The new news 24 thread

[IronStar]

6 hours ago, bramz7 said:

It doesn't have commuting on the insurance. 

Anyway, I went the cheap route this time and spent £475 on this MiTo.

An absolutely horrible drive back from Cambridgeshire yesterday, not because of the car but traffic and diversions. 

It's a 1.6 JTDM, which also means it has the M32 of doom gearbox. There isn't any movement or popping of gears but it is definitely whining above 20-30. Am I going to fix it? No. It's quite a horrible thing to drive tbh. Incredibly firm ride, unbelievably cheap inside and out, it's just pretty terrible overall and I say that as a dyed in the wool Italian car person. But the air con works and it did 69mpg average on the drive back...so it'll do for now. And it does handle pretty well. 

Alfa licker reporting in for duty!

I hate M32s with passion.

A fluid change and gearbox oil stabilizer tend to greatly extend the lifespan, even when it starts whining. It’s cheap and easy thing to do, so well worth the effort. 

[Ghosty]

206 failed its test. 

> fog light inop - loose bulb
> rear dampers f* - replaced them
> droplinks - one was loose after replacing a driveshaft and wishbone (ns CV boots were advised last year), the other doesn't seem to have anything wrong with it but it was listed as being 'loose' so both replaced.
> headlight aim - someone had managed to fit an H7 90 degrees off?!

No mention of rust, and having had a look  - there's a decent amount of life in it before that rear quarter gives up. It's pretty solid and treatable IMO. 

I'll chuck it in for a retest this week, then it'll be available for sale. 

£800 firm to a shiter.

[bramz7]

2 hours ago, IronStar said:

Alfa licker reporting in for duty!

I hate M32s with passion.

A fluid change and gearbox oil stabilizer tend to greatly extend the lifespan, even when it starts whining. It’s cheap and easy thing to do, so well worth the effort. 

Maybe, but it needs to earn any expenditure first. 

I stuck it in D (Dynamic) earlier and it makes it a right beast on boost. Not overly enjoyable though! But the silly little boost gauge is fairly amusing. 

[artdjones]

That stolen Silver Ghost has been recovered intact:-

https://archive.ph/WoTw5

 

[artdjones]

12 hours ago, richardmorris said:

I think the berlingo would have cost a tiny fraction per mile of the daytona.

It cost £8938 in 1973, around £98k now. But it's worth £500k. So it's made a good profit per mile. 

[Joey spud]

I've been fitting out my comfy area of my workshop and thoughts have turned to what speakers to rig up. I dug out a pair of mission jobbies that I used infrequently in the lounge of my last house only to find they really sound poorly.

Ah there's your problem. 

So I have now reverted to using (for now) a pair of 70's Solavox items that Google tells me were Comet own brand and a bit awful.

[grogee]

5 minutes ago, Joey spud said:

I've been fitting out my comfy area of my workshop and thoughts have turned to what speakers to rig up. I dug out a pair of mission jobbies that I used infrequently in the lounge of my last house only to find they really sound poorly.

Ah there's your problem. 

So I have now reverted to using (for now) a pair of 70's Solavox items that Google tells me were Comet own brand and a bit awful.

Not dissimilar to these JVC ones I'm using for my TV - catalogue specials I think, but they sound better than the shite in the TV itself. 

[Joey spud]

Is it really progress making speaker cones from degradable plastic ?

Although thinking about it they were 25+ years old.

[stuboy]

I'm off too look at this tommorow..

74k short mot.

.hopefully nothing too bad.

 

[Jazoli]

11 minutes ago, stuboy said:

I'm off too look at this tommorow..

74k short mot.

.hopefully nothing too bad.

 

Check for rust, and then check again, and once more to be sure, most are as rotten as a pear.

[J-T]

25 minutes ago, stuboy said:

I'm off too look at this tommorow..

74k short mot.

.hopefully nothing too bad.

 

We had one of these about 10/12 years ago now, the auto box and engine combo suit it. Because they stopped making the 3dr after this, the autos in particular are one of those strange anomalies that hold their value particularly strongly. Ours got written off and we got more for it than we paid 3 years earlier. People still ask £3-4k for them now.

Only issue ours ever had was a lambda sensor that sometimes put the EML on but was working well enough to pass the MOT. That and I ended up getting the alloys refurbed as they were badly corroded and kept losing air.

[vulgalour]

Today I put the first fresh bit of steel back in, so that's good.  Unfortunately to do that I've had to remove the whole rear axle assembly and the fuel tank, for access.  An MoT wouldn't have saved me on this one either, the rust is pretty old and this has definitely been an issue since at least the last MoT the car had, just totally hidden from view because the only way to see all of it was to dismantle the car.  I only became aware of it once the problem had crept into areas you could more easily see.  Being able to pull off the chunky axle support bracket with my hand was kind of scary since that's all that holds the driver's side of the axle to the car.

I've since gone rot hunting while everything is off and found a few other areas that weren't obvious and will all be addressed before the axle etc. goes back on.  I'll also be cleaning up and painting everything that's off while it's off, it'd be rude not to really.  Quite a big job this one, and not one I wanted to have.

 

If anyone knows how to successfully remove the pivot shafts from the suspension arms then please let me know.  I've never successfully managed to do it and the ones on my car are, like most Princesses, completely stuck.  I'd like them not to be so they can be properly greased and serviced.

[Burnside]

A few photos from Lichfield at Cars in the Park today.

If it doesn't pee it down tomorrow I might go back, as usually there more vehicles on display Sunday.

Got talking to the D reg 205 GTI owner. He told me the car was a recent purchase from Mathewsons and it will feature in the next series of Bangers & Cash. 

He also owns a MK1 Escort and a Montego DLX estate, which will appear as well! 

