*!@**# old cars

[Mash]

Bloody rotten crappy shitty old cars. I am not a happy bunny. I'm off to bed. And tomorrow I will try yet another vehicle as daily transport.

[andrew e]

:lol:

[MrRegieRitmo]

What's the story morning glory??

[Guest]

Hey, you cant just come on and give us a juicy little tidbit like that! Is ita) major mechanical grief causing firstborn's arrival to be missedb) theft of silly said bloody rotten crappy shitty old car due to RUBBISH standard securityc) incredibly trivial little fault that nonetheless has taken your whole evening and the skin on several knuckles to rectifyd) all foure) none of the above:?:

[Mash]

Mostly c) as you might expect!I have come to the conclusion that cars from the 80s are fine if you have one very nice example that you concentrate all your efforts into. I have three in only average condition that keep giving me grief and it’s getting on my tits now!For various reasons I can’t use the Accord at the moment and my Sunny blew its head gasket a few weeks ago and is currently sat on my dad’s drive waiting for me to get the time to do anything with it. I also need to tidy up some of the bits on the body. This is frustrating as I want to sell it this year but at present it ain’t going anywhere.The Mazda is burning a fair bit of oil and chucking out plumes of smoke so I need to look at that too. Got some valve stem seals the other week but it’s now making some metallic rattling on acceleration though I’m hoping a top end overhaul will see it right. Again time is an issue. To cap it all, the fuggin sunroof decided it wasn’t going to close properly last night so I have abandoned it on the drive and pressed my Triumph 1300 back into service.It’s a rum do when the car I have had longest and is the oldest in my fleet is the one I can always seem to rely on (touch wooden dashboard). It’s also the one I enjoy driving the most. This car however is also in need of engine and gearbox overhaul and I am not keen on it being a daily for a long period. Long journeys are off limits too.The two Datsuns are fine but I can’t really use them to commute so I am left with six cars that all have issues. It comes from wanting your cake and eating it. I want an unusual old car to use on a daily basis but I want it to be hassle free and that’s not happening at the moment. I think this year will see a purge of the fleet and I may have to bite the bullet and buy something quite a bit more modern for everyday duties and leave the cool stuff for fun. Hmmm.

[Mike D]

Buy some 90's Japanese metal Mark, my MX6 is still doing sterling service as a daily

[Mr Lobster]

I have come to the conclusion that cars from the 80s are fine if you have one very nice example that you concentrate all your efforts into.

Very true I'm afraid. It's easier (unless you have a lot of time) to keep on top of one old car and keep it sorted. Thats mainly why I haven't done anything with the R11 tbh. It will get done eventually but at the minute any car time I have is used on keeping my R4 sorted.And it is useful if you have something modernish that is just relaible without any issues.

[Ratdat]

I'm pretty sure the sunroof has an emergency manual winder doesn't it?It might be simpler to just get a 1.5 out of a later 323 and chuck the GT bits on it for now. Generally those engines seem to be pretty bullet roof so it unusual that it should burn oil really. It did burn a little when Bernie was using it but not really noticibly in terms of actual consumption, more that you could smell it at idle. I'd be inclined to sling a s/h engine into it until you can rebuild the original one fully. It's be a lot of work for nowt if you rebuilt the top end and it turned out to be worn oil control rings.What you need for a daily is something like a B310. Reliable and ultra simple to work on if it needs it. Finding a good one would be tricky though.

[Station]

Buy some 90's Japanese metal Mark, my MX6 is still doing sterling service as a daily

I agree with the 90's Japanese cars - 80's Japanese cars in average condition = nightmare.

[Guest]

I dunno about 80s stuff being a problem, mine aren't minters and don't seem to cause me much stress, there's the odd issue but it's nothing that would put me off using them daily.Just think you're having a run of bad luck, best thing to remember is that at least your stuff is a known quantity. Any motor could be a can of worms, even brand new ones, so the worst thing to do would be to land yourself something which could be on a short trip down the same path.Without knowing your fleet inside-out I'd say the best solution is to bite the bullet and get the headgasket sorted on the Sunny, then use that. As for the bodywork it might need, it's summer so it shouldn't deteriorate too badly, even if you do some crappy touchups until you get the cash to do it properly. Then over the coming months, you can spread work out onto your other stuff and rotate them back into use, increasing the selection of usable motors and spreading the mileage across them.

