The new news 24 thread

[wesacosa]

had this on my eBay watch list for about a year.  Last week I decided there was no point keeping something I would never buy on my watchlist as it was in Latvia and not particularly cheap

 

a nice Latvian man has just dropped it off at my house. Its massive and weighs a ton and I have no fecking idea what I am gonna do with it. Its rather cool though. Need to convince Mrs Wesacosa how nice it would look in the back garden

[vulgalour]

Looks like a job for @RichardK or @Zelandeth

[Zelandeth]

10 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

had this on my eBay watch list for about a year.  Last week I decided there was no point keeping something I would never buy on my watchlist as it was in Latvia and not particularly cheap

 

a nice Latvian man has just dropped it off at my house. Its massive and weighs a ton and I have no fecking idea what I am gonna do with it

That would be on the back wall of my garage virtually before it had touched the ground!  Looks to be in astonishingly good shape.

[wesacosa]

4 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

That would be on the back wall of my garage virtually before it had touched the ground!  Looks to be in astonishingly good shape.

its needs a bit of a clean as some dirt and grime got between the red and the white layers but other than that its very tidy.

[MarvinsMom]

today i have spent an amount of money on poor old Marvin the Metro which must be twice what the car is currently worth.

all in the quest for a new MOT. With Wuhan Flu fucking the world up, the car has not been touched since September 2019.

when we last got it out of the garage, its nose was in the weeds, the hydragas cans, while not leaking were lacking in gas. a common thing, and not really a shock given the cars 30 years, especially as the cans only had a design life of 10 years.

so, given the sad state of a car i really like, there was only one thing to do.

and that is the foolish choice of getting the suspension overhauled.

today the lovely couple from Hydrolastic and Hydragas Services have come up all the way from Telford to Redcar, and put a set of refurbished cans on the car, Kerry put the battery leads back on, and the car fired up straight away.

along with a new rear link pipe. that has been an advise on the cars MOT for the last few years, and while they thought it in pretty good nick, the last thing i wanted was to have the bloody thing burst, or start to leak. 

save a couple of siezed up bolts and a couple of siezed up knuckle joints, but as these things have not been touched since 1989, that is to be expected. 

Kerry has had a quick drive round the yard, and says the car rides SO SO much better than before. which was firm to say the least!!

a brief examination of the car shows that everything is still working, though the hand brake wants adjusting, as do the brakes generally. with it been stood so long us having a wee looksie will not do it any harm.

and the old hydragas cans? well those, along with a pair off a scrapper which have laid in my shed for 5 or more years have gone back with them, for testing and hopefully reconditioning for use on another Metro. if those had not gone back with them, well in all honesty they would have ended up  in the scrap skip, so that they hopefully gone into the spares pool, and might well get used again is a good thing.

in other news, Kerry also got the Hardly Dangerous Sportser started. the first time that has run in more than a year. and we have found out why that bike was damn near impossible to move, there isn't alot of air in the front tyre! oops....

 

[derskine]

I was recently forced to emerge from my car fixing hiatus when some nob rear ended me.

It turned out okay given that mostly when I do this it turns out shit.

 

[LightBulbFun]

2 hours ago, wesacosa said:

had this on my eBay watch list for about a year.  Last week I decided there was no point keeping something I would never buy on my watchlist as it was in Latvia and not particularly cheap

 

a nice Latvian man has just dropped it off at my house. Its massive and weighs a ton and I have no fecking idea what I am gonna do with it. Its rather cool though. Need to convince Mrs Wesacosa how nice it would look in the back garden

what sort of lighting is inside that?

if its got some soviet incandescent lightbulbs or fluorescent tubes installed still

please save them for me!  

I have a dire lack of Soviet/eastern European  shite in my lightbulb collection which I really need to sort out

 

and yes its very fitting, given the recent eastern block activity on the forum!  

[wesacosa]

26 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

what sort of lighting is inside that?

if its got some soviet incandescent lightbulbs or fluorescent tubes installed still

please save them for me!  

