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I love these Pandas. There's one round the corner from me in that bright blue that I ogle enviously. I've noticed Sainsbury's sell the perfect colour matched paint for yours, handy for touch ups:

I certainly don’t want growth on the concrete. That’s why I spend days cleaning it all every year. I may have bought a Mercedes Benz SLK 230 this week. Foolish? Maybe. Collected it on Monday morning. Giving it to Sally.

I used a blade to carefully cut the glue, it can be re-suck easy enough. I did intend to open and showcase the Moving Parts cars I've bought recently but just not had time - saved me a job on the BMW!

I also fixed this smoll hole. Perfect* fit*.

Have some pics from various famous* local* landmarks and from general pottering.

While the bonnet was up I dug out the duck bill scuttle drains. They tend to back up with mulch in pandas, which dries, compacts, blocks, then fills the scuttle with water, which then leaks into the footwells. Pics are terrible but you get the idea. Dug out with a finger so there's plenty of room for spread to drain the fluids. Gape action!

True

Next was onto small service items. The car did seem a bit flat and felt a bit missy occasionally at times so start with plugs I guess. using the power of my sheepskin house slippers I was able to read the plugs in mystical ways and came to the conclusion that yes, I'm pretty sure it's about time that these be changed. Air filtre. Out with the old, in with the new. Also did the oil and filter and added a go slower sticker.

In all my excitement on collection day, I forgot to thank all that made it possible. The car was in a different country to me and @Lacquer Peel and @juular very kindly gave it a good inspection, picked it up locally* and stored it till I could collect. Thank you gentlemen for all your help and thanks to @MrsJuular for sensibly pointing out the lack of air in the tyres and for excellent hospitality on collection day. Now, what's been going on with it? Well, first up and probably not the most pressing issue but what came first in alphabetical order, was the alternator bearing. Pandas do seem to get through these and for peace of mind* I demanded a new one rather than swapping on a used one. Thankfully @Jimbob McGregor is fantastic at managing demands and he was kind enough to cast his thorough eye over the cars few failings. Alternator was changed out, front brakes stripped, cleaned, greased and popped back together. The handbrake was as close to vertical as physics would allow and barely held the car on steep gradients so that was adjusted down to the trademark Jimbobmcgreggor two click specification. Great improvement all round. Happy new alternator.

1961 Volvo Duett 1105 pounds https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=349630582

1974 Honda Civic 1,2 auto 3611 pounds https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=349662579

1982 Oldsmobile diesel 8770 pounds https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=306259730

1976 Datsun 120Y 2579 pounds https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=349824997

1962 Renault Dauphine 2579 pounds https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=321412697

I have some time this morning so I'll see if I can find a couple. This is one of the rarest cars in Norway and I have wanted one for a long time but this is an auto and that kills it for me. It also needs some injectors replaced which is strange for a petrol? 1994 Hyundai Pony 1,5 auto 75,000km 958 pounds https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=349791831

Not a car, but, the 1983 Steinwinter Supercargo: I came across this via a YouTube suggestion, link: I never knew this existed 😳 but glad I came across it. Good to see it still exists and to be fair, I think it belongs in a museum. From what I can gather through a 2-minute "research" was in around the late 1970s, this was the brainchild of one Manfred Steinwinter. The cab was based on a low racer-type vehicle that could accommodate 3 adults and be driven around the city for example without the trailer. But due to some regulations around the early 80s the idea was shelved. Also, if you are observant enough, you might notice what looks like a Ferrari logo on the front of the truck. Ferrari in fact had nothing to do with the truck, but the obscure car company of Steinwinter did, more about it here: https://jalopnik.com/a-strange-little-car-company-youve-never-heard-of-has-b-1842759339

So what was this plan then, Warren? We noticed that there was a large gap in the growing Asian driver market for hybrid automatics like the Prius and Auris. No taxi rental firm in our area offers these so we hatched our plan. Rather than go down my previous route of pulling Cat C/D cars straight we'd source our Toyotas either from auction or trade sources. The general idea was to get the bought, plated and rented out ASAP. As we were catering to a niche and captive market we believed that we could charge about £20 a week over the usual £100 rental taxi Mondeo price. After all, the driver will be saving a lot more than that in fuel costs. Along with renting out we'd also be selling them on the weekly and in this respect we'd be following my tried and trusted previous (and profitable) method of renting the car out for six months first to generate a minimum profit margin of £3000 for every car sold plus another grand added to our initial stand in price of the car. All repair costs could be deferred as extra payments on the end as long as the driver had the work done at the garage my mate had just bought. Another avenue of opportunity was us entering the insurance credit hire business. I've looked into this in the past and shied away from it due to having to be VAT registered and the fact that it takes a long time to get paid out which were both issues that my partner wasn't worried about as he has the money to be able to afford to wait to get paid. Insurance companies insist on a credit hire car being less than three years old so our plan was to use my Ioniq for that purpose and if it was out I'd just jump into whatever Prius/Aurus was available. At the time I knew a solicitor who was pretty open about the size of the brown envelope he received from his existing credit hire provider and if we were willing to beat their bribe he'd throw the work to us. To be continued....

If you're in/ near Mancland later this summer, and have the guts of thirty quid burning a hole in your pocket... An immersive Hot Wheels experience is coming to Manchester - the first of its kind in Europe The Hot Wheels City Experience will make its European debut at the BEC Arena in Trafford Park this summer, featuring interactive exhibitions, a gamer zone and the Hot Wheels Lab. Perfect for fans of all ages, the experience will bring the legendary toy cars to life, offering visitors an exclusive glimpse into the best of Hot Wheels’ expansive collection of cars. The nostalgic trip will feature a total of 10 interactive stations, including the design centre, where fans can use the latest technology to build their own virtual car, and photo opportunities with exciting backdrops. Elsewhere, the Hot Wheels Lab will allow visitors to play with the most popular Hot Wheels toys on a pre-built racecourse in the Hot Wheels Challenge Accepted Championships, with the chance to win epic prizes. There’s also the chance to take home your very own Hot Wheels driving licence – complete with an official lanyard, photo and your name. Previously set up in São Paulo, this event marks the first time the exhibition has come to Europe. The Hot Wheels City Experience will take place for a month, from 13 August to 12 September 2024. Tickets go on presale at 10am on 24 April, and on general sale at 10am on 26 April, starting from £27.50 for adults and £22.50 for children https://www.manchestersfinest.com/featured/immersive-hot-wheels-experience-coming-to-manchester/

Pass the Mead

Saving money wasting time. As seen in a previous post the hoses are perished. Id had a look on the bay of E and found mostly rears but only a few fronts, a pair at 40 quid or a whole car set of 5 at £52. Our computer catalogue at work found nowt and even cross refencing found nothing from my suppliers (not uncommon for oddball tat) however i had found some for a mg midget availible at about 5 quid each. A smidge longer so i thought id be able to make them work They were about 55mm longer it turns out and thats a big isssue on a ado16. I really wanted it done today and ive got the stuff to make them work, so 4 or more hours later id made two brackets to raise the pipe up into the inner wing. New brake pipes all round going in so not an issue. The end result- meh. After doing the first one i then found some on ebay at 15.99 each. Was it Worth all that effort to save £21.98. Nope not in the slightest , ahh well its done now.

@egg can I nick this for my Villa friends on twatter please?

Aldi RS6. Dealer. £500. What were they doing? Tyre pressures and a screenwash top up? I didn't think it was possible to have a car go into a dealer and it cost that little.