The new news 24 thread

[vulgalour]

Beige series three Allegro with a paprika interior and barely even run in.  You, sir, could be a winner if this all goes through.

[theorganist]

Yes it could be a busy time with that and the Maxi hopefully coming next month!

[garycox]

Beige/Paprika Allegro 3s are for WINNERS.

 

Not as much as beige Maestros obviously, £199 to you!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

[vulgalour]

Taking a micro-break from initial Princess fettling to inform you all that I have now deemed this to be the worst interior I've ever tried to clean.  I even found cat poo in it.  However, engine not seized and bodyshell comparable to the HL, better even in some places.

[theorganist]

Beige/Paprika Allegro 3s are for WINNERS.

 

Not as much as beige Maestros obviously, £199 to you!

Hi Gary,

 

It's not like I don't love your Maestro it's just the practicalities of getting it back. If I could overcome those, I would!

 

I don't want to risk it on the basis of booking an mot 200 miles away!

[worldofceri]

Accidental-Rat-Look Beetle Update:

 

With Mr_Bo11ox's Argenta due to be returned at the end of this month, I suggested to Mrs_Ceri that our long-term 'project' Volkswagen could be back on the road as a replacement.  Of course, I was conveniently forgetting that I prevaricate and dither, and that everything I do takes bloody ages.  It's beginning to look unlikely, but still, here's a summary of progress of late:

 

New squirters:  The old windscreen washer pump was jiggered.  The original air-pressure powered system had been upgraded to electric pump powah at some time in the past, but the old washer bottle had been 'mounted' using nothing other than a bit of wire and a zip-tie.  I ripped this unsatisfactory arrangement out and purchased a generic windscreen-washer 'kit' off Ebay complete with new bottle and tubing and switch and everything...

The mount I cobbled together... I mean, expertly fabricated... from an angle bracket I found in the garage is only slightly less Heath-Robinson than what it replaced but, it all works and, it's another step towards the mot so I'm happy.

 

Next up was the front headlights.  A while ago I replaced the front wings with second-hand items, again from Ebay.  These were disappointingly tattier than I'd hoped, but still better than the ones I threw away, except in one vital aspect:

 

Although I didn't realise this until I'd fitted them, there was no simple way of holding the headlamp ass'y on!  Each headlight is held on by a single screw that locates in a tab that's welded inside the headlamp bowl, and these had rusted away and/or snapped off.  Bollocks.

 

As I don't possess welding skillz, my only option was to bolt in some sort of replacement.  Using some nuts and bolts and angle brackets I had lying around, I constructed little brackets in the bottom of each headlamp bowl.

Last time I had a bolt that wouldn't locate in a captive nut, I spent twenty-five quid on a set of taps and dies just to get one tap to clean the thread out, but of course, as per sods law, my set didn't have the right tap to cut a thread of the correct pitch I needed now.  Luckily the necessary M5×0.8 tap was obtained from Ebay for about £2.50, and the headlamp retaining screws have something to grab on to once again:

Yay!  We have lights again.

Of course, all this faffing about drilling holes and tapping threads took me bloody ages.  I wired all the lights back in, using new seals and what not, only to find that the offside front head and side lights don't flippin' work.  At the moment I'm not sure why, hopefully it'll just be duff bulbs or an earth problem.

 

Fuel Fool:

 

Last time I had the engine running I found there was a leak from the flexible hose underneath the fuel tank.  As it's in a really awkward position under the tank and above the front frame, I figured my only chance of getting to it would be to lift the fuel tank out.

The tank looked a bit rough underneath, so I decided I might as well whack some Hammerite on whilst it's out of the car.

The old clips securing the hoses are some sort of crimped type that had to be cut off.  Access was great where the flexy joins the hard line running through the transmission tunnel.  NOT.

I had about a quarter of an inch travel on the hacksaw and lots of fragile looking brake lines to avoid...  That brake master cylinder looks crusty.  Hmm.

