The new news 24 thread

[mrbenn]

Even better!

[Cavcraft]

Dashboard light roulette continues unabated. Today was the turn of the Vectra, luckily its only the brake pad warning one so probably a set of pads without the wire, or something daft. The brakes are spot on anyhow, so I'm not too arsed.

[RobT]

I'm now 160 quid lighter as the Rover needed a new handbrake cable and rear pads. There's me thinking it was the caliper that was seized, but no the cable has been getting progressively worse. My fault for not fixing it sooner. Took it to the garage as couldn't be arsed, as is the norm these days! Cavalier is still broken too so the R8 might be my carriage of choice for Shitefest unless I can fix it this weekend. The Cav will be the better mile muncher so I should just get on and SORT IT.

[outlaw118]

Just attempted to change the starter motor on The Shed.

 

I am now bleeding quite badly.

[Asimo]

 

Subaru: 3 front caliper rebuilds in last 4 years.

Honda: rear caliper seized, just found out.

Toyota: rear calipers rebuilt twice last year to get handbrake through mot. Handbrake useless again and mot due.

 

None of the other 20 or 30 cars I have had has ever had a caliper problem. Are Japanese brakes always this bad or has the god of brake problems just tracked me down?

[dollywobbler]

Well, Sirion has required some front caliper fettling - sliders and one piston. Maverick required all-round brake fettling. But that's hardly conclusive, as I've owned cars from other makes that have had problems too. What grease are you using for lubing pistons/sliders?

[r.welfare]

Two British assembled Japanese cars here, one 12 years old and owned for 4 years/70k miles, the other 14 years old and in the family for the last 11 years/170k miles; both have nearly 200k on the clock each and neither has needed a new caliper, front or rear.

 

Your three must all be Friday afternoon jobs

[Lacquer Peel]

VAG calipers are utter shit in my experience.

[trigger]

Ever since I've had the Civic the clutch as always been a bit high and the lever gets a bit stiff between gears once warm, I've spoke to a few people who seem to think it's the clutch rather than the adjustment so I spent yesterday hunting around for a clutch kit, eventually spending £40 on a recon kit plus an extra pressure plate as the recon one looked a bit iffy.

 

It seems that it was a waste of money as it was the adjustment, all I had to do was remove this C clip, move it up a notch and push the cable back in the bulkhead... All of which took 5 seconds.

 

 

Still at least i haven't got to drop the gearbox on Saturday now.

[Ratdat]

IMG_4865.JPG

 

Subaru: 3 front caliper rebuilds in last 4 years.

Honda: rear caliper seized, just found out.

Toyota: rear calipers rebuilt twice last year to get handbrake through mot. Handbrake useless again and mot due.

 

None of the other 20 or 30 cars I have had has ever had a caliper problem. Are Japanese brakes always this bad or has the god of brake problems just tracked me down?

 

 

It varies from model to model to be honest but I have found it to be more common on later models. Of the older stuff, I've only seen Datsun 1200's and Mk1 Civic front calipers seize up (they are the same).  N13 Sunny ZX rears are terrible for it... I think every ZX I owned suffered it. However I have rarely ever seen them seize much on other Datsuns and Nissans, especially old ones. I can't speak for other marques as although I've had a few, unlike Datsuns/Nissans, I don't consider myself to have sampled enough to accurately comment.

[Honey Badger]

The S2000 has just had a set of reconditioned calipers on the front at just over 43k, apparently they all do that which is why the local factors keep a set in stock.

 

The Accord coupe is on its original set of calipers at 122k as far as I know.

[Barry Cade]

Rear calipers in general are overkill and drums are quite sufficient this side of a Porsche. corroded discs are fairly normal on the rear as they do so little braking,pads seize in their carriers for the same reason and usually you need to have an exposed bit of handbrake cable on a rear caliper which lets in crud and moisture to help the demise of handbrake efficiency,which is never as good as a decent drum set up. Then you have the added hassle of wind back tools, in both left and right hand thread and in the case of newer VAG stuff,a laptop computer.

