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Bingo, full house

Got the Vivaro back from the garage and it has passed the inspection (MOT) and I let them fix some things on it, and it was much cheaper than I had thought. So am very happy with this.

As this got so much interest on the News 24 thread i thought I'd start it's own one. During the week a friend of mine messaged me to ask if i knew if anyone in our car club was interested in a Mk1 Astra, he had meet them at Morrisons whilst in his 1940's Austin and they told him about the car that they had since new in the garage but due to old age and poor health it had to go, naturally i jumped at the chance even though i needed another car to a hole in the head. I popped round and meet them yesterday and learnt the story behind it, whilst staying in a hotel called the Albemarle Hotel in Scarborough in 1982 the receptionist asked if he fancied entering a competition to win a Vauxhall Astra, he filled it in, had a lovely family holiday and forgot all about it. 3 weeks later he gets a call telling him that he had won, he couldn't even remember entering! So they drove back to Scarborough from Ipswich again to collect their prize. He said the photo was in the Scarborough newspaper and the Ipswich Evening Star, he was so proud that he felt he couldn't ever sell it! Just lovely, obviously i took this opportunity to recreate this photo today! Such a lovely family, the car hasn't ran for a few years so the battery was flat but my small jump pack and some easy start soon got it firing into life, out of the garage and onto dad's trailer. It was at this point that it dropped it's water contents! this was the first time i'd seen the car outside and i had already paid for it and if I'm honest i was a little disappointed as the paintwork is a little patchy, i think it's had new wings and the colour match is piss poor and its had some arch repairs that aren't particularly painted well, but for a 40 year old Astra i probably should have expected that. To be fair it's pretty good really, we found the reason that it lost it's water was because the stat was solid with crystallised anti freeze and so was the water pump so I'll get them replaced. Shame about the zebartted engine bay but that's what has saved the car. It's only done 53000 miles, only 10000 of them was in the last 22 years! The interior is really good apart from the dash trim that's popped out, unfortunately the radio doesn't work and the aerial needs fitting but that's no biggy. and the very rare saloon boot!

Hi everybody how's it going. Not been on for ages, life stuff, we had another littleun which is ace and been supa busy truckin' around. I've got covid this week so taking a break from 'ozark' and feeling sorry for myself to check out AS. Still got the Land Rover which is presently 'in dock' for a bit of TLC, new/old rear springs and a heart transplant. After wondering how to find a suitable replacement engine now the LR scene is infiltrated by lifestyle wankers who've pushed prices right up, I've ended up with no less than three 2.25 engines plus a forth for a mate. I feel like Albert Ross. One of them is sat in the remains of a ex-New Zealand series 2a me and my mate Munks have gone halfs on, and it has the most fantastic period turbo conversion on it, just the thing for generating copious amounts of internet froth from the experts. The van had to move on with the arrival of child no. 2 and I had a brief, but highly enjoyable affair with a beautiful black Audi Allroad which didn't breakdown but admittedly did have a few suspensiony foibles. What a motor though, the absolute boss for towing, and it went like stink. It did like a drink though. I woke up one day and decided to put it on marketplace and a guy got the train from Greenwich to snap my hand off. I'm running around in a friend's extremely modified/bummed Series 2B forward control at the moment while I mend my land rover and ponder a return to A35 ownership as well, as I am still heartbroken by the loss of my black one.

That's a lovely little car. I've never actually looked at an Astra of that era up close. Cavalier yes, both Mk I and II, but never really spent any time with an Astra until the mid to late 80s models. Nearly bought one of the early to mid 90s ones on several occasions on account of several of the staff at the garage running them and that was always a big recommendation in my book. We were running mostly clapped out mid 80s Metros and Fiestas at the time, so an L plate Astra in a decent trim level felt worlds away from our cars! Would be nice if we could get this parked up next to the Cavalier I will hopefully be dragging back into the land of the living at some point soon.

