The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

I've been having a bit of an attack of rationality over the last week or so, fuelled by a combination of skintness, a moaning letter from the local housing authority saying that I'm taking up too much space on the car park (which is a fair point at the moment as half the car park is taken up with a huge skip and a canteen for the workmen who are doing work on the houses, and I was taking up a rather high proportion of the remaining spaces), and a realisation that I own some rather nice cars which have been getting sadly neglected as I spend all my money on buying new stuff.

 

So the RX-8 has gone.  It was a fun thing to own, but not really as fast as it looked, or indeed fast enough to justify its fuel consumption, and the hot starting problem could be a PITA at petrol stations and the like.  It really needed a few hundred quid spending on it (uprated starter, a proper service and a pair of decent rear tyres), which I couldn't justify doing at the moment.

 

The Saab's up for sale too - again a nice old thing, but realistically we're at least four months away from convertible weather, plus it's just run out of tax and I don't want to leave it sitting around doing nowt.

 

Yesterday I went into the Post Office and handed over £231 for a pair of tax discs, six months each for the LNA and the S60 - the Volvo was exactly twice the price of the Citroën .  I'm going to start using the LNA more as it's a really fun thing to zip about in and pretty good on petrol, plus if I leave it stood for more than about a week the fuel pump needs priming before it'll start, which is a pain.  I want to get the Innocenti back on the road soon as well - I really need to make more of an effort to find it a headlight.  I found one before on Wopbay but the deal fell through when the seller decided after I hit BIN that he wanted over 100€ to post it.  The car is also leaking from somewhere as the rear carpet on the driver's side is soaked - I originally thought it was coming in through the floor heater vents as it sometimes used to, but I've shut those off and it's still coming in, so must be a leaking seal somewhere.  I do need to sort it as wet carpets and Italian floorpans do not make good bedfellows.

 

I'm going to have one last bash this weekend at getting the 406 to run properly - I might even give my mechanic mate a drink to look at it and see what he reckons.  If it refuses to co-operate, it's getting sold and the proceeds will go towards getting the Rover of Doom back on the road (once I can get to it) to take over daily duties from the Toyota.

 

I popped to Tescos in the S60 earlier this evening for a pizza and some ginger ale, and I noticed that, despite the fact that it was pissing it down earlier, the gale force (and surprisingly warm for February) winds had dried the roads out almost completely.  So I took the Volvo for a bit of a blat up my favourite local B-road.  It really is obscenely fast.  My only prior experience with a turbocharged Volvo was a 940 2.3 saloon that I had a few years back, so I was slightly sceptical when reading all the comments on here a few weeks back about how insanely quick T5s are, but I'm now more than convinced.  The thing would leave any of the (many) turbo'd Saabs I've owned in the dust.  Even short-shifting up at under 5,000 revs it got to censored mph before I knew what was happening.  I'm not quite used to the handling of the thing yet, so corners were taken somewhat slower than I would have liked, but I think it's still going to be a seriously quick point-to-point machine, as long as the road isn't too bumpy.  The fact that it looks like something your grandad would drive is an added bonus in my eyes.  So far, I'm most pleased with my purchase.
 

[HMC]

That Volvo sounds fantastic wuv! In the real world things like that are just about the fastest ways of getting about as they're so unassuming and blend in. Is your renner 6 far from being on the road at the mo?

[Wilko220]

How on earth didn't I know about this place until now?!

 

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/news/news-derek-ketteringham-call-day/

[wuvvum]

That Volvo sounds fantastic wuv! In the real world things like that are just about the fastest ways of getting about as they're so unassuming and blend in. Is your renner 6 far from being on the road at the mo?

 

The 6 is going to need some weldage before it goes back on the road - hopefully shouldn't need too much else though, although I am going to put the later back lights back in it as the Series 1 lights I bought for it are going to need some work to fit properly.  It'll need the screenwash fixing, which is proving to be an annoyance as it uses a very fine gauge of tube which seems to be made of unobtainium.  Rest should be OK though - brakes are good, even the handbrake is adequate, the electrics work and it had a full new exhaust last year.  It's a '72 so emissions shouldn't be a problem.  I defo want to get it back on the road this summer.

