Ask a Shiter

[Negative Creep]

When I was in Primary school (1986 ish) I remember a teacher having a 1.6 laser Capri. I was impressed by the fact that it told you to put your seatbelt on.

 

Did they really do this or was it too much space dust?

 

 

Presumably they meant it had a seatbelt warning light?

[Tayne]

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[Negative Creep]

I bet there were some shoddy DIY seatbelts safety kits for sale in the back of Autocar each week.

[scaryoldcortina]

Yeah, I've owned plenty of capris (many of which were shoddy 1.6 lazers) none of them had a seatbelt warning light. Volvo 240s did, but it is unlikely anyone would confuse one for the other.

 

Stupid question... popular legend tells us that ford never fitted anything to a base model that wasn't actually legally required. Confirm or deny?

[Pete-M]

Yeah, I've owned plenty of capris (many of which were shoddy 1.6 lazers) none of them had a seatbelt warning light. Volvo 240s did, but it is unlikely anyone would confuse one for the other.

 

Stupid question... popular legend tells us that ford never fitted anything to a base model that wasn't actually legally required. Confirm or deny?

 

Deny. They fitted heaters.

[cobblers]

Yeah, I've owned plenty of capris (many of which were shoddy 1.6 lazers) none of them had a seatbelt warning light. Volvo 240s did, but it is unlikely anyone would confuse one for the other.

 

Stupid question... popular legend tells us that ford never fitted anything to a base model that wasn't actually legally required. Confirm or deny?

 

Deny. They fitted heaters.

 

 

By law you need some way to demist the windscreen. That is of course, if you have a windscreen.

[Pete-M]

That's one I've never heard of. Heaters are still options on Caterhams, so unless they have heated screens they're illegal? Hmm, sounds suspect to me.

 

Ok, boggo spec Capris had dash light rheostats.. they're not a legal requirement...

 

Loads of old '70s stuff had bugger all equipment, not just Fords. Even in the '80s the poverty model stuff tended to be stripped right out. Nova Merits went as far as losing heater vents, ffs, and loads of base models didn't get reversing lights, n/s mirrors etc until they were legal requirements.

 

The most basic spec 'normal' car I ever saw was a friends dads Mk2 Fiesta 950 base. He'd ordered it with every 'delete' box ticked. Didn't even have a heated rear screen. Rubber mats, vinyl seats, no radio or aerial, nothing at all. It was horrible.

[cobblers]

That's one I've never heard of. Heaters are still options on Caterhams, so unless they have heated screens they're illegal? Hmm, sounds suspect to me.

 

The little aero screens (under a certain height, I can't remember exactly what) don't class as being a windscreen as such, so they don't need a demister or wipers. A full size windscreen definitely needs a "nod towards" a demister to pass the SVA/IVA and would have been in the C&U regs from quite early on. A lot of the kitcar boys don't put the screen on at all until after the test - less to fail on!

[The Moog]

Ok so I was a confused youngster then. I spent a long time wondering about it and I thought that logically it couldnt be right, but it got stuck in my head

[Negative Creep]

That's one I've never heard of. Heaters are still options on Caterhams, so unless they have heated screens they're illegal? Hmm, sounds suspect to me.

 

The little aero screens (under a certain height, I can't remember exactly what) don't class as being a windscreen as such, so they don't need a demister or wipers. A full size windscreen definitely needs a "nod towards" a demister to pass the SVA/IVA and would have been in the C&U regs from quite early on. A lot of the kitcar boys don't put the screen on at all until after the test - less to fail on!

 

 

So wouldn't that mean it's illegal to drive around in a car with a broken heater?

[Richard]

It was still possible to buy a car without a heater into the 1970s, and windscreen washers were optional too.

[cobblers]

That's one I've never heard of. Heaters are still options on Caterhams, so unless they have heated screens they're illegal? Hmm, sounds suspect to me.

 

The little aero screens (under a certain height, I can't remember exactly what) don't class as being a windscreen as such, so they don't need a demister or wipers. A full size windscreen definitely needs a "nod towards" a demister to pass the SVA/IVA and would have been in the C&U regs from quite early on. A lot of the kitcar boys don't put the screen on at all until after the test - less to fail on!

 

So wouldn't that mean it's illegal to drive around in a car with a broken heater?

 

It's not tested on the MOT but is in the IVA regs that an import/kit car has to pass, which are a (slightly more lenient) derivative of construction and use regs that large scale manufacturers have to follow. Off the top of my head I have no idea when a form of demisting the screen was initially written into the regulations, but the C&U regs as we know them had their last major revision in 1986 as far as I can tell.

Driving without a working demister is as illegal as driving a modern car with a halfords cupholder stuck on the dashboard that doesn't have its outside edges radiused to 3mm or whatever they have to be in the latest regs. So not really illegal, but the car wouldn't pass the test to be sold as a new model to the public.

[CIH]

The most basic spec 'normal' car I ever saw was a friends dads Mk2 Fiesta 950 base. He'd ordered it with every 'delete' box ticked. Didn't even have a heated rear screen. Rubber mats, vinyl seats, no radio or aerial, nothing at all. It was horrible.

 

That sounds awesome, but yeah, probably isn't....

[eddyramrod]

Yeah, I've owned plenty of capris (many of which were shoddy 1.6 lazers) none of them had a seatbelt warning light. Volvo 240s did, but it is unlikely anyone would confuse one for the other.

 

In 1996 I swopped my hated Capri Mk3 for (what was to be) a loved Volvo 244, so I can confirm that: the least car-savvy person on the planet would be unable to mix them up!

[scaryoldcortina]

So wouldn't that mean it's illegal to drive around in a car with a broken heater?

 

I'd say it depends. If the lack of demist/heater means that the screen fogs up and you can't see where you are going then yes, it's illegal to drive it.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

How did they demist cars without heaters, quarterlights?

[scaryoldcortina]

^^ yup.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Also, in cars without heaters does the interior receive any engine heat, or it hypothermia for the passengers at this time of year unless they wrap up?

[eddyramrod]

My A40 doesn't have a heater (never did) so ask me this again in 12 months...

[warren t claim]

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between a Discovery 3 and 4

[Albert Ross]

Can anyone tell me what the differences are between a Discovery 3 and 4

 

1

[Richard]

I was going to say that.

 

I can no longer tell the difference between a Range Rover, Discovery or Freelander without looking at the badge.

[Tayne]

.

[Negative Creep]

Also, in cars without heaters does the interior receive any engine heat, or it hypothermia for the passengers at this time of year unless they wrap up?

 

 

Cars like the Beetle have vents on the floor, which do the square root of fuck all in the cold

[Pete-M]

Also, in cars without heaters does the interior receive any engine heat, or it hypothermia for the passengers at this time of year unless they wrap up?

 

 

Cars like the Beetle have vents on the floor, which do the square root of fuck all in the cold

 

Indeed. Anyone who's ever spent more than an hour or so on a winters day riding in the back of an old Type 2 will confirm that VW really didn't know jack shit about warmth in those days.

 

Air cooled Porsche 911s, on the other hand, have furnaces hidden somewhere. Heaters on those things are immense.

[M'coli]

My Fiat 126 was utterly dreadful in winter, some hot air from the engine would come out of the gearstick gaiter if you left it loose, but none came out of the windscreen ducts. It's fun watching neat de-icer form icey ferns as it freezes at 40 MPH.

[Futuramic]

NEW QUESTION ALERT!!!!!!

 

I saw a picture of a Vauxhall Astra engine the other day. It had a blown head gasket. This got me wondering about new cars. Manufacturers these days have a fixation with not installing an engine temperature gauge. The new Astra doesn't have one; as do many other cars. Old tin, even my dreadful eighties stuff, had them. A freind's Punto was bereft in addition; however it had a warning light.

 

So, a temp. gauge used to be considered a vital indicator of engine health. If, and on occasion it has, mine behaves oddly; I'll complete my journey, smoke some fags and maybe consider ding something. I have replaced thermostats, flushed radiators, resurrected broken fans and generally prolonged the life of some of my cars by the dictation of the temperature gauge.

 

However if it wasn't there I wouldn't have known about these maladies until, perhaps, too late. So the question is: are cars without such an instrument more prone to catastrophic failure and overheating?

[M'coli]

Ha! My Imp doesn't have a temp gauge, it shares the oil warning light as a temperature warning light. The sender's meant to switch on at 106 degrees - hence why it's called "the light of doom"!!! I need to change it to a gauge.

[Richard]

The Mini 850 and City and, I think, the Morris Minor didn't get a temp gauge. More recently a lot of 80s PSA kit, on which you REALLY needed to know what the cooling system was up to, didn't get one either.

[cms206]

Not sure if it's the case on a lot of things, but as this is the stupid question amnesty thread I shall expect to be shot down for being too stupid even for this. My first Focus stated in the handbook that if the car had no coolant or the coolant was frozen, the gauge and warning lights would not show that the car was overheating purely because the temperature of the coolant was what was measured. If that was the case, what was the point in fitting the gauge in the first place?!