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Went out to the car boot sale on Sunday morning looking for a strimmer. Day took an unexpected turn when @cort16(a VERY bad man) sent me a BMW Z4 with test til March and a fucked roof for £1150. Fucks sakes. Eventually got the seller and headed over for a look, of course I bought it. Pretty horrible knocking from the front end, one key and it's done 188k with zero history. I offered £950 and it was accepted. Closest thing I got to a pez shot; Blissfully, the AC is ice cold. Apart from the clonk from the front it drives fine. Ordered a set of drop links as a hopeful first step, but while I'm doing them I'll give everything a good pry anyway. Just seemed worth having them on hand, they fit the E46 if not. I managed to get the roof up and down manually first of all, then with some foutering got it going up on the buttons, but the pump seems too weak to pull it down itself. Will pull the pump out and do some diagnostics. Worst case a new one is about £120. Although bought in Scotland, looking at the MOT history online it has spent most of its life in the South East of England. Result. At first inspection it looks to be free of any serious corrosion although I'll not get ahead of myself on that front. Gave it a very quick wash and took it a spin last night. It certainly doesn't look like a £950 car. It leaves me with a headache, I have far, far too much scrap lying about. Current fleet in order of length of service; RX300 LS400 Kangoo Van 320D Touring 206 GTi Z4 At least three too many. RX is going to be listed for sale very shortly with short test. I'll probably put it on here at a healthy discount on the off chance anyone is interested.

Initially I wanted to go Naked! I had tried to arrange to see this 660cc Daihatsu Naked: However after getting the runaround from the seller for close to a week, I gave up and decided to just go topless instead, with this: It's a puny little 1.6, but its only done 55k with 1 owner. Needs a little fettling but nothing major. The interior swung me, I think its great. I do like beige & wood. Not much to say now, its due to arrive during the week and I will update in due course, but I'm looking forward to getting out in it

Nice to meet you today @puddlethumper. I fascinating tour of behind the scenes and a great insight as to how everything works. You're living the dream. Thanks for your time. Take him up on his offer if any of you get the chance.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/936532133877719?ref=category_feed&referral_code=undefined&referral_story_type=listing&tracking={"qid"%3A"-5945433409511438067"%2C"mf_story_key"%3A"5555322674520526"%2C"commerce_rank_obj"%3A"{\"target_id\"%3A5555322674520526%2C\"target_type\"%3A0%2C\"primary_position\"%3A14%2C\"ranking_signature\"%3A9026695588766285824%2C\"commerce_channel\"%3A504%2C\"value\"%3A0.00018233273710431}"%2C"ftmd_400706"%3A"111112l"} You know, I don't mind this being called a barn find...

This is why I call them my favourite garage! Somebody pointed out to me that there were a couple of small rust holes appearing on the underside of my Citroen DS after owning it for 13 years. I thought I had better book it in for a patch to be welded in. A poke about revealed it was far worse than a couple of patches needed. My favourite garage have repeatedly told me they do not do restorations. There was a fair bit of negotiation needed with them saying in the end they needed the proper repair panels and if I could get them then they would do it. Making taking the job on dependent on panels was there undoing for getting out of the job, over a million DS were made and they have always been a popular car. In less than a week they were delivered from Germany. I popped in to see them and was pleased to see before the panels arrived they had started to repair the sill under the passenger door. That’s when the abuse started, we needed to do it in case the car broke in half on our ramp etc! I collected it all repaired today and I am oh so happy with what they have done and wish they would take on all my cars.

Hi, On Monday I bought and took delivery of a car from these hallowed pages, Thank you @NorthernMonkey for an easy and pleasent transaction and the car is better than expected so happy days. Here is a pic of it back amongst its kin. I thought seen as it was purchased from here and its already branded then i will document its journey with me as i go and add in other fleet goings on as and when things happen. First impressions are good, some mild welding required in the usual places but over all a solid old girl and comes with a boot full of random bits and spares to convert to manual if required. Its got laquer peel, faded paint and crusty bits, whats not to like! Thats where the Wabi-Sabi comes in, Straight from Google san - wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection.[2] The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature. I see plenty of imperfection and nature has definatly left its mark so im running with it. Im off for a green tea and medication... or is that meditation? Either way lets see how this one pans out.

