DVee8

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/727263252721400
1990 Lancia dedra 2.0 ie
£2,750

Quick post before a bigger update on the Senator rust repairs and E65 interior tomorrow.
I mentioned it a few times before, me and my other half have been looking for a house together for quite a little while now. After probably about a year of searching we might have finally found the right place for us, and from what I can tell the seller's and our own price expectations aren't very far apart at this point.
This means I might have to sell a few cars over the next few weeks/months to bolster our deposit, and the Audi A8 Sport of many shiters might be the first one to become available.
Why? Because out of all the cars in the fleet this might be the overall best one I own and therefore to sell without having to worry about things breaking a week later. I know that some of you have already voiced some interest and I have sent/will sent a few PMs soon. Since I need the money it will probably be slightly under market value here (so starting with a 1), which is still a mind boggling value considering the condition of this car. This seems to be a pattern lately, selling the good cars only to keep the stuff that needs work...
Anyway, today's rain was on and off so I basically spent most of the morning/afternoon starting various cars that are not moved much during the salty season.

The 33k mile Infiniti Q45 was one of them. Started right up, I cannot wait to actually start improving this one, which will mostly involve raising the coilovers and throwing all the tacky V8 badges and LED lights in the bin.

I havent driven the Cadillac in a little while and the cobble roads around the estate proof that nothing quite rides like a Cadillac. Even the hydropneumatic Citroens I've driven can't really compare at around town speeds, it's just sooo smooth... This might however also be a candidate for being sold on if I really need to, so should anyone be interested in a 77k mile DeVille...

The Riviera hasn't seen much action at all since it arrived. It does however now have new bonnet struts which will make working on it about 200% more fun. Another one that might have to go, should anyone be interested in what will be the cheapest Buick Riviera you'll ever see for sale.

I've also started the Corona Exiv, SL500 and Alfa 166. Someone must have knocked into the Alfa's wing mirror recently as I noticed the housing being cracked today. While I still have a spare mirror it is not the same paint, and this pearlescent style paint will certainly not be easy to match/find a replacement for either...

I'm not 100% sure yet if I should let the Alfa go. It would be impossible to find another one in this spec, however I might just put it up for sale for an optimistic price and see if anyone bites.
Thats it for the moment. The E65's windshield replacement that was planned for today hasn't happened as Autoglass can't get their shit together and the Celsior is booked in for exhaust work on Monday so I'll probably drop it off tonight or tomorrow. That should hopefully be the last big bill it will need for the foreseeable future now that everything has been done on it. Let me know if you are interested in that one, too...

30 minutes in and nobody has got my pun yet. 


Or maybe, like most of my jokes its just not funny. 

@warren t claim, said
Steering wheel wobble at certain speeds that I think might be a slightly buckled alloy. Only minor. I don't feel like Michael J Fox driving a Hillman Avenger.

As it's an automatic it could be right up @LightBulbFun's London street.
@gm you could put the strip lights that you saved for  LBF in the passenger side. 2 birds in one hand.

As it's an automatic it could be right up @LightBulbFun's London street.
@gm you could put the strip lights that you saved for  LBF in the passenger side. 2 birds in one hand.

the “new” carpet arrived today
yuk ! 

laundry liquid and jet wash to the rescue

hung it on the wall to rinse

aaargh !

and into the garage to dry overnight 

the intended recipient is away up at andy’s garage for its mot - fingers and toes crossed 🤞 
in the meantime i thought i’d have a tidy up but couldn’t be arsed so sat in the middle and played metallica’s ride the lightning very loudly and caught up on AS  

This morning my mrs told me to sound the alarm and get us to the hospital.
An hour’s brisk driving in the Disco of Doom and amazingly we had no FTP’s and no major traffic and found ourselves at Hastings Conquest in good time.
Even more amazingly, my partner wasted no time in bringing child number two into the world.

