Ask a Shiter

[trigger]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

 

This is it, It's at a local garage, I would take a drive down there but with the Mondeo still in bits it's a bit pointless, They might not offer me enough as a part ex on it anyway, The Mondeo must be worth £5100 as a part x, I paid £5800 for it in Feb but i still see them on forecourts for £5995+.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I'm not normally afraid of high mileages...but a 1966 car with 450,000 miles? Was it a taxi for the first 30 years of its life?

[scaryoldcortina]

That's only 10k per year.... also, mk2 tinas only record up to 99999 then roll, so god only knows what miles some of them have racked up (mine says 38,000 t the moment, but it's been on the road and used for 40 of it's 44 years...)

 

 

anyway (looked at the advert now) I'm guessing either they have a full and documented history proving the 450k or someone more used to a 6 digit odometer read the mileage off when compiling the advert

[Cavcraft]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201133410334494/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/cortina/make/ford/quicksearch/true/page/1/radius/40/postcode/ip30ns?logcode=p

 

This is it, It's at a local garage, I would take a drive down there but with the Mondeo still in bits it's a bit pointless, They might not offer me enough as a part ex on it anyway, The Mondeo must be worth £5100 as a part x, I paid £5800 for it in Feb but i still see them on forecourts for £5995+.

 

I'll wager they won't give you that much unless the car they're selling owes them sod all or it's vastly overpriced or expensive. I haven't got the Glass's guide or owt but I'd hazard a guess at you being offered about £4,000-£4,300 or so.

[trigger]

I think the mileage might be a error!, I suspect they will offer me fuck all for my Mondeo anyway and I'm certainly not adding to it, Shame as a red Mk2 Cortina GT has been on the top of my (realistic) wish list since i was a nipper.

[barrett]

I'm not normally afraid of high mileages...but a 1966 car with 450,000 miles? Was it a taxi for the first 30 years of its life?

 

I'd assume (wrongly, most probably) that if it's still running after this long most of the bits that have worn out over those 450k miles have been replaced by now

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Didn't you want to replace the Mondeo with something usable everyday? Alright, the Cortina will have better parts availability than the Kadett, without having to bring bits from Germany, but it still wouldn't be the sort of car that would love sitting in traffic jams or being surrounded by SUVs in the supermarket carpark. I'd look for something from the eighties.

[trigger]

It will be a 3rd car for summer use so i'm not worried about everyday usability.

 

I went to look at it earlier, the price has now dropped to £4995, I couldn't decide if it was too much or not as the photos flatter it, the bodywork was a bit scappy with a cheap respray which wasn't great, the interior was a bit tired and it was fitted with a lot of Mk1 parts as it's one of the first Mk2's.

 

I think it was worth the money but my Kadett is much cleaner.

[warren t claim]

Just what exactly causes dual mass flywheels to fail? Why are they fitted in the first place?

[M'coli]

Didn't you want to replace the Mondeo with something usable everyday?

That's the plan - IIRC, the Mondeo hasn't been usable every day.

 

Trig, the Mondeo will continue to depreciate, the Cortina shouldn't!

[scaryoldcortina]

Just what exactly causes dual mass flywheels to fail? Why are they fitted in the first place?

 

There are two big weights separated by a bunch of coil springs, being spun up and down from up to 5000 rpm on a regular basis, with 200ft/lbs of diesel engine on one end and 2 tonnes of car/van on the other.. How long would you expect it to last?

 

They are there to absorb some of the "lumpiness" you get from a diesel - to make it nicer to drive, basically. What a good idea!

[trigger]

I've just found that Cortina i looked at earlier on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-CORTINA- ... 0556301751

 

It's comes with tons of history from new, It's plate was 65 GNM originally but it's had a plate transfer, the first owner paid extra for the Lotus steels, a lockable bonnet, wood trim and a centre consul and push button radio, It's all still there.

 

The only trouble was i wasn't "feeling it", The underside was too clean, and the car looked a bit too plain for £5000, It just seemed a lot of money for what it was when you consider what other cars are out there for that kind of money, and less.

 

I'm still thinking about wacking a bid on the yellow Mk3 Cortina that's on ebay, that seems to excite me more, and it's met it's reserve now at £2000 so it's much cheaper, I should really sell the Kadett first though...

[Albert Ross]

You'd do better to fuck the Mondeo off before it costs you any more......

[trigger]

I will do!, I've got to get my private plate off first and I have a holiday to Cornwall next month but after that I'm selling it for something much cheaper, £2000 Focus Estae, Volvo V40, Passat TDi Estate etc. as i need a boot to get the dog in.

[pompei]

I've sen a few buses around that have a kind of small circular display attached to the outer section of the rear wheel hub. Anyone know what they are?

[Cavcraft]

I need to get back from Lincoln via Worksop. For anyone who may know the area the journey involved going past Wilkinson's (aka Wilkos) distribution depot heading the other way (i.e towards Lincoln) then join the bypass at the new junction.

Unfortunately coming back that way the junction is permanently closed and my shat navs (both of the old bastards) tell me to turn off and I can't as they shut the junctioon off when they re-jigged the bypass.

 

 

How the sodding hell do I get back to Worksop now without piss-arsing about round mile upon mile of country lanes please?

 

*Pompei: sounds like the 'hubometer' which measures the mileage like a mileometer.

[Morgan84]

Can you still buy a Transit or Land Rover Defender with a petrol engine?

 

Are there any cars available new with vinyl seats, keep fit windows or power steering?

 

Is it still possible to buy a new diesel car without a turbo?

 

 

Mercedes MB TEX is a leather look material,and still available I believe

[Polystratus]

I need to get back from Lincoln via Worksop. For anyone who may know the area the journey involved going past Wilkinson's (aka Wilkos) distribution depot heading the other way (i.e towards Lincoln) then join the bypass at the new junction.

Unfortunately coming back that way the junction is permanently closed and my shat navs (both of the old bastards) tell me to turn off and I can't as they shut the junctioon off when they re-jigged the bypass.

 

 

How the sodding hell do I get back to Worksop now without piss-arsing about round mile upon mile of country lanes please?

 

*Pompei: sounds like the 'hubometer' which measures the mileage like a mileometer.

 

 

Right presume you came from Lincoln on the A57 then onto the A1 section - if your on that new redesigned junction where it meets the A614 you should be able to go off that new junction onto a roundabout that goes to the A614 and A57 - you should be able to get back on the A57 to Worksop (Its sign posted). Failing that go north on the A1 first turn left then right onto retford road B6079 towards worksop then left on B6040 then right onto the A57

[Cavcraft]

Many thanks, I shall write that down and keep it in the car.

[Negative Creep]

Could you get an engine to run backwards? I was told at RRG about an Escort with a Honda B16 engine in, which apparently is useless in rwd as it runs the wrong way. Except said owner has the engine running backwards so it works

 

Complete bs or possible?

[Albert Ross]

It's bollocks. Firstly, the oil pump would suck oil from the engine, into the sump......The cams will be lobed out of order, the timing belt will be tensioned incorrectly, the distributor is also incorrectly configured. Con rods will have the oil squirt hole for the thrust side lubrication on the wrong sides. Balance shaft will be out of balance!! Unless serious machining and bespoke parts were made, it's just utterly impossible. Imagine the kid from "Inbetweeners" that has a healthy imagination. That's your man there. Honda engine rotate the other way, and the gearbox the other side, for smoothness initially, and the RHD spec vehicles then have the servo in front of the driver (The real reason Honda do this). Mitsubishi (And Hyundai occasionally) have a similar physical configuration, but rotate the "Correct" way.

 

It's possible he's rotated the diff, but the gearbox would be meshing on the opposite sides of it's teeth!

[cms206]

I've sen a few buses around that have a kind of small circular display attached to the outer section of the rear wheel hub. Anyone know what they are?

 

 

Hubometer. Basically a mileometer which is accurate, measuring the rotation of the wheels. Due to the fact that buses tend to cover surprisingly huge mileages (one of our manual 1996-model Merc 709Ds has covered a genuine 809,700kms on it's original engine and gearbox, though more surprisingly our 09-plate Optare Solo is sitting on 119k miles) and the equipment can be quite temperamental, they pretty much are the only way of telling what the bus has actually done. The operator I work for fits a new one to each vehicle purchased as an accurate means of accounting for fuel, fuel duty rebate and MPG calculations.

 

They come calibrated for various sizes, though the most common size on buses nowadays are, IIRC, 245/80R19.5, 275/80R22.5, 11R22.5, 295/80R22.5 or 315/80R22.5. Merc minibuses tend to run either 16in or 17.5in wheels, but I can't remember the sizes.

[warren t claim]

Could you get an engine to run backwards? I was told at RRG about an Escort with a Honda B16 engine in, which apparently is useless in rwd as it runs the wrong way. Except said owner has the engine running backwards so it works

 

Complete bs or possible?

 

Commer 2 stroke diesels apparently used to have a habit of running backwards.

[garethj]

Could you get an engine to run backwards? I was told at RRG about an Escort with a Honda B16 engine in, which apparently is useless in rwd as it runs the wrong way. Except said owner has the engine running backwards so it works

 

Complete bs or possible?

 

Commer 2 stroke diesels apparently used to have a habit of running backwards.

2 strokes are a bit different because they don't have any of the valvegear to mess around with.

 

Back in the '60s there was a kit to make the Chevy Corvair flat 6 engine run backwards for certain applications, there was certainly a new camshaft in there, probably a new oil pump and probably a new distributor too. Dunno how long they lasted running that way.

[tonedepear]

Short term car insurance -

My insurance is up in a couple of weeks, and I'm going to need to re-insure the Proton, but likely only for a month or so. Literally the last* thing I want to do is renew/insure for a fresh 12 months, then have to run the gauntlet of trying to get some of my money back or get a half-bareable quote to switch cover to new carwhen it arrives.

 

Are there any decent short term cover options that aren't going to bum me for £££s for a few weeks cover?

 

*not literally

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

cooling off period is your friend.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Why do 80% of newish vans seem to be Sprinters (straw poll conducted during epic-fail 6.5-hour drive from Sheffield to SE London)? Are they that good, are MBUK giving them away with the aim of pissing off London's Russian oligarchs with Maytags (oops, that's a washing machine), or is it just a case of them emitting 1 less minimicronanoparticle of CO2 than their competitors thereby being entitled to massive tax breaks?

[warren t claim]

Why do 80% of newish vans seem to be Sprinters (straw poll conducted during epic-fail 6.5-hour drive from Sheffield to SE London)? Are they that good, are MBUK giving them away with the aim of pissing off London's Russian oligarchs with Maytags (oops, that's a washing machine), or is it just a case of them emitting 1 less minimicronanoparticle of CO2 than their competitors thereby being entitled to massive tax breaks?

 

It's because new Transits aren't exactly known for their reliability.

[dollywobbler]

They are bloody nice too. Well, the identical VW Crafters seem to be. Very nicely built, sounds good, goes well, handles well. Win really.

[warren t claim]

They are bloody nice too. Well, the identical VW Crafters seem to be. Very nicely built, sounds good, goes well, handles well. Win really.

 

New Transits do drive better than Sprinters and are a lot more driver friendly though.

 

Not so many years ago LDV held a 70% share in the 3.5t van market. How times have changed!