dollywobbler

Ah yes. Because being a bit upset about the loss of minty cigarettes is a really good reason to join that bunch of racist idiots.

Ah yes. Because being a bit upset about the loss of minty cigarettes is a really good reason to join that bunch of racist idiots.

Ah yes. Because being a bit upset about the loss of minty cigarettes is a really good reason to join that bunch of racist idiots.

My arms hurt, but all of the stickers remnants have now gone and everything apart from the roof has had a coat of polish.
 
Not sure what to do with the roof. It looks like this at the moment.

 
The tailgate had some really nasty stickiness on it. Took AGES to get it off, using every potion I had available. While polishing afterwards, I noticed that some half-job had painted the offside corner. It's clearly taken quite a bump there at some point. The paint match is not perfect, but you can't see it too badly.

 
About time we had an engine shot isn't it? Just below the air intake pipe, there's a panel that has to be removed to access the coil packs which must then be removed to access the spark plugs. Sounds quite a bit of faff. 

 
I think they look good together.

 
View from my office window. 

I hadn't thought of the dragon as a tramp stamp. Is it bad that I like tramp stamps on girls? Maybe that's why I like it on the Sirion...
 
The boot is a fair size. I shall take photos at some point.
 
Anyway, my plans to stay in tonight were thwarted by the fact I just NEEDED to go out for another drive.

 
Facebook thinks the entire back end of this thing is a face.

 
Dashboard by night.

 
So, I can now conclude that the headlamps are pretty decent though, as I've discovered on other Japanese cars before, putting the main beam on makes it go very dark immediately in front of the car. More so than on other cars. 

I hadn't thought of the dragon as a tramp stamp. Is it bad that I like tramp stamps on girls? Maybe that's why I like it on the Sirion...
 
The boot is a fair size. I shall take photos at some point.
 
Anyway, my plans to stay in tonight were thwarted by the fact I just NEEDED to go out for another drive.

 
Facebook thinks the entire back end of this thing is a face.

 
Dashboard by night.

 
So, I can now conclude that the headlamps are pretty decent though, as I've discovered on other Japanese cars before, putting the main beam on makes it go very dark immediately in front of the car. More so than on other cars. 

Remember this? Well, I paid £370 for it earlier and now it's mine.

 
More to follow!

The Collection Capers
 
I've always loved oddball three-pot motors. I've driven many Daewoo Matizes (or whatever the plural is) and loved their sense of fun. I've long been a fan of Daihatsus as well. So, I began searching. I found a nice looking Cuore (top of this thread) on Ebay, but it was bloody miles away. I've done similar searches before. They're always bloody miles away.
 
Then I searched on Gumtree and found a hilariously marker-penned Sirion for sale in Chester. I spent too much time on Sunday looking at a hopeless Panda and a hilarious City Rover, so today was the first chance I had to get north. This was only a viewing, but it was a viewing that involved a one way train ticket and a deadline to be home for a social function. There could be only one outcome.
 
So, I woke up and contemplated my first choice of steed. Yes, our curtains really are that bad. They were fitted when we moved in. Three years ago to the day. We're very slow at home improvements.

 
The 2CV deposited us in Aberystywth, where nature got all dramatic.

 
A short while later, I found myself sitting on this train. Pre-booking two days before meant I paid only £15. Bargain!

 
I was meant to be sitting on it for about two hours, but half an hour later, we changed trains as this one needed an inspection or something. It was a bit boring to be honest, livened up only by the odd very occasional spot.

 
Eventually, we reached Shrewsbury, which still has an impressive station.

 
I got onto my third horrible, noisy train of the day. All the same model. This one vibrate alarmingly when you pulled away.
 
After many miles of greenery, sheep and the occasional house, Chester loomed on the horizon.

 
It wasn't hard to find the car in the car park. I had a quick test drive, declared myself happy and haggled the £395 asking price down to £370 on account on the rotten rear arches. Man maths at work there. Bet it costs more than £25 to sort them out. It had received a LOT of attention from a welder's torch for the MOT two months ago, with the entire back end (wheelarches aside) slathered in underseal. I hope there's actual metal under there. 
 
