The new news 24 thread

[Pete-M]

So are you going to take the engine out of the Focus and put it in the mk2?

I'll probably get the mk2 as it should be and then flog it on. It'll make a quite nice one with a lot of cosmetic work.

[daveb47]

Had a look round a couple of bootsales this morning.

Got myself a nice JVC kd-bt22 car stereo with iphone control,bluetooth/usb/mp3. complete with cage/instructions/remote etc for £20

Not too garish so wont look too out of place in volvo.

 

 

Also new set of trainers for £15

 

An a May 2014 classic van mag for 50p.

[ProgRocker]

Been to look at a Corolla T-Sport with Old Man. The one we were looking at had a couple things that put us off (4 different tyres!), but we're both sold on them and definitely want one now. 

 

Just before I bought my Almera I did look at an 05 reg 1.6 VVTi Sport (?) on the local Toyota dealer's forecourt. Wish I'd bought the more expensive Corolla tbh.

[vulgalour]

I seem to have started a personal possessions purge.  At this rate it won't take long to get rid of everything.

 

Is there any interest in the beige Princess?  I don't know how serious I am about this just yet but I reckon at the moment if someone waved enough money at me I could be tempted though it would undoubtedly make me very sad.

[gordonbennet]

Just changed the 6 spark plugs on the Outback, the worst ever plugs i've had to change and there's been a few hundred, on each side the chassis narrows towards the rear of the engine, so i had about 1.5" of room to play with to remove each coil pack and its connector, and then used all sorts of combinations of sockets and short extensions to remove the rear plugs, which fought me all the way,  ended up using me seldom needed ratchet ring spanners in the extension cos i just ran out of available combinations when the deep thread was 1/2 way out.

 

3 hours for 6 bloody plugs, was gunna drain the gearbox oil but i'm knackered...''tomorrow is a nother day''

 

Got the rear subframe and suspension arms painted too though.

[dollywobbler]

Think I'm going to have to take the Sirion off the road at the end of the month as I can't afford to tax it. Freelance income sucks! Hopefully the tide will turn again (as it usually does) before the MOT is up, as a fair chunk of welding is needed. Unless I add some plastic to the plastic sill trims to hide it... (only viewable where the sill covers screw on).

[trigger]

Apparent issues discovered? Other than the nice fresh oil leaks and the mega short ratio did I didn't know about -4000+ rpm @ 70 mph it held up well.

 

Same as my Cortina then, it gets a bit tiresome after a while and on mine with the K&N fitted the fuel gauge goes down as quick as i fill it up.

[HMC]

Looking forward the the mk2 pics. 1000 miles in 24 hours with that gearing is some doing!

[Alexg]

Really have the horn for an early R5 and I've got all creamed up over this little honey. It's really close to the tunnel and sounds mechanically sorted. I first saw it about 2 months ago, but now it's affordable and I'd pay the asking price if it's in sensible nick. Annoyingly though the seller has ignored my two email messages... bugger! They are written in finest google translate as I don't speak the lingo but I kept it simple and followed up in English (The Spitfire in one of the pics suggests a Brit connection anyway). Might crack email number 3 out tomorrow and repeat until they submit.

 

http://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/632766791.htm?ca=17_s

 

Blimey, things have changed somewhat. Bollox kindly offered to contact the seller and, as there was no phone number, boshed over an email asking for contact details. A couple of days later he forward the number on to me with bonus news - the guy is English!!! Anyway to cut a long story short, he sounds a top bloke over the phone and is readying the car for collection this week, he's even putting me on his insurance! My Dad's driving me down there and following me back with a stop over for some booze on Wednesday.... wish me luck!

[dollywobbler]

Brilliant! Is it an 845 or 956? The former is a little short of legs. They're rather tinny, bonny things to ride around in though. Look forward to more details! Good luck.

[Ghosty]

Just before I bought my Almera I did look at an 05 reg 1.6 VVTi Sport (?) on the local Toyota dealer's forecourt. Wish I'd bought the more expensive Corolla tbh.

1.6 will be a T-Spirit - 109bhp or something.The T-Sport has a 190bhp 1.8 that it shares with the Lotus Elise.

 

Can understand why - the Toyota is a bit more of a quality car.

