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Alright then Kev. I'll take it off your hands. IMG-20190302-WA0006 by davedorson, on Flickr IMG-20190302-WA0005 by davedorson, on Flickr IMG-20190302-WA0002 by davedorson, on Flickr IMG-20190302-WA0003 by davedorson, on Flickr IMG-20190302-WA0004 by davedorson, on Flickr It's got literally days of MOT left and I've got nowhere to put it. What could go wrong?

Thought I’d started a thread about this but hadn’t. So here goes. I was looking for an engine for my red hatchback when Fordperv called the bat phone and told me about a car for sale in some arsehole end of stoke in a garden. I’ve lost a lot of early photos but we went over with my Mondeo, an A frame and a couple of spare wheels. Prized £80 out of my wallet and pulled it out of the guys garden. Or was it £60? I can’t remember. But it only needed 1 tyre swapping. The 1600 engine and 4 spd box was missing, haha, ironic, so it was hooked up and hauled away. I’ve had it since 2008. Started welding it myself in 2009 then came into some money and payed someone to finish it off.... well the main stuff. New rear panel, inner and outer sills, front nose, battery try, rear lower quarters, front foot wells plus other bits n bobs. Then it sat it in my unit for ever. Over the last ten years I’ve been collecting parts ready to rebuild it and I recon I’ve got 90% of bits to finish, just need time to do it. This first pic is of it in the shed where some guys did the welding. Then it came home back to my unit, where it still is. WHY SO SIDEWAYS? Bloody uploads them right then flips them over! Grrr. More incoming.

I've owned 100 cars since 1999. On 1st April I will be collecting number 101. It is an economical car, that has 11 months MOT. It is pre 2001 and is the higher tax bracket. No more clues until tomorrow evening...

I was in scrap metal yard a while back and they had a Rialto saloon near the gate. One of the lads working there tried selling it to me and mentioned they had another tucked away. I didn't have the cash for the Rialto at the time but this month HMRC are paying me back a nice tax rebate so what better to do than splurge it on a car right? I went back to the yard a few days ago and asked about the two cars. The Rialto at this point has had the engine sold from it, is in many pieces and the bodywork isn't in great condition with cracks all over. The other was this 1990 Robin LX. The owner of the yard, a former Reliant salesman, went to the Isle of Arran with a trailer for it. Technically it wasn't for sale but I think his son (that works in the yard) convinced him to let it go on the grounds that it had just been sitting. It had been sat untouched for 18 months looking like this. 1990 Reliant Robin LX by Matt S, on Flickr 19902 Reliant Robin LX (Rear) by Matt S, on Flickr Misery spec, no rear wiper! After some fettling and finding that the fuel tank was totally dry we managed to get it running, and running well! It wouldn't move under it's own power as it was on that rough ground with two flat tyres and seized brakes. The yard owner said he would free the brakes off and move it onto the more solid ground later that day. I went back today and swapped one of back the wheels for one off of the Rialto saloon and remarkably managed to get the utterly ruined front tyre to hold air. A minor mishap occurred when taking the front wheel off because my jack isn't low enough to get under the centre of the chassis where the front suspension bolts on and as it turns out my axle stands are juuuuust tall enough to find the tipping point... A little mishap... by Matt S, on Flickr It happened in total slow motion. The good thing however is that it's light to the point that I was able to push it back up with one hand and get my jack under with the other. Robin moved from it's resting place by Matt S, on Flickr At this point I could just about push it by myself however one of the brakes was just grabbing enough at a certain point that I couldn't push and steer it at the same time. Happily the yard owner is allowing me to keep it on the property for a bit while I get it ready for an MOT but there was the small issue of the nearest solid ground being 200 meters (650+ feet) away... LDV to the rescue! LDV To The Rescue! by Matt S, on Flickr And onto solid ground for the first time in a long time. Hard ground at last by Matt S, on Flickr The wheels are a favorite of mine, tiny slot mags! I don't know who made them and I've only been able to find one photo of a Robin with these wheels. Check out the ancient (2003)145 x 10" Camac BN313 still holding air after 16 years! I can't wait to get these polished up with the slots painted body colour. My new car... by Matt S, on Flickr That's where we stand now. My plan is to get it MOT'd and just drive it around and enter some shows. The job list for MOT time looks like: Replace all three tyres Replace O/S headlight Replace N/S seatbelt (the reel end has rusted and broken out of the floor!) Replace brakes Refit rear seat and belts (I haven't even seen belts back there so I don't know for a fact if it even has rear belts) Other jobs: Refit the engine covers Sort the door hinges as both doors have sagged Get the boot open as it's stuck partially latched Any Reliant fanciers able to tell me anything about this dealer? Edit: The car was registered new in Ayr so I'm not sure how this tag ended up on the keys. Anyone know who the dealer around Ayr would have been? Oldham Reliants by Matt S, on Flickr

