The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

For some reason I've been in a shite fettling mood this evening.  I had a play with the Vel Satis - filled it back up with coolant then took it for a spin to get it up to temperature.  Pulled up outside the house and there was the customary hissing from the engine bay, except louder than usual.  Popped the hood and it turns out the expansion bottle has a crack in it - so that will be where the coolant's been disappearing to then.  It only leaks out when the pressure in the cooling system is high, it stopped within a minute or so of me turning off the engine - I was just lucky to catch it when it was up to temperature but before it pissed out all its coolant.  I'm not sure where I'm going to get another expansion bottle from, and it looks like a royal PITA to fit, but at least it's not a complete engine meltdown like I was beginning to fear.

 

Then I fitted new wiper blades to the vans.  Like seemingly almost every vehicle I buy, the existing blades were knackered.  The Subaru's blades hadn't failed the MOT, but they were hard and juddered like buggery.  The Peugeot's were mangled to feck, but to be fair they were Bosch blades so were probably only a few weeks old.  I should now be able to see where I'm going in the rain, which is a bonus.  I also got the Peugeot's interior light working off the door - the switch was working OK, but for some reason the door wasn't pushing it in far enough to turn the light off.  A random bit of round plastic stuck on the inside of the door with several thicknesses of double-sided tape sorted that.

 

Then I decided to fire up the scooters as they'd been sat for a couple of months.  This was a bit less successful.  The Lead flattened its battery before it would fire up and the kick start is useless.  The Spacy started up straight away but then almost immediately started pissing petrol everywhere.  Pulling off the side panel revealed that the short hose that runs from the tank to the fuel filter had split.  I've clamped it with a pair of mole grips for now - I'll have to find a replacement bit of hose at the weekend.

 

The Chinese Crunchy has continued to deliver sterling service - it passed 2,000km today (it'd only done about 750 when I bought it).  The plastics are buzzing and vibrating more than they used to, and there's now a clunk from somewhere if I open the throttle too quickly, but it's never broken down, doesn't appear to have used any oil and continues to return 90mpg.  The headlight really is shit though.

[Mike D]

The Bug passed its MOT yesterday, JOY!!!! Also, the 330 hit 100K this week, and tonight I changed one of the front wheel bearings on Ms.D's MINI cooper.

 

A productive week so far!

[Noel Tidybeard]

I found 3, a used Bristol 27, a nos model, similar to the bristol and a nos spindle mount set.

would be interested it this for the sleeping sunny cos the pye unit in the car is an ex-pye it has ceased to be

[dollywobbler]

Blimey, I thought that middle picture was the cockpit of a fighter jet at first glance.

 

Now I want to drive a digger when I grow up.

 

Do we need an Autoshite visit to Diggerland? It sounds like we do. Unless an Autoshiter has a digger and lots of land?

[Skizzer]

YES!  YES!  YES!

 

Please.

[mat_the_cat]

I've borrowed one a few times - GR8.5 fun!

 

 

 

Sadly there's nothing much we need one for at the moment, and transporting anything a half decent size is expensive.

[dollywobbler]

Envious. I've operated a mini-digger a couple of times, and once had a go at grading with a JCB. That's exceedingly tricky!

[mat_the_cat]

I've found the smaller ones more difficult to use - everything seemed that bit more jerky with less fine control. Don't know whether it was simply more weight to move with a larger bucket meaning it damped out the control inputs somewhat, or maybe larger machines are generally built to a better standard.

 

What was pretty good fun, and easier to arrange, was a digger challenge we had one in a pub car park. We had to pick up a tyre, and place it over a cone as fast as possible. Tiny 1.5 ton machine!

 

 

I had a slight* advantage in that I was the only person there who'd ever used one before, so I managed to win a bottle of red for my time of 14 seconds

[twosmoke300]

bet your time wasnt so fast after the wine !

[cms206]

740 has jettisonned it's tailpipe. Very rorty.

