Ask a Shiter

[Andrew353w]

I'm planning the annual family holiday and The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Northern Cyprus) may be on the horizon. Question: On what side of the road does the T.R.N.C. drive? I ask because I know Cyprus proper drives on the LEFT (the same as the British, as Cyprus was a British colony until about 1960) but when the Turks invaded in 1974 I wondered if they changed the driving side to match Turkey. Is there loads of pre 1974 RHD chod still there? The holiday might be more interesting as a result!

[bub2006]

I'm in turkey at the minute. Lots of rebadged fiat regatta's I think badged as tofas. Lots of old Renault too. All seem rot free but look battered. The drivers here are hectic. Seems to be no right of way,pedestrian crossing means nothing and they think nothing of overtaking on a blind bend on a mountain road(bus we was on this morning, I did clench a bit)

[tooSavvy]

 Irish, Welsh, French, Brummie's, Scousers etc have a sense of humour and long may that continue, some people don't.

 

keep your head...

 

Representing the savvySpracht minority here... I'm a likeable* Geordie and take all ribbing with a light heart.

 

a less precious guy you'd be hard pressed to find.

 

just all of yezz FCUK oFF, Right!!**

 

** this forum aint.................

 

TS

[KruJoe]

Savvy, I like the cut of your gibberish.

[Lacquer Peel]

I'm planning the annual family holiday and The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Northern Cyprus) may be on the horizon. Question: On what side of the road does the T.R.N.C. drive? I ask because I know Cyprus proper drives on the LEFT (the same as the British, as Cyprus was a British colony until about 1960) but when the Turks invaded in 1974 I wondered if they changed the driving side to match Turkey. Is there loads of pre 1974 RHD chod still there? The holiday might be more interesting as a result!

 

They drive on the left as well. There was a lot of chod there a couple of years ago but the really old stuff like the Viva above is abandoned rather than in daily use. If you like rehashed Renault 9s, 12s, and Fiat 131s you'll be happy.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I went to Cyprus

 

Suprisingly little old crap given the climate. A few old Mercs, some old Jap pick ups but thats about all I saw. There was one old chap near the border who had a great collection of cars, some ok but most knackered. We tried to have a chat but I don`t speak Greek and he didn`t speak English.

 

Every day he opened all the doors on his cars so they wouldn`t get too hot. Waste of time really as they were too far gone anyway. He did have a tidy Volvo P1800 though, one of my all time dream cars

 

I drove to Nicosia but only walked to the Turkish side so didn`t see much old stufff there either

 

Loads of dirt roads in Cyprus. Great for rallying hire cars

[bub2006]

Seen a opel commodore I think it was,badged gs 2.8 in a yellow colour. Looked immaculate, there is battered cortina badged 2.0s local to hotel, seen it about a few times and last night sat at roadside bar a granada with spotlights in bumper come tanking down wrong side of road overtaking everything and it sounded like the manifolds weren't attached to the engine!

[rainagain]

That will run on neat veg in the summer despite what everyone says about Lucas pumps

 

It will start to leak eventually from the throttle spindle but you can either live with that or run back on diesel and the leak will stop ( usually )

 

or you can change the pump and injectors to Bosch

 

The problem with Lucas pumps is there are a rotary pump whereas the Bosch pumps use pistons. The Lucas pump relies on the fuel to lubricate the rotor, once they are worn the clearances open up a bit hence why some people get away with using veg oil. I converted a Mk1 Clio 1.9 with a Lucas pump to run on veg oil by twin tanking it. I had a small diesel tank in the boot that I used to start up on, once the engine was hot I used a fuel solenoid to switch over to the main tank which had the veg in it, this then went through a heat exchanger to warm and thin it. Then in the last couple of miles of a journey I switched back to diesel to flush the system ready for the next cold start. I had the problem you mentioned with the leaking throttle spindle, I carefully removed the top of the pump and fitted the spindle with new viton washers which fixed it

[rainagain]

Here's a pic showing the fuel change over solenoid, the black wires are for temperature sensors so I knew when the pump was hot

 

[Taff]

supposedly there is some interesting  chod tantalisingly  out of reach in the DMZ

 

internet myth, I think. I did two tours over there and one of those involved looking at Famagusta through bino's and TNV and I didn't see much of interest.