This morning I drove to Kings Lyn to collect some " mint" refurbished Bottle Top alloys with new matching tyres. That No.1 daughter wanted for the 316 that we're putting back on the road this week( hopefully) After a terrible 2.5 hour journey ( A1 shut) we discovered they had the wrong size tyres and the powder coating used by the refurber appears to be grey Hammerite. I was so pissed off I couldn't trust myself to speak to the kid selling them and just got back in the car... Anyway it seems any 4x100 BMW wheels are getting scarce and expensive, anybody got anything suitable in either 14 or 15 inch ? With or without tyres and any condition as long as priced accordingly . About £200 seems to be average price for presentable 14" with tyres- I expect an MoT'd 325 to be bolted to them for that, apparentlly that's because I'm an old fart.

Placeholder hopefully for a collection tomorrow. Mega excited because I've wanted one for ages and I think this may be a good one!

I've decided best start a new thread dedicated to my planned (beginning to come together) build. It involves this: This: Nope, not this. This knobber: 4 of these: Something a bit like this: And a lot of this: (Edit to add: through the Magic of Hollywood, that's not actually coffee as we know it. It is in fact the remains of the 4th coffee I had this morning before leaving for work.) Stay tuned! Hopefully there will be an accompanying YouTube series, that hopefully won't be too shit. Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

UPDATE 1: As of post #40, the Monte Carlo SS is up and running! For now the project is on hold until May when I get back from college for the summer. Once I get back, I will be continuing work on getting the car road-worthy once more,. This includes getting new tires, cleaning it, getting historic plates, registering it as such, and switching the insurance from "in-Storage". Exciting times lie ahead in the coming months for this classic 80s car UPDATE 2: As of 27 May, 2020, the Monte Carlo SS has left the driveway for the first time in 14+ years. New tires have been fitted and now all that is left is renewing the registration, updating the insurance, and taking care of a few cosmetic issues, then it'll be all set for normal driving once more. UPDATE 3: Huge update post culminating everything that has happened from 2019 when I started this thread to November 2023 into one post here. The Monte Carlo's recommissioning is essentially complete as of this update, with the car now finally being registered, insured, and largely roadworthy. If you're new to this thread, I'd scroll through it for pictures (which are now fixed after being removed by the previous photo hosting company) and finer "as it happened" details if you'd like, but the update post will essentially cover everything and is the most current info in the thread (and probably the most well written since entirety of the thread prior to my teaser post here was written before I was even 21 lol). I've also updated the thread title from "1987 Chevy Monte Carlo SS Recommissioning" to the now more appropriate "(Finally Updated!) 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo SS's Nearly Completed Recommissioning & Travels". Original Post: Hello fellow shitters, The time has finally come for me to take a look at my dad's 1987 Monte Carlo SS. He bought it brand new back in 1987 and has kept it with him since then. The car has been sitting idle in our garage since I'd estimate 2004/2005/2006? I know the last time It received daily usage was 2003 and then was driven every so often until around 2006. Since then, it's been left to decay in the garage. I began to give it a bit of attention back in December of last year, and I've simply been to busy to look at it otherwise. All 4 tires had long since gone flat, so I filled them back up. The two driver's side tires are still inflated now over a year later, but the passenger side deflated within 48 hours of me filling them. If I recall correctly, at least one of them had a hole back when it was left dormant, which is likely the reason as to why it was left dormant. So its possible its just the tires, or there's now axel rot from it sitting for so long which is why they deflated so quickly. Besides the tires, the car is covered in about an inch of dust, so that'll have to be cleaned. The upholstery on the roof of the car has come detached and is currently being held up with thumbtacks, although that happened way back in like 2000, so that's been like that for awhile. The battery is stone dead, so that will need replacement. The rubber seals around the doors might have to be replaced since I'm not sure how they would hold up in the rain. Finally, whatever fluids are left are probably long stale or evaporated, so they'll need to be replaced as well. As for some cosmetic things, the left brake light cover is cracked and has been since again, around 2000. The center console cover is falling apart and probably could use replacement. The car could also use a few touch-ups on the paint as well. Given these are just cosmetic issues, they're not really major issues that I need to address to get it drivable once again. I'm planning to work on this on Tuesday during my spring break from college. My grandfather, who has been a mechanic for the past 30+ years, will be helping me to get it running once more, so it should be a pretty easy job. I plan to take pictures and to film its first start in over 10 years once the time comes. Really excited to get this car going again since its a fantastic 80s car, with it's maroon interior and exterior. I think my dad will be pretty excited too since he loves that car.

