The new news 24 thread

[trigger]

1 hour ago, Bmwdumptruck said:

Great find there…. Can’t wait to see and hear all about it. 

Cheers, you can see more about it here 😁 

 

[New POD]

8 hours ago, Bmwdumptruck said:

I had an identical one, 1.6L, back in about 1992/3. I’d been living in Devon and moved back home bringing a much nicer 1.6GL in that reddy brown colour they did, and a Montego Mayfair in dark metallic blue. Both classic repmobiles.  The Cav was by fair the nicer to drive on the whole, but the Montego came into it’s own on the motorways.  
Having been in the trade whilst in Devon I managed to do a deal back home, trading both for a very nice BX 19RD which I then sold back in Devon on my next visit back there.  I got a lift home with a lorry driver mate and spent the next few days desperately looking for a van to work from.  Nothing found so I bought the pale blue 1.6L 4 door.  Far from ideal for work, but at £250 it left me most of my cash for a van when I found one.  One of my neighbours was a trafpol vehicle examiner who immediately declared it a ringer, but agreed it wasn’t worth enough to be bothered to report it…….  
Great find there…. Can’t wait to see and hear all about it. 

Colleague of mine bought what he thought was a facelifted D reg, GL saloon, but given that I had a D reg GL Hatch, did point out that it had a 4 speed gearbox and the wrong front spoiler.  Although the right front grill. 

A few months later he fell asleep on the M5 and woke up going sideways at 50 mph pushed along by the wheels of the trailer of a HGV.  

His insurer tried to fuck him off for the £2k he thought it was worth as it turned out not to be a D reg at all.  They werent sure what the original identity was, because it had parts from more than 2 vehicles.  The engine and gearbox were definately "early" based on engine number, the interior definately later, based on date codes.  The chassis numbers looked to have been tampered with.  (Cut out and replaced with a newer identity) 

But insurance ombudsman decided that they were being unfair, and he eventually got a payout.  

[SiC]

About 5 days ago, it's been a year that I've owned my Z4. 🎉

One of the things that really has irritated me since I've owned it, is the centre console. Usually on a Z4 the handbrake lever has a padded arm rest. However being mine is base spec, it has just a bit of plastic. What someone in the past has done is hacked up a armrest trim to fit but there is nowhere for it to properly go. It just looks tatty and embarrassing when someone looks inside.

I wanted to get the same centre section plastic and just replace that with one that takes an armrest. However that is still low spec and I couldn't find one for sale on eBay. Usually only the top newer spec brushed aluminium trim pieces are available. Anyway I bought this set for £55 and a replacement gear gaiter for £26.

 

Fitting was done in order of hardness. Light cover was easy and just unclips with force 

 

Main dash trim was a bit more involved but not a huge amount more. Basically needed to remove two screws from the air vent to get to a weird push clip on that side. Then four screws where the head unit/air vent is and pull the rest off.

 

Goes in like this.

Transfer the clips over

Then put all back together 

The main centre console is more involved. This trim piece is screwed into the console itself and needs entire removal 

Less pictures and a lot more swearing, this was straightforward but time consuming.

 

Quite a lot of work for just an armrest but it really improves the interior. There was all scratches on the old trim around the air vents/headunit where someone evidently tried using a screwdriver to replace the head unit, so replacing that section wasn't a waste of time either. Those bits were quick and easy too. 

MOT in less than 2 months. Hoping it shouldn't be too bad to get through 🤞

I have a replacement headlight to go on as mine is all fogged up inside. I seem to remember the back cover is missing on the light cluster which won't have helped things. The replacement light isn't in much better condition but it at least gives me a chance to pull it apart and clean it up first. 

[JJ0063]

15 hours ago, JJ0063 said:

So we’ve now arranged to go and see a 66 plate Combo on Saturday. Was originally a Siemens fleet van, now owned by a chimney sweep. 
 

Seeems a nice van, I’ve read good and bad about them and I know the little 1.3 CDTI can have injector issues so will make sure I give it a good look over but for Mrs JJ, I think it’s ideal. 
 

It’s going in next week to have the signwriting removed so at least that’s one less job!

Also just spotted this on AT

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202504141337087?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios-app

Downside is the shoddy touch up on the back door paint. I’ve seen a few of the Berlingos/Partners where the rear door paint has flaked/peeled so I guess it’s a common issue. 
 

If we could get them down to say 2k on that, I wonder if it’s a better van than the Combo being the 1.6 HDI? I think the Berlingo is a better looking van but I’d have to fuck about finding a new door or paying to get it painted. 

