The new news 24 thread

[catsinthewelder]

Speaking of weird BMW sightings I saw one of these

 

 

Driving up the A49 yesterday and was so surprised that I hardly noticed the late 70s 7 series that was following it.

 

Today I have taken the day off work and almost finished welding up the Disco. Hopefully once I've finished that off and put it back together it should be OK for it's test on Monday.

[dollywobbler]

Good luck Mr Cats! I was looking at off-road pics of the Disco the other day. I may have to get another. Though my friendly welder chap seems to have vanished, so perhaps not...

[sporty-shite]

Got a couple of niggly jobs done on the 306 today. Changed the n/s front abs sensor, as this was the cause of the light being on. Also put a heater blower resistor pack on to get the blower working. It still has an annoying habit of coming on full when I first turn the ignition on, but turning the switch to full and back sorts it. At least I've got a heater now.

 

Slightly grumpy with myself that I haven't done these jobs sooner. Only about an hours work.

 

Still, should make it a bit easier to sell.

[skattrd]

Hmm that is cv joint size. They must have been knocking on lock for ages

Honestly there was no knocking. I'm quite good at keeping on top of things on the boring as it's my workhorse and is currently doing 1k miles a week. I changed the discs and pads last weekend as there was a judder (warped diac) which is when I noticed a split in the cv boot, I bought a replacement boot the other day.

 

I can't believe the cv has gone. Does anyone know roughly how long it would take a garage to change outer cv joint?

[Richard]

Shouldn't be much more than an hour, although they will probably have to wait half a day for the new joint to come from Dingbro.

[meshking]

A colleague of mine has been testing the i3 and the vauxhall ampera. Unfortunately I missed a ride in the i3, but the ampera was good. The acceleration in these things is excellent fun!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I have seen an I8 on the road. Look flipping amazing!!! There was just a little bit of that magic I used to feel when I spotted a new model on the roads as a kid. Dont get that very often but they have defo got the wow factor. Awesome!!

[rml2345]

Can't say I heard anything more than diesel clatter when you left last night. The pleasant aroma of chips was good though.

Speaking of Scotoshite, I too had a malady. Fuse 22 (R/H marker and instrument lights) kept blowing yesterday, eventually tracked to the auto gearbox illumination shorting on the transmission tunnel. Handily* I'd already chopped the front marker light plug off thinking its poor condition was causing trouble.

So today was spent carefully putting that back together using bits from the donor 760. Something else rescued from that was one of those "Magic" magnetic fuel saving things which was also fitted.

 

 

I'm almost completely convinced the only thing it'll do is make the car slightly heavier but it seemed worth a try.

As mentioned recently, the other thing rescued from the 760 was a caramac carpet set for a saloon. Despite having an estate with a black interior I decided it would look excellent and replace the knackered carpet it had.

 

 

The floor looks in good order and no more leaks to report.

 

 

All the carpets down. Interior rebuilding commenced.

 

 

Haven't got a completed pic yet unfortunately but it drew a fair bit of praise. Even as a committed follower of the church of WCPGW, fitting a different carpet set to a car is a fucking nightmare and not something I'd be keen to repeat. So of course it'll probably need done on every car now...

[explosive-cabbage]

Made up some new Polybushes for my rear shocks today as this is what the old bushes looked like - 

 

 

 

I used an old red chopping board from work, I think they are made of Polypropylene or some other semi-soft plastic.

 

This is the finished product - I'm well happy with them!

 

 

 

 

Here's how I made them:

 

 

 

Cut out a 'core' of plastic using a core drill. If you can't find the perfect size, pick a slightly larger one and use a jubilee clip to reduce the diameter. Clean off the burrs and any plastic swarf.

 

 

Press the plactic into the hole using a large vice. It should be a very tight fit. I used 3 of the plastic cores to make one bush, and trimmed them down flush with a hacksaw. 

 

 

Drill out the centre carefully. Trying to drill too quickly will loosen and spin the plastic core. Again the hole should be slightly smaller than the metal centre to be driven into it. 

 

 

Hold the shock in the vice and use a rasp to fine-tune the hole size. 

 

 

Drive home the centre of the bush, and use a file to tidy it up.

 

I am well chuffed with the results and they make a big difference over rubbish worn out ones!

[mat_the_cat]

And they're red, which is always faster (Apart from brake calipers, in which case red is slower therefore better).

[barrett]

Wait, you polybushed your car with some bits of an old chopping board?

 

That is fucking excellent!

[ruffgeezer]

Pre-Mot'd the C15, it requires almost all of the rubber squishy bits for the front suspension, that'll teach me to buy one from a place made out of roundabouts and speed humps.

