The Chat Thread - Better late than... - WC 26/03/24

[HoTWire]

Hey Folks!

Another week, another weekly chat, your place for stuff that may not warrant a full thread or stuff that is just going on right now that you want to share.


Hectic weekend overall followed by a busy Monday = no GNRS update or Weekly Chat thread until today. Apologies.


I'm currently doing the great British car enthusiast thing of staring at weather for venues. Wheels Day at Newbury has changed every time I've looked at it, currently sunshine and showers. Given that it rained at GNRS and Volksworld, I very much hope that this isn't the mark of my car shows for the year. I very much have a vested interest in at least a couple of them being warm and dry!


I'm still working on what was the February update for RR, got the listings looking a bit more how I'd like them too, just need to get the mobile to play ball. I've been utilising a change in the image uploader a lot in my GNRS thread, so I'm happy that is good to go live when I've settled the mobile listing issue. I have noticed a couple of times I've clicked to post a thread when I meant to click to add an image, so I need to do something there with the visual hierarchy of all that.

Volksworld thread this week.


Anyone got plans for easter weekend? I'm Wheels Day and maybe Haynes Museum on Sunday. Also keeping an eye on Elmia Custom Car Show in Sweden as I intend to be there next year with the Kaido


Previous Thread: forum.retro-rides.org/thread/226746/chat-thread-begun-wc-18

[stealthstylz]

I'm pretty sure once I've picked some suitably silly tyres up tonight, to go on the suitably silly wheels I picked up at the weekend I've got everything needed to begin RRW prep for the Carlton. Also got an eyeball as the weather as that's what's gonna make or break the plan really. Been continuing my garage clear out, got a ton of stuff to list for sale but that can wait for now.

[johnthesparky]

Went up Santa Pod on Sunday for some pre season testing.

Tom picked up where he left off, which is better than last year and probably because he’s driving on the road now. A clutch of low 18s runs and a new pb by 0.02s… but these things matter



Steve with the baja had greater gains, now running baby Dells instead of Kadrons and ran about 1/2s quicker than his previous pb



We had a good day, and it felt good to be winding up for car season again…. I’m taking the good weather on Sunday as an omen of good weather when needed

[adam73bgt]

Finally managed to get the correct springs for the Almera so hopefully should be fitting those and new wheels this weekend.

If it's dry, I'd like to try and progress the Crossfire welding a bit

If it's wet, I've got the front wings of the Crossfire that I'm doing some smoothing work on, or I'll be painting the engine for the MG

[vulgalour]

Weather permitting, the plan for this weekend is to little bit of rust repair on a friend of a friend's early Rover 200 (R8 shape). It's a mostly very tidy car except for a bit of rot on the panel that the tailgate latch goes on. Donor panel is provided, which is going to save a lot of fabrication hassle since it's off another 200 so should be factory fit. R8s do tend to be pretty good for panel consistency and even the aftermarket panels out there for them aren't too terrible a fit. Bit of fabrication needed for the panel behind it, but it doesn't look like anything complicated, just fiddly little squares. I'm also cautiously optimistic that what we can see is what there is because it's a white car and white cars generally make rust look worse than it really is.

[blackpopracing]

Wheels day Friday, servicing the daily cars if weather ok over the weekend & helping the Mrs with her allotment - exciting stuff! lol.

[misteralz]

Had a windscreen starburst on the Macan dealt with today. Got to stand and watch how they sorted it, showed interest, and learned something. It was actually really interesting, and the before and after is phenomenal. Years ago I'd've just asked for a new windscreen, and I'd've probably gotten one.



Impossible to photograph, of course. In other news, I'd spied that scooters seem to do 'Lexus lights', and wondered if their solution would help with the bleached out taillights on the splittie? Yes.





Twin filament red bulbs. They work really well.

[HoTWire]

Evening went sideways, GNRS update tomorrow (it's a goodun though)

[Mercdan68]

The escort now has a new outer sill on and is more or less ready for the weekender, need to get it down to my pals workshop to have one chassis leg welded up
And just fit some new wiper blades !

[vulgalour]

The wheel choice and finish on them is excellent. Never would have thought those wheels on that shape Escort could have worked so well.

[stealthstylz]

That looks wicked. Great stuff.

[akku]

Attempted to kill the Austin Seven. Whoops. Nothing serious, drove home after roadside restitution.

Snagging list coming together for it anyway.

P6 is back on the road and being pleasing but not exciting to drive



Revising plans for what "Daily Driver" means to me in 2024.

Astounded how much I still enjoy driving the Fiesta

I've been winning battles with The Man

I have the V5C for the Wolseley and I think I have sorted out an issue with my income tax which will free up some of my monthley to spend on cars again

Been buying more car parts for various projects which hopefully will start coming together soon. Ish.

