The new news 24 thread

[coalnotdole]

I may have bought another plastic car... Oldest one yet.... And this time it has an mot!

 

Any guesses?

[vulgalour]

Invacar.

[nigel bickle]

Gilbern?

[Shep Shepherd]

Allard Clipper?

[Jim Bell]

Invader estate with no glass?

[Cavcraft]

Scimitar Sabre Soldier Sailor? 

[Angrydicky]

1958 Reliant Regal?

[Micrashed]

When did Bond switch from aluminium body shells to GRP?

 

There was the 1963 Equippe.

 

The 1965 on 875 was GRP boddied and I think that the Mark C was the first three wheeler to have the GRP bodyshell from the Bond stable, though the ESC had a GRP front end.

[plasticvandan]

The Minicar had ally bodywork till the end in 65,only having grp panels ie roof,wings,bonnet etc.

Reliant launched their first all grp bodied (tho was sections mounted on an ash frame rather than a one piece shell) in 1956.

[dollywobbler]

Please let it be a sidevalve Regal!

[richardmorris]

Hard to tell, as it seems to be sunny today for a change, but the o/s is the new osram nightbreaker unlimited. You can tell the difference in the flesh, so hopefully will be a nice improvement at night.

Oh and look at the nice, shiny, new condenser! Still not connected to anything, but the guy has said he'll be round next week with the new pipe to get it all working. Only taken him 4.5 months so far.

[Bren]

A friend of mine woke up this morning covered in raffle tickets.

 

He's contracted tombola.

[Cavcraft]

/\

I'm stealing that one!

[skattrd]

New front springs, shocks and top mounts fitted to the boring.

I've just driven it 10 miles or so & the handling & road holding feels massively improved.

Bilstein B4 shocks & KYB springs in case anyone wondered, which you didn't ...  I know you don't care about a modern(ish) daily

[derskine]

Cortina is sorted finally.

After replacing the coil and fuel pump, and still experiencing the same problem, I replaced the rubber joining pipe between the sender and the hard plastic fuel line and she's running a treat.

Even better than before now that I've richened it up a bit too.

[vulgalour]

While it's never done it to me as a driver, as a passenger I recently experienced the brake surge/judder that Chompysnake and Mikeknight described to me.  From what I've read on the internets it sounds like this is usually down to an LHM change being required due to contaminated LHM.

 

Maybe the car just likes me more than everyone else, it never seems to break or do odd things (apart from the alarm issue) when I'm using it and plays up when other people do.

 

Oh, and clutches seem to vary in price from £45ish for a guaranteed for 2 years/20,000 miles job to nearly £100 for a Valeo kit so I'm even more undecided than ever as to which one to go for.  The £45 one would, in theory, last me for 3-4 years based on the mileage I normally do but I kinda hope the Xantia lasts me for about 10 years so the Valeo one would offer me a worry-free solution... in theory.  What would you do?

[Cavcraft]

With a Kangoo shaped hole outside Cavcraft, I decided to collect the Zafira from the MOT place today and taxed it online, which was incredibly easy. Took the dog for a walk to get the car and it drove back a treat, so I gave it a bath and will try and get some 15" wheel trims for it. The car, not the dog.

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

They look a much nicer proposition in dark green, not too bad at all, Mr Billy, not too bad.

[derskine]

While it's never done it to me as a driver, as a passenger I recently experienced the brake surge/judder that Chompysnake and Mikeknight described to me.  From what I've read on the internets it sounds like this is usually down to an LHM change being required due to contaminated LHM.

 

Maybe the car just likes me more than everyone else, it never seems to break or do odd things (apart from the alarm issue) when I'm using it and plays up when other people do.

 

Oh, and clutches seem to vary in price from £45ish for a guaranteed for 2 years/20,000 miles job to nearly £100 for a Valeo kit so I'm even more undecided than ever as to which one to go for.  The £45 one would, in theory, last me for 3-4 years based on the mileage I normally do but I kinda hope the Xantia lasts me for about 10 years so the Valeo one would offer me a worry-free solution... in theory.  What would you do?

 

I can see even the cheaper one lasting more than 20000 miles. I would go for that one.

However, I wouldn't really grudge having to change it again - 4 years is enough for me to forget how much of a pain it was.

[Lacquer Peel]

Poor man's TooSavvy.

[sporty-shite]

They look a much nicer proposition in the dark.

EFA

[coalnotdole]

Well the trip home with the new motor didn't go well, it overheated in traffic following an road closure on the A27.

