The new news 24 thread

[richardmorris]

28 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Pretty chilly here this morning too.

No frost, but 4°C showing on the car thermometer and it felt like it.

We're coastal here, but apparently down the road at Katesbridge the temperature was recorded at -1°C overnight, which is the coldest September night for a long time.

Was just thinking the other day how early autumn is this year - there's piles of yellow leaves filling the pavements already. In my mind that's what September ought to be like, but generally the leaves don't start turning, let alone falling, until we're well into October.

May indeed be an early winter on them way - and as such, I really ought to get a load of outside jobs finished over the next few weeks...

6 this morning but bright in Surrey. 

[Coprolalia]

23 minutes ago, SiC said:

I'm off to Vienna next week for work and checking the weather, they have snow warnings already. 😬

Fuck I'm in Vienna too at the tail end of next week (research conference) and hadn't even thought of that. Better dig out my ski gear.

[320touring]

More work on the Oxford today:

First up, time to try my hunch re the switched Live I found the other day.

 

This is extremely temporary - merely a proof of concept.

With the wire attached, I had an ignition light!

I fired up the car and the ignition light dimmed but did not extinguish.

Thinking about this, I'm a bit confused. 

When the dynamo failed way back, it wouldn't provide any charge.

When the initial alternator has it's regulator go wonky, it was over charging, not undercharging.

The current one doesn't charge at all - the car shows about 11.9v when running.

This did not change, even with the exciter wire attached.

Can anyone offer an explanation as to what's going on? @SiC ?🤣

 

@Asimo will be pleased to know that a replacement bracket has been ordered to mount the new (new) alternator. When it arrives I'll get the new one properly mounted and make up a wire so it has a feed to the exciter.

 

[320touring]

Things then escalated on the Oxford:

I'd taken @blackboilersuit's sage advice to heart - "You're going to have to work on making it BETTER, not less worse".

To this end, I have started to replace the heater box hoses as they were both very brittle and cracked. The jubilee clips didn't look the greatest either.

This is the return from the heater - top jubilee was fine, but the bottom one was totally gubbed. So much so, even removing the screw fully didn't get the clip to loosen 

Thankfully I have enormous reserves of stubbornness, a screwdriver and a hammer..

Handily, this pipe routes through a clip at the bottom of the heater box

It pulled out fine once the clips were removed.

The feed from the heater valve was no less cantankerous.

This time, it was the upper clip that was at fault 

Eventually I was successful.

I made up the new pipes ready for fitting

Taping them together meant I was able to get the correct length and hold the old pipe in position so I could cut it.

 

However, again with @blackboilersuit's words ringing in my ears...

Look at the state of that heater box

Absolutely honking.

And here's me got it stripped... What to do?

Ah yes, a drill mounted wire brush..

Heater box and bulkhead wire brushed and coated with rust converter.

This was left to dry and then 2 coats of primer were applied

This was followed by 2 cans of Matt black.

This has now dried and looks bloody great.

A replacement heater feed hose will be ordered and I,'ll get the other side of the bulkhead done.

 

[D.E]

Seen today in Beesd. What a glorious behemoth!

[somewhatfoolish]

Mitsuoka have designed something that resembles this?

[lesapandre]

37 minutes ago, D.E said:

Seen today in Beesd. What a glorious behemoth!

It's a Packard - circa 1999. Was an attempt to revive the brand which did not get far. I think it's mostly GM derived under the skin - it may be the only one made. Reputedly four-wheel drive. 

The car next to it is another bitsa - it's a 1958 Studebaker Golden Hawk - rebadged as a Packard Hawk. 

[richardmorris]

42 minutes ago, D.E said:

Seen today in Beesd. What a glorious behemoth!

What in the name of all that’s holy, is THAT?

[somewhatfoolish]

A Packard 12, apparently it has one of these.

[D.E]

44 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

It's a Packard - circa 1999. Was an attempt to revive the brand which did not get far. I think it's mostly GM derived under the skin - it may be the only one made. Reputedly four-wheel drive. 

The car next to it is another bitsa - it's a 1958 Studebaker Golden Hawk - rebadged as a Packard Hawk. 

