The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

Fleet news:  Gave the Innocenti a check over in advance of its MOT in just over a week's time.  Haven't found any obvious fails, although the offside tail light dims a bit when the indicator comes on so that might need re-earthing.  There's a bit of a rattle from the offside front but that's been there for years, and I jacked the car up and took the wheel off for a look and couldn't see anything obvious, although one of the control arm bushes has seen better days.  The strange squeaking noise which was coming from the nearside rear wheel seems to have disappeared though, so that's good.

The other job was to refit the passenger side door card which I'd taken off a few weeks back to have a play with the window winder mechanism.  Except that it wasn't even close to lining up with its mounting holes.  Didn't take long to find the reason - the plywood on the back is warped to buggery.  It's been on the back seat of the car since I took it off, which is flat and bone dry, so it must have got damp while it was still on the door being held straight by its various clips and screws, then as soon as it was freed it went all skewwhiff.  So that's now on the kitchen floor with several car batteries sat on it in an attempt to flatten it back out again.

The Rover is going in to the garage next week to have a couple of part worns fitted to the front - I'd been debating what to do as the tyres are an odd size so decent quality new tyres are daft money, and I didn't think a pair of Landsails would be much of an improvement on what's on there now.  I eventually found a pair of decent part worn Uniroyal Rainexperts for a very reasonable price.  I've also bought it a new front undertray to replace the one I took off a couple of years ago to do the gearbox service and then somehow managed to lose...

The Volvo will be getting a new brake pipe and a new thermostat housing this weekend, weather permitting - hopefully that'll get it fully usable again.  The nearside front chassis leg is going to need attention soon though - it's getting quite tender in places and the gearbox crossmember bolts to it so I can't risk it getting too bad.  After lots of searching I found a place online that had replacement chassis leg sections in stock, so I ordered one - only for the order to be cancelled the next day and the item marked as "out of stock" on the website.  So that was annoying.  There's a chap on French eBay who has a full NOS chassis leg, but he wants 425€ for it which is rather excessive I think.  So still trying to come up with a plan for that one.

Another annoyance is that I haven't in fact figured out where water is getting into the R6 cabin, as it's still getting in.  So further investigation required there, but I'm rather running out of options, or at least options which don't require complete removal of the front wings.  For the moment I'm just sticking a windscreen cover on it when rain is forecast.

[stuboy]

4 hours ago, stuboy said:

As the barrels fubared i decided might aswell remove the whole lot and start looking for a replacement unit..

Any honda lickers know what is the actual part number out of whats on the unit>??

[Leyland Worldmaster]

P G Tips to have something in common with IVECO?

https://www.business-standard.com/industry/auto/tata-motors-iveco-acquisition-agnelli-group-deal-2025-jaguar-land-rover-125073000112_1.html

[Popsicle]

425k miles up in the couriering Caddy, I bought it with 125k on it, so I've done 300k miles in it, in just over 4 years.

What's that cost me then?

£41,703 of diesel = 27267 litres
£8,000 in insurance
£1,290 in VED
£13,066 in servicing, repairs, maintenance and vanity/making my life more comfortable stuff.

Next week it's being treated to a new turbo, front pads/discs, front/rear shocks and top mounts, so the £13k in maintenance will be £14k this time next week ☹️.

Let's hope I can put another 300k miles on it.

[SiC]

2 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Have you thought about getting a microlight licence?  It's cheaper than a "full" PPL and microlights have come a long way since the hangglider-with-a-chainsaw-engine days.  A lot of them are effectively "proper" planes, but with more modern mechanicals rather than the massive aircooled engines with carbs and magneto ignition that "full-size" light aircraft use.

Yeah I have done and seriously considered going the microlight route a few years ago. It's a good half the price per hour than a typical spam can trainer.

However a microlight licence restricts you a fair bit and can't build on to it. Like Instrument Rating, night flying, twin engine, etc. They're also all only two seaters. So stuff like a four seater Cessna or Piper is a no go on a microlight licence. There is also slight variations on the PPL that requires less hours but they have more restrictions. Also not necessarily recognised that well internationally and reading up it looks like the CAA may remove them in the near future in the path of simplification.

Where as a full PPL has far more growth paths if wanted to and still possible to convert down to a microlight as well if wanting to buy one. That said most microlights are similar cost to buy as a typical single engine piston. Albeit much cheaper to run.

I think I can afford to go full PPL so in my head it feels worth going the whole hog. 

[meshking]

Go for it, a couple of my colleagues have ppl - one had a part share in a stunt plane and would go down to south coast and loop the loop etc at the weekends. The other had a share in a twin prop and would go over to France for lunch or to his ski chalet for the weekend. Bar the cost, which you have accounted for, they never complained- so there are clearly more upsides than downsides. Those with sailing boats however…

[Tayne]

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

A convoy of four Chinooks has just gone over.  Fark me those things are loud.

 

Bizzarely, I also experienced a convoy of four Chinooks at lunch time today.

In Aberdeenshire.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, stuboy said:

Any honda lickers know what is the actual part number out of whats on the unit>??

It's over 40 years since I worked in parts for  Honda dealer. Numbers were like 12345-678-912, from vague memory

[24vdiamond]

1 hour ago, Popsicle said:

425k miles up in the couriering Caddy, I bought it with 125k on it, so I've done 300k miles in it, in just over 4 years.

What's that cost me then?

£41,703 of diesel = 27267 litres
£8,000 in insurance
£1,290 in VED
£13,066 in servicing, repairs, maintenance and vanity/making my life more comfortable stuff.

Next week it's being treated to a new turbo, front pads/discs, front/rear shocks and top mounts, so the £13k in maintenance will be £14k this time next week ☹️.

Let's hope I can put another 300k miles on it.

2k a year on insurance  and 3.5k a year to fix it?  Would you be better off with something new on a business lease deal? 

[alcyonecorporation]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Yeah I have done and seriously considered going the microlight route a few years ago. It's a good half the price per hour than a typical spam can trainer.

However a microlight licence restricts you a fair bit and can't build on to it. Like Instrument Rating, night flying, twin engine, etc. They're also all only two seaters. So stuff like a four seater Cessna or Piper is a no go on a microlight licence. There is also slight variations on the PPL that requires less hours but they have more restrictions. Also not necessarily recognised that well internationally and reading up it looks like the CAA may remove them in the near future in the path of simplification.

Where as a full PPL has far more growth paths if wanted to and still possible to convert down to a microlight as well if wanting to buy one. That said most microlights are similar cost to buy as a typical single engine piston. Albeit much cheaper to run.

I think I can afford to go full PPL so in my head it feels worth going the whole hog. 

When I bought my Jeep the same bloke offered me a single-seat plane he'd built for £1900. 

I think for everyone's sake me turning it down was a great decision. 

[Popsicle]

5 minutes ago, 24vdiamond said:

2k a year on insurance  and 3.5k a year to fix it?  Would you be better off with something new on a business lease deal? 

You'd think so but not really, I've rented and leased before, it works out far more expensive for 100k miles a year*. Also hire & reward, goods in transit, public & employee liability insurance is never cheap for a courier.

Small vans to rent for big miles are around £800 a month and you have to provide the insurance on top. I'm not aware of any leases for one off vans for anything much over 50k miles a year.

For something else I'm involved in, the best price we could get for 8 Luton curtainsiders with tail lifts was just over £2k each a month. 

* I had last year off work and 3 months off in 2022, hence 'only' doing 300k in 4 years.

[Metal Guru]

17 minutes ago, alcyonecorporation said:

When I bought my Jeep the same bloke offered me a single-seat plane he'd built for £1900. 

I think for everyone's sake me turning it down was a great decision. 

If Boeing can invest $30 bn in a new aircraft and get it wrong occasionally, I wouldn’t risk the odds in a plane made in someone’s shed for £1900.

[BorniteIdentity]

My neighbour was keen to get the palm tree in my garden under control.  I have asked my landlord twice now to just have it away (it's far, far too big for the garden and is causing untold damage to the patio but he doesn't give a shit so neither do I).  Rather than getting a man in to do it, my neighbour balanced very precariously on top of his Pergola and went at it!

