greengartside

A SMOLL update on the Auction-find Fiesta. Whilst it was having a snooze, I got bored and attempted to sort any gremlins out that I had found. First up, the drivers seat fabric was torn on the bolster with a smaller hole next to it for good measure. A quick needle and thread session later and it’s better. I’m not a seamstress but that’s not a bad job I think. I’ve found out it’s also great for storing all your worldly possessions (well, some of them.) Further de-snagging - it had no brake or clutch pedal rubbers which is an instant MOT fail IIRC. A quick trip to the bay of E sorted me a brand new pair for under £4. I was astonished when they plopped through the postbox the very next day, that’s amazing delivery make no mistake. Bunged them on and they fit like a glove. Unlike O.J. Simpson’s. I’m after a set of these hubcaps if anyone’s got a set going spare? Has to be these ones as they are TEH SEX. Ford really know how to make a good set of trims. Not just of this era of Fiesta, take a look at the Escorts, Mondeos with the GLX swirly trims. Fucking peachy. Bonnet up and let’s have a look at that catch. It will release, but very very slightly. It doesn’t seem to feel as free as it should. Verdict: FUKD. Get a new one, greengartside. So just assessing the engine bay in general. Nice and tidy, and looks honest for 99k miles. Not su…..WAIT, what’s that? A white wire? Hmm, let’s have a look then. Speaker wire! Someone’s been bodging! It came from down near the N/S headlamp & the horn. Both of those work though, and the wire was chopped at that end. Let’s follow it and see where it goes. The fuck is this bodgery? I’ve already removed one side of the earth wire by this point. I also found this cut gubbins atop the headlamp screw point. So I carefully* removed this fire waiting to happen and disposed of it in a sensible black bin manner. I kept the fuse holder though because hoarder. All I can surmise is that the speaker wire led to one of those LED light bars that Nicky or Luke like putting on the front of their cars to make them look like a Transformer, or a Hyundai. Fair play that they actually used proper spade connectors, and not twisted the wires together and taped them like someone used to do 20 years ago. I did that with fucking stereos 😳 - I think this would also explain why there are no wheeltrims with it. Nicky or Luke fitted some 17 INCH SICK RIMZ I guess and chucked the trims away. Anyway, more updates as and when and all that.

Yep, it’s a bloody disgrace in that respect. My dad used to buy cars out of the auction in the early ‘90’s and it wasn’t anywhere near that much. They did have the fees displayed on the notice board so it wasn’t too much of a shock when I went to pay.

I see you. Nissan Micra K11 dress.