 

Trying to get it going again killed the twin 6v batterys. A spare 12v was fitted and we made it another 200 yards before being struck down by an ignition problem. The rotor arm has exploded so we're now waiting for the recovery truck!

 

Currently sat by the roadside admiring the car and enjoying a cuban!.

[The Moog]

Just had a land rover plough into the back of the 405. Its an old F reg one with massive steel bumper.

 

Definitely bent and holes the bumper but will need to get underneath tomorrow to check out damage.

 

I think it was only doing 15mph and I was stationary so hopefully not to bad.

 

I was going to have a look to see if there is any creasing. Anything else I should look out for?

[vulgalour]

D:  Check the door gaps now against older photographs.  If you have issues with the rear doors opening/closing that would hint at damage.  Also, if the door gaps have opened/closed at the top or bottom more that would hint the car was bent up or down, which seems quite common in a rear end shunt.  Inner wings are another spot to look at for creases and minor deformation.

 

You may be lucky and the bumper may have done its job.  I hope so, it looks like you'd just started getting busy with the fettling on this one again.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Just had a land rover plough into the back of the 405. Its an old F reg one with massive steel bumper.

 

Definitely bent and holes the bumper but will need to get underneath tomorrow to check out damage.

 

I think it was only doing 15mph and I was stationary so hopefully not to bad.

 

I was going to have a look to see if there is any creasing. Anything else I should look out for?

You have whiplash now! I know it's a twats thing to do but if everyone else is claiming then so should you

[dave21478]

Get the rear bumper off and look at the rear panel, especially where the bumper mounts are.

Check the boot floor from the inside for creasing and from underneath too, including chassis rails.

Check the panel gaps as mentioned, including the boot lid.

Check the gaps around the tail lights.

Check the exhaust for breaks (you would have heard this, I assume) and bent hangers/torn rubbers.

Unlikely at low speeds, but stand back and look down the sides both for ripples and rear wheel alignment.

 

Realistically, its a cheap old car, assuming it looks ok, it will probably be fine even if there is minor damage under the skin. Any form of insurance claim at all will end with it being written off. This can work to your advantage if you can get a sensible payout on the cost it would be to replace it with one in the same condition - not "book" value, buy back the car and repair it with a bumper from a scrappy for £15 and keep the rest for Xmas pressies (only 73 days till xmas!) 

Alternatively, if the guy is amenable, get him to bung you cash to cover costs and your time/hassle, keep insurers out of it (your policy will go up at renewal even though it was not your fault and when you shop around, they ask you "an claims in the past X years regardless of blame?") his policy will go up and he may loose NCB so its in his interest to help you out off the books if he can afford to.

[richardmorris]

Just had a land rover plough into the back of the 405. Its an old F reg one with massive steel bumper.

 

Definitely bent and holes the bumper but will need to get underneath tomorrow to check out damage.

 

I think it was only doing 15mph and I was stationary so hopefully not to bad.

 

I was going to have a look to see if there is any creasing. Anything else I should look out for?

 

 

 

Is everyone ok? Presumably you don't want to go down the insurance route? That's the problem with insurance really, it's so expensive to claim for a minor bump it's not worth doing. What's the damage to the LR? Anything at all, and are they willing to give you money directly?

[brickwall]

Sage advice there dave. Open and close the boot gently and feel if anything is amiss. Check the poppers where anything plastic fits on; this gives an idea of how much stress was received in that area.

 

Also, check in behind lights if that area was affected.

[The Moog]

Dont do the whiplash thing. Was concerned as my dog was in the boot, but opened it to check and got a wall of woofs' and slobber. I think he is fine No damage to me.

 

Bloke was driving his dads 1967 LR and said brakes were shit. Has a girder for a bumper. If I had a modern I could imagine the rear would have shattered into bits.

 

He seemed nice enough, only been driving 5 months and was quite shaken up.

 

Going through insurance will screw me as well as him( in past had no fault claims and effects premium). I said to him I will check and let him know tomorrow.

 

Good call on panel gaps, exhaust seems fine. Will also check for creasing.

 

I had a quick look under just now and looks like bumper brackets are bent and rear bumpers has been pushed in and broken a bit. Obv this was in pissing rain, with shit head torch and dark but doesn't seem mega bad. Boot opens fine although bumper gap has disappeared.

 

I think I know where to get another bumper for £50 and bumper brackets are £10 on ebay.

 

Annoying thing is that the Saab is dismantled in the garage awaiting inlet gasket otherwise I could have got it apart tonight.

[STUNO]

Bathurst race day today, and the lads have been practicing .