phil_lihp

On the subject of small 80s hatchbacks...
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-CLASSIC-ROVER-METRO-GTA-1275cc-RED-3-DOOR-HOT-OLDSKOOL-HATCHBACK-/111270972205?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19e8444b2d
 

 
Just a bit of paintwork to sort out, very wantable.

On the subject of small 80s hatchbacks...
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-CLASSIC-ROVER-METRO-GTA-1275cc-RED-3-DOOR-HOT-OLDSKOOL-HATCHBACK-/111270972205?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19e8444b2d
 

 
Just a bit of paintwork to sort out, very wantable.

The Maserati gets my vote, very pretty cars and a bit more unusual than a 911.  Personally for me a 'proper' 911 is an 80s Targa Turbo in white with whale tail spoiler though so I am probably best ignored on this matter.  How about a really good 8-series though?
 
Back down to earth, this looks rather nice despite the hopeless title and photos, none of which show the entire car.  I wondered why he'd put the dash clocks photo as the primary one but in all honesty it's the best of the lot.
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-Cars-/251443248962?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3a8b2f7f42
 

On the subject of small 80s hatchbacks...
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1990-CLASSIC-ROVER-METRO-GTA-1275cc-RED-3-DOOR-HOT-OLDSKOOL-HATCHBACK-/111270972205?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19e8444b2d
 

 
Just a bit of paintwork to sort out, very wantable.

the rope is a muzzle to stop it biting people

I CAN HAZ MOT
 
Full update to follow including the original 42 point fail.

I should be in attendence. I'm not sure how alive I'll be as I will be at a mates house party the previous night, but I am determined that I will be at this.

I think those wheeltrims are about £12 a set in Halfords, too.

Each to their own, at the end of the day he owns it and therefore has the rights to do whatever he wants with it and it was built to be driven.  This is the reason I have passed up on several low-mileage, immaculate older cars even when they're cheap, deeply desirable though they are, I know that it will deteriorate if I have it because to me a car is useless unless it works for a living.  It'll get washed and maintained but probably not to the high level it might need, plus it'll be used to cart all manner of grubby bikes, dogs etc. around and there's no point spoiling a really nice example for that. 
 
I suspect his big enemy with the Victor will be winter road salt, it's bound to have some effect but if he can keep on top of it then good on him, he'll certainly stand out amongst the Audis and BMWs in the office car park.

I think those wheeltrims are about £12 a set in Halfords, too.

Each to their own, at the end of the day he owns it and therefore has the rights to do whatever he wants with it and it was built to be driven.  This is the reason I have passed up on several low-mileage, immaculate older cars even when they're cheap, deeply desirable though they are, I know that it will deteriorate if I have it because to me a car is useless unless it works for a living.  It'll get washed and maintained but probably not to the high level it might need, plus it'll be used to cart all manner of grubby bikes, dogs etc. around and there's no point spoiling a really nice example for that. 
 
I suspect his big enemy with the Victor will be winter road salt, it's bound to have some effect but if he can keep on top of it then good on him, he'll certainly stand out amongst the Audis and BMWs in the office car park.

I will see you all at the auction house. I'll be wearing a bowler hat and a carrying a copy of Jallopy* under my arm. The pass phrase is 'This car looks clean in the dark' the response to be 'but tomorrow the sun will shine and the rust will show'.
 
*I don't own either a bowler hat or a copy of Jallopy.

I think those wheeltrims are about £12 a set in Halfords, too.

I think those wheeltrims are about £12 a set in Halfords, too.

I think those wheeltrims are about £12 a set in Halfords, too.

Poor quality minty green Volvo spot, looks tiny next to the modern stuff either side.
 

That was taken straight out of the tourist brochure, wasn't it?

Poor quality minty green Volvo spot, looks tiny next to the modern stuff either side.
 

That was taken straight out of the tourist brochure, wasn't it?

If you're aiming for an authentic restoration of a BL product, this phrase is essential, especially when lining up body panels.
 
Looking forward to seeing this make its way to an MOT centre soon, can't be much left to do now.

Small update time.
 
I had high hopes of changing the front brake pads today but woke up early and decided to join some friends for an 8 mile run round the North Devon coast in glorious sunshine instead.  As the weather continued to hold, I did decide to head up to the lockup later in the day for a couple of hours of bodywork fettling.  
 