Good news from greengartside towers! I HAZ WINTA BEATA. I went up to the local car auctions yesterday as I had the week off and had nothing to do. *Pic and word heavy* I had in the back of my mind that I’d like to buy something to knock around in, although not for this winter as things are a bit shitty with a divorce underway and living back at the parents for a while until I save some serious cash up. There was no harm in me looking for something as I had the cash and a budget. I had read the auction listings online and nothing really leapt out at me. However, this place does shove a few last minute/‘ CBA to photograph’ cars in the running order so you really have to go there to view everything. Once I got there, I had a cold drink and wandered round to see what was there. Nothing really caught my eye until I got to the end of one of the rows. And there it was…. Yes, a 2005 Fiesta 1.25 Finesse, a.k.a bASe. Keep-fit windows but central locking and a CD player. I had a copy of the catalogue and it was pretty good reading on the listing. 99k with a short MOT. A quick check on the Vehicle Smart app revealed that it’s last MOT advisories were for tyres. There are 4 brand new tyres now present. Even a towbar too! I don’t think that’s had much use though. It’s never failed on anything too drastic so I thought it might be worth a shot. I sat in the auction room and listened to the bids come in for the preceding cars, it made for uncomfortable listening. A lot of them were going for waaay over the book price. An un-MOT’d Fiesta Mk7 made £2,100. Sure it may be okay, but that’s a gamble and a half if it all goes tits up. I spent my time going between the auction room and back to the Fiesta to look at it more closely. The bonnet wouldn’t open (which was probably a good thing as you’ll read later) and there was no service history and one key - so defo cambelt roulette on this. I had the key in hand so I started it. It fired up right away to reveal 3/4 of a tank of fuel and a flashing airbag light. All gears went in fine, clutch good, brakes good. No nasty noises from the steering either. Bodywork okay, the bonnet is buggered with lacquer peel but very very straight. Number plates have a Crewe postcode on them which is a long way away from Norfolk. Anyway, I had a budget and made sure I stuck to it. The time eventually comes and it starts at £500. I stick my hand up. Someone else bids £550 and I go for £600 expecting it to go on quite a bit. It doesn’t. Bang goes the gavel and I am now the owner of this fine machine. An instant wave of excitement and pure fucking fear rushes through me. What the hell just happened?! I had no intention of getting it and I had no plan of getting it home. It cost £600 plus £210 fees, so £810 in total for a running, MOT’d car. Not too bad. I paid for the car at the service desk where I was handed the V5 and a couple of old MOT’s along with the current one which was done in Cheltenham. The previous seller lived near Swindon so I have no idea how it ended up here. Checking previous MOT’s it seems to have travelled from its first home in Leeds to Crewe, then rural Gloucestershire, Cheltenham and then Swindon for a few months. So after getting home, I taxed it and put temporary insurance in place for a day which was a reasonable £25. Better than being caught by the plod. It just so happens that their main HQ is literally around the corner from the auction house - it has been known for a couple of patrol cars to be sat at the bottom of the road on auction nights pulling people over who’ve taken a chance! I then sorted bus times out which meant an early start. On my week off. Disgraceful. Anyway, collection underway. First off, walking 50 yards to the bus stop. Absolutely beautiful at 7am, I love that I lived here growing up. On the bus. I’m the only passenger! All going well until we met an oil tanker delivering to a house. No room for the bus to get through so we were forced to wait. Driver is also taking a photo and having a cheeky puff. Anyway, we got past that and then picked up school kids on the way as it was primarily a school route I was on. Jesus Christ I was one of them once, it’s amazing to see how young people’s attitudes have changed. Not necessarily for the better. Makes you think. Into Norwich for the next bus which I missed by a matter of seconds. If we hadn’t been held up by that tanker I would have made it. Never mind, another bus arrives and I hop on the short journey to Wymondham. Wymondham appears and I’m off the bus. A short-walk up to the auction house and I was back at the desk to pick up the key. I then found the Fiesta and sure enough, it fired up straight away. A quick check of the tyres and I was off. I’d love to be able to say it FTP’d spectacularly or a wheel fell off and destroyed a milk float and a small dog - but it didn’t. It drove superbly. Not a single issue, temp gauge rock steady at half, no lights on the dash. Yes, the airbag light had magically healed itself and stayed off for all the journey. A quick stop off at the shops. This thing drives absolutely fucking excellent. Not a ball of fire but who gives a shit? Home. And now it’s gone to sleep for a few months. I will get it MOT’d in December and I have every confidence it will go through with no problems. The bonnet did release, but now it won’t close. The cable is good, it’s the latch that’s the problem so I will get another one ordered. I’ll also get a set of original Finesse wheeltrims to smarten it up. Verdict? Lucky. Very lucky. Still some good cars out there and this is one of them!

Not quite shite but until five minutes ago, I never knew Norfolk Constabulary ran a Cossie in its fleet. It’s seen here in July 1994 at the scene of a man with a gun in Norwich. K552 HVG is currently SORN’d. Bonus shite Mk5 Escaaart Van in the background.

Again, not quite. My local scrapyard here in Norfolk lets me wander around and take bits off. I’ll be gutted if it ever closed.

J632 BVW - Registered 12.6.1992 - last V5 change 17.6.1992 - last taxed 30.11.1992. Last five digits of VIN were 99693

Ah that takes me back! I remember when I was working as a Saturday boy at the local Ford garage in the ‘90s the MD showed me how he used to use this device to get the key numbers for customers. Seriously cool bit of kit.

“BY JOVE, HE’S ONLY FUCKING CORRECT WHAT WHAT…”

That’s a shame, excellent MOT history on that one. 2.0 Titanium Auto, originally registered as EK08 NDV.

Happy 40th Birthday to the bASe! 🎂🎂🎂 Registered on this day in 1983.

This is the best time, waiting in anticipation to pick up a new purchase. Nothing quite like it 😁

Astonishingly good value, that. You seriously cannot lose a penny in that deal. Hope you get to the cause of the bobbling!

Spotted on Flickr by the excellent user that is Alpus. A bloody SVE! 🥵🥵🥵🥵

I didn’t realise that Kerridges had even closed down. That’s a shame.

Nice purchase. Also nice to see it repatriated back to Scotland - ‘SP’ is a Dundee area code.

Interesting watch - I was talking to a chap who works for the police as a civilian driver and he says that Norfolk Constabulary are phasing out the BMW’s and have taken delivery of a load of Volvos…

Previous owner:

That’s only vinyl stick on shit, that’ll come off easy enough, you can see it peeling around the mileage readout housing.

High-mileage 1.3 CDTi and a list of MOT PHAILS means it doesn’t look too promising for this one.

Holy thread resurrection Batman! Here’s a very early Mk7 Fiesta on an ‘08 plate. They were launched on a ‘58 plate so this one is a pre-launch model. I’ve only ever seen one more ‘08’. on eBay… https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166083823234?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=z4E5EFEsTfu&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=2OenAfhOTCK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY