The new news 24 thread

[Barry Cade]

Today I took a picture of a well engineered, well made, refined and dignified thing.... with the Forth Bridge in the background.

 

The Saab probably also contains more British Steel than the new one..

 

[richardmorris]

No photos as I was driving and the camera in the boot. But I followed a lovely 1950 or 60s Bedford dormobile camper van this morning down the a322. It looked pristine in burgundy and cream paint.

[phil_lihp]

The Jag goes in for its test tomorrow and if it costs less than £500 to get through it stays; more I get an Alfa V6.

 

The Rovers insurance is up for renewal on the 14th of the month so either way is still going.

 

Its had a new front pipe and drives well but probably needs at least one new shock absorber at the front. Not a biggie but there has been an issue all the time I have had it which is, the clutch biting point is high.

 

It doesn't slip and has never been an actual problem but I just want to check if its always been like that or it can be adjusted down (i haven't checked if its cable, i will actually open the bonnet for the first time to check oil etc before I sell it I promise) before I punt it on for £200 or whether its a potential upcoming problem that means I should roffle it instead of selling it.

 

Enough people have owned it in recent times to be able to advise i reckon.

 

If its roffle its £3.40 a ticket.

I never noticed the clutch being high on it over the two times I had it, front shocks were definitely getting a little tired but hardly surprising given the age and mileage. My concerns with it were the advancing rot in a few places and the perennial oil leaks but aside from that it was fine really.

 

No idea if the clutch is cable or hydraulic, Mr B will know as I think he changed the clutch whilst rebuilding the gearbox back when he had it.

[HillmanImp]

No idea if the clutch is cable or hydraulic, Mr B will know as I think he changed the clutch whilst rebuilding the gearbox back when he had it.

I could probably look that all up myself on RR tbh rather than get off my arse to go outside and look, i am not sure if avoiding one option over another makes me look more lazy or what. I might go and have a look whwn Imp Jr is in bed.

 

Bodywork is a little rusty but not rotten. TBH, i am happy selling it with a "next MOT welded up guarantee" as long as its local enough or can get back to me as reckon it would only need a tickle, no rebuild. Some sandpaper, filler and paint would tidy it up good and proper.

[vulgalour]

Made significant progress on the Renault today, so much so that I could put the back seats up because I didn't need even the whole boot space to store all the spare parts.  Full update soon, I'm just sorting the photographs out.

[twosmoke300]

Some rovers (25 and 45) had a high clutch bite from day one .

[vulgalour]

The clutch on my R8 is higher than you'd expect for a brand new one, feels almost like it's quarter of the way up the pedal travel.  Supposedly self-adjusting too.

[BorniteIdentity]

Went to Rushden Cavalcade today and arrived in THIS.

 

 

Lovely gent in our village has owned it since it came out of service in 1980. When he heard my son likes seeing it parked up he offered to take us all.

 

Top day out. Plenty of shite.

 

Plenty.

 

Here's a better picture of it from last summer. (Hence the rain)

 

 

 

[wuvvum]

Took a few more photos of the Transit - here it is in all its minging glory.

 

 

 

 

Flashing beacon works, which is nice.

 

 

This arch had to be gaffer taped up for the MOT cos sharp edges - tape has since gone.

 

 

 

Anyone know what this is for?

 

 

 

Engine.  All nice and shiny, but looks "different" somehow.  I'm no expert on these, but this isn't how I remember Transit engines looking.  It's definitely a DI though - nothing else makes that sound - and it pulls the van along quite happily so I don't suppose it really matters.

 

 

 

[Hertz]

/\ /\ Perfect plate for Noggin fanz

[cms206]

Are they as unburstable as they seem? I have known loads of people with them where they have questionable maintenance regimes but they only ever seem to die of rust - or have I just got rose-tinted specs?

 

They are - until 2011 (a period I like to call The Unpleasantness - Circusair took us over) we ran a fleet of them on Airside work at Glasgow; a D-reg, an E-reg, a trio of J-reg Populars, two K-reg, two L-reg (one auto), three N-reg, three P-reg Flaresides, two R-reg and a V-reg. They were all a mix of specs, most of them didn't get switched off between October and April. The earlier ones rotted less believe it or not, but our D-reg had a genuine 6750miles on the clock when we got it in 2007 - the V-reg died about 2006 IIRC

 

They were simply not maintained, at all. The rot was the killer - the J-reg trio had been on the airfield since new and we ran them until the doors literally fell off. One lasted an entire summer with no doors at all because it was warm that year.

 

Transit DIs are the business.

 

[phil_lihp]

I could probably look that all up myself on RR tbh rather than get off my arse to go outside and look, i am not sure if avoiding one option over another makes me look more lazy or what. I might go and have a look whwn Imp Jr is in bed.

 

Bodywork is a little rusty but not rotten. TBH, i am happy selling it with a "next MOT welded up guarantee" as long as its local enough or can get back to me as reckon it would only need a tickle, no rebuild. Some sandpaper, filler and paint would tidy it up good and proper.

