The new news 24 thread

[Fumbler]

16 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

With all the 2cv here, I can't stop looking at a cheap air cooled Citroen for sale not far from me.

You should buy it, you know you want to.

[stuboy]

1 minute ago, Fumbler said:

You should buy it, you know you want to.

plus 1

[stuboy]

4 hours ago, D.E said:

never seen a cavalier with indicator there.......

[D.E]

Just now, stuboy said:

never seen a cavalier with indicator there.......

I think that's a later addition, the earliest Vectras originally do not have side indicators.

[Dyslexic Viking]

22 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

You should buy it, you know you want to.

Yes, but how to pay for it with a  Mercedes with an unhealthy appetite for my money is the problem.

[stuboy]

Everyone at work getting there bikes out... makes me want to get my 2 wheels out.. just need too finishing putting back together... only thing is they got 600 cc triumphs... compared to my 50cc twist and go..... Will I have size envy...lol

[D.E]

35 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Yes, but how to pay for it with a  Mercedes with an unhealthy appetite for my money is the problem.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-sell-body-parts-for-profit-2012-3?international=true&r=US&IR=T

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, Lankytim said:

The P4 responded pretty well to a bit of mopping. It looks lovely! 

Lovely. 2nd pic says a confused look to me. Driven it much?

[Spottedlaurel]

@wuvvum and other East Anglian shiters, it's Oaksmere Italia today, off the A140 'twixt Diss and Eye.

We popped along last year, not a big event but there was some nice stuff there. Weather's good, will visit in the Laurel as I think there's an area for non-Italian stuff.

 

[Lankytim]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Lovely. 2nd pic says a confused look to me. Driven it much?

Nope, just up and and down the driveway! 

[timolloyd]

15 hours ago, richardmorris said:

My near neighbours have visitors, they have gone out somewhere in neighbours new RR sport in place of visitors elderly one. Is this the really, really unreliable period, or just awful?

I’ll let you know in another six months!

I’ve just bought a low-ish mileage 2011 (facelift). My hunch is that, like a lot of big heavy cars, the original issues have all been sorted but their current reliability is all down to how well they’ve been cared for.

Chassis rust is still impressive though!

[andyberg]

This is us right?

[New POD]

11 hours ago, stuboy said:

Everyone at work getting there bikes out... makes me want to get my 2 wheels out.. just need too finishing putting back together... only thing is they got 600 cc triumphs... compared to my 50cc twist and go..... Will I have size envy...lol

It's not the size, it what you do with it and where you go with it.  I suggest somewhere downhill. When I last had a moped, I took it for a weeks holiday around the lake district. Up the A6 via Garstang and Lancaster.

I liked* the misery. 

[Joey spud]

After neglecting the little Morris for three months he's finally got four wings refitted and fresh fuel in his tank.

[Bren]

17 hours ago, wheel nut said:

Did oil and filter changes on both my 2014 Dacia Logan and my 1962 Land Rover.

Both have cartridge type oil filters but a bit of a difference in size.

I need ramps to get under the Dacia, but plenty of space under the Land Rover with it sitting on the ground.

Land Rover’s filter is a bit of a faff to get back on again as it’s quite an awkward thing to support while trying to get the securing bolt started and access is restricted by a chassis leg to one side and the front propshaft directly below it.

I like doing 2 oil changes at the same time as I can make use of the time waiting one engine to drain by making a start on the second. Similarly after filling with new oil I like to give it time to settle before checking the level so can usually find something useful to do on the other vehicle while waiting.

When under the Dacia I noticed a considerable amount of rust taking hold on the front chassis legs so gave then a good scrape/wire brush and a couple of coats of paint while I had it up on the ramps. 

At first I thought this was the Land Rover. Not good for a nine year old car.

[SiC]

18 hours ago, Lankytim said:

The P4 responded pretty well to a bit of mopping. It looks lovely! 

I'm mega glad you saved this. I worried that it was at a real risk of ending up going around the oval on whoever bought it in a few owners time once on the general market.

I really wanted to buy this from @Minimad5 and caused me much anguish that everything/everyone sensible said that I'd be just digging my self into a bigger hole of cars needing work by doing so. I ended up buying the P4 that Zel had and probably was the right decision as I could actually use it before needing many weekends worth of work doing.

I really am looking forward to seeing it progress!

[HillmanImp]

After Meg wouldn't get fuel, even after replacing the mechanical fuel pump, I decided to start at the cheapest point first. 

Turns out, that was a good idea. I lobbed some cling film on the fuel filler cap and she started straight away. 

Wish I'd used that approach last time, before I'd changed the fuel pump. 

So Meg is now moving under her own power for the 1st time in a long time. 

Have ordered a new filler cap which will arrive later this week. 

[Lankytim]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

I'm mega glad you saved this. I worried that it was at a real risk of ending up going around the oval on whoever bought it in a few owners time once on the general market.

