Star garages - The Good, the Rusty, and the Delayed - Limping Italian Joy Machine

[Stinkwheel]

Ah, in that case stuck thermostat?

[IronStar]

9 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Ah, in that case stuck thermostat?

Wouldn’t that prevent it from cooling  once it gets to here as well though?

 

Goes back to one line above 90 after that 😵‍💫
Cooled down when sitting parked in the shade as well?

[IronStar]

0.6L of coolant was missing and it’s supposedly behaving itself now. I’ll run an extended stress test when I get it back though. Needs to go up on the lift to try finding the leak

As my cars have a thing for things failing in pairs, and thermostat housing was replaced a month ago on 156, I know where I’ll be looking first.

[IronStar]

Minor updates:

Got a message from bodyshop today with a screenshot of a sales listing for a brand new Yugo gas tank.

- What’s the deal? Want me to order it up? Is that one rusty? 

- Order it.

Bodyshop guy is not a man of many words but he more than makes up with his metalworking talent. Gas tank ordered.

307CC should be coming back home tomorrow or day after tomorrow. Mini specialist finally got one of his cars sorted and is bringing it back. He’s still feeling very guilty for taking it for so long, and is very, very grateful I’m not being pushy to have it back. I may or may not have mentioned this before, his wife was diagnosed with cancer and had a surgery, so he really didn’t have much time to work on his car (or any other car really). He also told me that it raised the temperature a bit more than it should a few times, but didn’t overheat, so I’m guessing gummed up thermostat that will be thrown on it as soon as it gets back. If it doesn’t solve the problem, distantly and cleaning the radiator will be the second thing to do. 

He mentioned that Mini’s wipers should be wiping properly in all positions again, but that’s all he managed to do on it since I dropped it off again over a month ago.

[IronStar]

Speak of the devil! 
These just came in on Viber!

 

 

How much original metal will be left by the time car is done? 10%? 20%? Answers on postcard 😄

[IronStar]

Weather has decided to go from scorching hot to just very hot days with reasonably hot  evenings. What’s that? Temperatures under 30 in the afternoons?  Time for a car with no roof that was returned the previous weekend maybe? Jump into 159 after a gym, and straight to garage to swap cars! 307CC happily starts, moves out, swaps places with 159, press on the roof fold switch….skreeeeeech. Low hydraulic pressure in the system. That piston must be leaking really badly now.

No roofless car for me until that is topped up then. There’s some dust on the windscreen, pull the washer…oh that’s right, I didn’t get to that either. There’s a box with Android head unit sitting on a back seat that I ordered over a year ago. I’ll get to those tomorrow. I get home, get out of the car, it’s actually reasonably cool and I’m not too tired. Let’s try doing something tonight! Climb up, pick up the tools, walk down, start.

Job number 1 - Roof

I’ve dismantled this so many times now, I know exactly what’s bent from that screw I lost first time I took it apart, which bits do I need, and what needs to be pulled. Boot liner goes out.

Everything else goes out and two plastic trims are removed. I forgot the wrenches. 🤦‍♂️Quick call to Mrs Star and they arrive, but I couldn’t find a funnel either , so I made a makeshift one from a Coke bottle. 2 relays come out to clear the way.

LHM goes in, roof operation restored. Is there some sort of radweld equivalent for hydraulic systems? I’d prefer to pour something in to fix this rather than having to actually deal with the issue properly. I can’t even imagine how expensive and how much pig of a job is finding all the leaks if it’s not just that piston seal and replacing everything. 

Job number 2 - Android head unit

While i was waiting for wrenches, I decided to remove the head unit from the car and try connecting the Android one. Old one comes out, adapters connected, Android plugged in. Lights up, Android logo. Wait, the car is off, why is this turning on? Oh nevermid, original one is probably being turned on by CAN signal and has permanent live. As long as everything else works I’ll just rewire that. 

*Touch screen* Nothing happens.
*Touch navigation buttons* Nothing happens.
*Touch volume buttons* Nothing happens.
*Remove protective foil, touch everything* Nope. 
*Check the manual* Should be working. 
*Force restart* Nope. 
*Reconnect wiring* Nope.

