The new news 24 thread

[Stanky]

4 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Well this looks safe!

Currently someone is just walking around on the roof, on their own as far as I can see, for some reason pressure washing the roof.

Yes there are cars parked roadside both sides just out of frame which are getting showered with the spray off as well.

Is this a thing that people have done regularly?  Have never even heard of it before!

[dollywobbler]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

You know you’re winning at life when you get a message offering you an american minivan to accompany the one you already have... 

Anyone fancy a very tidy Chevrolet Venture 3.5 auto? I know of one for sale! 

 

This thing looks absolutely delicious. Sadly bank balance and space requirements firmly say no. Would be fun to put Vauxhall badges on it.

[stuboy]

13 hours ago, brownnova said:

You know you’re winning at life when you get a message offering you an american minivan to accompany the one you already have... 

Anyone fancy a very tidy Chevrolet Venture 3.5 auto? I know of one for sale! 

 

i first thought it was a sintra

[Mrcento]

Just now, stuboy said:

i first thought it was a sintra

Because it is. Just one of the LHD US variants.

[stuboy]

16 hours ago, Spurious said:

I think that's natural selection at work there now. Or at least a broken femur. 

 

Edit. Forgot to post this one actually from a few weeks back. Aluminium ladder on a van roof. What could possibly go wrong... 

 

15 hours ago, wuvvum said:

That's a professional looking outfit - knackered ex-Parcel Force Sprinter and a non-matching pair of ladders...

wonder if it has any chasis...

14 hours ago, Spurious said:

It's all okay though, they've got hi-vis vests on that'll save them 

definitely.. 

[MorrisItalSLX]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

You know you’re winning at life when you get a message offering you an american minivan to accompany the one you already have... 

Anyone fancy a very tidy Chevrolet Venture 3.5 auto? I know of one for sale! 

 

Worth it for the upholstery alone.

[stuboy]

21 hours ago, brownnova said:

Right, which one of you drove past my house, saw the Pontiac and left this all over the road outside.... 

You dirty buggers you... 

due to covid i just stayed at home...

[Jazoli]

I bought this today

It needs de-barrying a little and the ecu sending off to noobtune but it's a solid old bus and it's a colour I've never seen before.

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Jazoli said:

I bought this today

It needs de-barrying a little and the ecu sending off to noobtune but it's a solid old bus and it's a colour I've never seen before.

Can't tell on my phone screen but is that a dark blue or more of a dark brown?

[Ghosty]

 

[Jazoli]

6 hours ago, SiC said:

Can't tell on my phone screen but is that a dark blue or more of a dark brown?

It's a dark brown

Once I've polished it up I'll post a pic as it's quite unusual.

[Split_Pin]

15 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Well this looks safe!

Currently someone is just walking around on the roof, on their own as far as I can see, for some reason pressure washing the roof.

Yes there are cars parked roadside both sides just out of frame which are getting showered with the spray off as well.

Is this a thing that people have done regularly?  Have never even heard of it before!

Happening a lot round our way at the moment. People have money to burn because they're not going on holiday or even buying clothes to go out in.

My wife wanted it done but I have imposed a permanent ban on any new or unknown tradesmen coming anywhere near my house again.

[beko1987]

A house across the road has the scaffolding up for the same reason, watched it go up yesterday and a bloke went into the roof and cleaned it off with a trowel and brush. 

All his mates drove off though and left him on his own... I opened the kitchen window a crack incase I heard a scream as he fell but he seemed fine. 

[Saabnut]

3 hours ago, Jazoli said:

It's a dark brown

Once I've polished it up I'll post a pic as it's quite unusual.

I think that is "Espresso", not very common and a nice colour. What spec is it?

Better call dibs then  

[Jazoli]

12 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

I think that is "Espresso", not very common and a nice colour. What spec is it?

Better call dibs then  

It's a 1.8t (2.0) Vector 5sp Manual, no heated seats unfortunately but it seems to have everything else, everything works including the climate which is nice, dibs duly noted

[dome]

I'm currently working from home but do one day a week in the office. This is perfect to get some miles on the Range Rover, and last week with the better weather I brought the XJ6.

