garycox

The Dolomite has been getting hot for ages; we’d swapped the thermostat, sender, radiator, hoses and done many coolant flushes with no success and we gave up for a bit and parked it up.
With better weather coming it’s quite a fun commuter so, keen to get it back in action, thought we’d revisit the stuff we’d done. A complete thermostat kit with housing and sender was fitted and it now seems fine! 
 

New tyres are next on the list as it’s still on the ancient ones that came on the slots.
The Rover’s now fixed too, new wing fitted and we did a 7-hr round trip in it on Monday with no issues. 

Would’ve been fixed sooner if we knew the wheel was cracked and needed replacing; didn’t discover that until a new tyre had been put on it...

I advertised the 406 on here but there were no takers so I decided to give it a chance on eBay - went for £420 minus fees so I roughly broke even and had a month’s use out of it.

And the unexpected one in... 2001 Volvo C70 Convertible with the 2.0 5-cylinder and low pressure turbo.

Listed on EBay in the parts section, it has some pretty minor scrapes/dents/rust but MOT til November and a pretty clean history, loads of service history and all the paperwork back to when it was new, including original bill of sale, brochures, handbooks and even photocopies of period road tests. 106,000 miles on it.
I need new sun visors, a headlight and a washer bottle cap but the car was cheap so I don’t mind that.
It was only about 40mins away so I’ve not driven it much yet, but initial impressions are good. It’s a bit wobbly, similar to a Saab 900, but much more comfortable than the Saab and I prefer the driving position. 
The roof works well and doesn’t have a fiddly cover or anything like the Mk3 Astra did, or even manual clips on the roof rail, just one button. Much better. The Astra was a lot more rigid though.
Although it’s the lowest spec engine, it’s got 160-something bhp and it’s not slow; it’s my first 5-cyl and it makes a nice sound, it’s quiet though and there’s quite a bit of wind noise with the roof up or down so you rarely hear the engine.
Overall it seems like a nice car, I think I’ll enjoy having this for a bit!

Wow the Rover looks amazing now, great work.
My cousins husband has the same spec C70 on a 54 plate, and it really wafts. Nice light controls. I thought it was deceptively large, I forgot its not an Audi 80 but a large Volvo.

The Dolomite has been getting hot for ages; we’d swapped the thermostat, sender, radiator, hoses and done many coolant flushes with no success and we gave up for a bit and parked it up.
With better weather coming it’s quite a fun commuter so, keen to get it back in action, thought we’d revisit the stuff we’d done. A complete thermostat kit with housing and sender was fitted and it now seems fine! 
 

New tyres are next on the list as it’s still on the ancient ones that came on the slots.
The Rover’s now fixed too, new wing fitted and we did a 7-hr round trip in it on Monday with no issues. 

Would’ve been fixed sooner if we knew the wheel was cracked and needed replacing; didn’t discover that until a new tyre had been put on it...

I advertised the 406 on here but there were no takers so I decided to give it a chance on eBay - went for £420 minus fees so I roughly broke even and had a month’s use out of it.

And the unexpected one in... 2001 Volvo C70 Convertible with the 2.0 5-cylinder and low pressure turbo.

Listed on EBay in the parts section, it has some pretty minor scrapes/dents/rust but MOT til November and a pretty clean history, loads of service history and all the paperwork back to when it was new, including original bill of sale, brochures, handbooks and even photocopies of period road tests. 106,000 miles on it.
I need new sun visors, a headlight and a washer bottle cap but the car was cheap so I don’t mind that.
It was only about 40mins away so I’ve not driven it much yet, but initial impressions are good. It’s a bit wobbly, similar to a Saab 900, but much more comfortable than the Saab and I prefer the driving position. 
The roof works well and doesn’t have a fiddly cover or anything like the Mk3 Astra did, or even manual clips on the roof rail, just one button. Much better. The Astra was a lot more rigid though.
Although it’s the lowest spec engine, it’s got 160-something bhp and it’s not slow; it’s my first 5-cyl and it makes a nice sound, it’s quiet though and there’s quite a bit of wind noise with the roof up or down so you rarely hear the engine.
Overall it seems like a nice car, I think I’ll enjoy having this for a bit!

The Dolomite has been getting hot for ages; we’d swapped the thermostat, sender, radiator, hoses and done many coolant flushes with no success and we gave up for a bit and parked it up.
With better weather coming it’s quite a fun commuter so, keen to get it back in action, thought we’d revisit the stuff we’d done. A complete thermostat kit with housing and sender was fitted and it now seems fine! 
 

New tyres are next on the list as it’s still on the ancient ones that came on the slots.
The Rover’s now fixed too, new wing fitted and we did a 7-hr round trip in it on Monday with no issues. 

