THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[peter9000uk]

Since gearbox went tits up on the Laguna still been using it as a 4 speed with no reverse and I can tell you parking takes some thinking about. Noises are getting louder and am awaiting detonation.

 

Got a call today from a trader mate who knew of my plight and offered a snotter with some atx & test to use as a stop gap.

 

It is a 2 litre Chrysler Voyager! I wasn;t even aware they did a 2 litre but they do (obviously really popular) It is truely a horrible piece of shite to drive, but it does have all the gears!

[greengartside]

  109landys3 said:

tempted to buy back my old 1985 fiesta ghia in maroon, been sat on a drive for 6 years since I gave it to the brother in law.

 

what could possibly go wrong?

 

Do it!! Sounds like it could be fun!

[dollywobbler]

  peter9000uk said:

It is a 2 litre Chrysler Voyager! It is truly a horrible piece of shite to drive, but it does have all the gears!

 

Motoring reviews - by Autoshite. Great stuff!

[Shep Shepherd]

With lots of high-speed, long distance driving in mind (Eastern Germany next month and the Netherlands in October), I changed TV2's engine coolant today, as it has never been done during my ownership of the car; although it was still up to strength, it looked a bit murky and the expansion tank had a fair amount of crud in it (almost, but not quite totally removed due to the baffles inside the tank impeding my progress). Indeed, I think that it could have been the stuff that the car left the factory with, as Volvo considered the V70's cooling system to be 'sealed for life' unless leaks occurred or repairs had to be made to the system.

 

To cut a long story short, I managed to do the job within an hour, including setting up and tidying away, largely due to the fact that the car's radiator has a drain tap. If only things were always as easy; my erstwhile Rover 214's cooling system was a real pain to drain and refill and would suffer from air-locks for months afterwards, which I later found out is the wont of the Rover K-Series engine's cooling system

 

The next jobs will be replacing the engine oil and filter and getting two of the car's most deteriorated wheels refurbished (the passenger side ones), as I've found a local company who will do them for me next week for a price that I'm happy to pay. As ever, watch this space.

[mk1_4dr]

EscRot is back!!! Back in the yard, looking better, but still rough and ready. Just how I like it.

 

Pictorial update tomorrow...

[The Moog]

Got tame mechanic coming to look at Saab tomorrow (at which point he will find it was something simple I have forgotten to connect) because I am falling out of love with it at the moment.

 

VW gears were more difficult to find than a blowjob in a nunnery. Looks like it is the linkage. Ordered the front gearlever bushing repair kit and a speedo cable. Got under the van and I don't think it is that bit. Bugger. And the previous owner has coated the underside of the van in black gunk. Which gets on everything .. and gets everywhere. The rear most gear linkages are supposed to be a proper pain to do..

 

Micra is now making a strange clonking on OSF which will need looking at. Yet the best vehicle at the moment round here is Mr Noahs Ark ...

[mk2_craig]

Fresh plates for my Sierra

 

Before and after:

 

Another happy Dealerplates customer.

[Angrydicky]

Very nice

[The Moog]

Rubber on the pick up for the fuel pump has perished. Hence the car not starting and cutting out. It was really subtle although the more you look the more cracks and splits you find.

 

Will have to try and track down a new version. .hmm

[barefoot]

Dealerplates is a very fine, numberplate specific polish only available in the UK.

 

Would you like me to post you a tube?

[dollywobbler]

Range Rover is back. ABS light still on but apparently records no faults when you plug the computer in. Guess the bulb's coming out for now! Nice drive back. Mate in a Delica took me to collect it. Makes my Rangie seem quite low slung, but appeared to handle pretty well.

[ashmicro]

You been on the paint thinner, Norm?

 

In other news, I scored a 2CV on Test Drive Unlimited 2. I think it's a 2CV4, as it's only 18BHP. It's great for the muddy field bits

 

[ashmicro]

No problem:

 

1. Pour it all over yourself.

2. Light a cigarette

 

End of tutorial

[myglaren]

Been driving daughter's 75, she's nicked my C5 estate to shift house.

It is proving to be quite a pleasant drive, more refined than the C5 and lots of mysterious buttons to push.

 

Does anyone know though, how to access the tail light cluster? There is a bulb out on either side and I can't work out how to remove the cluster from inside - which must be the correct method, rather than removing the lens?

[ashmicro]

Alfa 75 or Rover 75?

[myglaren]

  ashmicro said:

Alfa 75 or Rover 75?

 

Ah, sorry, that's a Rover 75.

[ashmicro]

[myglaren]

Great, thanks ashmicro, I'll go and have a gander at that right away, spent ages uselessly poking around with it earlier and afraid to damage it, as it isn't mine and the Rover is her current pride and joy.

[myglaren]

That worked perfectly - so simple when you know how

Except the tail light that wasn't working is now but one of the other bulbs has a broken filament. Fog light I think

 

I was sure I had a stash of bulbs here somewhere but like everything else they can only be found when looking for something completely different.

Naturally my spares are in my car and hers are probably still in her SAAB.

 

Thanks again ashmicro.

[ashmicro]

I've lobbed the whole handbook on RapidShare

 

https://rapidshare.com/files/386568535/ ... ndbook.pdf

 

New-ish version of Acrobat Reader required.

[myglaren]

We have a handbook, naturally not in the car and as she is moving house it is anyone's guess where it might be now, and will probably never be seen again, so the online version will be a godsend.