 

Oh yes it's mostly cosmetic to be fair, It had a plate welded onto the front of the NS sill for the last MOT and I thought the back end was looking a bit tatty on that side but mostly it's just scruffy bodywork.  I did tidy it up with some sandpaper and paint a couple of years ago but it wasn't a very thorough job and didn't last (although at the time it looked good from 6ft away) and I suspect a lot of the rusty bits are entirely due to its time spent with me living 200 yards from the sea.

 

Please don't raffle it because I would buy many tickets.

[cort16]

I changed the coolant hoses on the p6 tonight what an absolute piss hole of a job. The old heater hoses weren't the right ones it seems, which would explain why they always fowled the throttle linkage. While I was topping it up with coolant I noticed the radiator cap didn't look too clever  either so I've ordered a new one off eBay. Also one of the returns from the inlet manifold is glued onto the radiator with some gunk or another and is a bit wobbly. I've was going to cover it in some epoxy resin I've got but couldn't find it so just covered it in superglue. Hopefully it'll hold until I come up with a better idea .

[SiC]

Warm soapy water slowly dissolves superglue. So not sure how well a join with superglue will last with hot coolant flowing on it.

[cort16]

It was on the outside the mystery gunk  to stop it wiggling around. If it comes in contact with the water things have gone wrong.

[trigger]

AS seen on Spottedlaurels thread Sunday was the Ipswich to Felixstowe car run, I took the Dolomite and my Dad took the Cortina, which is now his.

 

It was just amazing day, over 600 cars in a convoy to Felixstowe and then parked on the seafront covering about 3 miles end to end i think, I've never seen so many people down there!

 

 

 

It took about a hour and a half to get to Felixstowe all of it with stop start traffic, quite a few cars broke down but thankfully mine didn't!

 

 

 

Well that was until i got home where it had a FTP on the driveway as i ran it low on fuel and picked some shit up from the tank, once i blowed the fuel pipe clear again it was ok though!

[Ghosty]

So does your dad have both 'tinas now Trig, or do you mean the Mk1?

 

Old Man's off to Bishop's Stortford in the morning on a business trip, and I'm tagging along as it means a free trip to visit some of my friends in That London.

First long distance trip I've done in the A4, so it'll be interesting to see how it fares.

So if anyone sees an early lowered A4 on the A1/M11, or around Stansted and Bishop's Stortford in the next couple of days, give us a wave!

[trigger]

Nope, he's got them both now! I've spent the afternoon today helping him clear some of the shit out of one of his barns so he can get the car in there, i think found the old car bug!

[trigger]

I forgot to say Wuvvum, your old Alfasud is still alive!.

 

 

It spent years on a Ipswich drive before ending up at the local scrappy, expected to be gone for ever but it was at the run on Sunday!, It's had a shit load of welding done and still needs work but it's on the road again. These aren't my photos.

 

 

 

 

[wuvvum]

This is one of the few occasions when I wish there were a "Love" button on this forum.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

I forgot to say Wuvvum, your old Alfasud is still alive!.

 

Aha, I wondered if it was that one - fantastic news!

[Alan_Green]

A while ago I posted asking why you would often see car transporters with vehicles just on the top deck and nothing below and surely this is unstable.  Today on the M3 I passed an accident which looked like a new Transit van had fallen off the back of an ECM transporter and then been sandwiched between the 1st transporter and a 2nd ECM transporter following behind in convoy. Very messy.

[dean36014]

I just turned down a job driving car transporters. The wages advertised were unrealistic and you were paid by delivery. to get the figures they quoted I worked out you needed to work maximum hours everyday and a saturday every other week. Not for me thanks, my days of doing 60+ hours a week are well gone. 

[seth]

Yesterday I built* a car.

 

 

 

*Loosely arranged some bits of metal and wood around an engine on the floor.

[andy18s]

 

Xtriple ?

 

And,can you tell what it is yet?

 

 

Yes,it's a genuine RS Turbo,still mot'd and with a lowish mileage........not my pic btw. ..

[Urko]

Yesterday I built* a car.

 

 

 

*Loosely arranged some bits of metal and wood around an engine on the floor.

Villiers Engine? Impressive old school dragster in the background.

[Crusty Sills]

Xtriple ? And,can you tell what it is yet? Yes,it's a genuine RS Turbo,still mot'd and with a lowish mileage........not my pic btw. ..

That makes me sad.

Must be worth a couple of grand in OSF circles.

But they can't all be saved I guess.

[Eddie Honda]

I just turned down a job driving car transporters.

Wise man. Being ten foot up in the air when it's pissing cats and dogs in a force 10 whilst trying to squeeze into a bastard-wide motor that allows a two-inch door gap to get in is madness whatever the money.

[seth]

Villiers Engine? Impressive old school dragster in the background.

Its a typical '50s ish lawn mower engine but on a base plate and with a sort of proper cone clutch so perhaps powered something else.

 

Dragster is my friend's which I mechanic on for/with him.  383 Chevy using '60s era mechanical fuel injection to throw methanol into it and a magneto to try and set it on fire.

 

[vulgalour]

Rather optimistically I bought a battery for the Renault today, an actual new one.