Angrydicky

How TF did you find that, have you seen it?

I was down in Lahndon recently and was tipped off about an old Yank parked in a nearby street, in a very sorry state. Went to investigate, and this is what I found. A once-glamorous ‘58 Coupe de ville left to rust by the side of the road. Remarkable similarities to the Jaywick Chevy. A total eyesore and it makes me wonder just how much longer it’s going to sit rusting here.

It was sold new by Rodgers of Plymouth iirc. Used to have the dealer plate surrounds on it.

I do like an original dealer badge. None of my current fleet have any, mores the pity. I have owned three or four cars so equipped in the past though.

Stodge also provides another use, in that the cars are generally affordable for the working man/woman. Lots of classic cars cost £20k upwards and the Stodge means the classic car hobby isn’t exclusive to wealthy retired gentry types with handlebars and tweed. A little Austin, Morris, Hillman or Standard means someone who isn’t ridiculously well off can own and enjoy a nice old classic car of their own. For those who are interested, my A70 Hampshire is almost ready to hit the road again. I’ve been working flat out on it for months and it’s really turned a corner now. It still looks a total shed but is borderline legal! I don’t know whether to update the thread though. The impression I got (get?) is that there is very little interest in British porridge like this on here, despite its extreme rarity.

Can’t decipher it I’m afraid! But it’s an Ipswich reg. 👍

Yes. Repeated by folk like Sierraman who have an opinion on everything, even about topics they know fuck all about.

Spares cars are incredibly useful and really help a project along. I’ve effectively got a spares car with the old Hampshire bodyshell, I’ve got it stood outside the workshop and I’ve slowly been robbing it. Too slowly, as a bird has nested in one of the gloveboxes. It’s a nuisance as I’d wanted to strip the last few bits off and get it weighed in. Would really recommend one to anyone restoring a car especially one with hard to find parts. It will quickly pay for itself. The only thing is having somewhere to store it while you pick the bits off you need. Or the space of two cars to store all the parts you strip off it. I’ve recently bought another pre farina A55 as well so should really find myself one of those for spares.

Can you see if there’s any Rover 600s or Mondeo Mk3s there please? I keep meaning to pop over and check this yard out.

In that case you need to oppose it. Get involved with the protest group (Which is growing rapidly) buy some telescopic tree pruners and cut the camera wires. Obviously vote tactically to get rid of Labour from City Hall. They have always despised the motorist and treated them as a cash cow, and this is no surprise to see.

Move. London is a shithole anyway.

Unsurprisingly, the Proton is still with its original owner, and appears to have worn that plate from new. Only 22k at the last test, he barely used it looking at the annual mileages.

Fuck all of interest, bar occasionally a Hilux Surf one bloke has as a second car. Mostly tedious modern blobs. I walk to work as it’s only 100 yds away, so I can’t even improve things by bringing something interesting.

I don’t know why you mess around. Next day, or 2-3 day carriage is available on most stuff nowadays. I would have tried one or two local motor factors if I needed it same day, otherwise it’s ordered from the internet. Growing up in Southend where I had three or four excellent old-fashioned motor factors packed with old stock parts, tools, paints, consumables and so on, Lincolnshire is pretty barren for the motor factors. There’s three in Boston that I’ve found. One has a shop behind the counter but you can’t actually go and browse in it, you have to tell them what you want and they will fetch it for you. The other two have a counter and shelves with their stock in a sort of warehouse behind which again, you’re not allowed to go into. One of which was ECP, and they were by far the most helpful. I’d love to find a traditional motor factor with a decent shop I can browse within a 20 or so mile radius of home. Best I’ve found so far is Spilsby but they still have the majority of stuff out the back and not much in the shop itself!

This is brilliant. I miss daily driving classics and now I live within walking distance of work I have no excuses really. Well, the excuse is that I’m usually spending the weekends working on them!

I agree with him. Sarah is utterly gorgeous. Whoops, am I allowed to say that on here?

That is awesome. Have you bought it yet? I’ve fancied a Mayflower for a few years but haven’t taken the plunge just yet. I think they’re quite expensive for what they are, or maybe owners have an inflated opinion of values. They are going to be fairly dismal to drive with a little side valve and three speed, more like a prewar car with column change. I’ve never had the pleasure of even driving one though, the one I viewed more than ten years ago was totally misdescribed and would barely run (and had an empty cooling system, as it had all leaked out of a split rad) I walked away. They are 100% a real marmite car though. A lot of people think they look weird. Personally I love them, I think they’re really cute!

Mine was just starting to blow apart when I got it. I lovingly wire brushed, kurusted and painted that and took the sill covers off and did the same behind there where the factory paint had flaked and it was starting to go. The poxy thing rewarded me by promptly shitting its gearbox. Had it not been for the gearbox it would probably still be with us. I viewed a Y reg 1.6 hatch with a mate a couple of years ago. One owner, looked mint on the outside. Had a look underneath and the front floors looked dreadful, they should have definitely failed the last mot. Strangely, no mention of corrosion on the mot history. It had been done at the same place for years, maybe they didn’t want to worry the old boy!

Mmm, the rear arches go and so, eventually, does the back of the sills which is hidden behind the sill covers. So the rot is a bit more obvious than it tends to be on the 45. Apart from that, not really. I had to patch a corner of the boot floor on mine, which a previous owner had hidden with thick underseal. But I think it was the leaking rear light gasket that had caused that rather than an inherent rot spot.

Lucky. So all the problem was was the master cylinder loose? I do feel for you though, if it’s anything like the 600 the access is terrible. I’m still putting off removing the clutch master cylinder and rebuilding it as the access is so poor. Rover clearly fitted them before they fitted the engine at the factory and it’s buried right down beneath the inlet manifold. For now, I’m topping it up occasionally. It occasionally baulks going into first or reverse so it’s probably got air in it too.

I don’t know much about 75s but the KV6 and diesel look to have piss poor engine bay access, which is not what you want as they’re going to need repairs here and there. Personally I’d only touch a 75 with the 1.8 K series for this reason. They’re reliable if the head gasket has been changed properly and the right type of gasket has been used.

A manual K series 45, with head gasket history, and without the usual galloping front floor rot, is a nice car. I also prefer the looks of the saloon. They have lovely seats. Pre project drive (about 52/03 was the changeover) have much nicer quality interiors. Avoid the CVT auto at all costs. Very unreliable. Have you considered a 600? Much more reliable and much less fragile than a 45, and probably rarer. They aren’t as nice inside but they make up for that in the reliability stakes. I’ve got a 2.0 manual 620 with the Honda engine and it’s lovely to drive, smooth and wafty. I’ve also had very little go wrong with it and nothing that’s ever caused a FTP.

I would say most likely it's come from another car. Can't imagine they would have had stock hanging around that long. The wiper motor on the Hampshire, presumably original, is datestamped 10/50 while the car was registered 12/50. The dipswitch, coil and control box will all be stamped too. If you need a mechanical type brake light switch it's probably the same as Series 1 Land Rover, I've just bought a new repro one as my original had rusted through and the internal spring had weakened in the replacement I got so it wasn't returning properly.

Just caught up with this. Great work as usual. Interesting to read about your wiper motor restoration. Did you know that all Lucas parts of that period are datestamped with month and year of manufacture? It's interesting because you can normally work out if components are original to the car by seeing if they were made within three months or so before the date of registration. Your wiper motor was manufactured Jan 1948. So it's been changed at some point. 1 48.

^^^ Now you may covet a Clio Or a Montego Marvel at the Mondeo Fine but not me, no EFA - you got the Mondeo and Montego the wrong way around.