 

And yes, VAG win the prize again for being the worst of the worst,closely followed by Volvo's V/S40 and most newer Jap stuff.

[Ratdat]

When I used to do track days in my old Datsun 510, it only ever had upgraded front discs (slightly larger and vented ones from a 280ZX) despite having more than double stock power. The rear drums were plenty powerful, I just swapped the stock drums for aluminium finned jobbies from a 240Z for a bit of extra cooling and weight loss. The only issue I ever had was boiling fluid once (front) which was cured with DOT5. I think rear discs would have been overkill and probably less reliable in the long run.

[Asimo]

What grease are you using for lubing pistons/sliders?

I use a Corning silicone grease. Subaru front brakes have pistons that rust, as did the re-manufactured ones I bought. Big Redd rebuild with stainless pistons which must be a good thing. None of these failed calipers have had any evidence of grease underneath the piston dirt seal, maybe if I had done a bit of preventative maintenance.......

[saucedoctor]

(Sort of) further to the Forty Years of Pineappling thread, Jasmine's Goof is gone. Thank fuck. Replaced by a new Hyundai i30 1.4 "Active" in resale silver. Nice wee thing. ATCNBE!

[Bren]

The electric sunroof switch that i got hold of for my sd1 is fooked.

Arses.

I tried to substitute it with the rear wash wipe switch, but that is fooked.

Arses.

Also, the indicator switch i got hold needs some work - somebody has put scotchlok connectors on it( ALWAYS a bad sign ) and some of the wires have simply had their ends bared and twisted together.

 

Time to get the soldering gear out.

[wuvvum]

As you may have seen from the grin thread, the Rover 200 passed its MOT today - somewhat to my surprise.  I'd done all the obvious stuff that I could see, but there's only so much you can check without the proper gear.  I was expecting at least the odd bush, or imbalanced brake, especially as the thing has been stood for nearly two years, and I was sure it was going to fail on headlight aim, as one of the headlights was on the wonk and the adjuster was knackered.  When I turned up to pick the car up, the tester said "one of your headlight adjusters is knackered, but I've managed to sort it for now".  So he'd obviously seen that was the only thing the car was going to fail on and somehow managed to adjust it himself.  I like garages that do that kind of thing.

 

Less good news on the Spacy, alas.  After getting caught in a torrential downpour on the way to the testing station (in the next village as my local one doesn't do bikes), the tester couldn't find the chassis number, so I had to ride home in the aforesaid downpour, dig out the last MOT certificate (exp. September 1997!), and ride back.  The bloody thing then had the audacity to fail on play in a rear wheel bearing - which upon returning home and dismantling as necessary (frighteningly, not a single seized nut or bolt - not even the exhaust studs ), turned out to be play between the splines in the wheel hub and the corresponding splines on the axle. 

 

Which is an arse, as it means one of them (I suspect the wheel) is worn.  I'm going to try putting an extra washer on the axle (which will mean a trip to the hardware shop as I don't have any washers the right size) and cramming the nut down tight to see if that's enough to take out the play.  Failing that, plan B is to extricate the spares bike from the back of the van and see if that is any better in the wobbly wheel department.  Failing that, I have two possible plan Cs - one is to take the bike back to the garage, explain that it's not the bearing that has play but the wheel hub itself, that nothing is about to fall off or seize up and that "they all do that, Sir", and hope that the tester takes pity on me.  Alternatively I could bite the bullet and order a replacement wheel from 'Murica, where the bikes were a lot more popular than they were here.  That may have to be plan D if plan C(i) fails...

 

Tomorrow I'm up at the crack of sparrer again and off to sunny Buckinghamshire on a chod collection mission.  This is another vehicle I don't really need, but at least this time it's one I want - in fact it's on the bucket list as a car I've always wanted to have a go in - although objectively it's nothing too exciting.  More on that assuming it gets me home in one piece tomorrow.

