The new news 24 thread

[Split_Pin]

Before I collected the SLK, this happened:

Literally the most fun car I have ever been in! It's hard to believe that it's a 1600 Mx5 drive train under there as the car is insanely quick and handles like a dream.  My lard arse did make it bottom out at one point though!

Onwards with the SLK to Gretna for a stretch of the legs (staining on the ground is nothing to do with this car)

On the A69 Dougie from Once Driven passed me in his Cadillac, then he was going quite slow so I had to pass him. He ran a red light at Carlisle roundabout and went onto the M6 never to be seen again.

Can you see a Merc in this picture?

Only just!

I was home about 10 minutes and my wife was away out a spin in it! Her feet can't reach the pedals though so I'll need to work that one out!

It was great to catch up with @gm and I had a lovely drive home.

[egg]

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Work on Dad's Yaris continues.

You're a good son! Hope dad approves...

[gm]

17 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Before I collected the SLK, this happened:

Literally the most fun car I have ever been in! It's hard to believe that it's a 1600 Mx5 drive train under there as the car is insanely quick and handles like a dream.  My lard arse did make it bottom out at one point though!

Onwards with the SLK to Gretna for a stretch of the legs (staining on the ground is nothing to do with this car)

On the A69 Dougie from Once Driven passed me in his Cadillac, then he was going quite slow so I had to pass him. He rand a red at Carlisle roundabout and went onto the M6 never to be seen again.

Can you see a Merc in this picture?

Only just!

I was home about 10 minutes and my wife was away out a spin in it! Her feet can't reach the pedals though so I'll need to work that one out!

It was great to catch up with @gm and I had a lovely drive home.

good to see you made it home safely, roof down all the way ? by the looks of it, that might be the last time you get to drive it  

have fun, was great to catch up with you, and always fun to take the exo out for a blast, got some strange looks at the taxi rank in the station !

[SiC]

57 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Before I collected the SLK, this happened:

 

[Split_Pin]

40 minutes ago, gm said:

good to see you made it home safely, roof down all the way ? by the looks of it, that might be the last time you get to drive it  

have fun, was great to catch up with you, and always fun to take the exo out for a blast, got some strange looks at the taxi rank in the station !

I had to put the roof up as it was raining at Consett

[gm]

drive faster, surely ? 

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Split_Pin said:

Her feet can't reach the pedals though so I'll need to work that one out!

Buy a Boxster instead? 😉😆

[Split_Pin]

9 minutes ago, gm said:

drive faster, surely ? 

Dougie was holding me up 😅

[Split_Pin]

22 minutes ago, SiC said:

Buy a Boxster instead? 😉😆

I'm building up to that, she would really like one someday.

[stuboy]

9 hours ago, grogee said:

I got a different answer last time I asked on AS, everyone* said they're gr8 m9. But I also made the point that I'm a messy bastard and can't ensure surgical cleanliness so close to the Black Goop of Death. 

In the end I went for a stretchy boot kit and cone. You will need a cloth/rag to get enough grip to force the boot past the wide end of the cone. Also, don't put it on back to front. 

my hands get painful quickly, so stretching/gaping a rubber boot maybe too much

[Stanky]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

my hands get painful quickly, so stretching/gaping a rubber boot maybe too much

I may be underestimating it, but can you not just smack the CV joint off the end of the driveshaft once its free from the hub? Then slide a new (not-split) boot onto the driveshaft, then wallop the CV joint back on the splines and fit the securing clips to the boot?

Thats what I ended up doing with my Daihatsu. 

I'm not sure why you'd want to stretch a CV boot over the CV joint when you can just apply a few sharp whacks with a hammer and knock the CV joint clean off the end of the driveshaft?

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, Stanky said:

I'm not sure why you'd want to stretch a CV boot over the CV joint when you can just apply a few sharp whacks with a hammer and knock the CV joint clean off the end of the driveshaft?

CV boot cone smeared in grease for maximum misery. Extra points for finally getting it over the cone and onto the shaft, and then realising it's inside out. Or am I just a masochist?! 🤣

[Rust Collector]

Today I have been mostly moving cars from one field to another.

The best part is that there are so many cars, I have to go back tomorrow. Hooray!

