The new news 24 thread

[LC Torana]

I've just done something car related but quite un-Autoshite, the result of which will be displayed in a couple of months time. Just off to put my trousers out, C U L8R.

 

Which veteran car are you entering in the London to Brighton giffer-rally?

[oldcars]

?

 

P.S Just like the old viva but completely different is a shite tag line

My Grandfather had a Viva, what a crying shame they have brought this Hyundai i10 copy out

[angle]

First time MOT pass, no advisories, comment from the tester about it being the cleanest Xantia he's seen. All good.

 

However, next month I'm going to be going abroad for six months, potentially more. So - do I do the sensible thing and try and sell it before I go, or do I listen to my girlfriend, stick it on my parents drive and hope all is well when I get back?

 

(The reason she doesn't want me to sell it - 'it goes up and down!')

[dollywobbler]

I drove a 'shiter's Honda Insight this week. Thanks Rory!

[Six-cylinder]

I have been to Silverstone today but very wet, to brighten the day I found they are using a fleet of 18 2CVs as courtesy cars!

 

[cort1977]

First time MOT pass, no advisories, comment from the tester about it being the cleanest Xantia he's seen. All good.

 

However, next month I'm going to be going abroad for six months, potentially more. So - do I do the sensible thing and try and sell it before I go, or do I listen to my girlfriend, stick it on my parents drive and hope all is well when I get back?

 

(The reason she doesn't want me to sell it - 'it goes up and down!')

What more reason do you need?

[Noel Tidybeard]

I drove a 'shiter's Honda Insight this week. Thanks Rory!

i also have access to a jazz hybrid which is a cvt

[Bobthebeard]

Have spent time working on the Mercury Sable recently. Most of the issues seem down to age and neglect thankfully. The paintwork has polished up nicely and the battle scars have been rattle canned, then polished with great success. Some of the electrical problems have been resolved by just cleaning up the contacts on various sensors. Stripped out some of the components in the engine bay, treated the surface rust underneath and re painted. Some of the electronic gubbins has been checked and new parts ordered from RockAuto. Next task is to drain and flush the cooling system. New coolant throughout. The car is basically very honest and solid, just needing a bucketload of TLC I think.

Never owned an American car before, but am a convert. Love it. Simple and basic engineering and good to work on.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Is this that white thing that eddyramraid was struggling with????

[Bobthebeard]

Is this that white thing that eddyramraid was struggling with????

Yep, the very same.

[Asimo]

After watching DW's test* of my car, just had to go for a zap around the lanes,   found this unhappy Jazz 

 

 

 

*Not top Gear, no falling pianos involved.

[HMC]

Transit news

 

The grey primer on various bits of repaired metalwork wanted a bit of topcoat to protect it (and smarten it up- although I quite liked the shabby look of the thing)

 

 

 

I dont have a lot of time at the mo, so in a bit of time grabbed after work I did a suitably shonky quick bit of prep......

 

 

And laid a few coats on of a rough approximation of BT grey on the front wing and rear arches. I found the paint in the garage, its not too bad a match. I also re instated a faded stripe that was down each flank...

 

 

 

I havent cut the paint back yet, but given budget (£0) and time limitations Its worked out not too badly.

[320touring]

Will look superb going down the strip:)

[Tetleysmooth]

I followed a Transit on the A2 coming out of Sarf London last night.

The company was called Drainmasters or something similar.

What got my attention though, was the reg. T13 POO.

Made me chuckle. A bright spot in a very traffic filled wet night.

[Lukas]

Today I got my beloved garage-queen back from my friends workshop. 

 

It´s got a new exhaust, the original 16-inch-wheels, new springs at the rear, a complete service, the paint got polished and the interieur cleaned professionally. 

 

So I guess it´s one of the best and most original Pajero L040 (Mk1) in Austria now. 

 

 

 

Lukas

[twosmoke300]

Beige cord seats - swoon !

[catsinthewelder]

Interesting day here,  set out this morning to fetch the Disco from the specialists*.  It was an easier fix than expected so some of the money I gave him was returned.  For £150 he has changed the radiator, expansion tank, coolant and most of the hoses which is far less than it would have cost me to buy them new from Britpart and fit them myself. 

 

On the way over there I missed a gear in the Cherry resulting in lots of revs and disturbing whatever bit of shite was in the fuel system and blocking up the carb.  After 10 minutes of cutting out in a pub carpark I'd limped into it seemed to suck it through and ran fine the rest of the way,  I must remember to put a new fuel filter on at some point.

