Ask a Shiter

[louiepj]

Bought this Blaupunkt stereo as part of a UPullit haul today. Looks pretty tidy so optimistic of it working. The sticker on top seems pretty clear on where power goes in, but I'm not sure if I'm hooking it up to a car battery correct to test it. It is clear where the earth is but there are two positives and a pin for switch. Anyone here able to tell me what I should hook up to what just to power it up on the bench?

As the arrow points outwards on the stereo diagram I would assume its a switched power live for an electric aerial.

[New POD]

I think the criteria for being offered a course is that you haven't already done the course within the last 3 years, so you could take the points this time and still get the course option next time.

 

You might want to check the small print in the PCN to make sure though, rather than rely on my understanding!

DO the course. Drive within the speed limit for 2 months but Have brain fade after 3 hours driving, and accelerate towards the NSL sign on a dual carriage way. Get another letter for 58 in a 50 about 50 yards from the limit being 70. After leaving the "village".

Get 3 points.

 

The course basically means you have 4 more chances to reach 12 points.

[Steve79]

DO the course. Drive within the speed limit for 2 months but Have brain fade after 3 hours driving, and accelerate towards the NSL sign on a dual carriage way. Get another letter for 58 in a 50 about 50 yards from the limit being 70. After leaving the "village".

Get 3 points.

 

The course basically means you have 4 more chances to reach 12 points.

Course will only be 3hrs long and you'll get tea and biscuits. Done it twice now and have enjoyed arguing with the instructors each time. Might as well get your money's worth.

[sierraman]

Looking for a stopgap, Have an option of a 406 Hdi, Low mileage, full years MOT..... good history too, recent timing belt, water pump etc

 

Only light concern is last MOT threw up inner sill and suspension prescribed area corroded but not excessive.

 

Worst case, clean up and try to catch the rot and if not, run for a few months and sell on with ticket i guess

 

Yay or nay?

Paste it with underseal and hope for the best on the next test.

[catsinthewelder]

Too late chaps I posted the letter off last night.  The course itself wasn't bothering me, it was more the fact that I'd need to take the day off and drive 30+ miles to wherever it was happening.

[omegod]

Returned a lease car 35 days ago with a bit of excess mileage , around £200 worth, had expected a bill by now but heard nowt. Something in my memory about they need to invoice you within 40 days for any costs or they can foxtrot Oscar

 

Bull crap or not ??????

 

Bastard bill landed on day 37   

[DSdriver]

It would be nice to tidy up the wiring on the landy project. Maybe add some fuses. Anyone got a suggested supplier for wire etc?

 

I'm also pretty clueless what size wire I want. I'd like everything I add / replace to be smoke leak resistant, so obvs bigger is better, but how big is big enough?

https://www.asap-supplies.com/electrical-components

[DSdriver]

What about new Volvos then? The T5 used to mean a 5 cylinder petrol with a turbo (I have one). and D5 was the same only diesel. Now T5 has 4 cylinders! I is confused! Does anyone know how the naming system works for them?

Logic never enters into it, otherwise an Audi A3 would be twice the size of an Audi A4 (using paper sizes as a reference)

[loserone]

Has anyone got the same numbers in the omega, 323 and/or ax roffles?

[loserone]

Has anyone got the same numbers in the omega, 323 and/or ax roffles?

Yes, ALDO and BANGERNOMICS are both fucking insane.

[Jazoli]

Occasional smell of oil through the heaters, no signs of a leak from a glance around the engine bay, any quick points?

There's a leak somewhere my bmw drips oil occasionally onto the exhaust at the rear of the engine and you get a burnt oil smell for a minute or so, the oil is burnt off so there is no evidence under the car.

[J-T]

HELP!

 

I'm trying to remove this clutch actuating arm on an Alfa 147. It fits in to the top of a splined shaft that runs through the box and actuates the clutch. It has a plastic bush at the top and bottom of this shaft that go dry and make the clutch pedal horrible so I'm trying to lubricate these bushes, which means this arm needs to come off (the top bush sits underneath it) but it's well seized.

