The new news 24 thread

[dollywobbler]

Well, the BX seems better today. Sure, I had to pump the primer to get it started in town (after parking it nose-up on a hill) but the brakes are behaving and the steering feels better after a drop of Hydraflush (I only had a bit knocking about as most of it is in the Mk1).

[RobT]

 

Oh yes, Our BX has clutch issues and the blower knobs are at best iffy

 

Glad I'm not the only one then, what's up with yours? Mine is heavy but engages fine, I'm tired of explaining this to various bellends who phone up wanting to view it. Blower and heater on mine are all fine though thankfully.

[Ross_K]

I need a new desktop, current one freezes long and often, only use it for banking and printing these days.

 

 

Looks nice

 

My Grandad had a hifi that looked like that.

 

If (or when) I get paid this month I shall be mostly turning one of these into a touchscreen Windows 7 jukebox:

[dollywobbler]

I think BX clutches always tend to be heavy. Same for the Pug 306 DTurbo I had a few years back. They can apparently get heavier when they're about to fail - ie before they start slipping - but they're never exactly feather light.

[Shep Shepherd]

The Volvo passed its eighth MOT test in my ownership today, with only one advisory for a chip in the driver's side headlamp lens, which I covered with lens repair tape last spring in lieu of fitting a good used replacement lens* - it is just about visible in this photo:

 

 

Pretty amazing considering I didn't check the car in any way before I submitted it for inspection. Volvo 700s FTW

 

 

 

*With great difficulty I managed to find a replacement lens on eBay, but it is covered in fine rub marks from a worn headlamp wiper. What's the best DIY way to remove such marks?

[catsinthewelder]

 

Mine appears to stretch cables to breaking point with alarming regularity,

 

I must get round to adjusting the bleeding thing again as the gears are so tricky that Ms C is refusing to drive it.

[dollywobbler]

If it's stretching cables, that does suggest something amiss. I think the pivots can seize but could well be that the clutch is on its last legs. I've not had one snap cables! Well, apart from my first one which also snapped the pedal box...

[vulgalour]

I managed to find a replacement lens on eBay, but it is covered in fine rub marks from a worn headlamp wiper. What's the best DIY way to remove such marks?

 

Fit headlamp wipers? That's probably what I'd do, then nobody will be any the wiser. Plus, headlamp wipers are for winners, and you want to be a winner, right? Course you do!

[Shep Shepherd]

I managed to find a replacement lens on eBay, but it is covered in fine rub marks from a worn headlamp wiper. What's the best DIY way to remove such marks?

 

Fit headlamp wipers? That's probably what I'd do, then nobody will be any the wiser. Plus, headlamp wipers are for winners, and you want to be a winner, right? Course you do!

 

I took the wipers, their motors and their attendant pipework off the car in July 2006 after yet another unsuccessful attempt to get them to work - according to the service records, they had been defunct since 1992...

 

I still have all the bits I took off in the cellar, though

[wuvvum]

Took a deposit on the BMW this evening - nice chap who restores early Porsches for a living and drives round in an old Golf TDI that he converted from a 1.6 petrol. Didn't get quite as much as I wanted for it, but then I rarely do. Didn't take too much of a hit though considering I bought it with a year's test and selling it with 6 weeks, plus the bodywork has gone downhill in the last 10 months. And the grand total of my unplanned expenditure on the car was £9.67 for a set of rear brake pads.

 

Also got a suit in the post today. It's a light grey pure wool Pierre Cardin job - normally I wouldn't contemplate buying a suit without trying it on, but the seller had it up for £5 BIN with postage at £4.75, so couldn't really say no. Anyway, just tried it on and it's a perfect fit. So I now have something to wear to weddings, which is nice - my only other suits are black and rather funereal.

[dollywobbler]

Some Maverick content for you. The towing electrics have been falling off for some time now. The plug took a walloping while playing off-road and the metal plate that holds it snapped. Thought I'd set about replacing it yesterday. The nuts holding the ball were bloody tight - which is reassuring in a way. My new impact driver was called into action but even that struggled! Lots of penetrating oil and persistence eventually paid off, but on the bolts stripped the thread.

 

The plug was pretty knackered so I set about removing that. Same sort of problem really - seized bolts, but tiny 8mm headed ones so no impact driver joy here. However, the big benefit of the plug being broken was that I could reach the screws that hold the wires. Undid them and pulled the old plug off, taking photos of the wires before I did so just in case...

 

New plug and bolts purchased this morning for the grand sum of £4.50 (and probably the same again in fuel!). Now drinking tea before re-fitting everything, though I'm considering re-siting the plug to protect it better from off-road playing. Or I could just avoid getting it stuck in seriously boggy forests!

[skattrd]

XT possibly sold. A couple of long phone conversations with someone from Telford and allegedly they're sending someone on Friday to collect it with a van & trailer (van needed for spares). From the sounds of it they have an XT that needs work, and quite a few of the spares. I wouldn't be surprised if the car ends up for sale again soon, without the spares.

Anyway I'll believe it's sold when I've got the cash in my hand.

 

This does not mean I can buy more tat, it means I should have more time/money to sort out broken shite. I must stay away from ebay tat thread.

[sporty-shite]

. I must stay away from ebay tat thread.

 

This is not the ebay tat thread. You must visit this thread instead

[vulgalour]

I no longer feel like getting shut of the Polo, this is a good thing. I followed some advice from here and the blue forum and now have sensible lists and targets to achieve. We got the car running without choke and some body panels refitted so it looks more like a car, I even gave him a wash. I still don't know if I'm keeping him, but I do know I'm not working towards getting him road legal and running properly before I make any final decisions about his fate. However, we do think the Solex carb is borked as everything else has been eliminated, we're also perplexed that when the static timing is set, the timing belt always seems to be about half a tooth out.

