The new news 24 thread

[brownnova]

Rare spot today… 

2.3 supercharged one… gorgeously understated.

Sadly bar a fair few miles in the 9000 on family duties that was all the car action in my weekend. Frustrating as I’d really hoped to get a couple of hours to finally finish the 2CV revival ready for an MoT, drain the Nova’s tank and investigate the Pontiac’s misfire. 

[stuboy]

34 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Rare spot today… 

2.3 supercharged one… gorgeously understated.

Sadly bar a fair few miles in the 9000 on family duties that was all the car action in my weekend. Frustrating as I’d really hoped to get a couple of hours to finally finish the 2CV revival ready for an MoT, drain the Nova’s tank and investigate the Pontiac’s misfire. 

is it beige?

[wuvvum]

Not got as much done this weekend as I'd hoped, partly due to it pissing down for most of yesterday.  The Mobylette does now have a full complement of working indicators though - the problem with the nearside turned out to be a dodgy earth at the back and a short at the front.  I had to drill out the screws holding the back lens on - I thought the bulb was the culprit but that was actually OK, although both rear indicators had 6 volt bulbs in (which might explain why the right indicator was flashing slightly irregularly and also why it was brighter than it should be), now replaced with the correct 12v items.

I made an attempt at starting to glue the headlining back up in the Rover 75, but that didn't go very well.  I have managed to stick up the bit just above the driver's seat though, so that's something I suppose.  I might have to try a different glue as the one I'm using needs to be sprayed on both surfaces to work and that's a bit awkward to do through the hole for the interior light (I'm trying to avoid taking the whole headlining out as I know I'll never get it back in again properly if I do).

Today was spent fighting the LDV.  The nearside ball joint took me nearly two hours to do (although admittedly some of that was spent looking for tools).  The bolts and the ball joint nut actually came undone OK and the ball joint itself came free after several minutes of twatting a ball joint splitter with a lump hammer, the problem was I couldn't lever the wishbone down far enough for the ball joint to pop out of the arm.  I ended up jacking the hub assembly up to lift it clear of the arm and eventually managed to get the ball joint out, but fitting the new one was even more of a twat as jacking the hub up pulled it backwards and out of line with the wishbone, and obviously with the strut assembly up on the jack and under some tension it wasn't possible to swing the strut forward to line up.  I ended up fitting the ball joint through the wishbone first, then dropping the hub onto the mounting plate in the hope that I could then lever it into place.  It didn't quite work the first two times, but somehow the third time the hub landed in more or less the right place and I was able to get one of the mounting bolts in.  After that it was just a case of levering things around and turning the steering to get the other mounting holes to line up.

The offside drop link was relatively easy by comparison.  The nuts were seized to buggery as you'd expect, but handily there were flats machined into the ball joints so I could hold them in place with a 16mm spanner braced against a suitable suspension component and then get the breaker bar on the nuts.  The track rod end, as mentioned earlier, has hitherto shown no signs of wanting to come undone - I'm going to leave it soaking in Plus Gas for a while to see if that helps, I've never actually used the stuff before but I've heard good things.  Can't fault the MOT tester though, there is a hell of a lot of play in the TRE. 

I couldn't face attempting the other ball joint and I only had a couple of hours' daylight left by then anyway, so I just cracked the nuts / bolts off (the ball joint on that side had obviously been fitted with an ugga dugga gun because I had to brace my feet on the hub and heave on the breaker bar just to get the mounting bolts to come undone) and then put the wheel back on, packed the tools away, and went back to the house to mow the lawn (which currently seems to consist primarily of mushrooms) and paint the bottom of the front door where the paint was peeling.  In the last half hour or so of daylight I stuck the Renault 6 up on the ramps and slapped some Hydrate 80 on the (many) rusty bits, in an attempt to prevent them from getting any worse between now and next spring, when I'll hopefully finally get around to getting some more welding done...

