The new news 24 thread

[eddyramrod]

To be fair, and not wishing to be rude about someone I've never met, I consider my wife much more glamorous than your mate Dave.

 

To be fair, and not wishing to be lascivious about someone I've never met, I'd probably agree with you! Dave would be the next to agree with you, I'm quite sure. He has no illusions. It's just one of those things. We worked together for six years and have remained friends, and especially car-buddies (and boot-sale buddies), ever since.

[Skizzer]

Hey Skizzer did you see that Porsche you fancied is Pistonheads shed of the week? I guess that means it'll be sold by now?

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=25441

 

I hadn't - thanks for the tip! SOTW seemed to like it, but the 200+ comments were mainly the usual arguments about how closely related 924s are to VW LTs . It's still for sale ATM.

 

Mustard mitt I'm a bit put off by the advert, on sober reflection. The guy sounds a bit of a tool and the photos are all either from a long way away or cunningly framed: it looks like it's had a pretty ropey respray down the offside (which explains the missing trim strip) and there are conspicuously no pictures of the dashboard top, which probably means it's split to buggery. I'm not that picky about such things but you do kinda wonder what else he's not mentioning. If it's a shed it's not worth £950 and it's a long way to go to find that out.

 

Actually things are kicking off a bit work-wise today so I probably won't have time for the road trip for a few weeks anyway .

[Cavcraft]

Picture fail special: just on train home from dropping off Thursday nights shite buy to the lucky* new owner!

[Lankytim]

Finished wiring in a new electric fan for the 240,

 

 

Works a treat, cuts in just over half way on the temp gauge.

 

Finally took a pic of the front fogs I fitted a week or so ago.

 

 

Doesn't work a treat, as they are not wired in yet. Look ok though I think!

[Wilko220]

They look class. Just need the headlamp wipers to finish off "the look" there!

[Cavcraft]

New car arrived, more details to follow soon!

[Pete-M]

New car arrived, more details to follow soon!

 

Ooooooh. It'd better be shite.

[Shep Shepherd]

Is that an original Volvo fan, Tim? I think that The Volvo would benefit from a similar set-up

[Cavcraft]

New car arrived, more details to follow soon!

 

Ooooooh. It'd better be shite.

 

It is, but without the 'e'! Details now tomorrow as I'm off to get royally pissed.

[Lankytim]

Is that an original Volvo fan, Tim? I think that The Volvo would benefit from a similar set-up

 

Yes, it's from a 960/v90. It's actually very easy to do once you have the parts and should save a bit on fuel. The engine seems to rev up more quickly, too.

[cms206]

Took 83 orangemen to two marches in the Glasgow area today on a 29 year old Volvo Citybus. Got a £36.77 hat and an invite to Belfast for a weekend of marching over there.

 

Is it time I told them, after taking them places for nearly three years, that I'm actually a catholic?

[Lankytim]

Perhaps best not to.

[M'coli]

Took 83 orangemen to two marches in the Glasgow area today on a 29 year old Volvo Citybus. Got a £36.77 hat and an invite to Belfast for a weekend of marching over there.

 

Is it time I told them, after taking them places for nearly three years, that I'm actually a catholic?

No, not under any circumstances - in fact, milk them for all they are worth. Like wearing a blue/orange t-shirt under your corporate clothing, or union jack sunglasses, or something else that would make them even more generous!

 

Oh, and I believe there are some very fit women in Belfast...!

[cms206]

Took 83 orangemen to two marches in the Glasgow area today on a 29 year old Volvo Citybus. Got a £36.77 hat and an invite to Belfast for a weekend of marching over there.

 

Is it time I told them, after taking them places for nearly three years, that I'm actually a catholic?

No, not under any circumstances - in fact, milk them for all they are worth. Like wearing a blue/orange t-shirt under your corporate clothing, or union jack sunglasses, or something else that would make them even more generous!

 

 

I thought that. I should also say that I'm 6ft 3in tall, with long hair and a long wispy beard. Today's quote of the day was "Alec, that's our bus over there. The bloke driving looks like Jesus, ye cannae miss him... "

[M'coli]

[vulgalour]

Bad news: I have a fat hand as my injury has made it swell up, which also meant I couldn't help with the exhaust refit. I'll update the build thread later, when typing doesn't take a small eternity.

