The new news 24 thread

[derskine]

Arrgh my eyes, i know i've got OCD but i'd have to wire brush and black paint the 18's calipers, disc non friction areas and the suspension/subframe, just hate seeing rust.

 

Then I would advise you not to buy an 18

I'm not fussed for how things that aren't seen look if I'm honest though.

[stuboy]

been to an all ford show.

[cms206]

OMG M8 WT RU DOIN ITS A RINGR INNIT?

[Richard]

I saw a similar scene years ago at my wife's neighbour's house- three Renault Trafic vans all wearing C905BSL, and they were all in use.

[sporty-shite]

Sold the Puma this morning to a nice guy who viewed yesterday. Full asking, too. Which was nice.

 

After sorting that, I had a bit of a tinker with the 306. One of the handbrake cables had snapped, so I bunged a new one on, had a fiddle with the heater, but got no joy, and found a bit of an annoying grinding noise where the dirtshield had come loose under the O/S rear arch and had started to catch the tyre. One self tapper later, job done.

 

See how I get on driving it to work tomorrow with full heat!

[andy18s]

Sold the Puma this morning to a nice guy who viewed yesterday. Full asking, too. Which was nice.

 

After sorting that, I had a bit of a tinker with the 306. One of the handbrake cables had snapped, so I bunged a new one on, had a fiddle with the heater, but got no joy, and found a bit of an annoying grinding noise where the dirtshield had come loose under the O/S rear arch and had started to catch the tyre. One self tapper later, job done.

 

See how I get on driving it to work tomorrow with full heat!

As i said,its probably the resistor pack which is under the wiper linkage cover i think

Or possibly the wiring plug for the control panel,which i'm told is just next to the clutch pedal !

I used to set it to demist the screen 1st thing,then switching it to the dash vents and cracking the pass window down a bit

[vulgalour]

That's the spare head for the beige car rebuilt and ready to fit so hopefully I won't end up spewing coolant everywhere.  Old head will come off and be put in storage so that it too can be rebuilt ready to be used again in the future should I need to.  Spare axle moved up to the garage so that can be fitted too but I didn't get any further swapping Princess radiators on the red car.  Still, it's steps in the right direction so that's something.

[wuvvum]

This weekend I have mostly been working on the Rover of Doom.  It's slowly coming back together after its long slumber.

 

The replacement offside headlight arrived yesterday (well actually it arrived on Wednesday, but I picked it up from the courier depot yesterday).  All the mounting lugs were intact, which was good, but the unit was full of condensation, which wasn't.  I took the bulbs out, switched on the storage heater in the hall and sat the light on it overnight - come morning it had dried out.  Fitting it wasn't too bad of a job, although getting the bolt that holds the bumper to the front wing undone was a bit of a faff.

 

I treated it to a new pair of front wiper blades, and I replaced a few bulbs which had gone.  I also refitted the "acoustic cover" for the engine, which has made it marginally less noisy.  An L-series is never going to be a refined engine.  Once it's properly back on the road I'll probably replace the cone air filter with an OEM airbox with a free-flow K&N panel filter, which should quieten down the induction noise a bit.

 

I then spent a happy hour or so swapping wheels around.  The car was on 175/65 14s all round, good on the front but very marginal on the back.  So I took the front wheels off and put them on the back, and then dug the two spare wheels from the old 420 out of the shed and fitted them to the front.  They have the advantage of slightly bigger 185/65 tyres, so once I get the old girl back up to full power it should be able to get a bit more traction off the line than it did before.

 

When I'd done that, as it was still a nice warm afternoon I thought I should take the bikes for a run.  I went out on the Cagiva first, but came back after a run round the block as it felt a bit strange to ride and didn't want to lean over into corners.  It felt like the front tyre might be low on air.  It turned out that the front tyre was fine, but the rear was at 8psi.   A quick session with the foot pump and it was ready to go again.  It really is quite amusingly rapid for a 125.  I went out on the Lead next, and then finally the Spacy - which felt impossibly sluggish after the other two, albeit much quieter and more refined.  The good news is that my tinkering last weekend has restored the rear brake to full health, so that's one less thing to worry about for the MOT.  Not so good is the fact that, with the headlight and brake light on, the indicators stop flashing.  Might need to invest in a new flasher relay.

 

This evening I had to go into Norwich, and being drive it day I thought I should take the LNA, as that's the oldest car I currently have on the road.  Saw a few old cars - Humber Sceptre, Alvis convertible, Morgan 4/4 and a few older Minis - but not a huge amount.  To be fair there would probably have been more variety on the roads earlier in the day, but as I'm a lazy fucker and didn't get up till 12 I didn't get to see it.

