The new news 24 thread

[Bren]

Essex V6 in OMG GRENADE SHOCK.

 

A v8 is what you need - a nice 351.

[Junkman]

I had no idea Essexesses can break?

[Rocket88]

Fibre timing wheel gone south?

[Skoze]

Yeah, it's all chilling out in the sump at the moment I think. 

[Mr Livered]

You should see this as an opportunity to lose the dodgy old boat anchorhttp://www.americanmuscle.com/mustang-crate-engines.html

image.jpg

Only $6000 which is about £500 I think ,and that's if you only want 400bhp.

6000 US dollars? If so it's about seven times that.

[ruffgeezer]

Gah, I can't make my mind up, I don't think I want the C15 I used to own back, and the next nearest one available is in Hull, it's ok but the bonnet is fubar, the seller has got all defensive and "don't expect a rolls royce" about it, but there it is, he wants £550 no budging.

 

The trouble with that is that it's well into slightly shonky Berlingo territory, and they are capable but VERY VERY dull.

 

Or I could just do nowt, as usual. I've seen a 106 that I don't want or have use for for £300 that needs a new starter but has plenty of t&t, however I doubt it'd turn much of a profit at that.

[dave21478]

I have bought a new (to me) trailer. I can now get rid of my old one which was a little too small for my liking and I never had 100% confidence that it wasnt all about to fall to bits. Also, the way the ramps were stored allowed them to rattle horrendously - to the point where everyone walking nearby will turn and gawp as it sounds like an accident happening. There were also minor* irregularities with its paperwork which always made me pucker up whenever I passed the cozzers.

 

The new one seems nice, The lights are pretty crap, but I have some fancy LED clusters in the garage so that will take care of that.

Its twelve years old, but looks like its only had light use - its still got the original tyres. I will get the drums off it this weekend to see what state the shoes are in, but the brakes seem to work fine so Im not expecting a drama. (famous last words)

Got to head into town to register it, which is another €50-odd and then to insure it. I can add it to my pickups policy for about €80 but it will only be insured when towed by the pickup, so no use if I want to tow with the Landrover or loan the trailer to someone. Some internetting has turned up a horsey place that does stand-alone insurance for horse boxes and looks like it will cover normal trailers too. Its €55 for third party, or €150 for fully comp. Seems reasonable-ish.

[Mr Livered]

Don't French car insurance policies cover you for trailers you might be towing?

[spike60]

It never occurred to me that trailers have their own insurance, is it the same in the UK?

[dave21478]

Small trailers or caravans under 750kgs gross are covered by the cars normal policy but anything larger needs to have its own registration number and its own insurance.

Insurance here is strange - most people choose one company and stuck with them for life, usually arranged through a local agent. I do the British thing and shop around at each renewal for the cheapest price, and have three policies for three cars through three different companies. Everyone things Im full-on mental for doing this, despite the fact that I save a decent amount each year.

If I had done everything through the local agent, I could just add the trailer in and it would be covered for all my cars, but I dont want to do that  as they will then start incessantly badgering me to change all my insurance to their company....cars, house, life, cat etc. and I cant be arsed with that, and it would cost a fortune to do so.  But very few online companies do stand-alone insurance for trailers

Its only within the last few years that insurers have really caught on to online purchasing and a few comparison sites have popped up. - Typical France, always at least a decade behind everywhere else regarding I.T.

 

In UK, the cars policy automatically covers the trailer third party. I assume that could be upgraded to fully comp if you pay extra.

[Micrashed]

 

 

In UK, the cars policy automatically covers the trailer third party. I assume that could be upgraded to fully comp if you pay extra.

I dont think so.AFAIK no car policy will cover a trailer for anything other than third party damage.

 

As an ardent caravanner and beard grower the caravan is covered third party only whilst coupled to the towing vehicle. Once uncoupled it either isnt insured or has to have its own policy.

 

I have a policy for my caravan that covers the van for fire, theft and damage and third party damage if, say,  it makes a break for freedom on the motorway. The car policy only covers it when attached to the car ( the van policy doesnt cover it for third party damage if coupled though).