My shed has turned out to be very useful around the site as it can get between all the wagons etc. With the back door shut I can drive under the guy ropes, guy ratchet straps?

I checked all the obvious on the Krusty Koupe re why the cooling fan wasn’t coming on, and guesstimated that the module that regulates the fan was not regulating. Any second hand fan assembly for a CL is in the hundreds on e bay, but a bit of Googling and wishful thinking saw me source an essentially identical and way more numerous c class fan assembly for £not much. I dissected out the important bits and tested the module and 600w fan on the car to test the theory… And it came on when needed. Plugging the connector back into the original assembly brought back on the “coolant see garage” warning on the dash, and the usual dead fan. Result. So I’ll swap the bits over at the weekend and have a cooling system that behaves itself enough for a British summer.

Prolapsed arsehole is a strong wheel choice.

I have this it's a 1300 that was a good engine around 15-20 years ago when the car it was in was scrapped. Been sitting in a garage since then. Alternatively I also have this It's a 1500TC, don't know anything about condition but it's from a low mileage automatic. Disadvantage - it comes with the rest of the car attached. I would like £80 for the 1300 engine or £200 for the complete 1500 engine with car attached. Both are in Forfar. I can post more pics if you're interested.

It's all a bit quiet on the circus front. The party was all good fun and some got a bit pissed on the Peroni that was provided, and there was a mountain of food. The Moroccans BBQed the meat. Steak and chicken Moroccan style was damned tasty. Lee, a rather vociferous geordy, got hold of a mike and tried to get some karaoke going but luckily failed although he did manage to get a conga line started. I had to take the stand pipe back to Glasgow today because Scottish bloody Water wouldn't let us courier it. Took the Transit rather than the Ldv as you can imagine. The gear shift on the Ldv is the 'stirring week old porridge and hoping to pick something out' type and hops out of fifth quite a lot. Seat is as hard as fukin nails for my poor boney ass and the row with 4 seats across, each seat is too narrow for me, and I'm a right skinny bugger, so I can't imagine how you could get 4 fat buggers in. The Tranny is alright. Goes well, 6 speed so M/way is 70 and 2500rpm ish. It still used 120 squids worth of dizzle and about six hours of my time, although I wasn't doing much anyway, Got a couple of little jobs to do before Saturday so no hurry there. Taking it easy time.

I picked those two up at a car boot sale in Brighton c.2001, along with some other early-era Superfasts. They cost me a pound each and I very nearly had second thoughts! Some are better than others; they're not mint but I reckon they display well enough. The Zodiac spent several years blu-tac'd to the dashboard of my Mk2 Fiesta, without any ill-effects to the paint. Funny, I've had a vast amount of Matchbox go through my hands in the past three years - but I still have a lot of affection for this little collection.

About that engine oil leak...I couldn't just ignore it, so took a closer look. Bugger. Thanks to several years running without any undertray, the sump has rusted and pinholed through! With the oil cold, it's too viscous to flow anything noticeable, but when warm it's a significant drip. Magnified by the heatwave we've been in! Now I quite enjoy a bit of tinkering time on holiday, but even I draw the line at the time taken to drop the sump on a campsite, and then cycle to try and find somewhere who could weld it back up again. So I admit that I've bodged it. One metal roofing screw (with built-in rubber sealing washer) later, I think it's a success! It's amazing what you can buy in a French hypermarket, right down to car batteries and filters. I guess it says a lot about how many folk still DIY on their own vehicles compared to the UK... A few more car spots from when I wasn't driving or stuck under a van: @puddlethumper on tour? Some fantastic scenery - it's the first time we've been to the Morvan national park and would recommend. As usual in France, there are many scenic spots for a picnic. This one by a river was probably one of the best. We crossed back to the UK yesterday (and were spotted by @NorfolkNWeigh) and it really brought home how much I prefer France, even taking off the holiday rose-tinted glasses. Driving is still a pleasure over there - here it felt so much more frantic and stressful. Even on the motorways it's not difficult to find a nice place to stop, whereas with the exception of Tebay perhaps, there's not many services you'd actually want to visit!

