Lacquer Peel

this is what came out the carpets and seats..
 
 
Anyways, we moved on to the Exterior.
As @Dave_Q mentioned above, these were a run out "Taxi Special".
Any colour you want as long as it was metallic black
Windy windows in the back
No AC
No trip computer.
 
So it should be black? Only in the shutlines!

The car itself is painted, not wrapped. 
It appears to be something that is almost like a lime wash😂
 
Handily, this lends itself to propagation of numerous lifeforms as photographed below.

Fast forward bro Saturday and I was over at the Clio doing some welding.
@jaypee was also in attendance and keen* to get stuck into this tub!
 
Many thanks to him for all his graft!
Much hoover and @sdkrc's wet vac were deployed to great success.


 
The rear seats are incredibly easy to remove for cleaning, and the fronts are a couple of nuts and a couple of grub screws each.

Before anyone asks, no the 323f is not mine nor is it for sale!





 
Over lunch we had a "Skoda Inception" by sitting in an Octavia, looking at an Octavia. Both had done time as private hire vehicles, and despite 7 years (and two iterations) between them, the mileage difference is only 50k.

Suffice to say @jaypee 's MK3 Octavia has had a much easier life doing airport transfer runs!
The interior is now so much nicer it is hard to believe it is the same car!
This was independently* verified by @sdkrc on a jaunt in it on Sunday.
 
 

With that done it was time for deployment.
I went out to the car on Wednesday morning and realised 2 things:
1. The heated rear windscreen switch on MK1 Octavia's has no warning light and will remain pressed in.
2. The cig lighter socket is a permanent live - so the Bluetooth to FM doodad I had plugged in had drained the battery overnight.
I swapped the battery for a charged one - the one from the car was from 2016 and still had one of the vent holes blocked from shipping..

It went onto charge and seems to have come round alright. It'll get refitted in good time.
then it was off up the rank

 
JOAKS!
I was assisting @Lacquer Peel dae an flitting.
The boot on these hatchbacks are pretty spacious.

 

A bit more of the bitsa interior. Upside- it’s semi trashed so very usable. (OSR door card- partially eaten by a dog?)


Dog guard secured by a ww2 soviet machine gun sling
The headlining is just the backing only, as it the internal a b c d pillar trim-

The NSR 1/4 window still has the breakers yard markings on it for extra couldnt give a fuck points. Actually this glass is more tinted, and is optikool rather than the other side windows being triplex- so off a later model i think.
 
Farthest off road so far

Verdict- must try harder
 

Just behind where the passenger side fog light blank/grill would be is where the transmission cooler lives, Make sure you check it for leaks as it has a hard time as it quite exposed to road crud and the steel pipe fittings cause it to corrode as it’s alloy, I’ve actually seen them corrode to the point where the pipes have actually snapped off with corrosion. 
Fun fact - you could never spec a p38 diesel auto with fog lights due to the location of the transmission cooler but you can spec them on the manual p38 diesel 

Ive got to say i just dismissed the p38 as junk but basically its nicer to drive, less rot prone and WAY cheaper than a classic, and also more unusual than an L322. As those age they are throwing up their own issues (weirdly they seem more rot prone than a p38)

Actually it seems to have been a rarely washed  L322 

P38 still going well, Quite a relaxed drive- not fast but it makes you relax and waft. It came with a George Michael cd in the player. Didnt he crash one into some parked cars at some point?
Anyway I decided to slap a plate I had on it to add to the old money vibe….

P38 now has full oem rear underlay/ carpeting fitted . The underlay is rubber/ foam backed and has made quite a difference to the interior noise levels. 
I went for a walk along a disused railway with a misbehaving beagle and got a picture of the p38, and its reputation.

Which on the basis of my experience so far, is unfounded.

Also had been meaning to take a pic of this…

Because patina

Quietly confident about the MOT on Wednesday.



