The new news 24 thread

[vulgalour]

Hecking sun came out!  Princess has assumed the position so I can trim away the frilly bits of the sill.  Cause of the frill is someone in the past had left the bottom inch of the original sill still attached to the (remarkably solid) inner sill and then just slapped a new outer sill on top of it all.  No protection inside this sill either, I'm astonished it's lasted this long without bigger issues really.  Just having some lunch and then we shall glue it all back together again.

[Bren]

MOT'd for another 12 months. It will however need new rubber in the new year.

[brownnova]

This came on the other day. So I topped up the coolant (it was a tad low) and got on with things. But it came back…. So I looked and yep there’s definitely a coolant leak down towards the bottom of the rad somewhere.

Interestingly same day a colleague had recommended a garage a 2 min walk from work, so I did a drive by to check it’s chod credentials. On the yard outside a W Reg CLK, on the ramp a Peugeot 306 and inside being worked on also an S-Reg Nissan Micra… yeah I think they’ll be fine with the big Swede. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Discovered the sensible daily RX had a flat tyre this morning. Mercifully it was one of the pair that I was looking to replace soon, it's just brought it forwards a little earlier than planned.

At 7.30am and needing to do the long commute as I was also taking Mrs SL to work I looked on the driveway for the next available car, and it ended up being the Carina E as it was in front of her Auris. LS400 is right at the back with a flat battery (I foolishly forgot to disconnect it the other week) and it's too horrible to use the Laurel for work journeys at the moment.

It did the job perfectly, of course. I'd also used it for the 100+ miles round trip to head office the other week, and it took four of us down to banger racing at Ipswich on Saturday night, so I'm starting to put a few miles on it.

Switching the auto 'box to 'Power' mode seems to have made it much more responsive, it's never going to be super-quick but it certainly goes well enough and it's doing around 31-32mpg.

I'm wondering if what I thought was a misfire is a slight issue with the 'box in overdrive/lockup - it has a slightly 'shunty' feel which isn't evident in the lower ratios. Much better than it was however, so maybe it just wants regular use and perhaps some fresh ATF?

Will definitely be a handy back-up car over winter when I don't want to use the Laurel and the LS400's MoT expires.

It was in good company on one of its recent trips to the garage.

We managed 100% Toyota fleet use today. Son was in his Yaris, Miss SL drove the Avensis SR and her BF has got his MR2 back on the road after some bodywork and a fresh MoT.

[richardmorris]

1300 miles this year  -better cost per mile than the 90 miles last year!

[richardmorris]

The Covid years in wales…. I had the steering bushes replaced as they were perished. Never found the oil leak, but the drain plug was a bit oily. That was the mot done at the main dealer, stoneacre, as we couldn’t travel to the usual mot place as it was half a mile into England and beyond the allowed 5miles. As an aside, the mot tester this year saw mum and dad at the recent Oswestry iron works meeting and said hello. He took one of his vw campers.

[RoverFolkUs]

Been given an R55 Mini clubman thing to use over the weekend as it needs an extended test drive following a (hopefully fixed) very intermittent fault.. 

Fuckin hell what a horrible thing to drive with the 17" low profile runflats. 

I actually have lower back pain now 😂

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

I did a buy, Volvo V70 d5, very recent timing belt, stacks of history heated leather. Very happy. 

[Boycie]

On 20/11/2023 at 20:10, HMC said:

Introducing carry on to a Russian Lady

Verdict: lost in translation

Did she help out the pole up to ? 

[Shep Shepherd]

Changed The V70's engine oil and filter this morning, after being constantly nagged by the dashboard display for the past couple of weeks that it needs doing. I'm glad that it only needs to be done annually, as I have very little inclination do anything but check/top up the levels and check the tyre pressures these days.

Being an Skilled Amateur Mechanic* of nearly 30 years' standing, I have an electric oil extraction thingy in my arsenal of tools, so the actual job was dead easy, but the aftermath was pretty grim; even in limited quantities, spilt used diesel engine oil is horrible stuff. I could never be a professional mechanic.

Managed to put the car through the local IMO car wash on the way to collect the new oil, as it hadn't been washed since the end of September. It did a surprisingly good job, although the wheels could do with a further going-over:

Not a bad looking car, but it would be a lot better if I gave it a T-Cut and polish, but it's not that sort of car. In any case, I'd rather drive cars than polish them these days. I did put some Clearvue on the exterior glass, though.

As for The Volvo, its MOT ran out in the summer and I gave up trying to fix its seeeming incurable running issues not long after. Last time I tried tinkering with it in October, when I fitted a new idle air control valve, it wouldn't even attempt to start, even after I refitted the old one, so I seriously lost interest. I'm in no mood to get it back on the road, despite December 11th being the 20th anniversary of my owning it. Perhaps I'll have another go over Christmas, when I'm off for 10 days.

[wuvvum]

On 20/11/2023 at 13:48, wuvvum said:

Today I had an email from Autodoc to say that the shocks I've ordered are out of stock (despite still showing as available on their website even now), but don't worry, they can supply an alternative at just over double the price.  I've asked them to cancel the order, and now await the no doubt long and painful process of getting my money back from them.

I take it back - money has already been refunded to my card.

[Jenson Velcro]

Well, after years of patching and repairs, I’ve finally decided to get my Defender put on a galvanised chassis. The original one lasted over 30 years and 207k miles so has done well, particularly as the previous owner of 10 years used it for launching boats in the sea. Looking forward to no longer having to roll around under it getting showered in dirt and sparks, this should now see me out.

[stuboy]

The yoof at work asked alright mista what bhp is the mondeo.... I replied 168 bhp, they said oh is that all....

