The new news 24 thread

[EyesWeldedShut]

Spooky - I have a revolving 'wants' list and that XM is on it - however I (i.e. my wife) has a set limit to how many cars we possess at any one time 

[RetroShite]

I bought something else this week but it's yet to arrive.

[Bear]

22 hours ago, brownnova said:

I am, and continue to be very tempted by an S-Type. I was at the motor show when it and the 75 were launched, and so they’re very much on the list of cars I want to own. 
 

On a similar vein, I went to look at this this week… it was local and cheap. 

Sadly, it was badly hunting at idle, kangarooing at low revs and the sills had certainly seen better days. It had clearly been quite neglected so much as i really want an XM… I walked away from this one! 

 

TBF I think the things that pass as sills on that would be better deployed as floorboards and plastering.

[grogee]

12 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

 I (i.e. my wife) has a set limit to how many cars we possess at any one time 

Same. Does this mean we can set the limit on how many wives we possess at any one time? 

[HMC]

Look Around You is now on I player

[Ghosty]

Thanks, HMC.

ThMC.

[Cookiesouwest]

Between Wells and Glastonbury.

Has @HMC  bought a modern and a private plate !

[Bren]

I have avoided replacing my BMW's spark plugs for a number of reasons - access is a nightmare and the risk of breaking twenty year old plastic.

The car runs very well - however, to me any way, it seems to need larger throttle openings than should be needed for an engine producing over 300 hp and over 300 ft/lb of torque.

Time to let the dog see the rabbit - 

A bit of WD 40 and some dismantling gives better access. I put my finger through the hole in the clip and pulled. Out came the coil.

A 16 six sided socket is needed to get the plug out. I found this - 

my suspicions the car had it's original plugs proved correct. In fact they are the worst plugs I have ever taken from a car - 

The centre has eroded away completely. A new set for Tuesday methinks......

[SiC]

17 minutes ago, Bren said:

The centre has eroded away completely. A new set for Tuesday methinks

Some platinum plugs have no centre electrode exposed when new. I can't tell from your photo, as it's a bit too blurry, if they're supposed to be like that.

 

[Bren]

49 minutes ago, SiC said:

Some platinum plugs have no centre electrode exposed when new. I can't tell from your photo, as it's a bit too blurry, if they're supposed to be like that.

 

Looking at those then mine may not have  eroded - however I doubt they have ever been changed so I will buy some new ones.

[SiC]

28 minutes ago, Bren said:

Looking at those then mine may not have  eroded - however I doubt they have ever been changed so I will buy some new ones.

I suspect they're probably fine. But I'd be changing them too if it was me and I didn't know when they were last done. Especially as the car is worth money, plugs aren't that expensive and you want to rely on it being reliable. 

[Bren]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

I suspect they're probably fine. But I'd be changing them too if it was me and I didn't know when they were last done. Especially as the car is worth money, plugs aren't that expensive and you want to rely on it being reliable. 

Nothing in the history to suggest they had been changed - I doubt anybody would have fitted BMW branded plugs. I will get some in the week.

[SiC]

Mate gave me a hedge trimmer that came with his house. He'd been having a lot of trouble getting it to run properly and basically gave up after he realised how much better modern battery powered units are now.


Having a look through, the first obvious issue was that the fuel line had simply crumbled to pieces. I had a spare that I fitted from my box of bits


Next was replacing this manky old fuel. This has gone into the mower and it seems quite happy on it.


While trying to get it to run, I noticed the carb extremely loose.


With that all done, I set off to cut my hedge.
I got part of the way through to find it cutting out at high revs.


Having a poke around, thinking maybe mixture related, I discovered the needle was fixed and not adjustable. It's a genuine Walbro carb but they glue the needle in so it simply cannot be moved. I pulled the carb apart some more to check the rotary cylinder valve was clean and sealing. Couldn't find anything obvious and I didn't want to pull the bulb side apart as that risked buggering the gaskets.

I was convinced it was fueling related as it idled really happily for about 10mins. But high speed dropped it out. Decided maybe to look at the pressure port. The hole on the carb uses crankcase pressure to pressurise the fuel tank. This allows the fuel to be forced in and alleviates the need for a fuel pump.

The carb looked fine but I only wanted to tear in at the last resort. So I thought I'd check the carb mount to see if it was blocked.

Looking at it, the problem became obvious.


