Cheezey

A few years ago the bloke who had done a couple of jobs on my Jag arranged the MoTs for it and my MX5. 
Both times they passed but the MoTs were £70-80 as the tester got a tenner/£20 for the probe to go up the wrong exhaust. 
I didn’t ask for it but didn’t complain. 

A few years ago the bloke who had done a couple of jobs on my Jag arranged the MoTs for it and my MX5. 
Both times they passed but the MoTs were £70-80 as the tester got a tenner/£20 for the probe to go up the wrong exhaust. 
I didn’t ask for it but didn’t complain. 

A few years ago the bloke who had done a couple of jobs on my Jag arranged the MoTs for it and my MX5. 
Both times they passed but the MoTs were £70-80 as the tester got a tenner/£20 for the probe to go up the wrong exhaust. 
I didn’t ask for it but didn’t complain. 

Layla  does make me think of nineties Vauxhall’s but Sledgehammer is more Cavalier specific.
Very nice purchase. Is it petrol or diesel? I’ve been having notions for a petrol one recently. The mk3 is the only shape of Cavalier and Vectra my Dad never had. He came really close to buying a Cesaro from Motorvalue at one point though. 

Layla  does make me think of nineties Vauxhall’s but Sledgehammer is more Cavalier specific.
Very nice purchase. Is it petrol or diesel? I’ve been having notions for a petrol one recently. The mk3 is the only shape of Cavalier and Vectra my Dad never had. He came really close to buying a Cesaro from Motorvalue at one point though. 

Layla  does make me think of nineties Vauxhall’s but Sledgehammer is more Cavalier specific.
Very nice purchase. Is it petrol or diesel? I’ve been having notions for a petrol one recently. The mk3 is the only shape of Cavalier and Vectra my Dad never had. He came really close to buying a Cesaro from Motorvalue at one point though. 

Total poo count: 1
Cavalier Count :1

Dropped off at the garage who think its eminently  saveable.

Lots of lovely Vauxhall things to play with meantime!

Pleasure to deal with you @Lacquer Peel, and thanks* fornthe Proclaimers CD.
The garage are very busy at the moment so probably wont hear back until next week.
Very pleased with it though, it drives incredibly  well for a 28 year old Vauxhall with 220000 miles. Its definitely  still got all of the 89bhp it left the factory with.
Layla by Eric Clapton is my earthworm for the rest of the day which is even better.

I think a few folk may have guessed this already so pit yer gas at a peep till later please!
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I missed this getting the new wheels. Looks great and easy to swap back. A change is as good as a holiday or something. 

I’m massively torn. 
 
I got these cheap, they need a refurb and I’d get BMW badges for them but I thought I’d stick them on as a test fit. 
 
I think I like them. 

Got the wheels on properly today - 15mm spacers on the front, spigot rings and BMW gel badges for the centre caps.
Haven’t bothered refurbishing them yet but I’m pretty happy with how it looks - just looks a bit high now.

My new purchase a Rover 820Si Fastback with only 55k on the clock and headlight protectors apparently it was owned by a man who worked for Rover in Longbridge since 1946 and this was a retirement gift from the company. I have no reason to disbelieve this as the car has a Rover fleet registration either way its a Rover and i love it!
Its been off the road since 2019 but shouldn't take me much to put it right once it arrives as first indications look good. Sills are solid brakes aren't ceased and it has a windscreen for starters. Oh and did i mention it has headlight protectors!!!
I am planning to restore it once ive sorted the brakes on the Castle Gresley 820 wish me luck 👍

Completed the last few jobs for assembly.  Been saving some of these jobs for the end of the build.  
Went around the car and applied the relevant stickers for stuff like coolant and sunroof etc.


Also fitted the ford stickers to the sills.  These are a reproduction item as originals cost very silly money.
 
Filled the glovebox up with tat!

Cleaned the vinyl roof

The tyres on the car were an ancient set of Viking Norways from 1985.  I needed 5 new tyres and decided to fit some period correct ones.  These michelin's would have been fitted to Granada from new in 175, 185 and 195 sizes.  Just like the old vikings these are full profile so they fill the arches nicely as before.  These pics were taken after letting the car down off axle stands.  It will sit better once it moves again.
Fitted the new centre caps and trim rings.  Been wanting to do that for months!

The car is now finally built.  Next job is test drives and checking everything.  I expect some teething trouble but that's all part of the fun.  Can't wait, its been 27 years since this car was last taxed.
Before that I'm working with a professional detailer to finish and improve the polishing process.  I need a lot more practice and knowledge on this subject so its great to work with a professional and learn how to properly polish a car.