I'd been up yesterday to get something out of the boot and was a bit alarmed when I opened the door.  It's been in there for a couple of weeks and the combination of road salt and being kept alternately on a driveway 200 yards from the sea and in a garage that leaks like a sieve is not doing it much good.  Some of the rust blobs it had when I got it had turned a bright orange and got bigger in a very short space of time.  I went round each rust blister with some wire wool and quickly daubed on some Kurust to try and stave off any further rot just before I ran out of daylight.
 
Today I rolled it out into the sunshine and frankly the smeary purple Kurust treatment didn't look too good but it had worked.  I finished off the side I couldn't get to in the garage with wire wool and sandpaper and then realised that leaving it unprotected meant the rot wouldn't stay away for long so decided to apply some of this:
 
 
I got this a few weeks ago for this very purpose.  I can now say that there is not a single visible bit of rust anywhere on the bodywork.  Frankly, however, the car's probably not looking its best at the moment (click on images for a bigger version). 
 
   
 Concours it is not.  I was worried that it would look like it had been vandalised but it was strangely satisfying to see the scruffy, patchy bits disappear under a thick coat of nice clean grey paint.  Yes, it looks awful but in the spring I'll rub it all back and apply paint and for now it's protecting it from any further deterioration.  It's never going to look showroom fresh but it should be presentable when its done. I will also be slathering plenty of this under the wheelarches, floor and anywhere else I can to protect the undersides at some point.    
On the plus side, I left it idling for a good 15-20 minutes and not a single drop of coolant has gone, plus there seems to be very minimal oil loss so mechanically it's pretty sorted now, just a service to get round to.

The XM was fixed some time ago. It turned out to be the union rather than the pipe that was at fault. Fuck knows what the fault was though but a new union did fix it, even if it did look exactly the same as the original.
 
I have been tooling around in it ever since, and apart from welding up a small hole on the exhaust and attempting to fix a rattly heat shield (which then just made it make a more annoying rattle) it has been a superb old barge. It has saved itself from the bridge by being such cheap and comfortable transport so I got in touch with fellow XM owning auto-shiter Lankytim who is breaking a knackered XM to help fix his good one. I belted up to Stoke on Trent to nab a few bits, including a new front bumper, clock, door mirror and a couple of other assorted bits and pieces, including this rather spiffing glass partition. It sits between the front seat and the rear hatch to stop the nice warm air in the car escaping when the boot is opened.

Not something I have ever considered to be a problem, but I should imagine that if the President of France was busy trying to shag his mistress in the back when his security guard opens the boot to find a baguette or whatever then the sudden chill would be a bit off putting.
 
Here is Lankytim's XM with mine. Yet another top bloke, as seems to be the norm with the inhabitants of Autoshite. Highly recommended autoshiter A++++++++++

 
Of course the journey there wasn't entirely smooth. I set off bright and early, zipped off the drive, down the street and onto the main road where it set off with all the pace of a one legged, obese tortoise and then cut out. After much cranking it set off, and then cut out, and then did the same again, and again and then set off without cutting out and proceeded with the accelerator to the floor at a leisurely 28-30mph and not any more, no matter what I tried. Until I had driven 2 miles and then it very suddenly set off like a cat on speed, to my sudden surprise, and was fine for the rest of the journey. To combat this situation I have lobbed in a full tank of actual diesel (for the first time since I've owned it) and some RedX diesel system cleaner. We'll find out tomorrow if that has made any change when I either pull out onto the main road without incident or pull out at 2mph, cut out and and obliterated by an arctic.

Small update time.
 
I had high hopes of changing the front brake pads today but woke up early and decided to join some friends for an 8 mile run round the North Devon coast in glorious sunshine instead.  As the weather continued to hold, I did decide to head up to the lockup later in the day for a couple of hours of bodywork fettling.  
 
I'd been up yesterday to get something out of the boot and was a bit alarmed when I opened the door.  It's been in there for a couple of weeks and the combination of road salt and being kept alternately on a driveway 200 yards from the sea and in a garage that leaks like a sieve is not doing it much good.  Some of the rust blobs it had when I got it had turned a bright orange and got bigger in a very short space of time.  I went round each rust blister with some wire wool and quickly daubed on some Kurust to try and stave off any further rot just before I ran out of daylight.
 
Today I rolled it out into the sunshine and frankly the smeary purple Kurust treatment didn't look too good but it had worked.  I finished off the side I couldn't get to in the garage with wire wool and sandpaper and then realised that leaving it unprotected meant the rot wouldn't stay away for long so decided to apply some of this:
 
 
I got this a few weeks ago for this very purpose.  I can now say that there is not a single visible bit of rust anywhere on the bodywork.  Frankly, however, the car's probably not looking its best at the moment (click on images for a bigger version). 
 
