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Showing results for tags 'project'.
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Been a serial lurker and occasional poster of nonsense, but have never quite got round to posting some pictures and the ongoing tribulations of being a serial VW licker. First a disclaimer - I like old VWs, partly as I grew up with them and partly because I understand how the work and I can fix* them. I do not like the 'scene' attached to them, it seems to attract too many of a certain type of person I am often allergic to - they bring me out in a shouty rage. First car was a'69 beetle in red, driven flat out everywhere until the rust took it. This was followed by a succession of Mk2 golf , vauxhall omega (vauxhall being close to VW in the sales ads) a free Mk3 golf which was dire and tried to kill me multiple times. I have no photos of any of these as they were pre-camera phone and mostly awful. Then came a T25 camper bought using generous donations from friends and family at our wedding . Bought, and a week later after hovering 15 years of dog hair out of it, we drove it all the way to northern Norway on honeymoon. Used it for a while. Bought a vauxhall astra estate (again, it was almost a VW in the sales section). It sucked. It did a year of commuting then it was scrapped. Was gifted a skoda fabia estate by my dad as a sensible run around. During this time my wife wanted a sensible runaround for her and the kids, so we bought a bright orange 1971 beetle (rusty of course) which was excellent fun. People were openly critical of apparent lack of regard for our offsprings safety. I pointed out it had seat belts. Due to rusting the T25 was sold as a project, the Skoda was sold for being too dull and a T2 purchased. Here is the peak of VW ownership, where the beetle, bay and T25 are all in one place just before sale: So now we had two aircooled vehicles, the newest of which was made in 1973. This lasted for exactly 9 months., during which I did lots of this: to be repeatedly rewarded with this: When the breakdown driver asks how the kids are getting on, you know you've seen him too much.... I also conducted some invisible repairs on the rusty bits of the beetle. I'll point them out if anyone can't see them: A promotion and car allowance then allowed me to purchase a C3 Picasso (best not ask, I hate it). Its purple. I feel like a dick when I drive it. Beetle then had to go due to third child and not enough seats, but it had the good engine, the van did not. A swap occurred. My neighbors love* me and find my antics endearing*. I clearly have no need for a drive or garage. After 1 too many FTPs, I was told van or family. I chose family and the van left. I then went a looked at another T25 minibus (three kids now) and was in much trouble for even considering another van. Two weeks later, after some small* arguments* we were in total agreement* and the van was purchased. Roughly 18 months ago - note lovely laqueer peel, mismatched rear wing and low level tide mark: After some light fiddling I have made a very basic day van affair, and we dragged it with camping gear and the three kids all the way up to the arctic circle in Finland last summer (wife has family in that part of the world). 6 days before departure I noticed the rear suspension had a bit of paint hanging off. I pulled and it showed this below: Trip to machine mart, a google of "mig wleding for numpties" and a youtube video later and I'd made this: and away we went. Here it is in a moody B&W photo in the land of the midnight sun, which really brings out the high quality paint. the rear suspension is still attached though, so winning. That's an epic catch up post really, but will use this space now to document the exciting* repairs and work done on it to keep everything attached .and working....
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As you all may know, i own a beautiful 2005 picasso that was used and abused by my grandparents for the past 8 years. Now this is my thread dedicated to the restoration of this fine automobile. i mean look at the way the wheel trims glisten in the sun.........it's almost pornographic. So in short you probably already know most of the stuff i have done to this fine machine, however there is still a lot left to do. The next thing is to fit genuine citroen mud flaps and restore the slight scratching on those fine wheel trims, i have noticed one of them is becoming pretty flat from sun exposure which is a massive shame. So in short spending way more than the car is worth because i'm weird and what people would call "good cars" don't interest me at all
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So, as it was revealed today at cholmondeley, I'm the proud owner of the ex-lots of people 405. The story so far.. It arrived and was deposited in the massively spacious storage facility..
