purplebargeken

Nice fettling.

I was driving Mrs PBK's then new Micra (1994 or 95), I was waiting to turn right and got hit by a car travelling at around 40mph, the impact shunted the Micra forward a couple of house lengths further down t he road. had to go through loads of hassle re: whiplash claim. I then discovered about 18 months or so back that the impact had fractured one of the vertebrae in my neck.

Smashing car, well worth spending on it and it looks a bit quirky too. Much like.

The Mk3 2.9's drive really nicely. Such lovely cars, the best that Ford ever did I think.

Just back from Berlin. Had a brilliant time! Saw everything on my list barr the Trabi museum, I like Trabis and have driven one, that was great fun. The Reichstag building was awesome. Berlin was a wonderful place, very nice people, lovely and clean, only heard annoyed car horns on two occasions. Nice selection of food but not much traditional German stuff. Had a couple of currywursts instead. The best one was in the food hall of the Mall of Berlin. I remembered enough German not to make a twat of myself too. They had a Lidl which was bloody posh. I compared it to the one in Tottenham on the way home this evening. The one in Tottenham had a security guard on the door. Sigh....... I'm back in London then. Fuck.

Leaving for Berlin at 05.00hrs. 3 and a bit days of exploring and hopefully some relaxation. All on my own. Whoohoo.

Realised a bit of an update is required. The witches brew finally soaked away into the bores which remain fairly welded in place. The thermostat was removed and the coolant was cunningly replaced by a solid crystalline mass at some point in time. It's fucking fucked mate. Anyhoo. I have been slowly accruing bits for the car and have found seat covers to fettle and they will replace the original knackered ones. I have a replacement engine, gearbox and subframe in the other, now empty garage. I am stripping the new subframe of dirt, old paint and surface rust in preparation for rust killing and painting. The engine will be separated from the subframe so that I can do a proper job on the subframe as well as take off the sump to clean it all up. I have a spare set of steering rack polybushes which will be fitted. A service will be carried out and all the missing bits replaced with stuff from the original car. I will sort out the bodywork in the engine bay when I get rid of the old lump. It'll make it easier to sort with proper access. I need to get my arse in gear as I have about 2 months and a bit before I have to vacate the council lock up as they are refurbing the whole lot. I may just insure the red one, it is tax and MOT exempt and park it up outside the house where I can work on it until the garage is sorted. It'll be road legal just completely immobile. Not many options available really. The temp lock up will be full of spares and stuff.

I would, faulty hose, cooked my engine, blah, grrr, blah, grrr, shite quality, grrrr. Well worth a try anyhoo.

At least they are giving me time to try and deal with shit. It's the sheer volume of stuff that I have, tools, genny, panels and so on. I have sent the person an email saying that I would need an alternative garage in the interim. Not much else I can do. Private rented stuff if £250+ a month round here. If it's a few months notice then I can at least get the engine and gearbox in the 2 door Toledo which would make it easier. Really not a good time for this but that is indeed life.

Just had a letter from the council. They are planning to refurb the garages that currently hold the 2 door Toledo plus tons of bits and pieces. The work will be completed in 3 phases within this financial year. I will be issued with a 28 day notice to quite whilst they refurb, they are offering alternatives depending on demand and availability. Hmmm. This is going to cause me untold grief, I have tons of stuff to move and no way of doing it. I will have to move the 2 door car to somewhere else, no idea where. I just wonder if this is the death knell for my hobby in all honesty.

Si, the Dolly is a pretty rigid car anyway and shouldn't be an issue with chopping the floor pan section out.

Si, I would lash out and get the entire drivers side footwell panel. It would eradicate any future work in that area and the panel is excellent quality and fit.

I like Webastos but at this age the frailty would scare me. Floor sections look pretty solid mate. Coverdale for the carpet!!!!

That's dedication, much respect. Can anyone beat that, I wonder? Nope, that is just daft (hindsight is an amazing thing). I could have (read, should have) just just chosen maybe a dozen really, really good ones and saved myself a fecking fortune. The ones I should have kept: The London Taxi The Land Rover 110 The white Daf 44 The Triumph 1500TC auto The Triumph 1850HL auto The Ford Granada 2.3GL auto The Volvo 940 Wentworth auto estate The odd colour blue Triumph Toledo The black VW Beetle (modern one) The red Ford Galaxy The blue Mitsubishi Space Runner One of the Mk3 2.9 Ford Granadas Hey ho.

Buy another car for a few hundred quid, something will go wrong, get rid of it, repeat ad infinitum. Buy a car for a few hundred quid, if something goes wrong but you really like the car, it drives well, it's comfy and does the job well enough then take the plunge and get it fixed properly, enjoy the car thereafter. After over 600 cars I finally have reached that point with the Rover. It's a fine car, I will get it fixed if it fucks up. Am not going to spend thousands on it mind, but will get it fixed for normal shite stuff.