I've noticed that some people on here have imagination, and get through a wide variety of different brands of cars Then there's me, who after hitting the armagedden button when the 406 threw me a load of urgent work that I didn't have the time or money to perform by it's MOT obtained yet another french car! My car history really has been a bit samey Landrover Series 3 (PMA124Y) Peugeot 206 (W636OAU) Ford Puma (Y874RCB) Citroen ZX (R385VRD) Citoren XM (R267PGF) Citroen ZX (L592NWK) Citroen Xantia (R499AMV) Renault Laguna (YT55ENP) Renault Laguna (FV51FYP) Peugeot 406 (HY02FUA) 2 out of 10 of the above are still alive... And as of tonight Citroen ZX (R579SLX) So over 11 cars, a definite pattern! But I like boring, I like samey, I like reliable* Current status? Well our very own Bramz7 is somewhere in the north of england (maybe even nearly scotland) delivering a car. At almost possibly maybe 4.30/5pm he will arrive in Derby and collect Bub's ZX. Following a very silent drive to my house in Oxfordshire as the ZX has no radio we shall convey ourselves to his house, and I shall drive home... Moar later!

My brother in law’s Volvo, I’ve written a few stories about this car on this forum. Car was running 100% until a couple of days ago, when he took it out in the morning and a mile from the house the engine stopped reving past 1,500 rev/min. We’ve done all the obvious checks, there’s a full tank of diesel (£100) but despite starting ok the engine doesn’t want to rev. There’s no smoke from the exhaust and no knocks from the engine. All a bit of a mystery. Brother in law has bought a BMW 325d so the Volvo needs to go 166k miles MoT 26 October 2019 4 previous owners Full service history Cam belt done two years ago at 140k with receipt to prove Bodywork very good for a 12 year old car but has the odd little mark here and there. 17 inch alloys with excellent tyres. Has removable tow bar. Interior is mint, full leather, all electrics work, ice cold air con, amazing sound system. Pre engine problem the engine and gearbox were in perfect working condition, suspension was quiet, recently had two springs replaced with original Volvo parts. Car is located 5 mins from M40 J3. Asking £950 as it stands. If it was running properly it would be a £2k car. Ideally needs towing away but still drives, albeit slowly. And now he’s got this:

Anyone fancy a day in North London fettling a small 1300 Dolomite? Needs a service, choke cable fitting, rad filling and rear brakes taking apart and cleaning. Good kebabs available locally! Fluids provided! Fuzzy head preventing actual doing of things. Plus additional Toledo fettling if desired. Needs a 12v socket fitting and rerouting the overdrive switch so it fits under the dash, need advice on a switch and a tell tale light. Anyone fancy it who is electrically savvy?

