The new news 24 thread

[Six-cylinder]

 

I hate cars, I was going to take the MGB GT out this evening for a nice run to a MG meeting in Pinner, 100mile round trip just right for a summers evening and now it won't start. This time I can't hear the petrol pump working.

[captain_70s]

This appeared on my local sale/swap page.

It is 1969 and what he wants is ridiculous (he said it's worth £15k) but he wants quick sale. Ticket until mid August. Apparently all welded up.

Will go and have a look tomorrow, probably make a stupid offer but happy to pass over any info to anybody interested.

Worth £1500 on a good day assuming it's all solid and runs nicely.

 

 

Got a filter and oil change done on the 1300 today in a vain attempt to stop the oil light from flickering, engine still makes horrendous knocking sounds, it's only a matter of time. Also still has no exhaust, I bought a downpipe from a company with a name rhyming with "Bimmer Rros", have been told it's so wrong it'd be practically impossible to reshape and I can't return it because I've had it over 28 days so am now £55 down and need to shell out £100 for a custom made downpipe in stainless.

 

Current plan is to cut it up, hammer it flat and fashion it into repair plates for the 1850's chassis legs...

 

I also gave the engine bay a wipe down with a rag, didn't realise just how grimey it was, now it looks much better. Also noticed the big air hose for the heater blower had come off the bulkhead which might explain why the de-fogging is so fucking dire...

[320touring]

I hate cars, I was going to take the MGB GT out this evening for a nice run to a MG meeting in Pinner, 100mile round trip just right for a summers evening and now it won't start. This time I can't hear the petrol pump working.

'it it wit an 'ammer! a gentle tap* can often free a stuck oump

[stillOrange]

Owner called me and I just came back from viewing it.

He wants £1,200. Apparently it was a part of swap deal and he knocked off £1,500 as part exchange.

Paintwork is cracked all over, patched and pretty much every panel needs some serious work. If he doesn't move it out of that growing grass, it will be eaten very quickly.

Engine has a leak and he unfortunately couldn't start it up. MOT runs out in a month but there was only one silly advisory on the previous one.

 

I've made him a stupid offer that was countered by telling me that he already said no to an offer double of mine.

 

Ah well.

[captain_70s]

Owner called me and I just came back from viewing it

Worth £600 on a good day assuming he can get the thing to run...

[danthecapriman]

The scimitar already has a remote servo fitted as standard! and if you think Scimitar brakes are bad you should try driving a Rebel!

 

My main reason fitting electronic ignition is mainly for easy maintenance, I've still got the standard autochoke on mine and it has always been a bit of a pig to start from cold. So having a car that goes first turn of the key without pumping the accelerator and swearing is actually a bit of a shock.

 

I'm also aware that over the last 4 years I've not given the points and condenser as much love as I possibly could have... My engine has the improved Bosch distributor which is a bit awkward to get the condenser out of due to an external screw, the close proximity to the carb and lots of autochoke hoses running in the area which make it impossible to get a screwdriver in there. I also think that the scimitars hot engine bay temperatures take their toll on the condensers.

 

Todays run seemed pretty good, I suppose I'll have to wait and see if any of the other claimed improvements are noticeable over the next few weeks.

I put an electronic ignition kit on my Mercury and it made a big improvement even on a car with what turned out to have a badly worn engine. Starting up was miles better.

I'm going to get one for my Capri at some point (Ford dizzy). The points and condenser in that have been untouched for years, I only change them now if they fail. Apparently new ones are crap quality and might even be faulty out of the box. The best thing IMHO is to get rid of them altogether if possible.

[TagoraSX]

Which of these electronic ignition kits is the one to go for?

 

I'm thinking of fitting one to the SD1

[Craig the Princess]

Managed to release the seat base of the Princess from its slanty locked down in the front corner position. The tilt lever seems to only work on a toothed pawl on the rear of the seat but the front also has the toothed pawl. The one on the left of the seat had somehow got locked onto the bottom tooth. A little persuasion with a screwdriver freed it.

