The new news 24 thread

[lesapandre]

1 minute ago, HMC said:

And they have to go to the shops occasionally

But they never carry money...

[HillmanImp]

Got out before the rain hit today and changed the oil on the Elgrand. 

The filler cap is comically far back so I had to use this to put the oil in. 

Nice touch on the Elgrand that I don't recall seeing on cars I've changed filters on before is under it, there is a bit of metal to catch the oil and direct it into the pan. 

This means that during the oil change procedure I managed to not actually spill any oil on the fucking driveway. 

Not a drop. 

Miracles never cease eh? 

Anyway, I then poured all the oil into my jerry can.... 

Fuxake. 

[richardmorris]

Nothing very productive today, but did wash the car ready for its first mot on Wednesday. Nice sunset too.

[reb]

Spent a couple of hours sorting out my lockup today.

I've had it for something like 8 years now, it's slowly filled with crap over that time. I hadn't been up to it in over a year until this week, so it was a bit of a time warp tbh.

Highlights of stuff that I found include my copy of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and my favourite jumper that I thought I'd lost.

 

Also about 10 delivery bags from [pizza chain], oops.

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, reb said:

Also about 10 delivery bags from [pizza chain], oops.

I’ve still got a couple of uniforms from [pizza chain], I don’t throw them out ‘in case I need them’. I’m not quite sure what for though, maybe some sort of daring pizza heist or a clichéd porn film perhaps.

[reb]

1 minute ago, Rust Collector said:

I’ve still got a couple of uniforms from [pizza chain], I don’t throw them out ‘in case I need them’. I’m not quite sure what for though, maybe some sort of daring pizza heist or a clichéd porn film perhaps.

Oh there was a few jackets from them too, and a pair of trousers from back when they were provided, and a gilet (which I got about a week before we were told we weren't allowed to wear them anymore)

The one thing I kept was a money bag, just to keep something.

 

Actually, most of the storage in there was saved from going in a skip from there too!

[egg]

From Autoaid - most common reasons for breakdown in Jan 24.

[Tayne]

I'd argue that Nos 2, 4 and 5 were symptoms not causes.

I wouldnt have used a pie chart if I was going to make all the slices the same size regardless of the actual numbers involved.

Hopefully the roadside mechanic types are better at this than the chap in the office who's in charge of graphical representation.

 

[JakeT]

I ended up doing some tinkering today, unplanned. I was home alone and couldn’t go out as we were waiting on a cherry picker to be delivered, so I thought I’d check into why there’s a mild belt noise from ‘the old bus’. My winter work on it was to look at the fanbelt bits and sort them out, while it’s seeing very little usage.

 

First, whip the fan out, and various plastic piece, and find it amusing how basic this plastic piece looks on early E36s. later ones are better. This looks almost plastic welded together.

 

Take a picture of the belts so as not to forget how the belt is routed (not that this one is complex).

Spin the ‘deflection pulley’ and tensioner pulley and find they’re both free spinning, and one is even a little loose. I suppose after 30 years they’ve done their part. Then receive a call that thy can’t drop it off due to the weather (?), so it will have to be next week. Realise I can go out, and decide to nip to our friends at euro nobheads for a couple of bits. A new deflection pulley and tensioner. Amazingly they got the right parts, and weren’t even that rude about it. Good quality bits, as this is a nice, low mileage car. BMW now recommend fitting a hydraulic tensioner, and sell a kit to convert it. While I’m sure it’s better somehow I never had troubles with the sprung ones, and they’re £50 cheaper. If this one fails I’ll fit a hydraulic one.

The original tensioner was a git to get out. It was close to removing the front pulley, but I was hesitant to do this. With 1/4” tools and a tiny bit of bolt rounding it came out. I had to take the pulley off of the tensioner to get better access. This shows how much easier it is to get the newer style ones in.

 

New bits back in, and belt on. I think the belt is just barely long enough, the current one is a 1540mm, and a 1555 would be easier to slip over the tensioner.

 

Put all of the other bits back on, test drive tomorrow as everyone was home now and I had to help out with dinner.

[grogee]

2 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

pizza heist

I'm in. 

[Dyslexic Viking]

24 minutes ago, grogee said:

I'm in. 

I'm in too. But which car as getaway car? Mine are all too slow and his are mostly broken so will have to be one of yours.

[grogee]

29 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I'm in too. But which car as getaway car? Mine are all too slow and his are mostly broken so will have to be one of yours.

Great but how many people (and pizzas) are we talking?

My Maestro has five doors and is reasonably lively but I don't like using it in the winter. 

We'll struggle to get in my Puma in a hurry with only two doors, and also see above re: winter use. 

So it'll have to be the diesel Avensis. On the plus side, if there are any witnesses they'll just say they saw a car-shaped object disappear into a cloud of anonymity. 

