THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[Cavcraft]

@ Seth.

 

In other shite related news, and typical of how things seem to work for me, I haven't had much old chod offered to me recently but have now had three old crappers offered to me in as many days. Time/room/money will probably work against me getting the lot but one or two are on the cards at least. It's times like this I regret binning my recovery truck as one of these is fit for some parts pilferage and then a trip over the bridge.

[morris_ital_lover]

Go on then... you can;t say you;ve been offered something and then not say what .

 

m0rris

[morris_ital_lover]

In other news... I just got Sir Geoffery Whalen's (formerly head of peugeot talbot) bank statement through my door, bloody royal mail.

 

m0rris

[Cavcraft]

It's a bit embarrassing:

 

Chavvy Escrot Mk4 convertable.

 

Omega 3.0 (that would be the breaker I think).

 

And the best for last: a Vectra diseasel. Not just any diseasel either, but a very early ('N' plate I think) one with the 1.7TD Isuzu engine, 250,000 odd miles on the clock and gaffer taped/riveted/held together by string front bumper.

 

Out of three I've only seen the Vectra in the flesh (and in the dark I might add) but it's so horrible it's ace. And I'd be willing to bet it's more reliable than the Passat.

[dollywobbler]

FFS!

Ford's are F*cking Stupid?

[barefoot]

Scirocco refused to start - flooded.

 

Well, I've not done that to a car in a while, previously drove the van, pumped pedal to make the choke work,

and must have done the same to the Scirocco which didn't like it at all.

[forddeliveryboy]

Darlings, I meant to say that the 'Crab is better in my 'umble than a Cambridge. Was referring to sep chassis cars regarding lack of crumpling. Sorry didn't make myself clearer. Didn't mean to insult anyone's pride. Apologies.

[seth]

Was referring to sep chassis cars regarding lack of crumpling.

 

No post war Cambridge had a separate chassis though. Admittedly the monocoques were not exactly the most advanced but there's no "body" to fall off in a crash.

 

Enjoy the shite!

[dollywobbler]

Too true - you think a Range Rover is a tough old thing? I've seen ones that have been subjected to the standard offset crash test. They certainly do crumple!

[forddeliveryboy]

Was referring to sep chassis cars regarding lack of crumpling.

 

No post war Cambridge had a separate chassis though. Admittedly the monocoques were not exactly the most advanced but there's no "body" to fall off in a crash.

 

Enjoy the shite!

 

Mmm, got my Austin Geography wrong - and thought some postwar Austins were chassied. Somerset, Devon, Cambridge, all very confusioning. Wonder if Nanjing will use them?

[dollywobbler]

The ones you mention are separate chassis, the Cambridge was always a monocoque. Austin were pretty much the first to move to monocoque construction in Britain with the A30 in 1952. (though the Minor is a 'sort-of' monocoque where the body and chassis are welded together).

[cort16]

6 months of my megalowz Rover SD1 scraping up and down my 56% gradient drive has finally taken it's toll as one of my spotlight has fell out of the front spoiler and hung itself and there's a big lump of paint missing from the same area. I really need to find somewhere level to keep it before it gets trashed.

[scaryoldcortina]

 

Bah. Just what I needed Spare is flat too but all is not lost. I think I passed a castle a mile or two back, maybe they have a 'phone I could use to call the AA (Autofive Assistance...)

[ashmicro]

Just done a service on another DW8 in a 306. Owner works in Tesco, and gets her diesel there. There was a LOT of water in the fuel filter. Interestingly, this one had a 21 mm hex sump bung, the last one had a circular one with a square hole in it. Hmm. Includes Komedy Frog Electrics. To operate passenger window: 1. Have engine running. 2, Open drivers door 1/4 way. 3 Operate passenger window. FFS! I know how to fix this, but it's too damn cold to be ripping off door cards. Or having your passenger window open, come to that.

 

Even though I HAT French cars, this one goes pretty well, considering no turbo.

[dollywobbler]

Went for a spin in the 2CV today, almost literally! Chose a rather scenic route on the way back home (we only went a few miles away) and spotted flood water ahead. Ease on the brakes. Skid. Downshift to second. Skid. Cadence braking allowed me to get some of the speed off before the splash. Then had wheelspin in second as I tried driving up a hill. The next hill was livened up by a Fezza Mk63 (I lose count, the previous shape) tearing down the single-track hill at me. Thankfully, and probably unbeknownst to the dizzy bint behind the wheel, ABS saved us an accident. It was a sunny day today as well!

 

Then our wood delivery came, but I needed to move the Land Rover. Seven o'clock and already the Landy's door locks were frozen solid. Kettle sorted that but the entire door was pretty frosty too and reluctant to open. Looks like it's got cold again then.

[Lankytim]

The pre-Farina Cambridge was the first monocoque of the type but during testing the body flex was found to be far too excessive, so an additional chassis was welded on underneath to sharpen things up. The Farina era Cambridge used the same underpinnings so I guess there is a chassis of sorts under there. (Thats what Wikipedia says, anyway)

[Angrydicky]

There are kind of chassis legs under there, a triangular section under both front floors and legs running either side of the transmission tunnel to the rear floors. It's more "chassised" than an A30 or A35, definitely, but there is no seperate chassis like the Devon/Somerset/Hereford/Hampshire etc.

 

Drivers side front looking back (after a lot of welding!)

