Dear all,

I've lurked on this list for quite a while now and so thought it was about time I exposed myself.

My Yeti (1.2TSI DSG) was ordered at the end of September (before discovering this list) with a provisional build date of week 5. Following a phone call to my dealer yesterday to check for any updates, I was told my car was already built and at the Port of Entry and should be with me by the end of the month, whoopee! I'd kind of expected dates to slip a bit and was thinking of an 11 plate but I guess the lack of diesel engines has had an effect and I must now bring forward plans for the new arrival.

I've learnt a huge amount from my time lurking on this list (I didn't realise that there were so many uses for peanut butter), and so thank you all and long may it continue.

S_M

Welcome to the board and I hope you enjoy yor SM as much as I do mine....

Good to hear your car has been built and earlier than predicted. My 1.2 TSi DSG was ordered a month after yours and my provisional build is not until week 15. Optimistically that will also move forward and March 1st collection would do very nicely. Well, you have to live in hope.

Welcome to the exclusive Snow Monster Club

Mike

Welcome.

Nice user name, did you used to have Morris Minor?

I've got one in the garage.

Richard

Welcome.

Nice user name, did you used to have Morris Minor?

I've got one in the garage.

Richard

I wonder if he does have one...he will advise, I'm sure.

My very first car, when I was 17 or 18 was a 51 or 52 (can't remember) green 4 door split screen moggie, NUK 217. Bought from Lea Bridge Road Car Sales, Leyton (under the railway arch) for £75. Took the head off and had it skimmed and valves ground by Les George in Wanstead, put it back together and it wasn't much longer before the floor failed to support the suspension / torsion bar / arm thingy... due to rust and it got picked up by a scrappie from Ilford - never to be seen (by myself) again.

Still occasionally look at cars for sale at Charles Wares. Sometimes vaguely tempted by a completely rebuilt estate although it would be £15k - £20k....and you can (just) get a Yeti for that!

CT....You're not all that far away from where I grew up are you? I wasn't far from Epping Forest...my school was in Loughton.

I've cycled many times around your part of the world....but moved away (about 250 miles way, in fact)

Thanks for the welcome.

CT17 and Oldstan, you're right, a mighty 803ccs 1955/56 sidevalve Morris Minor was my first car (that's ruined the answer to a bank security question) in grey/green and rust, a popular choice in those days, with split screen but headlights in the wings unlike earlier models that had them either side of the grill. It used a gallon of Duckhams Q20/50 per week (5 shillings) until I replaced a piston that had broken it's oil ring and worn the groove away, it also had a weekness for head gaskets. I always carried a spare gasket in the boot and had the change time down to around 20 minutes, sidevalves were great. Thermosyphon cooling system meant no thermostat, no water pump and, unfortunately, no heater. Kids today don't know they're born.

Rust got it in the end of course, I was jacking it up one day when the jack carried on going through the jacking point. Happy days.

S_M

Thanks for the welcome.

CT17 and Oldstan, you're right, a mighty 803ccs 1955/56 sidevalve Morris Minor was my first car (that's ruined the answer to a bank security question) in grey/green and rust, a popular choice in those days, with split screen but headlights in the wings unlike earlier models that had them either side of the grill. It used a gallon of Duckhams Q20/50 per week (5 shillings) until I replaced a piston that had broken it's oil ring and worn the groove away, it also had a weekness for head gaskets. I always carried a spare gasket in the boot and had the change time down to around 20 minutes, sidevalves were great. Thermosyphon cooling system meant no thermostat, no water pump and, unfortunately, no heater. Kids today don't know they're born.

Rust got it in the end of course, I was jacking it up one day when the jack carried on going through the jacking point. Happy days.

S_M

Thanks for details and (very) belated commiserations on the demise of your little car. Mine also had headlights on the wings so I'm now wondering whether I have predated it a bit...perhaps it wasn't 51/2 and more 54 ish.

Anyway, enjoy the Yeti when it comes. You'll get yours before me. I haven't even driven a Yeti and certainly not a 1.2DSG as per the one ordered. Did you drive one?

My first car was a '59 Minor 1000 (KCM 749) with an 875cc (Corrected: 948cc) A series engine. I spent ages bringing it back to reasonable condition, but never could get paint to stay on the panel that surrounded the grille! And I got replacing valves down to a fine art after being supplied with several that hadn't been properly hardened. Head off, new valves ground in, head back on in 2 hrs!

Unfortunately, I let the car go for an unbelievably low £100 (in 1974) - Oh, how I wish I'd kept it.

:'(

Edited 16 January, 201115 yr by speedsport

My first car was a '59 Minor 1000 (KCM 749) with an 875cc (I think) A series engine. I spent ages bringing it back to reasonable condition, but never could get paint to stay on the panel that surrounded the grille! And I got replacing valves down to a fine art after being supplied with several that hadn't been properly hardened. Head off, new valves ground in, head back on in 2 hrs!