[Pete-M]

Wow thats brilliant Pete M!!!! Nice work. Any photos?

[Alexg]

Brilliant! Is it an 845 or 956? The former is a little short of legs. They're rather tinny, bonny things to ride around in though. Look forward to more details! Good luck.

 

Call me Mr Silly Bollocks but I forgot to ask! It was on my initial list of questions but got overlooked and since forgotten some how. It's almost not that important though...

[retrogeezer]

awesome Pete, I wasn't sure if we would ever see that over here. Hope to see it in the metal some time.

[Pete-M]

To be perfectly honest I nearly walked away from it earlier this week.

 

5 years of stress and shit just to get to this point.

[Pete-M]

Same as my Cortina then, it gets a bit tiresome after a while and on mine with the K&N fitted the fuel gauge goes down as quick as i fill it up.

The Escort used about €175 in fuel to get from the Czech / German / Polish border to Liverpool. I thought that was pretty good as €100 of that was German fuel - which is damn expensive on the autobahn.

[messerschmitt owner]

So two fill ups and three bilkings then. It's the scouse way.

[phil_lihp]

Took advantage of the sunny weather today to give the 220 a good cut and wax session followed by a thorough going over with the hoover.  I don't think it's ever looked so clean in my ownership, certainly not inside, and I've also tested out my theory that with the back seats folded down it's perfectly good enough to use as a bed for Shitefest, which it was.  My neighbours have long since given up asking questions.

 

Between that, some linseed oil on the bumpers, the recent spray paint adventures and an almost-matching Rover wheel trim I found at the side of the road (classy, me) it's looking quite smart now...from a distance.

[trigger]

Today i done the Ipswich to Felixstowe car run which is basically over 500 cars, bikes, buses and lorries driving in a convoy to the seaside, even though it's only about 10 miles it takes about 2 hours due to the amount of traffic, It's not easy on the cars as it's all stop/start and loads of them breakdown, luckily both of mine made it with too much bother expect for the Cortina which has a leaking rear main seal that drips on the clutch making it judder, not fun, I really must sort that out.

 

I only took a few photos as I was talking most of the day but here's what i did take.

 

This Datsun was very tidy, Looked good next to the Civic!

 

 

I just caught this Starion, that was minty too!

 

 

Nice pre-facelift Granny 2.3 GL.

 

 

What a cutie!

 

 

 

This Granada is like new, even down to the dealer plates. I remember it going through the auctions in 1994, it hasn't changed a bit.

 

 

 

In 1994.

 

 

Original looking 2.0 Ghia.

 

 

One for Breadvan, again this looked fantastic, 87000 miles with old Chequered Flag garage dealer stickers all over it.

 

 

 

 

What's your Fulvia.

 

 

 

 

 

This 2000E is better than new, it's perfect, even the underside is stunning.

 

 

Spottedlaurel formerly of this parish was exercising his lovely Laurels legs.

 

 

UGLY.

 

 

My two of course.

 

 

 

Then i got cut up by some wild hogs on the way home.

 

 

Sadly on the way home I saw this stunning Buick Eight on the side of the A14 in the grave trap with what looked like a missing N/S wheel and front wing with other cars pulled over to help in the slow lane, I hope the occupants were ok.

 

[coalnotdole]

Friday evening Dave and I took the gearbox out the scimitar... (It was stuck in gear again

Saturday Morning the old gearbox was mated to the new overdrive,

Saturday Afternoon Gearbox goes back in,

Saturday Evening Axle comes off,

Sunday Morning New Limited slip diff axle gets fitted with cylinders, adjusters and shoes as well as an oil change.

Sunday Afternoon axle goes back on, Scimitar now works again

Sunday Evening Crossflow Rebel is brought out of the lockup fiberglass repair begins....!

 

I'm presently waiting to use the shower!

[Alexg]

FARK ME TRIG - look at some of those motors! The GS, the Lancia's, that Grandad Coupe... What an amazing turn out!

[320touring]

Had to bell off the oldboy today- Apparently his brakes on the e60 520i could do with replacing.t

old him to buy the parts and did the work today.

 

3mm lip on both sides of the discs

 

Inner pad at 0.5mm, outer pad at 1mm

 

about due then!

