The new news 24 thread

[oman5]

It's a GLE. I didn't know there was such a thing in td flavour. It's the typical wealthy first owner volvo who kept it for a long long time spending loads on servicing with volvo main dealer and keeping the paperwork, which with these engines is worth knowing I reckon.

[barefoot]

A big thanks to everyone that did the nice like thing with the new job post.

I will take you up on the pineapple challenge, initially in my own column but I will eventually try to get it into a proper photoshoot.

 

Must get feet under table properly first.

[wackywacerwill]

Good car in a good colour that Volvo.

 

Leon passed it's MOT this morning, which was nice. The following advisory items may or may not be fixed before next years test;

 

Front struts have slight wobble at the top mount - Yep, could feel that and should of sorted it when the spring snapped last year really.

Nearside rear shock has slight mist of shiz - Nice and bouncy, hits it's plastic booty on speed humps since swapping to the slightly lower profile though much more treaded tyres

Nearside front washer part blocked - May need to scrap it because of this

Windscreen chipped - Meh

Center and rear exhaust sections (still) deteriorating. These look well rough and this year could well be the one where they part company from the rest of the vehicle. The metal wont take to welding due to the mega rust so will need a bodged from odd bits home brew system or money spend depending on how flush we are at the time.

Slight bind on rear wheels - Interesting, been a while since these were apart though I seem to remember they had new discs and pads two years ago so prop just infested with road salt.

 

All easy stuff so chuffed with that

[TimothyClaypole]

Had about an hour and half before I got bored abusing Henry in the back of my Astra, it's from Scotland so I suspect it was used in some Westie smuggling racket or something, dark grey carpet ad white dog hair... great. 

 

 

My dad's got the boot carpet as it's only fit for burning he said.

[MrDuke]

Seized engine, you say?

 

 

 

 

Oh.

 

[dollywobbler]

Sunshine! Brilliant! Er, not necessarily. The power of some distant star always coaxes more horrible dog smell out of the Sirion's seats. Yuck! On the plus side, I've been able to open the Disco's doors so it can (hopefully) dry out a bit.

[derskine]

Washed Polo for the first time since owning it, also adjusted the handbrake as it was getting a little shit on hills.

Cleaned out the inside thoroughly for the first time too, removed the drivers seat and as I did so a tin of deodrant that was under the seat ruptured and exploded so now the car stinks of Adidas ice dive.

Also impaled my knee on a ridiculous rogue screw, that is screwed through the floor.

All in all a productive day

[scruff]

Today I've been down to Kent, I had a lady get in touch about moving a old Lancia from a lockup there up to a restorer in Nottingham - initial thought was it would be a old HPE or somesuch but it turned out to be a 2000 Berlina which her father had owned for yonks, she had passed her test in it and it had been parked up since 1987. The father met me at the lockup, a 85 year old legend who told me the Lancia was just the job for the 100mph cruises across France he used to do! Obviously it is pretty crusty but the daughter seems to know what she might be in for so fingers crossed it'll get 'the works'. I didn't know these had a flat four. 

 

 

[Angrydicky]

Had a look at the Somerset yesterday, opened up the carb and there was quite a lot of dirt in there, so cleaned it out with a magnetic screwdriver, then bypassed the faulty solenoid with a jump lead. It started straight away and idled well so after a quick test drive around the estate where my garage is I decided to chance it and drove the 75 miles home. It didn't miss a beat.

Once I was back home I fitted the shiny new starter solenoid and removed, freed off and lubricated the starter cable which had completely jammed in its sheath. The old solenoid had clearly never been disturbed so 61 years isn't a bad lifespan really. It now starts and runs well, although still needs a choke cable as the original one for the Zenith carb is too short for the SU it now has fitted. I have a cable that looks long enough but want all the knobs on the dash to match so I'll have to have a think about how to do that. Fortunately it's easy to start by operating the choke under the bonnet and pressing the button on the solenoid.

Another problem the previous owner mentioned was that the exhaust had a tendency to come apart just in front of the silencer over speed bumps. He said he had to crawl under the car and put the exhaust back together in Cardiff city centre once, which sounds fun*. So today I got the car up on ramps and it was clear the joint was very loose and blowing badly, as well as the hole in the silencer. I ran a line of weld all the way around the two parts of the exhaust and also welded up the hole in the silencer. The result is that the exhaust will no longer be coming apart and the exhaust blow is 99% cured.