I don't even know your family and I already fucking hate them.

https://www.sbazar.cz/vwsharran/detail/137963090-skoda-felicia-fun-16i-55kw-cr-doklady

Pleased to say the 420 made it onto the MoT testing bay today after disgracing itself last week, and then single-handedly brought down the DVLA online MoT testing service, thus causing a 90 minute delay on all ensuing MoTs at my local F1. Anyway, eventually it passed. Recurring trailing arm bushes advisory is standard but disappeared this year, replaced by TREs. Scott the tester recommended they get done this year. 337 miles in a year, must do better.

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/andere-sehr-seltener-custoca-strato-albar-jet/2051035595-216-2804 CUSTOCA STRATO

Tango on the outside dairy milk on the inside https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284715467161?hash=item424a5d4199:g:jY4AAOSw31JiOFyZ

Ok I really like that. A lot

When I drove for Sainsburys it was never really bad, but there was one customer whose gate I deliberately left open (I'm not suggesting that our man on this thread is anything like this woman!) I drove up to the gate, she was about 10 yards away from it. She just stared at me. So I got out and opened it. Walking back to the van, this: Her: You will shut that gate after you drive through it. You wouldn't know the rules of the countryside, but the main rule is that you must always shut any gate you open gate. Me: *Drive through and shut gate behind me. Drive up to the house and she slowly follows, about 90 seconds behind me. Her: I know that people like you grow up in towns and don't understand the lifestyle that living in such fortune provides, but that doesn't mean that you can't attempt to appreciate it. *Goes on like this for a while* I didn't say a word the entire time I was with her, I just drove off and left the gate open.

https://www.sbazar.cz/prodej0702/detail/167124076-zastava-1100-gtl-55-limitovana-edice-rv-1986

You could always fit a gate closer .... Some delivery people aren't the brightest .... Recently had leaflets for conservatories ....In a block of flats ...

http://www.che168.com/dealer/492881/43203444.html

Madrid 1951. Somehow those double decker stairs look so odd when used in countries which drive on the right.

First one to Bucharest wins. Just take £10k with you, grab the old Duster pickup, with a cab cover.

Ok, it’s finished, will get it back in the car over the weekend: I’m really pleased with it 😀

An economy German supermarket had 1:43 miniatures of American muscle and sports cars in the ‘crazy shit’ aisle including a rather blush coloured Stingray. This became the inspiration for the well known song by The Artist formerly known as Prince, and the demo version was originally ‘Lidl Red Corvette’

Done a bit of digging on the A/C system. The plan for today was to fix the flaps, but that looks quite involved so I decided to check AC system. After all, cool air through any vent is better than no cool air at all. Seemingly drawing a blank on my first try, with both high and low ports reading about 30psi, I had a look at the fuses. A while back, I'd disconnected the anti-theft system fuse to prevent an error message on the SID on start up. However, that same 10A fuse apparently powers the compressor clutch - when I plugged the fuse back in, there was a 'clunk' from the compressor and the high side rose to about 150psi. That's good, shows the compressor is compressing. I've added in some more fake R134a to top the system up and now high side is up to about 175psi which seems healthy. The AC pipe going to the cabin is nice and cold, too. I imagine the anti-theft fault warning will come back, but I can live with that if it means a comfortable cabin.

Autotrader South Africa. Merc £7,000. Ford £3,000. Toyota £2,500.

You should get them to give you a quote...

Cheap facelift XJS that won't go backwards https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403556919773?hash=item5df5dde9dd:g:T50AAOSwZHRiONpV

A certain ex- @BorniteIdentity purple Avensis went in for its MoT today, I don't believe prep was any more involved than someone taking it for a drive around the block. The verdict: I got to see it again at the weekend, it's still going well.

I've been away for a while, so sorry for any repeats. I'm sure we've had this, but lol https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284706719836

November since an update? Well, the car hasn't gone anywhere. Hopefully soon it'll be back on the road again a bit more. Phil

Todays car activity was about colleting my BX with its new MOT. My garage said it was one of my better cars!

