January 2010
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8...m
Could be available within 5 years Read more
This thread isn't quite the same thing as the 'Unusual Sightings' threads.
This thread is to describe any truly strange cars you can remember seeing over the years.
One I remember seeing a few times in Lowestoft in the 1970s was a Ford Corsair (I think) which had the front end of a Sunbeam Rapier/Alpine 'Arrow' grafted on. The car wasn't customised in any other way, just a standard Rapier front on a normal Corsair body.
Another oddity was a double-ended Austin A30 in Cornwall - like two front halved welded back-to-back, so if you followed it, it looked like it was reversing!
And a third was a widened Land Rover 110. Someone had gone to the trouble of widening the vehicle to fit the track, in place of the usual plastic wheel arch flares. At first I thought it must have been an old Land Rover prototype, but I read somewhere that it was modified by the owner - including widening the bonnet, windscreen, truck cab etc. All for about 6 inches. Read more
Many moons ago I visited Bermuda and there were many odd cars there (unless regulations have changed) that had to be a maximum length, width and power.
MkII Cortinas had skinny bumpers and flat door handles but other cars were not so easily altered so some had chopped off bonnets or boots. All nicely done so the Mk I eyeball got a little confused.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot8lNt-4pZI
Saves having to worry about which wax to use. Read more
Obviously a hard water area.
Does anyone know the definitive position re converting my french c3 for uk. Uk garages are telling me I need new headlamps, fog-light, reversing light (or expensive wiring conversion for the rears). But french authorized citroen garage told me that it's a simple matter of adjustment. kph to mph should be easy on the menu, but garages are telling me it might be more complicated.
Also, dvla say I need a coc (£100) or inspection cert (£199), but some garages are saying that c3 has a 'blanket' european conformity and so doesn't need one. Getting the impression that maybe people are just trying to make money ... Read more
LHD and RHD front and rear lights are often found on ebay, in fact the biggest problem there is people unwittingly buying LHD ones for use in this UK. You should be able to find the correct parts for your car, and as a bonus you can sell the French parts on afterwards!
Hi all bit of advice please. My father in law has a 53 reg diesel mondeo. Just this week the problem has started. The car is running but when he puts his foot down it won't go over fifty and a light has come on the dash- wavey lines? He has been told this is the glow plugs symbol?? He has taken it to a garage and put on the compuer but nothing should up.
Please help before he throws money at it and the wrong advice.
Cheers dave Read more
It's possibly a turbo fault.
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Could be but more likely the car is in limp-home mode due to one of a number of other more obscure problems, I dont think it can be diagnosed without garage investigation.
I got a penalty charge notice (ticket) on Dec.6th, and replied promptly, with my reasons for not paying up. I heard nothing until today (Jan 22nd), over 6 weeks after the council received my letter on the 9th.
I suspect their timing works from the 28-day payment window, but it still seems a bit excessive. I have my argument ready WRT the offence, but it would be nice to be able to say 'too late chaps'! Does anyone have chapter and verse? Read more
Did the Council actually send somebody on the day of the tribunal?
Nope. I'd moved by the tribunal date to somewhere 250 miles away, and asked it to be at my now nearest location.
EDIT: I didn't go either in the end, as they (council) wouldn't be adding anything other than the paperwork they'd submitted, and I had nothing to add so in the end declined to go. It was all sorted out very quickly and I was notified in writing of the result.
I've been poking about for some car bist, and noticed an e-Bay ad for a 1992 Honda Accord for £1,495.00. Phew!! Why so much? Read more
I reckon my car will be worth pretty much what I paid for it when I get 12 months MOT on it. There is a lack of working and fully MOT'ed old cars so people pay silly money for them. The type of person who drives a £1k a car cannot afford to replace a good working car either so they keep them till they go badly wrong. I myself I am not planning of selling my car it does what I want.
A used car dealer me wanted £3500 for a 2002 1.6 Golf it is just madness.
The Head Gasket went in my car at the beginning of the year. I took it to a garage who quoted £450 to replace the HG.
I have had a call today saying that the HG, radiator and themostat have all been replaced, but the engine is still over heating (water boiling). They have said that the current bill is £520 and the only thing left is to replace the water pump which will cost me another £80... I have asked if this will fix the problem, but they have not been able to guarantee anything....
Firstly do I have to pay the £600 even though the car is not fixed (I know they have done the work, but they haven't repaired the car) and secondly is there anything else that they could be missing???
Please help as I am currently at my wits end as I maybe having to pay £600 out and getting nothing for it!!!!! Read more
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I doubt your headgasket has gone but its the lazy answer. 90% of the time, the headgasket goes because something else has caused it to.
It could be the water pump or thermostat or even something as cheap as the cap on the coolant bottle not holding the required pressure to keep the engine cool.
A competent garage will know how to determine where the problem is - i.e. are coolant pipes warm/cold running to/from the rad etc.
I would refuse to pay if they cant give you proof that the things they have done needed doing and contact trading standards/consumer direct or whatever they call themselves now!!
I am trying to perform a test that tells me of the cylinder serviceability of an engine using an Amp Clamp. I understand that you look for draw at each compression stroke.
Can someone explain the procedure for me so I can carry out this test on my vehicle.
Thanks Read more
i prefer mechanical to electrical to determine compressions
i also like to do a vacuum test at the same time if possible
i find it amazing how many garages fail to use basic tools for simple jobs these days they all want to plug in a techmo gizza and fail to understand that things like rings and valves wear
no offence gregory11 thats not directed at you
I understand this was a bit of a problem on this model, and that they put an 8 year warrenty on it. I have just bought the car and founf mine hasn;t has it fixed. I'm just inside the 8 years, but appartenly you have to own the car for a year before you can claim on the warrenty. Also you must have a full merc SH.
Is this true?? Anyone had any experiance of this?? Read more
Its very easy for the manufacturers to offer a long term rust warranty as there are a million ways to wriggle out of it. The main one would be servicing at main dealer for the marque and a bodywork inspection being done at that time.
To be honest, a huge number of cars over 4 years old are no longer main dealer serviced, so that is their 'get out of jail' card.
For cars that are serviced at the dealers for 7 years they have made tons of money anyway, so the odd warranty claim isnt too bad.
I have had a variety of new German cars in the last 10 years, and from what I have read, unless you can comply with the above and can prove that the rust penetrated from the inside out, and that the paintwork was in now way compromised by a chip or scratch it may be tough to claim, but I wish you the very best of luck.
Browse
"And we don't need inventors who havent grasped what a catalytic convertor does. It reduces CO emissions (converting to CO2) and has nothing to do with NOx emissions."
I wondered about that, too, but '3-way' ones do handle NOx, apparently:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_converter
I suspect that the woolly wording was more to do with the BBC journo's ignorance than the inventor's...