[wackywacerwill]

Leon has MOT booked, I still like to woop it's arse around the block and secretly hope it doesn't flop it's test this Friday so she and I can continue to do so.

Cortina still not welded itself.

Clio awaits time and cash to sort HGF, my romance is waning as I had it OTR for 2 weeks so it may get fixed and punted on or it may not get fixed quick and feel a new car again by the time it's back in working order, who knows.

Honda's still wanting new rear wheel bearings, air box swap and a charge of the battery, TY250 plods on though the lack of front brake has become more tricky to ride around since the back brake lever snapped off. Many more motos languish in various states of disrepair.

Despite a blow from the zorst the transit is as boss as ever, just let down by the fact it has no fuel in it. Spent the last cash on veg for the Clio, doh.

Raleigh racer back in the game and doing sterling service in the work commute. Everything for a reason, I need the stretch and exercise as part of the post crash rehab and enjoying being human powered again too.

[Lord Sterling]

How on earth didn't I know about this place until now?!

 

 

http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/news/news-derek-ketteringham-call-day/

I visited this place last year. I'm sure I put up some photos in my spotted thread.

[vulgalour]

@wuvvum:  aquarium suppliers might have the answer to the narrow gauge pipe, I'm moderately sure air stones use a skinnier pipe than regular washer jets and it'll be definitely fit for purpose.

 

All go in Mucking Fental.  Wheelie bin bags are actually big enough to cover a car door, so the red Princess is sporting a full set of four since the temporary clingfilm solution lasted all of overnight.  Tomorrow I'm going to try and get my wheels balanced, then I'm off to Derby to meet shiter Mr_Bollox to collect some Princess brake shoes, then I'm off to another bit of Derby to collect some Wipac foglights - one of which I plan to turn into a high level brake light - and then I have to scoot back home to be in for another Princess owner to collect some parts from me.

 

MrDuke has also informed me that the Renault's engine appears to be seized, though there is a smidge of movement so there's work to be done there.

 

Later this month I'm off to Wellingborough to meet shiter Garycox to collect the parts that were at delivered by shiter AlexG to shiter Keef who has been storing them for me because of my OMGHGF the day before the Maidstone Meet I organised and failed spectacularly to attend.

[saucedoctor]

I fixxorred my sisters Renner of Shitness today. Not surprisingly, it was an ignition coil. Bit of a grump, though: the EML was on, and the "Message Centre" said "check emissions". Given that the EOBD told me it had a misfire on pot 3, why couldn't the fucking message centre have told me that too? I know the emissions thing is right and correct, but some punters are gonna think that it has a duff o2 sensor with that message.

 

 

Props to the guys at East Antrim Motor factors, who had about 60 in stock, and only charged me £15 all in.

 

OMGALLRENNERSARESHIT.

[MrDuke]

^^^ Is there any point in actually fitting an opening bonnet to those? They could cover the dipstick and rad filler with a fuel-flap-sized door; from this angle it doesn't look like anything else is accessible from the top.

[saucedoctor]

It's a hateful thing to work on. The well-publicised headlamp bulb of awkwardness is even worse in this early car, as it has no access panel in the wheelarch liner. Taking the "scuttle" panel off lets you get at a few more things. The fixings are shite, though. The spire clips for the battery cover are cheap crap, and the clip that holds the cold air feed in place is a pain too.

 

It's just a smorgasbord of wanton contrariness. The cylinders are numbered from the right, for example. To read the OBD codes, you have to have the engine running. To clear the codes you have to stop the engine but leave the keycard in. I tried my 2 different code readers, the iPhone Wifi Thing of Wankness and the ELM327 job my mate lent me, and all said "Linking Error" until the penny dropped and I started the engine.

