

 

So I half filled the compartment with the broken up nuts, then put a few loose ones inside the main body and a few just outside to entice him in the right direction. 

I came back the next day to find this. 

Definite signs of activity but no mouse. Why is that? 

Yes, he's just eaten his way out! Look...

And with my finger to give sense of scale. He is very small. 

 

But it gets better. That was all yesterday morning but I forgot to take pictures. Yesterday whilst there was no mouse there were still plenty of broken nuts about the place. This morning I went back to take pics for this report and the rest of the nuts had gone. Including the ones inside the trap itself. So not only has he escaped he's gone back in through his hole to go back for the nuts he left behind. I can't compete with that, mousey wins, the garage is his. 

 

Of course as I said before I don't mind him being in the garage, I just don't want him in the car. So as my friend pointed out I should probably just leave him food in a corner of the garage then he won't need to go looking in the car. 

We've caught eight using those traps, two were dead in the traps, caused by stress I guess. All were bigger than yours so maybe they couldn't turn around to chew their way out or they didn't have time.

[Mally]

Problem with just feeding the mouse is there is always more than one.

On that basis, and with food, there will soon be more mice than the available food.

Then some of them may go hungry and attack the car by the thousand.

[stuboy]

Made a start on reversing camera,  got holder all screwed in... then it rained... gave up went out

[brownnova]

4 hours ago, Yoss said:

Mousey update. 

We tried humane traps for about 3 weeks and whilst we caught 13 mice, they kept returning... 

So we bought the snappy traps. Within 3 days, no more mice. We’ve not had one in for about 2 months now... Sadly the humane ones are just not up to it.

[wuvvum]

Maybe you weren't taking them far enough away before releasing them?  Inverness should just about do it.

[GBJ]

5 hours ago, greengartside said:

Oh, and the sunroof seems watertight so I really don’t understand why it was sealed up in the first place.

 

Sunroofs aren't usually watertight.

They let water past but have drains in each corner that run to the wheel arches or sills. When the drains inevitably become blocked water leaks into the car.

Clear the drains by poking strimmer cord down them.

[N19]

The thing about the humane traps is that if you release it too close it'll get back into your house, if you take it somewhere you're moving the problem to somebody else, and if you release it in the middle of the countryside it'll get eaten by wildlife. 

[brownnova]

Did about 100 miles in the 900 today looking at Campervans... the new tyres have improved things, as has regular use! Still far from perfect and still has a hideous drone between about 40 and 60 mph... but the feeling of putting the roof down when the sun’s out and driving by the sea is fantastic! I’m starting to write like it! 

Well worth £300!

[BL Bloke]

Just had to disconnect the Rover's battery as the alarm had started going off again. ?

[trigger]

I organised a little car run today to Bawdsey with my car club, I wasn't expecting much of turn out due to the black death and cold weather but we still had about 10-12 cars, this Fiat Croma CHT was a particular highlight though. 

It was mint, only 35000 miles on the clock too, other highlights were

Not one 

But two Monzas! 

G60

BX Diesel

A genuine Broadspeed but the 3.1 is currently awaiting a rebuilt so it's just a 3.0...

Then the police turned up

And this was the longest drive mines done yet, sadly the speedo packed up which I think is the sensor on the box so I need to find a replacement and I'm not convinced the gears are changing up correctly so I can see a box filter and oil change on the cards too, does it ever end... 

[LightBulbFun]

4 minutes ago, trigger said:

Then the police turned up

haha that was amusing  

also love the lineup, especially the GTA 5 themed one  

a crown vic of that shape is defo on the list of cars id like to own at some point time

[Cord Fourteener]

Wow, lots of joy in those pics! Looks like a good day out!

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 3/10/2020 at 8:39 AM, Ohdearme said:

Started on the button this morning.

My money says she will say I left a light on or didn’t shut door properly.

