The new news 24 thread

[chadders]

8 hours ago, wuvvum said:

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...

But did it go back up?

[Supernaut]

I went to a local car show yesterday.

I was parked in good company.

This was just one corner of the show. It was in Turriff show ground.

Absolute legend.

 

A small selection;

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, chadders said:

But did it go back up?

Yes, yes it did.  Had me briefly worried when it took a while to start doing anything but then it did its whole Thunderbirds routine with no issues.

[adw1977]

13 hours 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.

It seems he may have had an interest in pottery too...

[lesapandre]

Nice chap. He was very knowledge indeed. One of those people who had a late-in-life TV career.

I think his books excellent on the subjects. Sort of thing worth picking up in a charity shop etc.

[richardmorris]

13 hours ago, Wibble said:

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

From the notes it's known as the Antwerp Cabinet. Listed in the inventory in 1677 - pine veneer, ebony and ebonised wood, tortoiseshell, ivory and satiné, marble, pietra paesina, gilt bronze and brass.

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

Nice chap. He was very knowledge indeed. One of those people who had a late-in-life TV career.

Didn't he do panto under the pseudonym Arthur Askey as well?

[lesapandre]

No. That was... Arthur Askey. 🥳

And in motoring news - I'm just out today in my 40yo Toyota Landcruiser moving some stuff. Started first turn even though parked outside and unused since Christmas. 🥳

[Snake Charmer]

Italian day at work.

[lesapandre]

Real Dino? Just lovely.

In other news - been at my industrial unit. Some guy from the far east was down there doing something - pointed at the Landcruiser and said "too old - too old".😂

People get really troubled by old vehicles. 😂

[I've also had the usual 'do you want to sell it' wanker - ironically when I was unloading boxes from it at the unit - wadda they think I'm going use then? So safely chained up at home again 😆]

[Marshall2810]

Just got back from having both front wheel bearings done on the arosa at Paul's in Retford. Whilst there I did a quick oil change and new air filter which was much needed. The new bearings have absolutely transformed the ride so should be alright for a bit now

[hairnet]

17 hours ago, richardmorris said:

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

me too and i know who he is

you know who john bly is?

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, hairnet said:

me too and i know who he is

you know who john bly is?

No, who?

[hairnet]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiques_Roadshow

 

[Rustybullethole]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

No, who?

bare knuckle boxer

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 11/05/2025 at 11:30, Split_Pin said:

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 😞

One day, maybe not tomorrow, but soon ......
Given that the 'kids' here are 34 & 36 this year we can get away with it
(Plus we always have some other AS-special vehicle lying around with more seats but, presently, the same number of doors)

 

[Snake Charmer]

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Real Dino? Just lovely.

Yes, last drove it 5 years ago and it was a joy to drive. Took the Fulvia out today for a road test, like that too. 

[Llessur]

Another enjoyable commute in the Vectra V6 this morning. Didn't think I'd keep hold of this one for very long but it's been five years now and I'm quite attached to the old girl. The number I see on the road has plummeted to virtually zero over the same time period so I feel somewhat obliged to keep this one alive.

[barefoot]

Bumhats FTP

Battery completely discharged, connecting a charger resulted in an alarming fizzing sound from beneath the bonnet. Auto aid recovery, after taxing it, to my local man with Porsche shaped spanners.

[junkyarddog]

Had the first outing to the hospital in the Berlingo today.

Went ok.

Can't say I'm fond of it though,but it's a necessity. 

[Lord Sterling]

13 hours ago, Llessur said:

Another enjoyable commute in the Vectra V6 this morning. Didn't think I'd keep hold of this one for very long but it's been five years now and I'm quite attached to the old girl. The number I see on the road has plummeted to virtually zero over the same time period so I feel somewhat obliged to keep this one alive.

Nice. I have a V6. Mine is the later 2.6 in a sport "SRi" trim:

Got anymore pics of yours?

In fact, did you post this up on another forum (retrorides maybe?) And post up about how you bought this off an older lady who looked after it and garaged it and you'd bought a set of new floor mats for it? 

I came across it whilst looking for a set of mats for mine which I eventually got:

[Lord Sterling]

Anyway, in news. Called the garage to get a price on a new condenser for the Jag, fitting and gas: £650 😮😠 

FFS, why does this shit need to be so difficult?

2 air-con equipped cars and not one works, and to get even just one working is a King's fucking ransom. Pathetic.

[captain_70s]

13 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

Anyway, in news. Called the garage to get a price on a new condenser for the Jag, fitting and gas: £650 😮😠 

FFS, why does this shit need to be so difficult?

2 air-con equipped cars and not one works, and to get even just one working is a King's fucking ransom. Pathetic.

A luxury item on a premium car is never going to be cheap...

[jonathan_dyane]

Les vacances

[Snake Charmer]

Italian day over, Anglo-American cars again.

[wuvvum]

58 minutes ago, jonathan_dyane said:

Les vacances

Normandy?

[jonathan_dyane]

10 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Normandy?

Indeed 😊 

[hairnet]

11 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Normandy?

its near dieppe

[Snake Charmer]

3 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Had the first outing to the hospital in the Berlingo today.

Went ok.

Can't say I'm fond of it though,but it's a necessity. 

Is that a Brotherwood wheelchair conversion?

[crad]

did a buy at the weekend- thanks @SmokinWaffle for facilitating the purchase of your fine vehicle- a fine chap all round.