The new news 24 thread

[Lord Sterling]

19 hours ago, IronStar said:

I’ll leave it here so we can play guess the car 🤣

1979 Stutz Bearcat.

[EyesWeldedShut]

"Take the win" is a saying (apparently).

Well, fuck my old boots. Today, for the first time ever, I have managed to get the track rod end, pinch bolts and turnbuckle off a car without breaking anything mechanical or human.
Basted the parts for an hour in a citric acid bath, a soupcon of wire brushing then glazed with a pinch of copper grease. 
Reassembly was (as Mr. Haynes does not put it) a piece of the proverbial. Now for the tracking, huzzah!

What's not the win? Two things:
(1)  Now I have to pay the return postage on the new parts assembly that I bought 'just in case' - I can live with that.
(2) I have to clean the Belfast sink before HRH T'missus gets back on Sunday  

[Rust Collector]

It’s time to finally deal with one of the proverbial cans that I’ve been kicking down the road for a long time now.

Thats all the old car batteries rounded up from my place. I suspect there are more at the farm, so I’ll stop by there tomorrow en route to weigh them in at the scrappy.

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, holbeck said:

New test achieved. 

Any idea what that ?flywheel is off?

[High Jetter]

2 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

It’s time to finally deal with one of the proverbial cans that I’ve been kicking down the road for a long time now.

Thats all the old car batteries rounded up from my place. I suspect there are more at the farm, so I’ll stop by there tomorrow en route to weigh them in at the scrappy.

If you're heading for Ripleys, they are on 30 day payout. Newhaven may be swifter

[Schaefft]

19 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

It’s time to finally deal with one of the proverbial cans that I’ve been kicking down the road for a long time now.

Thats all the old car batteries rounded up from my place. I suspect there are more at the farm, so I’ll stop by there tomorrow en route to weigh them in at the scrappy.

That's a decent chunk of money there!

[Schaefft]

I just finished reading CAR, a book about the development of the 3rd generation ('96) Ford Taurus. Even if you can't relate to the car or Fords in general it's an incredible book about corporate politics, the daily struggle in a huge company like Ford and the challenges of following up on a huge previous success (the first generation Taurus).

It's a pretty sobering book really. Hundreds if not thousands of people committed their life to the company and product, developing the best car they possibly could only to never be recognized for their achievements by either their superiors, colleagues, journalists or the public. It's as much about the personal experiences from concept to dealerships as it is about developing a car. It's a genuinely tough work environment.

Knowing that they actually built a high quality car that went beyond what the public wanted makes me want to own a Taurus now.

[High Jetter]

8 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

I just finished reading CAR, a book about the development of the 3rd generation ('96) Ford Taurus. Even if you can't relate to the car or Fords in general it's an incredible book about corporate politics, the daily struggle in a huge company like Ford and the challenges of following up on a huge previous success (the first generation Taurus).

It's a pretty sobering book really. Hundreds if not thousands of people committed their life to the company and product, developing the best car they possibly could only to never be recognized for their achievements by either their superiors, colleagues, journalists or the public. It's as much about the personal experiences from concept to dealerships as it is about developing a car. It's a genuinely tough work environment.

Knowing that they actually built a high quality car that went beyond what the public wanted makes me want to own a Taurus now.

Taurus or Taunus?

[Rust Collector]

38 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

If you're heading for Ripleys, they are on 30 day payout. Newhaven may be swifter

Thanks mate, I was indeed heading for EMR down in Newhaven, as they’re pretty easy to deal with in my past experiences.

22 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

That's a decent chunk of money there!

I think I missed the boat on the better prices, I understand they scrap for about 20-30p per kilo presently. I’ll be happy if I get about £50 or thereabouts as it’ll offset the brake shoes I bought recently for the trailer.

[Schaefft]

4 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Taurus or Taunus?

Taurus, the best selling car in America etc.

[Christine]

30 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Thanks mate, I was indeed heading for EMR down in Newhaven, as they’re pretty easy to deal with in my past experiences.

I think I missed the boat on the better prices, I understand they scrap for about 20-30p per kilo presently. I’ll be happy if I get about £50 or thereabouts as it’ll offset the brake shoes I bought recently for the trailer.

Between  4.50 - 6.50  a battery     a&a metals tunbridge wells , paid by bacs there and then .

[holbeck]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Any idea what that ?flywheel is off?