[neil1971]

2 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Great to watch that, I missed the head on where it caught fire - mrs JJ saw it but I was looking the other way. 

What time does it finish? We left when the heavy rain came as had to get home for the dogs but I plan on going again ASAP!

It finished at about 10pm, that's about the usual time although occasionally it'll be a bit later. 

Next one there is in just under three weeks, Sat 15th October, it's all bangers again, 2 litres (mostly Mondeos), 1500cc (Astra / Focus), Juniors 11 - 16 years old (Micra & similar) and Ladies. There probably won't be quite as much crashing as on Saturday but it should be lively enough, some drivers like to race and some prefer to crash.

Sat 29th October is the Halloween meeting, Unlimited Bangers so Mercs, Granada Scorpios, Jags, Volvos and maybe the odd Yank, probably a few Hearses, also 1300 Stock Cars which are armoured up Corsas and similar and the Reliant Robins which are a bit of fun. I'd expect a big crowd for that if the weather's OK, there's fireworks and fancy dress parades and other stuff for kids so it's popular with families as well the banger regulars.

There is one in between those two on Sat 22nd October but no bangers that night, it's BriSCA F1 and F2 stock cars.

Trackstar, the promoters, usually have the lists of drivers on their website in the week prior to the meeting and they're generally pretty accurate so you can get a good idea of how many cars to expect.  

[JJ0063]

6 minutes ago, neil1971 said:

It finished at about 10pm, that's about the usual time although occasionally it'll be a bit later. 

Next one there is in just under three weeks, Sat 15th October, it's all bangers again, 2 litres (mostly Mondeos), 1500cc (Astra / Focus), Juniors 11 - 16 years old (Micra & similar) and Ladies. There probably won't be quite as much crashing as on Saturday but it should be lively enough, some drivers like to race and some prefer to crash.

Sat 29th October is the Halloween meeting, Unlimited Bangers so Mercs, Granada Scorpios, Jags, Volvos and maybe the odd Yank, probably a few Hearses, also 1300 Stock Cars which are armoured up Corsas and similar and the Reliant Robins which are a bit of fun. I'd expect a big crowd for that if the weather's OK, there's fireworks and fancy dress parades and other stuff for kids so it's popular with families as well the banger regulars.

There is one in between those two on Sat 22nd October but no bangers that night, it's BriSCA F1 and F2 stock cars.

Trackstar, the promoters, usually have the lists of drivers on their website in the week prior to the meeting and they're generally pretty accurate so you can get a good idea of how many cars to expect.  

Thanks! 
 

We’ll definitely be heading to the Halloween one, I saw that earlier and stuck it in the calendar.

Have you got much experience of the Swaffham raceway one? I saw that was on this weekend too. I only live 5 mins from there so wondered if it was worth a look in too?

[HillmanImp]

Finally motivated myself to actually go outside and try sorting out the starting issue on the Elgrand. 

Spent a good half hour wrestling with the undertray to get it off as half the bolts had been mangled. 

With it finally removed, I could clearly see that the starter motor wasn't there. Quick search showed it was behind the wheelarch, accessible without removing the undertray. 

Spent a while with an angle grinder reshaping the knackered bolts that had caused the undertray removal so difficult and it was okay getting it back on and should come off easier next time. 

Then it started raining so I went back in having not actually done anything. 

Will try and find motivation during the week. 

[Popsicle]

24 minutes ago, HillmanImp said:

Will try and find motivation during the week. 

Send some of it my way if you find it please, I've not been able to find any for the past month and I've loads to crack on with.

[mitsisigma01]

3 hours ago, Popsicle said:

Send some of it my way if you find it please, I've not been able to find any for the past month and I've loads to crack on with.

I could do with a shitload of motivation as well please  😞

[beko1987]

8 hours ago, HillmanImp said:

Finally motivated myself to actually go outside and try sorting out the starting issue on the Elgrand. 