[vulgalour]

New Princess dashboard is coming on a treat, finished off the last bits of chrome* tonight and tomorrow I hope to prep and prime the board properly.  I've already made the 7th telltale hole so I have the proper compliment of lights for the 1980 model but in a pre-80 dash and the last thing to do to finish that is to rivet the bulb holder to the back of the dash.  Then it's paint, paint and more paint, testing the Radiomobile radio from the Orange Slice and installing the spare front door speakers into my parcel shelf.

 

I've also been considering putting black vinyl instead of carpet on the inner sills to finish the interior, I saw it on some Italian car and I thought it looked pretty smart.

[explosive-cabbage]

Pre-Mot'd the C15, it requires almost all of the rubber squishy bits for the front suspension, that'll teach me to buy one from a place made out of roundabouts and speed humps.

Get some bushes made up out of old chopping board! (see above) I have spare boards in white, red a green. Take your pick

[Rusty_Rocket]

Week 2 of my 110 rebuild.

 

I bought this as a salvage vehicle after it had been pinched from its owner of 24 years and ram-raided into Liverpool town centre.

 

I paid too much for it and the damage is quite a bit more than I was hoping-

 

 

The bulkhead has been pushed back by the wing, as has the chassis radius arm mount on the o/s.  This has all now been sorted by my pal's portapower.

At least the bugger is straight now (for a tractor).

 

The steering was locked solid as the drag link and track rod were bent like a banana, but that's all done now too and it drives.

 

 

The rest of it needs plenty of work.  Chassis is 'ok' ish.  Hoping to be on the road for the winter, but will have Discovery TDi running gear while the front-end is all apart.

 

[Bren]

I have put my other half's fiesta on gumtree.

 

Sharp intake of breath.......

 

I refuse to put it on ebay because I am not prepared to pay to be mithered to death by mouthbreathers when I can be mithered for free on gumtree.

[derskine]

Excellent work on those choppin' board bushes!

[DS20]

Pre-Mot'd the C15, it requires almost all of the rubber squishy bits for the front suspension, that'll teach me to buy one from a place made out of roundabouts and speed humps.

 

Sounds like Milton Keynes. If I ever move to Milton Keynes, I'm buying a hovercraft.

[Bren]

Wait, you polybushed your car with some bits of an old chopping board?

That is fucking excellent!

But not as good as the french chap who made bushes from the soles of his own clogs.

[SambaS]

After FOUR MONTHS of using solely my mobile phone to browse the internet. My dongle has been reconnected !!!

 

Happy happy happy wooo!

[spike60]

I overtook a Talbot 1100 pick up when I was on the way home today, I can't ever remember seeing one ever let alone locally, wonder if many left?  'A' reg, blue with a canvas back, I heard the authentic tappet rattle as I passed......

[Sigmund Fraud]

None taken

None meant ! Autoshitters would only consider buying an i3 when they've depreciated to £500 and have electrical problems that would scare even the most seasoned Renault owner. I suspect that BMW are targeting a somewhat different audience at present...

[Skizzer]

Agreed.  I was only pulling your leg

[vulgalour]

I know someone who is restoring a Talbot 1100 pick-up... it might be a Simca... they don't call him Simca Mick for nothing!

 

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/135621?page=6#.VCV8lGefvW4

 

It's a bit of a challenge.

[Skoze]

Early days, but I think i'm re-uniting my Land Rover with a long lost friend.

 

Hello MXL 654. 

[dollywobbler]

So, yesterday we had the BMW i3, today, Elly the 2CV met something rather more fantastic.

 

Just spotted it as we drove past the car park. Wonderful little Honda S800. They are ADORABLE.

[Mr Livered]

Yes, they are. Last time I saw one I was straight on the internet with the aim of finding one for sale.

 

Then I saw the prices and realised that you and I are clearly not the S800's only fans. Oh well. I didn't need another car anyway.

[anonymous user]

Many years ago I came very close to buying an S800, unfortunately the engine and gearbox had been replaced with those from a Morris Minor and whilst it still had its original dash a Morris Minor speedometer had been slung under the dash, securely held in place with string. It was awful to drive as well, I don't think the gearing was anywhere near right. For once I was sensible and walked away. (See also Berkley T60 with Mini engine and gearbox)

[dollywobbler]

What?! Who on earth replaces brilliant Honda engineering with sodding Minor bits? 

[Richard]

There was a Smart in the eBay thread a few years ago with an A Series and, I think, Metro subframe in the arse end.