The new news 24 thread

[phil_lihp]

I meet a lady today but I don't think we can ever be friends. She looked really rough, made a lot of noise and was incontinent. Fortunately she has found someone who's helping her deal with her health issues and doesn't mind her rough, scabby complexion.

[trigger]

You've met the mother in law then.

[RobT]

I meet a lady today but I don't think we can ever be friends. She looked really rough, made a lot of noise and was incontinent. Fortunately she has found someone who's helping her deal with her health issues and doesn't mind her rough, scabby complexion.

Spill the beans Phil, what have you bought?

[catsinthewelder]

Have you been at t'other Phil's house again?

[xtriple]

Re the Renault random overheating, could it be the thermostat? I've had cars with sticky buggars that have done exactly what you describe, just a thought.

[nigel bickle]

Brave Wuz. Just brave.

 

I'll be watching with interest..

[Ratdat]

Presumably if the liners drop it's game over for the engine?  Doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would be easily fixable...  The fact that it seems to be getting hot randomly (it did it again earlier today) and then cooling down of its own accord, plus the fact that both the oil and the coolant look fairly clean, leads me to hope that my head gaskets are OK.

 

I plugged my code reader into the car earlier, but it didn't pick up any faults - which suggests to me that whatever sensor it is that is playing up, it's not in the engine.  The car's still running fine aside from that though (touch wood), apart from a slightly unpredictable gear shift - but then that seems to be a characteristic of this gearbox.  On the plus side, the built-in sat nav still works (albeit with a 10-year-old set of maps).  I might run it into my usual garage in the week and see what they reckon to it all.  Just looking at the service book and it reckons the timing belt isn't due until 120K - which sounds a bit optimistic to me.  Although I'm sure it's a complete arsehole of a job to do, so I might leave it (the car's only done 74K).

 

 

Yeah the liner thing means fubar'd engine. Your's it two years newer than the one I had so hopefully they maybe cured the problem by then. I doubt the overheating you're seeing is anything related to that problem though. More likely a stat.

 

The gearshift on mine seemed really well sorted and very smooth from what I remember. It was slow to kick down though.

 

Don't trust the Carminat satnav! It looks nice but was by far the most useless satnav I have ever used. If you like to go by long, unpredicatable scenic routes or down narrow gravel tracks into one ways or pedestrian areas then Carminat is just the job.

 

Has yours got the super awesome stereo in it? 

[phil_lihp]

Spill the beans Phil, what have you bought?

 

Nothing, fortunately. 

 

Have you been at t'other Phil's house again?

 

Correct, not sure I was much help beyond consuming food and tea but a day that contained both an Avantime and a really shabby Princess was interesting.  

[dollywobbler]

I must admit, even reading about someone else's Vel Satis ownership experience is making me feel uncomfortable! I haven't heard much good about them, though I regularly see one in town that still appears to work. Mind you, I'm always prejudiced against the Vel Satis as it was part of Renault's successful attempt to kill off Matra. 

[saucedoctor]

I now own an iPad. Given to me by a friend. When I regained consciousness, I've discovered that it's actually quite good with the EOBD WiFi dongle. Less capable than the laptop software, but quicker and a bit more portable.

 

I'll be lying down again, if anyone's looking for me.

[Jimcit]

Had to work Saturday, SAAB decided to blow a water hose en-route, luckily it was fixed by the local mechanic using the good half of an exploded hose off a 200,000 mile Golf, which enabled me to get home late, but at least I got there.

 

Sunday I got up early to quickly* pop the exhaust onto the SAAB and drive to the CCC rally in Stratford Upon Avon.  It took me a lot longer than expected, so I didn't make it to the show.  I have never made it to any of the CCC rallies at Stratford, despite them being around 25 minutes up the road from me and full of vehicles that make me think rude thoughts.  This was backed up by some lovely photos posted by Dollywobbler on Twitter.

 

I did get to see some lovely Citroens driving round the area though, which does make up for it slightly.

 

However, I did manage to install the exhaust with a few spanners and a trolley jack without the need for assistance.  This is an incredibly rare and dazzling display of what could be described as 'mild competence' on my part.  Two of the cotton reel exhaust hangars weren't long enough, so I've had to do a bit of a lash up with the ones off the old exhaust, however it's not great and is transferring resonance to the cabin.  I need some bigger rubber spacers of somesuch.

 

SAAB does keep occasionally cutting out as I approach junctions, having the choke slightly on seems to prevent it, so I assume it's idling a little slowly.  I've also got some carb cleaner - just need to access the carb as it's hidden under an airbox the size of the moon.

 

Also purchased an electronic ignition, which I was going to install, but was convinced not to by a friend.  He is aware of my skill level and determined that sorting out the timing would be beyond me.

[messerschmitt owner]

leave the ignition as it is - it's worked for forty years so why change for some new fangled shite!

[dollywobbler]

Because points are shite! Well, they're not too bad if you reduce the voltage over them, which is why my 2CV runs points-assisted ignition. Same points for over 40,000 miles and no condenser. 

[Jimcit]

All the SAAB people I've spoken to have recommended the ignition - it's only £30 and completely reversible, fits inside the dizzy cap too, so doesn't look any different.

 

While the car works as is, it always takes 3 to 5 attempts to get going in the morning, worse in winter, everyone who has installed leccy ignition reckons it'll cure this.

 

I wouldn't be bothered about changing it if it was a weekend car, but as it's used every day I'm hoping it'll make it that bit nicer.  I'll retain anything that comes off though!

