The new news 24 thread

[phil_lihp]

Yes, and I've been meaning to get one since I bought the car but hadn't got around to it.

 

I are muppet.

[meggersdog]

Went for a trundle in the old series Land Rover today......It was a short trip.

Before I get out of the village there's another bloody wasp buzzing about.Opening the door wide at the traffic calming did the trick.I carried on and, bugger, there's another.Decided to turn tail and head back home.By the time I got home there were three wasps in the cab.Doesn't matter how good at hibernating you are a two and a quarter diesel Land Rover with no sound deadening at full chat is going to wake you up if you're inside it.

Back home and a dose of RAID around the inner roof gutters should do the trick.A rather groggy wasp crawled out of the heater vent,then another.I'd run out of spray by this time so walked to the local shop and purchased the one only can of RAID.When I got back two wasps that flew out of the open door were trying to get back in.There were more inside (not looking good) so new can ready I sprayed into the heater vents.Bonnet up and a large dose around the heater then under the passenger side wing.There is probably a nest somewhere in the heater system.I was going to use the Land Rover this week but that aint happening.

After half an hour all seemed quiet.With half a can of RAID between my legs I set off back to the field.One eye on the road and the other on the heater vents who knew driving an old Land Rover could be so exciting.

[Richard]

Wasps won't reuse a nest and they won't build another nest near an existing one so you should just have a few survivors to deal with. The first hard frost should see them off.

[EssDeeWon]

those meteor wheels haz much niceness

 

I know i'm in the minority, but I just dont like em. Connoisseur's should have crown alloys plus the 17" meteors give quite a firm ride.

[twosmoke300]

Volvo 700/900 owners must carry a spare fuel pump relay with them AT ALL TIMES. It's pretty much the only thing which can make a boxy Volvo fail to proceed.

The same as all Saab 9-5 drivers should carry a direct ignition pack , crank sensor and a torx 30 key.

[The Moog]

Spent a few hours on the civic. Fitted a new earth and now I have a working radio. I need to buy an Ariel adapter to get the radio working.

 

Fitted reversing sensors, a job which was mega quick thanks to Honda making life easy. Finally changed the power steering fluid. Jobs left are oil change, replace rww, decide whether to replace the front right tyre or get a full new set, renew brake fluid,replace locking wheel nuts with normal ones and potentially timing belt.

[hazzalandy]

I washed the Land Rover's bodywork, so that for the first time in 18 months it is as clean as the underside. Shame that half of the paint migrated to warmer climes...

[scruff]

Must be a day for it, I "washed" my Land Rover's engine albeit with neat petrol as I fucked around with the SU fuel pump. TICK TICK TICK

[HMC]

Taken the a6 over to Germany to see family. Went via the Harwich/ hook of holland ferry, the car turning over 242,000 during the trip and ran well. On its original turbo, whenever I drop a gear and see wisps of sooty smoke in the rear view mirror I wonder how much longer it will reliably spool up and hope that it doesn't die on me at that moment. Some debris flew up and cracked the screen which is right on the border of where the mot man will be looking in January. Negligible oil use, but it has got into the habit of dumping a very small piddle of coolant from under the rad after a long run, which will need looking into. Various bits of plastic cladding hide the edges of the rad shell at the bottom where I think it's dribbling from.

 

Had a detour in holland after which we convoyed with me bring given the keys to this...

 

Which was blisteringly quick, draining the tank in process. In fact on the day, the quicker car point to point was the tired old audi, the wife passing us as we stopped to fill the tank again in the thirsty 911. Hardly autoshite ( although this one had a dodgy gearbox) but these seem to be the slightly less expensive way into one of these. Until gearbox starts playing up.

 

A hare and a tortoise

[hazzalandy]

Must be a day for it, I "washed" my Land Rover's engine albeit with neat petrol as I fucked around with the SU fuel pump. TICK TICK TICK

I have a spare one, if you need one then you are welcome to it.

[RobT]

I went for a stroll earlier to find where my new lock-up is. The HA were a bit vague as to where it is specifically, but I think I found the correct block and it looks average. Not as good a set up as my current one which is in a gated area underneath flats, but the bonus is I can walk there in 20 minutes rather than drive 6 miles. I pick the keys up Wednesday and will keep both for the timebeing as I bet the new one is damp as fuck, not sure I want the Metro in there long term if it is. It'll be a handy storage solution for hiding shite from the missus if nothing else!

 

Then later whilst thinking about it I went and checked on the Metro to make sure it was still there. As usual the old chap fired up instantly despite not being used for two months. Took it for a quick blez around the block and then papped a few pics of this BL & ARG combo together.

 

 

In other news, my offer wasn't accepted on an early Cavalier CDi I was hoping to get, but have now got my sights on a Mazda 626 GC on Trigger's manor...

[oman5]

Looking at it, compared to some of BLs 70s stuff, the metro is quite a stylish looker I reckon

[Honey Badger]

Spent a few hours on the civic. Fitted a new earth and now I have a working radio. I need to buy an Ariel adapter to get the radio working.

Fitted reversing sensors, a job which was mega quick thanks to Honda making life easy. Finally changed the power steering fluid. Jobs left are oil change, replace rww, decide whether to replace the front right tyre or get a full new set, renew brake fluid,replace locking wheel nuts with normal ones and potentially timing belt.

 

Hope you used the proper Honda power steering fluid on it, anything else usually leads to steering issues PDQ.

 

Dunno what's in it to be honest but I've heard tales of loosing the self centering of the steering and the pumps getting knackered pretty quick if anything else is used.