I've done quite a bit more work since the last update.  Over the past year or so since I painted it I've spent a lot of time with the car and got to know every defect no matter how small.
Something I decided to do a while back was repaint both quarter panels when I had the opportunity.  When I painted the car originally I had never done anything like it before.  As a result my filler work was basic and only focused on areas I could see or feel.
The results of that method are missing ripples and shallow dents.  Once the paint goes all of them show up when you look down the side of the car.
Now with more experience, the right tools, products and method I set to redoing the rear quarters.  I rubbed them down with a long block which shows up all the highs and lows.  Applied a skim of filler to the entire panel and then blocked it down.  It's much more involved than that but you get the idea.  I found lots of issues and worked hard over the course of 4 days to get them right.

Primed the panels and blocked that back to prepare for paint.  About two days to prime, prepare and paint.  Much happier with it now.


It won't look all that different in pictures but it really has made a massive improvement to the car.
With that difficult and daunting task complete I flat and polished the panels to remove the orange peel.  Then put everything back together, about a days work.

Back on track I continued adding the final few parts.  This is a factory under tray, not often seen in the UK but was an option on these cars.

Cleaned up the jack and spare wheel hardware.

Made and fitted the last bit of trim for the boot.  This covers a void between the quarter panel and boot floor.  It's originally filled with foam but I've left that out as it causes rust in the wheel arches.
 
Finally I flat and polished the sills and ordered some new tyres.

Very close now, perhaps another 8 hours of work and the car should be finished.

So Sierra progress has slowed, mainly due to a lack of enthusiasm for upside down welding.  Still going to get it done but have been distracted by the arrival of a new fleet member.
@Tayne sent me a message "I know you like Fords, V8s and cars not originally sold in the UK so how does a 2007 Mustang sound?"
Interesting, Mr. Tayne, tell me more...
"Its languishing on a driveway in Aberdeen as the owner is rather busy with a house move, new baby and sometimes works away.  The mot ran out in Oct 19 but apparently it hasn’t suffered any major failures.  It’s metallic grey with a slightly peeling Shelby stripe and a red leather interior. I believe the same chap may have owned it since 2008."
Oh FFS.  Well, the wife was asking what I want for Christmas. 
After a bit of discussion with @Supernaut Tayne and I went and had a look at it at the weekend, Tayne did the sensible checks with the code reader, fluids and pointed out the rust and dents in the side while i just made 'brum, brum' noises and pretended to know something while struggling not to say 'just shut up and take my money' to the seller.  The sellers son had spent some time in the US and on his return had imported the car new.  The family were clearly quite attached to it and wanted it to go to a good home.  So despite having loads of shite to be getting on with I found myself agreeing to take the beast on.

So what shite have i bought this time?  It's a 2007 Ford Mustang with the modular 4.6 litre V8 putting out around 300 bhp in this application.  It's only done 61000 miles, the interior is good, tyres are good, only two advisories for the last MOT and generally seems mechanically sound. 

Unfortunately, the body is definitely not sound, in fact it appears to have been valet parked by Stevie Wonder.  But for the asking price I can live with that.

 

Plan was to take it for an MOT but I noticed the passenger mirror was cracked so didn't take it for the test in the end because I thought the 10 day retest period might expire before I could get one.  Collected it with Supernaut for moral support and went straight to the nearest Asda petrol station.  Some issues were immediately apparent.  it suffers from the infamous 'slow filling' issue where the pump keeps cutting off - TADTS apparently.  Then the downside of having the steering on the wrong side made itself felt as it was one of those poxy drive through pay windows so i had to get out.  Then i put my foot down leaving as I usually do in the diesel passat and nearly launched it in to orbit - there is 'sufficient' power.
Supernaut and I had a bit of a poke around, the body didn't get any better but we didn't spot anything too bad.  Then it wouldn't restart.  The seller had advised the battery wasn't amazing and he wasn't lying.  My jump pack came to the rescue once we had worked out how the immobiliser worked. 

First impressions, it doesn't feel that fast and then you realise it's doing 70 in second.  Everything seems to work bar the compass in the rear view mirror.  The engine makes a lovely noise and I can confirm that by pushing the TSC button smoky burnouts are easily available.  