 

[dollywobbler]

Got a big package of bits from Rimmer Bros for the Landy and Mini today. Bloody cold though, so work can wait for another day. Land Rover is being treated to a service and a new oil pressure switch, Mini is going to have its brake calipers refurbished.

 

Which brings me to a question. Anyone rebuilt calipers before? I never have. I've got new seals and new pistons but haven't yet pulled everything a part, so don't really know what's involved. Do I need any special tools? Am I going to wish I'd never started and end up with a crippled Mini?

[ashmicro]

Shoule be farly straightforward DW. I normally use an airline or footpump to get the poston (s) out of the bore, and just replace the seals. It's usually quite obvious. I bet there's a shat-load of Mini forums out there who might have tips/tricks/pix etc.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks Ash. I'll be replacing the pistons as the current ones are a nasty, corroded, gunked up mess. Quite looking forward to this actually - remind me I said that when I come back cursing in a few days...

 

I've always found Mini forums a pain, but maybe I'll bite the bullet and have a go. Took me a while to find a Landy one that didn't repulse me to be honest! (LRUK is where I like to hang out). Mini and Landy owners can far too easily suffer from blinker syndrome - thinking that their vehicles are the best ever made. No, they're not.

[RoadworkUK]

Sold my Alfa. 05 plate, bought as a p/x from work for embarassingly little cash, intended to replace the Audi with (more economical and a bit flash). Then I realised I just couldn't do it. The poor old Audi has never let me down and will probably go on for evAr. So I flung the Alfa at eBay and made a grand in cold, hard profit.

 

Ironically, it's virtually gauranteed that my '98 A4 will be replaced with my grandfathers '97 825Si within a year or so, my father and I are just about to tackle a KV6 cambelt swap. Anyone living within 50 miles of CO13 will be able to hear our swearing.

[trigger]

I was eyeing up your Alfa on your Blog, Just found it on ebay as well, (15 miles from me), If you paid a grand less then it sold for then that was a mega bargain, I'd love a Alfa 156 like that, The perfect spec, God I'd love one of those.

 

How reliable was it in the time you've had it?, You hear a lot of horror stories about Alfa which put me off.

[RoadworkUK]

 

How reliable was it in the time you've had it?, You hear a lot of horror stories about Alfa which put me off.

 

To be utterly honest, in the time I had it it only covered about 28 miles, i.e the distance from work to my house. Didn't break down on the journey, though! Previous owner had nothing but praise for it. I had driven it for a few hundred miles before I bought it, we used it as a runner at work and it was terrific. Shame they never did a diesel 166. That would be pretty much my dream car.

[dollywobbler]

Too much is made of Alfa fragility I reckon. My 164 was a fine machine - it just suffered from a bit of neglect, as any car would ie the randomly seizing brakes. Sure, the electrics were a touch fragile, but nowhere near as bad as the CX. I'd really like another.

[Rusty Pelican]

Alternator on my Beemer is giving trouble , charges fine but its loose on its mountings even though the bolts are tight , seems the Bosch ones for my M10 engine are rubber bush mounted so these have gone on , anyway rummaged about at work and managed to find a NOS genuine Bosch alternator complete , Boss says £ 20 in the tea and coffee pot and its mine , much bargainous I recon

Just need a belt as thats fairly chewed up now .

[Justin Case]

I was eyeing up your Alfa on your Blog, Just found it on ebay as well, (15 miles from me), If you paid a grand less then it sold for then that was a mega bargain, I'd love a Alfa 156 like that, The perfect spec, God I'd love one of those.

 

How reliable was it in the time you've had it?, You hear a lot of horror stories about Alfa which put me off.

 

I had my 156 1.8TS for over 7 years, it was great to drive and very little went wrong with it; rear electric window (broken by dog ) new drivers door lock and that was about that, although cambelt, etc needs changing at 36,000 miles intervals . the secret is probably regular servicing, mine went into an Italian car specialist for its annual service which no doubt paid off in the long run.

 

 

It only had to go because I needed something bigger. Gone but not forgotten.

[dollywobbler]

Fixed the Land Rover's bonnet stay (the bolt fell out somewhere) this morning, then deemed it to cold to carry out the service as the water resting on the leading edge of the bonnet was still frozen. Decided to have a play with the BX, which has been leaking coolant since I changed the 'stat. Pulled the housing off - yup, ruined the gasket. Attempted bodgery with instant gasket but water's spraying out quite nicely under revs, so won't be using that to drive to the Midlands tomorrow.

[pbottomley]

News alert Earthquake felt in Northampton approximately 10:20 am this morning... measures a massive 65.5 bhp on the Richter Scale.

 

img_0206 by paul.bottomley, on Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

Turn up the volume to hear my side chimney on full roar

[greengartside]

Well I bump-started the 205 GTi earlier on and was running on three cylinders like it did before for a short time.

 

So out with the plugs to clean them, all were black and full of soot! Well one was, the next one I managed to destroy the plug and now bits of the ceramic are lining the plug hole so I can't get the socket in to remove the plug any ideas how to get it out? I cleaned two sooty plugs in the end. Was a strong smell of fuel when it was being run so I guess the plugs are b0rked? Cleaned the rotor arm up too.

 

Off to the scrappys tomorrow to rape another 205 for valuable parts!

[dollywobbler]

Small screwdriver with something sticky on the end? Grease might do it.