[hairnet]

For some reason I've been in a shite fettling mood this evening.  I had a play with the Vel Satis - filled it back up with coolant then took it for a spin to get it up to temperature.  Pulled up outside the house and there was the customary hissing from the engine bay, except louder than usual.  Popped the hood and it turns out the expansion bottle has a crack in it - so that will be where the coolant's been disappearing to then.  It only leaks out when the pressure in the cooling system is high, it stopped within a minute or so of me turning off the engine - I was just lucky to catch it when it was up to temperature but before it pissed out all its coolant.  I'm not sure where I'm going to get another expansion bottle from, and it looks like a royal PITA to fit, but at least it's not a complete engine meltdown like I was beginning to fear.

 

Then I fitted new wiper blades to the vans.  Like seemingly almost every vehicle I buy, the existing blades were knackered.  The Subaru's blades hadn't failed the MOT, but they were hard and juddered like buggery.  The Peugeot's were mangled to feck, but to be fair they were Bosch blades so were probably only a few weeks old.  I should now be able to see where I'm going in the rain, which is a bonus.  I also got the Peugeot's interior light working off the door - the switch was working OK, but for some reason the door wasn't pushing it in far enough to turn the light off.  A random bit of round plastic stuck on the inside of the door with several thicknesses of double-sided tape sorted that.

 

Then I decided to fire up the scooters as they'd been sat for a couple of months.  This was a bit less successful.  The Lead flattened its battery before it would fire up and the kick start is useless.  The Spacy started up straight away but then almost immediately started pissing petrol everywhere.  Pulling off the side panel revealed that the short hose that runs from the tank to the fuel filter had split.  I've clamped it with a pair of mole grips for now - I'll have to find a replacement bit of hose at the weekend.

 

The Chinese Crunchy has continued to deliver sterling service - it passed 2,000km today (it'd only done about 750 when I bought it).  The plastics are buzzing and vibrating more than they used to, and there's now a clunk from somewhere if I open the throttle too quickly, but it's never broken down, doesn't appear to have used any oil and continues to return 90mpg.  The headlight really is shit though.

 

BE NICER TO DA SKOOTAHS BRA!!!!!

[Lacquer Peel]

740 has jettisonned it's tailpipe. Very rorty.

My 940 diesel lost its tailpipe, it sounded a lot better afterwards.

 

I think stopping at the roadside, sick of thr tailpipe dragging along the road, crawling under the car and throwing the tailpipe into the undergrowth won Ms._Peel's affection.

[Mike D]

Because I unable to help myself, when an advert for an old scooter went up on the intranet at work, I had to go and check it out..

 

BEHOLD!! My new steed of manliness!

 

 

It's a 1989 Honda vision 50. 2 owners from new, 15K on the clock, and in actually pretty nice nick! Even came with some history!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tooSavvy]

Aesthetically Wheezing look!

 

TS

[Bren]

Because I unable to help myself, when an advert for an old scooter went up on the intranet at work, I had to go and check it out..

 

BEHOLD!! My new steed of manliness!

 

vision.jpg

 

It's a 1989 Honda vision 50. 2 owners from new, 15K on the clock, and in actually pretty nice nick! Even came with some history!

 

vision2.jpg

 

vision3.jpg

Where are the papa johns boxes? Have they fell off?

[skattrd]

Not really news, but I am currently considering buying the sister car to my little Daihatsu, meaning I would own both of the UK X4s.

 

edit: Further communication with the seller mean this is now quite likely ...

[DS20]

I can haz seen a Rennnaulllt 4 and two Mk-1 Twingos today. There is a picture (of the 4) but it won't upload from this sodding device.

 

 

Not that exciting, I know, but I don't get out much.

[The Moog]

After two weeks the Chinese reversing sensors gave up the ghost. Ordered some from the uk from ebay. What a difference, thicker cables everything is put together better.

 

Spent about and hour removing old ones and installing new. Feeling very proud as they work as they should.

 

Also took the opportunity to add an extra fuel hose clamp to my fuel line repair.

[Luckythirteen]

Phew...getting back up to speed after a few weeks of utter chaos. So much reading to do with you lot constantly breaking, fixing and buying things!

 

In the midst of my life chaos (caused by what was assumed to be fresher's flu, turning out to be a nasty virus which floored me for a week, and gave me a 36-hr taste of Ninewells hospital-ity) the unremarkable Clio got MOT'd taxed and insured until this time next year. I also have an amusingly* altered MOT sheet, which I'll post when I find the damn thing.