 

On the way back we headed over the hills on a very steep single track road,  both cars down to 1st gear for most of the way up.  We passed an elderly farmer in an amazingly battered Daihatsu Fourtrack SWB pickup,  it was missing all forms of lighting on the back as well as it's tailboard and front numberplate.  The two overexited dogs were staying in the back more by luck than design and he didn't drive slowly.

 

Saw some really weird cars (see lazy spotters thread) in Knighton on the way home then met up with the buyer of my VW.  We fitted a new starter motor then once we'd established that it was a runner hooked it up to a borrowed A frame behind his work van.  We both drove a couple of laps around the estate with the other sat in the camper to check it was on securely then rewired his trailer board and off he went.

 

[dollywobbler]

Having looked at the weather forecast for tomorrow, I think the idea of driving several hours in the pouring rain, to ride on steam trains in the pouring rain is not appealing. Perhaps I'll stay at home and edit a video about a Volvo instead.

[Cavcraft]

Am today filling in the V62 for the Dyane. Bloomin' frustrating that it could easily be four weeks before I get a log book, and there's no way of legally driving the vehicle (and therefore taxing it) until it arrives.The car itself could be ready in a couple of weeks. I'd love to be able to take it to Anglesey for the 24-hour 2CV race (and public track session). But that's in four week's time.

 

Have you not got the new keeper's bit?

[trigger]

I went round the old man's today and spent some more time on project shitbox.

 

Finished fitting the new front pads so it's now got all new brakes up front and then we replaced the cambelt and water pump on it.

 

 

 

 

That all went well, we still have a problem with it running lumpy and cutting out, this could be a cross between stale fuel and a dodgy autochoke, we had a air lock in the system after replacing the coolent and we've also found the rad fan switch was given up as that needs replacing now too.

 

Another problem is the Focus alloys hit the shocks on the front due to a incorrect offset, I'll get some spacers for now just for the mot as I'm replacing them with these Cossie alloys that I got for £20, I'm refurbing them at the moment.

 

 

Mine you the Focus alloys were only £40 with good tyres that I will swap over. Here it is in its current state.

 

 

 

 

 

I've also fitted a old CD player i had laying around.

 

 

So that's it, I need to get a new battery for it it, this fan switch and then it's ready for welding and a mot...

[Cavcraft]

Lovely looking motor that, Trig, but those wheels 100% must go.

[Ghosty]

That's going to come up seriously well!

[dollywobbler]

Have you not got the new keeper's bit?

 

Nope. Previous owner lost the log book. And most of the seats. And the master cylinder (fortunately my spares stash revealed a replacement). 

[fordperv]

Nice jellymould trig, i must agree those focus wheels aren't nice on there, the lattice rims will look lovely though

[RobT]

20 quid for Cosworth alloys sounds a bargain, even if they do need a refurb.

[fordperv]

Today I spent a bit of time on my replacement bumper for my saph, one of the main problems with getting the correct 91 spec bumper is the fact that the side mounts are usually broken off due to the bolts being seized solid and people carry on swinging on them, a nice chap on the fsoc sorted me a bumper where the car had rotted away from the twist in plastic, so the bolts were still in the side mounts as no attempt of undoing had been made, they were stuck solid as well, over the past week I have been given liberal coatings of penetrating fluid, one Side came out OK but the other put up a fight and split where the captive goes but easily repairable. After i had sorted that then I went onto the main mount height adjusters so I could get it sitting spot on

 

 

 

 

 

Next up get some paint sorted

[trigger]

Yeah those alloys look proper wank now I've fitted them, but they were a cheaper option at £40 than buying new tyres for the steel wheels plus the 195/60/15 tyres should swap onto the Cossie wheels without any trouble, they have the centres too.

 

It should look quite smart after I've got it home and spent a day polishing it up and blacking the bumpers, it's not been polished for over 10 years!

[twosmoke300]

Cossie lattice wheels will look much nicer trig

[darkfour]

Finished off the exhaust today and checked it for leaks by filling it with water from the hosepipe. There were only 2 small pinprick holes and these were soon fixed. Just have the grind down the welds on the inside of the pipe at the manifold end as they are way too thick (not my welding) and turned the 2" pipe into an 1 1/2" which is way too restrictive.

 

 

Started on patching the floor. Originally I was going to cut out the bad parts and then butt weld in the new repair sections but the existing floor is really thin and difficult to weld, So I treated the rust patches with a coat of rust remover, then a coat of red oxide paint. I'm just plating over the top of them now. The patches that are already painted were done by the previous owner.

 

 

 

I also sold the go kart this morning for $400, making about $100 profit on it in the process. I'm hoping that I can spend it on new floor pans for the Dart Convertible but Mrs DF may have other ideas.

[320touring]

FTW!