warch

The future Mrs w didn't own a car when I first met her, although she was living in East Dulwich at the time, which is pretty well served with public transport. She had just got shot of a FIAT Punto, which, much to my chagrin (I quite like FIATs) was a steaming pile of unreliable shit.

My wife says house sales in Aus take weeks rather than months to sort out. She thinks the relevant section of the British legal and financial professions have a vested interest in drawing out matters over several months.

Fair point. But a lot of the charm of this sort of thing is probably that it is very much of its time. I like a lot of old tv shows not because they are particularly compelling, well plotted or acted but because they offer a slice of life from that time period.

Not a car but worth posting as possibly the least interesting album ever (for the record I love watching the TT) I imagine the drama and excitement of the TT is reduced somewhat by following it via audio recordings of someone fenging a bike flat out with commentary over the top.

My brother, who is in his mid forties and therefore technically not a giffer has loads of tin signs stuck to the front of his house. I always make a point of asking him for parts for my BSA every time I visit.

Bryan Adams- Greatest Hits Tricky Maxinquaye See if you can spot a theme developing...

Tbh it’ll be worth it if we don’t have a Tory Gubberment.

Land Rover (Free) Haven't paid for road tax since 1996 Motorbike (£122.85) But currently SORNed, need to sort a few little jobs out like starting issue, new chain, sprockets, tyres, suspension, plus I'm in no rush to 'enjoy' Britain's shellholed, waterlogged road network any time soon. Cashcow (£267.75) but Mrs warch is still paying this for some reason 'New' Astra (220 quid) but becomes tax exempt in April 2026. (Expects grudging admiration, especially from those north of the border).

Where were they getting the quick bit from? I don't remember them being any noisier or more polluting than any other coal powered motor from back in the day, but I can remember driving somewhere with my mate's boring dad in an Escort van and fervently wishing I was somewhere else.

I concur, having used mine for many long journeys, on the upside you really appreciate how good a modern car is in comparison. The only time they come into their own is off road, a well driven one is pretty much peerless in muddy conditions. My first unpopular motoring opinion is the Mk 3 Golf GTI 8v wasn't a materially worse car in terms of performance or handling than the corresponding Mk 2 model. Yeah I know, same power, more weight but there was minimal difference in real terms. My second is that mass market Vauxhalls were better than Fords in the 1980s and probably the 1990s in terms of engines, comparative models and build quality.

Made a bit of progress. Slight issue with the calipers. One was fine and went straight on, the offside one was actually for the other side, despite what it said on the box. I had a think about this, then realised that actually the calipers are completely symmetrical and fit either way around (the only difference between sides being the location of the bleed nipple. I had my draw through compressor tool so I could bleed it with attaching it (so air didn't get trapped in it). Not sure what the MoT man will say about that, but I can always keep an eye out for another part. I also removed the rear wheels and bled the rear system as well, not being sure whether air had got in there as well. This was worth doing as the fluid looked quite dirty. Both rear tyres were fucked, and there was also a missing wheel lug, happily just missing not snapped off or anything. The only other issue on the shitlist is that the steering lock is inoperative, which apparently an MoT fail point*. Yes it is near to not needing a yearly inspection by law, but morally (and legally) it should be roadworthy. This came in during 2013 revisions to the test, although apparently I could fit an immobilizer to get it past the MoT man. Preferably something simply like an ignition cutout.

That’s a corking little car, the design has aged really well. As a long time visitor to the Balearics I love seeing an ancient sun bleached Ibiza, coated in half an inch of dust and covered in parking dents and scrapes.

All sorted thanks

Just the one I think?

Got both my calipers, unfortunately one of them (which came in a taped up box) was lacking the roll pins and retaining clips. Bollocks! Can’t find these anywhere.

I found out (via a pub quiz) that Lacrosse and ice hockey are Canada's two national sports. Presumably the former isn't televised before the watershed.

When I used to live in Oxford I disabled my Landrover by either disconnecting the coil lead or removing the rotor arm. Inevitably I often forgot that I'd done this, resulting in lots of fruitless cranking/ftp before the penny dropped.

My old line manager when I worked at Somerfield had his SRi pinched as well (c. 1995). I'm hoping my rural location, the lack of keyless ignition/obd port and the extreme shiteness of my new purchase will deter any potential interest from subhuman scum.

Update Brakes; got one of the new calipers in the post, test fitted it so that should be ok, ordered some new banjo bolts for the hose connectors. Total spend 21 quid on fitting kit, 6 quid on banjo bolts and 90 quid on calipers. Also got a much heavier box in the post which turned out to be the new starter motor (the car came without starter or battery). Having improvised a 'ghetto' battery solution (nicked the battery out of my Landrover) and plumbed in the new starter it fired up almost instantaneously and settled down to a smooth idle. Result! All I'm waiting for now is the other caliper then it'll be mobile and ready to take for a little remedial welding.

Hurrah, managed to acquire the correct caliper bolts, came as part of a kit. As a bonus (using my special skill, which is identifying bolts or socket sizes by eye I managed to obtain the correct thread flange head M8 bolts for the starter motor from my local factor. Ordered some new unions and washers for the brake hoses as well. Parts availability is superb for such an old car.

I’ve ordered some bits, I’ll message if I have any issues. This has been a bit of an issue, the car came without brake calipers so I’ve had to guess what sort it should have had.

Weirdly the indicators do work fine, with one side repeater missing (the missing fixture was in the centre console). Apparently they're not mandatory until April 1986 so not actually an MoT failure on this but I think I will try and refit it if the wirings still there.

Cheers. My initial plan is just to get it working, then I might look at upgrading it, the standard brakes on this were bloody awful to be honest (based on hazy recollections of driving in the mid-90s). Do you know what size the starter mounting bolts would be. I might need to visit my friendly neighbourhood scrappy to find something, but I suspect they'll be similar on much newer cars.

I think so. My mum and dads didn't even have a radio. Incidentally the radio still works, so I'll need to find an aerial and press it back into service.

I do have a Haynes manual (the same one my Dad bought for the one we had in 80s) so I won't be working according to guesswork. Apparently mine doesn't have brackets and bolts directly to the strut.