Of course it’s head unit for this car that’s acting up. This car didn’t want to play ball since day 1, and this is just another one of those things. It’s always some stupid shit with it. I have 16 cars, and I never wanted to sell any of them, except this one. However Mrs. Star loves it and every time I mention I’d rather have something else she makes a super sad face and starts acting like I’m kicking a puppy. So it’s here to stay. 
Original head unit goes back in, Android unit goes back into a box.
I’ve messaged the AliExpress seller with my problem, but I expect to be told to fuck off as it’s been over a year now. Maybe they have a software update or something for me? 
Miffed but undefeated, I get to 

Job number 3 - washer pump

Washer pump has been a job I couldn’t be arsed to do for a while now. Deferring it was helped by the car being loaned multiple times, so it was mostly annoying someone else. It’s tucked under the passenger side arch liner, and I’ve been dreading having to deal with 21y/o French plastic clips. Encouraged by not everything going absolutely wrong tonight, I decided to give it a stab.

Car goes up, wheel comes off

Front of the arch liner was being held by two clips that came out surprisingly easily with the help of a trim tool, and two self tappers on the bottom where someone lost or broke the clips. Some pulling later, I saw the pump and realized I don’t have to take down the rest of it, I can just pull back the front bit. So that what I did. Basin goes below to catch the washer fluid, hand goes in to pull the pump, but it’s the original one, and it doesn’t want to budge. 5 minutes of swearing and wondering if I’m going to break it, it comes off, just for the first stream to miss the basin and make a mess out of a place I need to lie on.

Fluid drained, but sadly couldn’t be reused because it washed off tons of debris from the arch liner. I checked the gasket between the pump and the reservoir and it was still okay with no leaks, so it was transferred to the new pump. I probably should’ve bought a new one, but new pump didn’t come with it and it was too late to go buy it now.

New vs old pump

Getting the pump back in was equally fiddly, with it just not wanting to go in properly. 5 minutes of swearing and wondering if I’m going to break it while refitting it somehow went in which was a huge relief. 

Poured some washer fluid to check for leakage, all good. Pull on a stalk, pump primed and washing was restored. Of course it sprayed me as well the car was still tilted and washer partially missed the windshield. Refitting was reverse of removal, and everything went back shockingly smoothly. 

I was also wondering what happened to the previous one, is it just something clogged or did it completely fail.

That’ll be the bottom seal leaking and killing the pump then. Into the bin it goes.

I also noticed when I took off the wheel front tires are almost on thread wear markers, some half a millimeter away from it. That’s a job for after the paycheck and depending on how much do I actually get to drive it before it gets ridiculously warm again, maybe even next year.

I’m really looking forward to some topless (fnar) driving, and would really be happy if I found something to seal the fucking hydraulic leak so I don’t have to replace the pistons or keep refilling the fucker.

[IronStar]

I’ve just realized that the hydraulic fluid I’m putting in is green. Googling now and it should be yellow? Did they sell me the wrong stuff, and that’s causing leakage of the seals? 😱😱😱😱

[hairnet]

4 minutes ago, IronStar said:

 

LHM goes in, roof operation restored. Is there some sort of radweld equivalent for hydraulic systems? I’d prefer to pour something in to fix this rather than having to actually deal with the issue properly. I can’t even imagine how expensive and how much pig of a job is finding all the leaks if it’s not just that piston seal and replacing everything. 

 

 I have 16 cars

 

@Six-cylinder @maxxo @dean36014 @dollywobbler to the SRB batphone please

16 cars? lucky

[Popsicle]

53 minutes ago, IronStar said:

I’ve just realized that the hydraulic fluid I’m putting in is green. Googling now and it should be yellow? Did they sell me the wrong stuff, and that’s causing leakage of the seals? 😱😱😱😱

I think the green stuff tends to be power steering/central hydraulic fluid. It is thinner than 'normal' fluid so could be getting past the seals.

[somewhatfoolish]

Unlikely to affect seals, both are hydraulic oil.

[IronStar]

Went for a drive in CC today. Roof went up. Roof went down. Roof tried to go up. Tailgate went up. I was greeted with the sound of low hydraulic pressure. Roof got stuck. Took me 15 minutes to nurse it back down with leftover pressure in the system. 
Because that’s not annoying enough, aftermarket parking sensors also packed up tonight. Putting the car in reverse results in a long beeeeeeeeeeeep. All seem to be fine visually, so one of them must’ve shat itself. Annoyingly I can’t even get it to shut up until I buy new one, the control unit is accessible only when roof is in service position.