 

I went to Cyprus

 

Suprisingly little old crap given the climate. A few old Mercs, some old Jap pick ups but thats about all I saw. There was one old chap near the border who had a great collection of cars, some ok but most knackered. We tried to have a chat but I don`t speak Greek and he didn`t speak English.

 

Every day he opened all the doors on his cars so they wouldn`t get too hot. Waste of time really as they were too far gone anyway. He did have a tidy Volvo P1800 though, one of my all time dream cars

 

I drove to Nicosia but only walked to the Turkish side so didn`t see much old stufff there either

 

Loads of dirt roads in Cyprus. Great for rallying hire cars

 

my first tour was before Cyprus introduced their MoT and there was chod everywhere. My driving safety brief included the line "if it's black, round & made of rubber, the Cypriots consider it a tyre and WILL fit & use it". The work pattern was such that we had four days on-fours days standby-four days off. The days off were spent in Napa or Pathos and we would routinely return our hire car in better nick than we collected them, once even bleeding the brakes.

The introduction of their equivelant of the MoT saw off all the ropey old crap virtually overnight, and a good thing too. There is a world of difference between running old motors on a budget like we do and driving dangerous cars that are well beyond their scrapping date, IMHO.

[D Spares & Tyres]

That explains the lack of crap then. By the time of the tests I suppose all the old stuff had worn out far beyond repair.

 

There was a classic car repairer in Nicosia. He had some interesting stuff, I`ll try to find the photos

 

Famagusta is fascinating, I would like to visit there. I only saw it from the UN line

[nigel bickle]

What's the rule on hoofing great Windscreen cracks, for an Mot?

 

I ve a running weekly test booked, and it's the Renault 21's turn. Buggeration factor is that the windscreen cracked today.

Centrally from the bottom, rising around a foot before heading into passenger side direction for around another foot.

 

I'm guessing that's a fail?

[Bucketeer]

I'm planning the annual family holiday and The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Northern Cyprus) may be on the horizon. Question: On what side of the road does the T.R.N.C. drive? I ask because I know Cyprus proper drives on the LEFT (the same as the British, as Cyprus was a British colony until about 1960) but when the Turks invaded in 1974 I wondered if they changed the driving side to match Turkey. Is there loads of pre 1974 RHD chod still there? The holiday might be more interesting as a result!

 

If you want an idea of the chod you'll be encountering there's a few pages of N.Cyprus spots from my travels, starting page 9. There's still LOADS there if you look.

http://autoshite.com/topic/14103-bbb-worldwide-chodventuring-trabant-purchase-pending/page-9

 

I can confirm that they are supposed to drive on the left but generally weave about on either side whilst mashing the horn, smoking and shouting at pedestrians/passengers/clouds/whatever.

 

I heard a story whilst well refreshed that when building the (at the time) new highway from Girne/Kyrenia in the North to Nicosia/Lefkosa just on the South side of the border the Greeks built their section of road driving on the left and the Turks built their half driving on the right, only realising the problem and swapping everything over after they joined together. Whether this led directly to the decision to change to driving on the left or whether it's just drunken bullshit, I don't know.

[spike60]

It's a bit more involved but I think basically the area wiped by the wipers has to be crack free.

[steve_earwig]

There you go, buy some smaller wipers and you'll be fine.

[nigel bickle]

Hamm. They'd need to be a 1/4 inch long! Bugger

[Matt]

Took my thermostat out yesterday while changing the coolant but now it leaks between the thermostat seal and the metal joiner of the upper hose, everything is exactly as it was, what gives and how the feck do I make it stop leaking? It's just a rubber seal against a flat aluminium surface. No RTV to hand but then again it didn't have any in the first place, did the bolts up just as tight as I remember them already being but I daren't try tightening them more because aluminium.

[scdan4]

I can replace 215/55/16 tyres with 205/55 16 or even 195/55 16 tyres without the world exploding can't I?

 

There's £30 difference per tyre to drop to 205's. soon adds up.

 

I wouldn't intend mixing them on the same axle, but even were punctures and earthquakes to happen I cannot see why it wouldn't be fine.