 

Good news: 2 hour exhaust job turned into a 5 hour full refit. All three blows (both downpipes and centre join) eliminated for a grand total of 3 miles. Blow has returned on one downpipe but should be fixable by my brother the exhaust wizard. The good news is that for those 3 miles, what with the mechanical pump and fully sealed exhaust, almost all the cabin vibration has gone and the Princess is so quiet I wasn't sure the engine was even running at times.

[wuvvum]

Just realised that the tax on the SVX runs out in 38 minutes' time. Best take it for one last legal blat then. Back in a bit.

[rml2345]

Had another go at the serpentine belt tightening on the "Leyland" Yaris with some success!

Celebrated this by swearing at the plastic bit of the rear bumper for a few hours, before finding out that the local scrappies had precisely 1 Toyotas (to the nearest whole number) and that Halfrauds don't sell number plate bulb holders. Mine is rather past it...

[wuvvum]

Well that was enjoyable.

 

Subaru now smells of hot brake pads and hot oil (it has the usual Subaru Boxer slight weep from the rocker covers). Been a while since I've driven it in anger, and it's definitely quicker than the Rover - not a lot in it up to 60 due to the SVX's lardy weight and autobox, but from 60 onwards and especially above 100 it's quite noticeably more rapid. More stable at those speeds too, and a lot of grip for a car its size. Sounds gorgeous at high revs as well. I'm going to have to hide the keys somewhere as if I keep driving it I'm going to end up deciding I don't want to sell it...

[Cavcraft]

Sorry it's an utterly dull car but I was actually chuffed to bits to get it yesterday. Have a dull write up before I take/load the pictures:

 

My daughter pointed out an 'advert' on Freecycle yesterday morning from someone who was offering a few small parts from an old Corsa as it was off to be scrapped this week.

This seemed a bit of a waste to me so I mailed the lady in question and said I'd offer the scrap price and a bit on top if she wanted, as it seemed madness to just see it weighed off.

Luckily the lady got back to me yesterday afternoon so my son and I rushed up to view it. The lady was brilliant and was chuffed it wasn't going to get scrapped as she was quite a 'green' person and we both agreed it was a right waste of a car. Seemingly it'd been her mother-in-law's from new and she gave it to her grandson when, at the age of 93, she decided to buy a brand new Hyundai!

She'd had a problem with the Corsa previously when the water pump packed it's bags and a local garage 'repaired' it for her by fitting anew headgasket and water pump etc. This 'repair' seemed to involve an awful lot of mastic for my liking so wasn't surprised to find the h/g had gone again.

Anyhow took my son up to view the car as he'll be doing the work on it and we couldn't believe how good it is under the dust and the odd pensioner related ding. Driver's door is terrible, not seen one this bad before but we'll try repairing it (Isopon!) before getting a replacement. It still has the factory wax stuff in the engine bay.

Got the head off yesterday afternoon to assess the damage/see what needs to be done and it has to be said it came off very easily, undoutably due to the fact it was off fairly recently. Even the exhaust studs didn't put up a fight!

Today we're going to strip the head (inlet manifold etc) and carry on cleaning up the top of the block. My lad thinks the headgasket had gone again because it was either fitted wrongly or upside down or that the garage hadn't bothered cleaning up properly before fitting the new one, quite possibly they couldn't be arsed scraping the original one off enough.

Doesn't look that good here but it's not been cleaned yet and is 'as bought' aside from the head being taken off:

 

 

Shit picture of shit door:

 

 

Not seen one this clean inside before...

 

But there's a reason for that, and here it is:

 

Yep, that's 38,000 from new!

 

It's a 1.4 Spazmatic and we drove it home which was a laugh with a blowing headgasket but it was only about nine miles or so. The lady kindly followed us back and then ran us back to her's to get the car we went up in and refused any fuel money!

 

Oh, did I mention it has about 6 months MOT and was taxed?

I know they're not desperately popular on here but we were absolutely made up to get it and couldn't wait to go and get it. Hats off to the lady who was selling it, it'd probably have been easier to just weigh it off and see the back of it but she agreed it was a waste of a car and she was really happy we saved it from the crusher.

It's been great for me too as I'm a mechanical chimp, so I got my lad to supervise whilst I stripped it down and got the head off which was quite an achievement for me. He did loads too though so it wasn't just me.

