Sam Glover

It seems that I inadvertently pissed on this picnic.
 
I spent yesterday morning looking at the Duster intently, following Ben's alert in Ebay Tat. I had to do some work in the afternoon, sadly, so placed an emergency snipe.
 
Autoshite should've been rechecked first, of course. I stumbled here last night to brag about my purchase... and found this thread. However, I can't guarantee that happening upon it yesterday would've made me less of a bastard – owning one quarter of a Duster would only lead to fighting later.
 
I, too, have been looking for one for almost half a decade (by way of proof, I attach a picture from 2008 of me having a great time with an ARO-10). And having found a Shifter and a Denem in the meantime, its desirability increased like the third street in a Monopoly property group. Plus, if I have to drive to the UK in an ARO TV filled with spares for my current crop of four Romanian restoration projects anyway - what's a fifth?
 
Collection is scheduled for Sunday. I'll report back.
 
Edd: you know where it is. If my plans for world domination fail and I have to sell it, I'll give you first refusal. If you ever feel moved to lift your Romanian gypsy curse on my future family, I'll be ever so grateful.
 
Sam
 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Duster collection went swimmingly. Pics below.
 
The seller - John - was a good egg. He bought it somewhere around 20 years ago from a 'local old boy', used it to drag stuff around his yard for a while, then laid it up in a barn with a 'protective' film of used engine oil.
 
I suspect that it's mileage of 6700 is genuine. But I also suspect that most of these have been covered in first gear with a hay cart on the back and the pickup bay filled with old Transit engines.
 
The chassis is decent. The body's bent and has plenty of rusty holes, but it's largely saveable. I haven't had time to play with it mechanically, yet. According to John, it's fundamentally decent. But a cursory inspection suggests that it's never been serviced and that almost every consumable item - CV joints, wheel bearings, anything made of rubber, etc. - is well and truly consumed.
 
There's plenty to add to my already substantial Romanian shopping list. A Dacia Liberta might be required to accommodate the overflow of parts from the ARO TV...
 
John has various other treasures buried in his man-shed complex: a rusty Chrysler 180, a rusty MkI Fiat Panda, numerous rusty Panda Sisleys, a rusty Triumph Toledo, a rusty Mini van, a rusty MkII transit and various newer things - all rusty. If any of this floats anyone's boat, send me a PM and I'll forward his telephone number.
 
He does have one absolute marvel, though: a not-particularly-rusty Fiat (Seat) 133. I've resisted the urge to offer him money for it all week. I suspect I won't last the weekend, though. The more I look into these, the more appealing they become. 
 
Trigger's Retro Road Test from CAR, December 1975, is the clincher - any small car that beats an Imp in the 'driver appeal' category is an absolute winner in my book. Just look at the majesty with which it traverses the corner on page 3.
 
March forward!
 
Sam
 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings all ive been a outside lurker on this very forum for some while so thought i might lower the tone and post things
i shall open posting with my garage services/farm hand spec escort van weldathon that i'm going to have a crack at despite no driveway, extremely old but liberal neighbours, a 1984 themed town council, and an extension that literally only just reachs the road and half of a 200 litre chemical drum 
 
pics as always speak louder than 1 dimensional written text
 

 
The scene earlier, one victim of depreciation and a communist throwback, the old neighbour came out to see why activity had suddenly went up 5000% on the street and had a poke at the jump leads offering tea bags,,milk, sugar etc
main thing gleaned from the jump start though was the skoda actually has the net result of basically having no positive effect of the stricken battery  i'm unsure one how it can actually look after its own one tbh
 

Mould growth and pointless tat,,,,check
 

a typical 1970s AA book of the car would i assume caption this as excessive toe out
 

spring sagging on this side for no reason and dampers have less control of the beam as a battered sausage
 

 
initial investigations of the sill show my favourit go nowhere repair, rotten inner with a cover sill nicely blended in with window putty seems like its serious rot local to the sill/cill but excellent floor so saveable with some carefull tin bashing , also forward leaf spring hangers are beyond being considered a mounting anymore,,so some fabrication there too (the future mrs eyes glazed over when i mentioned that the back of the van must be unusualy heavy given the front NS wheel joining the OS one despite being quite far off the centerline jack wise )

old out sill chopped,,,and new material donor from work note my DSS garden condition
 
apologies in advance if this is too miserable a saga to be posted up but if the concensus is that its passably bearable i shall update as i trundle through the banal minutea of MOTting it!
 
 

It seems that I inadvertently pissed on this picnic.
 
I spent yesterday morning looking at the Duster intently, following Ben's alert in Ebay Tat. I had to do some work in the afternoon, sadly, so placed an emergency snipe.
 
Autoshite should've been rechecked first, of course. I stumbled here last night to brag about my purchase... and found this thread. However, I can't guarantee that happening upon it yesterday would've made me less of a bastard – owning one quarter of a Duster would only lead to fighting later.
 
I, too, have been looking for one for almost half a decade (by way of proof, I attach a picture from 2008 of me having a great time with an ARO-10). And having found a Shifter and a Denem in the meantime, its desirability increased like the third street in a Monopoly property group. Plus, if I have to drive to the UK in an ARO TV filled with spares for my current crop of four Romanian restoration projects anyway - what's a fifth?
 
Collection is scheduled for Sunday. I'll report back.
 
Edd: you know where it is. If my plans for world domination fail and I have to sell it, I'll give you first refusal. If you ever feel moved to lift your Romanian gypsy curse on my future family, I'll be ever so grateful.
 
Sam