 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

About 5 days ago, it's been a year that I've owned my Z4. 🎉

One of the things that really has irritated me since I've owned it, is the centre console. Usually on a Z4 the handbrake lever has a padded arm rest. However being mine is base spec, it has just a bit of plastic. What someone in the past has done is hacked up a armrest trim to fit but there is nowhere for it to properly go. It just looks tatty and embarrassing when someone looks inside.

I wanted to get the same centre section plastic and just replace that with one that takes an armrest. However that is still low spec and I couldn't find one for sale on eBay. Usually only the top newer spec brushed aluminium trim pieces are available. Anyway I bought this set for £55 and a replacement gear gaiter for £26.

 

Fitting was done in order of hardness. Light cover was easy and just unclips with force 

 

Main dash trim was a bit more involved but not a huge amount more. Basically needed to remove two screws from the air vent to get to a weird push clip on that side. Then four screws where the head unit/air vent is and pull the rest off.

 

Goes in like this.

Transfer the clips over

Then put all back together 

The main centre console is more involved. This trim piece is screwed into the console itself and needs entire removal 

Less pictures and a lot more swearing, this was straightforward but time consuming.

 

Quite a lot of work for just an armrest but it really improves the interior. There was all scratches on the old trim around the air vents/headunit where someone evidently tried using a screwdriver to replace the head unit, so replacing that section wasn't a waste of time either. Those bits were quick and easy too. 

MOT in less than 2 months. Hoping it shouldn't be too bad to get through 🤞

I have a replacement headlight to go on as mine is all fogged up inside. I seem to remember the back cover is missing on the light cluster which won't have helped things. The replacement light isn't in much better condition but it at least gives me a chance to pull it apart and clean it up first. 

Nice job, much better. I can live with scratches on the outside as you don't see those when driving so I much prefer a tidy interior.

[Snake Charmer]

[Rustybullethole]

4 hours ago, Snake Charmer said:

Looks well in black. 

[brownnova]

Don’t think I’d ever seen the famed early GPO Morris Minor vans with rubber wings before, but a trip to Avoncroft Buildings museum in Bromsgrove yielded this treat! 

As well as some excellent buildings, fabulous phone boxes and in one of the most random shite moments I can ever recall a chance meeting with @SiC with both of us far from home! 

[Split_Pin]

1 minute ago, brownnova said:

Don’t think I’d ever seen the famed early GPO Morris Minor vans with rubber wings before, but a trip to Avoncroft Buildings museum in Bromsgrove yielded this treat! 

As well as some excellent buildings, fabulous phone boxes and in one of the most random shite moments I can ever recall a chance meeting with @SiC with both of us far from home! 

Very cool spot, I've only ever seen pictures of those weird things in my Paul Skilleter book.

[Bmwdumptruck]

9 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Don’t think I’d ever seen the famed early GPO Morris Minor vans with rubber wings before, but a trip to Avoncroft Buildings museum in Bromsgrove yielded this treat! 

As well as some excellent buildings, fabulous phone boxes and in one of the most random shite moments I can ever recall a chance meeting with @SiC with both of us far from home! 

Royal Mail could do with rubber wings on their Combo’s and Berlingo/Partners these days seeing the state of most of them.  

[richardmorris]

I’ve a chinook circling for some reason ….

[Rustybullethole]

45 minutes ago, Bmwdumptruck said:

Royal Mail could do with rubber wings on their Combo’s and Berlingo/Partners these days seeing the state of most of them.  

Not half as much as Amazon could so with some rubber transits. 

Honestly cant recall seeing one in London that wasn't beaten to bits. 

Edited April 17 by Rustybullethole

[richardmorris]

6 hours ago, Snake Charmer said:

I was closed today!

[Rustybullethole]

On 16/04/2025 at 12:33, Split_Pin said:

Beats my trying to make a sill by using the head of a 3lb lump hammer as an anvil and a carpenters hammer to shape it 😂 (I failed)

2 x patches patched and I can confirm that the shovel used was of high quality. Sadly at this stage of its life this meant it would snap rather than bend flat thus making the job more of an arse ache than it needed to be. 

Nothing hurts more than self inflicted pain. Apart from maybe shovel shrapnel. 

Not my finest bit of welding by a long shot. Done is done though. 

Other jobs that have needed my expertise included replacing a stop tail bulb. Nicked that out the trailer that never sees the road. Fitted and works. What a pro. Washer no pumping. Replaced washer pump. Fixed. Added fluid that id drained in a dog bowl, pump stopped pumping. Gave up and came home. Advised to get a water pistol and squirt the screen from the viewing bay at appropriate time in the test. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

I’ve a chinook circling for some reason ….

I can see you with this Atlas that did two lo-fly-by runs up the valley in front of our house at 7pm with the rear ramp down, slats etc out and looked to be doing around 5 mph. He raised the ramp, cleaned up the airframe and zoomed off both times. We're at 1,000 feet - he was 300 - 400 foot above us. That's, maybe, not too unusual for here but the second one imaged below that was the first time I've seen those bad boys around here .