You can prove anything with facts. Re: littering. We live in a highly individualistic society where being selfish is rewarded, your own life being easier is the ultimate goal and fuck everyone else, maybe start there instead.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325276513945

If you say you already knew about these, I'll assume you're lying

New gasket popped on as the old one was gimped, found one of the manifold bolts was already snapped on the left hand side in the head, will be fun getting that out... All that's left to do as it sits is sand back some top layer corrosion on the roof and coat to prevent any futher deterioration, along with ordering all the bits I need from the US and elsewhere. Found a reasonably straightforward way to beef up the front brakes on the hubs I'll be getting, so it'll hopefully have some D21 V6 front brakes on in time to deal with the more powerful setup it's getting.

That strange short Kangoo no one asked for, and which was much more expensive than a normal Kangoo because Renault tried to market it as some sort of posh lifestyle vehicle. Needless to say they didn't sell many... https://www.marktplaats.nl/v/auto-s/renault/m1864152238-renault-kangoo-be-bop-1-6-16v-fun-airco-lmv-panoramada

There could be a Toob vid coming but probably not until next season. Plans are afoot, other parts of the body are available. I don't normally take pics of what I do, forget, but I did manage it today. The retail unit that sells candy floss, drinks, sweets etc, were having to put the slush machines on the floor when travelling so needed a solution. First crap pic is looking through the door. Second of machines and third of the solution. I need a better camera.

I located mine the other day, exactly where it should have been but for some reason missing the last couple of times I went looking Thought I'd accidentally sold it or something

Clean pass, can't say I'm surprised 😅. MX5 is currently getting a new windscreen. Autoglass man isn't impressed with whoever did the last one.

An hour tonight, started cloudy which means the temperature is tolerable. Made a tiny dent in the pile. Then the sun came out, which is killer, even with a fitful westerly breeze. More tomorrow

My Mk2 Golf GTI earning it's keep 😂

Not sure if there was ever any crossover with Circus Vegas, but I can remember the 'American Three Ring Circus' doing dates across Ireland in the summer of 1988. I was well impressed with their Mack F-series.

Working from home.... was on the phone to a customer who had just got out from underneath a still red hot truck taking the engine ECU off, in a red hot workshop in steel toes and overalls, Didn't have the heart to tell him I was in in a pool eating a magnum and out of respect, it tried not to make any splashing noises.

Time for an update. I Sold the Chevy pickup to a local farmer who deals in American cars. I think he’s selling it which is what he does as he’s a dealer. I had an easy sale and he should eventually make some money when it sells. I’ve had an itch for some time for an S class coupe. I’ve owned most Mercedes’ models made 1972-2006ish but not the coupe made during their fall from grace years at the tail end of that period. It was at the money that broken ones go for (usual quick visual of them sunk on their bump stops ) But this one was not broken. It’s a 2002 cl500 so basically the “base” model. Still that gives you heated electric soft close everything so it’s all relative. All of that works too, plus at the time of writing the active hydropneumatic suspension works, which is basically the most complex and clever / borkable system they could devise at the time. I also recently bought an w124 estate which I don’t think I’ve mentioned before. It’s a 1991 230te. I was particularly taken with the indestructible cream mb tex (vinyl) interior which is very old school MB.

Was always a shot in the dark shimming that thrust bearing. Oh and obligatory

I tend to try and get at least one interview a year, whether I want a job or not. Its really good practice and its rare when you're in a role - especially if you've been in the role for 12 months plus - to actually need to be on point for an hour plus. Certainly I end up fielding the same questions day in day out and it all goes onto autopilot. Actually having to listen to questions you're being asked, and think of the best answer on the spot for an hour straight, including relevant examples is something that doesn't happen very often. You need to keep practicing to stay on top of your game, no experience is ever wasted. "experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted"

"Te koop" = for sale

Exhaustive* scientific results are in... and yup, seems the Corsair's scaled just a bit tinier. Mind you, my Mk2 'Tina and Mk4 Zod' are both wearing Superfast wheels, which hoicks them up in the air a little - sadly I've no regular wheels versions for comparison here.

I was out in Katie yesterday, albeit only along the A14 a couple of junctions to Curry's in (an unsuccessful) search for an external hard drive that would be compatible with both windows XP and windows-11. I then did potter around with doing grocery shopping before stopping off on the way home for fish n' chips. The 4's temperature, with its TR6 seven-blade plastic fan was reading warmer than normal, around about 5 o'clock position on the dial ..but as it was stable there was not of concern. This was the first time I've driven the car with just the passenger-side half-surrey-top-lid on. Tbh the breeze was so warm that it was difficult to sensibly assess air circulation within the car's interior, but still it was nice driving the car like that and the driver's window lowered. Airy and cooling but not blustery . . . Pete

As the Knack once sang my my my my Verona ....(not mine). 42k miles and the most mid-90's jazzy seats that need to be put in a museum for 1996. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205155714604

I learned all my car pushing techniques from @320touring.😂 It’s worth tagging @Jamieas he’s had loads of these and may recognise the problem with the roof .