I have a dire lack of Soviet/eastern European  shite in my lightbulb collection which I really need to sort out

 

and yes its very fitting, given the recent eastern block activity on the forum!  

Not sure to be honest, haven't got as far as to open it up. Will have a look at how it all comes apart 

[Minimad5]

3 hours ago, wesacosa said:

had this on my eBay watch list for about a year.  Last week I decided there was no point keeping something I would never buy on my watchlist as it was in Latvia and not particularly cheap

 

a nice Latvian man has just dropped it off at my house. Its massive and weighs a ton and I have no fecking idea what I am gonna do with it.

I've been watching similar Lada bits and bobs on eBay, hoping that they drop a tad and come into budget.

If you see any similar items, do give me a nudge

[Split_Pin]

Timing belt all done on the Cavalier,  picking it up later this morning. Traditionally he has said he has marked the mileage on the belt cover in white which I approve of.

The ride is shit on the 16 inch Speedline wheels with 195/45/16 tyres though. I don't remember the Corsa being affected by them like that. Anyway, I've finally decided to sell them and I am collecting a set of MK1 Tigra wheels on Tuesday. They will need tyres so I'm going for the highest possible profile within Cavalier tolerances and that is a common size, I think 195/60 should be cheap enough. Ideally I'd like 185/65 but I think those might be dearer. Its not the first time its worn this sort of wheel either, here is a picture I found of it about 10 years ago.

[brownnova]

Yesterday a kid arrived at school just after we were locking the back gates. Normally if they’re late they have to go to the main entrance to sign in (a 2 minute walk round the corner)

However, as he had arrived to school in a Rover 600 I made them unlock the gates to let him in, and informed him that this was purely because he had arrived in a Rover. 

[New POD]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Timing belt all done on the Cavalier,  picking it up later this morning. Traditionally he has said he has marked the mileage on the belt cover in white which I approve of.

The ride is shit on the 16 inch Speedline wheels with 195/45/16 tyres though. I don't remember the Corsa being affected by them like that. Anyway, I've finally decided to sell them and I am collecting a set of MK1 Tigra wheels on Tuesday. They will need tyres so I'm going for the highest possible profile within Cavalier tolerances and that is a common size, I think 195/60 should be cheap enough. Ideally I'd like 185/65 but I think those might be dearer. Its not the first time its worn this sort of wheel either, here is a picture I found of it about 10 years ago.

I had a set of Calibra wheels in our Old mk3, which went on the Astra mk3 later, and had come off a calibre (note the E. The CalibrE was given the proper mk2 Sri130 style alloys which had been on the mk3.

The mk3 also wore steel wheels, mk3 Astra gsi fan blades. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Count Binface should be doing better than this, surely...

[phil_lihp]

It's not often car insurance can raise a smile but the Princess policy was due for renewal next week and my current insurer have been bombarding me with renewal reminders by post, email and text which annoyed me intensely, especially seeing as they put the price up by £30.  I'd been recommended Hagerty by a couple of friends with old cars so I got a quote off their website, got an instant and fairly decent price, called them up and got straight through to a thoroughly pleasant chap - he asked the usual questions, managed to match the Lancaster price with extra bits like breakdown cover included and I had the new policy set up in a few minutes.    

[rusty998]

37 minutes ago, phil_lihp said:

It's not often car insurance can raise a smile but the Princess policy was due for renewal next week and my current insurer have been bombarding me with renewal reminders by post, email and text which annoyed me intensely, especially seeing as they put the price up by £30.  I'd been recommended Hagerty by a couple of friends with old cars so I got a quote off their website, got an instant and fairly decent price, called them up and got straight through to a thoroughly pleasant chap - he asked the usual questions, managed to match the Lancaster price with extra bits like breakdown cover included and I had the new policy set up in a few minutes.    

I recently got insured with Hagerty on my MGF, I was happy with the price they quoted me and impressed with the thoroughly excellent customer service I received,  it was nice to able to speak car stuff with the gentleman on the end of the phone instead of just going through the process 

[Low Horatio gearbox]

I cleaned my ring... no one likes a dirty ring.