I got to name our son (Jensen), and my mrs has settled on Amélie for our daughter.
I’m absolutely over the moon, couldn’t be more proud of my partner and I’m incredibly grateful for the excellent care once again by the maternity team here in Hastings.
All being well then they’ll both be home tomorrow!

Thread resurrection. As I haven't seen anybody from the circus since last October there was many hugs from every body  saying they had missed me,  when I met them at Haydock Race course to move everything to Norwich Showground. I've never had that much of a reaction before. They are a good bunch of people and there is rarely any problems between anybody. Going to be here for about 3 weeks and I have got a fair bit of work to do that would have been done if I had been there in Holland, 4 weeks Xmas New Year, Glasgow, 2 weeks, Haydock, 1 week so a fair bit of stuff to sort. Starting with 2 bunk wagons that have leaks when it rains. What joy, chasing leaks. The water system I had has been somewhat wrecked by those that didn't have much of a clue so there's a few days to get that back to how I like it. I knew that would happen but I've said that I need to show somebody how it's done when I'm not there. Which at my age could be at any moment, or if my ankle gets any worse then I'm going to have to give it up. 
There's been a few minor changes. A few different trucks, different performers, but not all, some new showgirls, etc. I shall leave you with 2 pic of my new circus 'rig'. One of where we are and a dizzel shot. If anyone wants to know what its like let me know. I'm sure you will notice a slight anomaly. 

For no reason whatsoever, dimensions compared to a Tesla Model S.

I'd noticed when looking at the auction pictures that the boot was held up with a stick so took a chance and ordered a pair of gas struts. 
Swapped them since we got back. Had to find them first as they are internal so needed to remove some trim but 20 minutes from start to finish. 
I knew the last log book issued was 2012 but street view showed the car in the garage at the address in 2009 and a bit of homework shows that it had actually been in the custody of the gentleman since 2003 and another family member from 1999 - 2003. Came with 2 original keys and key fobs that still work, owners manual etc. 
Car was registered May 1998 and first keeper changed May 1999 so pretty much confirms my theory that it was in the same batch of our company cars at the time which were swapped every 9 or 10 months then put into the dealer network.  
Caravan Club Sticker and AA grille badge may stay for now although car will be moved on before long. I'll investigate the electric window issue next week and hopefully nothing too involved and it needs a brake light switch as I was nearly rear ended by my Discovery on the M1 when someone cut me up> Paul driving my car saw it but fractionally late as brake lights never lit up. He had suspected an issue earlier but presumed I'd just been coasting to a stop but then they had worked in between so it seems we have an iffy switch. 

The sterring wheel looks great.
Theres enough logos left to do the wheel centre caps and another dozen sterring wheel centre's 

the welding has turned out fairly well though
this rotten scabby mess

now looks like this



i’ll chuck some proper protection on and get the wings re-fitted, the mot is due yesterday so time to get a wriggle on.
 

Well a day of mixed emotions as I am heading to port (Schiedam) to demobilise for the last time. Sad to realise it will be the last time I will look closely at rigs from the sea after 35 years - glad it is all over! Tomorrow I fly home and Saturday morning I start my retirement! It should mean more pictures of cars and less of the sea on here.....
The sun setting on my career;

 

Fortunately the weather did indeed turn out to be mostly great this weekend (it actually felt like spring, imagine that) which means I could finally tackle ripping out the old smelly interior of the E65. The headliner was by far the worst of it all and impossible to safe:



Fortunately I'm the expert for BMW headliners at this point (5th or 6th time I remove an E65 or E39 headliner) so things went pretty smoothly until one of the damn seat rails of the driver seat decide to seize up again, which meant I akwardly had to disconnect it from the rest of the seat base which probably took the best of 2 hours of my time yesterday...

With both seats and the sunroof glass out the headliner was gone in no time:

This is when I noticed that BMW decided to install subwoofers directly underneath the seats. And to nobody's surprise plenty of water made its way into that as well. 