 

Its very complicated. I dont have a policy for my camping trailer.

[Micrashed]

In other news...

 

Great steaming hobgoblin turds. I said to the garage I would be off work this Wednesday (last Weds) to pick up the Mav - phoned them and they have taken off the side steps to make it easier to weld. Thats it.

 

Im not off work again until next Thursday now.

 

Flaps.

[trigger]

 

New rubbers have arrived for the Civic from tyreshopper.com. I can't knock their prices or quick delivery but the delivery driver was shit, I heard a bang on the door came down stairs and they had been left in my open porch in full view of everyone and I hadn't signed for them.

 

I had to ring the company up to complain as like I said to them, if someone had knicked them it would have been my word against there's as they hadn't been signed for. To be fair the sales lady didn't sound impressed and I get the impression I'm not the first to moan about that either, she said she'd pass it on to the MD to investigate. We'll see.

[trigger]

In other news, now the Acclaims wheel bearing has been fixed I've took it back for its MOT retest and yay!

 

 

Not bad for a 30 year old British Leyland car that's used everyday.

[dugong]

Today I collect a right old piece of rammle from an address in Cambs. It is like what I owned before. Similar, but different. 

[vulgalour]

What is this?  I don't even...

[derskine]

That knob has wood!

[barefoot]

That knob looks like a loaf.

[Richard]

Is it a Peugeot 505?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

It's either a Porsche 917 or a Carrera GT, based on the plywood gear knob.

[Angrydicky]

The low fuel level warning light no longer works in the Maestro. Also, it runs out when the needle is pointing exactly at 'E', and not below. I found this out when I hopped in the car this afternoon, moved out of the space and it cut out. Thank goodness it did it at home and not the night before, I must have got back home on fumes. Anyway, a couple of gallons in the tank and I was on my way again. Still need to sort out a new throttle cable for it as it keeps sticking though. Apart from that, no problems in the last 700 miles, including a jaunt up to the BMC and Leyland show in the midlands where I saw Dollywobbler in his Maestro van. 

[Tayne]

2014-07-09 13.01.48.jpg

 

if someone had knicked them it would have been my word against there's as they hadn't been signed for. 

 

No POD, no tyres.

 

Besides, if they had been nicked, you wouldn't have known. You'd just be on the phone complaining about how long they were taking to deliver your tyres.

[michael t]

 

 

I was looking for a job and then I found a job, and heaven knows I'm miserable now....

 

 

It's in a local fish factory (10 min walk away) sorting those bloody razor clams, mind numb-ingly repetitive and a killer on the legs (8.5 hours standing with an hour break in-between) but beggars can't be choosers and at least it gives me something to do until September when I'm back in college, not to mention a few quid which will go towards buying shite when I get my full license hopefully in the next few months... overall, I'm actually pretty happy 

[twosmoke300]

Trig , get those tyres out of the clingfilm and wedge some folded cardboard between the beads. They will be a right twat to blow up otherwise.

[Inspector Morose]

Well, the BX went up on the sleepers yesterday for a poke around and to start sorting one or two jobs. Firstly I was pleasantly surprised at how rot free (plenty of rust but no real holy rot) it was under there! A few bits need attention sooner or later to stop them in their tracks but even the rear of the sills are still solid! Wow!

 

Whilst under there, I applied more bodega onto the blowing exhaust joint to abate loud farting noises until I get round to doing it properly. Woo-hoo! Nearly new exhaust! Also a horrid rattle turned out to be a mounting tag hitting the body so sawage was applied and all is a bit quieter now.

 

Right, rear brake disks. Yes, well, erm, ah. To get them off, the calliper has to come off. They are held on, from what I can see, by two long bolts passing through the callipers themselves into,threads on the suspension arms. Bolt heads move but the threads didn't. As I didn't feel like stranding myself in the barn, that job was put off for when I bring my taps and dies along with a number of very long bolts. I know they'll snap, why tempt fate?

