Tartan58

That is truly amazing.

A primary school friend's parents had one of these in metallic green, sitting in the 3rd row of seats was the coolest thing ever as a 7yr old (until they replaced it with a VW camper, traveling in the back of that was sub zero!)



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The now is easy, Skoda Superb estate no contest.

In 1995, no idea what they cost but a Rover R8 tourer would be lovely, or the civic version was nice too - or if the budget would stretch to an Accord Aerodeck (if they still existed in 95) that would be just fine.

Edit: can't believe I forgot the Legacy Outback, would that be in budget? I'll have that one.

On 16/11/2023 at 13:17, puddlethumper said:

That plate needs to be on one of these:

Pre face-lift R50 Bini?
As the current range gets ever more bloated, the "originals" begin to look truer to the real original.
They're at the age now where they are not worth repairing for most folks so are becoming a rarer sight on the roads.

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Get your stupid face off that (Vauxhall Cavalier) Expression is another memorable one.


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Have we had the Renault Clio Be Bop yet
or the Golf Umwelt?

Oh and I drive an AMG-Line Meredes, it's an electric SUV and thankfully the only AMG badges are on the floor mats otherwise I'd feel a right pillock driving it.

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16 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Blessed are the pure in heart

Genuinely didn't make the connection to another less innocent word - now that's all I'll see. You've poisoned my mind!

On my lunchtime walk I pass a Ferarri (modern thing, I struggle to identify anything after the 360) with the plate 50 CK, correctly spaced. Took me several weeks of seeing it every day to think hmm that could say SOCK.

Also in the drive is a Range Rover with 300 CK so I'm guessing his initials are CK and the fact it could maybe spell Sock is coincidence.

Another 3 months and at last a significant moment - the crusty old subframe is at last released from the car.

Was straightforward enough in the end, the most fiddly but being feeding the PAS reservoir down through the engine bay which was much easier after removing the manifold heat shield.

Considering a new career as a contosionist after struggling with this in a narrow single garage.

The original plan was to get as much off and loosened as possible in the garage then move it out onto the drive for the final removal but didn't fancy the cold so decided to tackle it in the garage.

Next step is to remove the sterring rack from the subframe, I'm in two minds whether to replace it as a precaution as I don't fancy doing this job again and the pumps are a well known weak point.
Then its giving all the usually inaccessible bits a good clean up before fitting the new shiny subframe.

A bit anxious about the refit, getting everything lined up properly!


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Day off today and monsoon conditions so spent some more time with the Bini.

'New' subframe cleaned up and the surface rust sanded back with wire wheel, treated and painted - good stuff this, goes on really well. A bit more shiny than I was expecting (supposed to be satin) but overall I'm pretty happy. (notice retro Apple monitor box)

Also got the suspension struts off for cleaning up, these were good 2nd hand items I fitted last year but didnt bother to clean them up as was really only interested in getting a mot pass. Crusty old subframe can be seen.

Now thinking while I'm in there I should do the wheel bearings and that driveshaft is looking a bit crispy and signs of a leak at the gearbox end which has got me thinking about a 6 speed upgrade (while I'm in there) but I think that may be a step too far this year, I'm forever guilty of biting off more than I can chew)

21 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Just caught up with this thread and it some great reading.  

Im assuming having hit rock bottom/scrap value these early new minis are now on the way up value wise? 

Generally prices do seem to be up recently however I think that's probably more down to the general increase in 2nd hand values across the board but there certainly don't seem to be many out there for under a grand these days.

Those "in the know" will go weak at the knee for an early Y-reg, especially the pre-production OBLs but we are still a bit away from them being a widley recognised classic.

13 months later....

Not much has happened of note, an MOT pass achieved back in June with a slightly shorter list of advisories, front and rear discs and pads done as well as a temporary rebuild to the rear callipers. I say temporary as it was good enough to free off the slight stickiness but they'll probably need replaced soon. 

