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166

General Car Chat / Re: PRE FACELIFT 2.5 BREAK OR NOT?

« on: 07 May 2011, 19:59:17 »

Does an R plate CDX have enough worthwhile parts to warrant breaking? If we assume no leather seats, BOSE or 'desirable' alloys isn't that all the big ticket stuff? Oh and no 3.0 cams.

167

General Car Chat / Re: Is my Mig jinxed?

« on: 29 April 2011, 22:07:07 »

That's a good point actually, i'm sure I have the receipt somewhere, nothing ventured nothing lost.

168

General Car Chat / Re: Is my Mig jinxed?

« on: 29 April 2011, 20:07:25 »

Thought I was going mad so just went out and checked, the internals of the good shock are definitely some kind of star. Tried to take a pic but cant get the angle right to show it.

169

General Car Chat / Re: Is my Mig jinxed?

« on: 28 April 2011, 20:59:55 »

I think I must be losing my mind, that and the pizza guy arrived as I was typing 

The missing part was of course referring to the Bilstein B4's that I fitted to the front end of the facelift. The main shaft on OEM shocks is topped with a hex bolt that you lock in place with a normal socket while undoing the main securing nut, the Bilsteins have a spline in the centre of the shaft that takes a star key.

On removing the B4's to swap to my other car the internal splines all sheered off under pressure while trying to loosen the main nut. I am seriously considering avoiding Bilstein for any future shock purchases.

170

General Car Chat / Is my Mig jinxed?

« on: 28 April 2011, 20:02:54 »

Last year I bought a FL estate, 2 shocks and a handbrake cable later it has a years MOT, 1 weeks holiday later it is a basket case due to massively overheating from an oil cooler leak (my recovery had a crap 25 mile limit so I drove it most of the way rather than pay 600 quid).

This week now the better weather is here I book the 3 days off and start stripping, most parts are 'just in case' spares but the Elite is getting soft at the front so i'm planning to reuse the 1 week old shocks. That was until the internal splines on the shaft sheered as I went to remove the top bolt.......

I'm just amazed that a part that has such huge torque applied to it can strip so easily, and yes I used the correct sized star bit and plus gassed it. I'm really thinking this car has some voodoo jinx on it and i'm tempted to just call the pikeys in to get rid.

171

General Car Chat / Re: Soooooooo many Omegas for sale

« on: 12 April 2011, 21:43:12 »

More notable is the prices have plummeted, i've seen some on their 3rd time round and they are all 'advertised elsewhere, so may end early' 

172

General Car Chat / Re: 3.2 MV6 is an Old Man's Car

« on: 14 March 2011, 18:39:59 »

Tell her it's a police motorway pursuit car 

173

General Car Chat / Re: wheels ran away :(

« on: 11 March 2011, 21:17:52 »

Actually, a serious thought, have you checked the front bolts? If they are loose it is deliberate.

174

General Car Chat / Re: wheels ran away :(

« on: 11 March 2011, 21:16:13 »

I had both the left side wheels fall off a beetle that we were towing to the scrap yard, that will teach me to try and speed up the wheel removal process at the yard by removing 2 bolts from each wheel  The stupid part is when the rear wheel came off first both me and my mate who was doing the towing though haha, someone has lost a wheel!! When it lurched back onto the hub and the front disappeared as well it wasn't so funny 

175

General Car Chat / Re: WHY ARE OMEGAS SO CHEAP TO BUY....?

« on: 10 March 2011, 16:18:50 »

I've also noticed massive price drops over the past couple of months, i'm guessing it's a combination of fuel/insurance prices rather than maintenance prices, although i've watched B4 shocks creep up from £40 a pop to £70 now.

I'm not sure how many routinely watch ebay but in the last 2 weeks i've seen a nice looking X 3.0 Elite go for £770, a W 3.0 MV6 with LPG (and a manifold leak) not sell around the £700 and there is a V 3.0 MV6 with a huge amount of work done, on there now for the 2nd time and it hasn't met the £700 start price.

