The new news 24 thread

[Sunny Jim]

Relieved that the gasket and head appear to be ok but still no idea where I'm losing coolant to. Losing approx. 1/4 to 1/2 litre per hour when running so I guess the next stage is a pressure test - I don't have the gear for that so I'll have to farm it out.

In the picture you'll notice the fluid is rising towards the left-hand chamber indicating positive pressure however although I held the revs steady at times the fluid rose towards the right-hand chamber - is that significant or does it just indicate air being drawn into the system from the same place fluid is leaking out?

 

[MarvinsMom]

well we got marvin out today, so a guy could test on it a bit, and see what if anything was going on with the brakes.

jacked it up, wheels off and have a look at whats going on.

well, there was a vibration i wasn't expecting, and some odd sounds but it all seems to be working. strangely there isn't anything that i could feel rattling ir cluncking with the wheels back on and on the floor!

same with the backs too, though i have dosed the hand brake cables and the adjusters in WD40 just in case.

then down the lane a bit, well the  back brakes are locking up and the nose of the  car is  dipping underheavy braking so  i guess they are working, if the garage wasn't in town then i would have run it round the block for a proper try.

so i have formulated a plan, i'm going to pop a new set of pads in the front, the ones in there are getting well down, and then  i;m going to get it tested. 

but i want someone sympathetic to old cars to do it, so either i get it booked in at Cropton, or give George Allerton a call and get it in there, and see what it needs to pass.

 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Sunny Jim said:

Relieved that the gasket and head appear to be ok but still no idea where I'm losing coolant to. Losing approx. 1/4 to 1/2 litre per hour when running so I guess the next stage is a pressure test - I don't have the gear for that so I'll have to farm it out.

In the picture you'll notice the fluid is rising towards the left-hand chamber indicating positive pressure however although I held the revs steady at times the fluid rose towards the right-hand chamber - is that significant or does it just indicate air being drawn into the system from the same place fluid is leaking out?

 

Odd one that.  You'd expect a leak that big to show up pretty easily.  Getting some UV dye in the system and a blacklight might be a good call too.

I do seem to distantly remember mystery coolant loss on a friend's Renault 21 being eventually traced to a heater hose connection down the back of the engine.  The hose had gone soft to the extent the clip was no longer tight enough and the water was running down the back of the engine.  Position of the exhaust meant it was evaporating rather than dripping so took us a while to find.

As it memory serves this is the same 1.7 engine might be worth a look.  I think in our case it looked fine until we actually pulled on the hose at which point it was obviously loose on the fitting.

[Sunny Jim]

Thanks @Zelandeth.  I've just found some car ramps on FB marketplace for a tenner that I'm picking up tomorrow night. When I get a chance I'll get under the car, remove the under tray and investigate all the hoses thoroughly as you suggest - probably wouldn't hurt to replace any tired looking clips while I'm at it.

[Supernaut]

I'm sitting here using my laptop in a room full of boxes.

I move to Stirling tomorrow. Eep.

[stuboy]

Another day back on the Isle of sheppey, told missus she had to drive as she wants to come with the kids one day... yo stay weekends etc etc, she don't like driving over the bridge

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, Supernaut said:

I'm sitting here using my laptop in a room full of boxes.

I move to Stirling tomorrow. Eep.

Good luck man!

[gm]

4 hours ago, Supernaut said:

I move to Stirling tomorrow

Good move - hope it all works out 

[horriblemercedes]

This is certainly not new news, but chatting to a friend earlier, I remembered something that I thought might be worth sharing.

 

My mind links the Ford Escort RS Cosworth to Warhammer. And I can explain why.

 

When I was at secondary school, I made friends with a kid in the class who was a great guy. A  bit nerdy, obsessed with Warhammer. I wasn't into Warhammer but he was happy to do my stuff (mostly car museums and car shows) so I was happy to go to Warhammer with him.

One day, his mum was giving us a lift on a Saturday morning to play Warhammer together, and then his mum would pick us up and take us to the cinema. An Escort RS Cosworth overtook us, doing a serious speed. It's a long time ago, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was 130mph+. At the time, Cosworth was a BIG DEAL. I thought this was really cool, but before I could say anything, his mum said, "Maniacs. Don't they know they won't get there any faster?"

 

I've just always imagined that the two young men in the Escort were in a hurry because they were late for a Warhammer game.

 

As it happened, we couldn't play Warhammer because the place was booked up for a Warhammer tournament. I said we should go for a walk, maybe sit in the park with a can of pop. He said that he didn't want to leave the shop because that was where his mum was going to pick us up, so we sat on the floor outside the Warhammer shop for 4.5 hours

 

In hindsight, the Ford might well have been stolen

[artdjones]

4½ hours is a long time at that age. The days before mobile phones seem a very long time ago. 

