Wibble’s Wittering - Cortina, Senator & occasional Skoda & family ramblings, soz!

[Wibble]

I have one but it was 428 miles away at home at the time. Personally I don’t like them for oil changes, I prefer to drain and get all the old oil out.

[Wibble]

Out and about in the Senny today, still driving well. Found another cassette it was willing to play, Def Leppard, although curiously, it will only play one side at the correct speed🤨.

Also added some bling to the front of the Cortina:

This is my Dad’s old AA badge and it was on the front of all of his Cortinas so can now spend some time on mine.

[Wibble]

Started the Cortina today for the first time this year. Sticking solenoid got a clout and it fired up quite easily and ran well.

It’s had a coolant leak for a while which couldn’t be found and led us to believe it must be the core plug in the back of the block. This obviously is a gearbox off job and everything that entails plus clutch and fly wheel.

My bones are not up for this and my wallet isn’t up to paying someone else so, prior to starting up today, this was added:

I then left it to warm up and we’ll see what happens. Not ideal I know but my classic friendly garage actually rates this stuff for old cars but not moderns.

Gave the Senny a quick was whilst the Cortina warmed up so at least got the salt off it and will get back on with the bodywork once the weather warms up a bit.

[Wibble]

Mentioned in my covid moans that Mrs W has a blood disease. It’s actually a disease which causes your immune system to destroy the platelets in your blood. We’ve now been told it is now chronic ITP and lifelong and that she will never feel well again. Hard to take in, very much not good times, again.

[Wibble]

Good news, the coolant level in the Cortina hasn’t dropped, so fingers crossed.

Was out and about in the Senator today and still running well with the very occasional slight misfire on idle, so service will be done once weather improves.

The stereo is still not great though, so I’ve been toying with the idea of a replacement. Don’t want anything garish as I had hoped to keep to original spec but this doesn’t look too bad:

Opinions welcome🙂

[AnnoyingPentium]

Those Blaupunkt things are cool, but I'd need to have an Alpine or something from the time in there. Admittedly mine is newer, but you get the idea.

Say a slightly more period one for your Senny.

[Wibble]

Cheers Ryan. It’s as much the look as anything and the Alpines of the period look very much the aftermarket they are. The Blaupunkt just looks a bit more in keeping with the dash and more OEM looking despite the tech. I don’t want it to stand out but I’ll think about it.

[Shite Ron]

I keep looking at the new Blaupunkt Stockholm for one of the Cortina’s.

I think the new Frankfurt would suit the Senator but the price is a bit high.

I am no expert on 90’s Vauxhall's but always associate the high end ones with Kenwood stereo’s, ideally with a big CD changer in the boot. This would be my choice:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285129589545?hash=item42630c4329:g:4nYAAOSwRX1j2n6H&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4IsOuunb6lbttnrfdrUKOOvhBRAI5aGDPwRezlDc4lMj8tp4NAUTTyi6lVTn2m1van3qW8v6bWUJYtr9JBPZAN2DUtw0yXT08ovi1%2BE9yXj62PIZ1zzE1nQtjx5TopAmG2b%2BZSQqFV4N%2FFArHYg2cBhL3ONhtjfjCDwg81cKTIJJhfXW0UsO989FEBJWVzzhLR7tzO80eXuMcTgGLj%2FoVc2rsVaba3mAMOhk%2B22PobCJjhyIRyZiq3IFDqnbrpIMq2e3uqFpQkYtnKKlQyuV9tciduS8pD2y%2BNhOMUNOfeyt|tkp%3ABFBMyPSmjuhh

[Wibble]

Thanks @Shite Ron, I think the Stockholm would suit a Mk5 very well but the Frankfurt, whilst looking good, is a bit rich for my needs.

Early top end Senators had a CD player beneath the radio cassette. Later ones did indeed have a CD multi changer in the boot but were Philips or Grundig I think.

All food for thought.

[wesacosa]

I have this one in my XM. I went for the one without the CD player. Its worth shopping around as I found it a lot cheaper than some other places selling it.  I do like it, although I think one with more buttons would suit the XM better but they are silly money 

[wesacosa]

this is one I bought 

[Wibble]

Looks good @wesacosa. I want tape or CD because old and don’t have music on my phone (mainly because it’s a work one I suppose). I got tired of buying “new old stock” radio cassettes for the Cortina which never worked hence looking for new this time.

I think Amazon have the Milano for about £88.

[Wibble]

This is what it has now which is why I’m still leaning towards the Blaupunkt Milano although I can’t get it for the price I thought. I must have seen the similar non CD model:

I also realised today that I’ve owned the Senny for 25 years now! So I ordered a set of replica dealer plates for it as the originals are a bit tired:

[AnnoyingPentium]

6 minutes ago, Wibble said:

This is what it has now which is why I’m still leaning towards the Blaupunkt Milano although I can get it for the price I thought. I must have seen the similar non CD model:

I also realised today that I’ve owned the Senny for 25 years now! So I ordered a set of replica dealer plates for it as the originals are a bit tired:

That's a decently specced tape unit as well. Dolby B... you flash bastard!

[Wibble]

If only it fucking worked properly 😆

[Wibble]

Only ordered the replica plates this afternoon and they’ve sent the proof for approval already:

Looks spot on to me😁

[Wibble]

Email this morning confirming plates dispatched. I iz impressed🙂

[AnnoyingPentium]

Out of interest, where did you order them from?

[Wibble]

Pro Plates. £39.99 the pair with free delivery.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Wibble said:

Pro Plates. £20.00 the pair with £19.99 delivery.

Sorry

[Wibble]

Having looked at other prices I couldn’t care less!🙂

[Schaefft]

On 4/2/2023 at 7:57 PM, Wibble said:

If only it fucking worked properly 😆

Pretty sure I mentioned it before but I still have one for sale, albeit currently in Germany.

[Wibble]

4 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Pretty sure I mentioned it before but I still have one for sale, albeit currently in Germany.

I remember you getting one but didn’t know you had one for sale, please tell me more🙂

[Schaefft]

I originally had a Philips SC804 in my senator. Since those were impossible to find I bought a Grundig SC303 instead. Some of the buttons to enter the code weren't responsive so I bought another one from an old school car stereo repair man. Turns out he was able to repair mine as well so I ended up with two. Pretty sure I then found a functioning Philips stereo shortly after.😂 I need to check what they are worth.

[Wibble]

New plates arrived today, look exactly as they should so I’m very pleased:

 

Apologies for rotation!

[High Jetter]

Candidate for rong car plate fred?3

[Wibble]

That’s better.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Looks great 👍

[Wibble]

Cheers Ryan!

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Wibble said:

That’s better.

Looks great. Not a Van Den Plas though.