[dugong]

Have now done two reasonably long distance trips in the MX-3. Managed 31 mpg - the K8 V6s are known for being dismal on fuel. Sounded nice, like.

[The Moog]

Hope you used the proper Honda power steering fluid on it, anything else usually leads to steering issues PDQ.

 

Dunno what's in it to be honest but I've heard tales of loosing the self centering of the steering and the pumps getting knackered pretty quick if anything else is used.

Nope it was general fluid. Have now ordered proper Honda stuff and will replace it as soon as possible. Thanks for the advice

[Volksy]

The remote fuel filler release has broken on the Celica, not sure if the cable has snapped or it's just come off the lever. Managed to get it open after five mins of cursing in the petrol station. Looks a proper pig to replace if it has snapped!

[stuboy]

popped top bapchild to collect a desk chair..

 

stopped at friends for coffee.. hers is one rare citrine on the road and his hopefully next year

then passed my old house which my friends moved into

 

almost snap..

[montytom]

I must admit the first car I could drive on the road was a Rover metro-Such fun.

I really wouldnt mind a Metro again Great pics sir

[Bobthebeard]

Rather than just hooning around and doing local trips on my own, Mrs Beard and I have just used the Prelude in a meaningful way! We were booked in at a hotel 100 or so miles away, the hotel didn't take dogs so dog at dogminders.

"Can we go in my car?" I tentatively asked. "Suppose so, will it break down" being the answer.

WooHoo! Off we went on a 200 odd mile return journey with suitcases. The car did just what it was designed to do! I loved every minute. Plus it didn't break down of course. Mrs Beard actually commented on how comfortable and capable the car was. Perhaps she now 'understands' .

[drum]

Front drop link on the alfa has broken at some point in the last month. How would this have affected the handling?

 

Total pain taking it off thanks to the silly 5mm allen bolts and lack of access to the bottom end. Thought I was going to have to drop the lower wishbone to get at it.

[trigger]

now got my sights on a Mazda 626 GC on Trigger's manor...

 

Tell me more!

[AlabamaShrimp]

I can haz welder! Smaller than I thought and the regulator it comes with is crap but it's a starting point

[fordperv]

spent a couple of hours today changing the fuel tank on my saph as it started leaking at the seam, i think its not done bad lasting for 22 years these were rotting out at 10 years old, so drained the tank and went to undo, the stupid ford fixings did their usual trick of braking the captive and just spinning, id rather the bolts have snapped instead because i needed to now cut the bolts off, mmmm angle grinder which spits sparks in an enclosed area where there is petrol fumes and the tank has petrol residue on it, so i wiped the tank over and got my hose pipe out and had it close at hand just in case, luckily it wasn't needed and upon refitting i used stainless nuts and bolts to aid in any future removal of the tank.

 

the new tank even came with a coat of paint on it which made me smile, here it is next to the old one, the only difference between the genuine and non genuine is the non genuine has a round metal swirl pot instead of a square plastic one

 

[Shep Shepherd]

Just returned from a weekend in south-west Holland with The Wentworth:

 

 

A trouble-free trip, although the car's driver's side headlamp bulb blew somewhere near Antwerp on the drive out. Easily remedied with a spare bulb I had in the boot

[Richard]

One of my colleagues made the news last night, as the driver of the white Transit van and, I think, the man who was taken to hospital. http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/news/local/man-in-hospital-after-four-vehicle-crash-on-a90-1.709136He ran into the back of a queue at what must have been quite a speed as he took out another three cars. I've always wondered how the bulkheads on these vans would cope with half a tonne's worth of 20kg weights wanting to come through- adequately it seems.

 

This is what a Transit looks like after it's taken out three other cars. The passenger compartment is completely intact, quite impressive when you consider they have quite a short nose. Company branding edited out using the very latest in potato technology.

 

 

 

One of our other engineers was shot the day before this happened so it was a bit of a weekus horribilis all round.

[RobT]

Errr, one of your engineers was shot? This country etc....

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Mini was behaving oddly, but only sometimes. Turned out the jiggle pin in the thermostat was getting jammed in the spring, preventing it from closing. But only sometimes. Very strange, considering that thermostat has been in the car for at least five years. Solved by pulling out jiggle pin and throwing it away. 

 

Also got a new temp sender for the Colt for £4.60 which broke while I was fitting it. Then it turned out not to be the problem anyway. 

 

Win some, lose some.

[Richard]

Errr, one of your engineers was shot? This country etc....

He only started with us a few weeks ago too. Apparently it was somebody in the next unit pissing about with an air rifle when he happened to walk past. He's ok, but the pellet is still in his arm. Glasgow isn't what it used to be.

[RobT]

Tell me more!

I think it's Felixstowe way and has had the same owner for the last 14 years. He's done a fair bit of work to it over the years such as new sills, recent headgasket and various other bits, so it's a car that's been used rather than a low mileage minter. He sent me some pics the other day but his mechanic has first refusal, so this is another car I'll no doubt miss out on.

 

 

Check out the interior!!

 

 

He has an insurance value of £800, but I'd say that's a snadge too much considering it's been welded in the past and has a few other bodywork issues. But then I've not much idea what 80s Jap stuff is worth really.

[trigger]

I think that's the one i saw on the back of a recovery truck a few weeks back.

 

 

I met the old boy who owns it at one of my meets during the summer, He came across as a bit mad, he's said that he'd recently got it back on the road and was planning on running it on a shoestring budget and was looking for someone who had parts for it.

 

It was a little scruff to be honest although I'm sure it would clean up well.

 

I've just found another photo of it.