Gingernutzz' work from October 2022 still looks fresh. I gave the front offside jacking point a wire brush then a coat of stonechip. Then the entire sills and floorpans got brushed over with lanolin underseal, plus the rear arches too.
 
All the lights seem to work, no fluids pissing out, all the tyres are round and full of air.
I guess all I can do is submit it for its test!

Nope!
Still fucked.

I didn't get far. About 100 yards out the end of the track...

When I turned round it felt like it misfired briefly though...

Oh look what arrived while I was out!

Due to being dowsed in penetrating fluid for a couple of days, it just went ping with a 2ft breaker bar.

I may test drive it... tomorrow.

Well, that's their story.

Are you supposed to declare stereos now?
Frankly, any of those things is not a mod I would bother declaring.  Plenty of people wouldn't even know they weren't standard.
On our shite cars, what are the insurance going to pay for the vehicle in the event of a claim anyway? The square root of fuck all.  What you're really paying for is liability coverage.  They can't weasel out of third party claims because of a non-standard air filter so why worry?  
By declaring it to be 'modified' you're putting yourself in a whole other category and paying the insurance grifters hundreds extra for no reason.

At least it's clean outside..

As alluded to above, @loserone took some antihistamines and trooped north, arriving at mine in good time.

I then took over for the last hour to Clio Stu's
It was all I had hoped*



 
All things considered, it drives fucking lovely! Bit of a shudder from the brakes and the shocks are not in their first flush of youth..but it boosts!

Remind me who it was who had to drive the thing north instead of just getting a lift from the nice mister @gm in his mini.
 
Honestly, it was a fine experience except for being allergic to dogs.

It is a tale as old as time.
Boy convinces mate that a Clio 182 is a fine plan.
Mate buys Clio 182.
Inevitably, mechanical maladies abound.
Clio 182 returns to its natural habitat.
Clio Stu works his magic.
Clio 182 is ready for collection.
 
At this point, @loserone decides to repay the misery I foist upon him Clio 182 wise by letting me know of the existence of this fine specimen...

It's a 2009! MK1 Octavia 100 pd..
Low mileage

 
Never raced or rallied, but extensively mini-cabbed (and doggo cabbed)

 
Nevertheless, it forged northwards in fine fashion

Me 'usband was a player, 'e was shagging at 83
it wouldn't be a problem, but that was 2 doors up from me
so we bought ourselves a Transit, to get away from  'ome
an'  camped up in a car park, to quell 'is testosterone

I asked the bugger nicely to get the washin' out on peg
but 2 minutes after this photo, 'e whipped out 'is middle leg ! 
So in a fit of rage, an' to dampen 'is desire
I threw all of 'is bongo mags out onto the old camp fire

That shut the randy bastard up alright,  an' put a stop to 'is cheap thrill
now 'e's sitting by the kettle with a face like a week in Rhyl
I'll put some bromide in 'is tea to stop 'is 'ands from roamin'
an' shove that Thermos up 'is arse if 'e don't stop 'is moanin' 

The next day was much better, 'e put 'is trousers on for me
but I need to put some jam on 'is shoes, an' invite the bastards down for tea
The bucket under the table is filled with sponges and bog roll, of course
'
...coz when 'e goes out for 'is ablutions, 'e pisses like an 'orse

Ford Transit camper van conversion - Collection Only | eBay

Edit:

  We collected from even further north than they were, had to make a pit stop at their unit in Thornaby!

That was the trip where Cabbage learned the instrument binnacle is always lit in a BX even when the headlights are off, which is why he was finding it hard to see where he was going on the way to the fuel station.  BX headlights can be bad but not *that* bad.

Thought I recognised that! It's my brother Will's old one.

This is the day we collected it from @vulgalour @Mike_Knight and @chompy_snake in the ex- @M'coli 106  

Freddy Kruger's selling his Capri

ford capri classic cars | eBay
It used to be a beige 1.3.