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Memoirs from the Hard Shoulder: bASeman's Spot of the Year award.


BorniteIdentity

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Sorry, man. Genuinely. I've also had buyer 1 on saying "I said I'd buy it if you confirmed you'd MOT". In my defence, I made that pretty clear in the advert... But I still feel a bit bad.

 

Not at all! I doubt he'd have made a decision quickly enough anyways! Genuinely pleased that you've had a quick & hopefully easy sale :)

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The Rover was collected this evening by a lovely couple from Lincoln.  I was very sad to wave it off but, no matter how long and hard I looked at it, it was never going to be Primrose.  It genuinely was a lovely car and, I'm proud to say, one that was actual zero cost motoring.

 

EssDeeWon of this parish put me onto a Primrose 75 over the weekend.  Strangely, it's a car I know and actually made enquiries about when the current owner bought it.  Timing back in 2014 was less than ideal as we were moving house, which is why I didn't get further than kicking the tyres.  Anyway, it looks like I've missed out on it again - so maybe third time lucky?!  

 

My brief ownership of the launch car has cemented my view that I do want a proper "keeper" 75.

 

In the meantime this is also yellow, is similar in that it also has four wheels, and my dear old Dad is driving it over for me on Saturday.  That is as long as it passes the BI Senior PDI check.

 

post-19618-0-07436500-1488488305_thumb.jpg

 

post-19618-0-89390800-1488488303_thumb.jpg

 

I've told him to check the brake fluid carefully.

 

"Sundance Yellow" don't you know?!  The owner has a wedge of invoices from the last month totaling in excess of £2,000.  I've, errr, not given him anywhere near that.

 

HOPEFULLY, this will be a long term keeper.  I love the look of it, and hope that it doesn't disappoint in the flesh.

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Just a quick update.

 

Collection from Dad wasn't quite as straightforward as it could have been.  Father BI decided to do a full "rubber glove" PDI - way beyond the usual kick of the tyres his firstborn just about stretches to.  

  • The car has had some paint at some stage, but is better for it.  This did send me into a mild panic and, for the first time in my entire life, I did an HPI to check for recorded damage. All clear.

 

  • The roof has a tiny bit of stitching that requires attention around the mechanism which I reckon even my mother in law can manage.

 

  • The passenger window got stuck down.  Properly.  For about 20 minutes.  Fortunately, when given 14.4 volts rather than 12 it begrudgingly came back up.

 

 

He said it drives well so I pinged the lad his money and Dad came away with it on Friday afternoon.

The car was delivered to mine yesterday lunchtime, and I could genuinely seem him 1/2 a mile away coming down the road.  The colour is nothing short of phenomenal.  There is a bit of fade on the bits that haven't been painted, but I reckon with a good machine polish it will come up 90% perfect.  It drives REALLY tight - like amazingly.  We went out for a hoon and Mrs BI and BI Jr #1 were laughing all the way.  

 

I hope this one sticks around for a long time.

 

Jobs in this order are:

 

  1. Get a second key organised.  Is there an equally efficient but more cheaperer way than going to Peugeot directly?
  2. The windscreen will need to be replaced for the MOT.  The windscreen seal is clearly not Vulcanised Rubber of an Alan Partridge standard, so I'm going to replace all of that at the same time
  3. At some stage, investigations need to continue into why the fuel needle doesn't work.  The oil pressure needle also comes and goes, so perhaps some new clocks?

 

All in all, very happy.  By far my favourite purchase since the green Sierra.

 

post-19618-0-88423800-1488719337_thumb.jpg

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You are Richardk AICMFP! Just need this, maybe a puma millennium and something primrosey and you'll have a full (yellow) house! Looks lovely BTW

 

I was looking at Focus Millennium editions and still would - and the Primrose 75 thing will definitely happen.

 

It's not yellow cars, it's just cars in colour.  It makes me sad that you really can't buy cars in anything other than monochrome at the moment.  A couple of the manufacturers are finding their mojo again but, in the main, it's impossible.

 

Where IS Richard these days?

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That's pretty fit. Get you with the matching calipers!

 

It will have a transponder key, However, if it's the same system as 106s and stuff it's fairly straightforward to de-immobiliser these so they'll start and run off a key with no chip, just start it with the chipped key then unplug the immobiliser box and leave it unplugged and you're sorted.

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That's pretty fit. Get you with the matching calipers!

