The new news 24 thread

[Zelandeth]

Fun fact: Getting the speedometer cable refitted to the back of the head on a Rover 110 is an absolute swine of a job.   Just took me nearly an hour of fighting with it.

Why couldn't they have given us an inch more cable to work with?!?

Task is literally this: "Offer cable up to rear of speedometer head, wiggle it around a bit until the cable seats, slide retaining collar up, then screw said collar into place to secure the cable.  Job done."

One of those jobs where you can only get one and a half fingers onto the collar you need to rotate to screw the two bits together - and you have enough strength available to either hold things in place OR screw them together, but not nearly enough to do both.

Next time I have to pull the dash apart I'm going to have a serious look at whether the gearbox end can be accessed easily and if the cable is then free to move, as even with the added steps that would be massively preferable to that farce I just went through.

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, Bren said:

After a weeks camping cleaned the inside of the mondeo.

Took an eternity to hoover 'cos our Dyson is turd. Resorted to using sellotape to get the dog hairs off the carpet. Used the auto glym on the leather - I have not touched the alcantara for now as I have ordered some solution for cleaning it.

The autoglym interior shampoo works well on alcantara I’ve found.

[stuboy]

Spent many hours scraping off ford's version of tigers by heating a scraper with a blow lamp... 

[aldo135]

Washed our MX5 and took some pictures with a plan of selling it soon, nice day for it. Moved the 740 for the first time in ages and washed it too. Thanks to @catsinthewelderand @brownnova, I’m glad I’m not the only one feeling guilty about ignoring the cars outside!

[stuboy]

59 minutes ago, aldo135 said:

looks a fine beast

[New POD]

On 02/06/2023 at 18:54, stuboy said:

Training for work at dartford football ground... its all wasted on me as don't watch or follow the sport.. but thought I'd share ...

I once went for an all day interview recruitment day at Derby County... Pride Park.  Totally underwhelmed. 

[wuvvum]

Got the new rear tyre fitted to the Mobylette wheel yesterday.

The existing tyre was slightly* past its prime.

Irritatingly I managed to pinch the inner tube while levering the new tyre onto the rim so that's now punctured - I've ordered a new one as the one in there at the moment is at least 25 years old and the rubber has seen better days.

Also treated the Renault 4 to a new set of plugs - the three rearmost plugs didn't look that old but the front one was a different make and looked like it'd been in there forever - perhaps because it's more awkward to get to with the alternator being somewhat in the way.  I fitted a set of cheapo NGKs - they should be OK for a while at least.  The old plugs were a nice healthy brick red colour so the mixture can't be that far out despite the car previously running like a bag o' shite.  It seems to be smoother now, although for some reason the throttle return spring gets caught on the choke mechanism which is annoying.  I can hook the spring through a different hole in the inner wing which resolves that problem, but it also shortens the spring considerably so there's much less tension and the accelerator pedal becomes too light.

Today I got the aircon belt fitted to the Rover.

Was something of a faff - getting the wheelarch liner out was an arse of a job, those plastic clips with a screw through the middle manage to be both incredibly flimsy when one attempts to remove them properly and amazingly tough when one resorts to brute force.  Then I had to grind down my 24mm spanner some more so it'd fit between the inner wing and the tensioner (clearance on my car seems to be unusually tight for some reason), then I had to slice about 4" off the other end of the spanner so it'd clear the subframe, then stick a jack handle over the end to get enough leverage to move the tensioner (which has an extremely strong spring).  It's definitely easier to do it from underneath the car with the liner removed though, rather than from the top as per my last attempt a couple of years ago.  I started the engine and there was no death rattle from the aircon compressor so that's good.  I do still need to set the tensioner properly though, and I think I need to find a better locking bolt as the one in there at the moment is rather rusty and quite awkward to tighten up far enough to keep the tensioner in place.

This afternoon I went up to my welding mate's place and we got a bit more done on the Renault 6 - finished the driver's floorpan and made a start on the inner sill.  It's now much stronger structurally than it was before - there's still a fair way to go though...

[gm]

17 hours ago, aldo135 said:

Washed our MX5 and took some pictures with a plan of selling it soon, nice day for it. 