 

Still, I got my new bit of hose on in the end and plonked the tank back in.

Nipped up to the Texaco garage for a can of pez and chucked half of it in.  Guess what?  Yeah, it still leaks.

 

Tried starting the engine, but ran out of electricity before I could get enough fuel through the dry system;  I'd run the battery down testing the lights earlier.

 

So, lots of head-scratching and knuckle-skinning still to go.  Don't think it'll be roadworthy before October to be honest, so I may be on the look-out for an emergency stop-gap motor in the next couple of weeks!

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Is the hose the fault? I had a problem on LOLcar when I renewed the rock hard fuel line from the tank to pump. It was significantly larger at the pump end than the tank end, and I no size of hose was flexible enough to fit both without leaking at one end or being far too small to fit the other. In the end I used two different sizes of hose and an inline fuel filter to join then. 

 

I wonder if the hose we get now is just different than it used to be in some way. 

[nigel bickle]

Rather than knacker the battery out to pull fuel through, put a little in an old fairy liquid bottle, and squirt  a few teaspoonfuls directly into the carb. Press the throttle to the floor as you crank,   the mota will slowly splutter into a short term existence, hopefully long enough to pull the fuel through.  if not -repeat process. 

 

If the fuels not appeared after 4 attempts- theres a blockage someplace -or the tanks empty.

 

Either way -you'll still have life in the battery.

[dollywobbler]

Golf started beautifully and quietly this morning. Did my bus duty, jumped back in and clatter-clatter-clatter again. Oh well. Still quietened down after a few seconds.

[barefoot]

My scirocco is like that but its got a weber carb with a manual choke

If I don't pull the choke it wont start, so I can turn it over a couple of times before I let petrol anywhere near it.

Then there's a bit of oil pressure built up and it starts loverly & quiet.

[worldofceri]

Is the hose the fault?...

The old hose was definitely perished, but my fear now is that the little pipe coming out the bottom of the tank has had it (the leak is less significant than before).  I've not had chance to investigate yet but I'm hoping that another quarter turn on the hose clips will sort it.

 

Rather than knacker the battery out to pull fuel through, put a little in an old fairy liquid bottle...

This is what I was doing (although not using a washing up liquid bottle - top tip) but the battery only had enough juice left for about five attempts.

[trigger]

I heard back from the garage who's fixing my Acclaim this evening, it seems that it wasn't the head gasket that had gone but it was the actual head that had corroded, it's now been welded up, skimmed and pressure tested costing me £108+vat. Bollocks.

[oman5]

I heard back from the garage who's fixing my Acclaim this evening, it seems that it wasn't the head gasket that had gone but it was the actual head that had corroded, it's now been welded up, skimmed and pressure tested costing me £108+vat. Bollocks.

That's still not too bad, cheaper than buying a replacement car anyway.  

[DSdriver]

Rather than knacker the battery out to pull fuel through, put a little in an old fairy liquid bottle, and squirt  a few teaspoonfuls directly into the carb. Press the throttle to the floor as you crank,   the mota will slowly splutter into a short term existence, hopefully long enough to pull the fuel through.  if not -repeat process. 

 

If the fuels not appeared after 4 attempts- theres a blockage someplace -or the tanks empty.

 

Either way -you'll still have life in the battery.

Or just spray easystart in the carb.

[trigger]

That's still not too bad, cheaper than buying a replacement car anyway.

True, suspect the whole job will owe me about £270 all in which isn't that bad really, it's just something I hadn't budgeted for but at least it should be a pretty pucka motor once all sorted.

[wuvvum]

I've spent around eight hours this week wandering around the Vatican, and I didn't manage to catch even a glimpse of the Pope's Renner Four.  Most disappointed.

