The new news 24 thread

[Split_Pin]

13th September, I think this is the earliest I have ever seen a frost:

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

Same here, I had minus 1. Autumn came early this year so I am afraid that winter will do the same.

[artdjones]

9 hours ago, Yoss said:

I'm not sure any of that matters. If its still made of Bentley bits albeit lots of different ones it's still better than it being scrapped in 1947.

I have a Triumph 1300 TC with a 1500 gearbox and, subframe, radiator and starter motor, Dolomite front suspension and Sprint wheels and front seats. And a Landcrab washer bottle. All done deliberately by me. The purists would hate it but I don't care. Its all bits of old Triumph and it's all over 50 years old. 

You're not expecting to make a ton of cash out of your activities, and you're not stamping fake chassis numbers on the various components to make your car more valuable. Plus I'm sure your car has always remained in existence. If they tried to reregister the Bentley now it would have a Q plate.

[comfortablynumb]

I gave up on 'originality' some time ago, it's my car(s) and I'll do what I want with it/them

If it needs something which a part from an alternative source will do, then that's what it gets.

I frequently get asked ' what year?' on my RRC, the stock reply is ' what bit?'😁

[beko1987]

10 hours ago, Yoss said:

I'm not sure any of that matters. If its still made of Bentley bits albeit lots of different ones it's still better than it being scrapped in 1947.

I have a Triumph 1300 TC with a 1500 gearbox and, subframe, radiator and starter motor, Dolomite front suspension and Sprint wheels and front seats. And a Landcrab washer bottle. All done deliberately by me. The purists would hate it but I don't care. Its all bits of old Triumph and it's all over 50 years old. 

Sounds no different to how bl built them new when they could get away with it anyway 😂

Having had a xantia with pug 405 front seats fitted Im on board with it! 

[Yoss]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

You're not expecting to make a ton of cash out of your activities, and you're not stamping fake chassis numbers on the various components to make your car more valuable. Plus I'm sure your car has always remained in existence. If they tried to reregister the Bentley now it would have a Q plate.

Yeah, all fair points well made, I'm certainly not making money out of it, quite the reverse. I wasn't thinking about it in a commercial sense just that it's better that it exists than it doesn't and I'd quite happily give it a go. 

[richardmorris]

[richardmorris]

[Datsuncog]

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.

Katesbride records coldest early September since 1986 - BBC News

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...

[SiC]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

13th September, I think this is the earliest I have ever seen a frost:

 

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

[richardmorris]

[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.