Hot on the heels of last week’s collectioneering of a Xantia, another collection starts here and now. Well it is probably a collection as long as the car is as described, but I am optimistic. Clues. It’s enormous yet quite cramped. Never had one before and it could be considered blessed, saintly even!

With the YRV more or less finished i think its about time i got my arse in gear and sort out my Subaru. I have owned this since 2012 when it was a beige truck with grot in all the usual places. I spent an age welding it up and swapping panels over from my other totally rotted out one before prepping the body to the best of my ability. Before paying to get it painted in vw corrida red 2pack. Once put back together it did look quite tidy. Fast forward to 2019,the mot has long since expired,the expensive paint job has faded and rust has burst through the rear arches and sills. Bummer..

As with many of the members on here, I tend to read and comment a lot, but haven’t done much in the way of my own shite related posting. The onslaught of miserable teenage goat bummers (©Bollox2019) has encouraged me to share a little more, rather than look at the screen and shake my head. As my fiancée once told me, Dick is for sharing. Or something. Updates are likely to be sporadic, and not necessarily ‘car project work’ per se. Sometimes it may just be the odd photo. Anyway, now the disclaimer is out the way, and without further ado, I’ll start with this. I bought my Lambretta just over ten years ago. I’ve had a few over the years, and even dabbled with the dark side, or as they are sometimes known, Vespa. Collection of this scooter involved a fucked Transit, and a day trip to Stoke from sunny Cornwall. Breathing in diesel exhaust fumes which permeated the van through the rusty gaps under the back doors was becoming tiresome by the twelfth hour of driving. We managed it though, and the scooter was well worth the journey. It’s an Italian 1967 SX150, with a 186 Imola kit, plus various other trick bits. It was originally Verde Mela - a rare Innocenti colour - which is basically apple green. Unfortunately the previous owner stripped every last trace of it from the frame, and repainted it in a Peugeot metallic. Not something I could ever bring myself to do, but it looks good all the same. I had plenty of fun with the scooter, and even made it to the Isle of Wight rally on it (I’ve done this a few times on previous scooters). However, as with many of us, life and house got in the way, and it’s sat in the garage under a cover for way too long. I hadn’t fired it up for well over 12 months, so decided to drag the old dear out into the sunshine, fire her up, and give her a blast around the estate. I did a quick video of getting the scooter started - no sound because time lapse - startup was a bitch as the fuel was really stale, half evaporated and leaving the oil/ratio mix completely oil heavy. You can make out when it eventually fires up in the video - wait for the smoke around the back end! I’ll end by adding the startup video. I’ve got a load more photos somewhere on the external HDD, including some of my previous Lambrettas. I'll have to dig them out when I get chance. TTFN.

An update on the 405 and a general look round Interior pics soon. The front bumper came off its mountings because no one had bothered to fit the bottom three screws in so it caught on the kerb when I reversed off and pulled it off. I have bodged it back on for now as I have a new bumper ready to fit. Initial impressions are that mechanically it’s good it has new tyres new cam belt and it drives well. One rear shock is starting to weep so I will get a new pair. The paint is ok ish for its age, the drivers side being rough where the door edge protectors were and under the fuel filler where the petrol spills have ruined the lacquer. The new front bumper rear bumper and spoiler will be painted as they are poor and the correct colour coded mirrors will be fitted as the passenger side is not working anyway. I haven’t done much inside yet just cleaned up the plastics and fixed the many blown bulbs. I am hoping to sort the bumper out early April. The underside is good and has even been waxoyled.