 

Rome is a funny old place for cars though.  Parking space seems to be at an almost Tokyoesque premium, so tiny cars are very much the order of the day - there's thousands of Smarts, lots of French microcars of the Aixam / Ligier / JDM / er, Microcar ilk, and loads of Nuova 500s still apparently in daily use and in various stages of batteredness.  Toyota IQs seem to be pretty popular as well - I even spotted an Aston Martin Cygnet in the wild, for the first time ever.  Lots of maxi-scooters too, but disappointingly I only saw about half a dozen "proper" Vespas and not a single Lambretta.  No Ferraris either.  I did see two Iveco Turbostars still apparently earning their keep though (not seen one of those on the road here for at least 10 years) and even an old Alfa lorry parked at the side of the road.

 

Oh, and Italian ambulance sirens sound like Tarzan.  And the fire engines all seem to be ageing Iveco Eurocargos, so I hope I never get caught in a house fire in Italy.

[Sigmund Fraud]

The 'hairdresser special' failed its MoT quite spectacularly this morning... Thankfully, it's all oily bits and no bodywork, so I should be able to sort it out within '10 working days' if the weather helps.

[Sigmund Fraud]

Today was car tinkering day at Fraud towers. I first appeased Mrs.Fraud by doing some long-overdue routine maintenance stuff on her daily, and then turned my attention to the 'hairdresser special' and its MoT failure points. 

 

Failure point #1 was front brake imbalance. The front brakes were taken apart, and a sticky nearside slider seemed to be the cause of the imbalance. Everything was cleaned and reassembled with copious amounts of grease, which will hopefully improve things enough for a pass.

 

Failure point #2 was a broken nearside rear spring, which I knew about but hadn't managed to fix before the test. After huge amounts of swearing and the use of my favourite combination of ATF and breaker bar, the coilover finally came out. It was disassembled and the broken spring was replaced with a lightly* used one I got off the 'bay for £1.40. I then checked the shock to ensure it would not leak all its oil on the way to the re-test, reassembled the coilover and put it back on the car.

 

Failure point #3 was the handbrake, despite new rear discs and pads. The handbrake mechanism is inside the caliper on MX5s, and notoriously prone to all sorts of problems. I decided to adjust the calipers for the third time, this time tightening to the point of slight dragging (which is far, far more than the factory workshop manual says). Despite this, I am pretty convinced that the handbrake is still not up to MoT standard, and that I will need to invest £80 on a quality* pair of chinese replacements to pass the re-test. Bugger.

 

The failure point #4 was both front shocks. I was surprised by this, as the car drives OK, but a quick inspection revealed that they are leaking like bastards, so there's no point in reconditioning* them with paraffin and a rag.

 

I checked the 'bay for a used pair, but even the most crusty looking ones seem to fetch £40-50, which seems false economy when a new pair of Sachs is £100 delivered. To make my decision more difficult, an acquaintance has offered me a complete set of TOP-SUSHI JDM adjustable coilovers for £80, which is almost too good to refuse. Decisions, decisions...

[cobblers]

I flipping loved the cheapo coilovers I had on my old MX5,  I had them set MEGA LOW because I'm a twat but I wound them up to reasonable for after I gave it my mum. Eventually I put some stock stuff back on. and even she (with a knackered back) preferred the coilovers. 

[Pete-M]

Golf started beautifully and quietly this morning. Did my bus duty, jumped back in and clatter-clatter-clatter again. Oh well. Still quietened down after a few seconds.

What oil is in it? If it's too thin - 5w30 or thereabouts, it'll rattle. The hydraulic tappets on later ones of these are a swine for it.

 

Flush, new filter, 10w40 should shut it up.

 

Also, if it's top end rattling, when you start it turn it over a couple of times first, then re-start it. See if it shuts up. If it does, it's the wrong oil.

[rml2345]

I accidentally managed to get the 740 into the display at this year's East Fortune "Wheels and Wings" show;

 

DSC_4588 by davidfowler2000, on Flickr

 

DSC_4589 by davidfowler2000, on Flickr

 

Apart from that it's been polished and generally behaving itself. My car life is therefore quite dull at the moment. 