Best thing is domestic management clearly quite likes it and genuinely seems happy about this potentially ruinous purchase.  Happy days.
Plan is to MOT it, refurb the wheels, attack it with aqua steel and get some quotes to rectify the worst of the bodywork issues.  Is DIY respraying of lacquer feasible or is it likely to look gash?
 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Fixed the last MOT advisory today by replacing the exhaust front section. Of course, it battled me all the way, but it's on and sorted now. Got the replacement from Rimmer Bros, oddly it was the cheapest option. 
Also found that the place that did my clutch had left the radiator fan unplugged! That could have been a disaster. I'm led to believe cooling can be an issue on K Series engines..... 



 
Oh, and the Rover's replacement is arriving tomorrow.... 

Booked in at 9am, passed by 20 past 9!
Slightly miffed about the brake lines, they were supposed to all have been replaced back in September. The ones in each front wheel arch and the front to rear were done but I assumed all the corroded sections were replaced, like I had asked. 
I'll book it back in in a few weeks to have that done, I don't like leaving advisories for brake lines.

I like that the garage roof has been designed with a Princess in mind. 

I was putting the Christmas decorations back in the loft earlier and grabbed a small handful of my brochure collection from the end of a box. 
My wife has started selling some odds and ends on eBay with some success. I thought these might sell ok. I sold three or four of them many years ago but never did any more. 
When my wife saw them, and knowing me, questioned whether I’d be better just keeping them and enjoying them. 
I acquired these from either Scottish motor shows at the SECC or contacting manufacturers. Top Gear magazine in the nineties listed a contact number for every manufacturer - I phoned them all and asked for a brochure around the autumn of 1996. 
Below are photos of the ones I grabbed. Are these of interest? Like everyone and their dog with a smartphone I’ve been threatening to start a YouTube channel for long enough. Would me going through these make interesting videos? 
Although I chucked a load when I moved, I also have a load of nineties car mags. A quick glance over a 1994 Autotrader in loft earlier was interesting. 

I was putting the Christmas decorations back in the loft earlier and grabbed a small handful of my brochure collection from the end of a box. 
My wife has started selling some odds and ends on eBay with some success. I thought these might sell ok. I sold three or four of them many years ago but never did any more. 
When my wife saw them, and knowing me, questioned whether I’d be better just keeping them and enjoying them. 
I acquired these from either Scottish motor shows at the SECC or contacting manufacturers. Top Gear magazine in the nineties listed a contact number for every manufacturer - I phoned them all and asked for a brochure around the autumn of 1996. 
Below are photos of the ones I grabbed. Are these of interest? Like everyone and their dog with a smartphone I’ve been threatening to start a YouTube channel for long enough. Would me going through these make interesting videos? 
Although I chucked a load when I moved, I also have a load of nineties car mags. A quick glance over a 1994 Autotrader in loft earlier was interesting. 

I was putting the Christmas decorations back in the loft earlier and grabbed a small handful of my brochure collection from the end of a box. 
My wife has started selling some odds and ends on eBay with some success. I thought these might sell ok. I sold three or four of them many years ago but never did any more. 
When my wife saw them, and knowing me, questioned whether I’d be better just keeping them and enjoying them. 
I acquired these from either Scottish motor shows at the SECC or contacting manufacturers. Top Gear magazine in the nineties listed a contact number for every manufacturer - I phoned them all and asked for a brochure around the autumn of 1996. 
Below are photos of the ones I grabbed. Are these of interest? Like everyone and their dog with a smartphone I’ve been threatening to start a YouTube channel for long enough. Would me going through these make interesting videos? 
Although I chucked a load when I moved, I also have a load of nineties car mags. A quick glance over a 1994 Autotrader in loft earlier was interesting. 

I religiously watched Top Gear every Thursday at 8.30pm. I love watching the old episodes on YouTube. It would be amazing if you could get them on YouTube. 

I was putting the Christmas decorations back in the loft earlier and grabbed a small handful of my brochure collection from the end of a box. 
My wife has started selling some odds and ends on eBay with some success. I thought these might sell ok. I sold three or four of them many years ago but never did any more. 
When my wife saw them, and knowing me, questioned whether I’d be better just keeping them and enjoying them. 
I acquired these from either Scottish motor shows at the SECC or contacting manufacturers. Top Gear magazine in the nineties listed a contact number for every manufacturer - I phoned them all and asked for a brochure around the autumn of 1996. 
Below are photos of the ones I grabbed. Are these of interest? Like everyone and their dog with a smartphone I’ve been threatening to start a YouTube channel for long enough. Would me going through these make interesting videos? 
Although I chucked a load when I moved, I also have a load of nineties car mags. A quick glance over a 1994 Autotrader in loft earlier was interesting.