The new news 24 thread

[stuboy]

Decided to risk leaving the house as climbing the walls and too go up the car themed pub...  but only if I had a chaperone...lol so missus brother joined me... took a chance too see what's up there...  holed jeans and vapours, but they seemed OK.. 

 

[62 Austin]

On 21/03/2025 at 03:54, Dyslexic Viking said:

Thanks, And no, I haven't used the trailer hitch yet. I've been thinking about getting a small caravan, but I think the car is a bit too tired for that.

Have you seen any of those teardrop caravans? New, they're $$, but I like the looks of the T@B trailers. I think this is the original, a 320 (2,069 lbs.) & there's a 400 (2,900 lbs.) that's longer. I saw a long sales video from a UK distributor...so it must be possible to get one there if you throw enough quid at them! Weight is low enough you could pull it with anything except a Reliant Robin.

No that's not a dartboard over the door.

 

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

31 minutes ago, 62 Austin said:

Have you seen any of those teardrop caravans? New, they're $$, but I like the looks of the T@B trailers. I think this is the original, a 320 (2,069 lbs.) & there's a 400 (2,900 lbs.) that's longer. I saw a long sales video from a UK distributor...so it must be possible to get one there if you throw enough quid at them! Weight is low enough you could pull it with anything except a Reliant Robin.

No that's not a dartboard over the door.

 

 

I've also always liked these but unfortunately they are expensive, the cheapest used one in Norway is about £10,700.

[Ghosty]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

It took about 30 officers to remove it, flat towing as the owner refused to turn the immobiliser off.

From FB:

[320touring]

Been out and done some stuff on the Oxford.

New 60a fuse fitted to feed for alternator 
New connection for Exciter wire/dashlight made
Brake light connectors properly fixed
Waggly wires causing stalling issues fixed
Coolant topped up after heater hose replacement.

Results:
14.2v at idle
Lukewarm air through the dash vents (big improvement!)
Functional brake lights 
No stalling despite much wire waggling.

New issues identified:
Wipers not working (and no obvious drain when the switch is used. Skooshers work ok)
Flat tyre on front left. Will need to get it swapped with the spare

 

[S2000]

And found the lubrication orifice….

 

[dozeydustman]

205 is booked in for MoT this coming Friday, new torque wrench purchased as mine is so out of calibration it's not worth getting adjusted, plus it didn't go up high enough for hub nuts on any of our cars (tops out at 150lb ft, I've just bought one that does 200lb ft).

Spent the day ensuring I can work on it in the garage by clearing out a big chunk of the old shite from in there that should either live in the shed, or the greenhouse, or be taken to the tip. I'm keen to eliminate the clonking but I need to press out a wheel bearing.

Anyone within an hour or so of Chichester/Bognor got a bearing press I can borrow for 10-15 mins to push out the old and press in the new?

[Mat.T]

Last week's commuting vehicle, Its bigger than my house. (Customers car trying to resolve various running/active ride issues)

[SiC]

Went to the Practical Classics restoration show at the NEC today. First time I had been since COVID. Honestly doesn't feel as busy in foot fall nor as many trade stands as when I last went. Even former big names like Moss weren't there. A lot of stuff I'd considered as modern like Focus MK1 and similar era. Think it's just me getting old...

I can't see this sort of show carrying on for much longer if this is the sort of turn out overall. Hopefully the November big show is busier. 

Didn't look at the auction cars apart from the outside. This Dolomite sold for £16k (bottom end of estimate) and I could easily play spot the filler. Whether under the bonnet or the dulled swage lines.

Anyway here are the rest of some of the photos I took.

I really like the colour of this Allegro. Any ideas? Tahiti blue maybe?

P7 prototype I believe @N Dentressangle (or was it just the sign at the side and this is a P6?)

These were weird looking things. I've forgotten what they were. 

Fuel injected 1500 Midget. Pulling a decent 115bhp. Imagine if BL had the development budget in the 70s to upgrade their existing lumps to meet emissions regs rather than the wheezy carb setups the Americans got.

996 cut in half

I definitely want something pre war sometime soon. 

 

I always wondered what the earlier windscreen looked like on these Sprites.

Someone crammed a Jag I6 in a MGB. Impressive.

A few moderns. I quite like these GTVs

I know these are classics now but I struggle to find interest in an old Focus that was a bit shit even when new against the competition.

I didn't realise these came with what looks like a factory sunroof.

An Italian Spridget 

A bunch of old Alvis's

Weird Suzuki thing in the auction lots

Finally to finish off with an ADO16. I so want another one.

Mrs SiC remarked that a 1100 looks like my face sometimes and other times a Frogeye Sprite. Maybe I need both in the garage was my response...

There is something about the M5 trip up to Birmingham that I get really good fuel economy with. This is pretty damn good for an auto I6 3.0 engine. Admittedly almost all motorway miles.

Bought a few bits. Mostly a decent standing block that I can hook up to a Henry hoover and reduce the amount of dust I create in the garage. Also watched a talk on how to do body filler. Got a good bunch of notes written down that hopefully will make me a bit more effective than my usual efforts!

Had a chat at a local (to home) sand blasters. Did a brief quote of £1200 to collect, fully blast my Midget and paint it in primer. Thought it was quite a bit but no idea what really to expect. 

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

24 minutes ago, SiC said:

Any ideas? Tahiti blue maybe?

Correct. JAE/JMP/ARG146

First came out in 1974 (same year as the Quartic steering wheel was rightly binned).