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So kids are out . Sat here bored mooching at ebay when this pops up. Vectra b 500 yards from my house. Anyway I knew the owner , used to drive taxis now retired. He has had it for 18 years. Mot till may next year. It's a 1.8 ls. Bodywork is a bit tatty but it has had the belt done and a new clutch .75,000 miles and knowing the owner mechanically spot on. £350.00 English pounds which seems fair considering the file of Bill's and service history. I really wanted the x type off here but insurance was bloody mad. So a bit of tarting up and a few scrap yard visits should see it a bit tidier. It will probably just be used a has a WBOD and park the jap bus up. Anyway I should get my money back when it comes to move on. So no pez shot or food intake. Just a stroll round and drive it back.
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Edit: This is longer than initially anticipated. As some will have noticed, Mr cms206 of this parish reckons the death knell for the SVM is close with his recent purchase of a Saab. Going with the fact I still have a 100% Volvo fleet, as does Mr rml2345 of this parish I would personally say it's just diversification. Especially considering the amount of non Volvos cms206 has had these days. This aforementioned diversification continues a pace. Although the paperwork still needs to be done, I have some non Volvo incoming. Background: My aunt got the above pictured 205 back in about 2002 and ran it for about 3 years. By her accounts she put it in the lockup, got a Nissan Almera for whatever reason and basically put the 205 in to the long term deal with pile. It was initially SORN on the blue log book. Back when there was a theft of blue V5s at Swansea and everyone in the country got sent one of the new red ones, one never arrived for the 205 and after that it was properly forgetten about. Well she did. I've been keeping it in my mind every day since then. During a discussion over my birthday dinner a few weeks ago, she mentioned that she was going to pay the gardener she gets in to trim the trees to break in to the lockup because the padlock had rusted solid and she was desperate to use the space in the lockup. I said I'd do it free if I could assess the car. If it was completely fucked, it would have to get dragged out and put on a truck to go to the scrap heap. If I could get it moving, I would make it a project. Next day - 18th January: Time to break open the padlock then. Big screwdriver through the hasp and burst it within 3 seconds. Now to have a look at the car. It's dirty, 3 tyres are flat, one of them creased and the 4th is still at about 10psi. After FIFTEEN YEARS! A gentle rock confirms suspicions that all the wheels are locked so time to get all the wheels off and set about the brakes with a big swing press. The back wheels moved eventually. Judicious use the big hammer, two wheel bolts reinserted and a breaker bar as a lever got the back wheels turning. While the wheels were off I thought I'd see if they held air. All 4 tyres held 35psi. None of them appear to be cracked and the rubber is still "soft" to the scrape of a finger nail. Lack of sunlight attacking them I suppose but it'll get 4 new ones if it becomes roadworthy. After doing the back wheels, the front wheels quickly proved they could be a major problem. I took the calipers, pads and discs completely off the car and even with 2 wheel studs inserted and using the 3/4 drive breaker bar with an extra foot of length over the 1/2 bar, neither wheel / shaft would turn. So either the bearings had seized, the CV joints in the driveshafts had seized or something very sinister was happening inside the gearbox. By this time it was getting dark and cold so time to put it all away for another day. Another day - 24th January: Various discussions were had on the Scotoshite WhatsApp chat and the end result being Mr 320Touring of this parish agreed to come round for a shufty. He was wanting to check up on another car in a lockup only a mile or so away so it was a no brainer. As before, front wheels off, bar on the wheel bolts... nothing. What to do next? We need to use the car's own power to try to free off whatever is seized on the front wheels but the car is nose in to the lockup so we can't get jump leads to it. We need to drag it out but we don't have a tow rope however we manage to find what appears to be a self tightening dog collar / leash in the car and decide to cue MAXIMUM SKETCHINESS!!! A gentle tug from the ML of doom proved the NSF wheel is tight but not seized however the OSF is not moving. Fuck it... drag it while pushing from the front. If we need to shove it back in there's an old tyre in a pile of rubbish waiting to get uplifted by the council that can act as a cushion and the ML will do the job no bother. We also took the front brake discs off to minimise any drag from those. We decided to drag it out just enough to get my jump leads on to the battery. We had already taken the battery out to try it on the leads outside the car. Surprise surprise* it was so dead it had gone open circuit so there was absolutely no magic pixies flowing in to it. Luckily I had an old battery from the 740 that was the same size so that was obtained, inserted and then put to work. Time to leave it to charge for a wee bit. Now that we've got some electricity going from the ML in to the 205 it's time to see what will happen. Thanks to Mr Touring for providing the videos... At one point we were vexed by the daft French screw on battery terminals We were getting a bit desperate by this point. We used quite a lot of "easy start" and the