Yet more family related stuff dealt with and hopefully soon I will be out from all of that

[redratbike]

ongoing no work on the car situation

the car is in a lock up a mile away with no power , so that’s the excuse i am using right now but have taxed it for year online (historic no cost 😀)

i now have wheels but no tyres or sleeve nuts for the herald but have bought some M12 x 1.5 wheel studs to convert the hubs , the fronts are easy and i have actually bought some 2nd hand ones to convert and swap very easily , the rears i have found a trick where you can drill out an inspection hole in the back plate and swap them out to save all the aggro of removing the hubs as that looks a nightmare.

but i need to sort the petrol pipe from the tank to pump first and a filter so need to make a list and start knocking off jobs in order of priority to actually have the car on the road.

springs and lowering block have arrived and i don’t know if i should buy any new shocks or just go with what’s on there.

i have a week off next week but and this is a big but that will stop all that time being spent working on the car .

i have started to dig out a 5x3 mt patch at the front of the house to start sorting a new parking spot , so would like to move that forward as much as possible and as she has the same week off (easter break she works in a school ) you know she will have her own priorities so i will have to play the happy wife happy life card no doubt 🤣 wish me luck!

[vulgalour]

A ridiculously exciting thing happened tonight. Totally randomly an Ambassador was leaving the supermarket as I was arriving in the Princess, and they turned around and came back to say hello! I've owned this car for 12 years and this is the first time I've ever encountered another wedge in the wild. Obviously I've littered everywhere I go with this news because I'm absolutely giddy about it.

[ironmighty07]

Carb rebuilds for the long weekend! Another delivery that dwelled for an extended stay in Parcelforce Rotherham depot!

[misteralz]

I've been summer wheeling today.







I still think of this thing as modern, but it's old enough to drink in pubs. On its own, without an adult, and without a meal. Which is mildly terrifying.

[droopsnoot]

Mar 28, 2024 13:44:06 GMT misteralz said:

I still think of this thing as modern, but it's old enough to drink in pubs. On its own, without an adult, and without a meal. Which is mildly terrifying.

I do that with my daily-driver TT, it'll be 24 in April. It's now the oldest car I've driven as a daily, by quite some margin.

This week's intention was to get my project car up on to the rollover stand so I can strip off underseal, finish a few welds and check a few suspicious areas that are easier to address when not lying underneath the car. I finally managed that yesterday, though it was more tricky than I remember from last time. It's up in the air now, and while there are a couple of issues that I didn't now about, I was suspicious of them and they're repairs I did on the previous car, so not terrible to do again. First off, scrape off all the underseal that's now much easier to reach.

[stealthstylz]

Just posted this on Instagram but thought it should be here too, as it happens a lot more often than it should. As a preamble, I need the Jazz back on the road so I can take the Carlton off the road and smash through the RRW prep.

Mission objective - Get Jazz from my grandma's house to my house so I can take it for a MOT next week.

Method - Dad brings Jazz to my house, take Dad home, come back home myself.

Evening of 28/03
Estimated vehicle miles total - 70 miles
Estimated Time to complete - 1hr 45 minutes

Result - Stage 1 - Jazz to my house - 23 miles - 35 minutes - completed on schedule.
Stage 2 - Take Dad Home in Vauxhall Carlton- Lights begin to dim around half way into journey. Final 4 miles on unlit roads with no lights on and gearbox stuck in high gear. Engine dies 200yds from dad's house. Fetch Mitsubishi Delica and use jump leads to charge battery. Carlton fires up but alternator is not charging. Abandon Carlton on parents drive - 23 miles - 1hr 45 minutes.
Stage 3 - Get Home Myself - transfer belongings and seat cover to Honda HRV. Drive approximately 2 miles. Remember that I lost third party cover on other vehicles when I swapped insurance on Carlton. Turn around and go back. Check insurance i'd just started on Jazz to find I was insured for other vehicles after all. Set off home and complete journey - 23 miles - 55 minutes.
Stage 4 - Charge battery overnight then go retrieve Carlton. Completed successfully - 23 miles - 35 minutes
Stage 5 - Drive Home in Carlton, followed by dad just incase. Alternator is now charging even though I haven't fixed anything. Drive home appears to be a success until 2 miles from home a crash on the motorway brings traffic to a crawl - (x2)46 miles - 110 minutes.
Stage 6 - Dad drives home. Completed successfully - 23 miles - 35 minutes.

Total mileage - 140 miles (+100%)
Total Time - 6hrs 15minutes (+257%)

This is why I never get anything done.

[mrbounce]

Started doing little things on the Midas again. Started doing little things with the door and have realised that I need to look up the old pictures of how it all went together. Being older than when I took them apart, I can't remember...

I am also casually looking at C10 Square Body Chevy/GMC pick-ups. I have no need for one, and Mrs B has made it very clear that any new project can only be acquired once the Midas is finished and/or sold. However, that itch has started. A 40+ year old pick up that probably does less than 15mpg is a totally sensible idea, right?

[akku]

Mar 29, 2024 15:02:54 GMT mrbounce said:

A 40+ year old pick up that probably does less than 15mpg is a totally sensible idea, right?

Pickups are super useful. Parts are cheap. How far do you drive? I daily big thirsty stuff but I don't commute.