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worldofceri

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Everything posted by worldofceri

  1. Some cars aren’t type-approved for towing (including mkI KA as SheffCC says), meaning no towbar mfr can obtain type-approval for a towbar for that car. Sometimes such cars have a centre-exit exhaust making fitment of a towbar physically impossible. This deffo applies to the old-shape ST but Google Image Search suggests the newest ST has more conventional twin exhausts exiting at the sides, so your mate in the pub’s intel might be slightly out of date.
  2. That's my old one that got stripped for renovation, then the project stalled. Intention is to revive it over the next few months. My newer one is identical (but longer) and now for sale.
  3. The rules surrounding towing are fine as they are. What’s needed, as with most things, is more consistent enforcement of the existing regulations, not more legislation. If you follow any of the various police forces traffic depts’ pages on Facebook , they’re always posting about the shonky trailers they’ve pulled over. I suspect as most trailers are used only occasionally, relatively speaking, the chances of getting away with dodgy towing activities over a long period of time are high.
  4. It’s probably been asked before but does anyone know the story about this place? I’ve driven past loads but never attempted a photo as it’s a fast road with no where to stop. The remarkable thing is that in general the place is well kept inasmuch as the hedges are trimmed and the plant pots have fresh bedding plants in them (as opposed to the more typical suburban BL graveyards that feature mostly brambles and buddleia) but the whole place is absolutely chock-full of derelict tat.
  5. Thanks for making it a straightforward job, though I don’t think the Windslammer helped with my fuel consumption!
  6. Thanks @Popsicle. I’ll certainly do things a bit differently if I do go back to it. Many an important lesson have been learned over the last few years!
  7. I'm calling it a day. Not making ends meet any more, unfortunately. I did send a message out to all my clients, including many on here that have used me regularly and/or recently - apologies if I missed anyone. I'll still be on the forum (mostly lurking) and haven't discounted making a comeback at some point, but I just don't know yet - all the balls are very much up in the air at present.
  8. No way! What are the chances?! Thread on a car gets revived after over 18 months, then days later is spotted up for sale…
  9. He sold it prior to getting it back on the road. And that’s as much as I know, guv.
  10. That’s an interior only Pat Butcher could love.
  11. ... Until he gets pulled and two of your cars are marooned three hours down the country at a DVSA checkpoint; Could take days to sort out and in the meantime you've got your winners all over FB saying 'I never received my car' and 'this is all a scam'. Unlikely perhaps, but worth thinking about. Not trying to be a dick about it as it's none of my business and, hey, for all I know he is 100% compliant. But most beavertail + trailer combo's you see around are not, because an HGV Operator's Licence and tacho are required for anything over 3.5t , and the trailer takes it over that threshold.
  12. Is he aware his O licence disc seems to have fallen out of the windscreen?
  13. I’ll park your car for you for £3.99.
  14. De-skilling of the human population in preparation for the robot takeover, innit?
  15. Obviously the first thing to do is to ring one of them so that you only have to pay one lot of tax and insurance.
  16. I saw this in the Tat thread and immediately thought it would look good with a fifth wheel caravan set-up, perhaps created from a pair of ‘70s Sprite Alpines somehow fused together .
  17. IN: Nil OUT: 3 Non Movers: 3 Loaners: 2 December 2022 - Working: 4: Broken: 2 December 2023 - Working: 2; Broken: 1; On-loan: 1 OUT: 1980 VW Devon Camper Having had little luck in selling our camper through the usual channels, I took it over to Anglia Auctions for their April sale. The hammer price was a little disappointing but we’d had our fun and were not going to be in a position to give it the attention it needed. Within days it was up for sale with a Peterborough based classics dealer for £7995! None of the many faults mentioned, of course. It was taxed around September time so presumably they eventually sold it. OUT: 2000 Vauxhall Astra van The disAstravan was off the road this time last year as the mot had lapsed. Needing a run-around again, I got @DaveAspley over to stick a new wiper motor on around February time and stuck it in for a mot. To my surprise, it passed. But it really shouldn’t have. A couple of months later the back axle fell off on the M1 at 70mph. Bit scary. Although the engine was strong and it drove really well, it was too rusty to save and was scrapped. OUT: 2010 Ford Ranger The Ranger had been doing decent service as back up tow vehicle and I was gradually improving it. I’d noticed that the liquid in the header tank didn’t look very coolanty, but didn’t do anything about it. I then took it out on one of the coldest days of last winter and it overheated in -6 conditions; I think the water in the rad had frozen, blocked the system and blown the head gasket. Needing funds for planned family holidays, it was parked up in disgrace. That was until the gearbox went on my Isuzu (see below) leaving me with no back-up truck for work. At this point I panicked and booked it in at a local garage to have the head gasket done, no expense spared. It took them flipping ages – longer than it took me to get the gearbox swapped in the