 

That's my ego deflantied

[Weird Car]

Huge thanks to @Talbot for taking time out of your Saturday morning to help get my Austin stopping again! It’s honestly really appreciated. It turns out it had new copper lines just before I bought it but one had been rubbing on a coolant line and rubbed through causing the leak also the person who fitted the new pipes managed to chip the edge off of one before even fitting it so I’ll be going over and checking all the rest in the not too distant future, either way it’s all fixed now and it’s really nice to have it back 

[beko1987]

ARSE in action one again, nice job guys 👍

[GrumpiusMaximus]

18 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Been given an R55 Mini clubman thing to use over the weekend as it needs an extended test drive following a (hopefully fixed) very intermittent fault.. 

Fuckin hell what a horrible thing to drive with the 17" low profile runflats. 

I actually have lower back pain now 😂

Mine has the 15s and they’re bad enough.  Got a lot better when I replaced the fronts for a pair of Falkens…

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, Weird Car said:

Huge thanks to @Talbot for taking time out of your Saturday morning to help get my Austin stopping again! It’s honestly really appreciated. It turns out it had new copper lines just before I bought it but one had been rubbing on a coolant line and rubbed through causing the leak also the person who fitted the new pipes managed to chip the edge off of one before even fitting it so I’ll be going over and checking all the rest in the not too distant future, either way it’s all fixed now and it’s really nice to have it back 

Looks like they didn't double flare the failed pipe, definitely worth going over the rest and redoing it all if they've made the same mistake on all the other ones. 

[HillmanImp]

On 21/10/2023 at 13:25, HillmanImp said:

It's gone. 

Didn't even get round to advertising it.

Some lad said on Facebook that he was looking for a project, he came and looked at it, agreed to pay full price, came and collected it today. 

Well. 

[Pete-M]

19 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Been given an R55 Mini clubman thing to use over the weekend as it needs an extended test drive following a (hopefully fixed) very intermittent fault.. 

Fuckin hell what a horrible thing to drive with the 17" low profile runflats. 

I actually have lower back pain now 😂

Kumho PS71 tyres improve the ride and handling rather a lot over the run flats they're blighted with from the factory. 

Kumho PS71 are a decent tyre at a more sensible price. They're not run flats... 

[brownnova]

Why do even simple jobs not go well… 

To investigate which part of the ignition was fucked on the 2CV I cracked out the multimeter and set to checking the coil using a guide on Harley Davidson Coils online as that’s what’s been fitted as an upgrade. All fine there according to the figures on the guide. So I decided to pull the leads and get the plugs out. But one lead pulled the metal end out of its rubber sleeve and left the rubber end stuck in the hole, stuck solid. No amount of tugging and implements have freed it. So going to have to remove the wing to get a better angle.

Fucksake. 

[Popsicle]

5 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Why do even simple jobs not go well… 

To investigate which part of the ignition was fucked on the 2CV I cracked out the multimeter and set to checking the coil using a guide on Harley Davidson Coils online as that’s what’s been fitted as an upgrade. All fine there according to the figures on the guide. So I decided to pull the leads and get the plugs out. But one lead pulled the metal end out of its rubber sleeve and left the rubber end stuck in the hole, stuck solid. No amount of tugging and implements have freed it. So going to have to remove the wing to get a better angle.

Fucksake. 

I feel your pain - this happened when I tried to sort out a misfire on daughter number ones Beetle.

Which resulted in having to remove the inlet manifold to change the leads. No five minute job goes unpunished.

 

[wuvvum]

At least 2CV wings are easy to remove.

[wuvvum]

4 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Looks like they didn't double flare the failed pipe, definitely worth going over the rest and redoing it all if they've made the same mistake on all the other ones. 

I made that mistake once.  Fortunately I noticed before I fitted the pipe to the car...

[RoverFolkUs]

12 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

I made that mistake once.  Fortunately I noticed before I fitted the pipe to the car...

Very easily done. Almost as easily as making the most perfect flares you've ever seen on both ends while the unions are still chilling on your work bench 🙄😂

[wesacosa]

Sadly the only FSO/Polski Fiat's I have seen in Lodz this weekend 

[GeordieInExile]

That is not a happy C6. 

Where someone's bodged that pipe previously, it cracked. The crack has completely split. And... you can see the result. 

It made it to Durham and back today with a *lot* of water being tipped into it, but the pipe finally gave up the ghost on the way back home. 

Straight into a garage next week to get it fixed properly, which someone didn't bother to do last time it went. Known failure point on these so a new one will at least mean peace of mind for me. For a while.

[Talbot]

6 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Looks like they didn't double flare the failed pipe, definitely worth going over the rest and redoing it all if they've made the same mistake on all the other ones. 

Not only had the flares not been made as a double flares, and hence the tube had split, but the pipe from the 4-way to the NSF had been in contact with a steel oil pipe on the engine and had worn all the way through.  Also the bends had all been hand-bent, so one of the tight ones into the union was folded almost flat.

Pretty crap install really.  Replacement pipe has double flares both ends, bends formed with a tube bender, and most importantly isn't rubbing!

[Popsicle]

Service time this afternoon for the couriering Caddy, nothing strenuous just an oil and filter change. Updated my sadgit spreadsheat and noticed it was the 20th service I'd done on the old girl, acquired at 125k now on 338k, so I treated it and wiped all the crap and dirt off the back lights and number plate.

 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Very easily done. Almost as easily as making the most perfect flares you've ever seen on both ends while the unions are still chilling on your work bench 🙄😂

Or realising they're both on the wrong way round (yea, I did, once)

[Wibble]

23 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Or realising they're both on the wrong way round (yea, I did, once)

If we’re honest, I reckon we’ve all done something like this 🙄