Today I brought the freshly MOT'd Ibiza.

This sums up how I felt...

[Wgl2019]

Wife's Volvo has passed its MOT so is being treated to some new boots.

I've developed a liking for all season tyres after fitting Crossclimates to my Saab 9-5 (dry performance fine, excellent in wet and cold, not had enough snow to test). Downside of these is £££, they wear well so evens out over time but there are some other alternatives. Depending on the design focus some will be more of a summer tyre and some more towards snow and ice.... in West Lancs cold wet weather is a lot more common than blizzards so I wanted something more towards a summer design.....

Vredestein Quatrac Pro are billed with s load of marketing bs but look good and were hovering around £100 each which was ok..... however currently on offer at £50 off of 4 and a price reduction..... £300 for 4 delivered.

Just need to pick up the new (old) wheels I've bought and get them refurbished.

Offer here if any use to anyone:

https://www.camskill.co.uk/

[Asimo]

Ladders aren’t funny.  A neighbour is in a very bad way from a home ladder accident last week. Very smashed up, touch and go...

Nice chap that I have known for ever. Always had a new Fiat , 127, Uno, Punto, etc

[Volksy]

Mercedes passed the MOT the other day.

Had advisories for the rear tyres wearing, and slight play in a NSF link rod.  Overall pretty impressed with this one!

[richardmorris]

Large Tonka Toy and a barn find DB6. Reg was STU404J but isn’t showing in gov tax website. I really liked the remote control trolley lift it was delivered on.

[Spottedlaurel]

On 4/6/2021 at 10:12 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

LS400 is going into the garage tomorrow. It repaid my excitement about going straight through the MoT then having an oil change by dropping out on half its cylinders, seems like a coil pack has failed. The exhaust heating up to cherry red and then splashing through puddles on the slow journey home doesn't seem to have done it any favours either, I'm hoping they can weld it up.

Hoping to drop into a real post office later in the week so I can get the Laurel swapped over to historic tax.

Update.........

Haven't yet got the Laurel tax dealt with, hopefully tomorrow, but I dropped the LS400 into the garage yesterday and I've already got it back with everything sorted. They'd speculatively ordered a coil pack in on the basis of my description and that did the job. Cat joints got welded-up, and as a 'bonus' while it was up in the air they found a coolant leak that turned out to be a split hose which they replaced. Luckily it wasn't the radiator (although they aren't as expensive as I'd feared).

Nice to drive the old thing again, and as I start working back in the office next week I'll have more excuse to use it.

[Chris2cv]

My moped is back from the dead. Again. I think that this might be the last time. But will I wait until it breaks again before I get a replacement?   Probably.

[Justin Case]

Mazdashed passed its MOT today with no advisories. I am quite pleased delighted as it has been off the road for six months until today and there was a bit of rust on the discs, but it didn't seem to affect the brakes.

[N19]

Also shows why H&S folk are neurotic about ladders - and them only being used as a last resort.

[Fumbler]

BX now has tyres ordered... although I couldn't get a full uniform set because the Internet thought that would be too easy. I bought the last pair in existence by the looks of things. Out of stock everywhere. Fortunately my brother sourced some equivalents with the same speed rating and stuff. Not ideal but substantially better than what's currently on there.

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Large Tonka Toy and a barn find DB6. Reg was STU404J but isn’t showing in gov tax website. I really liked the remote control trolley lift it was delivered on.

Nice...while I think a lot of Astons are overrated, I do like the DB5, and that's a great colour for it.  When they're being driven as intended they make a truly glorious noise.

Definitely one of the very expensive cars I was given a shot of by a friend which stuck in my mind as one on the "yeah...if I won the lottery I'd want one of them" list.

 

[richardmorris]

4 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Nice...while I think a lot of Astons are overrated, I do like the DB5, and that's a great colour for it.  When they're being driven as intended they make a truly glorious noise.