[Fumbler]

I'm at a derby in yankland about to see some stuff get destroyed. Is this a Mondeo/Contour?

[Ghosty]

14 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Is this a Mondeo/Contour?

Yep, Contour.

[Fumbler]

17 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

Yep, Contour.

It won too! Against that Previa. Boy that thing hit hard.

[artdjones]

10 hours ago, Stanky said:

I may be underestimating it, but can you not just smack the CV joint off the end of the driveshaft once its free from the hub? Then slide a new (not-split) boot onto the driveshaft, then wallop the CV joint back on the splines and fit the securing clips to the boot?

Thats what I ended up doing with my Daihatsu. 

I'm not sure why you'd want to stretch a CV boot over the CV joint when you can just apply a few sharp whacks with a hammer and knock the CV joint clean off the end of the driveshaft?

Certain manufacturers (Toyota for example) make the retaining clip in the end of the shaft so springy that no hammer blow can knock the CV off. Even the proper CV extraction tools can't do it.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Got the front wing mounted back on the Yaris after painting, also got it quickly wiped off inside and drove it for a quick drive to test the brakes so then most of the work is done on it.

[dozeydustman]

Got round to doing the known MoT jobs on the Kia. Drop links went in a dream. The balljoints are not only showing perished boots, but they are seized in the taper properly. Bust the ball joint splitter trying to get them out so I’m flummoxed by them. And the thread outside the taper sheared when undoing the castellated nut on the near side, so it’s probably unwise to drive it.

I’ve also discovered it has a seized front calliper, and needs at least pads, possibly discs as well because there’s a bit of a lip, two knackered track rod ends (also seized on), and may need a patch of welding. I haven’t even checked the back.

I can at least get the lower wishbones out so I could possibly buy a pair of those, but I don’t have 

My friend’s Corsa is looking more like a better proposition for stepdaughter.

[dozeydustman]

36 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

Got round to doing the known MoT jobs on the Kia. Drop links went in a dream. The balljoints are not only showing perished boots, but they are seized in the taper properly. Bust the ball joint splitter trying to get them out so I’m flummoxed by them. And the thread outside the taper sheared when undoing the castellated nut on the near side, so it’s probably unwise to drive it.

I’ve also discovered it has a seized front calliper, and needs at least pads, possibly discs as well because there’s a bit of a lip, two knackered track rod ends (also seized on), and may need a patch of welding. I haven’t even checked the back.

I can at least get the lower wishbones out so I could possibly buy a pair of those, but I don’t have 

My friend’s Corsa is looking more like a better proposition for stepdaughter.

So far totting up the parts comes to £250 ish.

[brownnova]

The forecast storms and weather warnings did not put me off attending the car show at Bodrhyddan Hall today. For the third or fourth year on the trot we totally forgot to go into the house and gardens! But we did see some delightful sights: 

Of course, my interest was mostly piqued by this… 

We had the only 2CV there, and got a lot of attention which was nice. It repaid me by cutting out randomly, idling like crap intermittently and popping and spluttering on the way home. I wonder if the coil was getting hot due to the very warm temperatures… 

[tooSavvy]

So.... Thunderstorms!!

Anyone here been 'boating' today 😳😧

.... Whitley Bay seafront had 4 lagoons - slow&*smooth👍

Ah 🤦... forgot the one about the ALDI driver who 'JamesBond/powerboated' oncoming and rinsed my convoy of four cars 🛥️=🛶FFS🤬

Do tell......

[The Vicar]

Brought this into Dublin City centre for the first time today (in my ownership). Taking a bit of a break here on a quiet back street, but there was no need, it was perfect:

[grogee]

10 hours ago, artdjones said:

Certain manufacturers (Toyota for example) make the retaining clip in the end of the shaft so springy that no hammer blow can knock the CV off. Even the proper CV extraction tools can't do it.

I was going to say that my aim with a hammer isn't sufficient to guarantee the CV joint wouldn't be mullered during the extraction process. 

The Cone of Shame is very effective, not withstanding @stuboy's sore hands - it takes a fair bit of force to stretch the small end over big end of the cone. 

