The new news 24 thread

[junkyarddog]

Today's purchase. 

2015 Citroen Berlingo multispace wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Bought out of necessity,my 83 year old Dad has Parkinson's and due to a fall in February has ended up in a wheelchair. 

Living in the sticks means a wheelchair taxi would be hideously expensive,so this will hopefully make things a bit easier carting the poor old bugger about to various appointments. 

117k,1.6 diesel,with a 5speed.

No cruise,but working A/C.

Few marks here and there,but nothing I'm bothered about.

Let's hope it's a decent tool to do the job.

Sadly it means I'll probably have to sell my beloved Mondeo after 14 years!

[Wibble]

19 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Today's purchase. 

2015 Citroen Berlingo multispace wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Bought out of necessity,my 83 year old Dad has Parkinson's and due to a fall in February has ended up in a wheelchair. 

Livingi n the sticks means a wheelchair taxi would be hideously expensive,so this will hopefully make things a bit easier carting the poor old bigger about to various appointments. 

117k,1.6 diesel,with a 5speed.

No cruise,but working A/C.

Few marks here and there,but nothing I'm bothered about.

Let's hope it's a decent tool to do the job.

Sadly it means I'll probably have to sell my beloved Mondeo after 14 years!

Sorry about the Mondeo but glad you’re looking after your Dad.

[jonathan_dyane]

26 minutes ago, stuboy said:

is the golf PD powered?

Yeah GT TDI 115

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, lesapandre said:

A poet's car. I came across this today.  Poet Philip Larkin writing about his cars in the 1960's.

Larkin went on holiday returning to locations in Dublin and on the west coast he had visited via slow steam trains from Belfast in the 1950s. He calculated that he would cover at least 2,000 miles and was looking forward to testing his new car. A month earlier he had exchanged his Singer Vogue for an Austin Princess Vanden Plas which he described to novelist Barbara Pym as:

‘an enormous 4-litre Vanden Plas Princess, with a Rolls Royce engine . . . love at first sight, one of the few cars I can bear the look of . . . huge and ponderous, like an old drawing room, and does 80 without turning a hair.’

He even took a snapshot.

A VDP 4 litre R is in my dream garage. I have a soft spot for any ADO16, the VDP widened the customer pool, but the changes were only cosmetic.

[lesapandre]

Only about 7000 made in four years - an absolute shame. And production stopped in 1968 with the Leyland merger. 

A stonking 175bhp from the RR-6 - poor fuel consumption though - but very nice inside.

Could it have continued in the 'small Rolls' role? Possibly.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Had a bit of a funny turn yesterday and I committed the annual feat of waxing and valeting some of the cars - even hoovered one of them out.
Then I tinkered with the latest purchase (finished a service/check over - all good other than a weeping rocker cover gasket) and took the wee thing for a a proper spin hoon.
Jings - this really is a hidden gem It's now - officially - my wife's weapon of choice but I have permission to borrow it from time to time so long as I maintain it.

[beko1987]

12 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Today's purchase. 

2015 Citroen Berlingo multispace wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Bought out of necessity,my 83 year old Dad has Parkinson's and due to a fall in February has ended up in a wheelchair. 

Livingi n the sticks means a wheelchair taxi would be hideously expensive,so this will hopefully make things a bit easier carting the poor old bigger about to various appointments. 

117k,1.6 diesel,with a 5speed.

No cruise,but working A/C.

Few marks here and there,but nothing I'm bothered about.

Let's hope it's a decent tool to do the job.

Sadly it means I'll probably have to sell my beloved Mondeo after 14 years!

At least it means you can take the old boy out as much as you can!

One of the small thought processes behind me trying a qashqai was it's tall-Ness. Both sets of parents and my grandparents find it much easier to get in and out of, so it means we can go out more 👌

When the ex's Nan was in her last year's of life I had an xm and it became her taxi after a while, even the ex begrudgingly drove it occasionally as we could raise the suspension right up for her to be helped in and out 😂

[lesapandre]

2 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Had a bit of a funny turn yesterday and I committed the annual feat of waxing and valeting some of the cars - even hoovered one of them out.
Then I tinkered with the latest purchase (finished a service/check over - all good other than a weeping rocker cover gasket) and took the wee thing for a a proper spin hoon.
Jings - this really is a hidden gem It's now - officially - my wife's weapon of choice but I have permission to borrow it from time to time so long as I maintain it.