Actually, your friend's mum was wrong. If you drive at 130mph you do get there quicker than most people.

[MondeoBlues]

Had the Porsche tickled with the sparkle stick with fresh stonechip

[juular]

14 hours ago, Supernaut said:

I'm sitting here using my laptop in a room full of boxes.

I move to Stirling tomorrow. Eep.

@SupernautGood luck with the move. If you need any help PM me, I'm 10 minutes down the road. (Edit: and I have a van!)

[Asimo]

All the magic smoke has escaped from my angle-grinder. And some buzzing, blue, electric flames.
It was almost 20 years old and the cheapest of Wickes own brand so 10 / 10, would buy again.

[Yoss]

So this happened yesterday. 

I'd noticed this on ebay a couple of weeks ago. 

It was in deepest darkest Wales. He'd listed it twice with no bids so I contacted him using the email he had hidden* in the main photo expressing an interest but saying I couldn't get there for over a week due to it being at least 4 hours away and, being old school, not prepared to part with money without actually seeing it first. I could see the paint was faded and indeed he said it was worse than it looked in the photos. But as good ones are now £6k that still seems a fair price. 

So a few emails go to and fro and it turns out he has another one and sends me this. 

This was £3250 but looks much cleaner in the admittedly low res photos with a nice clean interior too which could be better value if it just needs a rub down and respray. And to be honest I don't mind crap paint on a straight car, my Triumph and Felicia are already very much that way. It also had an MOT so could be driven away

Though he then starts steering me away from the red one with this email:

Which is a bit wierd and I'm not sure of the validity of A frames these days as I've seen things on here about any trailer over 750kg needing to be braked. Not to mention things like, I've never used my towbar and have no idea if the electrics work and I don't have a tailboard anyway. And I'm not keen on dragging a car out of a drive after two years and dragging it 165 miles home without brakes binding or wheel bearing issues. And the fault on the red car seems very minor, nothing a bit of self amalgamating tape wouldn't sort for the drive home. So I'm still leaning towards the red one. 

Nevertheless I agreed to meet him at his house at 12pm yesterday and was quite pleased with myself when I arrived at 12:01 after 165 miles. 

I parked here when I arrived. 

There was a woman in the garden who seemed perturbed at my presence and wanted know what I was doing there. I said I'd come to see the car and she stomped off to find her husband. Even before he arrived it was obvious this was worse than I thought. I knew it needed a new wing (supplied) and some work on the sills but it wasn't going to be a case of rub down and respray. There was a dent in the bonnet and whilst the wing  had the only actual hole, there were bubbles everywhere, even on flat areas. And cracking on joins around the roof suggesting the joints were going under the filler. The whole car was sort of lumpy, every panel had something. There were chunks of paint missing in places suggesting a previous dodgy respray.  This would need taking back to bare metal. 

So he arrives and I immediately say this is too much for me and he turns grumpy and goes on about it being as described. Which it kind of was but I said I needed to see it as you can't really see in photos and it was beyond my capabilities. A conversation ensued about the resolution of ebay photos. He says they were high resolution pictures but didn't seem to understand that they don't come out that way on ebay. 

Then the wife says 'why did you come round the back?'! Because that's where Google sent me I replied, and anyway, that's where the car was I thought but didn't say. 'Most people come round the front first'. I didn't have an answer for that so ignored it and asked about the red car which was obviously somewhere else. The guys response was 'well if you don't like this one, you won't like that one' which is patently not true. If your going charge an extra £1.2k it has to be substantially better. But they both a bit hostile by this point so I decide to leave it there.

Then we get the classic lines of 'it's a thirty year old car, what do you expext' so I point out my Favorit is only one year newer so he says 'well if you don't buy it I've got somebody waiting to take it to Hungary.' So I said that's probably a good idea, apologised for waisting his time and walked away. I wasn't really sorry but I was trying to stay as polite as possible and I'd only wasted 5 minutes of his time whereas I spent 4 hours each way getting there. 

Still I had nice day driving around Wales. This is where it was. 

Nice strap line. It's only one step away from Royston Vasey - You'll Never Leave. 

Found some great roads. 

 

All together I covered 330 miles in about ten hours which is by far the farthest I've taken the Favorit in one day and of course  there were no problems at all. Why would there be of course. 

And saw this pair in a car park in Abergavenny. 

 

I still had a nice day out. 

[chodweaver]

^^ I say well done for not being bullied into paying a substantial amount of dosh for a basket case, and for not letting it spoil your day.

[Yoss]

Oh yeah, I'm too old for that now. Many years ago I bought several things I probably* shouldn't have simply because I'd come all that way (and nowhere near as far as yesterday) and didn't want to come away empty handed. I'm a bit wiser now and can look at something and see the work involved.