That said, it does make a nice comedy finger-out-of-mouth POP sound when you do get it on. 

[dozeydustman]

Parts for the Kia is just over £300 given that most of it is consumables (brakes, track rods etc). Now to discuss with Madam what she wants to do. Then I need to do the Saab for its MoT in October. House stuff will be on hold for a couple of weeks I think.

[stuboy]

21 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

CV boot cone smeared in grease for maximum misery. Extra points for finally getting it over the cone and onto the shaft, and then realising it's inside out. Or am I just a masochist?! 🤣

god im getting aches and pain just thinking about it all

[EyesWeldedShut]

4 hours ago, brownnova said:

 

We had the only 2CV there, and got a lot of attention which was nice. It repaid me by cutting out randomly, idling like crap intermittently and popping and spluttering on the way home. I wonder if the coil was getting hot due to the very warm temperatures… 

Dead ringer for my first ever car I owned from new - 1983, Silver Moss, 1.2L Nova Saloon - why I never bought a hatch I have no idea. Lovely little car for the time - took it all the way down to Nice/Monaco/Menton sans Autoroute on a camping trip. Happy days.

[Honey Badger]

I sorted out the Legends cataracts today

The 3M kit was relatively idiot proof, though I really didn't mask enough of the car off as the splatter from polishing went everywhere.

I had to clean it for the first time in months, which obviously displeased the gods as the sun went away and the rain tried to wash my house away.

Looks pretty good, I've given it 3 coats of UV sealer and 2 of a polymer paint sealer so hopefully it will stay clear for more than a few months. 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

god I'm getting a hard on just thinking about it all

EFA

[Popsicle]

Managed to get a few jobs done over the weekend. Couriering caddy has been knocking at the back end - new droplinks again. Went with the Meyle HD stuff as it seems to last a bit longer than anything else.

Rattly old and shiny new, fairly straight forward to replace, not much room on the drivers side due to exhaust and heat shield, so you go at it with a spanner rather than a socket, as is usual where it bolts on to the anti roll bar it wouldn't budge, I've learnt not to fight and just go straight for the angle grinder.

Quick blast round the block and the annoying knocking noise has gone - happy days.

On to daughter No 1's floppy top Beetle, had an advisory for track rod ends at the last mot, drivers side fought like a bastard, passenger side came off a piece of piss, only difference was the passenger side had longer to absorb some penetrating fluid, maybe the stuff does work?

Erm can you tell which one put up a fight - horrible things.

While doing this I noticed the cords coming through on the inner edge of the front tyres, I'd got a set of pretty new stuff an Toyota rims, so off to the local friendly tyre place who popped my tyres on and sorted the tracking - car drives better now, apparently it was shaking above 60, I really wish my kids would tell me this stuff sooner so I can sort it out.

Anyhow once done it was on to the misfire, its a 2.0 AZJ engine, it had misfires showing on cylinders 1 & 3, I changed the spark plugs last week, which improved things but it still wasn't right, a lot of things have to be removed to get at the plugs, mainly the inlet manifold and a few other things to get at the bolts to remove the manifold.

So time to change the coil pack, looks straight forward, not so much stuff to remove, shouldn't take long, famous last words......

I was really gentle pulling the leads off, gentle twist and gentle pull, first two came off eventually, third one snapped in two pretty much straight away, I ragged the last one off in temper.

I'd better take the inlet manifold off again, FFS. This happened Saturday evening, got the new coil pack in, removed the manifold again and hoped I'd be able to pick some leads up from one of the few local factors open on a Sunday and put it all back together, no joy, best I can get is midday Monday. I even moved the location around most of the midlands and South Yorkshire on ECP site to try and find some in stock.

Daughter No 1 was due at work 8am this morning, thankfully Mrs Popsicle took her and daughter No 2 picked her up, she's pretty gutted about the car being off the road and I feel bad about it for being a bit to ape like pulling the leads off,  hopefully Monday it will all be sorted.

Is there a knack to pulling the leads off coil packs? I can usually tell when something doesn't feel right, but the bugger snapped really easily, I've predominately ran diesels for the past 20+ years or older stuff with dizzys, non of this new fangled coil pack lark.

At least the new coil pack fits.