[outlaw118]

The Moose has gone to pastures new. You may recall I had a OMG BANGER RALLY type bloke offer me money for it when it was on ebay.

Well, after much arsing about with friends* and other mongs, I've sold it to him, £320 delivered. he lives in Harlow, about 30 miles for me, and Mutha_outlaw followed me in their motah.

I was sad to see her go, but he guaranteed me no late night phone calls "This is fukt m* u nevah tolt me" type stuff, and she's going to Italy in February, albeit wearing camo paint and lots of spotlights. they've paid to bring her home too, which is an improvement on his original plan to just leave her somewhere!

Got home from delivery and whats on the doormat? DVLA reminder that the tax is due on the Seat. £280. Pisswipes.

[dollywobbler]

What oil is in it? If it's too thin - 5w30 or thereabouts, it'll rattle. The hydraulic tappets on later ones of these are a swine for it.

 

Flush, new filter, 10w40 should shut it up.

 

Also, if it's top end rattling, when you start it turn it over a couple of times first, then re-start it. See if it shuts up. If it does, it's the wrong oil.

 

Yup. Did that. First time I've ever done an oil flush on a car, but it was recommended. New filter, new 10w40 oil. I won't lose sleep over it. Still lovely once the oil is circulating.

[RobT]

I went for a very pleasant drive with a mate yesterday through the Sussex/Surrey countryside.  He’s a Lancia nut so brought along his newly acquired Dedra, which despite having some old giffer dings is rust free with an immaculate interior.  I gave the Sierra a long overdue clean and as usual it scrubs up rather nicely despite the many blemishes.  I’ve nicked his photos but I’m sure he won’t mind.

 

 

 

My list of parts to replace on the Sierra is getting longer i.e. radiator, two front tyres, air flow meter to sort the occasional rough running, and a rear exhaust section (it isn’t holey, just too noisy particularly at speed).  I’ll get the tyres first in readiness for winter and keep chancing the other bits until something breaks.

[dollywobbler]

A beautiful, sunny day here in Wales (see? It does happen) so after clambering into the Disco and having my glasses steam up, I've been trying to bodge it up so it doesn't leak so horrendously. Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure for the smaller cracks, a big blobby smear of silicon sealant on the bigger cracks. Ideally, I need to pull out the Alpine lights, rearmost side windows and windscreen so new seals can be fitted. That won't be happening anytime soon, but is on the to do list. The bubbling around the Alpine lights fills me with fear for a start. Should be an interesting area to repair!

[forddeliveryboy]

A beautiful, sunny day here in Wales (see? It does happen) so after clambering into the Disco and having my glasses steam up

 

I always long for long periods of freezing weather with leaky cars - they dry up wonderfully so long as you don't drive too far.

[cort16]

I was off for a weekend in Belfast with some old mates and got completely wankered. I'm feeling the pain today but it was well worth it.

[Mr Livered]

No pain, no gain, etc.

[trigger]

I spent a bit of time today cleaning up the Civic, after it's recent visit to the bodyshop (who's work I'm still not impressed with) it needed a another good polish and clean to remove all the overspray and dust, It's come up looking fantastic now, I suspect it's probably even one of the best early 1st gens left in the UK even now.

 

This is about as good as I can get with a photo at the moment though as it's blocked in by the Cortina and isn't running very well as the carb gasket has split and I'm waiting for my old man to come over and fit the carb service kit I've bought, I IZ SHITE @ MECHANKIZ.

 

 

I dropped the drivers seat off at the local trimmers last week as it had a split near the headrest, £50 later I've got a newly retrimmed middle boaster section and it looks great, it's helped really tidy the interior up now i think too.

 

 

 

 

I've been asked to display it at the final touring cars race at Brands Hatch in a few weeks on the Honda racing teams stand which induces 2 days free hospitality tickets so I thought i better get it looking all nice!