This really does not bode well for this car, and I need to talk to missus about it. I can’t imagine roof repair on it being under 4 figures, and it’s a car we paid 2 grand for, doesn’t have a straight panel, has absolutely shot shocks and is burning or leaking oil somewhere. It might be time to cut the losses and get some other cabrio. 
Negatives of another cabrio are that it’s equally old, equally finicky system that could pack up in a week, month or a year, and we’d be back to square 1. Maybe it’s better to fix and live with a devil you know at this end of a market?

Im the other motoring news, 156 is finally back home. 
It went into a friend’s garage end of May to get a bunch of things done. Some car was to be towed to a scrappy from the garage, and tow guy managed to somehow drop it, absolutely shattering garage door, narrowly missing 2 pole lift with a car on it, but rearending the 156. He agreed to pay for fixing everything, fix the bumper, and bring it back to be mounted. That somehow turned into 3 fucking months of back and forth with 2 different paint shops. First one, where tow truck driver took it must’ve sprayed it with rattlecans by a blind man, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a terrible finish and paint match. It went back and forth with the paintshop, going nowhere, just to be told to fuck the fuck off and friend that owns the garage will pay for it out of his pocket as it was too late to claim on insurance. So bumper went to a paintshop #2. Where it stayed for two fucking months. Now, if it was anyone else’s car in that garage, or if it was my car anywhere else, that would’ve ended up with “congratulations, you bought an Alfa 156 at a top market rate for a pristine one even though this one is anything but” and another car being purchased. However, it wasn’t. So the wait was on. Yesterday I went to pick it up, just to be greeted with harness for rear license plate lights being torn, 50% of screws being lost or misplaced, and bumper mounts not welded back on. 
Absolutely furious is an understatement. Many apologies by the friend were had on behalf of everyone else fucking it up. As he’s paying for the entire fuckwittery out of his pocket, and car is not a minter to begin with, we went to salvage the situation as much as we could without paying for everything and waiting for unknown amount of time. Another harness was bought from scrappy, we found most of the bolts, and what we didn’t was also picked up from scrappy, and back on it went. 
Paint match could be better, and one side of the bumper is not really sitting properly as it’s missing 2/3 mounts, but back on it went. Good enough, it wasn’t a minter to begin with. When car goes into my trusted bodyshop for rust remediation and a respray, we’ll get another fucking bumper and call it a day then. Until then, I’m taking this as good enough. 
It goes without saying that garage owner will never accept anything but towing the car to the best and most expensive paint and bodywork place in Belgrade so they assess the damage and fix absolutely everything at cost to insurance or guilty party next time someone damages customer’s car. He went independent 3 years ago and this is the first time something like this has happened, so lessons learned all round. 

[IronStar]

I reported in the news thread that I found an EFI Yugo with another engine in the back. However it’s been a month now and seller is still dragging and messing, so I’m given up on that one and will probably tell him to sod off.

I was browsing the FB marketplace today as usual when this popped up for sale:

AN EFI! Not far away from where it’s supposed to be! I called the guy. Rear beam is rusted out, but the car itself starts and runs. Has title and all the other bits. They owned it for 5 years, but don’t want to spend money on welding the beam. I can have it for 300€.

Few phone calls later an immediately available tow car was found. The guy selling it doesn’t have a bank account I can pay into, guy doing the towing didn’t want to pay for me and get paid when he drops it off or send me bank account to pay him as I’m a random dude he never saw before, so I ended up driving to Sabac to pay for the car and pick it up.

It’s a honest car (that admittedly runs on 3 cylinders as one spark plug is fucked) and honest sellers, cash changed hands, tow was called in and car was on the way to the bodyshop.

Dude towing it realized I’m a chill and I wasn’t trying to scam him or anything, just didn’t want to waste 3 hours driving there and back, and kinda apologized to me for being suspicious when he dropped it off. We talked cars and shit for like 20 minutes at drip off. He saved my number, probably as Yugo lunatic, and said if I need a similar favor of paying some small amount of cash so I don’t have to drive, he’ll be happy to pay for me.

