The new news 24 thread

[Rust Collector]

Bit of a mad day yesterday, as covered in the grumpy thread.

It finished up with my mrs having to go back to hospital as she had some bleeding and the maternity triage wanted her in as a precaution.

Shes fine, but it meant that we left home at 6pm yesterday and I wasn’t home until 1am. I then had to go pick our son up from my parents at 7am because golf/horses.

It was properly weird coming home and going to bed without my mrs or son there. I’m glad I have the dogs as their company helped me relax and fall asleep.

I’m currently waiting to see if my partner can come home or if they’ll be inducing the birth, fingers crossed she comes home.

[bunglebus]

Actually called into the Go! fuel station this morning. Very nice looking girls serving coffee too

[EyesWeldedShut]

12 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Actually called into the Go! fuel station this morning. Very nice looking girls serving coffee too

Much better looking than our local Tesco - £1.50 a litre for diesel yesterday there and pez was £1.41

[MJK 24]

Is that petrol station unmanned?

We have one in Liverpool.  Unsure of the brand but it’s significantly cheaper than more typical options.

[HMC]

Had a visit from mate steve, a family man who solved the question answered  “volvo xc90” a different way

[High Jetter]

52 minutes ago, MJK 24 said:

Is that petrol station unmanned?

Um, think there's a clue at the beginning...

3 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Actually called into the Go! fuel station this morning. Very nice looking girls serving coffee too

 

[chodweaver]

I'm sure most are way ahead of me on this, but if you do your own work on a rough driveway or maybe gravel, then some floor mats are a game changer.
£10 on trade card from Halfords for 1.2x1.8m - clip together in whatever shape you need. Keeps you off the wet/cold ground, and you can easily slide about under the car rather than having to shuffle/roll around. I wish I'd bought this years ago. Takes all of 30 seconds to clip together and made the work today far more comfortable than I expected.

Absolutely. I like mechanics creepers, have two different ones, but they have cons:
1: they lift you three or four inches off the ground, and on regular axle stands, that can make all the difference between you having enough room to work, or even fit under the bit of car you need to work on, and not.
2: when you're in position and start hefting on the part/bit of rusty chod/tool you need to move, what you don't need is to be on something that rolls easily away from what you're working on. Mats don't do that, yet still allow easier sliding about while getting in position.

A mate has a one piece, smooth foam mat, about 4ft by 2ft and about 1.5" thick, that he deploys often. It was standard equipment for Openre*ch engineers etc and is brilliant for the same reasons as the interlocking mats

[bunglebus]

5 hours ago, MJK 24 said:

Is that petrol station unmanned?

Yes it is unmanned - the only staff are in the coffee shop.

Strange things are afoot at the Circle K

[MJK 24]

4 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Um, think there's a clue at the beginning...

 

We’ve had an update!!

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Nyphur said:

I'm sure most are way ahead of me on this, but if you do your own work on a rough driveway or maybe gravel, then some floor mats are a game changer.

I have a thick foam mat, actually intended for preventing fatigue in standing jobs such as at a till etc. perfect for working under cars - in an emergency a large flattened cardboard box is better than nothing 

[Shep Shepherd]

I rescued two large pieces of plywood sheet from a skip at my last non-driving job about six years ago, which serve the same purpose.  The mats are probably more practical, though, as they could be stored quite easily in the average car boot. GR9 for breakdowns, roadside wheel changes and away from home spannering, I reckon

[Zelandeth]

The other downside of creepers is that they do a wonderful job of demonstrating to you how that driveway that you thought was level really isn't as you wind up holding onto the car you're trying to work on to stop yourself rolling down the nearly imperceptible slope - which gets really annoying in a hurry! 

Some mats are really useful though.  I've got a decent set somewhere in the garage, sadly haven't seen them in a couple of years...

[richardmorris]

9am

My tiny car is frozen.

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

The other downside of creepers is that they do a wonderful job of demonstrating to you how that driveway that you thought was level really isn't as you wind up holding onto the car you're trying to work on to stop yourself rolling down the nearly imperceptible slope - which gets really annoying in a hurry! 

Some mats are really useful though.  I've got a decent set somewhere in the garage, sadly haven't seen them in a couple of years...

Mechanic friend says that they are ok in the workshop where the floor is flat and no stones to block the wheels. But out and about he uses snap-on foam beds.

[richardmorris]

12 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

9am

My tiny car is frozen.

I need to get the paint ( and rust spots) polished up a bit this year. The rear doors are original and speckled with rust. Any suggestions and recommendations for a mechanical polisher?

[brownnova]

4x4 definitely works on the XC90.

As confirmed during a trip to Chester Zoo where they were parking cars on the quagmire that is their grass car park. Everything got stuck. Including me in the XC90, but all four wheels span. Plus I was the only car who managed to unstick myself  in that section rather than needing a gang of high vis zoo staff to push.

Should have taken the 2CV… bet that would have skipped through the mud! 