 

It will have a transponder key, However, if it's the same system as 106s and stuff it's fairly straightforward to de-immobiliser these so they'll start and run off a key with no chip, just start it with the chipped key then unplug the immobiliser box and leave it unplugged and you're sorted.

 

Good intel. Thanks very much.  I'll have a root around when I get a spare couple of hours (In 2019 LOL)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Very little to report on the fleet at the moment. I think I previously mentioned that the vendor supplied the 306 cabrio with a bottle of ready mixed coolant, which immediately raised a monobrow. There is a small incontinence issue which appears to be the radiator. New ones are £60 so that'll get seen to soon enough.

 

Avensis just ticked over 203k and doesn't really show any signs of stopping. It's getting a bit sluggish and bogged down around 2000 rpm but I don't think it's had a fuel filter in about 60k. Ooops.

 

Granvia is just bloody fantastic. It's hardly been anywhere over the past 6 months because Winter, but the Landcruiser diesel engine is worth every single bit of praise you read online. It's a beauty.

 

As for the Sierra bASe: Well it's hoping to make a rather special journey this weekend. More soon.

 

Something strange has happened to me as a person over the last few months. I think the novelty of buying cars "just because I can" has worn off a bit, and I'm now starting to think more properly about what I'd actually like to have, own and keep. I made an initial enquiry about a very nice MK1 Sierra this week, but being rational I don't need another one. To be honest, I was never particularly in love with them as a kid.

 

The Capri, however, is different.

 

Regular readers will remember I had a shabby MK2 back in 2005 which was fantastic. Don't get me wrong, it was crap - but it was £350 with a years MOT.

 

I have to mentally get over the hurdle of Capri's not being £300 any more, but in fairness even then a nice one was about £2k.

 

I don't want a 2.8 - I'd be really happy with a nice pinto fired one. If anyone spots something decent that I can preserve, please holler.

 

What are we talking? £3k??

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Regular readers will remember I had a shabby MK2 back in 2005 which was fantastic.  Don't get me wrong, it was crap - but it was £350 with a years MOT.

 

 

 

What are we talking? £3k??

 

 

I was going to suggest driving one first - I had a mint (and it really was) 2000GL 20 years ago and hated it tbh......

 

But this looks nice enough. No Pinto Capris are fast (were they ever) but imo, the 1600 was a nicer engine. Not as gutsy as a 2000 but sweeter. The 1600 also has the Type 3 gearbox with one of the best gear changes ever but for some odd reason, Ford fitted the 2000 with the clanky old side change gearbox - basically a column change Zephyr style unit with a weird linkage to the gear lever. Not a bad gear change but not as good as the Type 3. 

1978 S is the first of the Mark 3 as well. I recall them coming out a year after my Old Man bought an R registered Mark 2 2000S. The colour looks like Fjord blue and a 1978 1600 won't have a VV carb either but some single choke Motorcraft - a rejetted 32/36 Weber will liven that up.

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Ford-Capri-Mk3-/332164750979?hash=item4d568fde83:g:gEYAAOSwol5Y1qpR

 

 

Check out the A posts - appears to have had a lot of paint, everywhere.

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I was going to suggest driving one first - I had a mint (and it really was) 2000GL 20 years ago and hated it tbh......

 

But this looks nice enough. No Pinto Capris are fast (were they ever) but imo, the 1600 was a nicer engine. Not as gutsy as a 2000 but sweeter. The 1600 also has the Type 3 gearbox with one of the best gear changes ever but for some odd reason, Ford fitted the 2000 with the clanky old side change gearbox - basically a column change Zephyr style unit with a weird linkage to the gear lever. Not a bad gear change but not as good as the Type 3. 

1978 S is the first of the Mark 3 as well. I recall them coming out a year after my Old Man bought an R registered Mark 2 2000S. The colour looks like Fjord blue and a 1978 1600 won't have a VV carb either but some single choke Motorcraft - a rejetted 32/36 Weber will liven that up.

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1978-Ford-Capri-Mk3-/332164750979?hash=item4d568fde83:g:gEYAAOSwol5Y1qpR

 

 

Check out the A posts - appears to have had a lot of paint, everywhere.

 

That one caught my eye - mostly because of the colour and also because I sort of work in Pbo anyway.

 

Would that have been the original colour?  I know there were a few vibrant hues around then (Signal Orange FTW) but I don't remember seeing that on a Crapi.

 

I did very much enjoy the MKII 1600 I had.  That ship has long sailed and, TBH, I'd prefer a MK3 this time around.