Amazingly it still seemed to work perfectly fine despite being submerged, the wiring hardness and connectors certainly were very well insulated. And thats where the difference between BMW and brands like Alfa lies, alot of this stuff is surprisingly solidly engineered while even in perfect conditions the electrics in the latter are a nightmare.

As always with the seats out now was a good time to remove all the grime you'll never otherwise reach underneath. With the seat removal such a pain I didn't want to take any chances so I actually ordered a replacement woofer on ebay for a total of a whopping 27 quid incl. postage.

While faffing around with the subwoofer I noticed a cable that didn't quite look OEM to me. I have been wondering what another wire leading up the driver c-pillar and suddently ending right in the middle of nowhere was before. Well, turns out one of the previous owners had a tracker installed in the car...

Well, it is no more. It's always very satisfying removing junk wiring, one of the cables had its insulation stripped which cannot have helped much with the onboard electronics.

Well, 2 solid days of faffing around, transfering control modules from one set of seats to another, testing and carefully reassembling everything later we now have a headliner and two replacement (identical to the old) front seats again. And the best of all, thanks to the breaker 750i it cost me exactly nothing.

The driver seat isnt fully bolted in yet as the subwoofer can only really be installed with it out, hopefully it'll be here soon. I also won't properly install the C- and A-pillar trims yet as more work will be needed for other reasons in these areas. Seeing the before and after photos I'm quite satisfied with what I managed to get done though. If I hadn't done the front seats and all the other while I'm in there jobs this could have been done in 2-3 hours.

I'm probably going to request to have the windshield replace before putting the A-pillar trims on one last time. I got comprehensive cover with Admiral, has anyone however experienced their premium going up because of a windshield claim? It won't take long before this will be right in the driver's view.

Ive removed the load bay liner in preparation for the rear seats ive got coming off e bay.


Having had 2 RR classics in the past, i was a little bit wary/ having the fear about what id find. Turns out the boys at lode lane did a great job of not making it rot. 
Actually the whole car is incredibly sound. my then 17 year old classic was eye wateringly crusty in these bits that are blemish free on this 27 year old p38. So its not as iconic; but it doesnt dissolve so VIGOROUSly either, at last bodily if not electrically.

 

 


 

 

 

Just catching up on the thread. Great work on this project!
I only wish Mrs_bn and I could crack on with our projects as well as you guys do! 

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https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/646304657550799

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https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3732293163702491

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Sadly my Chrysler Grand Voyager is wobbling its way out of my life, and heading (scheduled on Monday) to the great used parts jamboree in Cyberspace ..via RemoveMyCar 

This was a car bought while moving house, during Covid three years ago, for the princely sum of £600.  Despite the neglectful prior-owner care, and my own lack of spending, it has served me very well.    RemoveMyCar on-line offered a decent price to break / scrap the car.  But still, as a big softy, it's very sad for me to think of her heartlessly being ripped apart and then crushed, not least because I think she still looks great. (the photo was taken this week) 
However in the past, when things failed, the prior owner(s) never paid to have each individual thing rectified. So when I bought it - those things had become a list.. and I likewise couldn't afford, nor justify the expense.  The glow plug sensor misreads and so even on the iciest (is that a real word ?) of mornings they don't preheat. The water in the radiator barely got warm (thermostat failure ?) so the car's heater never worked, nor did the electrically heated seats. Then last year the PAS decided to leave a puddle on the driveway, and since then the steering has become ever more wobbly.  All in all, with the MOT due in just a few weeks, I had to ..reluctantly concede that the cost of repairs far outweighed the cost of replacement with a newer, albeit not as well built, brand.  
I've agree £389 for the car, which is better than what I might get from the local scrap yard.  That's cheap for the persons who might sell the nice wheels and v.good tyres for as much, and then have everything else to part out.  Still, even car breakers need to earn a living.   For me, well a little more than £200 in depreciation ..plus a front engine mount, handbrake shoes, battery, and good second hand tyres.. is cheap running costs for three years of service.  Accordingly, I still rate Chrysler voyagers (this one being my third in a row) to be great cars with the bonus of exceptional car-camping / load volume within.
- - -
My criteria for a 'new' car was that it should be (in no particular order)
diesel (of good repute) manual gearbox spacious (although not as big as the Chrysler for parking) + hatchback, with low load sill - which is easier for loading heavy items like an engine.  2010 or younger good service history full MOT lower running costs - particularly road fund license of a marque that didn't carry a fashion tax (I like Audi and BMW, Jaguar, Volvo and Mercedes, but I'm terrified of the potential bill should anything go wrong. one or two owners lower tax group two keys within a sensible (30 mile) viewing distance from Ipswich, so definitely excluding ULEZ. preferably where the cam belt had been done preferably in a lower insurance group preferably with cruise control and a sun roof would be nice under £2000 Of course, whatever is in the marketplace is different each day, and not everything on the wish-list may be locally achievable within such a modest budget.  I had been looking for a VW Passat estate (good build quality) and then a Toyota Aventis estate (for reliability) ..and then anything which more or less fitted the criteria and budget.  Last week, a Pug cropped up on Autotrader website that best seemed to fit the bill.  25 miles away in Colchester..
  