[Ghosty]

I saw a similar scene years ago at my wife's neighbour's house- three Land Rovers all wearing D701SWL, and they were all in use.

EFA

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Saw some dude towing a Mazda MX-5 on a dolly today behind his renner Trafic van. He was not afraid to get his foot down and was blasting along at 70-80 no probs. I burned him off but he soon came back. As he went past I heard a strange 'chuff-chuff-chuff' noise. Had a look and he had a flat rear tyre on his Mx-5, obv had no idea like. I got his attention and persuded him to pull over. when we had a look at his wheel, he didnt have a flat tyre, he had NO tyre!!!! Jyst 2 black shoelaces where the tyre beads were - the rest had been vapourised!!! 'HOLY SHIT!!!' he said, must admit I would have said the same.

[cort16]

The only thing I did today was a diagnostics on my 5 series as I'm getting such shit mpg. Common faults are them not running up to temp (no gauge so you can't tell) and 02 sensors . My odbii thing reported it was running at the perfect temp and the 02 sensors are operating correctly . I guess it's just shit in fuel then?

 

I think it'll be getting tidied up and moved on.

[HillmanImp]

Just taken the Audi for its MOT. Well I say that but what i actually mean is that i got it to the test station but its not getting its MOT. Starred running rough about 200m away and now wont start. RAC en route.

[barefoot]

Drove the van about a bit to make sure its working properly before I go on holiday in it.

At about 73 mph, I had no idea it would go that fast, it coughed, like hitting the rev limiter that it does not have.

I have replaced the coil and the capacitor.

WCPGW?

[EssDeeWon]

MOT day today, straight through no problems or advisories.

 

To be honest I was pretty confident because its serviced and maintained regardless, and always has been according to the Service History.

[trigger]

Honest opinions then, does the black coachline suit it?.

 

 

 

 

[fordperv]

I like that alot trigger

[Ratdat]

Honest opinion? No. To my eyes, putting a straight line down the side just doesn't work. It's completely at odds with every curve and feature on the body.  It particularly looks odd against the door handles where the rear one is miles higher. It is of the period but in my opinion, in this case, less is definitely more.

[Mr Livered]

in this case, less is definitely more.

Sorry to say Trig, I agree with that 100%. My vote would be for no stripe. Why have straight lines when you can lust over all the Cortina's gorgeous curves?

[trigger]

I have to agree with both your comments about the curves and the door handles, it's really dividing opinions as some people prefer it and some don't, I know it's my car and my choice but I can't decide!

 

Maybe i should leave it one side on and one side off!

[cort16]

I prefer it without. The stripe running across the handles looks too fussy.

[plasticvandan]

horrible,someones stuck a straw in the cokebottle! seriously it does look gash,i can see the thought process behind it (typical 70s extra) but it doesnt work

[Mr Livered]

I prefer it without. The stripe running across the handles looks too fussy.

Plus, to me, the stripes make the door handles look as though they're not positioned right. Without the stripe, the door handles are in exactly the right place, following the curves of the car and in the right position on the door. But the straight line creates a reference point for the eye to follow, and I can't help thinking that the rear door handles look too high up or something.

 

I don't know if I've explained that well, but basically the stripe seems to work against the elegant simplicity of the car's curvaceous design.

[gordonbennet]

Thats partly why i suggested a single black stripe, not so obvious, and i might be inclined to try and follow the coke bottle shape with the line for the hell of it.

[trigger]

Plus, to me, the stripes make the door handles look as though they're not positioned right.

 

I agree with that, I never noticed it before when it had the old stripe on but when i was fitting this one it stood out a mile off.

 

The 2000E had a side trim that ran the same as the coachline but I'd never noticed the handles again with that.

 

[cort16]

I know the mk4and5 is much squarer but they moved the stripes to that swage line in the middle of the door. Because it's a straight line in the panel it doesn't look fussy.

 

You could try that althought I'd sack off the bits on the wing and rear quarter.

 

[Sloth in a bowl]

The black stripe highlights the curves on the rear half of the car by giving them a point of reference to work against, which is quite nice. Personally I wouldn't but I get totally why others would.

[trigger]

They did come with stripes from new.

 

[barefoot]

Try a white curvy one on the other side!

[DeeJay]

I agree with that, I never noticed it before when it had the old stripe on but when i was fitting this one it stood out a mile off.

 

 

You won't be able to unsee it now.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Found this picture of a Cokebottle coach line and personally think it looks weird.

 

In my pretty much worthless opinion the black coach line clashes with the Rostyles,too much black,if it had standard chrome hubcaps it would look entirely different. Ironically,given the wheel style is older than the car,yours looks more modern and sporty so might suit a red or white pinstripe.