Tea was drunk, money was counted and paperwork was signed. I was off. Getting out of Chester was livened up by the school rush. "Why are all of these people staring at me? Oh yes. Dastardly and Muttley!" I reached the A55 and could give it a boot full. Oh yes. This is brilliant! The 1-litre, triple-cylinder engine hoofs out 50bhp, which sounds crap. Yet the sub-800kg weight means it feels lively. Really lively. More so than the Golf, which had 75bhp. I was soon hurtling along at an indicated 80mph and was stunned at how comfortable it felt. That was 4000rpm, but a hint of turbine-like whine was all you could hear of the engine. Superb.
 
Eventually, the roads got smaller and twistier and I could discover that the delightful gearchange seems to suffer from a crunchy synchromesh on third, but only going up from second. Fresh oil seems worth a go here. The assisted steering is very direct and fairly devoid of feel and the ride is a bit bouncy, but acceptable. The air con works (only the second car I've owned where this is the case, the other being an Alfa Romeo 164) as do the powerfold door mirrors.
 
I finally pulled over next to a dilapidated building for photos.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1383432_10151945153718200_870056724_n.jpg[/iimg]
 
The markings are mostly black marker pen, with the odd bit of white household paint. The more I look at it, the more I like it...

 
Some bits I'll be happy to lose.

 
Big dick.

 
Muttley finds the rusty rear arches hilarious.

 
I really like the arse dragon.

 
Not so impressive this side.

 
The more I drove this car, the more I liked it. I really gelled with it quickly. Sure, it has naff all torque below 3000rpm, but revving it is very enjoyable. It's just very nice to drive, kind of how I expected a Daihatsu to behave. Downsides were no flick-wipe on the wipers (and shagged blades) and in fact it seems there's no flick-function on the indicators either. They're on or off. Variable intermittent would be nice to have given that I live in Wales.
 
It doesn't overheat in traffic though. Which is good as Newtown was its usual crap self.

 
Less than 70,000 miles, no overheating, barely any fuel used so far. 

 
I couldn't suss the stereo out at all. It's an ergonomic nightmare.

 
And so endeth the collection caper. No bother at all. Plans? A good clean, new wiper blades, rust treat the rear arches (then zinc prime) and ponder what to do about paintwork/drawings.

The Collection Capers
 
I've always loved oddball three-pot motors. I've driven many Daewoo Matizes (or whatever the plural is) and loved their sense of fun. I've long been a fan of Daihatsus as well. So, I began searching. I found a nice looking Cuore (top of this thread) on Ebay, but it was bloody miles away. I've done similar searches before. They're always bloody miles away.
 
Then I searched on Gumtree and found a hilariously marker-penned Sirion for sale in Chester. I spent too much time on Sunday looking at a hopeless Panda and a hilarious City Rover, so today was the first chance I had to get north. This was only a viewing, but it was a viewing that involved a one way train ticket and a deadline to be home for a social function. There could be only one outcome.
 
So, I woke up and contemplated my first choice of steed. Yes, our curtains really are that bad. They were fitted when we moved in. Three years ago to the day. We're very slow at home improvements.

 
The 2CV deposited us in Aberystywth, where nature got all dramatic.

 
A short while later, I found myself sitting on this train. Pre-booking two days before meant I paid only £15. Bargain!

 
I was meant to be sitting on it for about two hours, but half an hour later, we changed trains as this one needed an inspection or something. It was a bit boring to be honest, livened up only by the odd very occasional spot.

 
Eventually, we reached Shrewsbury, which still has an impressive station.

 
I got onto my third horrible, noisy train of the day. All the same model. This one vibrate alarmingly when you pulled away.
 
After many miles of greenery, sheep and the occasional house, Chester loomed on the horizon.

 
It wasn't hard to find the car in the car park. I had a quick test drive, declared myself happy and haggled the £395 asking price down to £370 on account on the rotten rear arches. Man maths at work there. Bet it costs more than £25 to sort them out. It had received a LOT of attention from a welder's torch for the MOT two months ago, with the entire back end (wheelarches aside) slathered in underseal. I hope there's actual metal under there. 
 