Very nice cars. Very unappreciated. Bargains atm. That won't last for ever as numbers dwindle. Post 2002 ULEZ compliant.

[Split_Pin]

My SLK was great fun and I'd always wanted a silver one since having a model.of one in the late 90s. 2 seats aren't much good for me though 😞

[hairnet]

13 hours ago, richardmorris said:

 

 

 

you are arthur negus and i claim my 5 shillings

[SiC]

I was going to take the VP out to a classic meet this morning. For the life of me I couldn't find the keys for it. 

Then suddenly remembered they were in the 3-series ... which Mrs SiC had gone out in. Doh! At least nice weather for the Spitty.

Last time I went (last weekend?) there were only a few cars there. By the time I got there at midday (10 till 2)...

So had a quick look at Facebook for any other local meets. Frome had a craft show and classic meet on but that was a bit far. Farington Gurney farm shop had one starting at 9am. 

By the time I got there, there was only one (broken down?) Mini left.. 

Damn. Might have to find another Sunday meet! 

There is one on in Clevedon every second Saturday of the month - so would have been one yesterday. This gets very busy now but often always decent stuff there. I was planning to go yesterday but my dad needed me to help finish putting up their balustrades. So had a trip down to Sidmouth in the 3'er and Cayman. The Cayman is staying down there for a few weeks while it awaits it's MOT and service.

There is a decent view up top here - pretty much why my parents wanted a seating area up here.

For the free manual labour, my mum paid for us to have dinner at a local pub. There was this fantastic Bedford in the car park that looked like someone was fitting out as a camper.

Then off to Lyme Regis for an ice cream. Think it was around this time of year a few years back I took my BGT down. 

Winscombe Hill climb had a VSCC event on today. I was tempted to go back down to watch it but instead wanted to go to the classic meets today in the VP. That plan worked out well 😂

Oh well, gives me this afternoon/evening to do stuff at home instead and fiddle with the VP.

[bramz7]

Fleet update!

A2 is an absolute hero of a daily. I've done 1600 miles in it, averaging 62mpg now per fuelling. It's boring, but it does it so effortlessly I can't really justify getting rid of it. There are some creaks at the front end now, and the brakes aren't as sharp as I'd like, but otherwise, no issues. 

156 still at AutoLusso. They've had a few staff issues lately so it's been taking longer than anticipated. Not a big problem as it delays the bill being paid! Then it needs new tyres. 😶

Clio 172 has barely been used, I took it out a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. I have a feeling I'd regret letting it go as it seems like a car I'll never own again. But is that misplaced loyalty?

I also seem to be pining for a proper old car again, obviously not as a daily but another toy. Something 90s or older and square. And small. I can't have 3 toys though so that means one has to go and the 156 is never going, so the Clio...? But I don't want to sell it. I think? 

 

[SiC]

25 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

Clio 172 has barely been used, I took it out a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. I have a feeling I'd regret letting it go as it seems like a car I'll never own again. But is that misplaced loyalty?

I never really enjoyed mine. I passed my test and owned a (brand new ! back when new small cars were 6.5k) Clio II 1.2 as my first car. So always really wanted the hot version. 

I just didn't like it. Drove fast but I didn't find it that fun. Engine sounded okay but still only a four pot. Could bite if you let off too much on a corner. Interior is gash. Seats too high up. 

While they might be great on a track, my seemly controversial view is that the Mini Cooper S R53 is a better car in pretty much everyway. Great handling, addictive super charger whine, actual nice comfortable interiors and has real character. Also not quite as fragile things. 

[aldo135]

@captain_70s there’s a woman looking for you

[wesacosa]

looks like the ex @andyberg, @RobTand @bramz7 Xedos is off on a European charity adventure 

 

[bramz7]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

I never really enjoyed mine. I passed my test and owned a (brand new ! back when new small cars were 6.5k) Clio II 1.2 as my first car. So always really wanted the hot version. 

I just didn't like it. Drove fast but I didn't find it that fun. Engine sounded okay but still only a four pot. Could bite if you let off too much on a corner. Interior is gash. Seats too high up. 

While they might be great on a track, my seemly controversial view is that the Mini Cooper S R53 is a better car in pretty much everyway. Great handling, addictive super charger whine, actual nice comfortable interiors and has real character. Also not quite as fragile things. 