EFA

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 3/12/2020 at 1:45 PM, Stanky said:

On the Fuelpecker front, I just got an invite through our work scheme 'Perkbox' which is quite widely used by unimaginitive companies to reward* their employees with tat. I signed up. Seems like a worthwhile think to do since not only is the Esso already the cheapest in the area at 116.9p a litre, this car knocks another 3p/litre of unleaded. I fill up there anyway.

i got invited via healthservice discounts

you now get 1p of all shell fule

[wuvvum]

Got the power steering reservoir changed on the Mondeo today, between rain showers.  Flushing the old fluid out didn't go quite according to plan as the bottle I'd wedged in under the bonnet for the return pipe to drain into came unwedged and as a result the inner wing and crossmember got covered in hydraulic fluid, but I think I got most of the old fluid out.  The new reservoir went on fairly easily except that I realised as I was fitting the pipes that I'd bought the wrong one - it's the right size and the right connections, but the mounting clip is on the wrong side, so I've held it in place with a big cable tie.

It's one of the ones with a secondary filter in the return pipe to clear up any crap left in the pipes.  I ran the car for a few minutes, put the steering from lock to lock a few times to bleed the system, then switched off and pulled the secondary filter out using the ring pull provided.  It was a bit of a faff to actually get out of the bottle, as the opening is too narrow to fit two fingers into so you're basically trying to hook a slippery bit of plastic out of the bottle using one finger, but got it in the end.  Took it for a run round the block and it's much better - there's still a very slight whine but not the banshee noise that was there before, the steering feels a lot smoother and the assistance actually works properly at idle - I don't have to blip the throttle to get round mini roundabouts any more.  So I'm going to call that a fix.

Shame I still can't get the centre brake light working.  And a seagull shat on my jacket too.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Started feeling ill this morning, coughing and very sick and lethargic. I feared the worst and then realised where I was.

As soon as I got out of there 100 quid lighter, I was right as rain!

[Six-cylinder]

We have adapted our old van for modern life!

[SiC]

Just saw that the NEC classic car show at the end of this month has been cancelled. 

[somewhatfoolish]

On 3/15/2020 at 2:20 PM, Eyersey1234 said:

Does @dollywobbler still have a BX? 

IIRC only down under, I think it was passed on to one of the AS antipodeans.

[sdkrc]

21 hours ago, trigger said:

 

Wow. That's what mine is supposed to look like. Same year, engine and body.

Big shout out to diligent car maintenance. Still MOTing for safety 

[stuboy]

Looking for ideas for my mondeo front bumper and found this bad boy in ecp clearance sale and thought ohh I wonder

[BorniteIdentity]

10 years of early starts improves your body clock.  I now am up by 5.30am, without fail, every day.  Perversely, my body sees that as a lie in after 0355 for a decade.  

Anyway, by 7:15 I'd serviced the wife and the Avensis.

Y'all need to raise your game.

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Anyway, by 7:15 I'd serviced the wife

i say ding dong...

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

10 years of early starts improves your body clock.  I now am up by 5.30am, without fail, every day.  Perversely, my body sees that as a lie in after 0355 for a decade. 

when i was on 530 starts and needed to fix my car i got it all ready to start work, waited for 8am fired up the grinder.... morning neighbours

[Bren]

3 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

10 years of early starts improves your body clock.  I now am up by 5.30am, without fail, every day.  Perversely, my body sees that as a lie in after 0355 for a decade.  

Anyway, by 7:15 I'd serviced the wife and the Avensis.

Y'all need to raise your game.

Did you remember to stamp the book?

[xtriple]

Not got the CV19  ut I do feel shit... and I've got them! Where's the loo rolls?

Been to the shop and nowhere has got any, no eggs either, dog food in short supply (I like that epople are stockpiling for their mutts as well) but still managed to spend £111.00 on crap. I think I'll just lay on the floor and quietly die.

[egg]

Come and join us all on the Covid thread in the open Section @xtriple - we'll keep your spirits up*