 

I've tried walloping it with a hammer, I've heated it three times with a hot air gun until there was smoke pouring off it, I've drowned the tops of the splines in plusgas and 3in1 and it still won't budge. I'm reluctant to keep heating it in case I melt something. I don't think you could get a puller on it and I don't have one anyway. I'll post some pics below, a wide shot so you can see roughly where it is and a closer one so it's clear what I'm on about. SUGGESTIONS WELCOME!

 

 

It's the arm next to the slave cylinder on top of the box

 

[J-T]

Never mind, success was achieved. Once I'd left it for half an hour it finally came free!

[Tamworthbay]

Anyone had any luck with any of the bumper restoration products? I tried some cheap ‘back to black’ type shizzle from Morrisons but it’s not done much. I have seen the heat gun trick but sure about that as there are other plastics bordering the bumpers.

[clayts450]

I generally use the £2.25 bumper cleaning stuff from Wilko's to keep on top of the plastic tat on the Streetwise.

 

Then someone from Germany on the SW Fartface group mentioned they used shoe polish to really good effect on their Streetwise - looks amazing:

 

 

Specifically this stuff with almond oil

 

https://www.erdal.de/en/products/fine-shoe-polish/

 

Not sure if this is freely available in the UK mind

 

 

 

At the beginning several times necessary! Then 1-2 times a year!!

Just let it dry - do not polish!

[Jazoli]

Boiled linseed oil is the stuff for black plastic, or a heat gun.

[Tamworthbay]

I generally use the £2.25 bumper cleaning stuff from Wilko's to keep on top of the plastic tat on the Streetwise.

 

Then someone from Germany on the SW Fartface group mentioned they used shoe polish to really good effect on their Streetwise - looks amazing:

 

53881468_403730186857372_7480800145831886848_n.jpg

 

Specifically this stuff with almond oil

 

https://www.erdal.de/en/products/fine-shoe-polish/

 

Not sure if this is freely available in the UK mind

I really like the idea of show polish! It makes sense. I will try a small area first obviously.

[anonymous user]

What is safe to use to get gorilla glue off my fingers? Soap and water won't touch it, I have been using wet and dry paper, but it's taking my fingerprints off

[Tamworthbay]

What is safe to use to get gorilla glue off my fingers? Soap and water won't touch it, I have been using wet and dry paper, but it's taking my fingerprints off

I use brake cleaner for pretty much anything like that. I having been doing it years and am still here.

[kirton]

Front spring has snapped on my 140k miles mk1 Honda CRV;  replace both or be a cheapskate and just do the one?

 

It did Exeter to Cannock and back last weekend whilst creaking and groaning a bit fairly generally on the offside but I'm keeping it off the road until the spring is replaced.

 

Is there anything else it would be a good idea to replace suspension -wise when this job is done?

[Jazoli]

Do both, and the droplinks, and maybe the wishbones, it all depends how far you want to go really, the only way to really tell is have a good look and prod with a pry bar.

[tooSavvy]

Strange? .... Out today in ToMM© and it was bloody freezing!

Driving along - easy throttle/tootling on the flat - and the engine temp needle drops away almost to blue.

Bit of throttle/uphill twisty and it is back up to middling.

Question! = doesn't a gauge tell you how *hot the engine is NOT the radiator input?

Thermostat is new & top jobbie

*heater always furnace toasty

.... A vid on Utoob (how to swap thermostat) shows the temp sender to be, indeed, on the "radiator input flow" chamber - above the stat. Hence we know the car cannot possibly be 'boiling'!!

[Ian_Fearn]

Anybody on here own or have experience of a Reliant Scimitar? 10 or so years ago, a friend was keen until he drove one and said it was poorly engineered such that it felt like a kit car. It put me off but a small part of me still quite fancies one. 

[anonymous user]

Coalnotdole is your man for Scimitars

[DSdriver]

Anybody on here own or have experience of a Reliant Scimitar? 10 or so years ago, a friend was keen until he drove one and said it was poorly engineered such that it felt like a kit car. It put me off but a small part of me still quite fancies one.

One persons opinion is not really going to affect how you feel about anything. In the case of your friend, what was he used to driving and what condition was the Scimitar in? Both of which will bias his opinion.

Get out there and test drive two or three and make your own judgement.

[Bfg]

Anybody on here own or have experience of a Reliant Scimitar? 10 or so years ago, a friend was keen until he drove one and said it was poorly engineered such that it felt like a kit car. It put me off but a small part of me still quite fancies one. 

 

I had an SE6A (1980, Auto with Essex 3ltr ) for a couple of years, five years ago. An exceptionally beautiful looking car's imo..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought this car because of its looks and it being an estate version of a powerful 2-door car ..not a 'sports car' in my definition but a GTE (Grand-tourer-estate).  At the time I was visiting my aunt in a nursing home 120 miles away every other weekend (for six years) so a GT ought to do that trip nicely. By the time I was finished with it, this particular car was in nice condition aside from a few minor areas of flaking paint. I loath rust but am experienced in fibreglass (former business owner). It had a galvanised chassis which had also been wax oiled, a towing hitch, dual fuel (LPG or Petrol, with an ignition timing adjuster), and was in good mechanical order.

 

However there was a list of reasons I sold it..

 

The performance wasn't really that good. Despite having a 3 litre engine, the combination of an exceptionally heavy fibreglass body and an auto box just wasn't impressive, either on the motorways nor across country on fast A-roads.  I would not have admitted so to my close friends but..  Disappointing. 

 

I once collected two classic Triumph motorcycles with it. They were still in the crate as imported from the States and sitting on a lightweight trailer.  I was surprised to have to drop a gear to go up non motorways short hills in Kent (..so without run up speeds).  Two bikes 450lb each plus a wooden box I wouldn't have thought would have been much of a strain on 3-ltrs, but I wasn't impressed.

 

On the motorway the car tend to drift lanes above 70mph, &/or follow white lines.  It was too heavy a car for having fun thrown-around fast country lanes, and the ride quality was mediocre at best. On B-class country lanes, one had to watch undulations not getting the better of you, and there felt like scuttle shake.    Hard fast corners and the wonderfully long bonnet, plus the weight of that 3 ltr lump, the spare wheel way forward, and the battery level with the front axle, are experienced as under-steer.  The quality of ride (comfort and noise) down the farm track I live along.. pretty dire.

 

Starting, smoothness of running, clean plugs and exhaust, & running costs ..when on LPG was impressive.  I'd gladly have another LPG car.

 

Space inside is a difficult for me to assess, because although I'm not fat I am broad and very tall.  So with its HUGE gearbox tunnel and humongous instrument binnacle* - the interior space was not as generous as one might expect of such a saloon-sized grand-touring type car. To me it felt rather American in its copious seat padding without occupancy space.  Remember also that the car sits on a traditional deep frame ladder chassis, which steals a lot of interior accommodation.  Rear-seat legroom is for the dog or children.  Estate* luggage space is height limited. Fine if you happen to have a couple of suitcases to neatly lay flat and a small soft bag or two, but everything is at almost window height. Stacked high and visibility is severely hampered. Shopping / carrier bags slide every-ways and duly shed their contents, as there's no corner to tuck them in. So the back seats are used to put your shopping on, which really isn't very convenient for a two door estate car.  And., "do not leave valuables in your car" as everything is in view and the door locks are about as secure as a 1970's Morris Marina.  Perhaps because mine had LPG but there was nowhere to hide typical boot 'stuff ' save the rear footwells.

 

Build quality of a low volume 1960's car.. or else think of tired out Morris Marina, except for the carpets which are probably the same as used in the Reliant Robin. They sag with damp and bleach in the sun. The plastic dashboard top is prone to distort, crack, and creak ..and that's while still in the garage 

 

Rust free ? nope sorry not even that.  Even though mine had a rust free chassis, the steel tray supporting the spare wheel in the nose was riddled.  The steel structure inside the a-post (for the heavy door hinges) rust away and become loose, as does the steel-frame within the doors. It's all restore-able if you cut the fibreglass open, as the steel is laminated over.   Reliant's policy on finishing in-house steel components was to paint them black, but don't bother with priming the metal first. 

