Dayno

Fuck knows. Mitsuoku? 
 
 

After the LS400 got a fresh MoT last week I called into the garage to swap the Laurel for it:

They kept the Datsun all week, giving it a service and working towards this at the end of Friday afternoon:

Yay! I know it doesn't 'need' one, but having not had a test since 2020 I felt it would do no harm to go through a good checkover and get one if at all possible. Needed a washer pump (sorted by a similar-sized universal replacement), foglamps reinstated (loose wire) and a total of five gaiters on the front suspension and steering. No corrosion!
It had another Lexus friend when I picked it up on Friday:

With another one lurking outside:

No coincidence - they belong to Miss SL's BF and some parts swapping is on the agenda to get the R-reg one back on the road. S-reg DHP model is the nicer one of the two and is his long-term proposition.
In another bay they had a '90s JDM Toyota Estima which they're resurrected for a customer after it'd been off the road for a few years.
Was hoping to celebrate my LS400 returning to the road by taking it for a trip to Norwich yesterday, but Mrs SL wanted us to buy a tree so the Carina E was used instead. We briefly had a '90s Toyota convoy when this tidy Starlet followed us:

And we found a shiny Accent:

Don't think there'll be much car action to report today - got six bulk bags of gravel and one of bark mulch to shift.....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/296353557346?itmmeta=01HV2ABY0SQ3EME2JSYBCVBZD6&hash=item45000c6b62:g:hzgAAOSwmdtmFSTa

And some more.
Cardiff:












 
Bloody Hyundai Pony!


 
Works event out in mid-Wales:


 
 
 

Cardiff, summer 2022:









 
Chepstow:



 
 
W Sussex:







 

 
New build estate in deepest Essex:



 
Mousehole, Cornwall:

More, generally Cardiff:
This Merc is parked on the road next to the epic five car drive...







 
This feels pure Autoshite.  Mouldy 405 plus S-reg Mondeo saloon.











 
These are Tavistock, Devon. My mother-in-law was living down there, so morning walks with kiddo took in the town. This 205 was exactly what's on my wish list.







 
This you @HMC?


 

More from the streets of Cardiff.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226072751097?itmmeta=01HTDQST0EAE2W4BCHP4FVJQK3&hash=item34a2fc6bf9:g:F~gAAOSwDy1mCmaq

The weather was looking ok, it was time to take the Sierra out for a test drive.
Even with the battery disconnected, the fuel gauge was showing that the tank was nearly full. Bearing in mind that I only put about 5 litres in when I first bought the Sierra, the gauge reading looked very wrong.

With the battery reconnected, the Pinto fired up first time and the exhaust spat out a mouthful of moisture. More on this later. 
Whilst walking out of the workshop, to move the E46 out of the way, I noticed that the brake lights were permanently on.

I quickly got changed, removed the bottom of the dashboard again to gain access to the brake pedal switch.

I removed the switch to check and clean it. It looked ok.

I refitted the switch and adjusted it to the correct position. Evidently, I must have disturbed the switch whilst fiddling with the pedal box yesterday.
All pre-flight checks done, it was time to set off. I got as far as my local Esso fuel station.

I managed to squeeze 5 litres of petrol into the tank before the filler neck was full. It looks like the gauge was showing an almost full tank because the tank was almost full. On the basis that the tank holds 60 litres and I've added about 10 litres since buying the Sierra, there must have been about 50 litres of fuel in the tank. At approx £1.50 per litre, that's a £75 gift. Thank you previous owner.
Before leaving the fuel station, I was approached by three people, who commented on how immaculate the Sierra is and who asked how old it is and how many miles it has done. How nice that the posh folk of Beaconsfield appreciate old Fords.
Approx 5 miles into my trip, I stopped off at a garden centre to check vital fluids and to give everything a once over. No problems to report. The pretty setting provided an opportunity for a couple of photos.



Back on the road, I headed for the A404. If you've ever watched Wheeler Dealers (the GB episodes), you will have seen Mike B towing or driving something along this famous* dual carriageway. 
Without any struggling, the Sierra got up to 60MPH.

I came off the A404 at the A4 junction and drove through Maidenhead, Cookham, Wooburn Green and towards home. I stopped off at Glory Park for a couple more photos.


I arrived back home almost exactly 20 miles later, as confirmed by the trip meter. This is good news, it means the trip meter and odometer are both reading just fine.