None,  looks like some sort of chain  sprocket to me. 

The garage is in rural Devon,  so agricultural equipment is in the remit of what they'll do 

[Rust Collector]

I found a few more batteries up at the farm this morning, two of them were massive Merc OEM ones which was handy:

Turns out I had 330 kilos of car batteries casually knocking about, as you do:

 

£92 back into the car parts fund is better than a kick in the bollocks, and hopefully I’ll trip over less now that all those batteries are gone.

[RayMK]

14 hours ago, Schaefft said:

I just finished reading CAR, a book about the development of the 3rd generation ('96) Ford Taurus. Even if you can't relate to the car or Fords in general it's an incredible book about corporate politics, the daily struggle in a huge company like Ford and the challenges of following up on a huge previous success (the first generation Taurus).

It's a pretty sobering book really. Hundreds if not thousands of people committed their life to the company and product, developing the best car they possibly could only to never be recognized for their achievements by either their superiors, colleagues, journalists or the public. It's as much about the personal experiences from concept to dealerships as it is about developing a car. It's a genuinely tough work environment.

Knowing that they actually built a high quality car that went beyond what the public wanted makes me want to own a Taurus now.

Was there any mention of the Taurus and the hire car market?  In the 90s and early 2000s I visited the USA frequently but never saw a Taurus or indeed any other Ford in the hire car parking lots.  I always had GM or Chrysler products or occasionally a Toyota (Camry). 

[Split_Pin]

I think my neighbour's daughter must be getting married. Outstanding choice of cars!

 

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, RayMK said:

Was there any mention of the Taurus and the hire car market?  In the 90s and early 2000s I visited the USA frequently but never saw a Taurus or indeed any other Ford in the hire car parking lots.  I always had GM or Chrysler products or occasionally a Toyota (Camry). 

Yes, naturally the goal was to remain America's top selling car so fleet sales (rentals) were one way to ensure this. Ford wanted to move away from that with the 3rd gen Taurus for more profitable retail sales. They don't go too much into detail on that side, the author concentrated more on individual buyers at the end of the book. Funnily enough the cheapened the 4th gen (same car) so much that it became THE rental car in the 2000s.

[Asimo]

5 hours ago, RayMK said:

Was there any mention of the Taurus and the hire car market?  In the 90s and early 2000s I visited the USA frequently but never saw a Taurus or indeed any other Ford in the hire car parking lots.  I always had GM or Chrysler products or occasionally a Toyota (Camry). 

I had a Taurus as a hire in El Paso Texas, 1999 ish. It made no impression at all, which is just what you want in a business hire.

[RayMK]

37 minutes ago, Asimo said:

I had a Taurus as a hire in El Paso Texas, 1999 ish. It made no impression at all, which is just what you want in a business hire.

True to a certain extent with me, but a Pontiac Sunbird (i.e. same GM platform as the Cavalier MK2) was completely gutless in the heat of New Mexico and an Oldsmobile Ciera up near Seattle was appallingly bad. It shuddered and fussed at the slightest imperfection on the road surface.  Chevy Luminas and Buicks generally satisfied the efficient, comfortable, good stereo but otherwise bland business transport remit.  Dodge impressed me with their Intrepid Mks 1 & 2, to the extent I usually asked for one if it was in the rental fleet.  They drove and handled beautifully as if they'd asked Europeans how to iron out the soggy characteristics of typical yank cars (although I still enjoyed and was amused by Buicks and a Cadillac).  I've never been in a Taurus.  The only American Ford I've travelled in was a Crown Victoria in the early 90s.  The rear seats were surprisingly cramped for such a large car with three of us at the back.  Maybe more to do with being bloated with rib eye steaks and Redhook ale 🤪. 

[Lacquer Peel]

41 minutes ago, RayMK said:

True to a certain extent with me, but a Pontiac Sunbird (i.e. same GM platform as the Cavalier MK2) was completely gutless in the heat of New Mexico and an Oldsmobile Ciera up near Seattle was appallingly bad. It shuddered and fussed at the slightest imperfection on the road surface.  Chevy Luminas and Buicks generally satisfied the efficient, comfortable, good stereo but otherwise bland business transport remit.  Dodge impressed me with their Intrepid Mks 1 & 2, to the extent I usually asked for one if it was in the rental fleet.  They drove and handled beautifully as if they'd asked Europeans how to iron out the soggy characteristics of typical yank cars (although I still enjoyed and was amused by Buicks and a Cadillac).  I've never been in a Taurus.  The only American Ford I've travelled in was a Crown Victoria in the early 90s.  The rear seats were surprisingly cramped for such a large car with three of us at the back.  Maybe more to do with being bloated with rib eye steaks and Redhook ale 🤪. 