[cobblers]

the timing belt always seems to be about half a tooth out.

 

Has the head been skimmed a lot? If so the cam will be closer to the crank and you can end up being a fraction of a tooth out.

 

 

 

Today I've been around all sorts of places after a custom exhaust box for the van to quieten it down a bit. 2 places I found on ebay in Brum (within 500 yards of each other) gave quotes for £100 and £220 for an identical box (31" long, 6" dia, 2" bore) which seems crackers to me. a local place that used to be fairly cheap and I've recommended to people a load of times wanted £250! They must have changed!

 

Pretty much gave up with that game, nobody I went to seemed at all interested in doing the job.

 

I went to get a slow puncture sorted, and noticed the place across the road does custom exhausts. I popped over and had a chat with the bloke and he actually was quite enthusiastic for a change. They didn't have facilities for making custom boxes, but he had a box in stock that was fairly close to what I wanted, and he said he'd supply it for £70, or fit it and rejig the piping that's there for £105, and he'd reuse use my existing tailpipe and also try and reuse one of my existing boxes if it would fit.

No point spending all afternoon over the weekend trying to fit it myself for save £30 or so, I'll let him do the job. Dropping it off at 11am tomorrow.

 

I look forward to being able to accelerate without everyone in a 500 yard radius turning and leering at me. It's like a siren to police saying "Look at me, I'm an idiot who's fitted a really loud exhaust and I'm accelerating!"

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Herald passed its MOT with no advisories!

 

That means this years fixed costs of MOT, insurance, tax and breakdown cover total £180.00.

 

And that is why I have kept this car so long.

[vulgalour]

the timing belt always seems to be about half a tooth out.

 

Has the head been skimmed a lot? If so the cam will be closer to the crank and you can end up being a fraction of a tooth out.

 

Head has been skimmed, I think by 8 or 10 thou. I don't think it's the root of the current running problem as it wasn't running badly after the skim or indeed until I laid the car up for a bit. S'funny, Dad made the same suggestion to me shortly after I'd made the above post.

[Pete-M]

Herald passed its MOT with no advisories!

 

I thought we'd slipped into another dimension for a minute, then I realised it wasn't posted by Minimad5.

[skattrd]

I've just spoken to prospective buyer of the XT again ... collection now scheduled for next Thursday.

I'm 50/50 whether it will actually go through.

[John F]

Arseholes.

 

Just discovered that the ticking noise coming from my Discovery's engine isn't a leaking exhaust manifold gasket as I hoped, it's OMG HGF

[Micrashed]

About 5 years ago my mate Bob discovered his very first car on eBay.... A deal was done, £500 changed hands and Bob appeared round our house with a dustbin full of rust....

 

And

and even

 

Today, it passed its MOT....

 

 

Non standard colour, but otherwise pretty much as it was in 1937.

 

Top work there Bob.

[vulgalour]

Bob is a legend!

[John F]

Aye - nice, Bob.

 

I like how his neighbour is lifting her tits up so they can have a look at the finished project

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

That is magnificent. Great work

[skattrd]

That is spectacular Bob/Father Ted.

 

My news, I may be doing a deal with the R25 for some other french tat, details to follow as/when/if it happens.

[HillmanImp]

That is spectacular Bob/Father Ted.

 

My news, I may be doing a deal with the R25 for some other french tat, details to follow as/when/if it happens.

 

I did see that. That would be a result. Good luck.

[wuvvum]

Got breathalysed this morning, for the first time ever. I was on my way into work in the Rover of Doom & had a police Mondeo sat behind me in fairly heavy traffic; after a few minutes the blue lights came on so I pulled over. Copper informed me that I had a brake light out - didn't give me a ticket or owt, but did give me a breath test.

 

I passed (obv.), but it left me wondering why on all the previous occasions I had been pulled by plod in more suspicious circumstances (late at night, motor showing on MID as uninsured etc) I'd never been breathalysed. Strange.

 

Copper was pleasant enough though (to be completely fair, I've found the majority of Norfolk Constabulary's effective to be fairly reasonable, especially compared with the arseholes I've come across in some other parts of the country) and told me to keep the breathalyser tube as a reminder to get the brake light fixed. I've got a spare one in the drawer at home so will sort it tonight.

[dollywobbler]

I cleaned the BX today, before it started raining. I knackered up the hose on my pressure washer doing it, but it's much cleaner now!

 

 

I run the washer off a water butt, but priming the thing is always a bit of a battle. I'd put the washer on its back as that can help, then started washing the car down. Forgot to lift it up and it appears that the vibration of the unit allied to sharp stones have rubbed through the hose! Needless to say, even gaffer tape can't cure that one. Bugger.

[Ross_K]

Got breathalysed this morning, for the first time ever. I was on my way into work in the Rover of Doom & had a police Mondeo sat behind me in fairly heavy traffic; after a few minutes the blue lights came on so I pulled over. Copper informed me that I had a brake light out - didn't give me a ticket or owt, but did give me a breath test.

 

Pulled over for a brake light? Must have been a really slow day for that cop.

 

They're obviously thinking like American cops now in that anybody with a bulb out must be ferrying smack or carrying dead hookers on board.

 

I suppose it's a way for them to go fishing for other "problems" once they have you stopped...

[meggersdog]

Arseholes.

 

Just discovered that the ticking noise coming from my Discovery's engine isn't a leaking exhaust manifold gasket as I hoped, it's OMG HGF

 

Number 1 cylinder into the oilway huh

 

Mine was doing that for months before I decided to do anything.