I really wanted to buy this from @Minimad5 and caused me much anguish that everything/everyone sensible said that I'd be just digging my self into a bigger hole of cars needing work by doing so. I ended up buying the P4 that Zel had and probably was the right decision as I could actually use it before needing many weekends worth of work doing.

I really am looking forward to seeing it progress!

I wouldn’t speak too soon! I’ve been working on the brakes, refitting the master cylinder when I spotted a very old looking  welded patch on the NS chassis next to the steering idler, I poked about at it and it fell off.. I kept poking and poking…… Unfortunately it looks terminal as it would need a lot of dismantling and skill to fix. It would be easier to simply replace the chassis. I was already considering replacing the body tub with a better one, but what do you have when you replace the chassis and the body? Might as well start with a different car.  It’s a shame but I factored in something terminal when I bought the Rover, the rust was well hidden until I pulled the patch off, I’m just glad I wasn’t too many ££££s in when I found it. 
 

I’ve definitely got the P4 taste now though, they’re just such fun cars to work on! Perhaps I should keep my eyes peeled for another project and use this one for spares….

[SiC]

14 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

I wouldn’t speak too soon! I’ve been working on the brakes, refitting the master cylinder when I spotted a very old looking  welded patch on the NS chassis next to the steering idler, I poked about at it and it fell off.. I kept poking and poking…… Unfortunately it looks terminal as it would need a lot of dismantling and skill to fix. It would be easier to simply replace the chassis. I was already considering replacing the body tub with a better one, but what do you have when you replace the chassis and the body? Might as well start with a different car.  It’s a shame but I factored in something terminal when I bought the Rover, the rust was well hidden until I pulled the patch off, I’m just glad I wasn’t too many ££££s in when I found it. 
 

I’ve definitely got the P4 taste now though, they’re just such fun cars to work on! Perhaps I should keep my eyes peeled for another project and use this one for spares….

Anything is fixable but that does look like it'd be a whole shite load of work! So I don't blame you to throw in the towel if the chassis is terminal.

Might be worth posting on the P4 Facebook group if someone has a chassis going cheap or spare. Might well be as some strip cars for spares and the chassis do tend to be stout. 

That 60 engine is apparently popular with Land Rover enthusiasts. Panels aren't cheap second hand on the P4 and neither is interior trim so worth keeping if you are getting another project. 

[SiC]

23 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

replace the chassis

Just browsing FB and noticed your post above about it!

[captain_70s]

40 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

 

Ouch. That looks like a fairly significant chunk of metal to have simply vanished...

I imagine the expending foam aided a lot in completely rotting it out.

[Zelandeth]

38 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

I wouldn’t speak too soon! I’ve been working on the brakes, refitting the master cylinder when I spotted a very old looking  welded patch on the NS chassis next to the steering idler, I poked about at it and it fell off.. I kept poking and poking…… Unfortunately it looks terminal as it would need a lot of dismantling and skill to fix. It would be easier to simply replace the chassis. I was already considering replacing the body tub with a better one, but what do you have when you replace the chassis and the body? Might as well start with a different car.  It’s a shame but I factored in something terminal when I bought the Rover, the rust was well hidden until I pulled the patch off, I’m just glad I wasn’t too many ££££s in when I found it. 
 

I’ve definitely got the P4 taste now though, they’re just such fun cars to work on! Perhaps I should keep my eyes peeled for another project and use this one for spares….

Ouch, that's not what you want to find!

Funnily enough I do know of a seemingly largely solid but scruffy example...

Linky

Aside from the one bit where someone had obviously done a crap job of jacking it at some point the chassis on that one has seemed sound everywhere I've looked at it.  Car isn't actually here right now so I can't actually go poke the bit by the steering box specifically though.

[wheel nut]

4 hours ago, Bren said:

At first I thought this was the Land Rover. Not good for a nine year old car.

To be fair when this was brand new it was only around £9K so can't expect too much in the way of build quality.  I thought of it as disposable white goods when I bought it at 3 years old. However with the price of suitable replacements rocketing in recent years, I'll be trying to make this last as long as I can. 

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, Lankytim said:

I wouldn’t speak too soon! I’ve been working on the brakes, refitting the master cylinder when I spotted a very old looking  welded patch on the NS chassis next to the steering idler, I poked about at it and it fell off.. I kept poking and poking…… Unfortunately it looks terminal as it would need a lot of dismantling and skill to fix. It would be easier to simply replace the chassis. I was already considering replacing the body tub with a better one, but what do you have when you replace the chassis and the body? Might as well start with a different car.  It’s a shame but I factored in something terminal when I bought the Rover, the rust was well hidden until I pulled the patch off, I’m just glad I wasn’t too many ££££s in when I found it. 
 