[Rust Collector]

I'd say my E Class estate would be perfect for peeling away with a boot full of pizzas, however if you go over 55mph at present then the prop shaft starts violently doing the worm which is less than ideal.

 

[stuboy]

3 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

a clichéd porn film perhaps.

adventures of papa john, guaranteed 30 mins delivery .the stuffed crust milf chapter

[stuboy]

took out all the crap of old parts of the galaxy this morning , and been using it for errands..

[Rust Collector]

Just now, stuboy said:

adventures of papa john, guaranteed 30 mins delivery .the stuffed crust milf chapter

Better make that 'guaranteed to deliver in 3 minutes or less'.

[High Jetter]

It's not what you drive, but how much you mash the hot pedal to the floor and ignore everything else.

[PhilA]

Night parade today.

Took the car over, which people liked.

Beer and grilling with the guys.

Parade with music and lights. 

Good fun night. Ended up being taxi to bring the kids home.

Phil

[aldo135]

I think I am being stalked by a car… went for a run trying to clear the last of the lurgy out of my system. The last time I attempted a run I spotted this

beside a nice looking farina shaped Cambridge/Oxford was the ex @HMC @sdkrc  @RetroShite Limo. 
 

On my latest run I stopped to take a picture of the Water of Leith, but didn’t see what was in the background until I got home…

In case this turns into some Christine type horror I’ve decided not to go for a run today in favour of coffee and a stolen Pop Tart 😂

[reb]

Spent a couple of hours clearing out my unit today to get it ready for a couple of people to start sharing it. The outgoing crap filled the back of a Hilux Surf with the seats down. There's still a lot of tidying to do, but it feels like a much bigger space already!

Edit to add photo of said Hilux Surf:

 

Edited February 11, 2024 by reb

[dozeydustman]

Fairly productive morning. I helped @Scrap find the water ingress on the black Saab. All seals are good so at first this was confusing. I messaged @CaptainBoom if he knew of anywhere he’d noticed damp getting in and he noticed it was near the CD changer in the boot.

Carpet is out and drying in the garage, and cause of leak identified- it’s the radio aerial of all places. Not the grommet around the mounting hole but the telescopic bit itself. Gonna order a new one as it’s £15 or thereabouts. Motor still works but aerial is not attached.

Had a look at restoring the SID as well. The unit is easy enough to pull out the dash but involves soldering a plastic ribbon to the circuitboard and the display. I can’t find my ultra-fine soldering iron so that’s another back burner job.

The it started raining so i tidied the shed and took yet another load of old crap to the dump.

Tomorrow I’ll be making a toolboard each for the garage and the shed.

[richardmorris]

Worth a watch for 2cv lickers.

 

[stuboy]

been using the galaxy... 2 runs today, 1st journey usual lack of oomph and struggling to go 50 to 60 mph under hour, next run off to mersham to collect a bike missus purchased off FB mktplace... went like it always did... return journey flat as my last ecg test............. grrr

[reb]

In the spirit of tidying, I finally sorted out the rats nest of wires that used to inhabit the floor in front of my TV. Also took the opportunity to actually put the DVD racks I've had for 5 years into use.

[wuvvum]

Gave the Zafira a one-bucket wrong un yesterday.  Or rather I would have done if my bucket hadn't gained a hole in the bottom from being bounced around the garden by Storm Whateverthefuckitsnamewas the other week.  So I had to use a washing up bowl instead, so it took a bit longer but the car looks slightly more respectable now.

The list of jobs for an MOT has increased though - the little reflector which sits in front of the dipped headlight bulb has fallen off on the driver's side so it might need a replacement headlight, and the centre seat belt in the second row seems to be stuck.

No further progress on the Z4 suspension - I was going to try and get the top spring plate off the old strut, but my spring compressors won't work on the spring - because of the design of the strut the compressors can only grab two coils and then the claws run out of travel before any meaningful compression has taken place.  I can grab three coils in one spot but that then just bends the spring over.

I pulled the cover off the Lexmoto 125 thing I bought last year - it's been sat untouched with a cover over it in the back garden since October.  To my surprise, with the fuel switched on and a bit of choke it fired up after half a dozen kicks and ran fine.  The tyres even still had air in them.  So it might actually be worth me sorting it out and getting it back on the road in the spring.  Another project is just* what I need...  Mind you the Spacy turns 40 on Tuesday so at least that won't need MOTing this year.

[RoverFolkUs]

On 08/02/2024 at 13:04, Split_Pin said:

Busy lunchtime.

Replaced the armrest. It has no clip to keep it closed but I think you can buy a repair kit on ebay.

Replaced the mashed and bodged mirror glass. As said it had a poor quality stick on piece of glass over the smashed original. I didn't need the whole mirror in the end but it's handy to have I guess.

Replaced battery cover.

I can't work out how this is supposed to stay in place as it doesn't.

Nothings broken behind. Might just have to run a bead of silicone down the edge.

The drivers carpet is still wet. Ignoring that one for now.