68 branches down.  All of them transported to the Tip Recycling Centre by Sierra 'Jungle Edition'

[stuboy]

Ended up buying off amazon but 10 day wait...  many on Ebay but couldn't get definitive fitment..didn't want too risk 2nd hand parts as no idea how long it would last..

[richardmorris]

Thought the ac smelt a.bit like a vacuum cleaner bag on Tuesday so ordered a pollen filter - feb, i ebay £7 delivered. 

Watched a 60s YouTube video and just changed it. Obviously not been done as part of the main dealer service, ever. 

 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, stuboy said:

Ended up buying off amazon but 10 day wait...  many on Ebay but couldn't get definitive fitment..didn't want too risk 2nd hand parts as no idea how long it would last..

In all honesty, I'd trust secondhand OEM parts far further than whatever Chinesium they've dredged up from the lowest bidder on Amazon these days.  I just had to get a refund on several spools of wire which arrived sans any actual wire in them...

Went and did what I should have in the first place and ordered from Farnell.

[SiC]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

Thought the ac smelt a.bit like a vacuum cleaner bag on Tuesday so ordered a pollen filter - feb, i ebay £7 delivered. 

Watched a 60s YouTube video and just changed it. Obviously not been done as part of the main dealer service, ever. 

 

Usually a cost option extra at main dealer services.

[richardmorris]

17 minutes ago, SiC said:

Usually a cost option extra at main dealer services.

First time I’ve had a car that went to the dealer for servicing in my ownership !

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

Watched a 60s YouTube video and just changed it. 

I didn't think YouTube was around in the 60s.

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

I didn't think YouTube was around in the 60s.

60 seconds:-)

 

anyway, I lied. It’s 3 minutes

 

 

[junkyarddog]

 

[richardmorris]

 

[bunglebus]

Cushions!

https://vrumvrum.si/en/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwL4nptleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqylnWtMIAgEeD_aC8wMrY10RLQDeVXI5iJOn2jwCGUHsJH0OyJ1yEiC8B9nE85gCvtqUGuM_aem_Tvoxa7N0S3aedOg4Z_GLTQ

 

[richardmorris]

8 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Cushions!

https://vrumvrum.si/en/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwL4nptleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqylnWtMIAgEeD_aC8wMrY10RLQDeVXI5iJOn2jwCGUHsJH0OyJ1yEiC8B9nE85gCvtqUGuM_aem_Tvoxa7N0S3aedOg4Z_GLTQ

 

Renault 4, a Polski fiat, but no 2CV!

[stuboy]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

In all honesty, I'd trust secondhand OEM parts far further than whatever Chinesium they've dredged up from the lowest bidder on Amazon these days.  I just had to get a refund on several spools of wire which arrived sans any actual wire in them...

Went and did what I should have in the first place and ordered from Farnell.

i know what your saying... frightned that 2nd hand oem that will fail or chinesium that may, just may last longer............ i only want too drive it, the missus had it fortnight, parked it up and it broke, just bad luck due too wear... i can keep winding up the missus saying she broke it.........lol

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

Renault 4, a Polski fiat, but no 2CV!

Not arrived yet, it'll be a while...😃

[reb]

[Fat_Pirate]

13 minutes ago, reb said:

Excellent!  I bought one of these in 1985 with my hard-earned YTS money, so I could play Elite on my Spectrum without fighting for access to the household TV.  Has it needed repairs?

[reb]

2 minutes ago, Fat_Pirate said:

Excellent!  I bought one of these in 1985 with my hard-earned YTS money, so I could play Elite on my Spectrum without fighting for access to the household TV.  Has it needed repairs?

No repairs needed so far, it was struggling with vertical hold when I first started using it but fiddling with the settings on the RF modulator seems to have cleared that up completely.

I have a colour Harwood(?) on the way that I'll probably use in place of this in the living room, and build a second streaming box to use this one in my bedroom.

[wuvvum]

14 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Renault 4, a Polski fiat, but no 2CV!

With a 2CV-shaped cushion I'd be worried about getting a headlight up the bum.