Yep - the 1999 Packard Twelve concept. One of the many retro looking American concepts of the late 90s. Imho the idea is quite similar to the Chrysler Phaeton of a few years earlier: gigantic car with styling clues from the 30s and many cylinders. The interior of this Packard is rather strange, like they took the entire dashboard and seats out of a 1970s Cadillac or something. 

It wasn't as strange as a remote controlled Ami offering me candy though! No I haven't lost my mind...

[gm]

i was walking past the morrisons petrol station on my way to work today and noticed an old boy filling his jag with lpg “he must be saving a few quid there” i quipped.

apparently not

good prices for the pez and diesel but when did lpg get so pricey ? 

(apologies for the lack of jag photos, this was taken on the way home, jag man was long gone)

[RobT]

I'm in Anglesey at the moment and keep seeing 126.9 for pez.  No idea why it's so cheap here.  137.9 at best in London last week.

Mind you the cheap pez is a mere bonus as it's bloody lovely here.

 

[Metal Guru]

13 minutes ago, RobT said:

I'm in Anglesey at the moment and keep seeing 126.9 for pez.  No idea why it's so cheap here.  137.9 at best in London last week.

Mind you the cheap pez is a mere bonus as it's bloody lovely here.

 

Isn’t mpg for lpg about 10% less than petrol? In which case it’s effectively more expensive to use.

[catsinthewelder]

I ran out of paid jobs fairly early today so swung by the local factors for oil + filter for the Focus.  The yard was fairly quiet at work so I could get it on the ramp in the workshop and the oil change was as simple as ever.  One day I'll just learn to undo both bolts on that steel coolant pipe as the oil filter won't go back on without no matter how much I swear at it.

While it was in the air I thought I should investigate the new funny noise.  Not as suspected a worn out suspension component but the n/s/f wing which had rusted away around its lower mount  and could move a significant amount!

Outside the boss was converting a van into a camper so there was plenty of fresh steel available from window cut outs.  Theres a plastic trim over this area so the repair would be easily hidden and I found pop rivits in the drawer so bodge ahoy!

Feels solid and impossible to see from normal angles now the trims back on.  Will keep my eyes peeled for a new wing in the right colour though.  The little white square is half of a bracket attaching it to the sill, also made of Citroen Relay.

[Mr Pastry]

4 hours ago, 320touring said:

Can anyone offer an explanation as to what's going on?

One of the two yellow wires is the switched live from the warning light which is the connection you need for the exciter.  The other yellow was originally connected to the dynamo, so where is the other end now going?  It should be isolated, if it isn't that may be the problem.  Separate the two yellows, identify which one is the warning light, and just connect that one to the exciter.   If there is no charge with the exciter correctly connected then the alternator must be faulty, always assuming the other connections- output and earth - are OK.

 

[320touring]

15 minutes ago, Mr Pastry said:

One of the two yellow wires is the switched live from the warning light which is the connection you need for the exciter.  The other yellow was originally connected to the dynamo, so where is the other end now going?  It should be isolated, if it isn't that may be the problem.  Separate the two yellows, identify which one is the warning light, and just connect that one to the exciter.   If there is no charge with the exciter correctly connected then the alternator must be faulty, always assuming the other connections- output and earth - are OK.

 

Thanks, will investigate further on that basis.

[dome]

12 hours ago, gm said:

i was walking past the morrisons petrol station on my way to work today and noticed an old boy filling his jag with lpg “he must be saving a few quid there” i quipped.

apparently not

good prices for the pez and diesel but when did lpg get so pricey ? 

(apologies for the lack of jag photos, this was taken on the way home, jag man was long gone)

It seems that Morrisons sold their petrol stations earlier this year to a company called Motor Fuels Group who have decided to hike the LPG price up across the country. 

Whatever their reasons it makes LPG pointless now, as said it gives approximately 10% less economy compared to petrol so there's no saving to be had. 

There's a thread in the politics forum about it, it should be in here though I'd say as it's motoring related 

[brownnova]

11 hours ago, RobT said:

I'm in Anglesey at the moment and keep seeing 126.9 for pez.  No idea why it's so cheap here.  137.9 at best in London last week.

Mind you the cheap pez is a mere bonus as it's bloody lovely here.

 

When I was in Uni Anglesey was the first ever place I saw petrol at over £1 a litre!