[SiC]

4 minutes ago, Momentary Lapse Of Reason said:

Correct. JAE/JMP/ARG146

First came out in 1974 (same year as the Quartic steering wheel was rightly binned).

I think it reminds me of the (not factory correct) colour of my 1100 I had and really regret selling.

 

[N Dentressangle]

I would have gone, but £30 + travel + parking is too much for what it is. Not surprised attendance seems to be falling.

[SiC]

17 minutes ago, N Dentressangle said:

I would have gone, but £30 + travel + parking is too much for what it is. Not surprised attendance seems to be falling.

Advance tickets were £25 each on a Sunday. Parking I went into the train station - £9.50 a day rather than the nearly £20 NEC want and much quicker to walk across the bridge across without waiting for a silly bus. Fuel was about £34 - admittedly my 330i isn't exactly the most economical car. 

So £93.50 for two of us to go there. Was it worth it? No I can't honestly say it was. 

While there was stuff to see, there is plenty of much more varied stuff at local car meets to me. Free to get in, less of a drive and can get closer to many of the cars too. 

I might try the November one as it's bigger, but not sure I CBA to go back to this smaller spring show. 

[SiC]

Speaking of meets, I forgot to upload all the photos from the last local meet. This is free to enter and a easy walk around - albeit sometimes hard to find a parking space.

Just dumping them in here as there is literally 100 photos and I can't be bothered to sort. So they're a bit out of order as they're just in the order they happen to upload.

Yes I think the Ferrari Dino is a genuine real example. You rarely ever able to get so up close to such a fancy/expensive car at any NEC show. 

Bizarrely loads of Datsun Z. There must have been a club meet or something. Easily outnumbered classic MGs for a change!

This is not even all the cars that were there - just ones that caught my interest. Always surprised these photos come out alright too. Usually take a quick look, double tap the power button to bring the camera up and hit the volume button to trigger a photo and walk on. Maybe a brief wait for someone to walk by if they are directly in front of it when I get my phone out.

 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

I really like the colour of this Allegro.

Yep, early one, from the grille

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, SiC said:

I didn't realise these came with what looks like a factory sunroof.

Wolseley luxury. What had it first, A60, A110 or VDP Farinas?

[wuvvum]

Just for a change I've not got as much done as I'd hoped this weekend - partly because the weather was crap yesterday and partly because the front strut on the Eos continues its resolute refusal to come out of the hub knuckle.  I even bought one of those strut spreader things to try and free it off, but it's still stuck fast.

I did get the back of the Ampera up on the ramps and do some more work on putting it back together - I actually managed to more or less salvage the undertray, it's rather battered but it's now held in place with a combination of cable ties and self tappers with disc washers to spread the load, and it seems reasonably secure (inasmuch as it didn't all fall off when I took it for a 60mph drive).  I'm actually pleased the undertray went back on because without that in place the rear bumper basically acts as a massive air scoop for the air passing underneath the car, which wouldn't do much for the efficiency and probably wouldn't have done the bumper much good either.

That was about it though.  I did manage a 42-mile drive in the i-Miev this morning without running out of electricity so that was good.  I also confirmed that the aircon works well and uses rather less power than the heater.

[Wibble]

I might book the Senator up for Rustival, not decided yet🤔

[Sunny Jim]

Bore da! Beautiful morning here in Eryri - sunrise over Elidir and a cloud inversion.

[comfortablynumb]

Nothing like a bit of forward planning, observation and anticipation 🤦

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c89ynj20p9po

[lesapandre]

40 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Bore da! Beautiful morning here in Eryri - sunrise over Elidir and a cloud inversion.

C15 action too 🎉

[lesapandre]

5 minutes ago, comfortablynumb said:

Nothing like a bit of forward planning, observation and anticipation 🤦

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c89ynj20p9po

Just a normal parking manoeuvre in Paris. 🤣

[Metal Guru]

15 hours ago, Ghosty said:

From FB:

Hard to believe that’s the best use of police resources. All on overtime too.

[NigeT]

Collection caper yesterday for this quite nice shed that will be stopgap until I've sourced proper barge to replace dead CLK. 118D, 180,000 miles. £500 with October MOT and occasionally flashing half-engine light. 

[NigeT]

RIP noble Thor. Hope his engine gets to roar again in another body. 

[Bear]

This year has been challenging. 

It does not appear to want to back off.

OTOH I'm going to be a grandparent so I should probably stick around long enough to traumatise 3 generations instead of just two.

(Don't worry, this is the Citroen C3, not anything good).

[beko1987]

2 hours ago, NigeT said:

Collection caper yesterday for this quite nice shed that will be stopgap until I've sourced proper barge to replace dead CLK. 118D, 180,000 miles. £500 with October MOT and occasionally flashing half-engine light. 

As long as the other half of the engine is working OK it should be fine 🤞

[Split_Pin]

New boots for this today.

I'd rather have had Michelin PilotSports to match the back but they were £115 a tyre whereas these GoodYear EfficientGrips were £97 per tyre and just as good. 

I would normally go for GT Radials but with the power and handling upgrades I felt that only a top tyre would do. I also didn't want to ruin the cars impeccable history with a lesser brand and keep up the good work for the next owner down the line. It's also still got matching premium tyres across each axle so I think that's good enough.

The tyres were filthy so I dressed them.

[Split_Pin]

I must say, this does look good clean and in the sun.

I've got nowhere to go for the next few days as my son is away on his Primary 7 trip so no dad taxi. But I thought I'd pretend and put down the roof anyway 😅

[comfortablynumb]

Should say @Bear, congratulations on grandfather status, not bust springs 😁