[hairnet]

two on usa ebay one for 40 quid and 20 post one for 60 quid and 20 post

 

ron ayers dont list ch125 oddly

 

cmsnl say hello tho

 

http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-ch125-elite-125-usa_model1164/partslist/F++11.html#results

[Skizzer]

Collected the SD1 from Cardiff this morning, now with a spiffy as-new tailgate.  Great 45-mile drive home - love driving this car.

 

Next stop: Shitefest.

[wuvvum]

This is what I've bought.

 

 

It's a Mitsubishi Delica L400, in relatively rare format - most of these that I've seen for sale have been .  I picked it up from near High Wycombe this morning.  Seller was a good bloke and took me on a test drive through Dibley (well, Turville anyway) and past the hill with the windmill from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Pinewood Studios is just up the road.  He picked me up from Hillingdon in an S-Type R - proper impressive bit of kit, I want one.  Made the tailgating twat in the 320D look very silly indeed.

 

The Delica seems OK.  It's got a few issues, but nothing that'll stop it being used.  I've wanted to try one of these for a while, but they've either been completely fucked or stupid money - this is the first useable one I've come across that was sensibly priced.  It's MOT'd until early next year and taxed to the end of December, and it even had more or less a full tank of diesel in it.  I got the impression the seller was disappointed it hadn't made more, but that's the way eBay goes sometimes...

 

It's quite nice to drive - the fairly agricultural Shogun underpinnings become evident at times, and it's very low-geared for a big diesel especially in the lower gears, but it pulls OK and seems surprisingly unaffected by crosswinds for such a large vehicle.  No idea on fuel consumption yet - it used just under half a tank on the way back, but I have no idea how big the tank is (or how accurate the gauge) so no idea what that equates to in mpg.  I'm not expecting miracles though...

 

First priority is to treat it to a new pair of wiper blades, the rest of the stuff is minor - although I would quite like to get the sunroofs working again in case we get a summer...

[oman5]

Very capable. but expect it to be almost comically thirsty.

[dollywobbler]

Rare low-roof. Looks odd! My mate averages 23mpg in his. They are shockingly drinky drinky. I found it surprisingly delightful to drive though. As long as you aren't in a rush. That is an auto though. Look forward to seeing how thirsty a 'manuel' is.

[RobT]

Well done on the Rover of Doom MoT pass Dave. I recall you saying he was a picky sod when I bought the Sierra, and he certainly gave that plenty of advisories.

 

I've had one of those days when you seem to achieve F all. I was meant to get two tyres for the Rover to replace the ageing Dunlop SPs still on it, and then fix the Cavalier. Did neither. But I gave the Rover a quick wash so it's ready for getting covered in shit again on the drive to Shitefest, roll on next weekend!

[trigger]

I've had a fairly successful day, my mate Carl and Oldford of this 'ere forum came round this lunchtime to help me change the cambelt on the Civic, I say help me, I spent the time cleaning all the oily bits whilst they done all the work in payment of chocolate cake.

 

 

Right old result, It all seemed to go pretty painlessly, also chucked a new fanbelt on for good measure too.

 

We also had a play with the pin stripes again on the Cortina, as it seemed to divide so much opinion last time, what do we think of this idea?. I like it although i need to try and redo them as I'm not happy with cuts on the ends...

 

 

[HillmanImp]

Hey Trig, I think you have cracked it. That looks ace!!!1133!!

[Inspector Morose]

Surprisingly good there! Looks just right.

[scruff]

Agreed, top job!!

[Mr Lobster]

A big PHAT +1. I reckon that works pretty well.

[vulgalour]

They do look right where you've put them, even I'll concede that.

 

In the first shot of the Honda, for such a lovely clean little thing the chap on the right has managed to get in a right old mess.

[EssDeeWon]

Washed and polished the BM today in anticipation of having to sell it soon. Parking is becoming an issue where I live   But if I sell it I will replace it with some shite that I can just park anywhere and not worry about. Planning to put this on Autotrader this week trying to get £2.5k

 

330ci M Sport