captain_70s

I believe the main body shell is steel with a skim of Duraplast over the top.

9 hours ago, cort16 said:

Remember there was a thing for a while with people welding up the back doors on 4dr mk2s to make them look like 2doors but they just looked really stupid ?  I wonder how long until this starts happening with 2000’s Imprezas?

 

There is one of those running around Glasgow that was done a couple of years ago. Started as a Ghia 1600, the fella wanted a 2 door but couldn't afford one.

15 hours ago, chancer said:

Spotted this today. Probably one for the didnt know they existed thread...avon tuning triumph acclaim...it looked absolutely hanging, no doubt it doesnt need an MOT now....

It's a cosmetic replica rather than a genuine car, there is only one genuine turbo car known to survive.

That one was never much of a minter to start with and seems to be in regular use, which in Scotland means a lifespan of 5 years.

Most Acclaim's are made of filler as, being Japanese spec steel thickness with British build quality, rot like there is no tomorrow and there is no panel availability.

It's interesting that Ford tax on these is largely a UK thing, for most of Europe boggo spec cars aren't worth much more than their contemporaries.

From a memories page on FB.

I imagine a per mile tax would be quite lucrative in the states where their entire infrastructure is built around private car ownership with no alternative outside of major cities.

Less to do with controlling the masses and more to do with it being beneficial to the economy if people are reliably buying new cars frequently.

would explain why the extra tax isn’t added on to fuel either.

The Volvo is the only car I need to tax now, £345 a year.

My Dad had a green Excel SE in the early 90s, probably identical to yours. To this day he still complains about the cost of the tyres...

14 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

This was because as soon as you clicked the switch to the first notch, which should be side lights, you got side and headlights - exactly the same as when set to the correct headlight position.  

The Dolomite has been the same since I bought it. I really should look at it...

I once got quite worried one night thinking the high beam had failed before realising that it just doesn't work with the switch in the sidelight position...

25 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

So I'd say anything above 150bhp if sufficient for today's roads filled with showers of bastards.

I'd say 100-150bhp is about right. 0-60 in 10 secs or less is a must. A comfortable cruise speed of 80mph+ is also handy.

The Dolly has 57bhp, or 60bhp per ton. Tops out at 85mph.
The Acclaim has 70bhp, or 79bhp per ton. Tops out at 95mph.
The 740 has 115bhp, or 82bhp per ton. Tops out at 110mph
The works Dispatch van has 90bhp, or 53bhp per ton. Tops out at 90mph.

Only the Volvo and van feel at home cruising on the motorway, mostly due to longer gearing. The Dolly and Acclaim will quite happily cruise at 70-75mph but are screaming away at 4,000rpm+ and realistically are more suited to being with the lorries in lane 1, at which point you may as well be on the A roads.

When you're stuck behind somebody doing 45mph along a motorway slip road before they boot it up to 95mph and dive straight into lane 3 you're the one who ends up dying when a lorry eviscerates your mid century shitbox or have to try and merge into motorway traffic from a dead stop with a 0-60 time of 20 seconds.

You could probably get away with 45bhp on A roads as people are so poor at driving you're lucky to be going over 45mph anyway.
There was some annoying bird in a Bini following me in the Dolly the other week glued right up my arse who was clearly desperate to pass (doing the overtaking weave constantly) despite there being plenty of other cars in front of me anyway. I found it very satisfying to lose them completely on the twisty bits and by the time they'd gotten to a straight and gunned it I'd already be caught up to the traffic in front and they'd have nowhere to overtake to. They were properly going mental. I later had a similar instance with a guy in a Golf GTD but he waited till we entered a brief 40mph zone going through a cluster of houses to pass me and vanish off into the distance in a black cloud.

I also think road presence has a big effect. The van is the least powerful vehicle on fleet in real terms but generates far less agro, presumably because people are less inclined to fuck with you.

I don't think any console has free online multiplayer anymore.

11 hours ago, vulgalour said:

*incoherent excited yelling and pointing*

Ha! I just saw the Amby owner post about this on the Wedge FB page! 

Also, spending £350 on a welding setup and learning how to use it opens up a lot of future misery will save money in the long term if you intend to keep living the chod life…

Of course if time is the big enemy you’re kinda boned.  There is a reason cars are often a retirees game…

Having said that, every job can be completed if time is given, even if only an hour or two a fortnight, it just takes longer… 

Despite the price hike I have reluctantly coughed up. I'm obliged to keep going until the Doloshite actually makes it...

Given it's a 700 mile round trip at 30mpg and features two nights in a hotel + meals for two it's not exactly a budget trip anyway...

Vauxhall at the time was a premium brand and I think they really leaned into it still being a premium product at a smaller scale.

Folk turn up, chat, eat, have some drinks. Sometimes try and fix a vehicle that suffered a malady enroute, sometimes go see a local attraction on day 2 (park, museum, castle, etc).

It's kind of venue dependant.

I don't bring Girlfriend_70s as she isn't keen on camping and I can sleep in the back of the Volvo if I'm solo which saves bringing a tent...

RIP BRAEV SOLJUR.

End of an era.

3 hours ago, Dave_Q said:

 So it's not as simple as just proving you're not running a business.

When I was looking into legalities of fixing cars at the roadside when my neighbour asked if I had a license for "dealing cars" it became apparent that anything that a neighbour found to be a nuisance could well bring you within the crosshairs of the council - Regardless of being on private property or not.

Is there some secret agenda to take at far away from @LightBulbFun as possible to ensure the greatest degree of misery adventure when it gets collected?

20 hours ago, juular said:

Looks like the alternator regulator is fried.

Did I mention it's a new alternator?

I fucking hate repo parts. Think the Dolly is on it's 3rd new alternator and 4th new starter in 10,000 miles/10 years.

I do think it tends to be that a repo part will either fail in short order or last for a decent period.

Fingers crossed.

It's alright, but really it needs some headlight peaks, wide whitewalls and around 26 AA/RAC badges stuck to the front.

9 minutes ago, brownnova said:

the plate has to be worth £2k on its own” . 

See so many 50s cars listed with this as a selling point as if it adds a genuine £2k to the car's value.

Relatively few folk seem to want to actually bother keeping the plate and selling it themselves though...

The French certainly persisted into the middle 70s with column change. Renault in particular.

Gaun like fuck.