In (slightly) more interesting news now that the winter is here again it is back on SORN and some more serious spannering has been going on...

Over the last couple of weeks I've embarked on the job I've been dreading, replacing the control arm rear bushes. These were an advisory on the MOT but the front end was beginning to feel awfully wobbly and the old tyre kick test didn't yield pleasant results.

The reason for my dread is that this is a subframe off job and given that I'm still not quite over the trauma of replacing the strut top mounts 2 years ago (horrifically seized bolts everywhere) I wasn't looking forward to this one.

So first job was to enable front end service mode and much struggling with rusty screws and nuts that would rather disintegrate than turn we have this...

Next it's out with the big breaker bar to see if any of the subframe bolts are going to play ball and surprisingly and with relative ease all but one have yielded so they've been removed one at a time, cleaned up and refitted with copper grease so when I come to finally drop the subframe there should be no problems. The one that is resisting will come out once I get a new removal socket as I managed to snap the 16mm socket while trying to get it off and a standard socket is starting to slip so I don't want to mangle the thing. Learning from experience here, more haste less speed, I've got 6 months to do this job!

Now having lived on the east coast of Scotland for 21 years the subframe is looking pretty crusty so I took a punt on a second hand subframe from ebay, the plan being to get it refurbed and built up with new bushes etc before doing the swap.

So a couple of days ago this arrived (don't know why the photo insists on being upside-down):

Really chuffed with it, it is remarkably clean with only a few small bits of surface rust which can be easily dealt with. It also came complete with the ARB and control arms and all the bushes which all look in pretty good nick. However I'll probably replace all the bushes with new ones anyway as I don't really want to be doing this job again anytime soon.

The breaker bar came out to start stripping the components off the 'new' subframe which again amazingly all came apart with very little swearing required.

Next job will be to thoroughly degrease and clean everything, treat the rust and apply some chassis paint before fitting the new bushes.

However as I've run out of degreaser and can't be bothered going down to Halfords today I've quit while I'm ahead for the moment.

Watch this space for more exciting updates.

What can I say - just wow.

Missed this thread first time round but this is fantastic, I would be happy just to have that as a garden ornament.

These are one of the cars that shaped my love of cars, one of my earliest memories is sitting on the floor of my grandparents living room looking at the pictures in an SM brochure that my grandad had.  

One of my biggest regrets is passing up on the chance to knock about in a bronze example for the weekend - the background to that is that for my 30th birthday we hired an E-type for a weekend trip, however the the previous hiree returned it with a borked gearbox so I was offered either a mk2 Jag or the SM, fearing that the SM would likely leave us stranded somewhere I went for the Mk2, I wish I'd just been a bit braver as that opportunity will probably never come about again.

"Are you going to have to change car because of fuel prices?"

Nope, just going to maximise my use of my company car - EV with free (for now) charging at work #smugf***er

Seriously though I realise I am in an extremely fortunate position and would be extremely worried if I was still running my own car for work. However I do fully expect to be shafted by the leccy prices at some point in the not too distant future.

The Bini still has a third of a tank (last filled up in August so I'm probably good until the summer) and my in wife's Hyundai i30 a full tank usually lasts 4-6 weeks despite being surprisingly uneconomical for a 1.0T.

7 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

In the UK, your car will always have its own registration plate and I've never heard of it being given to another. So when you want your private plate back, you write to DVLA who then tell you to use the old one.

So wise friends, if you ever buy a private plate, don't throw away the old one. Put it back on when you sell the car 😃

 

Not always the case - I bought a brand new car (one and only time) and had my private plate put on before delivery, however the dealer seemingly assigned it a normal plate first before transferring on my private one. When I came to sell it on I though I'd save a bit of time and got new plates made up with the originally assigned plate before I got the paperwork back so I'd be ready to fit them right away. But when the paperwork came back the DVLA had assigned it a completely different number so the plates I had ready were a complete waste of money!

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

VW agree with you. Probably.

Yes, I'm a visionary - never mind that that article is from 2017!

