and today i have mostly been...

[DaiRees]

Doesn't get much more west than Fishguard mate, have a great time.

[Welly]

Fleet Update:

Infinides - Gone!

Hyundai - Gone!

Profits have been made - almost £3k

We now have a 'high mileage' 2021 Kia Sportage GT Line-S - it is very very nice, an excellent all-rounder for urban use and long hauls - never imagined I'd ever own something like this tbh.

The Kia had covered 23k miles in its first 12 months so was approx £3k less than equivalent lower miles models - my cunning plan being that due to our low annual mileage then this will all balance itself out over 2 or 3 years.

[Doggy]

Sounds like a shrewd move or two there. I've heard about the new car shortage and effect on 2nd hand prices, but turning the situation into real cost savings is impressive.

Still not a fan of the whole crossover SUV trend, especially those with may latest pet hate, really difficult to see turn sigmals or "Invisicators" as I call them.

BTW I bought a 3.5yr old Montego with 94k miles for £1600 at a time when i was really skint, got a lift to work and did <5k miles a year, using your logic above. Within 6 months circumstances changed and I was doing 18k miles just commuting.

The monty lasted another 7.5 years and 160k miles so it was still a winning strategy.

[steve_earwig]

Hi hi hi guys!

Invisicators

Ah, good word So it's not just me then Not just softroaders either, plenty of newish cars seem to have tiny indicators right next to & swamped by headlamps/tail lamps.

Profits have been made - almost £3k

Lordy! That's more than I ever paid for a car back in the UK. In fact, probably more than most of them combined. Very nicely done sir

I've heard about the new car shortage and effect on 2nd hand prices

AH, so it's not just here then. Last year the yoyo was worth maybe 8.5k€, now there's one, year newer, auto with similar miles for 10.5 Hold on, 2021 Kia Spottage, no high milers but looking at 21 grand for a pez, 24 for a dizzler. Umm, why are some of the used ones more expensive than a new 1? Welcome to Absurdistan

[Welly]

My first 'problem' with the Kia:

Stepped (or cupped) rear tyres the factory fitted Continentals were noisy, it took me about 2 weeks to figure out what was going on but at certain speeds the car car noisy - like a wheel bearing type noise.

Had a close look at the rear tyres on the inside edge and found this, also see the beginnings of rubber crackage on 2021 Tyres :


I wouldn't normally do this but I had the tyres taken off and replaced with Avon's to match the new fronts that the car came with:


Alignment was out on the rear so that was sorted:


The newest tyres were put on the front and the existing fronts put on the rear with their 5-6mm tread. Kia say you must rotate the tyres front/rear every 6000 miles so by the time I get to do that the front and rears should be about the same in terms of wear.

Anyhoo as soon as the old Conti's were replaced the car went silent - sooo much better. Actually the Continental's get slated on the Kia Forum that I may* have joined to research this exact issue.

Please don't ask me how much 2 x tyres and an alignment was for my environmentally-upsetting "SUV"

[steve_earwig]

Was the cupping anything to do with the tracking? Not very impressed with the crackage though, definitely not when you're carting family about.

Cost? I dread to think. I did have a squint for the tyres but, not knowing exactly the size, it's anywhere between steep and kidney. I looked them up here too, expecting them to be more expensive as per. Try not available Not even in Slovenia Alignment is probably an hour of labour, so that's 750 quid plus tax...

There's a club? Of course there's a club, I should go and find it. I hope it's not as comical as the Rav4 one - "oooh, Toyota are marvellous, they've just changed my engine for the second time under warranty"

In other news, The Mammal Society have asked me if they can use my (crappy I thought) pine marten footage (it's up there somewhere, having fun in my rhubarb). I said of course they can! They'll give me credit for it. Er, what? No need, really, I'm just some guy with a cheap as chips trail cam.

[Doggy]

Found myself doing a bit of Pug fettling for a change today - daughter's 307's been complaining of a battery charge fault, "for a few days". The lack of an auxilliary drive belt, courtesy of a broken up tensioner pulley being the cause. (Mercifully it only drives the alternator and a/c compressor).

After a bit of Googling, I discovered you can possibly just replace the roller assembly on some versions of the tensioner but the local factors said they could only get the whole thing for £90-£100 depending on make. Tried a few other places, same story. Resorted to buying one online, (complete assembly for £30 delivered), only to find it'll be a week or more.

So I wound up taking one off a 206 at the nearest scrappy and the 307's a runner again.

[steve_earwig]

Blimey, this board Sorry Doggy, I seem to have missed this. Oh well, only 2 months late... Anyway, nice bit of recycling there sir

I just wanted to pop in and say Happy New Year, as you do, and drop a bit of an update.