amount of electricity was causing problems. We took a break at this point for 10 mins or so. Mainly to make sure we didn't get too frustrated but also to make sure the maximum possible amount of electricity was in the actual battery so that the leads were just there as a boost. This was clearly a good idea... Learning from all the antics of the last 15 mins or so we left it for another 5 mins. Using a clamp meter we let it get to the point that almost no electricity was flowing in the leads and therefore an almost complete charge and spraying the "easy start" ahead of time, results were finally had... YAY! MUCH ELATION! Oh and that old diesel stinks. Time to get the leads off, move the ML and let the 205 tick over for a few minutes to let the engine settle. Next we found out why the front wheels were not for turning... So yeah. All the CV Joints were completely solid. But anyways it was mission accomplished for the day. We got it moving and a general once over suggests that it should be easily salvageable therefore if auntie wants the space in the lockup, it's going to have to go somewhere. Time to put it back in and wrap up for the day. Thanks to 320 Touring in assistance. The list of work is substantial but not insurmountable. It needs - a battery, front discs, front pads, front calipers, front lower arms, front driveshafts, possibly bearings, rear drums, rear shoes, rear fitting kit, probably handbrake cables, flexi hoses all round, 4 new tyres, 3 of the 4 doors don't work properly, a water leak at the water pump but that can get done with a new cam belt, probably a thermostat, engine oil, filters all round, fresh fuel, a good clean, handbrake light, oil pressure light and a rear screenwash leak inside the tailgate. Oh and a sidelight bulb... Interim time: Lockup secured in Cumbernauld. Car transporter trailer booked for Wed 12th Feb to move it. The V70 will do the honours. Another bit of tinkering - 4th February So it has been agreed the V5 will be transferred in to my name. With an impending trailer move, I thought I'd go back and have another look at things and reassemble the front brakes. I've already installed a new battery so it can be started without the need for leads and it does so quite happily even though the fuel coming from the tank smells like paint. I drove it about in circles for 5 - 10 mins to free up the CV joints and scrape the rust off the brake discs. I also did some straight line tests pulling away in 2nd which seemed to free up the turbo actuator. I also found the radio code so I got that working but you'll have to take my word on it 'cos YouTube will just give me a copyright flag. I shall leave this one here just now. Not much will happen for a while. There will of course be the drama of the trailer move but once it's in the lockup a plan of action will need to be drawn up. A sensible first course will be, I think, to find someone who will give it a once over for MoT viability before any new parts are obtained. All the obvious stuff should be easily DIYable but I don't know what lurks underneath. Some things like the timing belt and water pump will be paid for but the rest will just get picked away at in due course. I also found some period souvenir parking tickets... ---ENDS---
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I've seen a few people do this here, so I thought I would jump on the band wagon and talk about one of my cars. Which just so happens to be a Commie Red 1976 Lada 2101 from Lithuania. Here's the obligatory photo: I've also written about it here on my website: https://www.mywifehatesthiscar.com/the-fleet-avtovaz-lada-2101-nikita/ For those who won't click on it, let me tell you the story about this car. I bought this over a year ago, and it's sat under a tarpaulin on my mom's drive way ever since. She doesn't mind, because she's an Irish mammy and doesn't drive. I bought the car as I liked it's classic design and the fact the wife absolutely hated it. I also sought out something over 40 years old, as Birmingham was/is introducing that daft ULEZ thing and at the time I worked in the city centre. Since then though I'm starting a new job so the whole ULEZ thing doesn't matter now, especially as they haven't bothered to bring it in yet. The Lada itself is from Lithuania, has been in the UK since 1997. I didn't buy it from the original owner, it's been through two owners before it got to me. Neither of which did what the original owner should've done and register it, so that's currently with the DVLA at the moment. What started as me buying a classic Lada to stick two fingers up to Birmingham City Council and my wife has now turned in to a longer term project. I have a Rover 25/MG ZR that I'm taking the engine from, along with an MX5 gearbox, and I'm putting that in to the Lada along with the half leather seats from the Rover. It's going to be a daily, and I want a daily that looks a bit crap and old that will surprise those clowns in their PCP BMW's. At the moment nothing's been done to the car as I haven't the space. Currently in the process of cleaning a garage that hasn't been cleared since I bought the house 5 years ago, and I've a Peugeot 107 and Toyota Corolla that need attention in there before the Lada even gets moved in there. So I'll update this post as well as the website and YouToob with the work on the car as and when, but I just wanted to say how bloody happy I am to be part of the forum with like minded people who won't give me the agro I get from the wife about these cars. Also, FYI about the site, the name doesn't come from the wife's reaction to the Lada. It comes from her reaction to my Corolla!
