The new news 24 thread

[dugong]

Because of a twitchy eBay bidding finger, I'm now the owner of this giffer-pinballed Autozam (AKA Mazda MX-3). 
Despite the parking dents it was cheap enough for a punt.

The paint's badly pogweaseled and there's a blow in the exhaust - not that this detracts from the glorious noise it makes cracking on for the redline. Despite the specification (1.8-litre V6 with 24 valves) it's not incredibly quick but more than makes up for this with smoothness. I'm not used to a peaky lump that does nothing until 4000RPM - then the VVT kicks in and swings round to the redline happily. Handling's tidy too, despite the tyre pressures being all over the place. 

 

It's not staying in the fleet for too long but I'm pleased I've had the chance to own one. I reckon a bit of detailing will see this sell again for what I paid. 

 

[rml2345]

Never have much luck with taxi drivers...
In shite news, today was quite productive. I broke a tail light the other day due to being a clumsy oaf so set off in the direction of Paisley Autobreakers in search of a replacement. Unfortunatley they didn't have one but I did manage to get a couple of bits to make the Volvo a wee bit more complete. Then a trip to Scotland's most thorough hand car wash had it shining like a new penny.

 

 

Next to the Jet garage on Hawkhead road, Paisley if you're ever in the area. 
Anyway. Then it was off to meet Andy CMS who very kindly arranged to borrow the inspection pit at the workshop for oil changing shenanigans which caused some hilarity* when we couldn't get the oil filter off. Glad it's all done though, especially since the stuff that came out was utterly mockit black.
Evening rounded off with seeing the blue 345 of much potential. It's a bit of a time warp motor really,
Next time on SVM news... Underseal; How easy is it to remove from beards?

[Craig the Princess]

Standing at March station at 05:40 waiting for this first train to collect the Saab rear windscreen. Too cold.

[Craig the Princess]

Yippee, it is my favorite train, 170103. Favourite because the windscreen wipers and washers work in the rear cab.

[Craig the Princess]

From good to better, the 08.12 to Bristol is an HST. Just bumped into my old course tutor on the train to, nice to catch up

[Asimo]

 

New set of tyres last week, the fourth the car has ever had.

 

First time the spare has been used.

 

Shame SWMBO didn't stop 10 miles earlier. 

 

 

[dugong]

Recorded some MX-3 noise (it's definitely the car's best feature, although I like the looks as well).

 

Stationary revving when up to temperature: https://soundcloud.com/stalin-will-eat-my-volvo/mx-3-rev-range

From 2nd to 5th, through the rev range: https://soundcloud.com/stalin-will-eat-my-volvo/mx-3-2nd-to-5th

[Craig the Princess]

Arrived, paid for screen, nice chat with the seller and caught the train due to leave 1 minute later as it was five minutes late. Hopefully that will save me an hours waiting. It is ask going far too well, something is bound to go wrong.

[Shep Shepherd]

Had the cambelt and auxiliary belts on The Wentworth replaced by my local garage today, as I intend to drive the car to the Netherlands next weekend and I have no idea when they were last changed. I suspect that as all of the belts were Volvo-branded and in the case of the auxiliary belts were cracking quite badly between their teeth (the cambelt looked okay), they had been on the car since the early to mid 2000s...

[Asimo]

Drizzly November afternoon, just right for a visit to a scrapyard; looking for steel wheels for my Connect van.

 

£50 for two dirty ones seemed a bit much. I'd want clean wheels and good tyres for £50.

 

Depressingly, an algae covered purple Avantime is the first car inside the gate, sinking into the mud.

[Craig the Princess]

Home after 12 1/2 hours, managed not to break the screen on the way back but my phone charger was left on the HST and is now in Plymouth.

[tooSavvy]

£50 for two dirty ones seemed a bit much. I'd want clean wheels and good tyres for £50.

 

...£50 got me 4.. and they took the tyres off for me (don't ask the state of them... black & round!)