I'm still about obviously, health wise doing much better than I deserve. Recently I had 4 "moles" removed, t'wife saw something she didn't like on my back and booked me in to the (private) clinic. The "mole" t'wife didn't like proved noting bad but, these other 4... Of course they're going to find something they don't like the look of because private The weather's been messing with my head a lot, it's way warmer than it should be for the time of year (18 degrees today).

Car-wise, the yoyo is still going strong. As it's now 15 years old ( ) I keep thinking about what I should replace it with but I have no idea. The price of everything now seems to have gone through the roof, especially Hyundai/Kia now people have realised how reliable they are. What about another Rav? They're all either diesels or hybrids, no good to me at all with all the short journeys we do. Or we could import one from Germany. Yeah, open your wallet and repeat after me: "Help yourself."

Bike-wise, I have 4 bikes stashed in my garage now, the Yam, the Matchless, Goran's Moto Guzzi LeMans IV and his wife's Kawa Z750. There's not much room downstairs at the moment. The matchless disgraced itself by fouling it's plug, er, several times. Overfuelling obviously but I've had the Amal apart, cleaned it, put it back and it's just the same. Searching for answers it feels like it's a case of if you can't figure this simple carb out then you must be simple yourself

This from Goran a few days ago

My old D9's passed the magic 200kkm and it's still going strong. Recently he had to change a rear wheel bearing and that's about it.

I recently bought myself a planer/thicknesser, I was a bit nervous of it to start with (I do hope this isn't a maimer/impaler) but for all these bits of wood I've got sitting about there's nothing finer. Push manky old bit of wood in the front and it pushes a lovely finely planed bit of timber out the back. I'm currently feeding it a diet of oak and it didn't die yet.

Animal-wise, still 3 dogs but we're back up to thi...th... 12+1 cats. Latest additions Jimmy & Hilary

Jimmy (White) was run over when he was only a few weeks old and he was touch and go for a while. I was regularly visiting him while he was at the vet's and I kind of got attached to him. He still has a horrific limp but it doesn't slow him down much. Hilary (she climbs everything) was in the cage next to him and they used to play together, so on the day we decided to take her as well so he had someone about his size to play/exercise with. She had some upper respiratory problems but now she's all fixed up she's a really lovely, happy little cat.

I've actually been doing a bit of volunteering at the vet's. As there's not much to do around the garden now I have the time. I was busy with the kittens, mostly clearing transporters the poorly kittens were kept in (hey, this kitten needs cleaning, somebody should... er, where's the cleaning stuff?) but now there doesn't seem to be many of them about I've been having a go with this guy

Another one that's been run over Sadly he's in a worse state than Jimmy, he will loose his tail and he has a hernia that's affecting his breathing. Surgery will have to wait though until he gets his weight up. He's terrified of everything, all he wants to do is stay in his box. I've got him to the stage where toys aren't terrifying but he won't play with them. Yesterday I was playing with the toys in front of his box for about an hour but he just sat inside and watched them. Obviously I can reach in and pull him out and he's quite happy being cuddled but that's not really the point. He really needs the exercise, his weight isn't increasing at all. The vets have named him Ron. Ah, they know me well.

[GingerMagic]

Happy New Year to you too Wiggy, glad to hear you are still keeping well ish ....

I may need to part with the 406 at some point and put the funds into a wheelchair accessible mode of transportation for Mum in Law, and probably for me in the future too but that's a story for another day.

There are a couple of 406s on fleabay, one of them is like 3.5k ( that's money, not mileage) which seems lunacy to me - that's more than 10x what I paid for current dump trip executive express Even a 2012 custom made disabled Kia Sedona with all the bells and whistles is only* 9k.

Anyway, Happy New Year to everyone on the forum

[Doggy]

Happy New Year all.

Good to hear you're both doing OK.

Mrs Doggy had a serious health scare having to have a lung nodule removed by keyhole surgery. Thankfully she was home safe within a week and fingers crossed she's OK now. After a dozen or so round trips to hospital in Leicester, I'm really impressed with the best NHS experience we've ever had. Can't praise them enough. It's humbling to realise how much we take for granted.

We finally got another dog. This here's Roger



He's a 7 year old labradoodle / retriever cross we rehomed back in September. Amazingly smart and obedient though nervous and easily scared. Suspect he hasn't had the best of upbringings but seems fairly chilled now. Perfect recall and virtually no prey drive makes for peaceful walkies.