I like the seats, but hate the rest of the interior. The soft touch has gone horrible.

I haven't felt it try to bite me but I probably haven't goaded it enough. 

Unfortunately I also absolutely hate the new Minis after having a few driving lessons in them, I'm pleased other people like them but they are definitely not my thing.

 

Anyone want a 172 in exchange for something actually old? 

 

Also yes as @wesacosasays, the trusty Xedos has been abroad. I speak to Craig a lot and he is probably planning on selling it soon. 

[andyberg]

8 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

looks like the ex @andyberg, @RobTand @bramz7 Xedos is off on a European charity adventure 

 

A bloody lovely car. One of my favourites, to have this and my Safrane would be rather nice 😁 

[andyberg]

16 minutes ago, bramz7 said:

 

 

Also yes as @wesacosasays, the trusty Xedos has been abroad. I speak to Craig a lot and he is probably planning on selling it soon. 

See above post🤣 swap for an X type 🤣🤣

[meshking]

4 hours ago, bramz7 said:

Fleet update!

A2 is an absolute hero of a daily. I've done 1600 miles in it, averaging 62mpg now per fuelling. It's boring, but it does it so effortlessly I can't really justify getting rid of it. There are some creaks at the front end now, and the brakes aren't as sharp as I'd like, but otherwise, no issues. 

 

 

Glad to hear about the A2! We’ve seen them everywhere recently, definitely one of those cars that appears everywhere despite not being that well known.

[richardmorris]

8 hours ago, hairnet said:

you are arthur negus and i claim my 5 shillings

I didn’t mean to include the cabinet picture. I think Arthur was a pottery guy. My moan stands- modern cars are too large if they have to mount pavements to let buses past ( peters ham road eg)

[lesapandre]

Arthur Negus (1903 –1985) specialised in English furniture. I suppose he's mostly forgotten now - but he did a lot to get people to look at old furniture and cherish it via his TV appearances - rather than throwing it away. 

Pottery - I think you are thinking of Henry Sandon who died in 2023 - who was a great pottery enthusiast on TV.

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

Arthur Negus (1903 –1985) specialised in English furniture. I suppose he's mostly forgotten now - but he did a lot to get people to look at old furniture and cherish it via his TV appearances - rather than throwing it away. 

Pottery - I think you are thinking of Henry Sandon who died in 2023 - who was a great pottery enthusiast on TV.

Going For a Song was. TV staple in our house when I was a kid. Call My Bluff too - gosh, racy stuff.

[stuboy]

Usual car pub... honda nsx was very nice.. shame the rear spoiler was pineappled..

 

The alfa was gorgeous..

 

The Ferrari... was a BMW in an Italian designer frock..

 

The jensen was for sale..

 

And a R5 duracell powered beast

[richardmorris]

32 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

Arthur Negus (1903 –1985) specialised in English furniture. I suppose he's mostly forgotten now - but he did a lot to get people to look at old furniture and cherish it via his TV appearances - rather than throwing it away. 

Pottery - I think you are thinking of Henry Sandon who died in 2023 - who was a great pottery enthusiast on TV.

Given that I was 12 when he died , yes. He’s a little before my Tv time.

[Wibble]

9 hours ago, hairnet said:

you are arthur negus and i claim my 5 shillings

Beautiful piece of furniture, we restored two very similar in my old job, shortly before we closed. Dutch iirc.

[Split_Pin]

Out and about in the Saab 9-3 today and went to Binns Tower in West Lothian.

As we were sitting in the Saab with the roof down in the car park, waiting for my mum, brother and his fiance to catch up, a chap came over and asked if we had jump leads. I always carry a pair both for me and others if needed. He and his wife owned the Citroen H coffee van that was parked outside the House of the Binns. It was however his daily Mazda 3 which was dead.

Wouldn't take a charge and no dash lights.  I noticed it was a keyless system so worked out that the key had probably lost sync with the car. Cue some hasty Googling however his partner came over, shut the car door , key paired and it started! It's all witchcraft to me. I advised him to get a new battery as he said it had gone flat a couple of times in the last few days.

I saw him later in Linlithgow High Street as he drove by and waved, so all good!

[brownnova]

Wirral Classic car show today! Was there with the 2CV club, but sans 2CV, so when the group space became full and another 2CV showed up I had to move… 

I was genuinely surprised at how much attention the old 9000 got though. In the 20 mins we ate lunch a few people wanted to have a chat about it! 