I then checked the carb and some more dirt had come through so I'll stick an inline filter on. There is also an intermittent ignition/wiring fault which the previous owner warned me about, but he thought he'd solved it by stripping down and cleaning the ignition/light switch. All the electrics, including the ignition, lights and gauges just randomly go out but leave it for a bit and they'll come back on. This happened last night as I was leaving the car park at Asda, and I was forced to hotwire the ignition to get it going again. A few seconds after moving off the lights/gauges and presumably the ignition came back on, so I'll have a look under the bonnet tomorrow for any bad connections. It has a new loom fitted, but some of the metal connections do look a bit corroded, so we'll see.

[trigger]

What a stunner!

[tooSavvy]

I'm a contractor, at a firm who used to have me full-time.

 

Had a Skype.. .. interview today... YaY! they've found a fiver down the corporate sofa, and I'm back PAYE from March1st.

 

25days Hols again...

 

 

TS

[Lord Sterling]

Right, so is this good or bad? It's hard to tell thou'athst ramblings in the herethest of TooSavvy worlds....

 

I get 2 months holiday after 5 months of work. Hopefully most of this time will be spent in Belgium.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Fuck me, all these people getting jobs. This place is turning into Pistonheads.

[saucedoctor]

I can haz 2004 Fiesta TDCi. Couple of scuffs, wee oil leak and a bent wheel. Picz to follow, when I actually take possession of the car.

[andy18s]

Well,I'm going to jump on that bandwagon whilst it's in motion

Started my new job yesterday and I'm back into the welding/fabbing again !

Making Anti-vandal screens for Heavy plant equipment and all the 360 excavator new handrails that seem to be "In Vogue" at the mo

Since getting laid off 2 weeks before Xmas it's been tight,but only way is up now

[tooSavvy]

Hmm... I booked a short break, in two weeks time, for the Gddr 1/2 term break.

 

My 'rota' had me off for the days away... The company has changed all the rotas around so, now, I'm not off the days I thought... STAFF have been given a 4 week 'overlap' - notice period, for the new rota >> chavvy subbies get dropped straight in!!

 

I now have to pay for Hotel + loss of Wages..... yeahh 

 

TS

[MrDuke]

I'm not getting a job.

 

 

(I am starting my own business, but that's by the by)

[dollywobbler]

I'm not getting a job.

 

 

(I am starting my own business, but that's by the by)

 

DUKE'S FRENCH-WRECK SALVATION COMPANY

[vulgalour]

L'armée du Salut de M. Duc

 

Every Christmas you'll see the Armée Salut on streets across the UK shrugging nonchalantly and playing accordians while smoking black cigarettes stood around rusting heaps of French tin while a Mime in an air-cooled Citroen drives at maximum throttle around them.

[Squire_Dawson]

Saw my 3rd MG 6 since they were launched.

[vulgalour]

I have an MG 6 blindspot.  I literally can't see them, even when they're pointed out to me I can't see them.  This is no exaggeration, ask Captain_Slow.

[Ghosty]

I saw a 6 Magnette recently. I've probably seen about five or six saloons though.

[coalnotdole]

I'm also jumping on the new job bandwagon... I started work at a small german owned factory this week. its a bit of a change after working in the film industry and all its erratic employment patterns. Hopefully the money will help the various projects along. Sadly the compromise is lots of long hours, shift work and six day weeks....

[fordperv]

I saw some mg6s and mg3s earlier when we drove past stokes mg dealership

[scruff]

The only ones I've seen have been at BCA !

[wackywacerwill]

I think I saw a new mg though not so sure that I could say what model it was.

 

Since the jellymould all new cars look the same etc.

[The Moog]

Well if there is bandwagon jumping I started myown business yesterday

[dollywobbler]

The sky is dark, lots of water is falling from it and the wind is stronger than Linford Christie. It can only be a great day for a wedding! As mentioned elsewhere, my Skoda-loving buddy is getting hitched today. I'm very pleased to be part of the Bridesmaid Logistic Machine, driving an early-eighties Skoda Estelle. Not driven a rear-engined Skoda for ages, so this'll be fun. Especially in strong winds. The owner of said magnificent beast (DaveRapid of this parish) has warned me that I may need to use the choke to get up steep hills. The wedding venue is at the top of a steep hill. This is going to be a magnificent day! More later.

[trigger]

Have a great day!

[cort16]

It's a nice day for a welsh wedding.