[stuboy]

7 hours ago, HMC said:

Had a visit from mate steve, a family man who solved the question answered  “volvo xc90” a different way

is it for sale..lol

[puddlethumper]

I'm in Norwich parked up on the show ground. Another season of circus shite coming up. Not doing any shows here but going to have everything parked up here until the end of March when we start in Grays in Essex so I have about 4 weeks of mending stuff. Moving everything tomorrow night from Haydock. Yay, circus life. 

Got to get the Mot on the Mazda before the 12th March. I am fairly sure it's good but you never know. If anyone from around here could recommend an Mot garage it would be appreciated. @wuvvum  is from these parts I believe. Not sure who else. Insurance for the Maz has come down this year which I wasn't expecting. Only by about 6 quid but, hey, less is less innit like.

[DeanH]

24 minutes ago, puddlethumper said:

I'm in Norwich parked up on the show ground. Another season of circus shite coming up. Not doing any shows here but going to have everything parked up here until the end of March when we start in Grays in Essex so I have about 4 weeks of mending stuff. Moving everything tomorrow night from Haydock. Yay, circus life. 

Got to get the Mot on the Mazda before the 12th March. I am fairly sure it's good but you never know. If anyone from around here could recommend an Mot garage it would be appreciated. @wuvvum  is from these parts I believe. Not sure who else. Insurance for the Maz has come down this year which I wasn't expecting. Only by about 6 quid but, hey, less is less innit like.

What's the route this year?

[omegod]

On 23/02/2024 at 21:06, jonathan_dyane said:

I did a spot!

Superb example, much want. Lots of excellent filler and rattle can work

This lives half a mile from me, gets lovingly covered with a tarp every night by an old bloke , I've tried and failed to buy it 

[puddlethumper]

28 minutes ago, DeanH said:

What's the route this year?

The whole season hasn't been confirmed. So far it's Grays, 2 weeks, Swansea, 2 weeks, Sandown Race course, 1 week and Stevenage for a week.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, puddlethumper said:

The whole season hasn't been confirmed. So far it's Grays, 2 weeks, Swansea, 2 weeks, Sandown Race course, 1 week and Stevenage for a week.

Is your new friend still with you? Fingers X for the Maz.

[Asimo]

“Just drop a V8 in it mate”

https://www.motortrend.com/news/v8-power-drill-youtube-video/?lid=q7y2y94w5vlv&eml=organic%3Aeml%3Abrz2&utm_source=braze&utm_medium=emaileditorial

[Lacquer Peel]

Life in the miserable lane. 

[JakeT]

I’d guess it’s done 128k on that half a tank though?

[reb]

Spent the morning moving double figures of alloy wheels from my unit to my lockup.

I think I need to have a bit of a clearout of them!

[Lacquer Peel]

11 minutes ago, reb said:

Spent the morning moving double figures of alloy wheels from my unit to my lockup.

I think I need to have a bit of a clearout of them!

Do you have anything that would fit the Polo?

[Lacquer Peel]

Nature is returning

[reb]

23 minutes ago, Lacquer Peel said:

Do you have anything that would fit the Polo?

Don't think so, they're all 4 stud Peugeot fitment or 5 stud Volvo

[SiC]

Just come back from a few days in Amsterdam. Never been and it's only a short flight, so thought why not. Very interesting place and I think we'll go back sometime to explore more. Mostly did the main shopping area and a gander through De Wallen. I think my wife was more intrigued than I was - even if there was some ... beautiful architecture there. 🤔 🤣

Went to a few museums. Some good, most not brilliant. Highlight was the very interesting Red Light Secrets museum. Disappointment was the Anne Frank museum. 

Not a huge amount of interesting automotive stuff out there unsurprisingly. Did see a few 80s Saabs and Volvos parked up, but their location wasn't somewhere I could get away with taking a picture - I don't think taking old cars as an excuse would have worked. 

Anyway there was quite a few of these tiny quadracycles buzzing around on the cycle lanes. Tbh less dangerous than the many high powered e-bikes carving up the lanes. 

Also quite a few electric car brands about that I've never heard of. Presumably the Chinese automotive invasion in action?

This is a terrible picture as it's just a reflection of me but can Google the brand. These shops are on the main high streets and take up a lot of retail space. So these brand must be going all in.

 

Presumably this beetle hit a tin can in the road, crumpled and became an art installation?

Old tram appeared on Saturday in the square. Didn't see this around until yesterday so I guess only comes out for weekends.

Quite a lot of the city stank of weed. Reminds me of University and doesn't bother me. However my wife hates it - not helped by the smell being ingrained into her mind that it's a welfare issue at work and something she needs to note down. So not the best smell brain contentions.

Bunch of 20-somethings Welsh lads in the queue to board the plane stank of weed and looked still stoned as they boarded. Naturally as they walked through the customs nothing to declare, they were picked out and went very wide eyed quite quickly. Rather silly considering customs will know exactly when a flight comes in from Amsterdam and will be like shooting fish in a barrel. We had to wait an hour for the bus, so hung around the airport. Didn't see them coming back out of departures door... 😂

Anyway definitely will be back to explore more.