I did get the impression he thought I was just going to turn up and tow it away despite one of my emails saying the A frame idea was a non starter. 

[NorthernMonkey]

On 7/8/2021 at 1:51 PM, dean36014 said:

Decided to have a go at the faded headlights on the Vel satis. Five minutes with a small drill mounted mop and some g3 and they look great. 120 miles now completed with no warning lights reappearing 🤣

Glad it’s found the right home. The lights won’t last though…I did them about 12 months ago! 😂

How did you cure the window issue? I tried and better tried…

[Asimo]

 

Local attractions include the HQ of the Monster Raving Loony party.  And bog-snorkelling.

[Zelandeth]

Sounds like you dodged a bullet there, once rust gets into the seam sealer on Estelles you're in for a world of pain.  Been there, done that!

Given the Rapids were partly hand built they're even worse for it - and more unpredictable.

[dean36014]

14 minutes ago, NorthernMonkey said:

Glad it’s found the right home. The lights won’t last though…I did them about 12 months ago! 😂

How did you cure the window issue? I tried and better tried…

It's the temic unit on the electric motors. Can't find the correct units so used a bypass box that just give you up and down with no one touch windows. Worked out around 12 quid a door to fix.

[brownnova]

Will do a full photo dump on my trip to Weston car show on my spotted thread later… but here are some highlights!

The only Yugo 513 still on the road in the UK

No It’s not a Kia Pride it’s an actual 121! 

A Honda Jazz I’d actually want to own

All Vauxhall’s are Shit…. Except maybe this one. 

Galantly rare…

For the Rekord…

Brush painted Marina was awesome! 

And a pair of Rovers! 

 

And finally Ronal Teddy Bear wheels… just for the Lols! As seen on a VW Golf cabrio! 

[Ghosty]

Coolant change and trying to work out why the Rover stinks tomorrow. It doesn't have a cat but is injected. Absolutely stinks of fuel out the exhaust, but otherwise running as normal. 

[DVee8]

6 hours ago, Asimo said:

All the magic smoke has escaped from my angle-grinder. And some buzzing, blue, electric flames.
It was almost 20 years old and the cheapest of Wickes own brand so 10 / 10, would buy again.

Umm same happened to mine yesterday, but it got hot,very hot, even unplugged and left for over a hour it was still bloody hot.

[MondeoBlues]

In 2019, I bought a 1993 Peugeot 309 off a Shiter for 250 quid as a stopgap between the Mondeo and the Volvo 740 now belonging to Tim_E. I took it off the road in November 2019 after its MOT ran out and there it sat, untouched, ever since. I was taking pictures to send to a mate who might have taken enough meth to actually want the car off me and, well, this happened...

 

[stuboy]

12 hours ago, MondeoBlues said:

In 2019, I bought a 1993 Peugeot 309 off a Shiter for 250 quid as a stopgap between the Mondeo and the Volvo 740 now belonging to Tim_E. I took it off the road in November 2019 after its MOT ran out and there it sat, untouched, ever since. I was taking pictures to send to a mate who might have taken enough meth to actually want the car off me and, well, this happened...

 

dont work on microshaft edge

[MondeoBlues]

1 minute ago, stuboy said:

dont work on microshaft edge

Oh okay. Basically the car started up first turn of the key with the same battery that has been in it since it was SORNed

[stuboy]

12 hours ago, MondeoBlues said:

Oh okay. Basically the car started up first turn of the key with the same battery that has been in it since it was SORNed

the urge to keep it not cutting in...

[Crackers]

Cocksticks with extra sauce.

I know it's MOT exempt but I want to keep a ticket on it, and I kind of doubt it'll pass before I get some work done on it. I might launch it into the geezer down the road who often has old tat in his place and see what it needs for a clean pass, before we focus on the bigger* jobs. Unless of course the things that prevent a pass are the bigger jobs, in which case the toys shall depart the pram at great speed.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Ran the CX up to my recently-deceased friend's home in Watford to meet her parents and start the process of dealing with her Estate (which is mostly the house). First thing is the interim death certificate from the Coroner, without which nothing can progress.

Many tears shed. I have been given what was left of her old horse equipment for redistribution at the stables, so hopefully someone will get further use out of it. I was also given her Le Chameau wellies that I had bought for her a few years ago - we had the same foot size. The wellies are now resting in the CX, and still have mud on them from her last walk the day before she died; I was thinking of taking them on journeys to places that she was never able to visit. I miss her already and hope her ghost comes back to haunt me. 

The CX ran perfectly and I will drive it to the cremation once the Coroner authorises release of my friend's body.

[bobdisk]

10 hours ago, stuboy said:

dont work on microshaft edge

Dont work on Chrome on Linux either