[FredTransit]

Our 240 is fine (though might need a battery soon) and has never let us down, it's an 88 and is also tidy. Never needed so much as oil in it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

These things always come at once dont they. Dont be too disheartened, several of your cars seem like perfect 'daily driver' material from where i'm standing. Its rotten when they all go on the blink at once though, whcih does happen from time to time. I have had a spate of bad problems lately which have caused me a fair bit of stress as I cover gwetting on for 400 miles a week! After 18,ooo hassle-free miles my Volvo went on the blink and it took me nearly a fortnight to get to the bottom of it, then a couple of weeks later died again on the side of the motorway! Then a day after buying it, my new truck developed problems that put it out of use for another week and a half. Maddening, and Mrs_Bol was starting to make noises about 'you know, you might have to start thinking about getting a proper car, all the miles you do, these old cars are....etc etc' absolutely not what I wanna hear when i'm surrounded by busted motors. Its just bad luck when they all start playing up at once, THE BASTARDS. Nowt you can do really except get the spanners out and face em down, you will defeat them eventually if you stay strong and keep the faith.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear that Mash, to be fair its all a matter of how worn out the car is and how much preventative maintenance it has had, usually at this age more so by the previous owner(s) than by the current one. I bought my xr2 a year ago looking forward to a bit of reliable retro boy racer action but to be honest the car is so tired that I hardly want to drive it at the mo owing to fckd carb and reluctant gearchange, it leaves oil stains all over the floor, and it didnt help that I cocked up fitting a new wheelbearing and have had to do that all over again, only to find that the play was in the lower balljoint, AARGHI think its something almost masochistic we do to ourselves however, and the temptation to have more than the one old shitter is irresistible. Otherwise I would never have doubled the fleet by acquiring a rusting high-mileage Sierra with possible blown HG and weeping brake fluid :lol:On balance I would tend to go with the "have one or two motors that you spend all your time money and effort on" view, but at the same time I am deeply jealous of the Bo11ox/Ratdat/Torsten/Bickle collections

[MrRegieRitmo]

but at the same time I am deeply jealous of the Bo11ox/Ratdat/Torsten/Bickle collections

You forgot Wuvvum!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Mostly c) as you might expect!I have come to the conclusion that cars from the 80s are fine if you have one very nice example that you concentrate all your efforts into. I have three in only average condition that keep giving me grief and it’s getting on my tits now!For various reasons I can’t use the Accord at the moment and my Sunny blew its head gasket a few weeks ago and is currently sat on my dad’s drive waiting for me to get the time to do anything with it. I also need to tidy up some of the bits on the body. This is frustrating as I want to sell it this year but at present it ain’t going anywhere.The Mazda is burning a fair bit of oil and chucking out plumes of smoke so I need to look at that too. Got some valve stem seals the other week but it’s now making some metallic rattling on acceleration though I’m hoping a top end overhaul will see it right. Again time is an issue. To cap it all, the fuggin sunroof decided it wasn’t going to close properly last night so I have abandoned it on the drive and pressed my Triumph 1300 back into service.It’s a rum do when the car I have had longest and is the oldest in my fleet is the one I can always seem to rely on (touch wooden dashboard). It’s also the one I enjoy driving the most. This car however is also in need of engine and gearbox overhaul and I am not keen on it being a daily for a long period. Long journeys are off limits too.The two Datsuns are fine but I can’t really use them to commute so I am left with six cars that all have issues. It comes from wanting your cake and eating it. I want an unusual old car to use on a daily basis but I want it to be hassle free and that’s not happening at the moment. I think this year will see a purge of the fleet and I may have to bite the bullet and buy something quite a bit more modern for everyday duties and leave the cool stuff for fun. Hmmm.

Lol so much for Japanese stuff huh!

It comes from wanting your cake and eating it. I want an unusual old car to use on a daily basis but I want it to be hassle free and that’s not happening at the moment. I think this year will see a purge of the fleet and I may have to bite the bullet and buy something quite a bit more modern for everyday duties and leave the cool stuff for fun. Hmmm.

Wow this paragraph rings so true with me, sums up my own situation perfectly! Pretty much runs with what I said on another thread...

I've decided that my next vehicular movements will be 2 cars totalling no more than a bag of sand for the pair, the first should be incredibly dull but dependable for commuting & the other should be an absolute hoot, a toy for the weekend, something I deem desirable! I've always made the mistake of purely seeking out a car that I like & forcing it to cover all bases, when it should be horses for courses. I'd love something like this for my weekend toy!

[shite_meister]

Don't feel guilty about moth-balling one or two for a while, as long as you keep it fairly clean and it starts and moves you can take a break from a car then come back to it when your enthusiasm is renewed.I have a few cars and tend to hit each one in waves, at first I felt guilty in a way because it felt for a time like some where never being used and enjoyed but its only recently that all the little bits being done to all of them are becoming noticable and I'm enjoying them again and having that 'new acquisition' feel you get when you take delivery of another rotting hulk of shit.

[whitevanman]

Mash........I'm with you, Feel for you and understand what you mean..........I went throught he exact same last summer, even got to the stage of borrowing one car between us to both get to work...........so a goodly number of £'s later I own'd 2 taxed and MOT'd " moderns" right now I can play with my old cars again..................nope the "moderns" let me down more often than the shite and I find it soul destroying trying to fix "moderns"............so another goodly few £'s and they let me down as well.................solution 3 old Fords and the Oldsmobile mean I have 4 working cars for the first time in many years........................and I will not be going down the road of "moderns" again

[Ratdat]