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A few months ago, I agreed to reluctantly* add to the collection at home, and went to collect said vehicle. The collectee had sat for over 6 years, and whilst we got it going, it ran rough and being an auto refused to drive out onto the road so I could get my trailer winch cable to it, so I gave up when it started to rain. A month or so later, I went back, got it running a bit better but still not well enough to drive. However, being well organised, this time I had taken a tow rope to drag it onto the road, whereby I could attach the winch rope, however it was at this point I realised I had left the winch battery and winch controls at home. It then started raining, so I gave up and went home. Last week, my friend called past the car with some tools and a new tool for detecting air leaks and found one of the induction pipes was half off in the area you cannot see, after which perfect running was restored. Today, I called in to see him and he told me the glad tidings, and as the sun was out we decided to pop down to Dundee, where the car was located, so I could see for myself. On arrival I parked the Saab next to it so I could attach jump leads, as the battery is unsurprisingly dead after 6.5 years sitting It started easily and ran smoothly, so much so I decided to see if it would move under its own steam. This it did, and brimming with confidence* a run around the crescent it was located in showed all appeared well, even the brakes seemed to be working fine. My friend and I discussed timing for when I could collect it, when I took leave of what little sense I normally have and a decision was made. One of the advantages of my trade insurance is I am covered up to 14 days before the number has to go on the MID so insurance was not a problem. A quick phone call to my friendly MOT man (who works 7 days a week) and it was booked in for an MOT for late this afternoon, on the strict understanding he did not get to see it today. So, pre booked MOT, check, Insured, check, 50 miles from home, check, having just covered a couple of hundred meters after sitting for six and a half years check. WCPGW? Kept the speed down to a max of 50 as the tyres are a bit* cracked and have proper flat spots, with my friend following in my Saab, the journey home was pleasant, warm and comfortable, and most noticeably without an FTP! Tomorrow I will give it a full check over to see what I have bought. So far I know it needs tyres, a thermostat, an new engine temperature sender and a bit of sparkly stick action on the sills. Happy bunny!
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I have recently acquired a 1997 rover 111 mpi and I noticed a leak of fuel from the tank seam, I have seen a tank for a 1994 1.1 metro rio I was wondering if the tanks were the same as in sender size etc I have no idea when it comes to these little motors so any help is appreciated The little car in question, it has 31000 miles on the clock an old couple had it since it was new, lots of history and original bill of sale in one of the best colours in my opinion
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Right, my first collection - I may get the must haves wrong. But I'm sure you'll forgive me. Prior to departure: Coffee at work, followed by use of work printer to print temp insurance. Vehicle is for Mrs Schwifty - who has already named it (god help me).