Head is going away for a crack test and skim this week and we'll get the headgasket set. Water pump still like new so that'll be saved and although the cam belt looks like it's hardly seen any action we'll replace that too to be on the safe side.

*Edit: she wouldn't take over what she'd been offered scrap for it so it cost us the princely sum of £150!

[cort16]

Cavette don't listen to the H8RZ. That's a result for 150 quid and it does seem a shame to bin even a corsa with such low mileage espcially given it's got t&t. It sounds like you're already half way there with the head .

 

In other news I rebuilt the brakes on the back of the sd1 after putting the half shaft back in and the cocking wheel cylinders now weeping out brake fluid.

They're not expensive but I bet the pipe will snap off when I go to change it. I did however get the back box on properly by sticking a couple of weld tacks on it and as it's been pissed around with so much in the past a clamp won't hold it on tight enough.

[vulgalour]

That Corsa is a bit of a bargain really, and you don't see many 5 door ones. With some TLC that could be a little stunner, especially if it's left alone and just cleaned and maintained to within an inch of its life.

[Lankytim]

It's tidy, taxed and tested and has 5 doors, the problems should be easy to fix, too. It's a bargain in my book!

[dollywobbler]

Aye. Looks great. I do like these - though I learnt to drive in several of them, which probably explains it. Felt like a bleedin' Rolls-Royce compared to my first car - a Mk2 Fezza (albeit a particularly shite one!).

 

Spent most of yesterday getting stuck in the Maverick. Spent the day trying to keep up with my mate in a Defender 110 with proper mud tyres on it. Unsurprisingly, a Maverick on all-terrains cannot keep up in the boggy stuff - mainly because Defenders on big tyres have created ruts that are too deep for my little Mav. Learnt a lot about recovery methods and at one stage, it took over two hours to clear a section all of about 200 yards long. Did get a bit wearing!

 

Have spent all of today so far cleaning the Maverick. I had two heaped cat litter tray's worth (well, the cat doesn't use it anymore...) of clay that I pulled out of the front end and I even had to wash out the rear drums - which weren't working at all. The level seems to have dropped and so I had to top up and bleed the rear brakes again. Now it actually stops! Hoping it was just an oversight after the front caliper job and that there isn't a leak. No way of spotting one while the underside was soaking wet and covered in mud.

 

Pics to follow later. I'm knackered!

[ashmicro]

That little Corsa looks pretty tidy, Sir William. Hard to go wrong at that money.

 

Today, I have been mostly cleaning up the paintwork on the Jaaaaaaag

 

 

T-Cunt Metallic, Autoglym Paintwork Renovator, then Meguiars 1,2 and 3. The car looked good before, but closer inspection showed a lot of swirliness and general gunge and shit in the paint. The pic doesn't really show it, but there's a real depth to the shine now, and the bodywork feels smooth to the touch. I reckon a lot of the muck on the car was due to the FAT BASTARD across the street not having had his chimney swept. Ever. Whenever he lights the fire it looks like a new Pope has been appointed.

[eddyramrod]

That looks like a right result Billy! Well spotted, well saved. OK, an old Corsa might be nothing to write home about but a save is a save, and it made a good story too. Let us know how it behaves when you've put it back together, won't you?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Corsa is a result indeed. I agree with the owner, I hate that so many repairable cars are scrapped (the majority even?) just because they're old and 'worthless'. Rich countries are so wasteful.

[greengartside]

TOP BOMBING, BILLY! That's bloody brilliant for the money. Heather Mills will be proud of you.

 

On a side-note, does anyone want my Peugeot 106 1.1? Taxed and tested and drives soup-erb, 5923646 MPG too. I can shower you with pictures if any of you are interested?

[Craig the Princess]

TOP BOMBING, BILLY! That's bloody brilliant for the money. Heather Mills will be proud of you.

 

On a side-note, does anyone want my Peugeot 106 1.1? Taxed and tested and drives soup-erb, 5923646 MPG too. I can shower you with pictures if any of you are interested?

 

No more cars for me but pics are alwasy good

[greengartside]

 

 

I'm looking for about 450 squid, or if anyone has a boring Focus or Zetec-S Fiesta they'd be willing to do a deal with then that'd be super smashing great.