 

good little car that, i may know someone who could be interested 

 

[reb]

It was MsReb's birthday yesterday.

 

I am very slightly* hungover now.

[N19]

I had to use a couple of petrol cans for diesel recently. If rinsed out a couple of times, I'm assuming that the contamination level will be low enough to not cause any issues, especially when diluted into a full tank?

[horriblemercedes]

44 minutes ago, N19 said:

I had to use a couple of petrol cans for diesel recently. If rinsed out a couple of times, I'm assuming that the contamination level will be low enough to not cause any issues, especially when diluted into a full tank?

It'll be absolutely fine. Don't even worry about rinsing. If anything, don't do that.

 Just empty them, fill them with petrol and go again. Won't make a blind bit of difference to the car. The concentration of diesel will be so low as to be totally irrelevant

[stuboy]

Exciting day traveling to another base too another driving assessment.. but getting out of margate to ashford almost 2 hours... enough whining anyone ever seen an electric version of a air chisel like below?

[brownnova]

Local Lord opens his Manor House for a couple of weeks a year to us general public types, with the proceeds going to local charity. Thought it worth a nosey.

I’ll doubt Lord Mostyn has ever had a Pontiac TransSport on his drive before! 

[brownnova]

23 hours ago, aldo135 said:

Washed our MX5 and took some pictures with a plan of selling it soon, nice day for it.

I miss my MX5s… 

[aldo135]

39 minutes ago, brownnova said:

I miss my MX5s… 

I should really get my arse in gear and put an advert up! 

[MJK 24]

Fitted a big sturdy brace under the front of the Scirocco this evening.  From the factory, there’s nothing but fresh air between the front wishbones which gives the rigidity of wet newspaper.  I did have a ‘K bar’ fitted before now, which was standard on the 16v but this triangulates backwards to the rear wishbone mount on the opposing side.

It was a piece of cake to fit.  So I guess the shell is still straight after 24 years of my driving skills.

You’re supposed to have the car sat on its wheels before you torque the front pivot bolts.  Virtually impossible with the car on the floor!  The big truck provided assistance and made this part easy!

 

I noticed a huge improvement in rigidity when getting it off the axle stands.  Previously the doors would be virtually jammed shut in the aperture.  Now there’s just a tiny resistance.  It’s also much more together feeling when driving around the rougher parts of the yard over all the big pot holes.  No more creaking like an old ship!

I’d call that a result!

Old K bar will be in the classifieds soon for anyone with a Mk1 Golf, Jetta, Caddy, Scirocco or Mk2 Scirocco.

[Noel Tidybeard]

4 hours ago, reb said:

It was MsReb's birthday yesterday.

 

I am very slightly* hungover now.

a little bow legged or totaly stocious? 😁

[SiC]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

Exciting day traveling to another base too another driving assessment.. but getting out of margate to ashford almost 2 hours... enough whining anyone ever seen an electric version of a air chisel like below?

An SDS drill is probably the closet I can think of?

That said I think I've seen a video review of Milwaukee or similar electric hammer. 

[stuboy]

42 minutes ago, SiC said:

An SDS drill is probably the closet I can think of?

i got one of them and ideally smaller

[reb]

44 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

a little bow legged or totaly stocious? 😁

The latter.

[D.E]

Went to an interesting meet in town yesterday! There aren't much restrictions, so the range of vehicles showing up is quite diverse. Some pics:

1948 Traction Avant Foucher-Creteau

Many more photos in the spoiler:

Spoiler

Not suitable for stealth camping...

2000 GT XLR

The rarest (and oldest) car attending was this 1906 Spyker 15/22 HP. This particular example used to be in a museum, which closed in 2018 and the entire collection was auctioned. It's great to see the new owner actually driving it!

 

[wuvvum]

Would have been disappointed if there wasn't at least one DAF!  That floppytop 202 is fantastic.

[Split_Pin]

I'll second the admiration for the 202, wow!

[Ghosty]

My dad's business partner did say 'if you ever sell' about the 124. I've let him know it's available.

I happen to know he has a black ML55 AMG he doesn't want - I really hope that doesn't enter the equation.