I work in IT Support. I can fully understand the number of people that can't do basic tasks with a computer and I'm not in the slightest bit surprised by anything. What gets me about it is that using the computer is an inherent part of many jobs now. Laughing off your inability because you're crap with it or doing things like printing out a compendium of emails because you don't know what you're doing is just plain incompetence. But because it's computer incompetence people seem to get away with it in a way that they wouldn't if it was any other part of their job. In my last IT job, we had people that were professional administrators that couldn't use Microsoft Word or Excel to do basic tasks that were key to their role and performance. To be honest, if I had any power over it I would have made training mandatory (I raised this numerous times with senior management) and initiate a strategy to pick up those that couldn't use the technology to an agreed standard (maybe a basic Microsoft exam). Those that continually failed to pass would then have further remedial training followed by a competence review and eventual dismissal - because it really is that important. It drives me fucking nuts. The amount of money that organisations waste because of IT ineptitude is astonishing and far more than the cost of training... EDIT: We had one user at my last job that had their account compromised three times in the space of four months through phishing emails. Despite the fact that we implemented training and explained the issue and what was going wrong every time, it kept happening because they just didn't get it. At that point I would personally be sitting down for a competence review with them if I had any sway because the potential impact to the business is enormous. We did get MFA implemented shortly after so that helped - but we still got stupid calls all the time from them...

The good:

More three slot than three spoke, but the ones on the old R5 Gordini looked the biz.

Back on topic, and you thought that the RX8's seats were a bit on the nose...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207107644532 £500 quid, 2023 MoT, Ideal for a drug dealer....

I’m in love with that 1100! I’ve been restoring one of the cars I picked up for 50p at the autojumble the other day. Specifically this little Majorette of a Renault F4. As a little Renault service van it was pretty cool but, as you can see, not very tidy. So off went the yellow and on went a period correct beige: A few little details later and here we are. It’s not perfect - it’s a bit rough around the edges but I’m just gonna say that’s wear and tear from the fictitious little plumber who’s owned it since the mid 80s or something.

Electrical retailer: How many multicoloured light bulbs do you want? Circus owner: Yes.

sort of fits in here - too many spokes in your wheel, sir ? i have just the thing

While many complain about life in general and the cost of living etc, I am sitting on a sofa that costs £3,500, lovely and cool in front of an air-conditioning unit costing £2,300, watching the latest film on a 70" smart TV that costs £4,000!! Right now, I'm happy, with no worries and not a care in the world, not even the employees at Currys who keep asking me to leave can spoil my day.

2003 VW T4 TRANSPORTER 2.5 TDI CAMPER / DAY VAN CUSTOM AIRBRUSHED TIM BURTON | eBay 'Feel free to check the past m.o.t's it has never had any rust or rot.' 14th March 2019: Offside Rear Coil spring mounting corroded but not seriously weakened (2.4.C.3c)

Updates! During the time it sat it's acted as a home for some birds who've since grown up and flown off: After a long time searching for replacement brake/suspension bits, I popped round one day to find that another bloke had brought in a Datsun truck with disk brake hubs, a reasonable master cyl and some other bits I can pilfer - that he's getting rid of entirely! He's going with S15 running gear and suspension on his so I now have a reasonable option after thinking I'd be out of luck. Carb wise we stole some bits from the old Samara carb and adapted them to sort the linkage for the new 32/34 that allowed it to be fitted well enough - along with the previous adapter plate. Set up all the kit and after some fiddling about, it now runs and drives!! First ever drive after being sat for many years below: Next will be brakes and aluminium tank, then onto bodywork and the engine etc in time. After more reading on my options and ratios, I've settled on going with a PD130 mated with a Toyota W58 box using an adapter, into a Chevy C10/Blazer rear axle (same PCD) This will be something that takes a little to get going through through the next few months, given I'm moving about and such but it won't be a particularly long time till it's driving about on the road!