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A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, The Burd and I went to see the Skizzer to start getting a MK1 Golf Convertible that had been off the road for 10years.. After a couple of sessions in deepest darkest Wales , coupled with some sterling help and fettling by Skizzer himself, it was time for us to head down and bring the thing back up. This went well: New tyres were procured and fitted The in-game tank pump was pulled out and a new filter fitted Then I got in touch with my Inuit side, using brand new* magnets to undertake "tank shite" fishing A full check over and a couple of test drives showed it fit to play. We set off for sunny Oswestry, only to have both front calipers sticking after 120 miles. Some water and time to collect down saw them free off and cause no further problems. Upon getting just past Tebay, it started running rough - nicking into Todhills rest area and luzzing in 10L of fuel had it running bang on for the next 70miles before it died. This was the final scene on the way home. I got to bed at 00:45, and left it to sit until today.
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Hello, this is my first post here although I've read the forums there from time to time. I'm not certain about what I'm going to do with this vehicle yet but without further ado; This is a Peugeot 406 which has been, literally and figuratively, outstanding in its field. It was a family car my dad bought well over ten years ago and used every day for an A/B road country commute into a the nearest large city almost fifty miles distant - he replaced his previous 405 with it, that having accrued over 200k miles. It lived a frugal and reliable life in Devon, went on holidays through France and Spain and was handed down to my mum for dog carrying and plant purchasing duties. After the clutch started to slip (slightly) in about 2016 mum decided she didn't want to drive it anymore and it was dumped and handed down to me to get rid of. I decided to pick it up as I remembered it's delightfully wafty comfort. I drove it around for a year after the mammoth DIY task of removing the gearbox and replacing the clutch, input bush thing, release bearing and driveshaft oil seals. I replaced the strange multi link arms on the rear suspension and had a full four wheel alignment carried out, replacing the four tyres at the same time with all season Bridgestones. The 406s are famous for bad rear tyre wear on the inner edges and I was happy to have cured this and reset the handing to 'surprisingly good'. After the year of anonymous silver estating, many tip runs with trailers full of rubbish, working on the house and picking up a huge hearthstone I parked the 406 up in a barn. I'd subsequently backed it into a rhododendron bush and a Dartmoor granite gatepost and my brother had handbrake turned it into a civic Vti in a rare moment of ill judged thuggery. In all honesty it looked rough and I was embarrassed to drive it. It shed it's modest private plate, returning to a Y registration and curled up in a concrete barn. It's a long way from civilization here, and after the fields are cut and baled, mid to late summer, I get the jump leads out and transfuse some agricultural electrons from the tractor into it's vital veins. I scrape the dried latte owl dung from the windscreen and the 406 lives again on verdant grass highways as a field car. It's rusted somewhat now, the rear subframe needs welding and all the calipers and discs most likely need replacing but the beating hdi heart is smooth. Any rational person would weigh it in, bank the pounds and pence and move on, but I can't help thinking that it's not done just yet.
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After many a long year of occasional contribution on here I've probably got enough old shite on fleet now to do something I should have done yonks ago and start a project thread. The story so far......... I had an 02 CRV for 6 years and it performed faultlessly as an car taking everything in it's stride. The only issue with it was the 25mpg it returned but as I worked close to home that wasn't an issue. Cue December last year and a new job saw my commute go up from 4 miles a day to 32 miles a day. By March I was drowning in green shield stamps so bought the mighty diesel disAstra from Davehedgehog of this here parish. Shown here on the only off-road parking and only second car parking space I have. The garage contains a few motorbikes so I've always stubbornly stuck to a single car rule so I don't have to move motors to get bikes in and out. More on this detail in a bit..... A combination of broken motorcycles needing worked on, a bike trip around the Baltic and work meant that I soon realised that I had no time to prep the disAstra for its MOT at the start of this month. It wasn't worth enough to pay to have the work done so I decided that the poor old thing would be scrapped in favour of a replacement motor......... The mighty Volvo (V70 D5) was purchased from Ma & Pa forddeliveryboy of this parish and migrated north of the border back to it's natural home. Three days after