N19

I've spent a few hours this evening giving the Capri a check over before the weekend. Suitably 80s trinkets and bits adorning the rear seats.

Found a bottle jack left outside my lockup garage door - suspect from one of the neighbours who's probably seen me working on cars etc. And a spark plug socket on top of a petrol pump. In my old job we used to have contractors come in to do works (renovate offices or exhibition spaces, rewire or whatever) and the stuff that got left behind was incredible. We'd routinely have good sets of ladders, transformers, leftover materials, extension leads, odd tools etc. I'm not even talking the shitty ladders covered in plaster, a decent fibreglass set thats relatively new. In all cases they'd get an email asking them to be picked up, then another one saying if they weren't picked up they'd be "appropriately disposed of", then they would appear in my team's stock. I suppose even if it's a £200 set of ladders, a contractor may view the time and fuel driving into central to retrieve them as more expensive than getting a fresh set from screwfix and no doubt this is factored into their prices.

I've not got anything through the post, but do have the pdf I got when I applied for tickets. Hopefully the traffic will be a little better managed this year!

Now, by logical progression, when does the blue mk3 project start...?

Rather unfortunate Merc, S plate, dashboard fire seemingly.

I was back Up North last weekend, spent a bit of time noseying around parts of Doncaster and seeing what's changed. Came across this abandoned garage, which included taking the Mondeo around some rather odd country lanes as usual, it copes with everything thrown at it! Journey back at 8am on a Sunday was a dream, a/c has been wonderful in this heat. Some love will be required before the next MoT, as this is definitely within a prescribed area... I've got a couple of weeks off work now before I start a new job. Number one impact on the fleet is that the mileage required will reduce significantly, as I won't be driving to/from work anymore. This does make the Bluebird's position questionable, although it's just had another years insurance and is about to be taxed. Given the ULEZ will change things further next year, I'm still planning on keeping it until next summer, as that'll essentially be the end of late 80s motoring in London... Jobs on the list are to get the welding patches done on both 'moderns', Capri needs a look over prior to FOTU, the alternator bracket lost a bolt the other day and I'm not convinced if it's exactly how it should be - going to consult the Haynes. Bluebird still has a sticky caliper that I have the part for now (hopefully). Garage could do with a tidy, I've repurposed a pallet and some carpet tiles to create a little standing step, either so I can sit on a stool to work at the bench or access higher up shelves.

Removing trim ready for the welding to be done and doing a little corrosion assessment. Ouch.

I'm planning on taking the Capri this year. I'm a bit worried that people won't see a Capri as unexceptional - although it's a 1600L, pretty much as unexceptional as they come. Oh well, what's the worst that could happen?

I saw this exact van filling with petrol about a week ago in my corner of N London. I knew I'd seen it somewhere before!

The Bluebird has a slightly binding n/s/f brake, so I whipped the caliper off. Hrmm, the lack of dust seal and this piston would explain it... I'm hopeful that a seal kit and a new piston, now on order, will sort it. Obligatory Capri pic. Hopefully getting a nice few long runs over the summer months. I noticed that the middle of the '9' had fallen out. Pressed plate which has done 5 odd years and 20,000 miles I think we'll let it off. Luckily I had a bit of masking tape to improvise...

One thing I'd say is ask for feedback, sounds like you got it from this most recent interview, but it's good to know why you didn't get the role as that can inform in the future what you apply for / what skills you learn / whether to brush up on interview technique etc. Also, don't let finite experience requirements etc put you off. When I've recruited for people, I see the spec as being 'the perfect candidate' or 'the finished product' of a person who's been doing the job for a bit, so unless it's something really fundamental, not ticking every single box is less important than what the person knows/what they're like.

My end of the industry is AV/meeting room tech/etc, so slightly different from desktop stuff etc. I was mildly annoyed at my current job and had some frustrations, poked my nose into what's online and who's hiring, applied for one that interested me and a week later had the job. Much less stressful looking for a job when you already have one and it's a matter of either staying the same or getting better.

