Kringle

Spain: Lancia Beta for 5600€
  https://www.milanuncios.com/venta-de-coches-clasicos/lancia-beta-2000-511531144.htm

Identical. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1186590649435298/

hi there, thanks for having me.
This is my exploit yellow Punto 75elx that I have owned for 10 years, and have restored.
I love this car, enjoy the photos.
simon

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256479020691?itmmeta=01HVEJJN5YERTQTAB2D6205BWN&hash=item3bb7574693:g:s0QAAOSwWx9mFvv6

I do like the fact its not a variation of the 500, 500X, 500E, 500XL, 500L etc

Nice

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/969886761309859/

The go case is packed, the PC is one, and true to @barefoot form, as we had only a coffee for breakfast, we've had to chase the bus for 10 miles as it came by early.

 
 

Loaded and turned round now. 
 

I turned it round on the trailer for weight distribution but it caused another issue that I thought might happen.
The wind got under the pop up roof and lifted the rear end of it. I had to stop on the hard shoulder and lower it again and even though I thought I’d locked it down it came up again within a couple of miles.
I managed to get a couple of small camloc straps tied round the inside roof mechanism and through seatbelt buckle which kept it in place the rest of the way back. 
Will have a good look round it next week and decide on my next move. 
if I keep it then I’ve some better seats to replace what I think are Rover SD1 ones. 
There are many more jobs that need doing first but it’s always nice to change something to make you feel a bit better, 

Due to limited access on the road where I collected from, we had to drive it on to the trailer. I’ve stopped and turned it round before heading up the M5 just to make sure we don’t have the tail wagging the dog scenario. 
 I have also adopted a sitting tenant….,

Loaded and about to head north. 
 

This one's a v6 tdi 3 litre  and 300bhp so no slouch for such weighty things, still do 46mpg and £180 per year to tax.  

I hadn’t thought ahead to post so 1st journey already commenced. 
I’ve got the trailer on, a few podcasts downloaded and off south today. 
 
Vehicle 1 is 200 miles from home in one direction and vehicle 2 is 325 miles from home in the other. 
Plan is to get the first one back into the warehouse at work by mid afternoon today then an early start tomorrow for part 2. 
 
Breakfast was Shreddies and a brew with 2.  - Loo count is 0 but might have to keep legs crossed and I don’t like leaving car and trailer unattended at the services after losing a trailer before when only running in for 2 minutes once. 
 
Left home 7am, came the A46 route to get on M5 so cut a few miles off but return journey will stay on M5 to M42 and M6. 
 
Will update when I remember as I go along. 
I had offers to accompany me but sometimes I just like to do my own thing after having to deal with many people in the week. 
 
Start mileage and the rig. 

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1711264

https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C1711283#&gid=1&pid=13

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1099019388017752/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226084431746?itmmeta=01HV2A07A6RNJM9DXPXXNQ50M4&hash=item34a3aea782:g:ESMAAOSwcy9mFXIt

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126421193281?itmmeta=01HV2A07A6N7XFCSB0EGHDBMH8&hash=item1d6f4a5241:g:XeYAAOSwR45mFTG5

Not sure if anyone else has seen but this has been doing the rounds on the socials....

Inspired by my current escapades on the Oxford Canal, I thought I'd start a thread to share the floating and non floating detritus on or nearby the floating highways..
This was a 2.5d w201 - at the wharf we collected the boat from

The current floating shed

 
The Thames is in flood, so we have only been able to come up as far as Thrupp - as the Lock onto the river is at RED so no chance of getting through safely.
 
For context,  we travelled about 7.5miles in 4hrs (lots of moored boats due to the Thames being shut, so lots of tickover running). The same trip by car..
 
Nevertheless such a slow cruise affords plenty opportunities for shite spotting!

More to follow no doubt. I may see what nautical scrap I can share - there are some right belters!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/959183372219330/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266758492611?itmmeta=01HTWGJZM41H5B4DM2ZZRAZJCF&hash=item3e1c0b91c3:g:5uQAAOSwc~hmEpSX

Some disappointing news on the house side. It was all pretty much set in stone, we were only waiting for a bank statement that would proof we had the deposit in place for the estate agent to agree on the sale. Well, for whatever inexplicable reason my better half and her dad thought it would be a wise idea to have this sent via Post when they sorted it (I thought its easier to just have it all in a single account, hers), before a bank holiday weekend. Naturally the expected happened, Royal mail fucked up and didn't deliver, viewings happened on the long weekend, the previously motivated seller got a significantly better offer and we are out. I intervened and told gf/father in law to call the bank asap when the letter still wasn't here on Tuesday, we promptly got an email copy instead but even that would have cost us tens of thousands (!) of pounds in the end. Just another lesson to be learned, if something is important sort it yourself and never ever rely on anybody else. In 99 out of 100 cases people simply don't think or will fuck it up. Unfortunately a lesson I learn over and over and over again.
I don't think we'll get the opportunity we had there again but maybe the next one will at least offer a little more garage space. I also have more time to revive the other cars that will need to move eventually, so there's that...
Anyway, after picking up the parts for the Celsior last week I managed to make a little progress. I tried to clean the new bonnet but the dirt is so deeply ingrained that I'll have to get the polisher out next. I've also transferred the dual washer pipes exclusive to the Celsior over to the new bonnet, I still don't know why Toyota decided to go with two different setups for something as simple as washer pipes. Many different clips that were previously missing are back on the car and I finally managed to have a look at the lazy blower motor (yes it's somewhere behind all that wiring):

Fortunately there's just enough space to undo 3 bolts and drop it out from the bottom. At first I thought the transistor controlling the motor (there's also a separate more common resistor) at high speeds would be at fault so I rigged up its replacement. It became increasingly clear that it cannot be the source of the somewhat erratic motor speed though, especially when the motor works differently well depending on its position.