Sorry about the sideways photos. They are the right way up on my phone.

Just a heads up for you incase you don't know on these, it's worth pulling up the passenger carpet and checking the CCM (comfort/convenience control module) is dry and that there is no water ingress in there. If there is, then dry it out at the very least before it's too late! 

The CCM is not unique to the cabriolet in itself, but they are not interchangeable with the much cheaper units available from hatch models. Water entry into the passenger footwell is very common and it predictably nukes that module and causes all the roof, window and locking electrics to malfunction and leaves the doors deadlocked, the glovebox lock motor to run constantly and drain the battery, etc etc. Stuff you don't want to happen

Second hand units are rare, and very expensive when they do come up. (£2/300) Brand new they are eye wateringly expensive. I can't remember exactly but I want to say £500 or £800!? So it's well worth firstly checking your module for any signs of damp, and grabbing the part number off it while you're at it to maybe keep an eye out for an underpriced second hand one from a breaker to keep as a spare if the car is a keeper

Hope that helps! 

[Split_Pin]

Passenger footwell is thankfully bone dry

[Supernaut]

12 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Gave the Zafira a one-bucket wrong un yesterday.  Or rather I would have done if my bucket hadn't gained a hole in the bottom from being bounced around the garden by Storm Whateverthefuckitsnamewas the other week.  So I had to use a washing up bowl instead, so it took a bit longer but the car looks slightly more respectable now.

The list of jobs for an MOT has increased though - the little reflector which sits in front of the dipped headlight bulb has fallen off on the driver's side so it might need a replacement headlight, and the centre seat belt in the second row seems to be stuck.

No further progress on the Z4 suspension - I was going to try and get the top spring plate off the old strut, but my spring compressors won't work on the spring - because of the design of the strut the compressors can only grab two coils and then the claws run out of travel before any meaningful compression has taken place.  I can grab three coils in one spot but that then just bends the spring over.

I pulled the cover off the Lexmoto 125 thing I bought last year - it's been sat untouched with a cover over it in the back garden since October.  To my surprise, with the fuel switched on and a bit of choke it fired up after half a dozen kicks and ran fine.  The tyres even still had air in them.  So it might actually be worth me sorting it out and getting it back on the road in the spring.  Another project is just* what I need...  Mind you the Spacy turns 40 on Tuesday so at least that won't need MOTing this year.

I found it really easy to sort out the struts on my E36.

 

I dropped all the parts off with my tame mechanic and came back a few days later when I was next passing.

He has a proper floor mounted set of hydraulic spring compressors. Nae fucking about.

[cort16]

14 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Gave the Zafira a one-bucket wrong un yesterday.  Or rather I would have done if my bucket hadn't gained a hole in the bottom from being bounced around the garden by Storm Whateverthefuckitsnamewas the other week.  So I had to use a washing up bowl instead, so it took a bit longer but the car looks slightly more respectable now.

The list of jobs for an MOT has increased though - the little reflector which sits in front of the dipped headlight bulb has fallen off on the driver's side so it might need a replacement headlight, and the centre seat belt in the second row seems to be stuck.

No further progress on the Z4 suspension - I was going to try and get the top spring plate off the old strut, but my spring compressors won't work on the spring - because of the design of the strut the compressors can only grab two coils and then the claws run out of travel before any meaningful compression has taken place.  I can grab three coils in one spot but that then just bends the spring over.

I pulled the cover off the Lexmoto 125 thing I bought last year - it's been sat untouched with a cover over it in the back garden since October.  To my surprise, with the fuel switched on and a bit of choke it fired up after half a dozen kicks and ran fine.  The tyres even still had air in them.  So it might actually be worth me sorting it out and getting it back on the road in the spring.  Another project is just* what I need...  Mind you the Spacy turns 40 on Tuesday so at least that won't need MOTing this year.

 

If the struts are similiar to the ones on the E90 they're a bastard and the reason I have a dent in the side of my Megane. I found the only way to get them to compress far enough to get the top nut off is to put the top jaw of compressors on the top plate. I have spring  compressors like this and it's possible but you have to keep an eye on the jaws and wind each compressor on very slows. If you don't the top plate will come off under 18 mega ton of pressure and scud your daily driver parked 10 meters away on the door leaving a decent dent before landing on next door sheds roof.  Outcomes may vary but I would recommend getting someone with the proper garage type compressor tool to do it. 

I managed to do both sides multiple times but it was sketchy as anything I used always aim  the strut out the garage door. 

[stuboy]

19 hours ago, wuvvum said:

I pulled the cover off the Lexmoto 125 thing I bought last year - it's been sat untouched with a cover over it in the back garden since October.  To my surprise, with the fuel switched on and a bit of choke it fired up after half a dozen kicks and ran fine.  The tyres even still had air in them.  So it might actually be worth me sorting it out and getting it back on the road in the spring.

please do it as i need enthusium to sort mine out.