being pressed into commuting service the mighty volvo suffered a (badly) sticking caliper and much burning brake smells that had to be stripped and rebuilt before work the next day. Sticking piston at that so the whole thing was off and the brakes had to be bled afterwards. Two and a half hours in the pissing rain was a bit character building especially as the still MOT'd (by 3 days) and taxed (but not insured) astra was sitting on the drive. Decision made, insurance checked and a soon to be taken out Admiral multi-car policy will see me with two cars on the fleet again. I could have used one of the bikes but motorway commuting in the pissing rain on two wheels is no fun. The volvo needs an MOT in december so having the astra back on the road will take the pressure off getting that done if it needs work and the weather is bad. And so as the volvo continues to provide daily service, project astra revival starts. Known MOT work needed is frilly arches, broken number plate and front discs and pads so nothing major. Thus far the arches have been sorted without resort to duct tape. After a bit of prodding....... And after the angle grinder was let loose surprisingly it was only the return lip that was rotten so the welder was broken out to lash on some roughly cut fresh metal. Linished off filled, sanded and primed. Note the use of a farmfoods brochure pulled out the bin being used as masking paper for extra shite points. Followed by a near perfect colour matched (*) top coat.... Well I had black on the shelf and it's good enough to stop the primer soaking up the water so that'll do for now. Hoping to get brakes and MOT sorted in the coming week so more to follow soon (hopefully).
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I finally started tó do something about my Saab96L today,as I had a free afternoon,and the weather is great.
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First things first, I cannot collect this car until December. The Cactus goes back 19th of December and the Alessisisisis insurance runs out on the 1st of December. Its easier and cheaper to sort this out then. So he will remain hidden until then. ForFiatsSake bought it a few weeks back and he got it at a ridiculous price, he suspected that the prop has gone, but it's unconfirmed. If it has then it's £300 or so, which isn't too bad. The downpipe has gone and is being replaced this week. I need a daily driver when the Cactus goes back, I parked the Alessi at work for 3 days last week and I hated it. The fact it gets covered in shit and the fact some wank could wallop it, because we tend to block cars in for fun tbh. Which is where the 4x4 comes in, it's already battered and I don't care if it gets walloped further. For those that don't know, these are not like a Polo Dune or a Fabia Scout. This has permanent four wheel drive and is fairly good off road. There's an electronic rear diff on later ones, but this doesn't have it. I don't like that it's silver, as I need my cars to be luminous pink or green with purple viper stripes. I'm not a fan of the red interior, however last night I was looking at red leather Abarth seats from a 500, which bolt-in. I keep forgetting it's my work banger and mustn't have fancy seats....... It has proper air con and not the chocolate climate control, the rear axle isn't made of cardboard as it's obviously a different design. It has some fairly ridiculous winter tyres on it and again, this thread will be buried until later in the year.
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Had this little honey delivered today from the Autoshite legend that is RobT who saved it from the crusher. Has a few issues - biggest of all is rough running / misfire at idle. Top suspect is the inlet manifold gasket which was kindly supplied. Needs a proper service since the previous giffer owner seems to have been ripped off by his local garage - the air filter is black as fuck and the spark plugs fitted are probably not the correct ones. OSF sidelight is inop - broken wire. Upon investigating I found some top class wiring repairs to the lighting harness: Yes, twisted together wires covered in masking tape. Lovely. All in all it’s very clean and tidy though - 33k on the clock!
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Hey folks new project, as you saw in the other thread I accidently persuaded fatha thestag to buy a 109 truck in relaxed state here is the walk around, let my mouth do the talking
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Place holder for some fun tomorrow. A free car ...but as we all know, that's a very untrue statement! This one has been sat for about a year and half or two. It was last MOT'd in 2017 but has been passing over the last few times with no advisories. Two stages to this collection. First is getting the bugger running and the second is getting it home & MOT'd. Tomorrow will be about hopefully getting it started and out of the garage. If this succeeds I'll then see about having it recovered back to either home or directly to my friendly local garage and have it tested. Not sure how I'll do this - maybe do a single shot video of startup?