In the end I think the carbon brushes are just worn out, another indicator that the car will have significantly more miles than indicated. I tried to clean it all with brake cleaner and made an attempt at greasing the bearings. It's not seized up (like the W140 blower motor was) or fouling against anything so it can only really be the contact points of the carbon brushes being close to gone. I can press up on the motor shaft when it's installed and it suddenly goes twice as fast. It just doesn't get the voltage it needs anymore.
Anyhow, another drive into the countryside yesterday. Despite the remaining jobs it really is a great driver now. Here it is assuming it's Street Fighter position:


Almost. Hopefully a replacement blower motor will sort the airflow, I'll have to reach out to the local old school auto electrician to diagnose the radio and I might have a go at raising the coilovers in the back. Maybe even the A/C system could hold some pressure?

In the right lighting you could almost forget about it's cosmetic flaws, with some paint this could be a great looking car from any distance!

Nice, I still got my copy as well. This came to be after an editor asked about anyone owning interesting classics they wanted to get featured in the BMW E39 FB owners group iirc. It took them a few months to publish it, its quite a condensed version of the email I sent originally. Also I dont know why but they completely made up my dreamcar lol.

Anyway, the Audi A8 of many shiters has now gone to live with @Split_Pin, thanks again for the easy sale! Naturally I only found out today that it was actually financially completely unnecessary for me to sell this car but I've at least shown some goodwill towards my gf and her parents🤷‍♂️ The BMW Z3 has taken its space in my multicar policy so hopefully I can get it out on sunny, salt-free roads soon!
As mentioned above the NEC happened this weekend and I've been there with two mates who haven't been before this year. It was a good show, still a little smaller than pre-Covid but great nevertheless. The ticket prices are rather high though and charging £17.50 for parking for a few hours on top is insane, especially if you have to walk 15mins to get anywhere. Naturally my favorite car of the show was this first generation Mercury Sable thats been living in the UK since 1992. Of course someone had to turn into into a copcar replica at some point, it was still great to see a Sable in person, I don't think I ever have such an early one!


To get to the NEC the 540i needed a bit of work. As mentioned further above in typical BMW manner it snapped a spring and destroyed a droplink the weekend before, so those needed to get sorted in the short moments of sunlight after work during the week:

Using everyone's favorite, the dodgy spring compressors, I managed to get it all reassembled, only to realized that I wouldnt be able to get the compressors off the moment the strut would go in the car.


So out it all came again, spring compressors released and reinstalled the other way around (none of which was easy), only to now see that the strut wouldn't fit underneath the car without losening the lower control arm.


That fortunately did the trick and revealed that the bushing of one of them must be so knackered that there was very little restriction at all lowering the strut assembly to get it in. Thats of course not good and another thing that needs sorting eventually.
For some reason the ABS sensor managed to remove itself, quite mind boggling considering its held in by a bolt and is usually seized inside the hole it resides in. The bolt decided to just snap at one point so the sensor was just dangling there.

A bit of superglue made sure that its not going anywhere anytime soon, but only after reseating the sensor a second time as it immediately triggered an ABS light the first time around. Extracting that snapped bolt will be a job for another time.

All back together, everything seems to work fine. As always, tighten up the control arm bolts with the car on the ground and loaded to avoid tearing up your bushings. This is the sparewheel that came with the car, which happens to be the same wheel design my Z3 was equipped with from new. I'm planning to keep this car as unassuming and stock as a non-sport pre-facelift E39 can look (pre-fl headlights with gingercators coming soon) but this design of alloys is currently at the top of my list for the Touring.

Which was quickly put into use to deliver the '64 Tbird trunklid I picked up for a mate in Berlin over Christmas. He ended up strapping it to the roof of his Peugeot 106 (only passed its MOT a day before after he had to replace both of his inner front wheel arches) and transported it that way all the way from Shepshed near Loughborough to Norfolk, an easy 140 miles.

Since I couldn't return to Newcastle empty handed after the NEC I toured pretty much the entirety of the Midlands to pick up a replacement E39 Touring tailgate (wouldn't recommend transporting one with 3 people inside the car) and a replacement rear bumper for the E38 later, something I've been searching for in the right color for ages.

As you can see, it all fits, just about. Even with this being a fast V8 estate its still earning its keep being a practical parts and scrap hauler. I left around 7am in the morning and got back at midnight, certainly put a few hundred occasionally pretty rough miles on it on that day.

I didn't have time on the day but had a look into the factory toolkit of the new tailgate yesterday, only to find the fabled original BMW branded blue polishing cloth still in its place. Naturally these are usually long gone and impossible to find nowadays, especially with the logo still in place, making this a very rare and desireable accessory for many BMW botherers. Considering the going rate for them in Germany this made my day as it paid for half the price I paid for the thing. The rest of the toolkit is in excellent shape and worth decent money, too.
To thank the car for its services it finally received a (used) replacement oem drivers mat, have the mandatory before and after for cleaning them for the first time:


Could have another go but considering this car is used regularly this should be ok for now. I've also got replacement sill/kickplates for it but didnt take any photos of that. The car will continue to receive regular action but with a house purchased soon locked in I need to get all the broken Mercedeses back on the road soon, more on those soon!