VitesseEFI

15 hours ago, RUNAMUCK said:

And you ran the sums, and they said cast piston go BOOM?

Is there any galling on whats left of the the pin boss? The last motor i destructively tested to failure had nasty galling on the gudgeon pins. And another piston was stiff on its pin too. Datsun motor go bang too.

Cast piston go BOOM indeed. I agree with the failure analysis. Curious on dye-pen results.

Also curious about galling on pin bosses, plus whether the relevant BE shell/crank pin looks any different from the others.

Plain old material failure of cast piston seems entirely reasonable given the, errr, circumstances and history, and that is what the fracture surface looks like. Any reason why that piston should have been hotter than the others, or just hotter that day?

Presumably the top of the rod and gudgeon pin escaped through the hole it made, chased the oil filter housing out into the wide world and remains uncaptured ?

Detective Dave 

Somehow I’ve not previously seen this thread… so I’ve just had the jaw-dropping experience of reading it from end to end 

Bloody hell…… no messing!  Thought the block casting was epic… but that sump!! So he goes and makes several

This does actually deserve the word AWESOME!

47 minutes ago, RXFORD said:

Bit of a shit end to a good weekend

Indeed. Was all looking so good! 
Does the missing spacer(s) mean that the bolts are bottomed in the crank, so not clamping everything together as should be?

A Mini with factory fitted AC?!

Looks ready to go adventuring to me 

Some sort of Lancia, spotted in Syracuse

11 hours ago, BlownCorona said:

if the above story is true and not some boomer standing on the gas pedal instead of the brake again

Or tangled up in floor mats…..

On 08/10/2023 at 01:12, Bling said:

Can't be any worse than a TT can it?

Harsh, though fair in some respects. TT has a sweet engine with some decent urge (180 bhp, nice power band).  It’s fairly good on fuel especially for what it is and would be even better if not for the stupidly short 5th gear. Handling and ride is ok. However, I find the seating position wholly unacceptable. Not sure what it is exactly, but after a couple of hours I’m begging to be let out, half crippled.  Poor visibility - it’s like driving a small armoured car. You can’t see any of the car outside the glass from the drivers seat. The i3 is the same in that respect, but at least the windows aren’t slits.

TT is not much fun to work on either. Suspension etc not too bad but access to pretty much anything under bonnet is horrible due to too much engine for the available space. The V6 must be appalling.

Wif likes her TT though and is sad that it might have to go…..

Discussion ongoing…..

I hear you on the range, but her commute is either 10kms return or 20kms depending on what site she’s at. Visit to MiL is about 50kms. Range extender is another 100kms and a 10l fuel can in the boot more than doubles that.

I know it’s old tech really but I like the almost unique approach of a true EV but with a plan B.

For serious long distance work we have my old A6 which does over 1,300km on a tank, or a couple of old tech Triumphs with about 400km tank range.

He’s asking approx NZ$ 16k, which is too much for age/mileage condition -basically he’s asking franchised dealer price, but it’s a private sale.  I think there’s room for negotiation.

Any BMW i3 knowledge/experience on here?

Been to view and drive a 2014 22kWh with range extender this morning. Interesting experience. Nice drive, if very different from anything I’ve driven before. Certainly goes well. Electric range fairly dismal (100kms ish) but that’s mostly enough and there’s the REX as plan B.

Well spec’d and turns out the vendor is my sons former apprenticeship supervisor (good people)

Would replace the Wifs 2004 Audi TT…. Decisions decisions….. The step up in complexity is somewhat intimidating!
 

Good effort!

Does it have another digit though….

That’s a lot of Kms. Also 20 years running 24/7…..

4 hours ago, igor said:

Just call Tony to fix it again.

FIAT = Fix It Again Tomorrow 

FORD = Fix Or Repair Daily

PFT. Another of the  Sicilian 500 infestation 

4 minutes ago, locost_bryan said:

I thought that was why they came with the canvas roof?

Yeah, like having the oven and the grill on simultaneously 

Noto, Sicily this evening. With bonus Panda. More gen 1 Pandas than you can shake a stick at in these parts. All variants and colours condition varies from mint to rough-as…

In Noto Sicily this evening. And that event plaque on it finally explains why we’ve been seeing convoys of the little buggers this weekend, hundreds of them it seems like (more likely the same 50 several times), all over the south east corner of the island, Abarths and all. 
 

Have to say that the crews will have been suffering quite badly as it’s been unseasonably warm. 33C in those little tin cans has got be sauna time!

Spotted in a Sicilian farmyard. Lots of other rusting remains 

Renault 4, Syracuse.

Autobianchi 112 Junior, in Syracuse, Sicily. Never seen one before.

Have another Panda. This one 4x4 with highly dodgy lift (see also design foibles Fred)

And some elderly Lancia. That’s parked….

Driving here is a bit different….

3 hours ago, DoBro Jesus said:

Gawd I love pandas.

Current rental is a Panda, but newish. 3 pot, 6 speed manual with 3 pedals, but also hybrid. Most odd. 
 

Not fast and doesn’t like hills but handles/rides well. Impressive fuel economy (45mpg) considering I’ve been ragging it without mercy, mostly up hill in 2nd or 3rd gear (dunno what 6th is for)