   
 Concours it is not.  I was worried that it would look like it had been vandalised but it was strangely satisfying to see the scruffy, patchy bits disappear under a thick coat of nice clean grey paint.  Yes, it looks awful but in the spring I'll rub it all back and apply paint and for now it's protecting it from any further deterioration.  It's never going to look showroom fresh but it should be presentable when its done. I will also be slathering plenty of this under the wheelarches, floor and anywhere else I can to protect the undersides at some point.    
On the plus side, I left it idling for a good 15-20 minutes and not a single drop of coolant has gone, plus there seems to be very minimal oil loss so mechanically it's pretty sorted now, just a service to get round to.

Small update time.
 
I had high hopes of changing the front brake pads today but woke up early and decided to join some friends for an 8 mile run round the North Devon coast in glorious sunshine instead.  As the weather continued to hold, I did decide to head up to the lockup later in the day for a couple of hours of bodywork fettling.  
 
I'd been up yesterday to get something out of the boot and was a bit alarmed when I opened the door.  It's been in there for a couple of weeks and the combination of road salt and being kept alternately on a driveway 200 yards from the sea and in a garage that leaks like a sieve is not doing it much good.  Some of the rust blobs it had when I got it had turned a bright orange and got bigger in a very short space of time.  I went round each rust blister with some wire wool and quickly daubed on some Kurust to try and stave off any further rot just before I ran out of daylight.
 
Today I rolled it out into the sunshine and frankly the smeary purple Kurust treatment didn't look too good but it had worked.  I finished off the side I couldn't get to in the garage with wire wool and sandpaper and then realised that leaving it unprotected meant the rot wouldn't stay away for long so decided to apply some of this:
 
 
I got this a few weeks ago for this very purpose.  I can now say that there is not a single visible bit of rust anywhere on the bodywork.  Frankly, however, the car's probably not looking its best at the moment (click on images for a bigger version). 
 
   
 Concours it is not.  I was worried that it would look like it had been vandalised but it was strangely satisfying to see the scruffy, patchy bits disappear under a thick coat of nice clean grey paint.  Yes, it looks awful but in the spring I'll rub it all back and apply paint and for now it's protecting it from any further deterioration.  It's never going to look showroom fresh but it should be presentable when its done. I will also be slathering plenty of this under the wheelarches, floor and anywhere else I can to protect the undersides at some point.    
On the plus side, I left it idling for a good 15-20 minutes and not a single drop of coolant has gone, plus there seems to be very minimal oil loss so mechanically it's pretty sorted now, just a service to get round to.

Small update time.
 
I had high hopes of changing the front brake pads today but woke up early and decided to join some friends for an 8 mile run round the North Devon coast in glorious sunshine instead.  As the weather continued to hold, I did decide to head up to the lockup later in the day for a couple of hours of bodywork fettling.  
 
I'd been up yesterday to get something out of the boot and was a bit alarmed when I opened the door.  It's been in there for a couple of weeks and the combination of road salt and being kept alternately on a driveway 200 yards from the sea and in a garage that leaks like a sieve is not doing it much good.  Some of the rust blobs it had when I got it had turned a bright orange and got bigger in a very short space of time.  I went round each rust blister with some wire wool and quickly daubed on some Kurust to try and stave off any further rot just before I ran out of daylight.
 
Today I rolled it out into the sunshine and frankly the smeary purple Kurust treatment didn't look too good but it had worked.  I finished off the side I couldn't get to in the garage with wire wool and sandpaper and then realised that leaving it unprotected meant the rot wouldn't stay away for long so decided to apply some of this:
 
 
I got this a few weeks ago for this very purpose.  I can now say that there is not a single visible bit of rust anywhere on the bodywork.  Frankly, however, the car's probably not looking its best at the moment (click on images for a bigger version). 
 
   
 Concours it is not.  I was worried that it would look like it had been vandalised but it was strangely satisfying to see the scruffy, patchy bits disappear under a thick coat of nice clean grey paint.  Yes, it looks awful but in the spring I'll rub it all back and apply paint and for now it's protecting it from any further deterioration.  It's never going to look showroom fresh but it should be presentable when its done. I will also be slathering plenty of this under the wheelarches, floor and anywhere else I can to protect the undersides at some point.    
On the plus side, I left it idling for a good 15-20 minutes and not a single drop of coolant has gone, plus there seems to be very minimal oil loss so mechanically it's pretty sorted now, just a service to get round to.