I’ve definitely got the P4 taste now though, they’re just such fun cars to work on! Perhaps I should keep my eyes peeled for another project and use this one for spares….

good luck.............. big massive cahoonas

[richardmorris]

Saw two interesting cars this morning, both on the a331 by aldershot. First was going north before 8am, presumably to the local pub in bagshot’s American car morning.

Definitely American, but don’t know what two door thing with vinyl roof  it was - had two huge circular headlamps that stood proud of the bonnet, with cortina like ban-the-bomb details.

second was a beige Citroen traction light fifteen heading south at 11.50.

[wuvvum]

Didn't get a great deal done today as I got up rather late and then the lawn mower wouldn't start so I wasted quite a bit of time in a (thus far futile) attempt to get it to work.

I did make a start on doing the driveshaft on the Renault 4.  Without wanting to tempt fate it doesn't look like it's going to be as bad of a job as I'd feared, assuming the driveshaft I've bought fits.  The driveshaft looks like it'll pull out of the hub reasonably easily - it only needed a moderate smack with a rubber mallet to get it to move.  The entire hub carrier needs to be removed to change the shaft, but even that doesn't look like it's going to be too bad of a job - the upper and lower wishbone ball joints are removable (held on to their respective arms by three M6 bolts apiece - Renault 4s are delightfully flimsy), and somewhat to my astonishment the track rod end ball joint nut just unscrewed all the way with the ratchet and then the ball joint just lifted out of the steering arm.  Literally the first time that's ever happened to me.  I could possibly have finished the job today, but I was a bit worried about running out of daylight if reassembly threw up any unexpected issues, so I've left it with everything held together by a couple of threads and I'll have a go at finishing it next time I get a free couple of hours in decent weather.

I'd been hoping to flush out the rather manky brake fluid in the Ampera, but my original plan of cracking off a rear bleed nipple, letting the fluid drain and flushing it through by pouring fresh fluid into the reservoir fell at the first hurdle when the rear bleed nipple showed no interest in budging.  I tried siphoning out as much fluid as possible from the reservoir with a syringe and then replacing it with fresh, but that has only marginally improved the colour, so if I go down that route it's going to end up wasting rather a lot of fluid until it's clear.  I might try opening one of the front bleed nipples as the front calipers didn't look quite so rusty as the rears, but jacking up the front of the car is a pain in the arse as it's so low so that is also going to have to wait until I have a bit more time.

The brakes seem to be behaving though - I took the car to the FOD and back yesterday and they were stopping the car fine with no binding and the horrible scraping noises have gone.  Whether they'll be up to MOT standard or not is something I will find out in a couple of weeks when I take it in for a test...

[vulgalour]

@richardmorris From the description, sounds like it might have been a Stutz Blackhawk.  You could get an accessory that made the headlights even bigger with the tripoint design incorporated. Vinyl tops are surprisingly rare on these, given the excess of everything else about them.

 

[Lankytim]

5 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Ouch. That looks like a fairly significant chunk of metal to have simply vanished...

I imagine the expending foam aided a lot in completely rotting it out.

That foam stuff is added at the factory to aid sound deadening, I'm not even sure what it’s made from. Hopefully not asbestos or something! 

[Stinkwheel]

On 9/2/2023 at 12:25 PM, Stinkwheel said:

Todays news from the home front,

collected a load of cheap visa parts, I’d won the wings and doors on eBay and when I turned up the guy said I’ve got more, extra 50 quid and it’s yours, so I said yes naturally. I don’t need all of it but I think it would have been rude to decline 

Bit of an update on this, Sunday morning, was tinkering at the workshop when i had the excellent idea to go for a drive in the Visa, first stop, petrol station 4 miles away. 25 quids worth of your finest unleaded later i was pulling up the junction to leave and rejoin  the main road. Whats this, no brake pedal, all the way to the floor, with no hint previously of anything wrong. Judicious use of handbrake and a very cautious bimble back to the workshop, guess what had failed, master cylinder, total and abrupt failure - Guess what was in the parts i collected day before, thats right, one new master cylinder - that was lucky 😊

[dozeydustman]

Had a weird one on Friday after work. Saab would tick over as in not fuelling properly. Gauge on 1/4 no reserve light on. Tame fitter had a look and reckons the sender in the tank may be bollocksed. Gave me 10l of diesel and after a bit of stuttering normal service resumed. Went to petrol station nearby and on way gauge plummeted to empty and refill fuel now ding dong. Another £20 went in and after the 20 minute drive home the gauge finally went up to about half way. Had been fine all weekend until yesterday afternoon car lacked power on way home from lunch out with the mrs.

2 things I can think of is clogged fuel filter or a banjaxed lift pump. Just on my way to collect the filters from the local Halfrauds - it could be a paper element or a spin on canister so ordered both.

If that doesn’t sort it I’ll be looking for a lift pump!

gives me an opportunity to find which wheel bearing is grumbly as well.