Messages

1

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!

« on: 08 March 2020, 09:47:45 PM »

Sounds reassuring Will. The Jimny crowd looked at the inside  fuel filler cap which lists both E5 and E10 - some comfort - but I own a couple of old sports cars as you know so will be watching other forums too

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!

« on: 05 March 2020, 09:00:01 PM »

In the video you can see all the cars that got to the bottom of the hill and couldn't get back up. 

Yes I thought they looked stuck

Any discussion going on here about THIS yet? There's quite a lot of consternation and dismay about it

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!

« on: 05 March 2020, 05:32:03 PM »

Wow  - that was indeed impressive! Full winter tyres - or all-season? I no longer have the space to keep spare wheels since re-acquisitioning my old MG Midget so the Jimny uses an All-Season compromise.

I'm not much into the off-roading scene particularly, but I'm interested to learn, and its a completely different form of driving that I have had no previous experience of. I'm utterly astonished at just where some vehicles can go!

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Greetings old SAAB friends!

« on: 05 March 2020, 09:52:23 AM »

Hello Will

Yes, thats the new model with its very boxy retro appearance.  Underneath however, it's still very similar to the previous model - the chassis is virtually the same.

The reason for the Jimny's popularity is that it has a dedicated following of people that need small practical cheap vehicles which Landrovers arent.
Suzuki launched the new model across the world but got caught out with the slightly unexpected demand for them, and the other issue is that Europe has also now limited it because of its higher emissions comared to other similar sized cars. Everyone is a bit surprised that Suzuki didn't see that one coming.
Apparently Suzuki will get around this for a short while, by producing a 2 seat commercial 'van' version, not subject to the same controls as the car version - this will be available with the option to buy a set of rear seats! Allegedly this will buy the manufacturer some time to sort out an alternative engine without the emmisions restrictions.

Many Jimny's become very modified for purely off-road use but in it's standard form its an incredibly capable vehicle that surprises a lot of people. Take a look at this very unklikely comparison...

Unlikely comparison
Standard V Modified

Also - I dont know if you saw it just the other week, but Top Gear had one that they were messing around with and were very impressed by its performance

So in short, the prices are being artificially hiked by supply and demand, and some unscrupulous dealers.

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Greetings old SAAB friends!

« on: 04 March 2020, 07:16:37 PM »

Its been a long time since dropping in here to write anything, but I do pop in for a nose occasionally. I hope you are all well and keeping your feet dry in this unprecidented weather!

I'm still driving the Suzuki Jimny which is huge fun with its rigid axles (this is what I switched to from the  SAAB vert) I even took it off-roading at Aldermaston last year which turned out to be  the biggest gathering of Suzuki Jimnys the UK has seen so far. It was so successful another even bigger event has been organised for the humble little Jimny later this year in Yorks
Offroading is immense fun, but when its your daily driver great care needs to be taken! I was utterly astonished at what these vehicles can do in their standard form

Everywhere I look I still see lovely SAABs and it makes me miss mine a lot.

Progress on the vintage MG (J2 Midget) continues with the engine almost ready, the trim all done (apart from the seats) and a gearbox on the way to being finished too.

The modern Midget that I owned from almost new until 1999 ...and bought back 3 years ago will get its original (matching numbers engine) renovated and reunited with the car in April (I put a tuned unit in it during the 90s but it was never very successful) - luckily the spare 'original' engine remained with the car until I reunited myself with it three years ago

Very Best Wishes to you all!

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Cold icey weather - which car is best?

« on: 09 February 2019, 07:02:38 PM »

Suzuki Jimny 

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Classic Saab 9-5 (MY 1998-2010) / Re: Xenon headlights - Cleaning and replacing lamps

« on: 10 December 2018, 10:41:03 PM »

Take a look in Halfrauds - there are light lens polishing kits by Meguiars and Autoglym that consist of acrylic polish and suitable Micromesh type polishing papers.
Meguiars kit
Autoglym kit



In the past I have very successfully used These kits for aircraft canopies but although fantastic they are expensive.

You could try just T-cut or even Brasso instead of proper Acrylic polish such as Greygates, but if the lens surface  feels rough you will need the micromesh abrasives, starting with the most coarse, rubbing down with the acrylic polish supplied until you are using the smoothest, then follow up using just the acrylic polish and a microfibre cloth

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: ESP problem

« on: 22 November 2018, 11:46:16 PM »

Hello Pete - interesting read that!

Thanks for your PM regarding this fault - hopefully you found my reply. Sadly I've not got the SAAB anymore, I'm now not doing the miles to justify the cost - I miss it though.
Now driving around in the slowest most rickety car on the planet but hell. its so much fun and can literally go anywhere; its very capable!

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Road tax time again!!!!

« on: 09 November 2018, 12:09:27 PM »

I now refer to my wife in the old American Indian tradition; she's known as "Five Horses"






















Alias...

"Nag, Nag Nag, Nag, Nag"

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Cleaning and Detailing / Re: That old mini cab aura!!!!

« on: 06 November 2018, 11:17:31 AM »

....But did it work?

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Cleaning and Detailing / Re: That old mini cab aura!!!!

« on: 24 October 2018, 12:40:35 AM »

I've found the biggest culprit for nasty niffs in any car I've had is, more often than not, the mats and/or the seats - particularly if they are fabric seats.

Car mats will clean superbly and be 'fresh' if you wash them with a wet/dry vacuum cleaner such as a VAX.
You will be stunned at the amount of grit/sh*t/dirt that comes out of them. I have a narrow cleaning-head for the job rather than a full-width one for domestic carpets in the house.
This small cleaning-head is about 4" wide, and is brilliant for leaving stripes in your mats  (like a mown lawn!).

People sweat. So washing cloth seats is a must, and can be done using the same small cleaning-head and the VAX this will eliminate a lot of smells.

The other bit that gets neglected is the headlining. More care needs to be taken here as it can be more fragile, so I do this by hand with a sponge and hot(ish) soapy water

A big plus for cleaning the Air Con with those cans but I found that it needed to be done several times.

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Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Anyone used one of these before?

« on: 19 July 2018, 06:10:09 PM »

I just used a screwdriver - place the tip of the screwdriver at various points on the engine and place ear on the end of the screwdriver handle; not comfortable but works reasonably well.
I found this accurate enough to locate which tappets needed adjusting on a 4cyl engine.

Out of interest, a friend of mine whom is profoundly deaf through a serious illness in his teenage years, tunes his MG Y-type by feel!

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Is this new EGR valve?

« on: 17 July 2018, 10:24:03 PM »

That sounds like what I had  - not quite limp mode but slooow.

I took my egr valve apart and freed it up  -there is an article on how to do this on one of the Vauxhall forums - its very easy. The egr valve lasted a good couple more years but failed me again so I replaced it with a s/h item a friend gave me.

Alternatively blank the damned thing off

I sold another spare egr valve that I had but still have some blanks kicking around in my workshop somewhere, if you fancy going down that route

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Oh look what's about to be sent off ;)

« on: 17 July 2018, 10:17:08 PM »

Useful info - not heard of Bigg red before but thier site looks very interesting for future reference! 

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Cleaning and Detailing / Re: Leather seat repairs

« on: 17 July 2018, 10:14:10 PM »

Strange that he gives no address in his contact details; there must be a workshop somewhere!

I'd say definitely worth a punt, the work looks very good