Justin Case

Any stupid SUV/ crossover, 95% are driven by ‘Mums’ or the elderly, parked badly across two spaces or doing 50mph in the middle lane. Invariably they are parked on the road even if a drive is free. All fuck ugly and use far more resources than they need to. Especially when driven by the 95 year old on our estate who should be either be in a micra or not driving at all, but no, he is in an enormous Kia. I know he has been reported after nearly running over a kid but nothing happened.

I worked hard when I was at school and eventually passed A level maths. I can do sums which is why I drive a 13 year old Mazda estate and not a PCPed Audi RS4

Today is too hot to do that much that's meaningful cosmetically so we decided to have a crack at the mechanical instead.  First stop was off to Halfords to get a suitable battery and oil, we expected to need to top everything up, so got enough to do that.  We knew the car would idle from a fresh fuel source, and we also knew that sometimes it wouldn't, so this would be a good opportunity to figure that out.  First job was to hook up the fuel supply, we're not running it for very long so we know we'll be safe on plain unleaded for testing purposes.

That was when we found sometimes the starter motor sticks, a tap with a metal pole got it going again and with more running and diagnostics, the starter motor behaved better, so we expect that just needs a basic clean up and a bit of maintenance.  Eventually, we decided to see if the car would run on the old 4 star in the tank, even though it looks like this.

The fuel coming through is clean, it's just really old and varnished.  The car does run on this, which surprised us, and meant we didn't have to have the jerry can balanced on the wing like that.  After a little while we found the car was firing up, idling, and then dropping one or two cylinders.  It didn't take long to discover the ignition leads are just rubbish.  In the past, someone has fitted new spark plugs but they've reused modern push fit type leads of a couple of different varieties.  Not only are the leads too long, they don't stay seated so as the car is idling the spark escapes.  To combat these we've ordered the parts to make up a new set of leads to the suitable length.  The two original style leads in the car fit better but the quality of them is such that they're not viable replacements.


Knowing that the car will run and idle, we then attempted to put it in gear just to see if we could, and while it made a clunk and tried to drive, it didn't actually proceed.   The car did rock forwards after the clunk, it was a lot like when an automatic gearbox is low on oil and it engages gears but can't actually move the car.  A check of the oil showed us that it was quite low, so we topped that up and went to try again but now the spark plugs simply weren't staying put and we couldn't get the car to idle for long enough, which was a bit disappointing.  One thing we did learn, happily, is that the car has oil pressure.  After idling for a fairly short period of time, the oil light went out.  Unfortunately the ignition light didn't, so it looks like the dynamo needs fixing, or a connection somewhere is dirty and needs cleaning.  The fuel guage works, and there's a third of a tank showing which again was quite surprising.

We did have all the exterior lights working, and we found the dome light was working too.  However, the dome light switch couldn't switch the light off, so we pulled the bulb out to prevent it overheating and causing problems.  In retaliation, the sidelights front and rear then stopped working.  At the front we got one of them to work again and learned that the sidelight assemblies are devilishly fiddly things.  The copper wire around the bulb holder appears to be completely normal and while the bulbs work fine, we could only get one of the sidelights to work again.  We'll need to go through the connectors and such to get to the bottom of this since all the lights were working on the day we viewed the car.

We were pleased to find where the starting handle actually lives, so reinstated that too.

The fresh air vent has been left open for now, hopefully it will allow the seal it sits against to dry out a bit so it's not so sticky.

Other half spotted the door latch for the driver's side was loose, so tightened up the screws and now the door shuts much better.  It still needs a little attention to the fit at the leading edge, though we're led to believe this is normal on cars of this type and can be adjusted fairly easily.


Another surprise came when we connected the new battery and the wipers were working.  Fortunately I'd had the good sense to lift the wiper arms free of the windscreen just in case, since there's no blades fitted.  What we don't know is what type of blade is required, it seems there's several different fittings and we don't know which one these are.


While I was on with other little jobs around the car, the other half got the Autosol out to see how the grille would come up and was quite pleased with how easily the surface corrosion disappeared from the centre bar.