 

 

Seats went back in, what total bastards. Trying to get the bolt to go through the seat washer and floor was a total pain in the 'arris.

After squashing fingers and having three bolts that went tight well before reaching the seat to it wobbled the bolts were swapped for Metro ones from the spare bolts tub which have a locating bit at the end of the bolt to start you off.

 

 

 

 

 

P

 

Purple heaven.

 

 

Also fixed the connector I forgor to take off the seat when removing it so pulling the fasten seat belts light sensor wires out with bullet connectors. Need to find the replacement steering column we acquired but have since lost or a replacement ignition barrel as the car came without one. After that sort an exhaust (new front section is here but need to find a back section) and whack her in for an MoT. The wheel arches will need repair but want to see what else they find first.

 

Also Peter's Metro City X was weled by our local tame (and cheap) welder.

The front valance was a little frilly and there was a gapping hole in the driver's floor. Once cut out the Jacking point fell off, this was also rusty beyond redemption so replaced with fresh box section.

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

Top tip on the Metro seat bolts.  I use the tiniest bit of copper grease to help the Princess ones go in properly and come out easier when I inevitably take the seats out AGAIN.

[danthecapriman]

Which of these electronic ignition kits is the one to go for?

 

I'm thinking of fitting one to the SD1

Couldn't say which is best, there's lots of manufacturers and different types.

I've got a Pertronix set up in the Mercury, it was a bit more expensive than some others but it seemed to fit very well and really was piss easy to install.

 

There's some Rover SD1 ones on here:

http://www.simonbbc.com/electronic-ignition-kits?sort=20a&filter_id=19

 

Accuspark:

http://www.accuspark.co.uk/?gclid=CJnNmPDwycYCFaPnwgodTlYDog

[dollywobbler]

I did another video. I reckon it needs more cutting to different angles. Was going to head out to get those shots earlier, but miraculously, it wasn't raining. CONTINUITY FAIL.

[purplebargeken]

Have used Accuspark before and would recommend. 

[Sloth in a bowl]

Lets have a look at what I saw on the M40 on the way home.

 

Smoke

 

 

The Fire crew turn up (I was 7th in the row when the road was closed)

 

 

They ran out of water so had to order one of these

 

 

Which turned up on the Southbound carrageway

 

 

Eventually (after another reload from the water tender) then the coach was damped down

 

 

That was an extra hour of entertainment that I wasn't expecting.

[TagoraSX]

New arrival at Tagora Towers.

 

[Inspector Morose]

That looks suspiciously like a coach on fire.

 

(well obviously not the hear)

[vulgalour]

Nugget the Corsa's radio started working.  HOORAY!  Then it didn't.  Then it did, but only after it had been on for a few minutes.  Then it didn't.  Then it worked fine again.  Mike's still trying to figure this one out.  He had the fuses out and checked connections, all seems as it should be and refitting the fuses saw immediate working of the radio before it went back to being randomly intermittent.

 

 

Xantia has two brake niggles, and I got some suggestions as to what might be amiss.  Once a month for about 3 seconds the brake pedal will judder underfoot almost but not quite like the ABS coming on.  Suggestion here is that it could be a cracked ABS ring.  The other niggle is the first brake of the day doesn't always result in any braking at all, that's been suggested to be a loose or damaged vacuum pipe from the diesel equivalent of the brake servo.  Both things to investigate.  The niggles are so rare and cause no issue that I've not investigated further just yet.

[Inspector Morose]

erm, the Xantia doesn't have a brake servo. or vacuum pipes. I'd be looking at the no baking rather pronto as it'll be hydraulic related

[andy18s]

Lets have a look at what I saw on the M40 on the way home.

 

Smoke

 

 

The Fire crew turn up (I was 7th in the row when the road was closed)

 

 

They ran out of water so had to order one of these

 

 

Which turned up on the Southbound carrageway

 

 

Eventually (after another reload from the water tender) then the coach was damped down

 

 

That was an extra hour of entertainment that I wasn't expecting.

 

Was the coach hogging the middle lane perchance?   

