The new news 24 thread

[Cord Fourteener]

To me at least it doesn't look 20 years old and it doesn't feel 337k miles

 

[Bear]

Youngest son got married. Due to history going was very last minute to reception, in planning terms; I left in amazingly good time on Friday only for the A17, A1 and A66 to all be /fucked/, and a 5:15 drive became eight hours of hell.

Alleviated by the chosen weapon, the latest Rexton, devouring the A701 so effectively I gained 15 minutes back on the ETA. Familiar roads++

All awesome, next day checked dad's 66K eight year old C3 Picasso out - heading down Crailing Straight and he pipes up "it won't do that" as I'm approaching the Eckford bend, dropping into third and it sails round perfectly - it's holding up well but Borders salt, eesh, grim underneath.

AC pump making a noise but clutch engaging and some cooling going on - I reckon it needs a regas (genuinely) as after eight years it probably needs a change of oils!

Miss the Borders. Miss my family, too.

[adw1977]

On 19/08/2022 at 23:04, Gerrymcd said:

It always strikes me as a little odd (fucking daft) why you would pay a lot of money to watch a film but spend half of it chatting and playing with your phone. I'll bite my lip before I start ranting. 

I hope they don't go tits up.  The cinema is my winter escape from the house when it's too miserable outside to do anything else.

I paid for my years Cineworld membership upfront in June....may not have been the most sensible purchase. 

It may be the unlimited membership that's part of the problem.  If people are not paying to see each film individually then they are more likely to see films they aren't really interested in and so they don't shut up and concentrate. 

The other part of the problem is of course that people are arseholes. 

[Carlosfandango]

Painted the faded and almost paint less handles on the L322 today. Pleasing fiddly job with a good result. 
 

CFD

[dozeydustman]

On 19/08/2022 at 16:18, barefoot said:

Exactly, I don't pay that much to watch fucking adverts & trailers. I want to go in, watch the film without distraction & come home. 

Obviously I've stopped going.

The little independent (I think) in Bognor is quite nice. It’s £3.50, they open and close curtains before the projector starts, have an interval between the cartoon and the film, and the stalls are quite comfortable for a 6ft 5 idiot like me. There is a covered iver organ pit as well in screen 1.

Needs Pearl & Dean though. And possibly a lady with a torch carrying a tray of half melted ice creams for that classic cinema experience.

 

Meanwhile after 5 weeks of 6-day weeks (2 more to go) I’ve had some time to get on here. This coming Saturday  I have a day out with stepdaughter. To a scrapyard.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Saw a banger racing car on the back of a beavertrail just down the road from me with our own @Pieman's name written on the side.  Nice.

[320touring]

The 182 at Inveraray - time for lunch!

 

Bonus Spitfire pic. It was glorious

[Pieman]

2 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Saw a banger racing car on the back of a beavertrail just down the road from me with our own @Pieman's name written on the side.  Nice.

Nothing to do with me, sorry!

[mitsisigma01]

Was it a Yank tank in a fetching turquoise colour 🤭

[Fumbler]

Wing goes from this

To this fetching baby sick yellow!!!!

Progress.

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, Fumbler said:

Wing goes from this

To this fetching baby sick yellow!!!!

Progress.

I think the grey coat was a better match.

[stuboy]

 Been to see my friend garry today he asked me to diagnose a knock from his ford fusion,  the rear engine mount, 

 

[Fumbler]

Block sanded the babysick yellow and turned the panel grey again

 

This has highlighted some really high spots I made when I was brushing on the Electrox as well as some shrinkage where I didn't scuff up the original paint.

I thought "there's no fixing that!", But then I remembered I had a small touch up primer pen with some super thick primer in it, and I used it to fill the voids and smooth out the worst of the brush strokes

One more blocking then paint.

[reb]

Noooooo, you're doing it all wrong!

You're supposed to cover the rust in gaffer tape and ignore it!

[Fumbler]

2 minutes ago, reb said:

Noooooo, you're doing it all wrong!

You're supposed to cover the rust in gaffer tape and ignore it!

But sir, that's the other side!

[chodweaver]

Needs Pearl & Dean though. And possibly a lady* with an albatross for that classic cinema experience.

[JMotor]

When you're watching DD speed shop on the ole Lube Tube. 

You suddenly get reminded of that sight unseen in another country purchase you made. 

Oh shhhhiiiitttt. 

Mad panic to find someone to be there to receive it! Luckily there is someone who can be there *phew*. 

So could be a new car Monday tomorrow! 

[SH1TE]

1000 miles in latest purchase,  nothing has unexpectedly fallen off, broken or otherwise  caused havoc -  a first

[Fumbler]

Lack of sun meant play was over, but at least there are two colour coats now on. The primer paint pen actually worked!

The surface is a lot smoother than it was. Plus, all the crazing and brush strokes I filled in with the paint pen haven't come through. Win. Needs a very light rubbing down with very fine sandpaper to get rid of the nubs and whatnot (if you can even sand metallic basecoat that is), a few more coats to bring out teh colourz, then shit tons of lacquer, for shiny purposes.

 

[wuvvum]

Took the Volvo for a spin round the block earlier and I'm pleased to report no brake binding so far - although they do need a bit of a bleed as the pedal is softer than it was.  No pulling to the side either despite the (presumably) non-functional OSR brake.

