The new news 24 thread

[Floatylight]

3 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

In work, trying to set up the AV system for a big presentation this afternoon by the highers-up.

Not to flex, but we're running some pretty high end stuff these days.

A laptop - with a DVD player?

PINCH ME IM DREAMING

TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE YO

Not one, but two VHS players, y'all.

Mercury - the future of telecommunications.

 

 

I jest. None of this stuff works anymore.

 

Two broken flip charts and a miniature whiteboard it is, then.

(I bought the whiteboard markers with my own money.)

That Crestron stuff would of cost thousands in its day! (+ More thousands for a Crestron specialist engineer to configure it!)

[Datsuncog]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

You've got to be kidding 🤣

Also, I was just talking about Mercury the other day!

Sadly not. 

The best bit is, the Big Meeting was on how to save energy.

Going by the green labels, some of that equipment was last PAT tested in 1998. There are batteries in the remote controls that expired in February 1999.

And it's all plugged in and on standby.

I can only presume it's all been drawing power night and day for the past 24 years+...

1 hour ago, anonymous user said:

Have you been abducted by 1996?

We've still got DDS/DAT cassettes in the store, so yeah... something like that!

[BorniteIdentity]

I'm not a french car fan.  I was about to say I've never owned one, but there was a bright yellow 306 Cab for a short while - now with @AlsoMike.

However, check this.  Papped and posted on Facebook.

 

I'd be happy to drive about in that until the very second before it shat itself and presented a huge bill to me.  

Glorious.

[Kiltox]

On 10/9/2022 at 1:16 PM, andy18s said:

I'm pretty sure Ford would have a certain trim level for hire/rental cars.

 

Almost certainly in Murica - I guess the numbers of rental cars across the nation make this a no brainer to keep the operators happy on price and continue to make a decent profit. 

[Fumbler]

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

In work, trying to set up the AV system for a big presentation this afternoon by the highers-up.

Not to flex, but we're running some pretty high end stuff these days.

A laptop - with a DVD player?

PINCH ME IM DREAMING

TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE YO

Not one, but two VHS players, y'all.

Mercury - the future of telecommunications.

 

 

I jest. None of this stuff works anymore.

 

Two broken flip charts and a miniature whiteboard it is, then.

(I bought the whiteboard markers with my own money.)

You may jest, I'm fairly certain we still use some of that stuff at work- We have a few of those GPT phones hanging around still working.

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I'm not a french car fan.  I was about to say I've never owned one...

Surely for a few short moments you were custodian of arguably the finest French car ever made...

[BorniteIdentity]

5 minutes ago, barefoot said:

Surely for a few short moments you were custodian of arguably the finest French car ever made...

How* could I forget** ? 😉

[Markeh]

Panda went back this morning.

Not really enough room for my right leg in an LHD model which would make longer drives painful. Imagine an RHD one would be better, an RHD auto even better than that. Hybrid system didn't seem to make that much difference to the economy although the regen braking probably helped give me oomph on the more uphill sections. Quite chuckable in the twisties too. Surprised to see it had a 6 speed box. 

Weirdly this one had the radio set to not come on or off with the ignition, and Bluetooth pairing is handled through the steering wheel controls not the head unit itself. Led to some confusion. Mine didn't have the optional phone mount which made finding somewhere to balance my (admittedly large) phone problematic. 

However props to Fiat for an easily cleanable door card, which made life a little easier when my cousin got blackout drunk in a San Antonio nightclub, and proceeded to throw up out of the window (and miss) on the way back to the hotel. Was that easy to clean up from the interior I didn't even get charged a cleaning fee despite telling them what had happened!

[richardmorris]

3 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I'm not a french car fan.  I was about to say I've never owned one, but there was a bright yellow 306 Cab for a short while - now with @AlsoMike.

However, check this.  Papped and posted on Facebook.

 

I'd be happy to drive about in that until the very second before it shat itself and presented a huge bill to me.  

Glorious.

Not a standard xm estate and where is the reg from? It’s all numbers.

[goosey]

Ordered all the parts to change the dreaded Merc OM642 oil cooler seals in the wife’s car today, will probably de-swirl flap it at the same time.

once that’s done I have to drop the transfer case out to change the input shaft seal 

then the front bumper will come off to fit my transmission cooler and replace a faulty parking sensor 

 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

Not a standard xm estate and where is the reg from? It’s all numbers.

I thought France...

[Austat]

I discovered a great Instagram account the other day that I knew a lot of people on here would enjoy. It's essentially 1990's Scottish chod-spots, from the account @automotive90s .

Enjoy.