[vulgalour]

Happy to report the headlining I've repaired and recovered hasn't immediately collapsed.  It's also vastly improved the quality of sound inside the car, much more than I expected it to.  This is my first foray into sticking a mirror back on to a windscreen, I'm really hoping the Stass brand tape I'm using is up to the task.  Duct tape is just to hold the mirror in place while the Stass tape glue bond fully cures.

If not, there's apparently a contact adhesive similar to superglue available at Wickes recommended by the chap that has just installed our new shower.  The old shower blew a BIG fuse in the main board and we've learned also that the fusebox is likely the house's original and all the replacement bits are now unavailable.  I guess we're saving for a new fuse box before it also decides to crap itself since now we've fixed something in the house you can guarantee another thing in the house is just itching to break.

[beko1987]

Got 2 friends from work who are both car-less now! Friend 1 got brake tested and failed and is now 2 weeks into an at fault claim after rear ending said car and trying to get his repair started before they'll even consider a curtosey car, then mate 2's missus's Vauxhall ate it's engine in some way over the weekend so she has his car for their kids and her uni now... 

It's not a huge detour, I lift shared with the 2nd mate anyway on alternate days but yet again my old trusty shit-heap is saving the day once more! Work has been fun trying to sort it out too, friend 1's manager is a bit of a prick and sadly his timings need to match ours now as I've got the school run to consider and a stink was brewing... Some going over of heads later and a word with the sensible director we have and suddenly there is no issue anymore 🙄

Been here a few times, I'm hoping I'm banking up enough favours that when it's my turn to need a lift into work for a while the offer is there! (from mate 2 anyway, tbf to him mate 1 would have to do a 12 mile trip the wrong way twice to get me so he gets a pass) 

Friend 2 is in a quandary too as the car is on finance, and the terms are that the car is alive at the end of the term in 18 months time... He had planned to just bin the car, buy a cheap runaround (there's some nice things by us for £1k after a look) and just pay the finance off for the remainder of the term and be done with it all, but it seems he can't do that now. I suggested getting it barely running them somehow writing it off in a believable way

[Bren]

I havd never been happy with the brake pedal on my e60 - the car stops ok but the pedal lacks firmness. I previously vacuum bled then pressure bled the brakes - better, but still not happy.

Today I used my icarsoft to operate the pump - there were bubbles in the fluid and the fluid itself was cloudy which suggests the fluid was trapped in the block.

Not had chance to try the car yet - I will put the battery on charge as the pump earned it's money.

[Saabnut]

On 05/06/2023 at 16:51, N19 said:

I had to use a couple of petrol cans for diesel recently. If rinsed out a couple of times, I'm assuming that the contamination level will be low enough to not cause any issues, especially when diluted into a full tank?

I alternate between petrol and diesel in the same cans all the time. They are never totally empty but probably have a few tens up to a few hundreds of millilitres in them and it never causes problems. The 5 I put in the cobra today, 3 had diesel last fill

[Burnside]

The little Panda has suffered from some "enhancement" to some of the bumper trims from one of it's former owners.

They have started peeling badly and are really letting the car down in my view, so I have stupidly decided to replace them as there both damaged anyway.

Problem is that the pieces of trim are £££'s via Fiat being a 4x4 model, so luckily I've found a new rear trim via ebay. For the front we found a used bumper off Facebook which we haggled down to £50. Everyone else wanted £200!

Managed to get rear one off ok without removing the bumper, unfortunately no such luck with the front one.

So.......

An that's as far as I got today apart from washing it too. Also just in case I haven't posted enough pictures, stupid me found some surface rust in both front inner arches that also needs attention.  That's the rest of my week sorted then. 

 

 

 

[auntiemaryscanary]

Nothing special about reaching 70k in a 2007 Doblo. I've owned it 12 years doing an average 4k a year, sod all really.

However I'd mistakenly thought it had a cam chain. Yep the cambelt went. I had the head rebuilt v locally at W.S. Bates Ltd, Mapperly, Nottm. Proper old school workshop tacked on the side of a house. Highly recommended. No website, just a landline.

I've done airport runs, family seaside holidays, hire machine collection, towing clocking up 1,700 miles since it was repaired a month ago. I consider that well and truly fixed.

Great to having it running again, it's a very versatile vehicle. Came close to scrapping it, v glad I didn't.