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howe

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Everything posted by howe

  1. Picked up a rear bumper that someone had going for free, realigned and straightened out the crash bar, then gave the rear a spray with some silver metallic paint we had on hand. Got dark before I took a pic with the plastics and plate back on unfortunately and the bootlid isn't latched here. Looks miles better and I'm not dotting about in something that looks like it's falling to pieces anymore, still a temporary vehicle but I figure it's best to have it cleaned up before it's moved on to whoever else ends up in need of an emergency runabout. Ignore how bitterly angry I look, I was in a good mood covering some spots on the arch and glanced up for a split second not realizing a photo was being taken ๐Ÿ˜‚ I've been told I look like someone's angsty son being forced to fix up their car.
  2. Skoda was catastrophically mullered, head bolts were immensely tight through the block and full of corrosion. When I eventually got them all out the better bolts were jammed up leaving the threads back into the block almost smooth, and a couple of them snapped. The coolant channels were rammed with corrosion too, as it stands I don't have the time to be faffing as I only had the weekend up north. It's parked and will recieve some upgrades including a new, more modern fan a new engine that I'll go over down south before popping up to fit in Carlisle. Here's the best head bolt I removed: On a lighter note, some more cars: My mother was in need of a replacement runabout to use as a daily now the Elgrand is being sold. She's moving to a diesel with a larger motorhome to travel in while working remotely and selling up house and furniture wise! Bought her this local PD100 Bora to use, it's decent but now in need of a front wheel bearing replacement and the cambelt wants done sooner rather than lately - also need some other wheels... It's been handy but I'm going to be taking it instead once I sort it, selling on after a bit as I'd like to buy a PD130 Highline and she's now got a much better option. I've bought her this! 2004 MG ZT-T CDTi Found a link to the forum sale post somewhere on here and picked it up a day later, owned for the last 14 years by a lovely chap who's taken excellent care of it. She's utterly in love with it and it'll stay long term. Two new tyres have been put on the front and it wants for nothing, having the very miniscule blebs of rust seen to so it's futureproofed body wise but it's the ideal all rounder for her. Rear springs and mounting points renewed and waxoyled too so no worries on that common fault area, and it has a lovely walnut wheel with alcantra/leather interior. Quite possibly the best vehicle I've ever bought! (And also the only car I've ever seen my grandfather absolutely enamoured with) As for myself I'm dotting about in the most clapped out Micra I've ever seen, mate had this sat spare when the Skoda went bang so I'm using it to run about between work and home before I settle on something proper. Putting a new bumper on the back and respraying the hatch to make it more presentable ๐Ÿ˜‚
  3. Donโ€™t suppose anyone is coming north up the M6? In need of some wings moved from Kendal to Carlisle for my mother
  4. That'll 100% be @bigmancaff
  5. Skoda blew the head gasket in heavy traffic on the M6 last night on a trip up to Carlisle from Reading, managed to get it into an SOS bay just down the road. Lane closures up ahead so luckily traffic was two lanes over below 20 MPH. Amazingly (and for the first time in personal experience) the RAC were terrific at getting me out of there, arrived within an hour and a half and I was in a taxi home within 3 hours, less fortunately the car is still with them and due tomorrow. All the bits are ordered and I'll get on with fixing the HG tomorrow with a couple other bits as it needs to be back in order by the 23rd to drive home! Lucky I keep a toolbox in the back...
  6. I should post on here more, bit of pampering given to the Skoda today Here it is yesterday at FOTU and today, all over polish and waxed after the pic was taken Also fixed the corrosion on the mirror while I was at it, other than that itโ€™s still going beautifully and is taking me up and down the country when needed
  7. Donโ€™t suppose anyone has a spare ticket for this I could buy? Mate wants to bring his car but didnโ€™t know about it beforehand
  8. Didn't fit unfortunately, I gave it away with a new replacement passenger mirror I hadn't got about to fitting and boot full of spare lights along with the new bottom arms
  9. I found an off the shelf kit made by ACME in the US that comes with the flywheel, plate etc. Their kit allows it to bolt up to a G, L or W series gearbox as long as I have the bellhousing for the 22R engine, they also have adapters for a few Suzukis but the W58 fits my application better. I'll be ordering it along with the other parts parts through a company I've used before called Stackry that repackage the items and send it all in one shipment to reduce costs a little. Interesting about the Volvos, which particular models?
  10. Had some Advan A3As on a turbo Mx5 I bought then broke up to sell the parts, they looked smart but the specs on em were horrendous
  11. 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.
  12. 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!
  13. Was just reminded of the moment we were gathering for a pic of the fellas who attended last year (think @MKT is the only one with an account on here) when Jon Bentley arrived for a chat, lovely bloke and a staple from childhood for me with The Gadget Show & Fith Gear
  14. Will be attending with a group of mates in this If you see me come say hello!
  15. My life has been tremendously improved in the past few days via the loss of an LD23 powered vehicle, loaded up I've never driven anything as sluggish
  16. I ended up working in Belgium for a bit and having a massive life shake up living/work/career wise so this stalled for a while but it's still 100% ongoing, just after a brief hiatus. I'm moving down south shortly and will be taking this down with me a short while after to start work on welding up the cab. The little H20 it came with is sat a Weber 32/34 on an adapter plate and a fresh EI kit, the previous owner had slapped on a Solex carb with a crude bit of pipe that made it run like a bag of shite. I still need to shave down the inlet manifold to separate it from the section where it sits on the exhaust manifold to avoid vapour lock as it doesn't suit running modern fuel with such a hot setup, apparently. There's also brakes to contend with still, in the short time I was looking I didnt have much luck finding disk hubs/components I could swap on, at least within Europe so it may just be a case of an overhaul and new cylinders for the time being. The cab will be good fun to weld up and I'm blasting the frame at some point before painting, then it's ready for a demountable camper back! Once all is complete I plan on running a PD130 on a Borg Warner T5 box for a bit more comfort hauling the heavier load. I'm going to be living in this once its complete so it's being done with a lot of attention paid to minor details. The fella who's workshop it's at is also making a new, larger aluminium fuel tank to replace the old one as we speak. Cracking pic of the Isuzu, I love these small jap trucks. There are some excellent photos of these Cabstars falling to pieces while still in use on Flickr etc.
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