[M'coli]

I've been doing a bit of welding on a mate's Dolomite of late, the rear suspension brackets need replacing but today things didn't go as expected. He lifted the carpet in the rear footwell when on firewatch duties, and says "Bloody hell - there's a big lump of filler in the centre of this floor!" So we knocked it out with a hammer, and then he went in to put a brew on. I had a further look and found more filler between the floorpan and the sill, in a strip of about 14" long, right under the seatbelt anchor point. He's only had the car 15 years or so, and never had to lift the carpets before! I'll be doing a little more welding than we first planned.

[mk2_craig]

  Team Blitz said:

  mk2_craig said:

Fresh plates for my Sierra

 

Before and after:

 

Another happy Dealerplates customer.

 

Craig, could you possibly write up a tutorial on how that was done? Fantastic stuff!

 

In essence e-mailed bloke with scan of front plate, sent £25 by Paypal and received pair of plates in post a few days later.

 

I have no idea how he does them. Presumably replicates the dealer logos via some kind of graphic design software then lobs them into a number plate making program which can still do the wider 57mm font. Bet he's doing quite nicely out of it.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

They make a big difference.

 

 

Today I have been enjoying the sunshine pulling wet, mouldy carpeting and soundproofing from the Mini. I only bought it last year, that'll teach me to spend money prettifying the damn thing. The floor looks horrific, I need to get some of the god damned bitumen coating off to see how healthy the metal is.

[TagoraSX]

Not a good day today.

 

Went to wake the 100 5E from is slumber to find a wet front passenger footwell, nice.

Lifted the carpet, took out the soaking wet foam underneath and dried the floor with a hair dryer. The fluid was running down the transmission tunnel behind the centre console so I'm assuming the heater matrix has gone.

 

So I took the Fiat for a small run to cheer me up, It didn't. I got a slight whiff from behind the right rear wheel, I think I has brake trouble.

 

B@stard cars

[RoadworkUK]

We had a delectable XJ6 in as p/x for £hardly any, this one:-

 

 

I had been hoping that one of the technicians would snap it up, one showed a fervent interest but couldn't insure it. So it's gone to BCA Enfield.

 

I bloody loved it. Wrote about it at length here, first time I've done anything on my blog for a while.

[autofive]

  Team Blitz said:

Just kicked off Retro Rides for a year because I had the temerity to ask (by PM!) the Moderators why they trashed me in their self-titled "Haters Not Required" thread. So, NBFD, except if you wish to PM me, please just email me directly. As obv I cannot access my RR PM account until July 2012.

 

Please note for the record: The suspension was not the result of a post. It was the result of a POLITE inquiry by PM! FFS, ridiculous, just ridiculous. And they wonder why the post count and quality of the threads have declined in the last couple years. Pffft! Try to help them by PM, and you get suspended.

 

That's building a quality community alright.

 

Anyway, please use my email: blitz@teamblitz.com for anything I can coordinate for you. Always happy to help fellow hobbyists, and that's not confined to selling anything. But straight up plain old help, like a friend would offer another friend. I'd even help the Mods at RR (and have several times)..... crazy feckers....

 

Norm

 

hidemyass.com + gmail account + new RR membership = many happy hours annoying el duce and VIP

[cort16]

Non shite related but I got my popcorn maker working today and even managed to craft a couple of new handles for it. Fuck know what I'm going to do with it like other than use it to stuff my fat face with popcorn.

[Guest]

  Team Blitz said:

Just kicked off Retro Rides for a year because I had the temerity to ask (by PM!) the Moderators why they trashed me in their self-titled "Haters Not Required" thread. So, NBFD, except if you wish to PM me, please just email me directly. As obv I cannot access my RR PM account until July 2012.

 

Please note for the record: The suspension was not the result of a post. It was the result of a POLITE inquiry by PM! FFS, ridiculous, just ridiculous. And they wonder why the post count and quality of the threads have declined in the last couple years. Pffft! Try to help them by PM, and you get suspended.

 

That's building a quality community alright.

 

Anyway, please use my email: blitz@teamblitz.com for anything I can coordinate for you. Always happy to help fellow hobbyists, and that's not confined to selling anything. But straight up plain old help, like a friend would offer another friend. I'd even help the Mods at RR (and have several times)..... crazy feckers....

 

Norm

 

Norm, if it's any consolation I was disgusted by the whole thing.

 

In other news, the 305 is running again after a SCTSH_ANDY supertune \ swearfest. The carbs were fouled to fuck and the 'new' dizzy cap looks to have done 30k on closer inspection. New HT leads undoubtedly helped as well. The other carb I bought is now on, but doesn't seem entirely trustworthy. After running through the HBOL it seems that the 'new' carb is actually a 32 \ 35 CISAC rather than a 32 \ 34 Z1, and the former doesn't have a fuel return feed. The auto choke mechanism's a load of crap and will not idle the engine at less than 1200 RPM even with the screw backed right off. There's some funny shit occurring with the cooling as well, which is no doubt connected.

 

Also, the efforts of the SOE (Scouse Team of Excellence) have not gone unnoticed. Much thanks to Pete-M, MM5 and Warren T Claim in this regard. Even if he and MM5 did take my Citroen on a random joyride around Stockport after getting 'lost' getting some McDonalds. The correct Rallye wheel studs are also in place now, too.

 

The brakes are still crap and it still smells like a decorator's armpit. The blower is still shitting out bits of the scenery despite being left on for a clearout for over 30 minutes. I still need to bin the BNP number plates. It has a better battery fitted now, replacing the fucking woeful 063 it had in situ.

[Guest]

  Team Blitz said:

Ain't forgot the pics, Watty. Just been incredibly bizzy, today was fabricate monoleafs day for a couple of Capri racers. It's like 100F here, and between the banging and the clamping and furnace and the sparks and the beer and the urethane and the tubing work on the eyes, I'm wasted, Babba.

 

No bother Mr M. In your own time la.