Would’ve been fixed sooner if we knew the wheel was cracked and needed replacing; didn’t discover that until a new tyre had been put on it...

I advertised the 406 on here but there were no takers so I decided to give it a chance on eBay - went for £420 minus fees so I roughly broke even and had a month’s use out of it.

And the unexpected one in... 2001 Volvo C70 Convertible with the 2.0 5-cylinder and low pressure turbo.

Listed on EBay in the parts section, it has some pretty minor scrapes/dents/rust but MOT til November and a pretty clean history, loads of service history and all the paperwork back to when it was new, including original bill of sale, brochures, handbooks and even photocopies of period road tests. 106,000 miles on it.
I need new sun visors, a headlight and a washer bottle cap but the car was cheap so I don’t mind that.
It was only about 40mins away so I’ve not driven it much yet, but initial impressions are good. It’s a bit wobbly, similar to a Saab 900, but much more comfortable than the Saab and I prefer the driving position. 
The roof works well and doesn’t have a fiddly cover or anything like the Mk3 Astra did, or even manual clips on the roof rail, just one button. Much better. The Astra was a lot more rigid though.
Although it’s the lowest spec engine, it’s got 160-something bhp and it’s not slow; it’s my first 5-cyl and it makes a nice sound, it’s quiet though and there’s quite a bit of wind noise with the roof up or down so you rarely hear the engine.
Overall it seems like a nice car, I think I’ll enjoy having this for a bit!

12/10 would not want to do again in a hurry - all mountings both inaccessible and seized.
Installation of the new one was differently shit, as the way the old one had bent had made some bits more accessible and some less so.
I imagine this wouldn’t be a cheap job to farm out so it was either a massive ballache or scrap the car really; hopefully it’ll live on though!
Once this is done, if the 406 is still here maybe that can go on the drive and get done slowly... that’s where the Dolomite usually lives though and I don’t really like leaving that just on the street.

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

12/10 would not want to do again in a hurry - all mountings both inaccessible and seized.
Installation of the new one was differently shit, as the way the old one had bent had made some bits more accessible and some less so.
I imagine this wouldn’t be a cheap job to farm out so it was either a massive ballache or scrap the car really; hopefully it’ll live on though!
Once this is done, if the 406 is still here maybe that can go on the drive and get done slowly... that’s where the Dolomite usually lives though and I don’t really like leaving that just on the street.

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Called the Police on Saturday via 101 to ask about what I need to do next, and they said to go to the Station and complete a vehicle incident form, taking the V5, MOT, driving licence, etc. Couldn’t provide any more info over the phone.
Fine, went there yesterday, to be told that it’s all online now because of COVID but they reluctantly could do it there. Gave all the same details as before, plus they wanted my insurance policy number which I didn’t have with me. I told them I wasn’t planning to claim but they said that once I provided the details they’d inform my insurance anyway... 
As it stands, I’m supposed to be emailing them the policy number... can’t see what good that will do, really.
The 75 would drive backwards but not forwards as the wheel was wedged in the arch. Reversed it round to the house on the spare (glad I bought that!) and we’ve got stuck into stripping it for assessment 

First impressions are pretty encouraging really; it’ll need, at least, a lower wishbone thing as that’s bent to feck, plus a track rod end as the thread on the balljoint’s bent. Other than that, I can’t see much awry in there, although I’m not 100% sure what a lot of the components are supposed to look like so there could be other damage I’ve not noticed. It’ll obviously also need a wing with side repeater and trim strip, and a tyre.
The door is now a bit creaky so I assume is slightly misaligned.
We’ve ordered a wishbone, will be nipping out to ECP for a track rod end, and a ball joint splitter should be coming today from Amazon. Plan is to get this done ASAP as we really could do with another working daily (although changing the wishbone on the drive with basic tools might prove troublesome, we’ll see).
In 406 news, I was quoted £4-500 to get it MOTd. This is for welding the offside sill and near side sill/rear arch, supplying and fitting a couple of exhaust sections and a steering rack gaiter.
I like that car and would’ve just paid it but with the 75 incident and having to unexpectedly buy a new TV I just don’t have the cash available right now.
It could be back on the road pretty cheaply if you’re handy with a welder, so if anyone’s interested in taking it on, let me know. It’ll scrap for £250 but I really don’t want to do that. I’ll do a proper FS thread once it’s back from the garage.

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

The 406 went for an MOT this morning. Needs various bits of welding, plus something about the exhaust and a steering rack gaiter.  I’m awaiting a quote, which was to be paid, if reasonable, via the sale of the 75.
This afternoon a Police Officer knocked on the door to tell me about this:

 
FFS. 
 
Not sure where I stand with insurance etc... the low value minus the excess wouldn’t leave me much of a payout and I’d presumably lose my NCB and face an increase on all of my other policies... Do I have to claim?

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 
Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.
Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!