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So, someone posted on another thread a link to an Ebay listing for an LHD '74 Marina listed on Ebay. I called a little while ago and talked to the seller, and the story is that it was a good running and driving car 10 years ago, but has been neglected and won't run. I'm debating with myself about whether or not I want to take it on as a project. I know these had a terrible reputation when new, but at the same time they're actually legitimately rare in the US. I have seen one in person, and most of the estimates I've seen put the number of survivors at 10-20(although I don't know how much we can trust that). There's some definite appeal in the engine familiarity for me with the MGB. I MIGHT have to convert it to a manual though. In addition, there's the issue of having it shipped a couple hundred miles to me. It's listed now for $700...if I could do $500 it might be a make or break for me. Any thoughts here on it? EDIT: The car as it sits now is an automatic. If I swapped the transmission, it would be to a manual. Sorry for any confusion from my incorrect statement!
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Second car collection this month. This one is really rather different to the Laguna. Clues: Pre 80s Something I've been wanting for a while Keep quiet if you found out what it is when at FoTU ! Collection happening this evening - time depending on when I get out of a meeting at work, cycle home and go back out again. Hopefully a boring one in that we drive down to the sellers house, pay, paperwork and then drive back. Event free hopefully!
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Hello everybody, just wanted to introduce myself and my capri to the forum. Its a 1981 2.0S mk3 that's been in the family since 1990 and has been passed down from my father to me some years ago. The story is that my father bought the car inn 1990 as his escort xr3 was to expensive to insure and his first child was on its way, so the escort went and he bought this from a man in the Selby area. (my father being a ford trained mechanic, he did like his ford back then) He drove the car for about 3 years and with a new house and me and my brother on our way he had to find a family car that was my economical and cheaper to use than this, and so for the next ten years it spent time in a relatives front garden, then made its way from one barn to another until 2003. This was when he decided to restore the car himself and so we dragged it back home and plonked it into his garage. Sadly due to work he just couldn't find the time for her and so for another 10 years she sat unloved until 2013 when I was given her. The picture above was taken on the day we dragged her out of the garage, now I was still an apprentice living with mum and dad so all I could do at the time was put her in a council garage safely tucked away. This picture was taken in June 2019 as she is now. I have now purchased my own home and I'm currently working on modernising that, I also need to build a garage for the capri so that I'll have a dry place to work on her. My plan is to restore the car so that I can enjoy using it on days out and even holidays to the south west. I wont be doing a full body strip down resto but she does require some welding work on her back end. As can be seen from the photo's the rear valance and rear corners have gone and there are some holes in the sills at the rear. There's also a small hole in one of the rear chassis rails just around where the fuel tank is mounted to. I have obtained a new pattern part rear valance and I can get pattern new rear corner out skins as well, I will also be removing the tow bar as this car will never tow a trailer or caravan again. I will be needing new leaf springs as the ones on it are pretty well worn. I may be needing a new fuel tank if the old one cannot be saved but I'll make that judgement when the time comes, but apart from the rear end the car is mostly rot free. From the back of the doors forward everything is pretty much solid. Floors are good and the doors are ok (I have a spare passenger door if I decided to replace it). The scuttle panel is solid with no bubbling any where on it and the dashboard is not cracked which for me is a bonus as I've seen lots of capris with cracked dashboards due to the sun. I just hope my father can remember how this all goes back together. I do still have the original steering wheel which is inn a poor state and requires recovering, currently a mountney one is fitted which I actually prefer to the original one so I'll be keeping it on the car. The engine is the original 2.0 pinto with the 205 block, this will be getting a full strip down and rebuild when I get to it. Well that's all I can think of to say right now, hopefully within the next year and can get my garage built and start working on this car and maybe start to actually enjoy it. ?