I barely have any old tat roadworthy at the moment. It happens. Sometimes everything is either undergoing work or broken but you just have to stick with it. My R16 seems intent on torturing me at the moment. It had a driveshaft CV go on the way back from France in March so I replaced it with a recon unit. Then on the way down to a show at Bedford in May (first time used since March) it developed a very loud clanking which rapidly rendered the car undrivable and earned us an AA trip home. First examination on the scene seemed to indicate mucho oil loss from the gearbox so it was likely a gearbox failure. Once the car ha been sat a while it drove fine so obviously something to do with a component overheating. Gearbox oil loss lead me to thing that maybe a bearing in the box was toasted. A couple of weeks ago having secured a spare box to install I set about pulling out the box which in an R16 is a major arse ache (steering rack, radiator, fan out, suspension apart and a load of really awkward fastners). Once out, I though I'd strip it down to see what the trouble was before fitting the replacement. Nothing wrong with it! I couldn't find a single sign of wear or damage anywhere in the box. WTF?! Turns out the 'new' driveshaft I fitted came with no grease in the inner CV at all so it was getting toasty then binding up when hot So the three hours I'd just spent pulling the box and stripping it down were needless. I could have done the shaft in 20 mins but you just don't expect the brand new part you just fitted to be the failure. My mojo hit a new low I can tell you! I finaly got it re-assembled last night so I'm now bracing myself for it's next inevitable soul destroying fail at the weekend.

[retrogeezer]

Hmmm - I find myself looking at my Escort in a similar way sometimes. After it broke down a few weeks back I kinda lost confidence in it for a bit but now the problem is sorted after a bit of messing about I started to use it again. It still needs a few tidying up jobs that I need to do before the end of the summer but I feel great when I look at it sitting on the drive.The trusty 1987 323 is still going strong though. Had an issue last week with a leaking radiator that celit wouldn't fix but a trip to the breakers and a few hours messing about sees it fitted with a 1990 Mazda 323F radiator. It's a fair bit wider than the standard one but I got a great feeling of success by getting it in and modifying brackets etc to make it work.It's got a crack in the windscreen which is a bit of a shit though...

[Volksy]

I'm feeling the same way about the Volvo, It's persistant smoking habit and oil loss renders it useless for those journeys which it is ideal for, long distance, so it is now just used for local stuff. Living in an apartment block means I only have one parking space, and working on your car in it is strictly frowned upon. I have replaced the turbo, which although isn't a huge ball ache, does require use of a ramp, as it's buried down the back of the engine. The local Volvo specialist is at a loss as to whats wrong with it. I'm pained to get rid of it, as apart from this fault it's a cracking car, even all the gadgets work. Plus i'm in the process of setting up my own business so other priorities come first at the moment. Also my knee is still stuffed, so I'm not in the best shape to be messing about with cars.

[Mash]

I'm just being a bit of a misery guts at the moment. I'm having a week off work at the end of July so hopefully I can set to and get a few things sorted. My biggest problem is that I can't seem to get a good go at things and the facilities I need are all at my dads.Never mind - it'll all be right in the end!

[outlaw118]

The Capri is still in bits after taking it apart a good few years ago - and I was making progress, until 6 weeks ago I was admitted to hospital with advanced peritonitis, requiring an emergency lapyrotomy (?) and whipping out of the appendix!As a consequence, I'm sitting here, good weather, but physically unable to do anything. THATS really annoying!!Does anyoneknow of a decent mobile mechanic in South Essex - Grays/Lakeside area?To be honest, I'm approaching the boundaries of my knowledge/enthusiasm now anyway!!

[mouseflakes]

If it's any help Mash...Though it may feel like a wrench at the time, if you have too many things on the boil then getting shot of one car (or more) can completely turn your outlook around.Life in general can get on top of you as I think we all find from time to time. The are plenty of tales on this forum of even our most prolific collectors finding things getting too much. I think the general consensus is that a pruning of your fleet and resetting of your priorities works wonders.Certainly has worked well for me. I was considering getting rid of everything, but instead, just making things more manageable has turned it around for me. The tat is now back to being an enjoyable 'extra' in life rather than a burden. The fact that I'm enjoying working on the cars again means that I'm doing a better job of it now, and rather than adding to life's stresses, it's serving as a therapy.Also - I can't discount the fact that my mini-epiphany coincided with a visit from a fellow Autoshiter, who turned up with a barrel full of enthusiasm and left with one of my cars. Things (read 'people') like that can be a real boost too.Hope things fall into place for you.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Also - I can't discount the fact that my mini-epiphany coincided with a visit from a fellow Autoshiter, who turned up with a barrel full of enthusiasm and left with one of my cars. Things (read 'people') like that can be a real boost too.

Glad I had that effect on you!

[mouseflakes]

Ah Rich! Your visit was indeed a cause for celebration - such enthusiasm in one so young (and the R14 went to someone who really wanted it)! But that was some time ago. Truth is the R14 really had to go as I just wasn't keen on it at the time (though I'd gladly have it back these days ).I've been to darker places since then and really was on the verge of getting rid of everything this time.But again, like your visit, an equally mad individual turned up, cleared a space in the 'yard' and pointed out the things I have left to sort out are quite achievable and should make some worthwhile projects.Kudos to the both of you (whatever that means ).