Ok, I've only driven the Sierra for 20 miles along local traffic free roads but my first thoughts are very positive.
Engine - I adjusted the idle speed at the garden centre, once the engine reached full operating temperature. Throughout the trip, the engine ran fine, quickly reached operating temperature and the needle didn't budge from the mid point. It pulled well from low revs, with no missing or spluttering. Nothing has leaked out, however there is still a whiff of paraffin / old engine oil / mucky residue from where I've been tinkering, which will need time to burn off. 
Gearbox - All gears go in and out just fine, synchros are strong. The gearbox is silent and I love the mechanical feel of the gear change.
Clutch - Biting point spot on. No dragging, no slipping, no juddering. Perfect.
Prop & Diff - Silent, no vibrations.
Steering - Noticeably heavy at parking speeds, otherwise works well and feels adequately light at speed. Steering wheel is on straight, no pulling, no issues.
Suspension - Smooth! No knocks, no bangs. Ride comfort is superb, on par with my W123. Handling is roly-poly, as expected. 
Brakes - Needed a bit of time to bed in, however once the pedal firmed up, they worked just fine. I tried a couple of emergency stops, no pulling, no issues.
Exhaust - Drill holes failed to allow any moisture to escape overnight and I could hear a significant blow from both silencers. Bollocks. Evidently, drilling holes in silencers is not a good idea. I will plug both holes with chemical metal and self-tapping screws this afternoon.
Radio - Played Greatest Hits Radio (105.8FM), including Popmaster at 10:30am. All six speakers work ok and the FM reception is better than expected, bearing in mind I live and drove the Sierra through The Chilterns.
Summary - I love it!
@N19 I am sure that I will find something to write about soon. There are a few more bodywork related issues that I want to attend to and I expect the forthcoming MoT test will reveal something wrong with the old Ford. 
 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/435007115720740/?ref=saved&referral_code=null

An Espero spotted in the wild, appropriate number plate as there must be very few left

Hilux was proper redneck -  engine left idling and wheel chocked while the owner was in buying beer 😂

some old stuff I’ve seen over the last year or so in Gibraltar.  

I owned this car a number of years ago (around 2014-2015 I think).  It is (or at least was) an incredibly solid ado16 with poor paint.  The elephant in the room (which I was aware of when buying, and made clear when selling) was that it had had a front corner accident in the past, and the front of the inner wing on that side still bore the evidence.  It had had a new front wing and front panel after the accident, which is presumably when the paintwork all went a bit pear shaped.  Other than the accident repairs it hadn't had any welding to that point.  Apart from the paintwork the arches look pretty good in the photos to me, and I doubt it has deteriorated much overall.  If it's still around when (if) my house sale completes I'd be tempted to have it back!

Talbot Solara Rapier. Can't be many of these left. 
 

Avensis sorted for another year!

Bit of a random one I thought people on here might be interested in, but I searched my number plate on Google the other day, as sometimes it brings up photos people have taken at shows etc. and this post popped up in the results. I've never seen this photo of the car before! I had very little info on where it came from really before now. This guy sold it to someone else, who had started some work on it, but he then put it up for sale for a while before I got it.
Was off the road since 1997, stored in a barn somewhere most of that time. Pretty straight car considering but had to weld up both sills, passenger jacking point, inner wing, and various other bits. All mechanical stuff completely refreshed, new brake/fuel lines throughout, suspension, ball joints etc. etc. It was a fair amount of work.
Put an MX-5 VVT engine and 5 speed box in it, with full MX-5 loom, now on ITBs, and I gave it a full respray last month as the paint was not good. Been my daily for just over a year now, absolutely adore this car


Anyway, just thought people on here might like seeing what became of a car that was posted, it was cool to see those photos of it, so thanks for posting it up here all that time ago, I've been chatting to the guy who sold it. Sadly he doesn't have much more info on it's history, but cool all the same.

1 grand Nissan Skyline (definitely not a GTR). It's clear the seller is fed up with the typical FB marketplace morons by now.
If the mileage is only remotely true this is a bargain.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1001385048292001/

Needed to nip out and buy a tray of eggs, was going to take the Carina E but as it was a decent day I thought I should give this old thing a bit of an airing:

Just taxed it the other day, need to get my £nil's worth. Other than shunting it out and back into the garage it was its first drive of the year. Felt like the battery was starting to get a bit low when I turned it over without the choke (my usual habit if it's been sat for a while, to get some oil around), but once the choke was pulled out it started fine.
Drove the same as ever, after 15+ years (the longest I've owned any car, by some margin) I'm pretty well in tune with it. However it's probably time for a proper MoT and a bit of a service this year, just to make sure I'm not overlooking anything.
This will be the year it turns over 100k - I'm just over 500 miles short of it at the moment.

In extended fleet news, Miss SL's BF got new wheels for his MR2, they look much better than the old aftermarket alloys. It's been his daily driver since his LS400 ran out of MoT.
Interesting to think that these two were on sale within 10 years of each other - the Laurel just about staggered into the '80s, but it's much more a car of the 1970s (more like the '60s in some regards), and the MR2 was launched here in early 1990.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1862743157504755/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403147552841?sort=most-recent&advertising-location=at_cars&page=2&postcode=SN15 4NZ&year-from=1980&year-to=1995&fromsra

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1800378263728001/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

Looks like a very decent buy for the money. SE+ is top-spec, similar to the estate we had some years ago. Good to drive too, it was just niggly stuff and an MoT failure that meant ours had to go but a subsequent owner kept it on the road for several more years.
The brush script font on the dials is something I remember: