The new news 24 thread

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

no Police national computer record so thats good LOL but impressive they managed to lose the V5 given the last one was only issued in late march!

(was quite surprised to find that it only has an 875cc engine mind! we need a back to back comparison/review with a singer chamois LOL)

I thought ypsilon were lancia? The gov history site says Chrysler.

[Fumbler]

7 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I thought ypsilon were lancia? The gov history site says Chrysler.

I wonder if they were registered as being made by the parent company, which would have been FCA at the time. Still makes no sense to me, though.

[LightBulbFun]

8 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I thought ypsilon were lancia? The gov history site says Chrysler.

according to wikipedia it was sold as a Chrysler the UK Ireland and Japan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Ypsilon

[Fumbler]

So I've decided, very much against any judgment at all, to take the BX to college tomorrow. In fact I'm so confident in it that I'm bringing my toolkit and a full bottle of LHM with me to keep me company. Upon testing it out on the M25 today, I have a feeling my right foot will get cramp pretty quickly.

Am I stupid or am I brave? I suppose we'll find out tomorrow.

[omegod]

2 hours ago, wuvvum said:

No pez shot yet as it had a third of a tank, but I've pulled into a layby on the A628 for a bite to eat.  

I've bought a car with no logbook off a Scouser.  What could possibly go wrong? 

Bizzarely this might have been in my rear view mirror a couple of days ago as I intitally thought WTF is that then the penny dropped! whereabouts in my fair city did it reside ? 

[Cord Fourteener]

Another reason to run a banger: kids.

[Supernaut]

22 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

Another reason to run a banger: kids.

Did they go feral? Fucking hell!

 

4 hours ago, reb said:

In the end I decided against driving to the unit today because I realised driving on basically no sleep isn't particularly sensible, but then a friend popped up and asked if he could borrow my engine crane so we went along in his brother's van. While we were there we decided to have a prod at the C2, discovering that the bonnet really didn't want to open we spent a good few minutes fighting with it, eventually we got it open and got the battery out to charge. Other than being a bit grim from sitting it all seemed altogether better than it did when it was parked up, which might just be because I'm feeling more optimistic now than then. Next job there will be photos then listing it for sale/roffle.

My friend also agreed to help with the 205 since I've helped him out with his turbo Civic build by lending him various bits of garage equipment he couldn't justify buying himself, between us we make a single reasonably skilled mechanic* so that's another big relief. It's been entirely too long since it was last on the road and quite frankly I wish I'd just worked on the problems the original engine had rather than trying to stuff an HDI into it but that's hindsight. I'm hoping that by the time I'm "finished" with it it'll be in a better state than it was when I bought it, I think we're more than capable of that.

I feel a lot calmer about the automotive side of life than I did 48 hours ago, obviously staying awake this long has a cleansing effect on the brain or something.

Would be well up for a wee trip down the road sometime, now that we're allowed, to work on an old French tub.

[richardmorris]

39 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

Another reason to run a banger: kids.

More that it’s another reason not to have children and keep cars safe.

[stuboy]

17 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Are you driving a small 3 pot car? If so, BMW driver has assumed they're more important than you. 

 

[bangernomics]

Mrs SiC has found a picture of said car. Turns out it's a Clubman. Also harvest gold by the look of it - the colour of my BGT that she have never liked

Mum had a poo brown inverted colours to that one that had a loom fire and melted her tights to her legs.

Then the battery lead shorted out and nearly torched us all.

Final straw was the rocker started leaking badly and it smoked us out. She chopped it in against a copper coloured chevette saloon.

[wuvvum]

And home. 

 

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, omegod said:

Bizzarely this might have been in my rear view mirror a couple of days ago as I intitally thought WTF is that then the penny dropped! whereabouts in my fair city did it reside ? 

It was Everton way.  L5 postcode.

[SiC]

16 minutes ago, bangernomics said:

Mum had a poo brown inverted colours to that one that had a loom fire and melted her tights to her legs.

Then the battery lead shorted out and nearly torched us all.

Final straw was the rocker started leaking badly and it smoked us out. She chopped it in against a copper coloured chevette saloon.

Quirks and imperfections add character to a car!

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

(was quite surprised to find that it only has an 875cc engine mind! we need a back to back comparison/review with a singer chamois LOL)

Half the cylinders and over twice the power, so not much of a comparison really...

[bangernomics]

Quirks and imperfections add character to a car!

I hope it is bean cans by now. It did start a long love affair with minis though. Probably the thought that my annoying sisters were stuck in the back and would’ve been toasty.

[brownnova]

10 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

And home. 

 

I wasn’t expecting an Ypsilon!!

Nicely bought! 

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

Did they go feral? Fucking hell!

Yes, serves me right from putting the 2 year old in a place I thought he is safe and enjoys being in while I get on with some work close by...

 

[Eyersey1234]

3 hours ago, richardmorris said:

I thought ypsilon were lancia? The gov history site says Chrysler.

They were sold as a Chrysler in the UK 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

 

Well, it did sound like it had a multiple of three cylinders, so I was halfway there 😅

[wuvvum]

So I am now the proud owner of a slightly* dented 2012 Lancia Chrysler Ypsilon.  First time in ages that I've owned a car that is still in production (albeit not sold on these shores anymore).  It was slightly daft to buy an 875cc shopping car on the other side of the country and get the train up to drive it back based on a rather sparse description, but it all worked out as well as I could have hoped.

It's a funny little thing, the Ypsilon.  I'd been wanting to try a Twin Air engine for a while, and this was the cheapest road legal Twin Air-powered car I'd seen for sale, so I went for it.  Reading contemporary road tests though, they all seem to concur that the Twin Air isn't really suited to the Ypsilon, and I can kind of see what they mean.  The Ypsilon is designed as a sort of semi-luxurious small car (much as its direct ancestor the Y10 was), and the Twin Air isn't really a "luxury" engine.  It's a buzzy little thing that needs thrashing to make much in the way of progress, so it's great fun but not exactly relaxing.  It also really doesn't like pulling from low revs - it gets rather vibratory if you labour it, as vertical twins have a tendency to do.  It's fine on the motorway though, 70mph is just over 3,000rpm but being a twin it sounds like it's revving a lot lower than that.  Performance is decent rather than rapid, but pretty good given the diminutive engine. 

Ride isn't bad at all for a modern small car - the suspension is slightly firmer than the diesel C2 but the longer wheelbase means it feels less bouncy.  I tried chucking it round a couple of bends on the A628 in the brief period when I wasn't stuck in a line of traffic, and it seems to handle well enough, although the steering is slightly devoid of feel as is the modern way.  It's not as well soundproofed as I'd expected and there's a fair bit of road noise at motorway speeds - although to be fair I did have the back seat down to fit my bike in which won't have been helping.  The driving position is also rather Italian (bent legs, straight arms) which I thought was a thing of the past by 2012 but evidently not.  It's comfortable enough though, and doesn't feel cramped at all.  The stereo sounds pretty decent too for a small car.  Being a mid-range SE it gets aircon and a sunroof, but no cruise control and electric windows in the front only.

Apart from the obvious bodywork issues there are a few minor faults with it.  The only one I need to rectify immediately is the offside rear indicator is out.  So is the rear fog but I never use those anyway.  The dash display is also very dim (couldn't see it at all in daylight) and flickers somewhat, but that just displays the mileage and (presumably) the trip computer functions, which I can live without.  The instruments (speedo, rev counter, fuel gauge and, wonder of wonders, temp gauge) all work fine.  The other electrical issue is that the headlights are on all the time when the ignition is on - the light switch doesn't seem to do anything.  Better that than not having them work at all though.  The dipped beams are pretty shite, annoyingly, although main beam is fine.  The car also has working rear parking sensors - the only car in the current fleet where they actually work.  I haven't tried the A/C yet.

Fuel consumption seems to be on a par with the diesel C2, which is pretty good going.  In fact I can see this taking over commuting duties once commuting is a thing again - 60-odd mpg and zero VED means it's going to be a pretty cheap thing to run.