Inspired by how well Honda and Volvo, amongst others, had done with sporting "R" versions of mundane family cars, Kia decided to get in on the act. Their first attempt, the R Soul, almost became a production reality.

I dont care about the price, this is the best car I've ever seen. http://www.1000sel.com/index.php/autocostruzione-sd/rolls-royce-convertible https://www.bonhams.com/auction/27959/lot/124/1984-rolls-royce-silver-spirit-four-door-drophead-chassis-no-scazs000xdcx07023-engine-no-sz36164/

Hallo shiters, Some of you will remember my A35, ex-cros formerly of this parish: A great little car, hot 1098, discs blah blah. I absolutely adored it and drove it daily, regular trips to the coast to see me mum and all that. Unfortunately the peanut killing RUST has no empathy. My motor vehicles are a secondary drain on resources to various other items of vintage transport, and in a rare moment of being honest with myself I realised it could be a long time before I could do it justice. So very reluctantly I decided to sell it on. cros had first refusal, but was already at awe inspiring jalopy capacity, and a couple of other black austin enthusiasts could not take it on. A man in Leicester opened comms after a half hearted ad on Car & Classic. Having successfully completed delicate negotiations between the man in Leicester (who wanted my Austin a35) and myself (who wanted a lot of money for it), we arranged that A weekday evening would be the handover date. “I’ll bring it no problem!” I had everything set for after work, having frozen my bollocks off at 5am driving the LAnd Rover over there. And lo, I did trundle round from the car park to the trailer, peering through the almost frozen window to where the trailer was. Here I discovered the last towererer had broken the jockey wheel, specifically the clamp thingy that holds it up. Oh dear, I said, never mind, I’ll fetch a jack. You’d have thought a decades established agricultural manufacturing company would have jacks in abundance but at a deserted 5.45pm I could not find a single one. It was like the Borrowers had woken up. As I swore quite spectacularly I was aware of the Land Rover farting away and the typically low level of petrol in it. With visions of it running out I decide to go and fetch a jack from home and fill it up with motion lotion. Fortunately I live but two miles from work so this operation is swiftly completed and after only a short interlude of more swearing we are hitched up, I’ve locked the gates again and homeward bound. Now an a35 is a pretty low vehicle and one with banjaxed suspension lower still. And I could not get the fucker on the trailer. Being a big macho low loader driver (!??) I put various boards down to decrease the ramp steepness in a manly fashion and was rewarded only with the sight of my A35 shooting two Batman shades of light at the mocking moon and it’s ass kissing the ground just enough to halt movement fore and aft. I like to think I have a fairly good command of Anglo Saxon English so after practicing a bit more I did the only sensible thing and rang my mate Rob, who was at home like a normal person and not at his shed full of winchy stuff. Not wanting to disturb his evening I stood back and considered things. “Wish I could blow the suspension up on the Landy... oh look my lovely new jack... lightbulb goes on... I’ll just jack the front of the trailer up” Success! Austin and terra firma reunited, but only after scrabbling around for some stout blocks to chock the whole shabang as I had visions of it buggering off down the yard. Now what to do. “If only I had some nice long ramps. My lorry has nice long ramps...” another (very dim) bulb illuminates... Back to work. Friends have complained my ramps are stupid heavy and I’ve laughed them off. Dragging the fuckers between two trailers and onto the ifor willibum I was not laughing. Home again, quick goodnight to my son who must think this is all normal, and Austin goes straight on! Hurrah! Except, where am I going to stow these bastard ramps. A quick wiggle (by the way the Austin’s exhaust fell off the previous week so every time I start it, on choke obvs, it sounds like the dam busters warming up for a raid) and I can get one underneath and one leant up against the side of the trailer, where it is securely fastened ? At something like 8 I set off, and happily nothing went amiss, it’s almost like old land rovers were built to tow stuff, who’d have thought. I met the guy and swapped chronic rot for hard cash, had a little cry and went home. Wasn’t it all a marvellous scream?

http://www.che168.com/dealer/465843/43038510.html

One out! Sooner than expected, but fair play in the few months I had it I found it to be an excellent automobile! Far better than expected. If I had all the space and all the money it would have gone nowhere! All this means I’ve sold three cars and bought none so far in 2022… I’m down to only 8 cars.

https://www.leboncoin.fr/voitures/2135288404.htm Ce véhicule sera vendu aux enchères lors de la vente d’automobiles de collection, organisée par l’étude AGUTTES le dimanche 3 avril 2022 à Chantilly à l’occasion du Rallye d’Aumale. Le catalogue numérique est disponible sur notre site internet.