 

 

 

Lovelly

 

TS

[Volksy]

Been pratting about in the rain with The Wifes* 306 yet again. Managed to fix the interior door handle and get the radiator fan to run, it's on with the ignition at the moment until I can get a new switch for it next week. I'm hoping that he doesn't manage to break anything else on it, as it's getting a bit silly now. 

[mat_the_cat]

Finished my first week in the new job...all seems good so far - decent people to work with, plenty of technical challenges, and they make some interesting things (mainly military stuff like night vision and head up displays). I got some feedback from my interview too, and apparently they'd never seen anyone so relaxed before! Must have hid the nerves well...

 

Best bit: had a full fried breakfast this morning, plus cheese on toast all for the grand sum of £1.55. Subsidised canteen FTW

[brickwall]

Subsidised canteen? Lucky so-and-so

[Bobthebeard]

Finished my first week in the new job...all seems good so far - decent people to work with, plenty of technical challenges, and they make some interesting things (mainly military stuff like night vision and head up displays). I got some feedback from my interview too, and apparently they'd never seen anyone so relaxed before! Must have hid the nerves well...

 

Best bit: had a full fried breakfast this morning, plus cheese on toast all for the grand sum of £1.55. Subsidised canteen FTW

Lovely. Sounds like a proper old school factory/works.

Just like it should be! I really miss working for Lucas Automotive back in the day.... All different now of course

[cobblers]

Little stuff like that can make or break a job! Working at a Next warehouse while I was in uni was a shit job on paper, but due to some discrepancies with the performance/bonus system and the fact that I was always put on the 2 man lift stuff with another lad and we just split the work 50/50,  we were working at 160% efficiency (40% off for massive slacking, razzing pallet trucks round like scooters and making statues out of parcel tape and documents enclosed labels), I came home with about £800-900 a month for 15 hours work I've never been as flush since!

 

The best part was the canteen though. Chip butty with cheese and gravy -  50p. Full english was about £1.25. I didn't start while 9am, but I would be there at about 7am without fault so I could get loads of snap down me and then have an hours kip in a pallet of expensive cushions down the bad end of the warehouse.

 

Nowadays I have to walk to the scabby burger van up the road and pay £5 for a manky breakfast in a box, and I've nowhere to sleep.

[cort16]

I loved working in a place with a canteen. One of the guys at work ended up in the prs( music money place ) and they've got a top chef running their canteen . It's all quals eggs and whales treacle ravioli and all that fancy gear but it's 3 quid a pop . I think he just had chips.

[Pillock]

We had a subsidised canteen but the prices started to creep up, so before I went field based I was just eating Chips 'n' Beans every day like some 12 year old at school. Even had some fruit crumble and custard you had to peel the skin back on if desired.

 

Now I sometimes head down to that big place with the M25 cordon around it, and have pretty much the same for three times the price.

[dieselassist]

Today...got a call from my uncle, whos also 'a welder' - hes on his 'week off' - 3 weeks on one week off working in shetlands isles 'pipe fitting' ; his 01 Merc CDi C series had previously shat his its engine, injectors the lot before he started this job; anyways he decided to combine the flight into Dublin n trip down to Tipperary here by storrping off to have a look at 2003 shitroen C5 'diesel' he spotted online (gumtree probably) - he just met the lad at a filing station in Kildare, test drove it briefly, haggled n paid the cash... a bit down the motorway n up to temp - theres a 'very loud' knocking from the engine; he tried ringing the seller back up, but no answer from the phone..... he landed home n tried again to ring the seller- again no answer...

he was stressing quite a bit, some came round to mine to see if I could diagnose the problem but I was down the lock up welding up aged Volkswagen(s)... according to my brother here, his plan is to leave the 'new' C5 with me for the 3 weeks hes back in Scotland n see if I can diagnose the problem... so it looks like I'll be spinning about in said C5 n enjoying daysul enconomy again (hal-lay-loo-yah!!! catch ye laterz 35mpg Merc 190E!!) daily... in order to roadtest what might be the problem... probably a shagged engine mount/front suspension link Im thinking/hoping... anyone any prior experiences of doom with these... has some warning lights on , on the dash my brother said - but they all light up like a las vagas slot machine, dashes in them, im told...