Spent a good half hour wrestling with the undertray to get it off as half the bolts had been mangled. 

With it finally removed, I could clearly see that the starter motor wasn't there. Quick search showed it was behind the wheelarch, accessible without removing the undertray. 

Spent a while with an angle grinder reshaping the knackered bolts that had caused the undertray removal so difficult and it was okay getting it back on and should come off easier next time. 

Then it started raining so I went back in having not actually done anything. 

Will try and find motivation during the week. 

Sounds like you sorted the undertray though? Not a total loss

[brownnova]

13 hours ago, stuboy said:

is it beige?

Beigey Gold… 

[Yoss]

3 hours ago, brownnova said:

Beigey Gold… 

That's the best kind of gold. 

[Six-cylinder]

I thought I was doing well having mastered the gear positions in my Ami and dog leg 1st BiTurbo. I don't want one of these I think it might over stretch my brain!

[MJK 24]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:42 AM, MJK 24 said:

Paging Jackie Chan…

 

Amazingly, another day, another Starion!

A friend spotted one this afternoon…

[stuboy]

9 hours ago, brownnova said:

Beigey Gold… 

or jewish racing gold.... please im not anti religious just read somewhere

[RoverFolkUs]

Good news.. 

Lion batteries will be no longer from the 1st October

ECP are now going to be branding them as starline, and making them trade only

Hopefully most people in the trade realize they are utter shit and won't fit them, so the hateful useless pieces of shit should slowly disappear 😁

Also; Starline's slogan is now "Automotive Solution".. didn't it used to be "Attractive Solution" or am I imagining things!?

[Ged]

 

BX TZD Turbo obtained, could be doing with a rear bumper or atleast the red trim bit but will probably have to buy a black one and paint it.

[Asimo]

17 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

trade only

“Trade”  What does that mean?
If it is like Dulux Trade gloss paint, it means the best paint Dulux make. 
If it is like bathroom taps, it means the shittiest tap loadsamoney the plumber can get away with fitting.

[artdjones]

15 minutes ago, Asimo said:

“Trade”  What does that mean?
If it is like Dulux Trade gloss paint, it means the best paint Dulux make. 
If it is like bathroom taps, it means the shittiest tap loadsamoney the plumber can get away with fitting.

You mean these. Strangely enough, I've had very similar ones in my bathroom for 22 years and they've been perfect, whereas a lot of expensive taps go wrong.

[stuboy]

Went out to an aca with a flat tyre and unable too undo the locking wheel bolt, I thought I'll just pop out with wheel brace and bish bash bosh be ace.... no... nailing down with rain main A road  blocking a live lane and so I swapped cars and called recovery who said they won't do nowt till the old bill are called to make it safe, called the old bill they said can I drive it a bit too make it safer for me so I drove it 200yds and turned into a lane, called recovery, AA came said nuts fubared and he would temporarily plug the puncture..

 

 

What fun... and least a 🌈 came out to say hello..lol

[RoverFolkUs]

33 minutes ago, Asimo said:

“Trade”  What does that mean?
If it is like Dulux Trade gloss paint, it means the best paint Dulux make. 
If it is like bathroom taps, it means the shittiest tap loadsamoney the plumber can get away with fitting.

Available to trade customers only. Not the public

[BorniteIdentity]

58 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Good news.. 

Lion batteries will be no longer from the 1st October

ECP are now going to be branding them as starline, and making them trade only

Hopefully most people in the trade realize they are utter shit and won't fit them, so the hateful useless pieces of shit should slowly disappear 😁

Also; Starline's slogan is now "Automotive Solution".. didn't it used to be "Attractive Solution" or am I imagining things!?

Sorry, but on what do you base the whole Lion hate?

I’ve bought four of them over the last five years, all working perfectly still. 

I would rather spend £45 on something that’ll last five years, than £120 on something that’ll last seven. The law of diminishing return applies on what is, after all, a consumable. 