The car is a German-export market Yugo, with almost all the things Yugo could have. Other than the rusty beam, it looks rather straight and rust-free, so I’m feeling a bit bad parting it out. However I really want EFI in Cabrio, and the best way to do it is to find a near-death car with all the wiring, sensors, computers, and all the other things you need to get it to work properly still there so it can be swapped over. The rest of the bits will probably get to live on in other cars, and it might even get a carb instead of EFI and live another day, although this is not too likely. 

Have some photos:

I saw the Cabrio as well, but didn’t take photos. Internal beam that was bent is swapped over, and it’s rear beam, driver side front inner panel and sill to go, and bodywork is done. It’s going away for respray to Saxo Mango colour and assembly after that. I even got an estimate of “how much total” for the first time since we started, and my estimate was pretty much spot on, so yay!

In the other fleet news, Mini is almost finished.

Speedo is still being an ass, but carburetors are being paired up and adjusted right now, it got new choke cable, and wiper motor has been refurbished so it now actually wipers in 3 speeds as opposed to previous state of one, maybe.

Token carbs photo, until it runs properly so I can get an engine bay shot 😄

 

 

[hairnet]

32 minutes ago, IronStar said:

 

 

is that what you say when you miss the hole  ( i know its german  )

[fatharris]

Spotted these in a mid 90s car magazine and thought they were up your street!

[IronStar]

This week’s non-Florida motoring news 😄

I hopped into a 156 to pick up missus the other day, and found driver side mirror smashed. Getting into car swearing, and thinking to myself “at least these are cheap”, I saw a note under the wipers. A phone number! Called the guy who apologized and asked me to send him the amount I paid when I get the mirror replaced.

A grump turned into a “ok, wow, impressive” as people here usually don’t give a shit and just run.

So new* mirror was ordered. Guy wanted to sell only a pair, and those were only ones for sale in the right color. It was 30€ for both delivered, so I thought that’s fair as there will be no labor charge.
Smashed old. Mounts snapped and are being held in place by the smashed glass.

In with the new*

That text cleaned up nice, but I forgot to tale the photo.

Sill is now proper crusty, and upon touching it to see just how bad, I felt my finger will go through, so I backed off real quick. It’s due for MOT in a week, so I’ll see if promising to a friend who works there to sort it out before next one will get a pass. If Cabrio ever gets finished, this and 159 are going straight in.

Speaking of Yugos, I was thinking that it would be an absolute waste to bin that shell after taking the EFI engine out. I don’t want to be bothered with another carb or anything like that, so it got me thinking. Then I realized - well you wanted a 1.6 16v out of Bravo/a/Marea in a Yugo for ages! It needs a single blanked-out engine mount hole in a block drilled, and a mount that bolts on there modified (with a grinder) so it doesn’t foul the belt. You do an immo-kill on an ECU, engine loom should be standalone anyway, and rest of the wiring is standard Yugo with carbs. I can probably even get to keep a functional check engine light on the dash. 😄 I’m waiting for a confirmation that shell is sound other than that rear beam, and if it is, a rusty or crashed Fiat will be acquired for pennies and sacrificed. 
It should look something like this when finished.

 

Oh, and this was also acquired for 50€. Not a common addon. Needs a pass with bumper spray before mounting.

Last, but not least, Mini lives! Specialist is back from the holidays, and it was finally started yesterday on dual-carb setup. 
So much great intake noise! So much power in a small car! I’ve also realized that we should’ve put in a hot cam when the engine was out, and it’s a PITA to do it now. Something for next year when it gets front discs I guess. 
An engine bay you could eat out of! 😄

Very yellowed washer bottle brings down presentation a bit*. Might replace that as well, make it look all nice.

307CC is still sitting at PSA specialist, and 159 which is providing superb, mechanically uneventful motoring is due an oil change in 1000km.

Cheers!

[Surface Rust]

You've got to keep that check engine light functional, I love it's utilitarianism!

[IronStar]

1 minute ago, Surface Rust said:

You've got to keep that check engine light functional, I love it's utilitarianism!

Not an afterthought, no sir! Look, we even kinda matched the width of the switch below!  

[IronStar]

It was a technical inspection day for 156 today. Turn the key to start it…flat battery. Ah shit, better call a friend that works there.