 

How are you supposed to find out what's wrong with the car if whatever the problem is won't let you start the engine?

 

VERDICT: FRENCH.

[cort16]

ZX gone. Part one of operation no more cars complete. XJR is just listed on ebay then it'll just be me and the SD1 again and maybe a Porsche 911

[ShiteRider]

A slightly bizarre day, there's a new hair dressers opened at the top of my street that's open late so i went in for a cut (just a cut, a cut and blow isn't what i'd hope it would be).

Long story short, me and the very pretty girl who cut my hair went to the same school, albeit five years apart, but i was in the same class as her brother.

This made conversation fairly easy for me, something i struggle with with strangers (apparently i have arse-burgers, the internet told me so it must be PHAKT), so the battle plan is to ask her out. If she lives in Burscough she obviously has low standards, so fingers crossed...........

[HMC]

MOT take 2 for the Pug 504 tomorrow.

[cort16]

That was quick. hopefully failurz list not in double figures.

[vulgalour]

Today I met Mr_Bollox and that was good, apart from getting stuck behind a Matiz on the M1 doing 45mph.  Then I headed over to my second appointment and the satnav promptly said "WAA Low Battery!" and turned itself off.  I had no idea where I was having never driven to Derby before and my road atlas is both rubbish and out of date.  I got lost.  But my second appointment arrived to escort me to a place of satnav charging in a Volvo 240 estate and a house that was full of desirable G-Plan type furnishings and even hi-fi in a cabinet... I told him to get on Autoshite post haste when he mentioned a desire for a Rover 216 diesel estate, the words Perkins Prima and that he's on the look out for a Renault 12.

 

On the way back the weather was abysmal, motorway could not be driven on at speeds exceeding 55mph due to poor visibility, lorries and for a large proportion, road works.  Got home just after my last appointment who had turned up in a Rover 25 and I offloaded some Princess stuff as I could not be bothered selling it and he has enough Princesses for me to be sure it was all going to a good home.  Besides, he's got a hydragas pump that he's willing to bring over if I buy fluid so the red car can be pumped up cheaper and the beige one too when I sort out the pivot shafts.

 

It has been a long day, an eventful 100 miles but totally worth it.  I also found I cannot keep up with a Volvo 240 estate driven briskly in the wet as it has superior grip than the Princess which is now sporting steels again due to scary sidewall cracks in the sidewalls of the Lotus alloy tyres.

[Lord Sterling]

Sterling is coming off the road on Wednesday next week, I'll try and load it up with some personal stuff before driving it to its storage place. It's kind of dawned on me that it may be a while before I drive an 800 again.

 

I've secured the use of a van on the same day to shift somemore stuff away from here into storage. Not looking forward to lifting/shifting/carrying and I know I'll have to do it again at some point. Then for the next week or so I'll be using the Micra_Sterling for transport to work duties,

[panhard65]

 

 

 

 

It's a hateful thing to work on. The well-publicised headlamp bulb of awkwardness is even worse in this early car, as it has no access panel in the wheelarch liner. Taking the "scuttle" panel off lets you get at a few more things. The fixings are shite, though. The spire clips for the battery cover are cheap crap, and the clip that holds the cold air feed in place is a pain too.

 

It's just a smorgasbord of wanton contrariness. The cylinders are numbered from the right, for example. To read the OBD codes, you have to have the engine running. To clear the codes you have to stop the engine but leave the keycard in. I tried my 2 different code readers, the iPhone Wifi Thing of Wankness and the ELM327 job my mate lent me, and all said "Linking Error" until the penny dropped and I started the engine.

 

How are you supposed to find out what's wrong with the car if whatever the problem is won't let you start the engine?

 

VERDICT: FRENCH.

The way to get the ignition on to code read these is put it in gear press the brake pedal and the starter button. It won't let the engine start as you are in gear but the brake has to be pushed to allow the ignition to come on. You will still find most cheap scanners won't read it correctly. It will say emissions fault if you have a misfire as the injector will still be firing even if the plug isn't which will confuse the computer into thinking its outside the tolerances.