 

Over to the front disks then. Offside was changed without much drama but on taking off the wheel on the near side, I was met with a wheelarch full of LHM. Mild panic set in as I couldn't find the source of the leak. This was until sanity prevailed and I traced the wetness up to the highest point when upon I found a hole. A drain hole. From the bit under the bonnet where folks keep spare bottles of LHM in. Where the spare bottle of LHM was in with a loose top. Panic over. Disk changed and FPB sighs a phew of relief.

 

There is another proper LHM leak though. This was traced to the accumulator sphere at the front of the engine. It could be the seal but I might just change the sphere anyway as it's ticks are fairly frequent.

 

Other leaks I could see at the front were gearbox driveshaft output seal (meh), rocker cover gasket (meh, meh) and sump. It needs a goo steam clean before I can start to work my way through those, although a 1.9 out of another BX is up on 't bay and looks fairly dry. I might just heave it all out and replace with that. The rest of the car is good enough so I might but I'm lazy so I might not.

 

Whilst at the front I checked over the fuel pump. The cold running stat doesn't work and is set up wrong and it wasn't getting full throttle. A quick twiddle of the spanners here and the car picks up like it should (still glacial but it's all relative) the pumps nicely advanced timing wise and still doesn't smoke so a little more fuel might be in order when I get serious with the pump settings.

 

There is a fuel leak around the centre of the car which might be the steel feed pipe rotting, the rubber pipe from the tank or a combination of both. I'll probably probably replace all the way with plastic soon enough and so will cure that and the letting in of air too.

 

Turning inside, I like the pov spec light grey interior but it's not wearing too well. It's full of cracks, tears, gouges and is pretty filthy from years of use. I don't know what to do with it. If another interior came available I think it might have to be put into store as, with my use, it will get no better and probably much worse quickly. For the time being I'll put up with it and monitor with the occasional half hearted attempt at cleaning.

 

All in all, still chuffed to bits with it. It's all the car I've ever wanted, gets me from A to B cheaply and is wonderfully unpretentious whilst doing it. Might be a keeper, this one. Then again ask me next week. Or tomorrow.

 

That is all.

[trigger]

Cheers for the advice, I never thought of that. Trouble is I'm at work now until tomorrow... I actually went round a few garages this afternoon looking for someone to fit them, Nationals wouldn't touch them, most of the other big chains wanted nearly £60 even though their bays were empty and the mechanics were all standing around with their heads up their arses although ATS said they would to it tomorrow for £30 all in.

 

Whilst at the mot station I noticed they done tyres, I asked how much they changed and they said £5 a wheel, BARG, so I'll be getting them to fit them tomorrow.

[Richard]

 

Right, rear brake disks. Yes, well, erm, ah. To get them off, the calliper has to come off. They are held on, from what I can see, by two long bolts passing through the callipers themselves into,threads on the suspension arms. Bolt heads move but the threads didn't. As I didn't feel like stranding myself in the barn, that job was put off for when I bring my taps and dies along with a number of very long bolts. I know they'll snap, why tempt fate?

 

The bolts will snap for sure. You would be as well to order up a new set from Citroen, if it's the same as the Xantia they are M9 so not the kind of thing you'll have lying around. The reason they are so hard to undo is because corrosion grows between the caliper and hub and puts a bend in the bolts. You might even be better to grind the heads off the bolts and undo then with vice grips, they tend not to be too bad once the tension is off.

[cort16]

Best going to one of the part worn places they don't give a monkeys.

[Inspector Morose]

Yup, thought so. I could feel them twisting. M9 eh? They looked a lot like bloody long M10s but thanks for the heads up!

[Richard]

When I did the Xantia one came out, one snapped with a few mm showing, one snapped flush and one snapped sub-flush. The day before I was due to take it on holiday. I'm guessing with M9, they were bigger than 8 but smaller than 10, I've a feeling it's a finer thread than you would normally see. I'm sure a BX person will be able to clarify.