The new news 24 thread

[Six-cylinder]

1 minute ago, richardmorris said:

I’ll text him if you like? I do like those bertone Ferraris- and we share door handles!

Yes the car is on the road and nothing in my diary yet.

[richardmorris]

24 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Yes the car is on the road and nothing in my diary yet.

1980? 308gt4c?

[brownnova]

10 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I'd have the plate off it @brownnovaif it's tranferrable, just so I can put it on something completely inappropriate like an Audi Q7 then drive around with a vape constantly on the go whilst wearing a North Face jacket or whatever.

Can’t I do the vape and North Face thing in the Mayflower, seems somewhat inappropriate. 

 

11 hours ago, SiC said:

Remind him that a MOT is required.

 

That’s very useful info… cheers @SiC 

I’d always assumed an MoT exempt car wouldn’t need one… it’ll be far too much hassle for him to get it all sorted for a plate robbery, and he’ll just want rid for peanuts. Maybe… 

[Six-cylinder]

45 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I’ll text him if you like? I do like those bertone Ferraris- and we share door handles!

just the small matter of getting the car down from north wales for the first time since 2019! 

1979 308 GT4, just 32,000 miles from new and we have had it since June 2000.

The 308 is not used much and was parked up through the covid years. We did have a cambelt service done when we got it out in Sep 2022.

[richardmorris]

1 minute ago, Six-cylinder said:

1979 308 GT4, just 32,000 miles from new and we have had it since June 2000.

The 308 is not used much and was parked up though the covid years. We did have a cambelt service done when we got it out in Sep 2022.

So was my x1/9. I’m looking forward to doing more than driving my mum up to the crematorium! I’ve just texted  him.

 

[richardmorris]

[Six-cylinder]

5 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

OK fair enough.

[Spottedlaurel]

On 2/26/2023 at 9:44 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

Finally, I have been insured on another LS400. It's not mine (nor will it be) and it's somewhat speculative at this moment, but fingers crossed it works out.....

Am I a bad influence? Earlier this week my mum and stepdad have signed themselves up to a brand new Corolla hybrid after 25+ years of serial Ford ownership. Then this afternoon Miss SL's boyfriend has bought himself a '98 LS400, the later type with more power and toys than mine. This is going to be his sensible car to get to a work placement when he doesn't want to use his K-reg MR2 in the winter.

No trains were involved, they drove down to view it in Herts in the trusty ex @BorniteIdentity Avensis SR, did the deal and they're now on the way back home to Loughborough in a late '90s Japanese convoy. On a school night too.

The Avensis is remaining on their fleet so Miss SL can use it to get to her placement. It continues to do a great job for them and was recently used for a couple of motor club Autosolo events.

[richardmorris]

30 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

OK fair enough.

Sorry, too late.  I’d offer a lift to the show, if you would be happy in the x1/9?

[richardmorris]

This is really worth the watch. Tales from rover, etc in the 1990s. @motorpunk

 

 

[Fumbler]

Insurance renewal is coming up! It's been steadily decreasing ever since I passed my test. I wonder how low it'll be this time..?

Sweet Jesus! It was £700 last year!

[Six-cylinder]

11 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Sorry, too late.  I’d offer a lift to the show, if you would be happy in the x1/9?

Sounds good to me.

[wuvvum]

29 minutes ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Then this afternoon Miss SL's boyfriend has bought himself a '98 LS400, the later type with more power and toys than mine. This is going to be his sensible car to get to a work placement when he doesn't want to use his K-reg MR2 in the winter.

No trains were involved, they drove down to view it in Herts in the trusty ex @BorniteIdentity Avensis SR, did the deal and they're now on the way back home to Loughborough in a late '90s Japanese convoy. On a school night too.

The Avensis is remaining on their fleet so Miss SL can use it to get to her placement. It continues to do a great job for them and was recently used for a couple of motor club Autosolo events.

Those kids have been raised right.

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Sounds good to me.

You’re not too far from Bicester? Need to be there before 9 and to 1 pm ish. 8 am for coffee at yours?

[Yoss]

7 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

Time to go see the extended family via the worst form of transport possible:

Supplies to make things more bearable:

It was our baby’s first time flying (sorry everyone else onboard). He was ok to be fair:

Hello Austria:

Let it be known that if you need a baggage trolley in Vienna airport and you have no europe tokens, 10p will sort you out:

We are en route to family now where I’m told a loan car awaits me. I can’t wait, I hope it’s awful!

Excellent. I shall be passing through Vienna Airport myself next week on the way to CZ. 

The last time I flew out of Vienna the plane was delayed 20 minutes or so as we had to go via the de icing station. A man on a hydraulic platform sprayed de icer over the wings from a pressure washer. It had snowed quite heavily the day before we left but everything was running completely normally. Even the trams which have limited adhesion at the best of times. 