The Intrepid is distantly related to the Eagle Premier which is related to the Renault 25, may have had an influence on the ride and handling of the Intrepid. 

[RayMK]

31 minutes ago, Lacquer Peel said:

The Intrepid is distantly related to the Eagle Premier which is related to the Renault 25, may have had an influence on the ride and handling of the Intrepid. 

Thanks for that info.  I was unaware of the relationship via Renault/AMC and Chrysler's acquisition of AMC which resulted in the Eagle brand.  It was an interesting read in Wiki.   

[Rustybullethole]

These tyres only have a few thousand miles on them!

Bugger.

Least its in the middle of the tread.

Two liquorice sticks later and back in the game.

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, RayMK said:

True to a certain extent with me, but a Pontiac Sunbird (i.e. same GM platform as the Cavalier MK2) was completely gutless in the heat of New Mexico and an Oldsmobile Ciera up near Seattle was appallingly bad. It shuddered and fussed at the slightest imperfection on the road surface.  Chevy Luminas and Buicks generally satisfied the efficient, comfortable, good stereo but otherwise bland business transport remit.  Dodge impressed me with their Intrepid Mks 1 & 2, to the extent I usually asked for one if it was in the rental fleet.  They drove and handled beautifully as if they'd asked Europeans how to iron out the soggy characteristics of typical yank cars (although I still enjoyed and was amused by Buicks and a Cadillac).  I've never been in a Taurus.  The only American Ford I've travelled in was a Crown Victoria in the early 90s.  The rear seats were surprisingly cramped for such a large car with three of us at the back.  Maybe more to do with being bloated with rib eye steaks and Redhook ale 🤪. 

Chrysler really tried hard to gain a foothold in Europe in the late 80s and early 90s (with some moderate success) so platform siblings to the Intrepid like the Eagle Vision Tsi (Chrysler Vision) and it's successor the 300m were all having optional handling packages to really appeal to say the German market. You probably wouldn't have these handling packages in a US rental version but fundamentally they tried to deliver solid cars.

In general Chrysler was on a roll in the 90s and turned out to be a real thorn in Ford's side during the development of the '96 Taurus (they always seemed to steal the marketing spotlight).

[comfortablynumb]

12 hours ago, RayMK said:

.  The only American Ford I've travelled in was a Crown Victoria

This one?? 🤣

(Sorry...)

[Hertz]

Clocked this going relatively cheap on ebay Friday night. Dashed across to Liverpool first thing Saturday and bought it. It's a brilliant thing in really good condition for a 20 year old van. 

[Asimo]

Returning from Manchester airport today, spotted an IKA Torino near Cannock! Never seen one before, amazing that there is one in England. What is it doing here?

[RayMK]

7 hours ago, comfortablynumb said:

This one?? 🤣

(Sorry...)

No.  I think the Seattle plod had Caprices and Crown Victorias at the time (1991).  The Ford I was in was owned by a US based colleague who was showing us the local area, also demonstrating how to do a u turn in one of the narrower city back streets by whacking the back end round using the gas pedal.  Fortunately the road was wet and quiet.  The senior colleague in the front passenger seat told him to quit that sort of stunt...or else.  

[catsinthewelder]

On 11/09/2025 at 23:38, IronStar said:

I’ll leave it here so we can play guess the car 🤣

Facelift mk1 Megane in that nice green with a diesel engine.

[sdkrc]

Spent several hours doing the brakes on my nissan Leaf only to see some suspicious crumbly bits around where I'd put the jack. 

This is before I went at it with a screwdriver.

Missing about 4ft of driver's side sill now. 

It's already out of MOT, I need to quickly decide whether to take out a big dirty loan and spend real money on a car or to learn to weld and buy all the equipment. What a pain in the hoop

[sdkrc]

Under some solid advice I've resolved to fix this to just barely 'MOT standard' so it can live another year

Couple of patches

Generous lashings of Tiger Seal

Rattle can of radiator paint

[stuboy]

nipped up the pub for a pint of pepsi max and look at jdm car meet... pics may follow.............