- Battery ran flat. I’m running late, need to jumpstart it. 
- Couldn’t you test that yesterday, ffs? 
- I should have. Sorry.
- Moron. Hurry up, we’ll wait.

Got there 20 minutes late.

Jesus fuck mate, that sill is rusty. Also your rear sidelight just went out and washer reservoir is empty. Get it welded and change the clutch. AND you’re late, thankfully guy after you somehow managed to be late as well. Oh and your oil looks like shit, is it due? Get the fuck out of here before I change my mind. 

And just like that, it got another year’s registration.

On the way home I picked up this, that was deferred until it got a pass.

 

Swapped the number plate lights and pushed in harness to make all the bulbs operational again.

Mini got 12s mounted, but it’s begging for spacers. Not sure if it’s worth buying before it gets the disc brakes though. Mirrors are getting painted today, and it’s sticky choke and checking wtf is going on with first gear linkage to go.

 

[Eavb]

You probably won't need the spacers on the front once the discs are on as the track will be wider then, you will need them on the back (or the spacered drums that normally go on a disc/drum setup).

Looking good so far!

[IronStar]

14 minutes ago, Eavb said:

You probably won't need the spacers on the front once the discs are on as the track will be wider then, you will need them on the back (or the spacered drums that normally go on a disc/drum setup).

Looking good so far!

That makes sense, thanks!
I’ve been quoted more than I’m able/willing to pay right now for everything bolted up, so I’m kicking that into the next year. I need to check the price for two in the front, to see if it’s worth living with it if €€€ or just make it look nice for now if it’s pennies. 

[IronStar]

This little shitter has broke down on 18th of September 2023, and has spent all the time bar a single outing to a technical inspection sitting in front of and in Mini specialist’s garage. 
 

I am happy to report that it’s finally home tonight! To my (and specialist’s) great annoyance exhaust is hitting the shell somewhere and absolutely ruining the experience. It’s no big deal, but it’s there. It also needs tracking, idle is a touch too low, and as final fuck you, lever you pull in the cabin to open the hood has popped off the mounting point tonight. Not to worry, hood still can be opened, I’m going to pop into an exhaust shop tomorrow to get them to align it so it doesn’t hit, get tracking done and idle adjusted on the day after tomorrow. 
I absolutely rushed the specialist for the last week or so to get it done, so I can catch the last few nice weather days before it turns to shit. I may have caught it with another week or so to go, so happy days.

 

Florida got evicted from the garage, so it’s now sitting here happily, thinking about what Lucas part to pop next.

[grogee]

On 07/07/2024 at 00:28, IronStar said:

2007 Alfa Romeo 159 SW, 1.9 JTDM 16v Lusso

Here is the one that belonged to Mrs Grogee. It didn't shit itself quite so regularly as yours, but I drove it like a nun. Mrs Grogee drove it like her trousers were on fire. 

I got fed up with it chewing through front tyres despite me replacing all the suspension, then there was a minor running issue that was the last straw - not sure what it was but it started idling a bit rough and economy dropped. 

I did pamper it, but I got annoyed with it being such a primadonna and wanting parts that were expensive because they only fitted the 159 and nothing else. 

A beautiful car no doubt. I got fed up with only one cup holder so I fitted another where centre air vent was. 

Great work on the Yugo by the way and interesting to learn about its history. Good luck with the work going forward and I hope you are top-down enjoying the Belgrade summers soon. 

[IronStar]

9 minutes ago, grogee said:

Here is the one that belonged to Mrs Grogee. It didn't shit itself quite so regularly as yours, but I drove it like a nun. Mrs Grogee drove it like her trousers were on fire. 

I got fed up with it chewing through front tyres despite me replacing all the suspension, then there was a minor running issue that was the last straw - not sure what it was but it started idling a bit rough and economy dropped. 

I did pamper it, but I got annoyed with it being such a primadonna and wanting parts that were expensive because they only fitted the 159 and nothing else. 

A beautiful car no doubt. I got fed up with only one cup holder so I fitted another where centre air vent was. 

Great work on the Yugo by the way and interesting to learn about its history. Good luck with the work going forward and I hope you are top-down enjoying the Belgrade summers soon. 

It is a really good car, despite all the niggly things. 500k km is a testament to this. 