Never seen that before, still looks fresh for a 20yr old design.

I reckon that would sell well as an EV.

On 9/28/2021 at 8:52 AM, JimH said:

Most coulda shoulda cars didn't go anywhere because they were actually a bad idea. The one that baffles me why they have never done it is a proper MX-5 GT. 

Not some lame assed metal folding top thing or that bloody stupid RF targa crap but a proper MGB GT style fastback coupe with a proper hatch and a proper load deck. Obviously they aren't going to give the emergency get home from the pub rear seat the MG had any more but wouldn't it be nice to have an MX-5 that you could squeeze the dogs in?

There was a factory JDM coupe, and a rather good looking thing it is too, a bit like a mini DB9 if you squint a bit.

Didn't get the hatch or any more space inside though.

13 minutes ago, mcmolloy1 said:

There's a R11 on copart at the moment if anyone's interested

Phwoooorrrr - beige, sherk plates, giffer stickers - i think I've just had a little accident.

Last taxed 22 years ago, looks like it's been carefully stored over that time as it looks like it will just drive away.

Shit - now look what you've made me do...

https://www.theparking-cars.co.uk/used-cars-detail/renault-11/renault-11-1-4l-68cv/ZC8988F4.html

Rubbish photo and no information but I could easily live with that price and Normandie to Edinburgh isn't too far is it?

Well bought.

I'd love an 11, pre facelift though.

My folks had a Broadway edition in metallic beige with beige interior, that would be the holy grail for me - it's the first family car I really have many memories of (had and R14 and BMW 2002tii prior to that but I was too young to remember much).

I still have the Haynes manual and original dealer front number plate.

1 on the road and 9 on SORN according to howmanyleft so there's a small chance I might find one one day.

On 9/3/2021 at 1:37 PM, Tadhg Tiogar said:

Spotted on the BBC News website:

Seems it's not the only one.....

Drove down that lane about 3 years back when trying to trace the route of a watercourse, there were probably a good 5 or 6 P6's scattered about the place, all in various states of disrepair.

With my own money, probably not but at work we were given the chance to give up our monthly car allowance and take a fully electric company car instead (with free - for now - charging at the office). To be honest my motivations for taking them up on this had little to do with saving the planet and much to do with calculating that I'd be around £250 a month better off by doing so.

I've had it a week now and to be fair it does give me a warm glow of superiority over all those peasants in their dirty IC's (or maybe that's the lithium radiation talking).

To tell you the truth even though I've only had it a week I'd struggle to go back to a 'normal' car, it's such a lovely and relaxing thing to drive - yes it embodies everything I used to hate (believing cars should be fully analogue) but for daily driving on todays congested roads it really is the future*, and if I can feel good about saving the planet too (don't start...) then all the better.

Seen a few variations on the "My other car's a ..." theme:

• My other car's a heap of shite too (seen on a Lada in the 90s)
• This is my other car (on a Porsche)

Back when I had a "real" Mini I got one made up which said "16 Valve - 8 in engine, 4 in the tyres & the rest in the radio" - a bit of a mouthful but I though it was terribly amusing.

"100% free of BMW parts" was also popular when the Bini came out, had that across the back screen of mine and parked it outside the BMW dealer while I went for a test drive in the Bini when it came out - fortunately the salesman found it funny.

Carista is pretty good in my experience and dead easy to use, done loads to my last 3 Skodas, enable DRLs, cornering fogs, MFD features stuff like that, . There's a monthly subscription if you want it do do anything more than read codes but it's something like £10 so just cancel after a month once you've done what you want to, or do as I did and sign up as a Beta tester and get it for free along with some additional features that haven't been released on the subscription app.

Best one was changing the throttle response on the current Karoq, totally transformed the way the car drove, felt like I'd had a remap. Can even change the way it splits power to front and rear axels to make it more bias towards the rear wheels which I thought was pretty clever but not bothered with that as let's face it its a big lump of and SUV not a sports car!