 

Electrics are no problem. They are simply Lucas plus a few more earth straps.  Although much maligned, personally I have no issues with Lucas          

 

Mechanically, brakes and steering.. OK for a heavy 1970's car.  The wheels and tyres on the SE6 are fatter than those on the SE5. They look more purposeful, and I do like the slotted alloys, but almost certainly the wide tyre section seriously detracts from any feel of nimbleness. The SE5 is reputed to be a better driver's car, but it also has less width ..detracting from the interior more than anything.  

 

My friend had a SE5, which many regard to be a prettier car. I'd counter this with the opinion that the SE6 is somewhat more elegant and looks more purposeful.  Anyway, he gave up trying to keep his on the road after having been conned* by the prior owner as to its condition. Unfortunately, so many Scimitars have been owned by persons without the budget or else the knowledge to properly care for these (quite expensive to run) cars.  Likewise he loved the styling but couldn't cope with it being unreliable, nor the way the car had been put together from a mixed bin of both Ford and BL parts. He sold it non-running, for next to nothing, to another dreamer.. wishing for a Scimitar on modern mechanicals.

 

I'm really sorry to not be able to give this car a glowing report ..on any aspect, save its totally fabulous looks, and low purchase price.   If the car had handled well, had performed well, was comfortable, had clever packaged space, or did something (anything !) else well.., then as an enthusiast I might have lived with other shortcomings  (after all every car is a compromise), but even as a capable engineer with long experienced in 'sorting and improving things' - I could see no saving grace (..short of taking a set of moulds off the car and building a new lightweight and stiffer one). 

 

So I put it through another MOT and sold it, to a man from Holland  ..and bought myself a 1966 S-type Jaguar, which cost twice the price, but with IRS - did handle well, was extremely comfortable, was spacious, was elegant, had a gorgeous leather and walnut aroma, and otherwise was ... so many great things..    

 

I hope this personal opinion was in some way helpful.  Who knows, perhaps there are better examples and I was simply unlucky in the one I bought,  but the consistently low prices of these cars, and the vast numbers of unfinished projects, might suggest I'm not alone in my assessment.  But I also wholly agree with the previous post "Get out there and test drive two or three and make your own judgement".  What you are looking for / your criteria might be very different to mine. After-all there are some very happy owners out there.

 

Bfg

[Tamworthbay]

Anybody on here own or have experience of a Reliant Scimitar? 10 or so years ago, a friend was keen until he drove one and said it was poorly engineered such that it felt like a kit car. It put me off but a small part of me still quite fancies one.

 

Cracking cars, superbly engineered. The interiors feel a little kit Carish, but so do far more expensive small volume cars like Nobles.

[loserone]

BFG- cheers for that.

 

AutoFive, who shares Scaryoldcortina's yard, breaks them, and I often find myself looking at them.

 

Thankfully it's easy enough to sit in one, or hear how rotten the outrigger is, or watch one being started with my garage key, and I'm reasonably convinced they're not for me.

 

The problem then is I spend hours looking at 996s.

[loserone]

I think Mrs L1's first car (the Ginetta G26 whose rebuild is documented on motoscat) probably put me off SPCs. Entertaining for a while, but not a serious car.

 

*Silly Plastic Cars.

[Ian_Fearn]

Bfg, thanks so much for your reply. WOW what a response!

 

My old long term ownership Defender is nearing rebuild time and i'll need a daily when it goes off the road maybe later this year/early 2020. I was thinking, 4 seats, comfortable motorway cruiser, fewer rust worries and fit a load of stuff in the boot whilst ticking something off the list. I don't mind something that needs 6 months reliability tinkering to get it ready for daily use but i don't want a full on restoration.

 

I'm not desperately soul searching for something to buy, a Scimitar just keeps rearing its head. I suspect i'll be disappointed with one but I guess that never stopped me before......