[Angrydicky]

I've had three condensers fail in the last 7000 miles in my Somerset (including a NOS one) so I'm going to switch to electronic ignition as well. Not sure which one to get though! Accu-spark seems cheap and I'm pretty sure that's what my dad has on his Consul, so I'll probably go for that one.

[dollywobbler]

I really like the in-dizzy ones, because they leave the engine looking original. Always carry the old points and condenser with you though! I have had two electronic ignition units fail - though neither left me stranded. Oh, sorry. I've had three of them fail. One DID leave me stranded - 123 on the H van. Fortunately, it left me stranded at home. Glad it didn't fail during our 3000 mile road trip as we didn't have any ignition spares...

[derskine]

I fitted an electronic ignition unit to my cortina, that goes inside the dizzy, it starts first turn of the key, not bad for an old Ford I reckon.

[The Moog]

Fitted acuspark to the triumph. Took about 20 mins. Dont need to mess about with timing and it sits inside distributor.

Video here shows how

 

I would go for it. Makes life so much better and reliable.

[Jimcit]

Mine's an Accuspark, a couple of people warned me that installation could knock the timing out a few notches, so I didn't want to risk screwing things up until I had a friend with a strobe nearby.

[The Moog]

Out of interest how would it effect the timing? The distributor isn't loosened or moved, so surely if timing is ok before then it should be fine. Not contradicting anything, just trying to learn more

[derskine]

Mine's accuspark too, can't comment on the timing as I had to set my timing when I fitted it anyway.

[Jimcit]

I'm a complete dunce when it comes to this sort of thing so I'm entirely the wrong person to learn things from!

 

I was asking for advice on the saab forum and a couple of people suggested that I might need to adjust the timing after installation, but not the reason why.

 

In the video you posted above he mentions that it retarded the ignition by a few degrees after installation.  I wonder if it's a result of how the module is positioned within the distributor compared to the points?

[Rusty_Rocket]

Re timing figures- ignore them. They were printed when these cars used leaded petrol and the world was a simpler place! Just advance it until you get pinking, then back it off a tad. 

[skattrd]

I fitted an aldon electronic ignition to my spitfire and it was gr9. I'll definitely use theirs again.

[Angrydicky]

In other news, today I fitted a new radiator to my Somerset. I knew the old rad was quite tired when I bought the car, but it didn't actually start to overheat until I was in Wales recently and had to tackle some very steep hills while towing a trailer tent. 

Unfortunately a recored rad is £200, but fortunately a friend of mine had one that had done very little miles after being recored, before she fitted a Ford 2.0 pinto engine to her Somerset. So yesterday I drove over to East Lahndon to visit her and exchange parts! I must admit the engine conversion is not what I would have gone with, I would have fitted an MGB B series myself, but it is a surprisingly neat conversion, and makes her car a bit of a sleeper.

 

1953 Austin A40 Somerset by angrydicky, on Flickr

1953 Austin A40 Somerset by angrydicky, on Flickr

As part of the deal I gave Scarlett my spare steering wheel (hers was covered in insulating tape) and spare original headlining (hers was missing). I was going to fit the headlining in mine but realistically I just can't be bothered, mine is a bit stained from water leaking around the back window and has a few tears, but it's not bad enough for me to be bothered replacing it.

 

Somerset radiator change. by angrydicky, on Flickr

You can see the state of the old radiator here. Fortunately it came out without a fight, although I did notice the thermostat housing gasket has started leaking again. Another job for the list.

Somerset radiator change. by angrydicky, on Flickr

Here it is installed in the car. Looks great, and I can now drive around without having the heater on all the time to stop it overheating! Wish I'd replaced it sooner.

New rad installed. by angrydicky, on Flickr

I also got the Atlantic out last week and have been doing bits and pieces to it. New foglight rim from a fellow Atlantic owner in Holland, the correct sidelight lenses from NZ ebay and I've rebuilt the fuel pump and got that fitted back on the car. Just needs to be plumbed in now, which is an awkward and fiddly job on an Atlantic due to the lack of engine bay access. Here it is with a couple of other members of the fleet.

 

Some of the collection. by angrydicky, on Flickr

[Sigmund Fraud]

I think I've just bought a povo-spec R8...

 

It's all Dollywobbler's fault !

[dave21478]

The pickup has been suffering from tragic hesitation stuttering and being hard to start in the mornings - seems like an air leak into the fuel system.

 

A while back I replaced the whole front to rear fuel line as it was a patchwork mess of bits, which helped for a while but its been getting worse the last few days. Today I swerved into Le Halfords and bought a big in-line cannister type diesel filter and a bit of fuel hose, which I have now fitted in place of the standard filter as I suspect the housing or the primer pump is letting air in somewhere. Like a proper fanny, I forgot to get small diameter jubilee clips, so had to make do with the stupid original spring clips which IMO dont grip tightly enough. I will pick up some proper things next time I am in town, but for now it seems to rev up a bit smoother - Havent been for a test-drive yet though - it may well have made piss-all difference under load....time will tell.

[vulgalour]

Today I have been mostly...

 

[Jimcit]

Today I have been mostly...

 

20140818-02.jpg

 

**rubs thighs loudly**

 

 

I love those, especially that colour.

[vulgalour]

Once the loom is checked, repaired if needed and rewrapped, we can get the rebuilt engine and box in, then the interior, and then the final exterior bits of trim.  Should be a very pretty little thing once the new wheels go on too, I don't get excited by Alfas as a rule, but these really are a lovely thing to look at.