 

Much better now- shiny new Pagids fitted:-)

[MrDuke]

Is there any interest in the beige Princess?  I don't know how serious I am about this just yet but I reckon at the moment if someone waved enough money at me I could be tempted though it would undoubtedly make me very sad.

 

 

No. Nononononono. No, no, NO!!

 

It's one thing jettisoning the things which are taking up unnecessary time and/or money, but the Beige One is basically a part of you, and even thinking about getting rid of it is sacriledge. (EDIT: sacrilege, more likely. Either way, it's just WRONG)

[wuvvum]

Brilliant! Is it an 845 or 956? The former is a little short of legs. They're rather tinny, bonny things to ride around in though. Look forward to more details! Good luck.

I would imagine a TL would be a 956, wouldn't it?  Lovely looking little thing.  Would have been even better (imho) with the dash-mounted gear lever, but still definitely would.

[wuvvum]

I had my first ever encounter with a split CV boot today.  What a fucking fiddly PITA.  It's fine when you're practising fitting it together on the kitchen table, but when it's stretched round a greasy driveshaft with suspension bits and brake lines in the way it's a completely different story.  How the fuck you're supposed to prevent the thing from getting greasy while you glue it together I have no idea.  It's on there now, but I have no idea how long it's going to last - as long as it gets through the test though I'm not too bothered.  When I have more time I'll run it up to my usual garage and ask them to fit some stretchy boots - unfortunately getting the hub off is going to be beyond the capabilities of my modest tool kit as someone has hammered the locking tang on the hub nut until it's completely flush with the keyway in the driveshaft.  And then it's gone rusty.  So my chances of getting it undone are pretty much zilch - unless I take the angle grinder to it, but I'm a complete liability with power tools so would probably end up grinding halfway through the driveshaft.

 

As it was a nice day I took the Cagiva on its first proper ride since I bought it - 25 mile round trip.  It was actually quite enjoyable to ride that distance - more comfy than I was expecting, handled nicely (although it did get a bit jittery on very bumpy corners) and buzzed along happily at the legal limit.  Apart from having to keep it a gear lower than I normally would have liked in order to avoid the highly-strung two-stroke bogging down, it was actually a lot less frantic than I thought it'd be.  It overtakes bloody well for such a small bike too - as I found out when I got stuck behind a line of traffic which in turn was stuck behind this doddering old coot who trundles around in a fucking great Seddon Atkinson cattle truck.  He must be 80 if he's a day, and I don't think the truck (one of the last Atkinsons - basically a rebadged Iveco from what I can see) has ever gone over 35 mph.  Anyway, now I've got the confidence that the bike will get me where I need to go, I might try taking it in to work one day when the weather is good.  I think it might be a bit of a pain to ride in traffic, what with the peaky power delivery and shite steering lock, but it'll be a lot better bet on the A-road bits of my commute than the scooter.

[Richard]

split CV boot

 

I tried using one of those once. I had as much fun fitting it as you did but the biggest problem for me was that it was too short so it popped off on the first corner, are they making them a bit longer now?

[twosmoke300]

They are just pants .

[Lacquer Peel]

 

Still a PITA but less of a PITA.

[Junkman]

STUNNING.

 

IMG_9555.JPG

 

 

Here, I fixed it for you.

[outlaw118]

Decided that yesterday would be a good day to tackle Baby's last mechanical woe before the MoT and tax expenditure (hopefully by end of the month). The starter motor is sticking, and despite a few persuasive taps from the heavy spanner, it's b0rked.

All was going to plan, jacked the passenger side up, i'm too fat to get underneath without it, took out the two bottom bolts, then lowered her down to disconnect the electricity bit, and the other two bolts. Being a massive OAF i dropped the washer off the power lead, and had to scramble about on the garage floor to find it. Which I did, but upon standing up again, I discovered that the 100-1 chance of placing the ratchet directly across the battery terminals had occurred, causing my earth lead to be on fire. I grabbed the ratchet - very hot - then disconnected the positive lead on the battery - very fucking hot - and smothered the smoking wires with a damp towel. Smelly.

I now have nasty blisters on my thumbs and pointy fingers on both hands, and a small one on my fingering finger on my right. All because i was too stupid to disconnect the battery properly.

 

I blame the cat, he distracted me. Furry bastard.