Only a rear seatbelt and the backbox needed for a pass: one came from the scrappy, the other is shiny and new. I was quite unaware that either were a problem, but around £200 for an MOT is a result, as is my insurance coming down quite a bit. So I decided to pay the year's tax, and be done with it - I'd budgeted for that anyway.

It's had its' second driver's window winder from the scrappy this year, too. I don't fancy troubling Renault for the cost of a new one, so I'll just have to hope this one lasts a bit better. It came off an 05 plate, and I oiled the cables before I put it on, so maybe...

 

Otherhalf and Ma_Otherhalf seem to be heading towards joint buying some car (which they probably will), and thoughts are being cast towards the humble Vauxhall Adam. I'm suitably unimpressed. I'm not holding my breath, though. This decision's been ongoing for a while now. If only it was something with 'Daihatsu' and 'X4' on it, I'd be actually enthusiastic!

[cort16]

I was reading today that Audi are going to make a 4 door TT. Seems massively pointless to me but it seems the germans have got really keen on making pointless niche models in an exercise to persuade people who were already going to buy a car from them to buy a car from them.

 

BMW

 

X1, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 on it's way later in the year

i3, i8

1 series, 2 series, 3 series, 4 series, 5 series, 5 Series GT, 6 Series, 6 Series GT, 7 Series

 

In 1998

3 series Compact, 3 series, 3 series coupe, 5 series, 7 series, 8 Series

 

Audi

A1, A3, A3 Sports Hatch,A3 Saloon, TT, TT Sports Hatch, , A4, A4 Allroad, A5, A5 Sports Hatch, A6, A6 Allroad, A7, A8

Q3, Q5, Q7

 

In 1998

A2, A3, A4, A6, A8, TT (maybe)

 

There's no point to this post really I just wonder why the ranges have have gone from 7-8 to nearly 20 models. Is it so you can drive a well spec'd A4 rather than a povo A6.

They all look the same anyway so it seems pretty pointless and expensive. i mean how many 4 dr TT's are they really going to sell?

[NorfolkNWeigh]

I think there's a 3 series GT and a 4 series Gran Coupe as well, similar to the 6 series Gran Coupe ie a 4 door coupe. I don't think you have to be a Granny to buy one, in fact someone on here has one if I my memory serves.

[Jim Bergerac]

I liked the way that BMW decided to rename the 3 Series Coupe and Convertible 4 Series then promptly brought out a Saloon version.

 

One I can't get my head round is the Mercedes CLA. A saloon version of the A-Class that is nearly the same size as the C-Class, not much cheaper and not particularly different looking from the bigger model. It makes no sense. And it looks utterly shit like every other new model Mercedes.

[ruffgeezer]

It's academic really, they are all charmless faux upper class Germanic shit.

[Skizzer]

I think there's a 3 series GT and a 4 series Gran Coupe as well, similar to the 6 series Gran Coupe ie a 4 door coupe. I don't think you have to be a Granny to buy one, in fact someone on here has one if I my memory serves.

 

That would be me.

 

Charmless faux upper class Germanic shit.

 

That would be me too, probably.

 

Mostly I agree.  My 4 Grandad Coupe is pretty charmless, and even I can't easily tell it apart from a 3 or a 5, or in the dark a 2 or a 6, but it's purely a work tool for driving long distances when tired and stressed and it's very effective at that.  It's also usefully a hatchback, unlike a 3, and maybe slightly prettier.  I don't care a jot either way that it's badged 4 rather than 3, or that it's a BMW for that matter.  

 

I looked at Mondeos and Focuses, various Volvos, Mazda 6s, Astras and Insignias, Citroen C5s and a couple of other not 'faux upper class' things but fled screaming from the interior styling straight from a 1992 Sanyo ghettoblaster, the electronic handbrakes, the shitty gearboxes and/or the gutless petrol engines.  (I'm right off modern diesels because of DMFs, DPFs and all the clattering.)  

 

I also looked at used Jag XFs and a few other things, but they're either still pricey or there's too much risk (for my needs) of expensive failure to proceed.  I gave mingebag long-distance work travel a fair go in the Rover 75, but it fell to bits in the end.  