 

A combination of heat/toddlers/seeing too many people I knew for a chat meant I didn’t take many pics… but there were one or two cracking motors there. 

 

The day was extended somewhat when one of our group (also not in a 2CV but a Morris Traveller) developed a quite pronounced wheel wobble on the way home. No joy diagnosing roadside we followed him home to make sure he got it back safe. Thankfully all was well. He couldn’t feel it in the car at all. Wondering if it’s a warped wheel. 

[wuvvum]

I've actually had a reasonably productive few days on the fettling front.  The Rover 75 has had a new drop link and track rod end fitted to the nearside.

Both were advised on the recent MOT.  Wasn't too bad a job in the end, despite the drop links being an utterly stupid design on these.  Annoyingly it hasn't completely cured the knocking over bumps, but it's definitely better than it was.  I still need to do the drop link on the other side.  Then the ungrateful fecker thanked me by blowing a dipped beam bulb, which was almost more of a faff to change than the track rod end had been!  (In fact doing the TRE would have been quicker than the bulb change had it not taken me so long to find my ball joint splitter.)

The big news is that the Eos is fixed.  That was my main project for this weekend, and it actually went amazingly well considering that it involved changing a coil spring, which is pretty much my least favourite job.

That was on the nearside - on the offside I just fitted a complete secondhand strut (with a reasonably new spring already fitted), but I couldn't find a decent used nearside strut at a sensible price.  

I actually finally got the struts moving in the hubs last weekend, but I didn't have time to do anything more then.  It was a rather more involved job than I'd initially anticipated as it entailed removing the ball joint from the lower suspension arm and pulling the driveshaft out of the hub - otherwise the hub assembly wouldn't drop down low enough for the strut to come all the way out.

I got the nearside done yesterday but couldn't do the offside as the driveshaft bolt was a different shape - it needed a 12-point 24mm socket which I didn't have, I'd ordered one off eBay but it hasn't turned up yet.  So last night I had to go and see a mate to borrow one.  The driveshaft bolt actually came undone fairly easily (the nearside had involved jumping up and down on a breaker bar) but the ball joint nuts were a bit of a twat to get off - the socket was too hot to touch by the time they were all off.  Learning from yesterday's mistakes I also removed the brake caliper and disc which more or less halved the weight of the hub assembly and made it a lot easier to manhandle everything back into position.

I had to use the grinder to get rid of the remains of the old drop links, but that didn't take long, and it's all back together now apart from the wheel arch liner on the offside which I'll put back when I can be arsed.  I took it for a quick test drive to check that everything was OK, and given the weather today it would have been rude not to put the top down.

This was the first time I'd driven it in floppytop mode - there is a bit of scuttle shake over bumps as you'd expect, but otherwise it's fine.

The next job on the list is to fit the new aircon condenser on the Rover - that's another job that I need to allocate a full weekend to, partly because the HBOL is going to be fairly useless (the section on replacing the condenser begins "Remove the radiator as described in section 3"; section 3 instructs one to "Remove the air conditioning condenser as described in section 11").  So I'm going to have to work it out for myself - either way I'm going to need to take the whole front of the car off and drain the cooling system so it's not going to be a 10-minute job...

[Llessur]

Popped the engine out of my recently-acquired Dolly 1850 - it needed a clutch change but after some experimental maneuvers it became apparent the gearbox wasn't going to be released separately from the inside without a big faff involving dropping the subframe. Decided to pull both bits out from above instead.

 

 

Clutch is a bit on the glazed side and starting to crack up in places. It's been in there since 1994 so I forgive it that.

The fork is also on its way out and starting to crack around its pivot point so I'll have a rummage through my box o' bits and see if I can find the spare I'm 80% sure I've got in there:

After that's done, my next big job will be the decision on whether to remove the Rick & Morty sticker from the rear quarterlight.

[EyesWeldedShut]

8 hours ago, brownnova said:

The day was..

.. most excellent by the looks of things.

11/10 for the Fuego and 12/10 for the Lancia - I've not seen either in the flesh for decades (guy in the place I grew up had  Beta Spider that I always coveted, got to watch it turn into rusty cornflakes over a period of about 5 years).  Would love to have a punt in a Fuego just to know if I'd have been impressed or disappointed back in 1981