Two years ago today that the Mondeo joined the fleet! 15,000 odd miles later and relatively few issues. I've a new job starting soon which will significantly reduce my mileage, mind.

Reverse lights haven't ever worked properly on the Bluebird, or worked at all for the last year or so. Reverse light switch replaced to no avail. Wired to a little switch on one of the blanking plates on the dash, which isn't the most beautiful solution but it is a work around.

It's still performing sterling service! I have the parts to get the original stereo working if I can find the time and remember how it went back together...

New HT leads ordered up and fitted, all prettily done. Another one came apart when removing, not a good sign. Time then for the Bluebird to have a wash and a proper vacuum out and internal clean, which it seldom gets. Got a little list for this car. When the Capri goes into the garage for bodywork in October (hopefully), this will go into my lockup and I am hoping to deal with a lot of the worn out bits here and there. The exhaust manifold needs sorting once and for all, there's trim clips and nuts and bolts missing everywhere, rubber seals and so on perished, the drivers door window needs sorting out properly, central locking has never worked, the rear bumper could do with a repaint and I'm sure there's more. Sadly despite a nice vacuum and clean the mats are a bit dead, think a trip to costco is in order!

Looking at some job adverts, pondering a move, one has "£4k car allowance" even though there's no driving as part of the role... interesting! Wonder if they'd let me fund something ULEZ compliant on a pretext... would need to find the most AS-friendly ULEZ-compliant thing on the market....

After a couple of very busy weeks away, some time to do a bit of tinkering today. The bluebird window I've held up with a nut and bolt on the regulator for now. Can't be arsed doing anything more at the moment! I'll probably wait till the Capri takes up root at the garage for bodywork, then the Bluebird can sit in the lockup for a bit and I can sort some of these things out properly. There was a note when I got back saying "DO NOT PARK HERE!" on the windscreen. I'm not really sure why, the car had been sitting in the car park behind my flat for nearly 2 weeks but I purposefully chose the most secluded spot in the car park and went right up to the wall to try and be considerate. Hrrmph. Mondeo needed a new tyre and also the rear washer has never worked in my ownership. Whilst the garage were replacing the tyre I borrowed their airline and did a bit of faffing around. Ultimately found a join undone under the bonnet which meant the screenwash was simply peeing out down the inner wing. A nice easy fix. The Mondeo was also due oil and plugs, I found where the missing rubber insert for my plug socket was... ... Perhaps a bit rich? Also discovered a mangled HT lead with a connector twisted. A new one on order, in the meantime a spare bluebird plug lead does the job...

Not too much been happening recently - I've been very busy with other stuff. The Bluebird has seen quite a bit of use. Insurance and tax are up at the end of next month and it'll be getting another year, but after that it'll be ULEZ... I think it heard me talking, because the drivers window has decided to do the favourite thing of the moment and drop down, mangling another regulator. FFS. Really don't have time now as I'm away for a few days soon, so I've parked it up with a G-clamp holding the window up (on the regulator rail rather than the glass...) There had been some rattles coming from the Capri last time I used it. On inspection, the alternator pulley was eccentric and when disassembling it seemed to have lost a spacer/woodruff key type part to hold it dead centre. Fantastic*. Luckily, I had another alternator lying around, but it was the wrong handing... Fortunately a memory of a discussion in a motorfactors about how easy these are to change the handing on helped and everything went back together. Visited the Enfield Pageant, parked up to this appropriately AS-esque mini:

Seen at Costco the other day. See also, ambitious motorway maintenance vehicles...

Absolutely! The centre box on the Bluebirds is a little low, so you can screw a cassette holder to it and it doesn't get in the way.

A small world again! I'd actually popped up to Bedfordshire after work in the Capri, so I left the Bluebird there whilst I did so. I'm using it quite a bit this month to mop up some of the miles as the Mondeo will be doing a few longer trips. Fuel economy pants mind, and it'll fall foul of the extended ULEZ in a year and a bit but...