Right then, time to have a go at a thread on my latest acquisition, methinks. Back on January 30th, I made the mighty voyage ooop north (relatively speaking) to meet Hooli, a top shitter who'd agreed to sell me his navy blue XJ8 Sovereign. Exhibit A: My best attempt at Woollarding The journey was, surprisingly it being a jag, entirely uneventful, it simply wafted its way all the way back to my workshop where it now resides. So far all I've done is a service, but the to do list so far is: - Sort out driver's heated seat - Sort out parking sensors (She's a big old barge....) - Investigate the odd knocking noise and slight slipping of the auto 'box - Source appropriate locking wheel nuts - Sort the rust! With regard to rust, the driver's side front wing is a complete write off, with the passenger side heading the same way. Thankfully these are bolt on, so minimal fuss in replacing once the parts have been found. Unfortunately, the rear wings are also beginning to suffer from the Norwegian Chrome somewhat, so they'll need to be replaced at a later date too. I did get it up on the ramp (with my fingers firmly crossed) to inspect the underside, here are the results: Not too bad! It's mostly very solid, the underseal having done its job, which is splendid. That's all for now, but I hope to keep this thread updated, can't promise updates won't be sporadic though! abelw44

Hi all, Thought I'd start a Chodject (Chod Project) for my latest acquisition, a Venetian Pink 1988 Citroen BX 16RS. After being sat for 13 years unused on a drive and then garden, I (and Mr Schwifty of this parish) saved it from being sent to the scrappy, which i'm glad I did as it's FAR too clean to scrap! Been looking for a BX for a little while, but almost completely opposite spec to this, really was looking for a high spec late turbo diesel estate, buuuutttt this one was 3 miles from my house and needed rescuing so it's the BX I have! 1 owner from new (fastidious nuclear physicist), 98000 miles on the clock, as straight and honest a car as you could ever ask for! So, this how we found it: Very leafy and full of cobwebs. After a couple of hours we had it up and running, threw a battery on it, a clean up of a few crappy ignition connections and some fuel in it and it fired right up for the first time in about 5 years! The suspension all seems to work as it should, the brakes working fine, even the central locking and electric windows working without fault. In the background is my daily driver 405 estate and my friend Ben's 305 estate. The above happened on a Saturday afternoon, we returned to next day to actually buy the car and get it home, I completely forgot to take any photos of this, but we flat towed it back behind the 405, number board strapped on the back. Back at home and it was time for an immensely satisfying couple of hours with the pressure washer! Before: After: Looked great whilst it was still wet, but it is desperately in need of a polish in the future. It's remarkably free of rust, considering it's been sat on it's belly on grass and under a tree for the last few years, a couple of patches needed in the boot floor corners and maybe a little on the firewall and one of the inner wings, but it's really very rot free. Since that initial weekend I've been mostly parts gathering, large overhaul required in the engine bay having sat for so long, cambelt, oil, filters, plugs, leads, dizzy cap etc etc. This last weekend I finally got my teeth stuck into it, more to follow....

Well, this will either be greeted with deafening silence, or will be taken under our wings. I've got use of the unloved and now unwanted works Escort van. I've been using it for a few weeks now, but didn't know if it would have any interest on here. Well, now the M.O.T is due and work doesn't want to spend any money on it, but I can fix it myself, and keep using it, if I want. It needs for its ticket, new tyres, a windscreen, a rear wheel bearing, a front spring, discs and pads and the load compensating valve freeing/ replacing. It needs loads of other bits as well, but not as urgently. The upside is that there is another van to strip bits off. I really shouldn't bother doing it, but that's not the shiters way. I have to spend an inordernately large amount of time to fix up a vehicle that is teetering on the bridge,apparently. So, today's job is to go and collect the van to be raided for bits. Bonus finger shot. Its beautiful, isnt it?