 

Admittedly it's been way overdue as I've had the  car a year and a half but I feared the metal disintegrating given the apparant rust.

 

And after. Not rusty at all but, a lot of nicotine and cigarette smoke staining and thick gunge... nice 🤮

[Cord Fourteener]

We managed to get out for our North Wales meet - in the pouring rain and low visibility. 

Still, a nice time was had, it was lovely to see you all 👍

[puddlethumper]

Well, it's another year on the road for my lil old 305 van. Yipeee ! As for the advisory, it's 32 years old FFS what do you expect. 

[Cord Fourteener]

Looks like Boio had a good time.

[Floatylight]

31 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

We managed to get out for our North Wales meet - in the pouring rain and low visibility. 

Still, a nice time was had, it was lovely to see you all 👍

Hairnet bannister to the naughty corner for being a wuss and having the top up..

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Just after a trip out in the CX, calling at Radlett, Hatfield and Barnet. Bland featureless desert of SUVs and vans.

Nothing noteworthy to report, apart from spotting an early Ford Consul.

[aldo135]

Went for a jog earlier (seemed a good idea at the time) and met @Lacquer Peel who had kindly come through with my new car! My first car collection on foot and without kids in tow. Thanks for your help Cal . Those of you who know this car and commented on the sale thread are right, it’s a brilliant thing! 

[tommotech]

Adrian Flux sent my insurance renewal today for the MG Midget, £95 for the year with agreed value and no mileage limit (not that I do more than 1000 anyhow). Happy with that.

Awaiting parts for the Audi the Alfa has been pressed into service, it does bring a grin and the 2.0 TS sounds great. 

[Broadsword]

Half way through a cam belt job on a mk. 2 Ka (Fiat 500) , got the new belt lined up all nice, put on the new tensioner and ping it disintegrated. Bugger!

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

18 minutes ago, Broadsword said:

Half way through a cam belt job on a mk. 2 Ka (Fiat 500) , got the new belt lined up all nice, put on the new tensioner and ping it disintegrated. Bugger!

 

Just as well it failed now rather than when the engine was running...

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, aldo135 said:

Went for a jog earlier (seemed a good idea at the time) and met @Lacquer Peel who had kindly come through with my new car! My first car collection on foot and without kids in tow. Thanks for your help Cal . Those of you who know this car and commented on the sale thread are right, it’s a brilliant thing! 

I like 👍 

[SiC]

Got my Bill Gates jab today. Can hear him speaking in my ear already. 

Unfortunately it's progressively made me feel shitter over the day. Groggy and aching. 

Bloody annoying as I was intending to go to the Haynes Museum pre-80s Breakfast meet tomorrow, but that's looking unlikely if this progressively gets worse. Driving the BGT is physically hard work and it's a good hour drive each way. Been looking forward to it all year too! 😔

[Mr Livered]

Hope you feel better soon @SiC.

[Lacquer Peel]

9 hours ago, aldo135 said:

Went for a jog earlier (seemed a good idea at the time) and met @Lacquer Peel who had kindly come through with my new car! My first car collection on foot and without kids in tow. Thanks for your help Cal . Those of you who know this car and commented on the sale thread are right, it’s a brilliant thing! 

I'm glad you like it! I am always worried when selling that my idea of a good car isn't someone else's idea of a good car. 

The lazy headlight wiper on the passenger side might just be a loose connector at the motor, it's another of those wee things I didn't get around to fixing. 

 

[Split_Pin]

9 hours ago, SiC said:

Got my Bill Gates jab today. Can hear him speaking in my ear already. 

Unfortunately it's progressively made me feel shitter over the day. Groggy and aching. 

Bloody annoying as I was intending to go to the Haynes Museum pre-80s Breakfast meet tomorrow, but that's looking unlikely if this progressively gets worse. Driving the BGT is physically hard work and it's a good hour drive each way. Been looking forward to it all year too! 😔

Got my letter a couple of days ago, jag is on Friday, not planning anything in case it wipes me out.