Autoshite in the background of the news... https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/12/bristol-every-car-on-road-gets-ticket-when-lines-appear-suddenly-16629818/

The Capri got a wash, which also allowed me an opportunity to get some pictures of the worst bits. I'm hopeful that it'll go into the local garage in October for the winter. Depressing to look at and probably will be expensive, but can't be put off...

I figured that I have been filling News 24 with posts about my fleet of tat and should probably start my own thread to keep it all in one place. I'm N19 (Tom), a cynical shiter from north London (though originally of farther northern extraction). So, fleet is as follows... 1979 Capri 1.6L I've owned this for about 7 years now. It was always my ambition to own a Capri one day... and I haven't looked back! For a while, I lived in inner London (see username!) and used the tube or bus to get around most of the time - so it was my only car for the duration! It's had a fair few trips in my time (from London, to Aberdeen, Bristol, Norfolk, Brighton, and lots of places in-between), although the last year has been much quieter due to lockdown. Always garaged, but never a queen - it'll still go out in the wet, just looked after and dried. It's a pretty original car; the first owner had it for 20 years, it then passed through a number of keepers until I bought it. Therefore it managed to avoid the abuse of boy racers in the 90s! It seems that the first owner was a giffer who, from the mid-80s, only did 2k miles a year. (Yes the paintwork is original - it's an unusual colour, only used on Capris for one year as far as I can tell). In my ownership I've essentially been trying to keep it reasonably neat. Manual everything - steering, radio knobs, choke, windows... comes with the extra options of a heated rear window and a parcel shelf. Perish the thought! It's currently off the road having had welding repairs completed to various bits, mostly the A pillars and sills. 2000 Ford Mondeo 2.0i Ghia X Estate Purchased from this very forum, when I realised that I now relied on a car for commuting and putting the eggs in the basket of one car was tempting fate. Plus it came at a good time when I was post house-move and needing to sort out a heck of a lot of stuff, so the estate comes in very handy. It had a few challenging times, especially with the cooling system. It took a few months to finally get to a stage where it wasn't an incontinent old thing, and I didn't need to carry a gallon of mixed antifreeze in the back. One memorable occasion saw it towed home by the Bluebird (which resulted in the battle scar covered over by gaffer tape on the bumper). A high end executive car of its time, and it carries the 180,000 miles well. Most things still work - the central locking is a bit temperamental sometimes, but the other toys are all there - heated seats, heated windscreen, air con, cruise control, electric seats, etc. Very good over winter cos of the heated bits, and in the height of summer cos of the air con. You can fit loads of stuff in the back, it's very useful for lugging stuff around. Towbar fitted, although seldom used. 2003 Ford Focus 1.6 Purchased recently from this forum, a very competent (and ULEZ compliant) 1.6 Focus. It is very clean and very well looked after, and features AC and heated windscreens (extra features that actually matter to me!). I intend on keeping this clean and using it for trundling around town. Former Vehicles 1980 Nissan Bluebird 1.8GS I bought this as a result of a chance discussion with a guy from the motorfactors who was selling it. At the time I was feeling bad about using the Capri for mundane things, so when this was up for sale I gave into temptation and a low price, and picked it up. Again, quite an original car. Would I call it dull... not quite, it's very good at being an car, it's not the most exciting thing you'll ever drive, but is pretty practical. It's also usually bombproof and reliable. Reasonably easy to work on, very comfortable and easy for the driver; you can understand why so many of these were minicabbed in the 90s! I sadly had to sell this car in June 2023 due to the impending expansion of the ULEZ into my area. The Capri lives in a lockup garage where I do minor tinkering and spannering. I'll do most jobs on the Capri myself, except anything welding related or needing a ramp. I have a good local garage who are sympathetic to old stuff and don't charge much, especially as I'm never too pushy on timescales. and, because I'm sad- err I mean pedantic, I keep notes in a book for each car... ... oh, and all three cars have cassette players - who says I'm stuck in the past?! I did for a while organise the collection into the era of each car, but that got too messy. So, that's me, that's the fleet, now for updates...