[Spottedlaurel]

9 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Those kids have been raised right.

Tried to learn them as best as I could.

Latest news is that they've successfully made it back home. Hopefully I'll get to see the new toy soon.

[wuvvum]

An exciting box full of (rather expensive) Volvo bits arrived today.  I've already fitted the exhaust hanger (to replace the two cable ties which have been valiantly holding the tailpipe up for the last several years) and the little return spring for the bonnet latch, which now pings back into place as it should - now I just need to wait until the replacement bonnet cable arrives (ordered a secondhand one off eBay because it was £20 cheaper than a new one).  The box also contained a pair of shiny new rear brake discs and two replacement front jacking point sections - I only ordered one but they stuck two in the box for some reason.  I'm going to have a crack at fitting the discs tomorrow but the jacking point will have to wait for someone with weldage skillz.

This morning I took the Maxus to the local tyre place to get the tracking done - it's been way out since the offside track rod end was replaced for the MOT.  The van fitted on the ramp with inches to spare but it's now done and driving a lot better so £24 well spent - apparently both sides were way out of kilter.  I'm back there tomorrow as they're going to fit the two part worn tyres I've bought to the Volvo wheels - those will go on the front, then the two least fucked of the existing tyres can go on the back and the most fucked one can be used as a spare.  It'll be nice not to be worrying about a front wheel blowout every time I venture over 30mph...  There are still a couple of bits I need to get for it which Brookhouse don't list on their website - a mounting screw for the offside rear hubcap and a pair of quarterlight window latches - my repair with the mirror mounting kit didn't work, the driver's side managed about 30 minutes and the passenger side lasted a couple of days, so I've given up and I'm going to buy a pair of the type that clip round the glass, as fitted to @Lankytim's 145.  Skandix appear to have both in stock so I'll be spending some money with them shortly.

I went to the local garage the other day to book the Rover 75 in for an MOT and a replacement spring and tyre, and while I was in there I asked about doing the front wheel bearings on the MG.  The conversation didn't start well - "I've bought an MG TF..."  "Oh dear." - but they said that if I can get the hubs off and down to them they'll press in the new bearings for £notmuch.  So today I jacked the front end up and attacked the various nuts and bolts holding the hubs onto the car to see if there was any chance of me getting them off.  I wasn't expecting much as everything is extremely rusty under there, but greatly to my surprise everything cracked off with little difficulty.  I've not completely undone everything yet so no doubt there will be some fun and games when I do, but so far it's looking more promising than I'd expected.

This evening I had my first proper night-time drive in the Visa.  Only to Tesco and back, but I wanted to make sure the headlights were going to make at least some effort at illuminating the road.  They're actually not bad at all - even the aim isn't far out, which is surprising given that I basically just shoved them in there.  I do like that little car - at some point I need to let someone who actually knows what they're doing with carburettors loose on it to get it running spot on, at the moment it still pops and splutters occasionally, although it's fine at full throttle which is where it'll spend most of its time when it's not in town so that takes away some of the urgency.

[richardmorris]

7 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

An exciting box full of (rather expensive) Volvo bits arrived today.  I've already fitted the exhaust hanger (to replace the two cable ties which have been valiantly holding the tailpipe up for the last several years) and the little return spring for the bonnet latch, which now pings back into place as it should - now I just need to wait until the new bonnet cable arrives (ordered a secondhand one off eBay because it was £20 cheaper than a new one).  The box also contained a pair of shiny new rear brake discs and two replacement front jacking point sections - I only ordered one but they stuck two in the box for some reason.  I'm going to have a crack at fitting the discs tomorrow but the jacking point will have to wait for someone with weldage skillz.

This morning I took the Maxus to the local tyre place to get the tracking done - it's been way out since the offside track rod end was replaced for the MOT.  The van fitted on the ramp with inches to spare but it's now done and driving a lot better so £24 well spent - apparently both sides were way out of kilter.  I'm back there tomorrow as they're going to fit the two part worn tyres I've bought to the Volvo wheels - those will go on the front, then the two least fucked of the existing tyres can go on the back and the most fucked one can be used as a spare.  It'll be nice not to be worrying about a front wheel blowout every time I venture over 30mph...  There are still a couple of bits I need to get for it which Brookhouse don't list on their website - a mounting screw for the offside rear hubcap and a pair of quarterlight window latches - my repair with the mirror mounting kit didn't work, the driver's side managed about 30 minutes and the passenger side lasted a couple of days, so I've given up and I'm going to buy a pair of the type that clip round the glass, as fitted to @Lankytim's 145.  Skandix appear to have both in stock so I'll be spending some money with them shortly.

I went to the local garage the other day to book the Rover 75 in for an MOT and a replacement spring and tyre, and while I was in there I asked about doing the front wheel bearings on the MG.  The conversation didn't start well - "I've bought an MG TF..."  "Oh dear." - but they said that if I can get the hubs off and down to them they'll press in the new bearings for £notmuch.  So today I jacked the front end up and attached the various nuts and bolts holding the hubs onto the car to see if there was any chance of me getting them off.  I wasn't expecting much as everything is extremely rusty under there, but greatly to my surprise everything cracked off with little difficulty.  I've not completely undone everything yet so no doubt there will be some fun and games when I do, but so far it's looking more promising than I'd expected.

This evening I had my first proper night-time drive in the Visa.  Only to Tesco and back, but I wanted to make sure the headlights were going to make at least some effort at illuminating the road.  They're actually not bad at all - even the aim isn't far out, which is surprising given that I basically just shoved them in there.  I do like that little car - at some point I need to let someone who actually knows what they're doing with carburettors loose on it to get it running spot on, at the moment it still pops and splutters occasionally, although it's fine at full throttle which is where it'll spend most of its time when it's not in town so that takes away some of the urgency.

The YouTube I plugged above has info and footage of the k series production.

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

Skandix appear to have both in stock so I'll be spending some money with them shortly.

Or maybe I won't.  Bastards want 40 Euros to post a couple of small bits.  So they can bugger off.

[captain_70s]

11 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Or maybe I won't.  Bastards want 40 Euros to post a couple of small bits.  So they can bugger off.

I think they have a blanket cost for shipping abroad buying from them only makes sense if you're buying loads of stuff in one big order.

[SiC]

Oops

That's going to be expensive on the insurance.

[Zelandeth]

How the heck did they manage that?  Somehow deployed the tip function while driving?

[Split_Pin]

10 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

How the heck did they manage that?  Somehow deployed the tip function while driving?

More than likely forgot to lower it.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Have to share this from 1963 the world has changed alot since then.

[RayMK]

10 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Have to share this from 1963 the world has changed alot since then.

I've got a 1930s (I think) book covering motor vehicle servicing. It has delightful drawings showing how to straighten con rods and all manner of solutions to problems which would now be considered bodges at best.

[HMC]

It even goes as far as AA Book of the car (1973) 

Chicken wire and wob into the sills of a mk2 jag? AA approved 👍

[wuvvum]

The Volvo must have thought it was Christmas today.  Shiny new front tyres.

And shiny new rear brake discs.

Now I just need to find out why the offside rear brake isn't doing anything...

Got the offside front hub on the MG most of the way off - everything is undone, just left on by a couple of threads to hold everything together, so in theory it should be a 10-minute job to get it the rest of the way off.  I even managed to get out the manky brake disc retaining screw - I invested in an impact screwdriver off eBay and that got it undone straight away - in fact I'm now wishing I'd bought one years ago.  The top balljoint nut was the most awkward bit to get off but fortunately the Torx head machined into the end of the bolt managed to hold together long enough for me to get the nut undone.  The bottom balljoint came away from the hub just using a pry bar - makes a nice change from the last few I've done.  I've worked out that I should be able to use the pry bar to lever the hub / bottom arm down far enough to pop the top balljoint out of the upper arm, then it should just be a case of lifting the hub assembly off the bottom balljoint.

I ran out of time to attempt the same on the nearside, so that's a job for tomorrow.  Then I'll have to see when the garage can do the bearings - the ideal for me would be if I can just sling them in the boot of the Rover when I take it in for a test on Tuesday, then everything will be done at the same time (apart from whatever the Rover needs doing to pass the MOT obvs).

I've also fitted a battery cut-off switch to the Maxus.

That should make it a little less of a pain in the arse to disconnect the battery than having to undo and remove the negative terminal every time.

[motorpunk]

23 hours ago, richardmorris said:

This is really worth the watch. Tales from rover, etc in the 1990s. @motorpunk

 

 

Thanks. It was bastard freezing when we shot that, I was shivering! Nice to see people buying the book, too, having watched the interview.

(We have a sequel lined up which I hope is as popular).

[richardmorris]

15 minutes ago, motorpunk said:

Thanks. It was bastard freezing when we shot that, I was shivering! Nice to see people buying the book, too, having watched the interview.

(We have a sequel lined up which I hope is as popular).

I’ve put books in the trolley! I bought the petrol station ones too.

sounded both hilarious and very, very worrying. I missed where it was filmed - shuttle worth collection?

[BorniteIdentity]

We've just begun a new working agreement with a local business; a cleaning company that have been around Cambridge for about 35 years now.  When I visited the office, they had this photo proudly displayed on the wall.  Where it all started back in the 80s - one man and one Escort van.  🥰