More shite:

Spoiler

https://www.instagram.com/automotive90s/

[Split_Pin]

Fantastic! I'm from Scotland and was a teenager in the 1990s so this is going to be great.

[OM646]

1 hour ago, Austat said:

I discovered a great Instagram account the other day that I knew a lot of people on here would enjoy. It's essentially 1990's Scottish chod-spots, from the account @automotive90s .

Enjoy.

More shite:

  Reveal hidden contents

https://www.instagram.com/automotive90s/

ǝlɐpsuo˥ ɐ pǝʇʇods ʎllɐnʇɔɐ ǝuoǝɯos ʇᴉɥs ʎloH

[Rust Collector]

Today is a day of reckoning:

The new BX is seeing the man from the ministry at lunchtime.

It wasn’t the usual manager at the garage, I hope this isn’t an omen…

[Rust Collector]

Uh-oh

Best slope round to the garage later with my tail between my legs and ask what's going on with the rear suspension.

I will hasten to add that I've not laid hands on this car in anger yet, all the repairs are courtesy of the previous owner.

[Rust Collector]

I gave the garage a call to ask about the fail, the chap on the desk tells me ‘The tester says he knows you, and that it’ll be better for him to have a chat with you when you pick it up at this evening’. Ominous.

Ive just got home from collecting the car. From having a chat with the tester (who is a really nice chap and the reason I use this garage now) he tells me that the previous welded repair to the sill from the last owner is only tacked in place, so I need to run a continuous bead around it and that’s sorted. The other side just needs a patch apparently so no drama there. The windscreen wiper is a fail as when the screen dries out then it doesn’t run through its full travel. Further investigation required on my part there. The rear suspension ‘modifications’ are slits in the rubber boots on each hydraulic cylinder. This is the cause of the leak also. Replace the boots and he’s happy to pass the suspension. The chevronics prices make me want to cry so I’ll be looking at my other two cars for a loan of suspension units I think, kick the problem down the line…

So not really as tragic as it could be on an ancient, high mileage hydraulic Citroen. Best get busy working on it before my retest window disappears!

[Dyslexic Viking]

Bit of a frustrating day today said I could paint dad's van's winter wheels and didn't expect this to be a big job. But it was, it's only 4 years old but I don't think the previous owner ever washed the wheels after winter, so the salt has been on them all the time as they are very rusty. If I had known they were that bad, I would have sandblasted them before he put on new tyres, but this is too late for now. So it took several hours of sanding and scraping and only got the front of the wheels done, the back side is really bad and will have to do that later when I have more time if the weather permits. The breathing mask also broke so I'm curious how much trouble that causes and some of the paint on the last 2 rims wouldn't dry don't know why.

Before and after.

[SiC]

23 hours ago, barefoot said:

Surely for a few short moments you were custodian of arguably the finest French car ever made...

That was one that got away from me. Never won any of the many roffles it had.

But tbh given the fact the electronic handbrake unit went thermonuclear in the end of it, its probably not a bad thing!

[BorniteIdentity]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

That was one that got away from me. Never won any of the many roffles it had.

But tbh given the fact the electronic handbrake unit went thermonuclear in the end of it, its probably not a bad thing!

I’ve heard many tales of this but never saw the post when it went kaboom. Anyone got a link? 

 

[SiC]

5 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I’ve heard many tales of this but never saw the post when it went kaboom. Anyone got a link? 

 

 

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

I gave the garage a call to ask about the fail, the chap on the desk tells me ‘The tester says he knows you, and that it’ll be better for him to have a chat with you when you pick it up at this evening’. Ominous.

Ive just got home from collecting the car. From having a chat with the tester (who is a really nice chap and the reason I use this garage now) he tells me that the previous welded repair to the sill from the last owner is only tacked in place, so I need to run a continuous bead around it and that’s sorted. The other side just needs a patch apparently so no drama there. The windscreen wiper is a fail as when the screen dries out then it doesn’t run through its full travel. Further investigation required on my part there. The rear suspension ‘modifications’ are slits in the rubber boots on each hydraulic cylinder. This is the cause of the leak also. Replace the boots and he’s happy to pass the suspension. The chevronics prices make me want to cry so I’ll be looking at my other two cars for a loan of suspension units I think, kick the problem down the line…

So not really as tragic as it could be on an ancient, high mileage hydraulic Citroen. Best get busy working on it before my retest window disappears!

https://www.bxparts.eu/en/hydraulic-return/149-95-577-323-rear-hyd-suspension-cyl-boot-bxgsgsa.html

Try these, about £30 each +Vat, duty and postage, so less than a quarter of the price of Chevronics.