 

On Saturday I went and picked up the Swift from my mate's place and brought it home to give it a once over before its MOT on Tuesday. 

Only areas of worry I found were a small area at the back of the nearside sill which feels a little soft, and the exhaust is blowing round the join for the cat, which I will gun gum up for the test.  Obvs there may be other issues with brakes etc, but I've checked the obvious (lights, indicators, wipers, horn, tyres etc) and they all seem fine.  It has done almost no miles in the last few years so there shouldn't be much in the way of wear on anything, but sitting around doesn't stop rust and it also doesn't do braking systems a lot of good.

Speaking of which, the job I had planned for Saturday afternoon was to do the brake pads on the Innocenti.  That didn't happen though.  I got the calipers off, prised out the old pads and the (knackered) retaining springs, only to find that the pistons looked like this.

There's no way those are going to clean up well enough to be able to be wound back in without shredding the seals, so new pistons will be required.  I'm wavering between buying a piston and seal kit and attempting a rebuild, or forking out a bit more and buying a pair of replacement calipers, which will be a lot less faff.  They're standard Mini items so not stupidly expensive - although the bits I've bought for the car are really starting to add up...

[Ghosty]

10 hours ago, wuvvum said:

No pez shot yet as it had a third of a tank, but I've pulled into a layby on the A628 for a bite to eat.  

I've bought a car with no logbook off a Scouser.  What could possibly go wrong? 

The south's the other way m9, your car's facing Manc! 

That's my part of the world, I live a couple of miles from the end of the M67. 

[Stanky]

Nice work, the drive back will have done it the world of good. How well do the twinair engines cope with high mileages?

Re the innocenti brakes, from bitter experience I would suggest replacing the complete caliper rather than fiddling about with a repair kit, or potentially even contacting biggred and seeing how much to refurb these. It's a bit more expensive but even if you mentally charge your time a £5/hour then outright replacement will be substantially cheaper I suspect. Also you have a better chance of getting the bleed nipples to crack off with brand new ones!

[Split_Pin]

Put Cataclean in on the stated 1/4 tank, checked the air filter which was spotless, did an oil and filter change, took the Cav for a long run, drove great but didn't even bother testing it. Went straight on the emissions but they were 0.7 when they should be 0.2. I don't really know what that means but its a country mile out.

They are going to have a look into why they are so high but, given that I have tried just about all the options I don't think it looks good. He asked how I managed to get it through last year but I obviously couldn't answer that as I've only had it a couple of months.

Going to complete the test just to see what the rest is like anyway.

Pretty disappointed after all the work I put in but at least I gave it my best shot up to this point. Just glad I didn't sell the Corsa.

[Split_Pin]

Well in spite of that Conversation, this certainly looks like its worth persevering with.

 

[Stanky]

How much is a new cat @Split_Pin? That suggests to me that its either original and knackered, or (more likely) a shit pattern/aftermarket one thats just not working.

[outlaw118]

17 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I've bought a car with no logbook off a Scouser.  What could possibly go wrong? 

You utter SUNROOF

[wuvvum]

7 hours ago, Ghosty said:

The south's the other way m9, your car's facing Manc!

Yep, but the scenery's better on that side of the road, and the Ypsilon has a good turning circle...

[Split_Pin]

19 minutes ago, Stanky said:

How much is a new cat @Split_Pin? That suggests to me that its either original and knackered, or (more likely) a shit pattern/aftermarket one thats just not working.

It was replaced together with the downpipe a wee while ago and it still looks new. I haven't priced one up but it could be a shout.

[Stanky]

2 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

It was replaced together with the downpipe a wee while ago and it still looks new. I haven't priced one up but it could be a shout.

does it have any form of OBD or does it pre-date that? I assume with a cat its fuel injected rather than carb?

[Split_Pin]

No OBD, its just the paperclip in the diagnostic socket in the engine and you count the flashes. I got number 12 which means no codes stored.

Single point injection  too.