Raise you a KC-135 and a couple of F-15.

Of course, both times, I was out side with no phone. The Atlas would have been a cracking shot.

Only seen a Chinook here once in 15 years - he did a couple of arse end (only) on the ground touchdowns on the other side of the valley and then zapped off.

 

 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, brownnova said:

Don’t think I’d ever seen the famed early GPO Morris Minor vans with rubber wings before, but a trip to Avoncroft Buildings museum in Bromsgrove yielded this treat! 

As well as some excellent buildings, fabulous phone boxes and in one of the most random shite moments I can ever recall a chance meeting with @SiC with both of us far from home! 

Looks an early one! Didn't see it when there, some years ago now.

[Snake Charmer]

42 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I was closed today!

Sneaked in expecting to be papped, had to do it  myself! 😁 

[Royale80]

New battery for Sierra- £54 from Halfords with trade cardusually £71. Could have got one from Tayne- but Halfords 5 min walk away and 3 year guarantee.

Rubbed down and treated surface rust on the Rovers back plate- these are very rare (I think they are getting remanfactured later this year) and hold the ABS sensor so if heavily corroded car is off the road. Will paint and fit new sensor when I get a bit of get up and go!

[eddyramrod]

I posted about this in the Twinned thread...

My blood pressure was rising steadily and I really needed the cheeseburger and milkshake I was anticipating.  I've left the Diner a Facebook message.

The Diner messaged me back last night!  They've offered me a free Birthday Breakfast and apologised.  Result, I think.

[SiC]

So yesterday I took the day off as Mrs SiC already had the day off (she works at a school) and the weather looked good (unlike today). Not sure what to do, I typed in museums into Google Maps and had a browse around to see somewhere I hadn't been before within 2hrs.

Up came Avoncroft Museum with 4.8/5 stars. Basically a museum of old buildings that would have been knocked down and moved to their site. Pretty interesting museum (pics below) and well worth a visit.

On the way out Mrs SiC said she really liked a porcelain Sheep. So off to the till I trott to pay. 

Turning around a chap approached me and said "hey, I don't suppose your ... on ... forum. I'm ... on the forum". While my brain was simultaneously still processing the speech, my brain face recognition database was in full swing. Speed impeded by brain fog from being in a calorie deficit.

Basically my face and brain at this point:

Mrs SiC is much quicker at recognising faces instantly recognised who it was. While she was busy already having a conversation, my temporal lobes finished the job of converting audio into something the rest of my brain can recognise.

14 hours ago, brownnova said:

in one of the most random shite moments I can ever recall a chance meeting with @SiC with both of us far from home! 

Ah! It's @brownnova

I do look particularly happy with my new porcelain sheep...

 

The museum is well worth a visit. Not least for the rubber winged Moggie. Like others, I've read about them but never seen one in person or even really in photos. 

The national phone kiosk sounds nerdy as hell but genuinely quite interesting. The phones all work and are hooked up to a telephone exchange in the wood building. Great for kids (and adults) to mess around with the phones.

I always do like a green tin building 

Prefabs hold even more fascination for me. Reminds me of a time when I was younger when these sort of building were still around but starting to disappear (80s/90s/early 00s). Usually occupied by friendly older people who had seen it all and was determined not to be moved from their home.

Now for some of the other buildings

Even Mrs SiC found it an interesting place. 

They have a miniature railway in the grounds too. Wasn't running yesterday presumably only at weekends/bank holidays. 

Also stopped off at Coome National Trust for a walk around.

There was also a small RAF museum on site that was pretty interesting. It was the site where they developed radar systems during the war.

 

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

Avoncroft is good, did you find the outside Loo for Multiple Occupancy?

 

 

[SiC]

5 minutes ago, Momentary Lapse Of Reason said:

Avoncroft is good, did you find the outside Loo for Multiple Occupancy?

 

 

Yeah, I did wonder if it was still in use...

[Split_Pin]

27 minutes ago, SiC said:

So yesterday I took the day off as Mrs SiC already had the day off (she works at a school) and the weather looked good (unlike today). Not sure what to do, I typed in museums into Google Maps and had a browse around to see somewhere I hadn't been before within 2hrs.

Up came Avoncroft Museum with 4.8/5 stars. Basically a museum of old buildings that would have been knocked down and moved to their site. Pretty interesting museum (pics below) and well worth a visit.

On the way out Mrs SiC said she really liked a porcelain Sheep. So off to the till I trott to pay. 

Turning around a chap approached me and said "hey, I don't suppose your ... on ... forum. I'm ... on the forum". While my brain was simultaneously still processing the speech, my brain face recognition database was in full swing. Speed impeded by brain fog from being in a calorie deficit.