Definitely one of the very expensive cars I was given a shot of by a friend which stuck in my mind as one on the "yeah...if I won the lottery I'd want one of them" list.

 

When they opened the doors the surround seemed to be white, as did the engine bay, so I think it’s had a cheap respray at some point. No photo of that as I was doing actual work in the lab and had my hands full, but just looking out of the window. 

Perhaps @LightBulbFun can work his magic and find out when it was last registered for the road? Nothing is showing on the gov tax website,

[MarvinsMom]

have had a good day today, a really good day, the first in sometime.

see, this morning, well actually 3am cos i;'m having the insomnia something terrible at the moment, i fished this out and had a good look at the bit about seatbelts. i didn't realise that upto 1972 Austin-Morris shipped the cars off to the dealers without seatbelts, these were then fitted there as an extra, and there been several types available. when i last had these Kangol Reflex ones in the car, briefly some time ago, i couldn't get any sense out of them, i gave the belts a yank, and they would npt lock. well it seems that is quiet common, on these old belts the car needs to brake to make the seatbelts lock. having had a try this afternoon, they do work when you do that, most of the  time, when they feel like it of course!!

so today i have whiled away several pleasant hours tinkering with the black mini, its future is still unclear, but after today well maybe it'll stay with me, for now. i have already delated the advert that i had posted, as such, after reading the book, and looking on the interwebs about those old seatbelts, i have had a go at putting them back in the car. in truth i can see me putting the new belts back in, but for now i wanted to give them a try.

there is some evidence of corrosion in the inertia mechanism, and the webbing is grubby too, so, i'm thinking that the webbing will clean up using "Pledge" or something similar, i'm wondering if some wd40 in the inertia mechanism would clean that up inside? i have wondered about using brake cleaner on that part, but then what if that was too harsh on what are a mix of small nylon looking bits and diecast cogs?? 

well after that, i did go for a run into town again in it, just because, kerry has done a great job sorting the ignition out, new points, new condenser and the replacing the electric connections onto the coil has got the car running sweet. there has been a weep from the thermostat housing, while having the tools too hand i was going to change the gasket on that to, only to find that the bolts were not as tight has they should, could have been. i have given them a tweak, so i hope that will sort that.

the test run while been successful has shown a couple of things that need attention. the exhaust is blowing from the clamp, as is typical on an a-series given the shit clamp arrangement that BMC adopted, and the car pulls on braking. it seems that the o/s brakes are keen as  fook, while the n/s are not so in their operation, and the indicators seem to function in a rather hit and miss affair. so the exhaust and brakes will all get some much needed attention, the indicators though i think the fault is more with the stalk rather than the relay or actual bulbs. there  i think the contacts in the stalk must have got some corrosion or similar on them, so i am hoping that they will get better with some use. even so, with these faults i did find that i was indeed enjoying the car again. which was nice. and has me thinking that for now at  least, i will be hanging on to it. i will never, ever be able to have another one, if  i let that one go.... plus look at the odds and sods that i have collected out of the garage for this car, i am going to have a good look through whats here with a view to binning the stuff thats just crap, and sell,or at least attempt to sell on  those bits that are ok to go again.

i then decided that it deserved a quick wash, and the Toyota too got a wipe with a soapy sponge, as the car was filthy. i have ran about in that car for the first time in a long time, last time been when i was doing that shitty job which i hated. and i found i was hating the toyota too. not so today, yes, the toyota is CRUSHINGLY dull, but actually as a car to trundle about in, well its perfectly adequate! 

so what have i taken away from today? well i think if i'm in a poor placementally, then EVERYTHING is going to  be shit. Conversly if i'm ok, then things are peachy. it also means that i think i should get my happy tablets reviewed, though the shit and strife that getting any sort of consultation from the GPs currently make that unlikely!!