Peugeot 308SW 1.6 HDI SE   Autotrader review < here >
I went to see it last Friday, and was stuck on the A12 southbound for 2 hours when that road was closed and then the diversion through Stanway was blocked by another accident.  I arrived not at 4pm but 6.  Looking at a black car in the dark was specifically not my intent. !   My friend Rich had met me there and we went for a short test drive.  It seemed tight and without clunk or groan over pot holes and poor roads.  Paul trading as Web Car Mart  seemed to specialise in good used but not silly high end priced Volvo, seems a decent chap, and without hassle knocked £95 off the price and added 3 months / 3,000 mile major component warranty. ie., if the engine or gearbox blows up take it back and get a full refund.  The battery and front tyres were new last year, and aside from dog's hairs in each corner of the interior and scratches by the interior door handle it seemed very tidy ..for a 13-1/2 year old car.  Rich pointed out the A/C whirred more than it might when disengaged but I wouldn't have noticed it was worse than 'normal' for a freewheeling.
I went back on Saturday, to see the car in daylight and aside from claw, or bling, scratch marks around each door handle ..and the dog's hairs,  it seems a very straight and well looked after car.  It started easily from cold.  For good or for bad - I made the decision to buy at £1900.  Perhaps not the best price for a 308SW of this year, but seemingly the best value I could find ..without spending weeks traipsing around the country chasing frustratingly deceitful descriptions and wasted journey times.        
The front disc wear is an advisory on the new MOT, but otherwise, from the file of receipts, the prior owners seemed to have spent fair monies to keep the car in good order.  Unfortunately, judging by the invoices, the cam-belt hasn't been done.  The service book suggests 140,000 miles or every 10-years for this car, this engine, and so although only 111,000 miles - it ought to have been replaced 3+ years ago.  
I've subsequently phoned the last two garages which regularly serviced the car, and neither say they've done the job.  So I'll be facing a big bill.  Of course.. I'm now also thinking that perhaps I should have added another £500 to my budget to find one who cam-belt had been done.  Hey Ho., second guessing isn't a very productive mindset - so I'll just have to live with the decision.         
I'll go onto Facebook and ask of our local motoring enthusiasts, East Coast Retros  (some of whom also frequent these pages) if they might recommend a local company or roving mechanic who might to do the belt for me.?  I gather the water pump ought to be replaced at the same time.   
So there we are.. the Chrysler due to go on Monday, and I'm to go and collect the Pug tomorrow, Friday, from Colchester.
21st century cars, are a terrifying prospect to many, including an old timer like myself .. what with all their sensors and sub-assembles (whereby an individual part cannot be repaired or replaced).  I can but hope and pray that this car is not going to be a money-pyre on wheels. 
I'll post piccies when I can
Pete