It feels like a very rewarding car to work on.  We do have a shortlist of items from today's efforts, this list will likely grown
Wiper blades ignition leads - ordered Door handle gaskets Rocker cover gasket Carburettor rebuild kit window winder escutcheon (driver's side front door) Full set of tyres, possibly inner tubes too Carpet set Pedal rubber seals Refurbish dynamo Refurbish starter motor Repair/replace wiring loom Repair/replace exhaust

It has been a long day here at Vulgalour towers, the partial cloud cover and slightly lower temperatures have been most welcome!  Got another massive image dump here for you so hold on to your tweed, we're going in.
After washing the car it was a good time to see where any water might be getting in.  Looks like some is getting in past the boot seal, happily going no further than the rubber mat on the boot shelf.

Some is getting in past the front passenger door seal too.  There's signs this door has blown back on itself at some point so that could be what this is about.  For how much water I threw on the car, this is far less ingress than I was anticipating so that bodes particularly well.

Rust next then.  Now that I've had chance to really get into the nooks and crannies and find out what's what, there's very little to report.  The worst bits are where the sill meets the rear arch and this will have to be repaired.  I will probably give this to someone else to do, this area is pretty close to the timber frame and I don't trust myself with a welder that near 70 year old wood.  Also, if it turns out there is some damage to the wood here, it would be sensible to get a specialist to deal with both metal and wood at the same time.  Not a problem for now, the car seems pretty solid and it's not going to be venturing out an inclement weather any time soon.


I knew there ought to be a coachbuilder's plate somewhere and eventually found it on one of the door door steps, covered in paint.  I'm torn between shining this up and leaving it as it is, I like these details, and yet it being painted over badly years ago is kind of what this car is about, so I feel like I should leave it be.

The tyres that came on the car are all dead.  The front driver's tyre goes flat, and the two spares chucked in the boot are also dead.  What's more, none of the tyres are the same brand.  We've got Dunlop Gold Seal, Atlas Grip-safe, Avon H.M. Tourist, and a single Firestone Town & Country.  I wouldn't be surprised if all of these tyres are older than me, none of them should ever be allowed to touch the road again.  I can also now confirm they're all 16" by 5.25, thankfully a very common size so there's decent choice on tyres, for what this car is at least.  Have a little Classic Tyre moment.



Attention then turned to the interior.  The car has, unsurprisingly, been smoked in.  and all the butts and ash left in the ash trays.  There's a little ashtray in the dash that swivels around, and one in each rear seat side arm rest, those are the things that look like bakelite cigar lighter.  Most of the dirt inside is from cats padding about with muddy paws, it was surprisingly clean.  I've dealt with dirtier cars that aren't even half the age of this one.  The battery lives under the car under the back seat, you lift the seat squab out which isn't held in with anything other than its own weight, then you can either lift out the big panel whole, or remove the smaller panel - I suspect there's supposed to be a little leather tab on this - and use the hole as a handle to lift out the big panel.  I assume the smaller hatch is to make it easier to keep a refillable battery in good health.  Sadly no exciting treasure under here, just a lot of dust and a bit of straw.


After vacuuming all the dust and debris out of the car, it was time to get cleaning surfaces.  I used baby wipes for this, if they're mild enough for baby skin, they're mild enough for 70 year old leather.  They also smell nice and clean very effectively. Later I will put suitable treatment on the various surfaces in the car, including some leather feed to keep the leather the best it can be.  First shot is the rear seat base, cleaned on the right, dirty on the left.  This car also has the largest arm rest I've ever encountered in any car before.  It is very much a car to enjoy riding in the back seat of.


The headlining is in remarkably good condition, even the trims that run along the sides are in great shape.  They're a little dull from age, perhaps, but a vacuum with a soft brush attachment got rid of all the dust and cobwebs and really, I see no need to change any of this or redo it.  Quite remarkable.  Even the dome light is still intact and in great shape.

The varnish on the door cappings and dashboard do need to be redone to protect the wood, and will get done.  Slightly more difficult to sort out is going to be the scumble on the instrument cluster, sadly most of it has flaked off.  The switches are in great shape too, these need the letters repainting, a quick and easy job.  It is nice that the various pulls are labelled so you know what they do.  The mileage is something I'm not sure of on this car.  It's no cream puff so it seems unlikely to be a genuine 29K, equally I'm not sure I can believe it's been around the clock, for all it's dents and issues.  I'll likely never know, the car has no history with it.


We did find the knob under the dash that operates the fresh air vent in front of the windscreen.  The foam seal around it has gone quite disgustingly sticky so that will have to be replaced.  There was a very small amount of treasure to be had inside the car.  Some of the seals on the car look to be in exceptional condition, not at all what I was expecting, and when we found this receipt (unfortunately too faded to read what for), perhaps it's a hint that some of the seals had been replaced before the car was laid up.