[Zelandeth]

1 minute ago, MarvinsMom said:

have had a good day today, a really good day, the first in sometime.

see, this morning, well actually 3am cos i;'m having the insomnia something terrible at the moment, i fished this out and had a good look at the bit about seatbelts. i didn't realise that upto 1972 Austin-Morris shipped the cars off to the dealers without seatbelts, these were then fitted there as an extra, and there been several types available. when i last had these Kangol Reflex ones in the car, briefly some time ago, i couldn't get any sense out of them, i gave the belts a yank, and they would npt lock. well it seems that is quiet common, on these old belts the car needs to brake to make the seatbelts lock. having had a try this afternoon, they do work when you do that, most of the  time! 

so today i have whiled away several pleasant hours tinkering with the black mini, its future is still unclear, but after today well maybe it'll stay with me, for now. i have already delated the advert that i had posted, as such, after reading the book, and looking on the interwebs about those old seatbelts, i have had a go at putting them back in the car. in truth i can see me putting the new belts back in, but for now i wanted to give them a try.

there is some evidence of corrosion in the inertia mechanism, and the webbing is grubby too, so, i'm thinking that the webbing will clean up using "Pledge" or something similar, i'm wondering if some wd40 in the inertia mechanism would clean that up inside? i have wondered about brake cleaner, though i wonder if that would be too harsh?? 

well after that, i did go for a run into town again in it, just because, kerry has done a great job sorting the ignition out, new points, new condenser and the replacing the electric connections onto the coil has got the car running sweet. there has been a weep from the thermostat housing, while having the tools too hand i was going to change the gasket on that to, only to find that the bolts were not as tight has they should, could have been. i have given them a tweak, so i hope that will sort that.

the test run while been successful has shown a couple of things that need attention. the exhaust is blowing from the clamp, as is typical on an a-series given the shit clamp arrangement that BMC adopted, and the car pulls on braking. it seems that the o/s brakes are keen as  fook, while the n/s are not so in their operation, and the indicators seem to function in a rather hit and miss affair. so the exhaust and brakes will all get some much needed attention, the indicators though i think the fault is more with the stalk rather than the relay or actual bulbs. there  i think the contacts in the stalk must have got some corrosion or similar on them, so i am hoping that they will get better with some use. even so, with these faults i did find that i was indeed enjoying the car again. which was nice. and has me thinking that for now at  least, i will be hanging on to it. i will never, ever be able to have another one, if  i let that one go.... plus look at the odds and sods that i have collected out of the garage for this car, i am going to have a good look through whats here with a view to binning the stuff thats just crap, and sell,or at least attempt to sell on  those bits that are ok to go again.

i then decided that it deserved a quick wash, and the Toyota too got a wipe with a soapy sponge, as the car was filthy. i have ran about in that car for the first time in a long time, last time been when i was doing that shitty job which i hated. and i found i was hating the toyota too. not so today, yes, the toyota is CRUSHINGLY dull, but actually as a car to trundle about in, well its perfectly adequate! 

so what have i taken away from today? well i think if i'm in a poor placementally, then EVERYTHING is going to  be shit. Conversly if i'm ok, then things are peachy. it also means that i think i should get my happy tablets reviewed, though the shit and strife that getting any sort of consultation from the GPs currently make that unlikely!!

Glad you're feeling a bit better.  It's really surprising what just one decent day can do for your mental state isn't it!

I'd love a proper Mini (well...I think I would, have never driven one!  Absolutely loved my Mk I Metro), but there's absolutely no way in hell I could afford - never mind justify - the prices they're worth these days. 

[LightBulbFun]

13 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

When they opened the doors the surround seemed to be white, as did the engine bay, so I think it’s had a cheap respray at some point.  Perhaps @LightBulbFun can work his magic and find out when it was last registered for the road? 

its not on any sort of internet facing computer system so its been inactive since before 1983 either came off the road before being computerised,

or was computerised, but came off the road before 1983 and saw no activity after then so got archived off the main DVLC/DVLA computer when they archived off most vehicles records which had seen no activity since before 1983 or so (I dont know when they did that, I just know that at some point in the past they did!)

if thats the case it would still exist in the DVLA's archives, but I cant search those sadly!