D-Max, and not much less expensive. To be fair they did a decent job and it drove really well afterwards. At least it did for about three weeks, whereupon the radiator sprang a leak and I failed to notice the climbing temperature gauge on one of the hottest September days on record. Absolute fucking disaster. Having blown the head gasket again, it was sent to Copart. They paid a decent price, which was a small consolation on an otherwise massive loss. Non-mover: 2017 Isuzu D-Max The D-Max rarely fails to proceed, but when it does it fails Big Time. Back in May things were going reasonably swimmingly and @Inspector Morose was lined up to be in full control of the Walsgrave Transport operation while I took the family on a trip abroad. But barely 24 hours into his fortnight at the helm, the Isuzu’s gearbox suddenly and without warning locked up completely and left him stranded, unable to move the truck at all. And no back-up truck available (see above). FFS. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I’d rung round a handful of gearbox specialists, none of whom were particularly keen or able to help. In desperation I called the Isuzu dealer from whom I bought the truck and enquired after a brand new gearbox, reasoning that I would then have at least a ceiling cost to work with. To my mild surprise they suggested they would be happy to source a reconditioned ‘box (this after at least two specialists told me they wouldn’t be able to) and get it all fitted with a new clutch for around £4k all in. In the scheme of things I didn’t think that was too bad so away it went to Unity Automotive in Balsall Common. I got it back at the start of July and –‘hilariously’ – forgot to re-tax it (having sorned it at the end of May) and that the mot had lapsed. I got a £137 fine from the DVLA for no tax and was bloody lucky not to get stopped by the police for no mot. It did have to go back for the ‘box to come out again as it started making a rattle, but they fixed it under warranty with no argument at all; They even gave me a brand new MG ZSEV to drive around in for a week or so, which was a nice novelty, although obviously no use for hauling a trailer loaded with tat around the country. So, TL:DR, the D-Max lives to fight another year, but with 236,000 miles on the clock is beginning to feel a little worn around the edges. But apart from a whole fecking gearbox the only other non-service item it’s needed has been a battery, so I’m hopeful it’ll keep plodding on a little longer. ON/OFF Loan: 2007 Land Rover Discovery In the immediate wake of the broken gearbox/blown headgasket debacle described above, I put out a plea on these pages for a tow vehicle for hire, loan or cheap sale. @red5 very kindly answered that I could use his Disco 3 for a bit, the only (but slightly crucial) catch being that the towbar was u/s. With further kind assistance from @Lord Sterling the ‘Rover was brought to Walsgrave Transport HQ and, as soon as I got back from holiday, I whanged on a flange-type ‘bar in place of the broken removable unit. The Discovery was a superb tool for the following few weeks and I’m indebted to Red for loaning it to me. Unfortunately, the suspension went into full on Nope mode whilst out on a job, and had to be limped back to Red’s place. Turned out to be failure of the motor on the air compressor, I believe. ON/OFF/ON Loan: 2014 Ford Ranger Following failure of the Discovery to proceed, neither the Isuzu nor my own Ranger were back in the game, so I got in touch with my brother to see if he’d loan me his Ranger. I probably should have done this in the first place, but the logistics are awkward as he lives down in Fareham. Being the 2.2l model, it’s not the quickest, but just as competent at towing as the D-Max, and I’ve been using it off and on ever since. The serpentine belt shredded itself and left me off the road for a day (would have been longer had DaveAspley not come to the rescue), and subsequently had to be changed again along with the tensioner. Also started to invoke the constant-loss under body anti-corrosion system, but replacement of the crank seal has put a stop to that. Non-mover: 2005 Honda Accord Had to spend a whole grand this year on a replacement clutch and rear brake caliper. Took it to Amsterdam via Harwich and the Hook of Holland (ferry pic above). Could do with a few quid spending on cosmetics to make it a bit nicer to look at and sit in. The stereo and built in sat nav which must have been near top of the range in 2005 are now almost completely obsolete, so we could do with a solution which provides Android auto and Apple Car Play. Keep looking at units on AliExpress that replace almost the entire centre console with a new touchscreen and all the bells and whistles, so one of those might be on the cards if everything else stops breaking for long enough. Non-mover: 1972 VW 1200 Still in the garage going nowhere. Had vague ambitions to equip it for classic regularity rallies this year, but the expense and reduced income as a result of breakdown of the business vehicle/s has put paid to that. Could be getting into going rallying in a different car this year in which case I’m unlikely to do anything with the Beetle in 2024.
  18. Stickers now at the Post Office for @JJ0063, @chaseracer, @95 quid Peugeot, @Sunny Jim & @PicantoJon. Will be Thursday delivery at the earliest. Cheers.
  19. He hasn’t paid yet. PP details on the OP, or I can PM you bank transfer details.
  20. Any further appetite for these, guys? I’ve still got a big box full. Guaranteed delivery by Christmas*. * Christmas 2024. Guarantee expires 24/12/24.
  21. Not Plastic Pig Del Boy Robin Reliant [sic]
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