Unfortunately, I let the car go for an unbelievably low £100 (in 1974) - Oh, how I wish I'd kept it.

:'(

SS, You're selling your little motor short....

From Charles Ware's 'History' page... " the beloved Minor 1000 arrived in October 1956. Gone was the split screen, but much more important was the new 948cc version of the A-series engine ".

And don't we all wish we'd hung on to some of our previous cars, if only we'd (i) known better, and (ii) had somewhere to put them!

I sold a one owner (apart from me) Beetle for about £500 in '85 and an immaculate Rover 2000 for...well, not a lot, in the early '70's!

Oh, and a Bugatti Veyron for £349 in 2007....I really should have charged more for that one!

SS, You're selling your little motor short....

From Charles Ware's 'History' page... " the beloved Minor 1000 arrived in October 1956. Gone was the split screen, but much more important was the new 948cc version of the A-series engine ".

And don't we all wish we'd hung on to some of our previous cars, if only we'd (i) known better, and (ii) had somewhere to put them!

I sold a one owner (apart from me) Beetle for about £500 in '85 and an immaculate Rover 2000 for...well, not a lot, in the early '70's!

Oh, and a Bugatti Veyron for £349 in 2007....I really should have charged more for that one!

Absolutely right Stan... it was indeed a 948cc engine, all 37hp of it.

It was a grey two door, with leather seat facings, trafficators blanked off and Wipac flashing indicators fitted in rubber pods. It had a heater with the optional extra "fresh air ventillation". You had to get out, lift the bonnet and turn a brass water tap to turn off the heater, by which time your feet were cooking!

Though not a split windscreen, it still had split windscreen type wipers that left an unswept area in the centre of the screen. I remember that if you braked too hard, the passender seat used to tip forward if unoccupied. And... just like the Yeti, it had a capacious storage space for the spare wheel under the boot floor. And 520x14 inch tyres that never seemed to wear out. Ah, those were the days!

Absolutely right Stan... it was indeed a 948cc engine, all 37hp of it.

It was a grey two door, with leather seat facings, trafficators blanked off and Wipac flashing indicators fitted in rubber pods. It had a heater with the optional extra "fresh air ventillation". You had to get out, lift the bonnet and turn a brass water tap to turn off the heater, by which time your feet were cooking!

Though not a split windscreen, it still had split windscreen type wipers that left an unswept area in the centre of the screen. I remember that if you braked too hard, the passender seat used to tip forward if unoccupied. And... just like the Yeti, it had a capacious storage space for the spare wheel under the boot floor. And 520x14 inch tyres that never seemed to wear out. Ah, those were the days!

http://www.charleswaresmorrisminorcentre.co.uk/ (Go to Car Sales / Travellers for the pics mentioned here :-

Now have a look at what you get for £18,450 - Smashing pictures if you click on the photo........1971 Maroon Traveller with Red Interior Trim. (Special Commission - Sold)..................."This is a fully rebuilt vehicle which has been fully overhauled with a rebuilt chassis and new body panels together with associated chrome and complete new interior trim. It has been repainted including the engine bay as has the interior/exterior. It also has a 1275cc engine and 5-speed gearbox, new timber frame, disc brake kit including master cylinder remote top up kit, front and rear telescopic shock absorbers with anti rollbar option, wiper delay, halogen headlamps, hazard warning lights, high capacity heater, battery cut-out switch, fog lamp/reversing lamp, radio/CD player, front inertia reel seatbelts, Style 4 vinyl seats, steering lock and classic chrome door mirrors. The price for a similar vehicle on application".

And there are lovely close up pics of a '69 B.R.Green Traveller for £15,950. Do it now - you'll want one!

Don't know whether you still get the 'trumpet' exhaust sound with new, modified ones?

Edited 16 January, 201115 yr by oldstan

Don't know whether you still get the 'trumpet' exhaust sound with new, modified ones?

My Trumpet does not sound like a Morris Minor

Mike

My Trumpet does not sound like a Morris Minor

Mike

It obviously needs a tune up then.

Absolutely right Stan... it was indeed a 948cc engine, all 37hp of it.

So my 1.4litre VW Polo from '99 with 59bhp, shows that not much progress was made between the 60's and 1999 in the automotive world then.

Mike

It obviously needs a tune up then.

I always though a Morris Minor sounded like it was f*rting when they drove past me

Mike

Still occasionally look at cars for sale at Charles Wares. Sometimes vaguely tempted by a completely rebuilt estate although it would be £15k - £20k....and you can (just) get a Yeti for that!

CT....You're not all that far away from where I grew up are you? I wasn't far from Epping Forest...my school was in Loughton.

I've cycled many times around your part of the world....but moved away (about 250 miles way, in fact)

Rather than buy restored, I looked for a apreviously resotred one that was no longer being used.

Got a cracker on ebay. Fully restored three years ago, light use since, all for £2,995 which I feel is a bargain.

Yes, I work very close to the new olympic park.