[D.E]

I am, again, impressed with the sophistication of a steam engine. This White is over 120 years old and it ran with just some soft, gentle puffing sounds and few visible vibrations. It's easy to drive too, apparently, compared with the average petrol cars of 1904...

At the same event:

[stuboy]

Well been too see the rav4... drivers door dent worse in real life.. and as advised underneath not the best see pics... I said thanks for your time..lol

[stuboy]

I'm now the owner the owner of this cr-v ... needs brake pads as bit travel in pedal but does stop.

 

Now time too bugger about removing my private of the galaxy too move it on..

[Sunny Jim]

Looks like we're in for good weather for next weekend's Northern Twixfest/Shitefest

 

[alcyonecorporation]

Saw the ZX being driven by its new owner in traffic near my house. Was surreal to see it fart past. 

[stuboy]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

I'm now the owner the owner of this cr-v ... needs brake pads as bit travel in pedal but does stop.

 

Now time too bugger about removing my private of the galaxy too move it on..

Not much of a collection but here we went..

 

1. Went and said nah to a rav4

2.ate breakfast , poo count 1..

3.went too the red line too see the FiL and his engines..drank a pint of Pepsi max.

4.drove too chatham too checkout the black honda.. transfer payment, cry, put £20 sorry no pez shot.

5. Time too start the swapping of insurance and tax it...

[Burnside]

Didn't go to Cars in the park today, as raining unfortunately. 

So instead have a pic of some American Iron that I spotted this week.

 

[richardmorris]

16 minutes ago, alcyonecorporation said:

Saw the ZX being driven by its new owner in traffic near my house. Was surreal to see it fart past. 

They’re really good cars, good diesel engine and mostly resistant to rust. 

[richardmorris]

15 minutes ago, stuboy said:

Not much of a collection but here we went..

 

1. Went and said nah to a rav4

2.ate breakfast , poo count 1..

3.went too the red line too see the FiL and his engines..drank a pint of Pepsi max.

4.drove too chatham too checkout the black honda.. transfer payment, cry, put £20 sorry no pez shot.

5. Time too start the swapping of insurance and tax it...

That’s one hell of a coffee grinder.

[Schaefft]

9 minutes ago, Burnside said:

Didn't go to Cars in the park today, as raining unfortunately. 

So instead have a pic of some American Iron that I spotted this week.

 

Spotted it's successor today:

 

[alcyonecorporation]

Went to see The Killers with a friend who was in town a few weeks ago. 

[vulgalour]

That Brightside place looks very inviting.

Thunderstorm stopped play today on the Princess.  I was ready to quit when it did though, so no harm there.  I've got the structural interior brace repaired so the sill and inner rear arch are reunited.  I've also got the MASSIVE repair patch tacked in place and spotwelded to the interior brace so structural rigidity has been reinstated.  The scary bit of the job is done now, everything else is just a case of lining bits up and glueing them on with the welder.  Nothing seems to have shifted at all, the doors both open and shut nicely still.  Hopefully it gets easier from here since the most complicated bit is out of the way now.

[comfortablynumb]

54 year old 504 wins rally, and then drives home again 😁

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/geordie-duo-win-rally-beijing-31948930

[Marshall2810]

Dad's got a new old integra thing which he says he can get in and out of. Looks clean enough so hes getting it serviced and a cambelt change done.

He hadn't decided if he'll move the big lexus on yet. 

[loserone]

That is delicious.

[alcyonecorporation]

17 hours ago, richardmorris said:

They’re really good cars, good diesel engine and mostly resistant to rust. 

Yeah, that one was hiding a lot of rot in the axle mounts that none of us caught. Sill turned out not to be an issue: that was heated up and whacked back into shape.  
The tax, alas, remains the tax. 

I've kept in touch over Facebook: he loves it to bits and is after a Volcane to sit alongside it. 

Having owned various examples of both, I still think of the hatches, the 306 is the better car. ZXs look deeply sad sack until at least Volcane spec, and their dorky rear benches don't split/fold flat, though I'll concede that the ZX's interior has more storage space (and has aged better) than the 306's. I used that car to carry a lot of shit and the back seat got on my tits, as clever as it was a piece of engineering. 

I'd probably have a ZX estate over a 306 estate for the ultimate XUD doom car, as you get the more practical dash/cabin with a 'correct' rear seat. 

That guff about them 'turning faster because of the deformable bushes' is also bunk:  the majority of 306s had them, too. ZXs are keener to turn in owing to the angle of their rear arms, set at 0mm as opposed to the (can't remember minus something) setting on 306s. 

[richardmorris]

11 minutes ago, alcyonecorporation said:

Yeah, that one was hiding a lot of rot in the axle mounts that none of us caught. Sill turned out not to be an issue: that was heated up and whacked back into shape.  
The tax, alas, remains the tax. 

I've kept in touch over Facebook: he loves it to bits and is after a Volcane to sit alongside it. 

Having owned various examples of both, I still think of the hatches, the 306 is the better car. ZXs look deeply sad sack until at least Volcane spec, and their dorky rear benches don't split/fold flat, though I'll concede that the ZX's interior has more storage space (and has aged better) than the 306's. I used that car to carry a lot of shit and the back seat got on my tits, as clever as it was a piece of engineering. 

I'd probably have a ZX estate over a 306 estate for the ultimate XUD doom car, as you get the more practical dash/cabin with a 'correct' rear seat. 

That guff about them 'turning faster because of the deformable bushes' is also bunk:  the majority of 306s had them, too. ZXs are keener to turn in owing to the angle of their rear arms, set at 0mm as opposed to the (can't remember minus something) setting on 306s. 

Weren't they marketed as having passive rear steering?