There's also a handful of spares.  Amongst this is what looks like a bit of exhaust pipe that goes over the rear axle, some sort of coolant pipe, a metalastic mount for something, a pedal rubber, a spare rear light lens, a mystery gasket, a couple of original style 'acorn' spark plugs (it currently has modern ones that don't really fit properly), a pair of boot hinges and trims, and some floor board fixing bolts and washers.  The tobacco tin is a little bonus and will carry on living in the driver's side glove cubby.




The only bit of history we could find was in the passenger door pocket, a little Lion Brand cash book, the sort my late Mum would buy when I was little.  Inside, there's just the one entry that hints at it being for the Lanchester, the rest of the book is empty.  The odometer in the car reads 29025 and the single entry for Lanchester reads 26743.  Given the only date in the book is '81 and the car's last tax expired in '84, it's reasonable to assume it did around 2,000 miles in the last three years of its life on the road.  As for that VW, it was last taxed in '83 and was a 1600 of some sort in white from 1969.


With the interior all wiped down, and no real need for the usual deep clean, it was looking and smelling significantly better inside.

I worked hard when I was at school and eventually passed A level maths. I can do sums which is why I drive a 13 year old Mazda estate and not a PCPed Audi RS4

I worked hard when I was at school and eventually passed A level maths. I can do sums which is why I drive a 13 year old Mazda estate and not a PCPed Audi RS4

I worked hard when I was at school and eventually passed A level maths. I can do sums which is why I drive a 13 year old Mazda estate and not a PCPed Audi RS4

The median household disposable income (ie after tax, pension costs and the like) is about £30.7K in the UK with the mean being £37.1K. This is weighted by household type (number of kids and the like). The 2020 provisional figures are available on ONS site and I would recommend a read as it does at least give an idea of what is really going on as opposed to hearsay. I would suggest that the real killer these days is housing costs. 

I think a high percentage of the population of Autoshite would probably agree with them on that particular point. 

I’ve always lived beyond my means and spent most of my money on cars, holidays and  eating out - the rest I wasted.
Im grateful to the people signing up for all those PCPs as this is what makes theUK used car market the best and cheapest in the World.

This.
The tragedy of it is, that the economic hamster wheel would still keep spinning if people just backed off a bit. Not to the extent of becoming Buddhist monks, or ascetic hermits, but just that...self awareness that leads to a more honest answer to 'do I really need that exact one, and can I really afford it?' It's not difficult, and it would be better for us all collectively if we allowed the hamster wheel to slow down just a little. 

Capitalism, innit. Can't have an ever expanding economy if people aren't buying stuff they don't need. 
If there weren't hoards of voracious supporters of wanton consumption, we'd be living in (my) socialist utopia. This sort of behaviour is simply people being good little capitalist lap dogs.

Then it can only be 900 Ruby. I knew one or two folk that had them back in my Saabing days, the colour really suited it and the interior also looked a bit special. Again I hope that it is restorable 

Aldridge Transport Museum is shut until 11 August, but in the meantime here are some slides of vehicles not normally on show

There are still plenty of people in the world who think anything built after 1930 is just mass-produced modern rubbish. And in the vast majority of cases, they are correct

This story popped up in my newsfeed earlier. Happened at Nailsea near Bristol. The story mentioned how the driver was shaken but unhurt. He should be bloody ashamed of himself at the very least. It's a 12' 6" Bridge and it looks like one, it's not even close. 

A nice 6 month old Enviro 400 City. But the best bit is this picture taken before the shoddy driver had a chance to switch it all off. 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

Barman to horse : you know we don't get many horses in here 
Horse: at a fiver for a pint of San Miguel it's hardly surprising 

I gave my Somerset a grease up earlier, followed by a bath and a quick blast up the road:
It ran really well but the multimeter confirms the alternator is goosed, it’s only showing 12.5v at idle and not much more when I blip the throttle, which would be below par for a dynamo, let alone an alternator. I chucked the multimeter on the Rover battery to check it, 14.3v at idle.
The alternator came in a conversion kit a few years ago, it’s a proper cheap no name one. Squeals like a bastard when it’s cold too. Anyone got a good one kicking around?