Who I have to say seem to be robbers at £203 per gaiter.

[Rust Collector]

2 minutes ago, artdjones said:

https://www.bxparts.eu/en/hydraulic-return/149-95-577-323-rear-hyd-suspension-cyl-boot-bxgsgsa.html

Try these, about £30 each +Vat, duty and postage, so less than a quarter of the price of Chevronics.

Who I have to say seem to be robbers at £203 per gaiter.

Yeah, I’d weigh the car in before spending £420 on two rubber gaiters!

Cheers for the link, I’d completely forgotten about that company.

[lesapandre]

Internet YouTube rubbish - but had me chuckling - it's the overweening human ambition v nature. Must be a popular spectator spot after rain.

There is a clear gauge showing how deep the water is...

Note to self:  be careful of flooded roads - especially near Rufford...

 

[wuvvum]

Today I had my first trip to the London office since before the pandemic.  It was a nice easy day - 9am train down, in the office for 11, said hello to everyone, half an hour's work, then an hour's meeting, 20 minutes more work then a 3 hour lunch in a very nice restaurant on the 14th floor of a skyscraper with an amazing view over the City and the Thames.  Back to the office, another 40 minutes of work then on the 4.30 train home.  The only problem I encountered was that I'd misunderestimated how bad the traffic would be at that time on a Thursday morning, and I had to run to catch the train - I'd not broken into a run since the first lockdown and my legs have been manifesting their discontent at being forced into it after all this time.

[HillmanImp]

The Jag is still not playing ball. Its smoking from the n/s exhaust and is occasionally barely running at all. 

Theres smoke coming from the dipstick too, so I'm wondering if its the oil breather separator? I can see that from the top of the engine, just need to figure out a way to get to it by removing all the fucking shite above it. 

Although it might be just a hose or something in the same area, there was a little smoke on startup today coming from that area. 

Will start removing stuff this weekend, weather depending, to see if I can find a likely culprit. 

In good news, maybe the oil leak thats made a mess of the street outside my house is nothing. The oil filler neck wasn't on right. Upon looking, it comes off if you overtighten the cap. Some proper crappy design there. 

I was hoping that it was meant to create enough of a vaccum to let the car run properly and not being seated was the cause of all my problems but alas no, it's still shite. 

MOT is out soon and its not got any off road parking so I'm gonna have to figure summink out fast... 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Today I had my first trip to the London office since before the pandemic.  It was a nice easy day - 9am train down, in the office for 11, said hello to everyone, half an hour's work, then an hour's meeting, 20 minutes more work then a 3 hour lunch in a very nice restaurant on the 14th floor of a skyscraper with an amazing view over the City and the Thames.  Back to the office, another 40 minutes of work then on the 4.30 train home.  The only problem I encountered was that I'd misunderestimated how bad the traffic would be at that time on a Thursday morning, and I had to run to catch the train - I'd not broken into a run since the first lockdown and my legs have been manifesting their discontent at being forced into it after all this time.

I understand walk, but what is this 'run' you speak of?

[barefoot]

I went to a funeral yesterday, bloke I've known years had a heart attack after climbing up on his roof earlier in the day. Reasonable turnout with lots of old British motorcycles and for reasons that are unclear, I've become quite friendly with the funeral director over the past couple of years. Anyway in addition to her usual smile & cheery greeting, yesterday I got the full hug & kiss on the cheek. It wasn't until later that I realised; like the hangman shaking a chap's hand to gauge his weight, in her head, she was essentially measuring me up for a coffin!

[lesapandre]

10 hours ago, artdjones said:

https://www.bxparts.eu/en/hydraulic-return/149-95-577-323-rear-hyd-suspension-cyl-boot-bxgsgsa.html

Try these, about £30 each +Vat, duty and postage, so less than a quarter of the price of Chevronics.

Who I have to say seem to be robbers at £203 per gaiter.

Not sure what you are after - but the Autodoc App lists quite a lot of BX parts including gaiters at ordinary rather than cult prices. 

[Split_Pin]

10 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Internet YouTube rubbish - but had me chuckling - it's the overweening human ambition v nature. Must be a popular spectator spot after rain.

There is a clear gauge showing how deep the water is...

Note to self:  be careful of flooded roads - especially near Rufford...

 

BENGREGERS' and 'Tom Sutherland' are absolute legends for showing up the arrogance and stupidity of drivers and the resulting abject failure. 

If there was a ford near my house, I am certain that there would be a lot of dead sub 5 year old BMWs and Audis owned by people who drive with their foot to the floor like they are heading into oblivion.