Cup holders are absolute insanity, don't know what's the deal with Alfa Romeo and cup holders. 156 has none. I know that espresso is to be downed in a single sip in Italy, but surely they need water as well? 

Thanks! I hope I'll have it for the next summer. There's really not too much left to get it done, and I know I've probably just jinxed it. 😄

[IronStar]

Mini completed its first longer (300km) run, and I’m happy to report there were no FTPs! Leg 1 was motorway, and gearing and some of the below listed kinks make it fine up to 70mph, but going above makes it really uncomfortable. The trouble is - Serbia’s motorways are 80mph, so you’re faster than lorries and busses, but slower than everyone else. 
Return leg was non-motorway, and it felt much more at home there. You can go shockingly fast through the twisties, and surprise much more powerful cars when they see you approaching faster than they expect!

Some kinks need ironing out before going on a longer journey again though.

One tyre is warped to fuck, and the amount of shaking that it produces is ridiculous. I need to order a set of Yokohamas to Croatia as they’re half the price of what I’d pay here. 
Exhaust needs to go in the bin. Really. It’s obnoxiously loud, there’s no heat wrap or heat shield where it goes through the gearbox tunnel so it’s warming up the car. There’s also a weird squeak that I can’t locate when car warms up that stops once you hold the exhaust in place. 
Heater control is sticky. I pulled it, and needed to open the hood to push it back. 
Horn is intermittently working. I thought that one is sorted, but apparently not. 
Excessive rattling coming from gear stick, heater direction controls and sunroof. 

Overall I’m really pleased with it, and I’m starting to get a bit of confidence in. 80on motorway might be achievable way more comfortably with new tyres and when exhaust shuts the fuck up, so will retry then. In the meantime, it’s going into a garage awaiting tyres. Might send it back to specialist for a tuneup and sorting of the remaining kinks.

[IronStar]

After sitting at a specialist for what seemed like a half of eternity, I got a message two weeks ago:

Possibly the only three dry hydraulic pistons in the country. Just arrived.

Oh okay, go on then. About to be fixed, right? 
Radio silence. Not picking up the phone either. I kinda gave up, shrugged, and thought “he’ll just get it done eventually”.

So I was really shocked when I saw the phone ringing yesterday as I was having lunch!

- Hey man! Look, one of those was duff so I was waiting for another parts car to show up. Got them swapped, poured in the right oil, all the jazz. Works really quick now and no leaks, I’m very happy with it now. 
- Good to be picked up? 
- Nah, let’s leave it overnight and I’ll give it a few more tries tomorrow to see if everything is dry. I’ll call you tomorrow morning. 
- Amazing man! How much? 
- No idea, let’s see if it leaks first.

I half expected not to get a call today because something happened. However.

- Come pick it up, it’s ready. No leaks, nothing’s squeaking. 
- Oh, okay, wow! That’s good to hear. 
- Yeah, finally got good pistons. 
- How much? 
- Oh….yeah…that….erm….I can’t really charge normal rates great mates of my great mates, and I wouldn’t touch this with 6ft pole if you weren’t his friend because these pistons are always fucking leaky and impossible to source. Bring me *sum that makes no sense for the amount of work and I shouldn’t disclose*

- …..you’re kidding? No come on, I want to pay proper, not mates rates. 
- No seriously, I’m not taking a penny more. I’ll buy it off you when you finally decide to sell, I told you already. Come pick it up!

Turns out that he spent most of the time car was sitting with him waiting to assemble a working set of hydraulic pistons. He knows every single PSA breaker in the country, and they all know he knows his shit and are friends with him, so instead of sending ones that don’t leak a lot, they found a set that doesn’t leak at all. There was a leak on the pump reservoir as well, so that got patched up as well.

He thinks that car overall is a peach save a leaky rear shocks and injectors, and is serious about buying it off me. Also I think it drives better than when I left it with him, but he didn’t mention touching the engine, so 🤷‍♂️. 

And so, 307CC came home.

 

Really pleased with driving with roof down today to squeeze final few bits of nice weather this year. Oh and it escaped becoming a fridge, being parted out or sold to an (un)sympathetic owner to its cause, which is a win for the car.

It gets better from here, right?