@Six-cylinder the tyres are Michelin ZX - I hadn't spotted the little Z hiding within the X...

[sdkrc]

Dropped the Express off for an MOT and spotted this handsome Celica. Love the colour

[GagaStan]

Looks like the auto box on the beige BX is overfilled, which might be the cause of my unpredictable shifts between second and third. Usually quite firm, occasionally smooth and occasionally it flares like nobody’s business. Cue a big syringe and a length of vinyl tube…

also, anyone know where I can get and Dexron II from, in NZ?  Seems unobtanium from usual suspects, so I’ll have to try the local automatic specialists 🤞

[andy18s]

Today's spot whilst I had time to get a pic.

There are still a good number of older stuff doing their daily duties

 

 

[davehedgehog31]

7 hours ago, sdkrc said:

spotted this handsome Celica. Love the colour

[Cord Fourteener]

16 hours ago, Fumbler said:

But sir, that's the other side!

That's official. Correctly done. 

[RayMK]

On 5/8/2022 at 10:26 PM, RayMK said:

A couple of days ago I treated my Tipo to four new tyres.  The old ones still had adequate tread but the sidewalls were cracking - as 7 year old budget tyres tend to do.  £204 later, my Tipo is resplendent with Chinese budget finery.  Whilst I was at the tyre place, a Tesla owner phoned for a quote and was complaining about the rate at which his car consumed tyres.  The quote was £218 each corner.  That made me feel better.

I've had occasional non-starting behaviour from the Tipo since about a week ago, usually cured by a sharp clout on the starter solenoid. It drove on to the ramp at the tyre place just fine, but was dead when the tyre fitter tried to drive it off after fitting the new tyres. He seemed slightly amused when I told him there's a hammer in the boot - just clout the starter solenoid.  He did so and the engine started.  The bonnet stay came off in his hand. I told him to chuck it in the footwell and have rehomed it this evening.  I've also polished the rear offside door now that the patch I de-rusted, primed, painted and lacquered has hardened.  It looks smart enough at a couple of paces.  I may replace the starter if it continues to misbehave. A remanufactured unit is £58 on eBay.  That would do.

When I investigated the starter problem a day or two after the above post (8th May 2022 - 5/8/2022 being the popular* American way of writing the date), I found one of the spade connectors to be a bit loose. It's one of those hard plastic shrouded type that are difficult to crimp for a tighter fit. I attacked it with my pliers and managed to tighten the connector without breaking the shroud. I was not convinced that this was the cause of the occasional non-starting but it has been fine ever since.  The hammer is still in the boot just in case.

I've also repaired both of the release buttons on the rear seat back, both of which snapped during the hot weather.   There was enough of the plastic stem left on each button to enable me to drill a small hole to anchor a portion of Sketchley hangar implant which has restored normal operation, albeit a bit stiffly.  The wire is out of sight and it's a lot more convenient than fiddling around with a screwdriver to release the catches.  Next task is to attempt a repair to the tailgate loom bellows/grommet which has completely disintegrated and lets water in during heavy downpours. I tried a self amalgamating tape repair but it only lasted a year.  I could try to modify a similar item from another car but that would cost about £10 and may not be successful - the Tipo's fitting has a peculiar plastic mounting at one end, making non-Tipo bellows very difficult to secure at that end.  Also, as I have no idea where the tailgate loom connectors are and do not want to start poking around in the headlining, whatever I use as a replacement bellows will have to be split lengthwise to get the loom in, then glued back together.  Instead, I intend to experiment with a length of cycle inner tube, slit then glued and the ends 'starred' out so that they can be glued to the metalwork.  It will keep me amused* for an hour or two.  

[JMotor]

17 hours ago, JMotor said:

So could be a new car Monday tomorrow! 

 

 

[Spurious]

5 minutes ago, RayMK said:

A couple of days ago I treated my Tipo to four new tyres.  The old ones still had adequate tread but the sidewalls were cracking - as 7 year old budget tyres tend to do.  £204 later, my Tipo is resplendent with Chinese budget finery.  Whilst I was at the tyre place, a Tesla owner phoned for a quote and was complaining about the rate at which his car consumed tyres.  The quote was £218 each corner.  That made me feel better.

I'm still waiting for the Skodas, Dacias of this world to produce a compact hatchback EV that is cheap to own and run. Preferably using run of the mill 205/55/16s for maximum cheapness.

[wuvvum]

Dacia already make one.

It's not available here yet though.

[Yoss]

Today is a good day. There's more details of this on my own thread but I think is general newsworthy. 

This is a huge relief. I bought this unseen off ebay which is something I swore I'd never do  even though it is very much an Autoshite mantra. But how often do Favorit GTI's come along.

But until I had my first MOT with the car I'd never quite know what I'd bought. Mechanically the engine seemed quite well plumbed in but electrically it has had a few issues. The wiring seems to be a mix of both Favorit and Polo looms and I've found several unused plugs just hanging around. And of course the respray could be hiding anything. 

But now I know it's all sound. Still a few electrical issues, the temperature gauge and heated rear window don't work. The guy who did the conversion replaced the rev counter with a clock because he said he couldn't get it to work. But the clock runs about half speed. I'm determined to get a working rev counter back in the car. 

But overall it's a sound car and now I know what I've got I can approach future MOTs without worry. 

 

Also some interesting other chod outside the garage.