The new news 24 thread

[michiel]

Fulvias have the best car arse ever (not a fact). I want a berlina. Good luck!

[HillmanImp]

Fulvias have the best car arse ever (not a fact). I want a berlina. Good luck!

 

It failed (as expected) on not a lot (not as expected). Front indicators not working which we knew about, CV boot and a couple of missing split pins from the rear suspension. Result. should have it sorted in the next week or so.

 

And they do have a really hot arse don't they? Oof.

[cort16]

have you got any welding repair photos for us (me) to perv over. It looks minty on the outside then again so did Philibusmo's Y10!

[Spiny Norman]

The pretty little Fulvia, that Fiat 128 with those sexy alloys and the arse end of a Volvo estate.

Carlsberg don't do Autoshite pages, but if they did.....

[dollywobbler]

I've found a new car of WIN that could replace the Mk1 BX. Yes. The replacement vehicle I don't actually need. More news to follow if this actually happens.

[trigger]

That Lancia looks great!, I put mine in this afternoon for it's first MOT since I've had it, Luckily the MOT tester was a older chap who really loved it and went gentle on it, commenting on how tidy it was, and i got a clean pass sheet!, Yay!

 

My 1974 Ford Cortina 2000 XL at the mot station today! by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[RobT]

^A potential calendar shot there Trig, tatooed arm leaning out of the 'tina, great!

[trigger]

The mot tester did looked like the kind of guy who should be in a Cortina to be fair!

[HillmanImp]

have you got any welding repair photos for us (me) to perv over. It looks minty on the outside then again so did Philibusmo's Y10!

 

I was all enthusiastic about this at first and actually took photos but once I realised the size of the job I slowly stopped.

 

Front of the subframe:

 

Messily mended but bang on when we screwed it back in place:

 

Was very scared about that but pleasantly surprised that it fit.

 

Old and new subframe mounting:

 

Floor:

 

Full length of the floor on both sides was done, Inner sills all the way along and the subframe mount inner wheel arch and floor under the accellerator.

 

Will see if there are any more and post them up too.

[dollywobbler]

I'm facing a mental battle. My brain says that I should be pleased that I've sold the BX Mk1 and that I should sink some of the resulting cash into my existing fleet. My heart is saying that I should buy an unloved Nissan, largely because it has a pantograph rear wiper.

[cort16]

Hillmanimp I doth my cap at your welding efforts. The subframe reconstruction looks like a top effort. The car looks like a right stunner on the outside it just shows it's worth poking about underneath when looking at stuff like this.

[vulgalour]

Memo from Mikeknight: I managed to fit the fuel pump on the Triumph the wrong way around so it sucked all the petrol out of the engine and back into the tank. Replacement pump broke as soon as the key was turned so had to get a refund. Fun times.

[michiel]

My heart is saying that I should buy an unloved Nissan, largely because it has a pantograph rear wiper.

DO. IT.

[mrcitroen]

Do it for the wiper arm alone!!!!!! You can then say that you chose a car on the basis of mental wipers

 

BTW I had to check what a pantograph wiper was

[dollywobbler]

Well, this is the only reason I want a Panhard after all...

[Lankytim]

I got a bit fed up with the SAAB leaking oil all over the cat and tonight found the time to fit a new oil pressure switch to the back of the engine. What a bastard of a job that is, Every bolt was super tight and most of the work had to be done single handed with my arm jammed through a small gap between the subframe and gearbox. I felt like an automotive James Herriot! Anyway, everything came apart and went back together OK so hopefully the SAAB won't be doing it's red arrows impression for a while although it may be some time before the stink of burning oil goes away.

[garycox]

I've been offered a Tigra, it's a '98 1.4 in silver, and needs a head gasket. If anyone wants it for £150 before it gets cubed then let me know ASAP.

[nigel bickle]

Will the running gear fit in a Simca?

[vulgalour]

That is a very interesting question, I hope it does because that could be a whole barrel of laughs.

[vulgalour]

Hooray, electric windows and new rear light clusters have arrived courtesy of rickyV8 who was recently selling that bargainous white Princess. If I don't put the switches in the doors, I'll put BL roundels to blank off the window winder holes instead, we shall see what I figure out.

[outlaw118]

Just returned - (after a little rest and munch) from my Road Trip for collection of bits for my Capri.

 

Left RM16 Grays @ 5.45am, arrived in Chorley, Lancashire @ 9.15am, including wee stop. Collect NOS windscreen.