 

Or am I missing something?

[Pillock]

MoT fail for a start if mixed on same axle. Also, 11mm difference in diameter so car will be lobsided and handle funny.

 

Do it in pairs front to rear, no issues. I used to run 155 front and 205 rear on my Beetle. The middle number (I.e. 55, 65 etc) is the ratio of sidewall to width so even if this is the same on different width, the tyre will be taller.

[scdan4]

Thanks.

 

I thought it was an absolute height not a ratio, so running in pairs only makes sense.

 

Although handling is not the cars strong point anyway, I think you could fit a square tyre and make no noticeable difference!

[skattrd]

scdan4, apologies if I sound a bit patronising, but I think you should read up a bit more on tyre sizes before fitting different size tyres on the rims. You will probably get away with going up or down 10mm on the width, but you also have to take in to account the rim width. You can also vary the side-wall height as well as the width and end up with very similar rolling distance with different sized wheels/tyres.

 

If you want cheap replacement tyres, I often find buying secondhand wheels with tyres from ebay works out cheaper than buying tyres on their own. I've had several sets of wheels with tyres for under £50 from ebay.

[scdan4]

Found a set of matching* rims for a good price. Car has no spare so I have been looking for a while and they are rareish, generally far far away and shod with shite. Most on the bay are lower profile tyres on 17's. Which can fuck off. We're built for comfort not speed in this house. Sidewalls for the potholez  winz

 

Car takes 215's as standard on 6.5J's, which is fine except they are twice the price of 205's - I assume 205's are a far more popular tyre. Have looked at the comparison charts on the tinterweb and 205's are perfectly acceptable on 6.5's

 

It's driven gently (my hooning days are over, my ear hair grows faster than I drive now) and tyres are always fitted in pairs anyhow - any mix would always be a get you home (and knocking about for the next couple of weeks). As there is currently only a space saver spare I can only see this would be an improvement.

 

Would fit new, thinner, ones to the front, as the current tyres are tired and massively out of round, use up the left over lumpy 215's on the rear over time and then end up solely on 205's as, well, they're about half the price.

 

And i'm nervous about tyres.... but think I would rather have slightly thinner good tyres for the same price as nip nip slidemasters that have an extra half an inch of grip*

[320touring]

Have you tried tyreleader?fuckin cheeepz.

 

Worth a quick look-you may be surprised

[skattrd]

What's the car scdan4? There might be other wheels that can be fitted if you're having trouble finding replacements ... http://www.carlsalter.com/wheel_fitments.html is a good place to check compatible wheels.

[scdan4]

tyreleader was where I was already looking - as their uniroyals seem to be the cheap good tyre of choice at the moment.

 

Rainsport 3's there are £40 vs £67.

 

It's a 1999 saab 9-5 estate 2.3. All the saab and vx stuff seems to be 17 inchers. 

 

As it's nominally the missus' chariot she'd like the wheels to match, which then restricts to 5 spokers.

 

Off out to pub now (hurrah!), but will check the link tomorrow, thanks.

 

Dan

[skattrd]

Saab 9-5   5 x 110 et35...40  c/b65

       

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/Wheels-with-Tyres-/9888/i.html?_sop=2&_from=R40&LH_ItemCondition=3000&_nkw=5x110&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1

[Pillock]

10mm drop in width will be barely noticeable, for safety I reckon decent brand 205s will top shonky 215s all day.

 

There's plenty of online calculators to work out the difference in height, speedo accuracy etc if you put in old and new tyre sizes. But match across the axle always.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I have an MGF

 

Suspension is very low

 

It`s booked in on Wednesday to be pumped up but as the valves look the same as tyre valves, what would happen if I just used my air compressor?

[spike60]

I have an MGF

 

Suspension is very low

 

It`s booked in on Wednesday to be pumped up but as the valves look the same as tyre valves, what would happen if I just used my air compressor?

Having seen someone try it with an Austin landcrab, the car gets lower and the airline gets filled up with green gook!

At least in that case, car pressure was higher than the workshop airline.

[Pillock]

Isn't it 400psi or something in the system? Just hook it up to a bike pump, you'll be grand