Enjoy the trip- Anglesey is gorgeous, love it there. I know the island pretty well so do shout if you want any recommendations! 

[RobT]

Thanks @brownnova  It's our last day here today and have done loads.  Leccy bike hire yesterday was a highlight as we cycled through the Newborough forest and surrounding area.  I think I've found a new favourite place here.

Although this week was actually meant to be spent in the Languedoc.  I did loads of planning and got the 406 road trip ready, then five minutes from the Eurotunnel it started to misfire.  Drove home, felt glum, then a day later came up here after bodging the exhaust on the Xedos as it's been blowing badly for ages.  Pure laziness on my part, but it's now top of the To Do list.

Urban flat living (which sucks) was swapped for a detached cottage.  It wasn't hugely expensive either.

[320touring]

This was fun. 5year old Honda Civic. Doing the front brakes.

 

Disc retaining screw stripped. Drilled out ok.

Got the caliper off and pushed back, pads out and carrier off no bother. Came apart beautifully.

Disc rusted to the hub. Wouldn't move with hammer/block of wood despite braying it to actual fuck.

Godson sensibly decided to put it back together and head home.

It did get an overdue oil and filter though so at least it left better than it came in!

[SiC]

14 hours ago, 320touring said:

Thanks, will investigate further on that basis.

The exciter wire goes into the regulator electronics. I wonder if leaving it hanging unconnected has left it susceptable to picking up electrical noise (especially if it was generating at one point which suggests it was getting something flowing into it) and has now frazzled thr regulator. 

[stuboy]

I had a thought I carry some tools , twin subs in the boot and can get odd contact in the rear suspension? So I thought what about some spring assist cups like ones below?

[Yoss]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

I had a thought I carry some tools , twin subs in the boot and can get odd contact in the rear suspension? So I thought what about some spring assist cups like ones below?

I've got those on the back of the Triumph. The front suspension on the FWD cars is similar to the Dolomite so I was able to fit uprated springs and shocks meant for the Sprint. But the rear suspension is unique so there are no upgrades available so I put a set of these in. I too have a boot full of tools and spares so they are doubly useful. 

[Lord Sterling]

Came home this morning from work on the Vectra to hear the power steering moaning, discovered that the fluid level was even less than the minimum mark! In fact it was off the level.

Feeling a tad out of it, so I decided to sleep and sort it out later. So when I woke up and I found some Power Steering fluid, coolant etc... and topped up all levels. 

The inner side of one tyre is getting very low so some front tyres and an alignment at front.

[stuboy]

just watching this... old cars...etc etc... 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000v4h4

[artdjones]

Looking through a gate in an Honfleur backstreet.

[Ohdearme]

Mot fail for the beige Octavia for things I expected but also a thing I didn’t.

Headlamp mount insecure…there’s a twizzly plastic screw in the top of the headlight that secures it in the mount.

It dark so no picture but it’s proving hard to find the part number.

It’s like a big black plastic screw head with a bulky head and a plastic thread.

Any ideas? Googling engine bays and stuff to find a part number or photo.

[Ohdearme]

4 minutes ago, Ohdearme said:

Mot fail for the beige Octavia for things I expected but also a thing I didn’t.

Headlamp mount insecure…there’s a twizzly plastic screw in the top of the headlight that secures it in the mount.

It dark so no picture but it’s proving hard to find the part number.

It’s like a big black plastic screw head with a bulky head and a plastic thread.

Any ideas? Googling engine bays and stuff to find a part number or photo.

It’s part number 14 on here but this is a mk1 diagram

 

 

[Rustybullethole]

8 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

It’s part number 14 on here but this is a mk1 diagram

 

 

Are you a stickeler for originality or could you nut and bolt it or cut a thread in a dice or similar bit of plastic? 

Or breaker's yard I guess. 

[Ohdearme]

3 hours ago, Rustybullethole said:

Are you a stickeler for originality or could you nut and bolt it or cut a thread in a dice or similar bit of plastic? 

Or breaker's yard I guess. 

Yeah, I’d prefer original tbh. Thought it would be a quick five minute eBay search and about a fiver but I couldn’t find it.

I will indeed be using some form of short term bodge with penny washers, hope and a long bolt to get back through MOT now but I’d rather it was original.

Thanks.