 

For interesting driving/ownership I have the old shite.  No modern appliance was ever going to manage to compete with that.  

[cort16]

So is it like a Mercedes cls? A 4 door coupe (not that makes any sense) ? I don't think I've seen one of those.

 

The back if those cla's and c classes is rotten although I do like the a class.

[Skizzer]

Sort of.  It's a bit lower and more flared around the back arches than a 3 series, and it's a hatchback so the roof slopes down more gently to a bustle at the back like the one on a Mk3 Escort.  There are side windows in the C-pillar too, unlike a 3.  This probably sounds like the (equally obscure) 3-series GT, but that's got horrid ugly fat-arsed/topheavy proportions and the 4GC (IMHO) doesn't.

 

I've never bothered taking a picture of it, so here's someone else's.  (Mine's dark blue, btw.)

 

 

Funnily enough, it's almost exactly the same length and height as a Rover SD1, and only a couple of inches wider.  Feels MUCH smaller inside though.

 

I sort of quite liked the old C-class, but the new ones look horrid: a really nasty combination of aggressive, melted, fat, Korean and chavved-up.  They do seem to be popular with the motorway twat-heads who have largely moved on from BMWs to Audis, which I suppose was the idea.

[vulgalour]

 

 

It sounds as good as it looks and we're so close to being able to pass this on to the customer it's actually a little frustrating.  I'm sure this is a car I shall miss looking at, but there are a number of jobs it has given us that I hope I never see again.

[alf892]

Them 4 series things took me a bit by surprise and they came out just when I got my first varifocal glasses......I just assumed I was looking at a 3 series through the wrong bit of my glasses at first.

 

Good looking car though

[Cavcraft]

Sounds like you're steadily proving not all Chinese mopeds are shit, Wuvvum, I quite enjoy reading about that.

 

Mike D, they actually pull well those scooters. Mine would out drag all other 49cc ones up to about 28mph, then it just ran out of steam.

[dave21478]

Today has been spent fiddling with tyres.

 

I ordered a set of five for the Landrover as the old ones were road biased things and failed to proceed on damp grass and getting pretty worn, especially the fronts..

Since the transmission requires all tyres to be the same diameter to within a few millimeters, I had to get a whole set, and since I am not made of money, I went for remoulds, in true Autoshite fashion.

They are Rangers, made by Insa Turbo, which is a copy of the very good BFGoodrich offroad tyre and apparently relatively highly regarded for their price. I chucked a set on the pickup some time ago and they seem fine.

 

PREPARE!

 

Five tyres. The courier driver wasnt due till tomorrow at the earliest, so since he came early I decided to sack off work this afternoon and crack on.

 

I use the Bollox method, as well detailed by the man himself in a thread elsewhere, but without the faff of breaking the bead as I have my home-made bead breaker...

Yes, thats a bit cut from an old wheel rim, some random steel and a long bit of tube. Im sure you can see the principal behind it. It works a treat, but after a few years of use Its getting worn - the bar is bent and the section of rim bends easily. Ideally this needs to be made from thicker steel.

Oh, and you will need a bit of old carpet on the ground to protect the face of the wheel if you have alloys.

 

Levers and a giant tub of lube. Its not proper tyre stuff, its for assembling push-fit pipes that use o-rings, but it does the job.

 

Meth lab kitchen scales and a tub of airsoft pellets.

WTF? yeah, I dont have a wheel balancer, and while most smaller tyres dont really need balancing, big 4x4 tyres often need a fair bit and these remoulds are renowned for not being great so I do "dynamic balancing" which involves tipping a load of plastic pellets into the tyre and as you drive, centrifugal forces distribute the beads around the inside of the tyre in the most efficient way to prevent vibrations. This happens automatically each time you start moving. The internet suggested that between 100 and 150 grams is needed for tyres of this size so I measured out wee baggies at 120g ready to tip into the tyres. It doesnt matter too much if you put more weight than needed to balance, as the excess will be evenly distributed as you roll.

 

First one.

 

The astute observer will notice I threw some paint over the rear drums which were new last year, but starting to rust. I only had red to hand, but thats ok as red brakes make you go faster.

 

Other side.

 

I have gone up a few sizes too hence it looking a bit chunkier.