Vehicule wise things have been quiet. Had to replace the front tyres on the BM when a bit of shoulder scuffing turned into exposed cords.
Obviously needed to get the front alignment checked/set and wound up being persuaded to get the rear done too. Left the garage convinced I shouldn't have agreed and I'd just wasted an extra £50 but the handing improvement is staggering.
Guess I should be a sceptical old scrooge ALL the time.

Younger daughter has retired the 107 in favour of a 208 1.2 petrol, (yet another 3 cyl powerhouse boasting 82 of them horses).
Seems a nice car - she loves it, dread to think what it cost.

Here's hoping 2023 will be a better year for everyone.

[steve_earwig]

That does sound scary Glad she's ok now.

It's humbling to realise how much we take for granted.

And how much we should be angry that the Tories want to sell off in the name of profit.

I forgot to mention my moles (carrot-osis) were all biopsied, all nothing of course. I think next time t'wife spots something she doesn't like the look of she can go do one.

Welcome Roger He looks nice and relaxed there. Nervous and easily scared, that's my experience of goldies (afraid of loud noises and water, perfect for a dog bred for shooting water fowl ) Smart and obedient, hmm, not so much really.

There are a couple of 406s on fleabay, one of them is like 3.5k ( that's money, not mileage) which seems lunacy to me

But, compared to anything newer, they're a damn fine car (maybe time to sell?)

I must admit a lot of the plans I have these days are with a nod to possible future needs.

Actually, as t'wife is getting a bit wibbly-wobbly the days I had to extend the handrail for our stairs across the front of a door (well, an open hole...), so I made a new door (just cheapy T&G)

And then I thought...

The handrail as a smaller section inside with a thumbscrew. Release thumbscrew and slide up to release handrail, turn handrail anticlockwise to unlatch. Ah well, little things please little minds It still needs a bit of work up the top (hey, doors are 3D!) and paint, but that can wait for spring.

Anyway, a bit of a surprise at t'vet's this morning when I went to check on Ron. As usual when I got him out of his box I checked inside for any "accidents" and, oh no, there's a bit of him left behind




His damaged tail self-amputated Our/his vet Mirela said it might do that, that's 1 less surgery he'll need. He'll still have to wait for his hernia to be done and it's not just a matter of weight, there are also tissue changes and she won't operate on him until he's at least 6 months, so he has at least another month to go. She also said the hernia is bad enough that he probably can't play with toys, he just doesn't have the energy. Poor little guy She says there's always the chance the hernia will also self-heal, like the tail, but also warned me that there is a chance it could go the other way and the hernia might still kill him.

Hang in there little feller!






Wot, no Welton?

[JonnyDekk]

Hi Steve
Appreciate this is an older post but you sound like a furry friend and a man in the know..

Am a new member, looking to get my pug back on the road asap. She’s a red 98 coupe will lost some pics over the weekend. Plans currently scuppered as having devilish time sourcing a replacement front windscreen and seal .. May have solved screen prob but seal is a real headache any suggestions or recommendations of someone in the know greatly appreciated..

Thanks Jonny

[steve_earwig]

Hi Jonny. Umm, I'm well out of the loop these days, no more Pug sadly (my bad back said so) and Pug threw us under the bus by ending free access to the parts catalogue so I've kind of lost the plot.

Peugeot parts asia

Looks like 3 here

03 8120 E3 WINDSCREEN WINDOW WEATHERSTRIP
and it appears it'll fit all coupes of all ages. A search brings up.. crikey, how much?!

Everything else I try brings up parts that if I then search using the part number bring up Nazi cars

Did you try on the coupe club? They used to have a resident breaker but I'm not sure you'd want a 2nd hand windscreen seal...

Sorry if that's no help, I can't think of what else to try.

Good luck!

[WillNZ]

Not 100% familiar with the coupe but the weatherstrip is just a trim piece, it closes the gap between windscreen and body. It essentially is just there for pretty...
The screen is bonded in with a special windscreen bond (black mastic type goo...). The parts labelled 2 in the diagram are spacers that are used between windscreen and body to ensure that the windscreen has a suitable gap between itself and the body. This gap is filled with the windscreen bond. You should be able to remove the weatherstrip intact by smashing the old screen out and using a stanley knife to sever any windscreen bond that may have attached itself to the weatherstrip when installing the windscreen.

This link may help understand how it is generally done? https://www.google.com/search?q=replace ... -oAhc,st:0

[JonnyDekk]

Thanks guys both really helpful
Looks like I might have to go down the bonded route option but reassuring to know this is standard fitting anyway and the strip is more of an aesthetic touch. Maybe I can recycle the strip too from recall it is in pretty decent nick