It should be this way around. The original way simply had that port blocked off. Whereas it needed to go to that hole into the bottom of the cylinder/crankcase.

I think the only way it was running before was from the fact the mount was loose and probably letting some pressure in. Not sure whether someone pulled this apart and didn't put it back together properly, or it was incorrectly assembled out the factory.


Putting it all back together, it fired right up. Finished cutting the hedge in double quick time compared to my mains powered unit!

I did buy a replacement cheapy carb from Amazon for £16. Same day delivery as I bought it in the morning before I had a chance to look at the trimmer. However this original carb seems fine and being a genuine (older) Walbro (afaik), it will likely be better quality than the Amazon unit.

Debating whether to send it back or simply leave it on the shelf. A bit like that fuel pipe that I used at the start. Came with a kit of other bits and I didn't end up using it. Sometimes being a hoarder has its uses...

Anyway not bad for a free Hedge Trimmer! I mean I did spend a good few hours this afternoon fixing it and you have to debate whether that's a good use of time. I can see why people throw stuff like this out rather than having a fiddle. It's all cheap enough that it isn't worth spending time fixing it if you value your time. But I do get satisfaction on fixing this sort of stuff.

[SiC]

Drove past a vintage event today. A small gathering of vehicles and mostly old Bristol busses. The owners were giving people trips around in the busses. I was tempted but Mrs SiC wanted to get on with sorting the garden today.


I don't know if I got them all, but many cars were local cars and I've probably taken pictures of them before anyway.

[brownnova]

I took the highlander to a show today! There was indeed only one… 

It was very wet and muddy, so attendance was low. I was late arriving, but found a spot where someone had already left at the end of a row.

Highlights: 

And the only other Volvo on the field… 

Hoping for better weather for the Prestatyn show tomorrow. Didn’t book in time to display, but will enjoy anyway! 

[brownnova]

3 minutes ago, SiC said:

Was the fella on the left called Trevor, and on his way to Pontypandy? 

[stuboy]

Went too boot fair x2 and bought an RS.....

 

 

 

Well the nearest too me ever owner one !!

[bigfella2]

Looks like an RS on an aRSe to me. 😂

[4wheeledstool]

New improved shed almost ready to use now. Panelling installed.

then painted.

shelving put up and loaded.

should get the rest of my tackle arranged and functional tomorrow. 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

Went too boot fair x2 and bought an RS.....

 

 

 

Well the nearest too me ever owner one !!

Is that on a hairy arm?

[grogee]

10 hours ago, brownnova said:

Was the fella on the left called Trevor, and on his way to Pontypandy? 

NORMAN PRICE!!! 

[grogee]

Fuck airports. £5 for a bacon bap/cob/batch/barmcake/bun/Lllachggallaoch (delete as regionally appropriate) 

[andyberg]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Fuck airports. £5 for a bacon bap/cob/batch/barmcake/bun/Lllachggallaoch (delete as regionally appropriate) 

At Bristol airport we have the triple bacon roll, called because it's triple the price. Even with staff discount it's still £5.  I saw a bar of dairy milk the other day here, in Tesco it's £1.60, here its £4.49!!!! Jesus wept!!

[Asimo]

10 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Is that on a hairy arm  aRSe ?

FTFY

[hairnet]

2 hours ago, andyberg said:

At Bristol airport we have the triple bacon roll, called because it's triple the price. Even with staff discount it's still £5.  I saw a bar of dairy milk the other day here, in Tesco it's £1.60, here its £4.49!!!! Jesus wept!!

world record price for a dairy milk or fruit and nut 7,50

[andyberg]

1 minute ago, hairnet said:

world record price for a dairy milk or fruit and nut 7,50

For a 160g bar!!!!????

[hairnet]

14 hours ago, brownnova said:

I took the highlander to a show today! There was indeed only one… 

pervert?

 

OOF

[hairnet]

1 minute ago, andyberg said:

For a 160g bar!!!!????

the big one you can usually buy for 1-150...........

 

[Zelandeth]

5 minutes ago, andyberg said:

For a 160g bar!!!!????

Luton airport by any chance?

[grogee]

8 hours ago, andyberg said:

At Bristol airport we have the triple bacon roll, called because it's triple the price. Even with staff discount it's still £5.  I saw a bar of dairy milk the other day here, in Tesco it's £1.60, here its £4.49!!!! Jesus wept!!

It was all worth it