A few weeks ago in February we had a lovely weekend of nice weather so knowing the MOT was coming up at the end of that week I decided to cane it and get as many jobs done as possible, a couple of them I knew would be MOT fails. Firstly the mega pricey accelerator clip was fitted Next easy job was to replace the stack of washers holding the battery in place with a proper actual battery clamp. Looks pretty unpleasant for a bit of folded painted metal. Next job was to glue back on the rubber bung behind the filler flap that kept it flush when closed. That's three jobs successfully achieved and nothing gone wrong. More jobs... The windscreen washers just dribble a disappointing middle aged gent style trickle of fluids all over themselves instead of proudly squirting it all over the windscreen so that needed some attention. I pulled the tube off the motor and held it against a foot pump and pressing that make water come flying out so I knew it wasn't bunged up tubes. I pulled out the tubes from the washer bottle and found the mesh filter was bunged up and slimy. I removed it, pulled it apart and soaked it in some bicarb of soda, then gave it a brush and it came up really nice and clean Refitted it and it blasted it's wet contents all over my dirty screen. More success! Front sidelight not working. Hopefully a bulb. Fortunately I can recall how to get into these from when I took apart the front of the white one. Little semi hidden screw here on the rubber bung... then access to the retaining screws behind... Disconnect the light unit... Open up the back and we're in... Bulb swap... Boom! Later that week... MOT pass, not even an advisory! Oh how I love this car!

Stance life Yo! Smashing shade of electricity pylon silver

I don't see why marriage should stop one enjoying the finer things in life. Booze, gambling, shit heaps, rot boxes, Abba, more rot boxes etc.

Oh look, a Cougar Dragster with the decal from the green hot rod version It's very pink

I've plodded along with a bit of stuff getting done. Next up was the C1 getting a quick service. Nothing special and everything looked ok so that was done. Next was the slk. It went here: It came away with the necessary paperwork and a small list of things to look over. That will happen at some point. I've gone part time at work and the company van is going back so I'm now relying on the slk or the Discovery for a 67 mile round trip. Wish me luck as the front right caliper on the Discovery became sticky and smelled unpleasant today, hopefully its self healing properties demonstrated this morning carry on.

Read through that twice, I can’t see what’s wrong with that. Good on them they’ve made a few beer tokens over the weekend.

Bloody hell this is nice. 3.0v6 touring. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/490943722699031/

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/citroen-xm-y3-ambulanz-krankenwagen-camper-oldtimer-tausch/2038294899-216-307

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/fiat-panda-young-mit-faltdach-141a/2045845798-216-1200 1.500 €

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/leichenwagen-opel-astra-1-7d/2056377986-216-4721 3.000 €

https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/leichenwagen-fiat-tempra-1-9-d/2051356606-216-4721 1.500 €

Have not talked to the garage after I dropped off the Vivaro with them but a quick check online and it is approved! So then it is road is legal for 2 new years but am curious about how much this will cost as I let them fix some things i will call tomorrow and hopefully get it back then.

Have just seen a very unusual BMW 6 series ( Y reg I think it was, 1981?). Odd, solid alloy wheels and a very strange body kit that ended with a steeply sloping bootlid and reduced window glass area. Will try and find pics - the number plate said 4* classics. Found it! 635csi observer coupe 1982 The Original BMW "M3" – 1982 BMW 635CSi Observer Coupé - The Truth About Cars Made with a hacksaw!