Its valentine's weekend, love is all around so to celebrate two shiters are taking an international collection mission. It is a famously* reliable* car that currently needs putting back together. WCPGW. It will also include a visit to other shiters for gearbox shenanigans. Should be fun*

So an extension, Capri and general life just isn’t busy enough so a new arrival is (relatively) imminent from the superb Strangeangel of this Parish. The fail sheet is fairly extensive but nothing too scary. Once it has been delivered (by a Northern bloke called Ron) I will do a full inspection and see what it needs to get it ready for some summer fun. Parts wise it will need at least discs and pads, possibly calipers and possible some rear end attention as handbrake is marginal according to Sir MoT man. It needs a lower suspension arm as the ball joint is fubar. Does anyone know if there were any/ many differences across the 205 range? ECP are asking £95 but list one for £27 on eBay for a 1.4 205 but the fitment range doesn’t include the convertible. Then comes the joy of fault finding electrical issues and French fuel injection. I am truly excited! As I don’t have a pic of my own, have one from the for sale thread:

Has anyone any info on registering a VVC engined 1996 MG in France? I just got told by the DREAL in Limoges that it is not possible. I may have to wait till it is 30 years old for it to be accepted.

Having fetched this French delight from deepest, darkest Norfolk (well Norwich actually) in an underwhelming collection, for no other reason than the van was scooped up onto a trailer for its journey home, it was time to see what was needed. I knew a RH side load door was needed, luckily an item was procured for £20 from a guy breaking a Scudo. I drove across to Swadlincote in the van and it proved to drive well, as expected from wuvvum’s write up. On the way home it started surging when the fuel level dropped below quarter on the gauge, again as expected. Door was fitted and adjusted on return, it was even the same colour! During the week I looked at the rear doors and fettled and adjusted the locks / latches. Today I dropped the fuel tank and found a loose baffle, along with crud in the fuel pick up / tank unit. A road test will be the proof of this repair. I also achieved a working temperature gauge today and changed the power steering fluid out. The to do list includes a coolant flush, new tyres (cracked side walls), new discs and pads, LH door slider and lock handle, a deep interior clean and removal of the ladder rack. In the meantime have some photos.

It's our 17th anniversary so what better way to spend it than trapsing a most of the way across the country? It's far too early for this...

So after introducing myself last week I thought I should put some info up of my project ‘Salvo’. He’s a 1993 Fiat Tipo 2.0 16V Sedicivalvole with the option of ABS and Recarro seats fitted and is a late registered 5 door version Having been brought up with Fiats in the family from a baby (my Dad worked for a Fiat dealer in Warwick) I always had a want for a Tipo Sedici. I remember Dad having one as a company demo when I was 12ish. So after moving on an X1/9 that myself and a friend had rebuilt the gearbox amongst many other jobs I found ‘Salvo’ on the dreaded eBay. He needs a lot of work, I knew this when buying him, but it proved a good idea to have him transported home as a brake pipe burst unloading it from the lorry... So to the subject of ‘rust’. Yes it’s a Fiat but by the 90s I don’t think they were any worse than their equivalents from Ford or Vauxhall etc. While the Tipo was famously galvanised from new (as the adverts made a lot of effort to tell) they seem to have forgotten the rear arches on mine (and a lot of others...). I’ll hopefully do a series of posts showing what’s been done so far plus the ongoing hunt for solid metal but will start with some pictures of Salvo as he first arrived. One of the first jobs was finding a set of correct wheels for a 5 door Sedici rather than the later 3 door style and to lose the ones it came on. Then the investigation into the rear arch rot began... plus what the plastic side skirts were hiding. Oh and the exhaust falling off, clutch release bearing very noisy, no brakes, no idea of when the timing belt was done and a very sticky inside!

P and O Fairies Dover/Calais have an a day trip offer so pas example Sun 20th out £12.50 rtn £14.50 so £27 but use code FUEL19 (on 1st booking page) and get a vulture for £30 of fuel. Obvs designed for anyone's with a moped who want to go to through the flatlands to https://www.grd.be/museum (though tis closed till March). Quote *************** January doesn’t have to be all bad. Book a day trip to France with P&O Ferries and you’ll receive an extra treat. Get 6 bottles of wine free or a £30 fuel voucher when you book before 7th February 2019 for travel until 18th February 2019. All you need to do is book your day trip using the promo code WINE19 for your free wine. Or if you would prefer to fuel your journey then use promo code FUEL19. ********************* Fin Quote