[RoverFolkUs]

Just now, BorniteIdentity said:

Sorry, but on what do you base the whole Lion hate?

I’ve bought four of them over the last five years, all working perfectly still. 

I would rather spend £45 on something that’ll last five years, than £120 on something that’ll last seven. The law of diminishing return applies on what is, after all, a consumable. 

In my experience they're crap

Better makes such as yuasa or exide are not a lot more

The only batteries I replace are relatively new Lion ones or ancient ones from better brands 🤷‍♂️

[Mally]

22 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Thanks! 
 

We’ll definitely be heading to the Halloween one, I saw that earlier and stuck it in the calendar.

Have you got much experience of the Swaffham raceway one? I saw that was on this weekend too. I only live 5 mins from there so wondered if it was worth a look in too?

Tarmac track Swaffham. I raced there many moons ago.

Keeps changing promoter, Not sure who runs it now.

Not as much cover or facilities as Kings Lynn, and no affiliation. But decent track. 

Quality of racing may depend how many cars they get on the day.

[Rusty_Rocket]

Lion batteries are absolutely terrible.

I buy, on average, one car battery a forthight (particularly in the winter) and the amount of Lion batteries I've had to return far outnumber any other make.  When you have a customer on their way to collect their shiny new (old!) car and the flippin battery you fitted last week has already turned its toes, things start wearing a little thin.

I guess we bought maybe twenty ECP 'specials' before I learnt my lesson and now go elsewhere.  In fact, I don't buy anything from ECP any more apart from clutches.  They are normally cheapest for genuine Sachs/ LUK parts.

[neil1971]

22 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

Have you got much experience of the Swaffham raceway one? I saw that was on this weekend too. I only live 5 mins from there so wondered if it was worth a look in too?

Swaffham used to be run by Trackstar, the same promoter as Kings Lynn, until about 20 years ago, it's been through a few hands since and I haven't been there for a few years, you don't really hear too much about it nowadays. Its problem is a bit political, basically most of the main tracks are part of a governing body called the ORC, Swaffham and several other smaller tracks that aren't but it's not generally an issue, drivers can race at ORC and non-ORC tracks as they please, but I believe that's not the case at Swaffham and any driver racing there would be banned by the ORC from racing at their tracks for a period of time. Not a problem if you just want to race at Swaffham but a lot of drivers like to race at different tracks. 

That doesn't mean it's not worth a look if it's on your doorstep, some tracks run quite happily on their own local driver base and formulae and have good racing, but Kings Lynn in particular attracts drivers from all over and I'd expect it to have more cars than Swaffham.

[richardmorris]

31 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Sorry, but on what do you base the whole Lion hate?

I’ve bought four of them over the last five years, all working perfectly still. 

I would rather spend £45 on something that’ll last five years, than £120 on something that’ll last seven. The law of diminishing return applies on what is, after all, a consumable. 

My Citroen garage never thought them worth buying.

I’ve been getting Bosch from tayna.co.uk for years.

[reb]

Lion batteries are shit.

They know they're shit.

You don't change the name of a successful product.

[Ghosty]

Lion are shit, I've had issues with them on all the cars I've owned that came with one iirc. Worst one was on a 416 that randomly shat a cell in a hospital car park and was stone dead.

Tayna FTW. 

[chancer]

Bought a Lion battery a year ago from ECP for the wifes duster. Its still providing electricity when needed. From memory it was 39 quid, so if it shits itself within the next year I wont cry over it.

Also used these for the first time today

Was a little nervous given the amount of nuns and kittens that have been killed over the years so took great care....

strut mount totally fucked

back together within minutes

nice and easy job, not as scary as first thought. Spring compressors were 25 quid from screwfix and are pretty well made. Nice to be working on a modern where everything isnt rusted to fuck

[BorniteIdentity]

Is anyone near or in Rugby who could climb under a car for me and give me an honest verdict on a potential purchase? Happy to buy refreshing gin/lager in return…