Tea was drunk, money was counted and paperwork was signed. I was off. Getting out of Chester was livened up by the school rush. "Why are all of these people staring at me? Oh yes. Dastardly and Muttley!" I reached the A55 and could give it a boot full. Oh yes. This is brilliant! The 1-litre, triple-cylinder engine hoofs out 50bhp, which sounds crap. Yet the sub-800kg weight means it feels lively. Really lively. More so than the Golf, which had 75bhp. I was soon hurtling along at an indicated 80mph and was stunned at how comfortable it felt. That was 4000rpm, but a hint of turbine-like whine was all you could hear of the engine. Superb.
 
Eventually, the roads got smaller and twistier and I could discover that the delightful gearchange seems to suffer from a crunchy synchromesh on third, but only going up from second. Fresh oil seems worth a go here. The assisted steering is very direct and fairly devoid of feel and the ride is a bit bouncy, but acceptable. The air con works (only the second car I've owned where this is the case, the other being an Alfa Romeo 164) as do the powerfold door mirrors.
 
I finally pulled over next to a dilapidated building for photos.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1383432_10151945153718200_870056724_n.jpg[/iimg]
 
The markings are mostly black marker pen, with the odd bit of white household paint. The more I look at it, the more I like it...

 
Some bits I'll be happy to lose.

 
Big dick.

 
Muttley finds the rusty rear arches hilarious.

 
I really like the arse dragon.

 
Not so impressive this side.

 
The more I drove this car, the more I liked it. I really gelled with it quickly. Sure, it has naff all torque below 3000rpm, but revving it is very enjoyable. It's just very nice to drive, kind of how I expected a Daihatsu to behave. Downsides were no flick-wipe on the wipers (and shagged blades) and in fact it seems there's no flick-function on the indicators either. They're on or off. Variable intermittent would be nice to have given that I live in Wales.
 
It doesn't overheat in traffic though. Which is good as Newtown was its usual crap self.

 
Less than 70,000 miles, no overheating, barely any fuel used so far. 

 
I couldn't suss the stereo out at all. It's an ergonomic nightmare.

 
And so endeth the collection caper. No bother at all. Plans? A good clean, new wiper blades, rust treat the rear arches (then zinc prime) and ponder what to do about paintwork/drawings.

Remember this? Well, I paid £370 for it earlier and now it's mine.

 
More to follow!

I see your flowery Nippa and raise you this.

Remember this? Well, I paid £370 for it earlier and now it's mine.

 
More to follow!

You can all be kept in suspense for now. I'm currently plotting the collection thread, and I've still not agreed to actually buy it yet! If I don't buy it though, I run the risk of the being late for a gathering of people at our house that I'd managed to forget about...

Music. You need decent speakers for this. And a love of bass helps.

Remember this? Well, I paid £370 for it earlier and now it's mine.

 
More to follow!

Music. You need decent speakers for this. And a love of bass helps.

I'm no music expert but I've added this to my YouTube selection.
 
http://youtu.be/mYKLvYGqaC0

Music. You need decent speakers for this. And a love of bass helps.

Tempting, but no. There is still that local one...
 
Wife may have rejected the Puma on the grounds of looks, but she suggested this instead. I love my wife. Can't be arsed with going to London though.

The Fiat Panda is a contender, but only if it's cheap. The City Rover was absolutely dreadful. I found it quite funny. It was actually even worse than I expected. Bowls along quite merrily, but enough wind noise to make you think a door had been left open, the driver's electric window switch fell apart when I pressed it and the air bag light was on (even though it has a fresh MOT...). Quite charming in a way, but I doubt I'll go there.

Time to roll this shot out again. Yes, there is gaffer tape holding the passenger door closed.

Time to roll this shot out again. Yes, there is gaffer tape holding the passenger door closed.

A train journey has been booked. A car insurance quote has been obtained and requires only a phone call to put in place. Yet a car has not yet been purchased. Will I be coming home on the train? Or will I be driving home in a car which features in this thread? Prace bets now!

Has been nice to watch its progress though. Ta-ra Mini.

Of course, I do still have the chance to be a hero, as has been mentioned...

 
May go and offer him £100 today. I think £200 is too much - backed up by the fact that I advertised it in quite a few places for that and no-one was interested. He says there's not much work in getting it going again, I think there's a whole world of pain potentially!