[Barry Cade]

I'm in despair with this bloody Golf I got for my daughter. Her test is very soon, so I thought I'd go and get it shipshape and shiny for her, hoping she gets her pass first time. Was bollocksed off removing and fitting door panels to fix all sorts of issues it had, so instead of replacing the entire drivers door lock, and stripping out the window and everything else AGAIN, I fitted an old fashioned courtesy light switch on the B pillar. Know what? It works perfectly. And instead or about a hundred quid from VW and an hour of labour to fit , it was free- out of my "misc" drawer in my toolbox and off a Mk1 Fiat Punto. Who'd have thought Italian electrics in German car.... (It has a Marelli injection system)

 

I checked the tyre pressures, hoovered it, washed it, waxed it, tyre shine, black trim treated, air freshner...the works. Had it running and the tappety sound is much better than it was, but still audi-able. I was trying my best to ignore the oily smell and the steam (wishful thinking). It's turned into a full blown oil burner since I changed the oil- with the proper and expensive fully synth 5w40. Good old GTX 15w40 is going in it tomorrow. It'll cut the smoke hopefully or it's getting squashed...I'm in up to my eyeballs now- new clutch,gearbox,wishbones,cat,exhaust, and a shitload of other stuff.

 

 

VAG, you are even more shit than Vauxhall, more shit than Peugeot, and even Renault. Our long history together is OVER. I used to hold you in high regard and covered many happy and perfectly reliable miles in various Passats,Sciroccos Jettas and Polos, some with well over 200,000 miles on the clock.

 

NOW, you can FRO. Building engines and gearboxes with design faults and poor engineering. Engines that struggle to do 100,000 miles and CANNOT be repaired.

 

Goodbye.

[derskine]

All modernz r shit m8.

[overrun]

Top Gear teaches us you just plug the hazard switch in upside down to start a Nova.  Top Gear may be lying.

 

Nope. It works on mk2 Nova's. mk2 Astra also iirc.

 

Most Nova's now, have a modified loom, or hazard switch to stop this.

[vulgalour]

I want to know how anyone learned this worked.  It must be a similar thought process to how bread or cheese was invented.

[M'coli]

Probably by accident. The switch will have been removed by the discoverer and accidentally replaced upsside down, which provides a live feed for the ignition. Using a booster battery pack that plugs into the cigarette lighter also has this effect...

[Ghosty]

Google showed up a MigWeb thread from ten years ago(!!!) that claimed it also works on Mk3 Cavaliers.

[Richard]

It's pretty shoddy design to have a switch that can be plugged in the wrong way, even the French weren't making them like that in the 1980s.

[twosmoke300]

Really ? , I seem to remember that the citroen bx ignition switch connector had no lock/ release button (ie it just pulled apart)

Its only the main power feed for the whole car , nowt important really !!

Guess who had one fall out?

[Richard]

I meant multiplugs being keyed so they would only go in the right place. Most cars were easy to start before immobilisers were fitted. Except Fords of course, even the key wouldn't help you there.

[oman5]

I *may* have found a Volvo 940 td 

I now *have* a 940 td. decent spec too with aircon, cruise, leather, sunroof etc, pics available if anyone cares.

[cms206]

I now *have* a 940 td. decent spec too with aircon, cruise, leather, sunroof etc, pics available if anyone cares.

 

*waves* pictures!!!!!!

[oman5]

I now *have* a 940 td. decent spec too with aircon, cruise, leather, sunroof etc, pics available if anyone cares.

More miles than the starship enterprise, but with these things the proof of the pudding is in the eating..it sounds as smooth as one of these can be and starts from cold fine, pulls well with no serious smoke issues.

[Lacquer Peel]

HOT. I didn't realise you could get a 940 TD with cruise control - is it an SE? The ones I've owned have been fairly boggo.