Top car up with pez, me up with McD's then to Birmingham, arrive 11.30, collect bonnet slam panel. Depart 11.45, satnav says will be in Brentwood - where the car is, at 13.58.

Didn't happen.

Loads of traffic based shit on the M6, M1 and M25 meant I arrived in West Horndon, CM13 at 14.35.

Brief chat with blokey in there, home, satnav says 15.00. Beat that by a whole five minutes.

Just been to top up the pez again.

 

Miles done: 508.6

Juice used: 15.56 gallons.

Mpg : A not unreasonable 32.69mpg, considering that there were a few instances first thing of non-compliance with the speed limits, and on the way home I sat intraffic with the air -con on for about an hour!

SMokes smoked : Lots

Energy drinks guzzled : 1 x Monster 1 x Rockstar (sugar free natch) and a Diet Coke.

CD's shouted along to, in order: Suicidal Tendencies-Prime Cuts; Devin Townsend - Deconstruction; Masters Of Reality - Blue Garden, Cardiacs - Guns; Mansun - Six; Headswim - Flood, Alice In Chain - Facelift; Ministry - Psalm 69 (got halfway through).

 

Now wondering why I'm not that tired.....too much caffeine?

[vulgalour]

^Too much excitement for one day, early to bed for you!

 

Because the Princess has shit paint and new dents, a colour change is very tempting. Weighing my options, purple is very tempting, particularly this shade, but what is it called? I'm moderately certain it's an original BL colour and would go well with the current brown interior. If I got a metallic version, the car might even look like a Quality Street sweet.

[Shep Shepherd]

^^

Reynard Metallic (aka Metallic Fox Piss) is my favourite Princess colour:

 

 

[ProgRocker]

^ I've always liked that metallic copper colour. I recall Fiats painting their Puntos that colour in 1998 or thereabouts.

[phil_lihp]

I had an Astra Bertone Coupe in that colour, was the best thing about it, no-one else agreed with me so it became known as the Tangerine Dream. Definitely the right colour for your Princess!

[RoadworkUK]

This has got to stop. Whenever I have fifteen seconds idle at work I end up clicking on the secret hidden eBay shortcut on my desktop.... And then bad things happen. This week I have "scored" brochures for Fiat Regata, Croma (inc. Turbo), Wolesley Six, five Daily Express World Car Guides from the early 80s, and something else I can't remember. I already have huge boxes of brochures in my boxroom that haven't been unpacked yet, and the worst thing is that all this old shit that I don't really need is costing me Actual Money.

 

Winner.

[Wilko220]

Had some fun with a bottle of linseed oil earlier - obviously it's no secret that the stuff works wonders on faded bumpers:

 

Before:

After:

 

However, I got a bit carried away and discovered that it's also the ideal stuff for breathing new life into cracked/perished window rubbers. Sadly I didn't take any before/after pics, but some of them on the LDV were in a terrible state. A good scrub with an old washing up brush, a clean with some cellulose thinners and a liberal treatment of the oil, and they look much more respectable.

 

As an aside, I'm on the lookout for new rear lamp lenses / clusters, in this flavour...

 

 

...as mine are in a bad state - so if anyone can help, please let me know.

[Skizzer]

This has got to stop

 

Could be worse mate, you could be buying actual cars.

 

 

The Rover is due for an MOT now (actually a fortnight or so overdue), and the last outstanding job was to sort out the dangling driver's door mirror. Apparently being wrapped in gaffer tape doesn't meet most MOT testers' idea of 'secure', so I scored a replacement off a scrappy and fitted it with a surprisingly small amount of swearing. Non-matching colour for the Autoshite win:

Shiny new (old) mirror by Skizzer, on Flickr

 

Having also replaced one of the rear door latches last weekend I'm getting quite adept at removing Rover 75 door cards.

[Skizzer]

So its quite normal to have to take a door to bits to replace a mirror?

 

Having a dilemma with this sort of thing at the moment.

 

On the 75 I had to take out the inner door handle and leccy window panel (both quite easy though there's a knack to the door handle) then pull the door card away at the top. This meant I could ease off the inner trim round the window frame to get to the two nuts and a bolt that hold the mirror on, plus the electrical connector for the adjustment motors. A bit of swearing is needed to get the window frame trim back on, but it's not too bad.

[HMC]

Just bought a 64 s type jag off my neighbour, so I can now re live those old sweeney car chases!