Basically my face and brain at this point:

Mrs SiC is much quicker at recognising faces instantly recognised who it was. While she was busy already having a conversation, my temporal lobes finished the job of converting audio into something the rest of my brain can recognise.

Ah! It's @brownnova

I do look particularly happy with my new porcelain sheep...

 

The museum is well worth a visit. Not least for the rubber winged Moggie. Like others, I've read about them but never seen one in person or even really in photos. 

The national phone kiosk sounds nerdy as hell but genuinely quite interesting. The phones all work and are hooked up to a telephone exchange in the wood building. Great for kids (and adults) to mess around with the phones.

I always do like a green tin building 

Prefabs hold even more fascination for me. Reminds me of a time when I was younger when these sort of building were still around but starting to disappear (80s/90s/early 00s). Usually occupied by friendly older people who had seen it all and was determined not to be moved from their home.

Now for some of the other buildings

Even Mrs SiC found it an interesting place. 

They have a miniature railway in the grounds too. Wasn't running yesterday presumably only at weekends/bank holidays. 

Also stopped off at Coome National Trust for a walk around.

There was also a small RAF museum on site that was pretty interesting. It was the site where they developed radar systems during the war.

 

That looks a cracking wee museum.  I'm particularly interested in the prefabs as your recollection is exactly the same as mine. Love the weird rubber winged Minor too. Looking at the condition of today's RM vans, I'm surprised the idea never caught on 😅

There are quite a lot of prefabs still standing in Linlithgow where I grew up although they were modified with more substantial exterior materials in the late 1980s. I do still recall them with their original rust stained yellow painted exterior panels for a short time after I moved to the area though.

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

I'm surprised the idea never caught on 😅

We had rubber rear wheel arches on LWB Transits (with double rear wheels) back in the 1980s - can't find an online image but like the steel ones in the image below.
They served a purpose I guess but they did leave a black smear along the side of anything pale coloured that you may have touch parked.
I don't think they were actually any wider than a Range Rover Ve

GoogleFoo tells me that the LWB Tranny was 2060mm wide (arch to arch) and a 2025 Range Rover Sport is 2047mm. Two things come to mind (1) a RR Sport would look even shittier with rubber arches (2) 1980s drivers were obviously crap at judging width clearances.

[Tayne]

4 hours ago, Royale80 said:

New battery for Sierra- £54 from Halfords with trade cardusually £71. Could have got one from Tayne- but Halfords 5 min walk away and 3 year guarantee.

You could have, but I think I’ve only got double As in the house.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

an't find an online image

Here you go...

[High Jetter]

+1 for Avoncroft. We went to a wedding there pre-Covid and had a good wander around, though I think we didn't see it all. Must go back sometime. The table place-names were the miniature bricks they make on site with our first names on, still have them somewhere.

[stuboy]

Missus sorting out her bedroom so I said I'm sitting about and jump started the pussy wagon, took it too work to wash it and inflate the tyres..( I don't live the road or have access to a hosepipe other than work )

[JJ0063]

On 17/04/2025 at 08:53, JJ0063 said:

Also just spotted this on AT

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202504141337087?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios-app

Downside is the shoddy touch up on the back door paint. I’ve seen a few of the Berlingos/Partners where the rear door paint has flaked/peeled so I guess it’s a common issue. 
 

If we could get them down to say 2k on that, I wonder if it’s a better van than the Combo being the 1.6 HDI? I think the Berlingo is a better looking van but I’d have to fuck about finding a new door or paying to get it painted. 

 

So I went to view the Berlingo. Waste of time. Body awful, CV joints clicking like mad. Air con warm. 
 

Viewed the chimney sweep sign written Combo today. Oil light flashing “it’s done it the whole 4 years we’ve had it”, crunches into 3rd gear, top mounts knocking.

Ive just spotted this Citan which looks great but the advert mentions a cold start issue and he’s plugged it in and got a glow plug error apparently.

Citan AFAIK is just a Kangoo so a 1.5 DCI. 

Am I asking for trouble?

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HYAesqF6N/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[Cookiesouwest]

2 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

So I went to view the Berlingo. Waste of time. Body awful, CV joints clicking like mad. Air con warm. 
 

Viewed the chimney sweep sign written Combo today. Oil light flashing “it’s done it the whole 4 years we’ve had it”, crunches into 3rd gear, top mounts knocking.

Ive just spotted this Citan which looks great but the advert mentions a cold start issue and he’s plugged it in and got a glow plug error apparently.

Citan AFAIK is just a Kangoo so a 1.5 DCI. 

Am I asking for trouble?

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HYAesqF6N/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

At least seems like an honest advert.

1.5 dci is a good engine.