[fatharris]

That's a proper result! Just in time for winter

[IronStar]

2 minutes ago, fatharris said:

That's a proper result! Just in time for winter

Weather forecast says I may squeeze out a few more roof-down days before it goes into the winter hibernation. Fingers crossed!

 

[fatharris]

Weather forecast says I may squeeze out a few more roof-down days before it goes into the winter hibernation. Fingers crossed!
 

Positively tropical - enjoy yourself!

[IronStar]

Technical inspection day for 159. Passed it m9!

Obligatory pre inspection fuckery - one of the blown bulbs wasn’t (just) a bulb. Plate bulb holder burned out. 🤦‍♂️ Replaced today at 11:45 with another off scrappers, with inspection booked at noon.

*missing photo of an awful, rushed, twist and insulation tape job here*

Yeah, that’ll be revisited with soldering iron and heatshrink.

In the other fleet news, Mini’s Yokohama A539s have arrived to their destination in Croatia. I’ll go pick them up when I recover from the cold. Unless weather suddenly turns, the tyre change will probably be the last outing for the Mini this year, and will be promptly shoved into a garage to wait for the spring.  
 

Same “into the garage you go” fate awaits 307CC as well. Garage rotations may see Florida in the garage over the winter, which would be a great thing for it.

Final update is that lease that won’t be renewed for the workshop expires end of December, so there will be a fleet movement to a temporary storage some 70km away from where I live, where they can stay until the March/April. I’ll need to buy/rent a more permanent solution for them by then. This more permanent solution could, in theory, allow for more absolutely insane purchase decisions on cars I don’t really need further fleet expansion. We’ll see how it goes. Watch this space and all 😄

[IronStar]

Tyres for the Mini have arrived home, but not without having a faff at the border. 

DOT 4923! So I went to fit them before putting car into winter storage, in the midst of switching to winter tyres madness.

These are not winter tyres m9! 
Of course not, do you think this gets driven over winter? 
Oh…yeah *chuckles* 

Found the culprit for all the violent shaking before:

Yeah, that’s fucked. It’s been sitting fitted to a car but deflated for ages, no wonder it’s bloody bent. DOT is from the 90s as well. Brought them back to the Mini specialist I got the wheels off, and told him to chuck them in the bin. Not sure he’ll listen for others, but this one is going to bin for sure. Shame they were never driven, they have not even 1000km on them.

Actually round and fresh tyres absolutely transformed the way it drives, but I haven’t really driven it much. Shaking is gone, it grips better, and is a more pleasant experience overall. No shaking from bent tyre revealed a few more thing rattling around the car, but those will have to wait for the next year.

Into the storage it went. If you’re wondering about parking, a friend that owns the two BMWs next to it wanted it parked as a bollard so no one parks there while one of his is away. Not that someone usually does, but I’m parking it any way he wants for free winter parking. We may* be in breach of ToS for that parking there, but heyho😄

Not everything went smoothly though. Other than a border faff, on the way back from picking up tyres in Croatia, a stone flew into my windshield on the motorway. Interaction between stone launched by a car driving 130 into me driving 130 did some damage:

I went to get it checked today, and whilst it can be patched, it will leave a huge mark as it’s very deep, and being bang on the middle of the driver’s FOV that’s no good. New Pilkington one, is 200€ fitted with camera calibration. They’d also fit a used one, but total for that would be 150€, and I don’t think the savings is worth the effort and ending up with something pre-scratched. Not touching it with a 6ft pole until I get my next paycheck, so I drove off with the “this wanker needs to fix his windshield” sticker on so it doesn’t spread.

Silver lining is it was chipped and filled beforehand and that chip was also driving me insane every time I’d spot it. Judging by a missing Alfa Romeo logo, this is not the first one to be replaced.

In final updates, 307CC also got parked up for the winter. I forgot to take a photo, so last year’s photo will have to do.

 

This shuffle resulted in Florida being relegated to a parking space in a garage next to my flat. Result!

Snow is on the cards for Thursday, so I really need to pull my finger and put winter tyres on 159 before I get caught out on the wrong ones. Winter tyres over winter are a legal requirement here, and guess what cops are doing as soon as it starts snowing? Yeah. 
Rears on 159 are toast anyway, so will be chucked into a bin next year, and if funds permit, I’ll wrap it in brand new rubber in the spring. Problem for few months from now anyway. 😄

Cheers!