[Inspector Morose]

If it was, it was probably stuck behind two lorries doing the 56.00000000001mph vs 56.00000000002mph overtaking manoeuvre.

[catsinthewelder]

Also on the M40 today was the Cinema coach.

 

I've been really lucky traffic wise today, set off at 7:20 dropped stuff off at Chatham Docks and back in Ludlow by 4:30. Seen loads of traffic bother on the opposite side of the road including a burnt out BMW compact and a Focus in a bush (both M40).

 

Nearly got the VW started this evening, potential buyers seemed impressed and made a decent offer. Tempted to fix it, MOT it and up the price though.

[trigger]

Nipped over the old chaps and done some more on the Sierra, I'm sure it's trying to test me, first I replaced the wipers only to find the rear one was the wrong size, then started on the rear brakes, the rear brake hose I bought was too short and that needs replacing.

 

Next we had a ball ache trying to get the handbrake cable to attach to the shoes, we also found the brake pipe on the other side is also corroded and needs replacing, the worse job was trying to replace the CV boot, what a arse.

 

 

 

The hole in the rear brake plate seems smaller than the joint and wouldn't come and we could split the joint to get the boot, Haynes says you have to smash the casing to bits and replace it, I think I'll just get a split glue on boot instead! Bloody thing.

[vulgalour]

The no braking one is odd.  It really is only the very first brake of the day, and not every day, worse when it's wet.  You put your foot on the pedal and there's the usual resistance but no actual braking effort.  Apply a second time and it's normal.  Some days it won't do it, you can go weeks and not experience it, so it's really peculiar.  It won't do it again for the rest of the day and the car has to have been at rest for at least ten hours before it'll repeat at the worst.  If you press the brake pedal before setting off it also doesn't do it.  I don't really understand the braking system on the Xantia and thought there must be some sort of servo or vacuum system in addition to the hydraulics as did those that offered the suggestion.

 

I might have to go to Citromatics, pick their brains about it since they know these cars inside out and are on my doorstep.  I'm not worrying about it because it's never a problem.  The sticking calliper has stopped sticking lately too so if anything the brakes are better than usual.

[Ghosty]

New arrival at Tagora Towers.

 

 

Bastard! I've been out-quattro'd.

[Jon]

Nice result there TagoraSX, I'm assuming it's a manual? I know you've been holding out for one of those for a while and having seen the rest of your collection, I'm guessing this is a good'un. I still miss the noise of STUNO's one when we had it on long term loan, just a shame that the acoustics were at their best at slightly naughty speeds. I don't miss parking it though (especially in the garage) as they're a deceptively massive car. I had to have a major tidy of the garage just to squeeze it in!

 

Please post some interior shots, as 'ours' had a leather interior out of a later S6, which was disappointingly lacking in 80's-ness. 

[dollywobbler]

Vulg - I had this just once in the XM after accidentally hitting the brake pedal before the system had pressurised. I gave it a good bleed (absolute piece of piss on a hydro Cit) and it has been fine since. The braking is entirely via the hydraulic system.

[Bren]

New arrival at Tagora Towers.

 

 

You are Timothy Dalton in the living daylights and I claim my £5.

[beko1987]

Mine used to jack its arse up if i sat on the brakes for a few minutes at a lunction. Must have pressurised itself somehow

[hairnet]

You are Timothy Dalton in the living daylights and I claim my £5.

sidellights different bumpers different wrapover bonnet [pedant]

[Skizzer]

That 200 quattro looks stunning, great buy.  

 

sidellights different bumpers different wrapover bonnet [pedant]

 

Sidelights, bumpers and bonnet same I think, but 007's had BBS split rims and mildly flared arches, and no front wing repeaters [/even more pedant]

 

 

I prefer yours, TSX.

[vulgalour]

Well that was fortunate.  The new glow plug relay arrived this morning and the second-hand one I had fitted conked out.  New one fitted and the car takes less time to be ready for the key turn and so far today has been utterly reliable with no clicking from the relay.  I hope that's an end to the matter.  I do not like doing under-bonnet jobs in the rain in the street.