I think the day of the big car is sliding gently to an end, which suits me fine as I get to pick one up cheap

176

General Car Chat / Re: Average speed cameras.... Is it me???

« on: 11 March 2011, 21:30:40 »

This help?

http://www.speedcamerasuk.com/specs.htm

Question, do they have different types of average camera? The ones on the A404 (M4-M40 link road) appear to have two cameras pointing down at different angles, I assumed they were averaging my speed over the mile or so approaching the gantry.

177

General Car Chat / Re: Your previous cars......

« on: 26 February 2011, 11:30:59 »

As said done to death but i've never bothered to list mine so....

MK1 2.0 L LHD Granada (yes I learned to drive in a LHD car in the UK!)
MK1 3.0 Ghia Granada
MK1 3.0 Consul (aka Granada) GT
MK2 2.8i Granada (seeing a theme yet  )
Now it changes a little....
Chevy Blazer K5, 350 engine
Chevy Vega Wagon tube front end, flip front, 350 engine
MK2 1.1 Escort estate
Rover SD1 3.5 VDP Janspeed turbo
Mk3 (I think) Mustang 2.8 hatchback
MK1 Carlton 1.8L
MK1 Carlton 2.0CDi
MK1 Carlton 2.2CDi
MK2 Carlton 2.0CDi estate
Omega 2.5 Elite
Omega 2.5 CDX estate
TBA..........

I'm sure i've missed some there but I plead old age

Longest owned/best the Elite, coming up on 9 years now
Shortest driven the CDX, 2 months before I cooked it getting it home from Devon
Most fun, now that's tough. Watching black cabs avoid the K5 on Hyde Park corner was memorable , the Vega & the SD1 were both awesome in there own way.
If I could choose one pulled back in time it would have to be the Consul GT, blue over silver, manual box, it's the one I miss the most.

178

General Car Chat / Re: Repairs gone wrong, confessions!

« on: 16 February 2011, 09:55:17 »

This thread is epic, makes me feel good about confessing

Upgrading an Avenger from single to twin carbs, no torque wrench so just did the bolt one last turn, snapped off the portion of block that it bolted to. Still ran ok.

Helping a mate change his bonnet and wings on a Supermirafiori after a prang. Early start after a night on the beer, socket on the bonnet bolt that is stuck solid, hand slips and rips a gouge in my wrist that bled for ages. Take another look and i'm trying to undo the welded nut on top not the bolt that comes up from underneath.

Not mine but helping my neighbour do his first ever oil change on a MK1 Manta, easy job all it needs is the oil adding so I go in to make tea. Come back and he says "wow takes a lot of oil", I see two empty containers on the floor. He filled it up to the top of the filler cap, he then did his 2nd sump plug removal

Helping a mate who was an engine fitter by trade. MK2 Granada engine out and new one in done in record time, only thing left is the carb linkage and air filter. He decides it's now pub time can finish that in the morning, drops the bonnet onto the upturned air filter that still has all 4 bolts in. Made a real nice pattern on the bonnet!

179

General Car Chat / Re: sun roof problems..

« on: 19 February 2011, 20:32:54 »

I've just started having this happen to me (it's freaky when it opens by itself at night!), it might be a coincidence but it only started after I got the leak by the oil cooler.

Might be worth remembering in case it's a sign of something leaking in yours?

180

General Car Chat / Re: Mini Cooper S

« on: 23 February 2011, 09:28:38 »

My daughter currently runs a JCW and as said check the tyres they aren't cheap.
 
From vague memory it has been in twice under warranty for the timing chain rattling (both times replaced), check the sat nav works properly as hers had to be replaced and it's a one piece unit incorporating all the hi-fi. The BMW dealer had to special request the repair as it cost about 3 grand...

She also had some problems with interior trim fitment that took a couple of visits and parts to sort.

To be fair though BMW have fixed all the faults without question so any problems have hopefully been fixed under the care pack.