But a bus (PSV transport, got 90 minibuses) does take children to a school in Loughton and I use to live close to it, so I know it pretty well.

Rather than buy restored, I looked for a apreviously resotred one that was no longer being used.

Got a cracker on ebay. Fully restored three years ago, light use since, all for £2,995 which I feel is a bargain.

Yes, I work very close to the new olympic park.

But a bus (PSV transport, got 90 minibuses) does take children to a school in Loughton and I use to live close to it, so I know it pretty well.

Cracking moggie for under three grand, CT... Good buy!...Getting envious! The Yeti would have to stay out in the cold if I had one of those.......there's room for two in the garage if I had a major re-org, but man has to have somwhere to put his tools, bits and pieces and stock of Lidl's special offer beer, doesn't he!

Thanks for details and (very) belated commiserations on the demise of your little car. Mine also had headlights on the wings so I'm now wondering whether I have predated it a bit...perhaps it wasn't 51/2 and more 54 ish.

Anyway, enjoy the Yeti when it comes. You'll get yours before me. I haven't even driven a Yeti and certainly not a 1.2DSG as per the one ordered. Did you drive one?

Commiserations unnecessary, thanks Oldstan, I was pleased to see the back of it. The replacement was a Singer Gazelle bought from an uncle of mine for £15, it came with bench seats, column change, overdrive, real wood dash, heater and radio. Luxury. The radio (just AM of course) was interesting in that it had a conventional tuner in the dash but that was connected via a very military looking umbilical cable through the bulkhead to a perforated steel box in the engine bay housing the power supply and amplifier, all run using valves.

In answer to your question, yes I did test drive a 1.2DSG and very impressed I was with its performance for such a small engine, very quiet and smooth, certainly compared to my 1.9 TDI Altea. I found I was watching the rev counter to see when it changed gear, that was obviously just an initial impression though and I expect in everyday driving it will become more noticeable. The only thing I did find a little disconcerting was the "turbo lag" (if that's what is) when pulling away from a stop or accelerating from low speed. Hopefully it's something you learn how to control, I think there was a thread about this some time ago, must do a search.

S_M

P.S. Great pictures of your Moggie,CT, they look really good fully restored, proper wing mirrors and all.

The only thing I did find a little disconcerting was the "turbo lag" (if that's what is) when pulling away from a stop or accelerating from low speed. Hopefully it's something you learn how to control, I think there was a thread about this some time ago, must do a search.

S_M

That isn't turbo lag. It is nigh on non existent in the petrol turbos. It is the DSG gearbox. it is slow to uptake. Unlike a 'real' auto you can't stamp on the brake, put your foot on the accelerator and then let go of the brake, spinning the wheels and getting a fast start. 'launch control' is what the DSG needs, and only the Golf GTI has it that I have heard of, hidden in Vag com

To move off with a DSG you just take your foot off the brake and put it on the throttle. The harder you push the faster it accelerates.

When you have your foot on the brake it cuts power to the engine....

Mike

welcome to the SM club, SM, from just round the corner.

i work in st albans so will give ya a wave if i see you

That isn't turbo lag. It is nigh on non existent in the petrol turbos. It is the DSG gearbox. it is slow to uptake. Unlike a 'real' auto you can't stamp on the brake, put your foot on the accelerator and then let go of the brake, spinning the wheels and getting a fast start. 'launch control' is what the DSG needs, and only the Golf GTI has it that I have heard of, hidden in Vag com

To move off with a DSG you just take your foot off the brake and put it on the throttle. The harder you push the faster it accelerates.

When you have your foot on the brake it cuts power to the engine....

Mike

Thanks Mike, I'll try to concentrate more once mine arrives... :yes:

Thanks Mike, I'll try to concentrate more once mine arrives... :yes:

Thats ok. I tried some flat out acceleration today. The car starts slowly, but gathers speed quite rapidly, and as gear changes are so very quick, soon catches up with the manual box.

For fun, look on YouTube for golf gti DSG vs gold gti manual.

Mike

welcome to the SM club, SM, from just round the corner.

i work in st albans so will give ya a wave if i see you

I've only ever seen one Yeti around here and that was Muscavado, it could have been you! Have you ever been to Morrisons car park? If so you may have my nose print on one of your windows..

I'll be Bright Red in a few weeks, hopefully.

S_M

Dear all,

I've lurked on this list for quite a while now and so thought it was about time I exposed myself.

My Yeti (1.2TSI DSG) was ordered at the end of September (before discovering this list) with a provisional build date of week 5. Following a phone call to my dealer yesterday to check for any updates, I was told my car was already built and at the Port of Entry and should be with me by the end of the month, whoopee! I'd kind of expected dates to slip a bit and was thinking of an 11 plate but I guess the lack of diesel engines has had an effect and I must now bring forward plans for the new arrival.

I've learnt a huge amount from my time lurking on this list (I didn't realise that there were so many uses for peanut butter), and so thank you all and long may it continue.

S_M