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Could be right - it's either the camera settings or it's just too bright. Tbh it doesn't look like 4 grand to me, but a rusty Capri that's been bogged up and flashed over. The A post area looks really iffy and Capris can really rot in there.

I'd rather pay £2500 for one with obvious rust and original paint, and spend £1500 at a decent bodyshop.

 

 

 

Would prefer to see the original sports steel wheels as well.

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Fuck me!

 

http://www2.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201703233598466?make=FORD&advertising-location=at_cars&radius=1500&postcode=ng174gt&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&sort=price-asc&model=CAPRI&page=1

 

That's just madness. It's an old Ford powered by a Transit engine and on cart springs FFS. I have some 'my Dad had one' nostalgia but even he would admit that it wasn't that great. £11'000 buys a seriously nice Porsche 944........

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I take exception to the Pinto Capris were never fast, in my misspent youth I owned numerous Capris, always easy to sell a Capri so I would buy any that came up. Everything from 1300 to 2.8 Special and whist 3.0s and injections are lazy torquey things a half decent 2.0 will never be far behind. In fact the best and longest owned Capri I had was a facelift Mk1 1600GT with a shit hot 2.0 in it, in my experience Mk3 2.0S with fishnets was always worth more than a 3.0 because of insurance and mpg concerns.

Saying all that a 3.0 Auto especially a mk2 Ghia would be my ideal Capri now.

But as with Escorts I could never pay what people want for them now, not when Granadas, Cortinas and Sierras are available in higher specs and better condition for less money.

 

But, if it's the car you always promised yourself......

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You won't be disappointed with a Capri. I've had my 1.6 mk2 since 2001 and I still love the thing! There's a lot to be said for a car that can be so good and enjoyable after all that time!

The thing is with them, just remember it's a Capri and not a Porsche etc etc, and they are a very old design now, even a last of the line 80's car is still a late 60's design! At the end of the day if you accept them for what they are they are fantastic cars with lots to offer. Are they worth current high prices? No. But we are where we are with that sadly.

 

Firstly, forget all that horseshit about the V6 being the best. Yeah they are nice blah blah blah but a well looked after pinto engine will be fine, mines a 1600 and it went perfectly well for what it was. Though I will concede the 1300 is best kept as a bit of a novelty! If you can even find one now.

 

Buy on condition not spec.

Rust is the biggest enemy of these. You must get under the car and check anything you buy.

They rot badly around the A posts and up into the lower screen surrounds, mine has had full new A posts and scuttle panels but it's an involving job to sort out.

Strut tops (the originals have the chassis number stamped in to them around the top of the suspension strut), sills, inner sills, spring hangers, arches all rot like fuck so check everything! It's way more important to find a car that's structurally good as a priority over a high spec.

I'd have a solid 1300 over a rotten 3000 anyway!

Interior trim is almost impossible to get now, the older the car is the harder it is to get interior trim for so make sure that's all as good as it can be. There's loads of different colours and styles too so matching anything missing can take time.

The 4 speed is a nicer box imho and it lasts longer too but it can run out of gears at high speeds but it depends on what your happy with.

The auto is the C3 transmission, same as Cortinas and Granada's had and it's a good box despite what people say. Most of the haters are just haters of autos full stop (i.e.; they are idiots!). Just keep the oil clean.

Personally if I had a choice I'd have the auto...

 

There's quite a few parts specialists around and mechanical bits are dead easy and cheap to find, especially so on the 4 cylinder cars.

 

If you want to know anything else about them give me a shout, I've loved these cars forever and had mine for a long time too so by now I know them inside out! I'll even go look at one with you if you want!

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I'll even go look at one with you if you want!

 

You're a love.

 

That was the sort of thing I'd rather hoped you would say!!

 

I'm in no great rush, but as with everything I can be a little impatient.  It'd be nice to get something sorted over the next few months before the ball ache of a house extension sucks up every last penny.

 

I'll keep my eyes peeled, and thanks again.

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Something strange has happened to me as a person over the last few months. I think the novelty of buying cars "just because I can" has worn off a bit, and I'm now starting to think more properly about what I'd actually like to have, own and keep. I made an initial enquiry about a very nice MK1 Sierra this week, but being rational I don't need another one. To be honest, I was never particularly in love with them as a kid.

 

I know what you mean about this, I hit 40 this year - and I'm thinking about what car (apart from the Mondeo), I can develop a long term...err...'relationship' with. It probably isn't my Favorit, but I'm not sure what else it is as yet. I'd love a Capri, but I'm put off by the scene tax to be honest.

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