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DOPEHEAD CAST-OFF - Finally Rehomed - Page 3


phil_lihp

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There's a painful lesson...read the small print!  The insurance was cheap enough for 1 year at £130, sadly all it's done is sit there for the last 4 months so I haven't made very good use of it, but as it's been parked on a public road it's had to stay insured.  Unfortunately, when I came to cancel the policy today, after 3 months they only refund 33% of the policy and take a £25 admin fee out of it too - it's been 4 months exactly today, so my refund of £15 stings quite a lot.  Oh well, you live and learn.  This car's cursed!  

 

Still, it's off to its new home tomorrow night, tyres are pumped up, battery's on charge so they can have lights etc., it's being towed into deepest Cornwall, quite a long way too, so one hopes they're not going to turn up in a Ford Ka with some hairy string.

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And we're back to square one.  He just messaged me saying he can't collect it as allegedly his mate's tow car's clutch has gone - fair enough if that's the case but doesn't help me much and I've been very patient with him, this has been going on for 2 weeks now.  He's made no mention of arranging an alternative date...I'm following up one other lead with a local chap who's interested but if it's still here by Friday with no prospect of moving then the scrap man is being called.

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Do not like.

If I were anywhere near the west of England with nowt to do, I'd be on my way to Phil's with the A-frame to drag it back to Bollox. That's its best chance I reckon, it does deserve to live on.

Sadly I'm not, so I can't help this time.

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Aw, cheers - but bugger me if this isn't weird, I renewed its advert on some Facebook pages just now as a last resort (the previous attempts did not really elicit much response) and immediately (as in, within a few seconds) got a reply from someone who works for one of my clients, although he didn't make the connection straight away.

 

He says he worked for Rover 8 years ago and is very keen to have it - he's much closer than the previous no-show (only about 10 miles away, if that instead of 70+) and seems genuine, provisionally coming for it next week so I've said I'll wait until then.  Fingers crossed this will finally be the time it actually goes away for good!

 

Sigh!

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It's gone!

 

Chap bought it and towed it away this morning, I'm relieved it's been rehomed and I don't have to muck about with it any more.  The buyer is an ex-Rover mechanic and was very happy with it, he said snapped head bolts are actually quite common on these but wasn't concerned about the work needed to fix it.  When it has been fixed, his daughter's potentially having it as her first car and he's also taking it on a 1,600 mile European charity run for a very good local cause which is a nice end to the story.

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And we're back to square one.  He just messaged me saying he can't collect it as allegedly his mate's tow car's clutch has gone - fair enough if that's the case but doesn't help me much and I've been very patient with him, this has been going on for 2 weeks now.  He's made no mention of arranging an alternative date...I'm following up one other lead with a local chap who's interested but if it's still here by Friday with no prospect of moving then the scrap man is being called.

 

 

Now play this bullshitting fool.

 

"Mate, you can have it for nothing. Just come and get it."

 

"Clutch is fixed, I'll be there at 12 tomorrow"

 

"Sorry mate, looks like the council have had it away. Or the gypos".

 

"But I've come 40 miles"

 

"Soz m8" 

 

 

:-D

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  • 3 weeks later...

Exciting post-sale update for those of you who have been pining for more news on the cursed SEi.

 

I bumped into the car's new owner the other day and he told me that with a new set of head bolts and some reassembly, it's back up and running and he's used it to commute a few times - so it has been rescued.  It turns out the bolt didn't snap, it was defective.  The collar seperated from the bolt and was winding down further the more it was tightened.  I don't fully understand but basically it might have been OK but not worth the risk and it now has a new set fitted.  

 

However, the engine temperature is still fluctuating up and down a lot, which is the symptom I was seeing shortly before it properly overheated on the collection trip, so something is still wrong but he's on the case.  Apparently the radiator's not getting hot all over so it's either clogged up or the waterpump is knackered.  Given how long it was sat, could be either or both but it's well on its way to being sorted now ready for the Screwball Rally in a few months.  

 

Oh, and he's already raised several hundred pounds for charity so the car's doing a sterling job even before it's been properly fixed.  

 

So, in the end, a good outcome, after all that.

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  • 1 month later...

Ran into the new owner of this the other day at a client and sure enough, look what was in the car park.

 

post-5492-0-87637000-1490168460_thumb.jpg

 

The decals are temporary additions while it's being used for fundraising, there are more to add now apparently.  It's got a packed schedule of rallies around the UK this summer before it goes off to Europe and I think his daughter's been learning to drive in it too.  It's apparently had overheating issues but a new thermostat has hopefully sorted that and he's treating it to a new cambelt and waterpump this weekend.  Good to see that it's not only been saved, it's being well looked after by an ex-Rover mechanic and is raising money for charity as well.

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