[dollywobbler]

Nice one Mat!

 

As for the C5, engine knock could be very bad news, but I imagine Drop Link or wishbone bush are very real possibilities. I don't think a world of warning lights is a general feature...

[dieselassist]

Im thinking a simple oil change might do it some good; brother looked at it (he has decent mechanical knowledge but shys away away from getting too involved these days) - said it sounded very very tappety ' like a 1970's menopausal 140wpm typist woman whos lunchtime coffee had been spiked with speed)...er, typing, before the engine started to knock n jiggle about like a washingmachine with the concrete brick removed, drowning out the tappet/speed-typing sound...

[320touring]

Vulva v70 2.0..

 

Slower than a week in the Bar-l or pleasant relaxed express of the gentleman?

[Noel Tidybeard]

Lovely. Sounds like a proper old school factory/works.

Just like it should be! I really miss working for Lucas Automotive back in the day.... All different now of course

ahhhh lucas aerospace maston green- never been able to get toast quite like the canteen there when i was at the training school

[Sloth in a bowl]

Today...got a call from my uncle, whos also 'a welder' - hes on his 'week off' - 3 weeks on one week off working in shetlands isles 'pipe fitting' ; his 01 Merc CDi C series had previously shat his its engine, injectors the lot before he started this job; anyways he decided to combine the flight into Dublin n trip down to Tipperary here by storrping off to have a look at 2003 shitroen C5 'diesel' he spotted online (gumtree probably) - he just met the lad at a filing station in Kildare, test drove it briefly, haggled n paid the cash... a bit down the motorway n up to temp - theres a 'very loud' knocking from the engine; he tried ringing the seller back up, but no answer from the phone..... he landed home n tried again to ring the seller- again no answer...

he was stressing quite a bit, some came round to mine to see if I could diagnose the problem but I was down the lock up welding up aged Volkswagen(s)... according to my brother here, his plan is to leave the 'new' C5 with me for the 3 weeks hes back in Scotland n see if I can diagnose the problem... so it looks like I'll be spinning about in said C5 n enjoying daysul enconomy again (hal-lay-loo-yah!!! catch ye laterz 35mpg Merc 190E!!) daily... in order to roadtest what might be the problem... probably a shagged engine mount/front suspension link Im thinking/hoping... anyone any prior experiences of doom with these... has some warning lights on , on the dash my brother said - but they all light up like a las vagas slot machine, dashes in them, im told...

 

 

Dual mass flywheel shagged?

[Volksy]

Vulva v70 2.0..

 

Slower than a week in the Bar-l or pleasant relaxed express of the gentleman?

The 2.0l 20v 850 was no tarmac ripper by any means, but could haul itself around reasonably well. 

[beko1987]

Having a fag and a cuppa before I start on the meriva. Realised last night that its an easier job up on stands with a front wheel off, so I have to lay on the floor rather than lay on the floor and have a bit of height. Could be fun*

[cort16]

eBay car bid bidding tactics

 

Lob in your max bid days before the auction and sit back and wait?

 

Hover anxiously seconds before the auction ends adding in bid increments of 1.29 trying outfox your other bidders at the last second?

[Jazoli]

eBay car bid bidding tactics

 

Lob in your max bid days before the auction and sit back and wait?

 

Hover anxiously seconds before the auction ends adding in bid increments of 1.29 trying outfox your other bidders at the last second?

 

Use a sniping program such as Mybidder auction sniper and sit back and wait, no last minute nerves, you set your max well in advance, it also helps stop you bidding up what you are buying and you stand a better chance of winning it at a lower price as your bid goes in 5 seconds before the end.

[Jazoli]

Going to look at a Rover 25 this morning, any common faults I should be aware of? or are they best avoided altogether?