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To mark the genesis of my fleet project thread I here present my new car: a 1997 Nissan Micra Shape- It really looks that good. There is a reason for this: its previous owner was an old lady who loved the thing so much so she made every effort to keep it in good shape. It originally came from Fleet in the GU postcode which suggests to me it was bought by the present dealer at auction, hence arriving down here in Kent. Before seeing the car I checked its MOT history and its only fails were thanks to broken stoplights, which shows me that it was very well cared for. I suppose an example of this was that on the last MOT, an advisory was a corroded rear silencer. The silencer on the car when I saw it was new. Methinks the lady wanted to keep it as good as possible. It was kept in a garage and so all the bumpers and black trim are very black and the tyres are in very good condition. Spare never used! Also included a free Dettol first aid kit from 1997. This car has 15000 genuine miles on the clock. We clocked over 15000 during the test drive! The lady owner really only trundled around her village in it and the MOT shows that it only did some meagre miles between tests. This, of course, came at a price. We saw a cherry red Micra from 2002 at the same dealer. Paint was shoddy and when they washed it the boot had massive sections of bare metal and it wasn't very happy. This car, however, is in fabulous condition and there was no contest between the two cars- it really is that good, inside and out. Immaculate interior, driver's airbag, cassette player... all there and all functioning (apart from cassette thanks to new battery and failed display). This meant that I bought it for £1600, £100 over what was my uppermost limit, but I knew I wouldn't see another like this that was in as good shape for a fair while. It was priced very ambitiously, at £1990, so I'm content in the fact I managed to slash a few hundred off the price. There wasn't that much paperwork though. All the dealership received was the logbook with 3 service stamps from 1998, 1999 and 2000, the radio key pass, a National Trust sticker, and the original paperwork holder. I suspect the old lady died and had her car auctioned, and the massive file of paperwork is now someone's egg carton, along will everything else she owned. As always, this car isn't exactly in showroom condition. While the inside is great and the floor is solid, and the underseal is in great shape, the not undersealed parts need a small looking at. Mainly the rear of the driver's side sill. It's really the only bubbling on the car. I suspect a well aimed stonechip managed to fester over the wintery salted roads, making it rust even more. It's around the size of a 5p piece, and will give me the opportunity to spray the insides of the sill with some chain oil to prevent any further corrosion. Behind the fuel tank there are a few rusty joints- places where the spraygun cannot get paint onto- which some Vactan and Dynax should put to rights. Alternator belt looks original because of the cracking and Nissan badges and will need doing soon as well as the front plate. As much as I like the 90's font and original dealer surround, the dishevelled R and general water ingress is a persistant MOT advisory. It could be the MOT station being strict (and most likely is considering there's a Saxo down the road with far worse blackening), however for the sake of peace of mind and all that, I'll get a new one made. The rear has already been replaced indicating this has happened before. All in all, I think this is a nice plucky motor. I'll have it by the end of the week; just got to sort out tax, insurance, and it's going to have an MOT. As part of the deal it's getting the MOT and an oil and filter change which will be something ticked off the list. It has some love scratches and chips here and there, but it drives well, is stiff and controllable, and should make out to be a nice summer project!
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As I mentioned in the Show Us Your 2CV thread, I recently bought a 1988 Citroen 2CV special after spending a few months looking at dozens of them for sale on the Internet. I've started a thread as owning it is going to raise a lot of questions. As an example of how much I know about them, I spent a good couple of minutes pulling at things on the dashboard looking for the bonnet release before working out that it should be opened from the outside. The main two problems I'm going to have to sort out with it are the rust on the sills, front floor and toeboard (I'll get someone who knows what they're going to do this) and the electrics. It has, weirdly, been fitted with a second battery and I've got no idea why so investigating that will be fun. Anyway it's nice to join the list of 2CV owners here and I'm looking forward to taking it out on the road once it's all done.
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As you may have read in the 'Can we save this?' thread, the answer was 'Yes we can!' Someone on this forum who wishes to remain nameless, fronted the cash to rescue this little Mazda from certain doom at the hands of a banger racer. I've taken custody of the car, but will make sure they get their money back as soon as is physically possible. Perhaps once it's running right, I'll look at some sort of roffle to find it a new home and pay back what it owes me and them. Although it had been sitting 5 years or so, it went through an MOT, so that's a good start. Known faults. - Alternator is kaput. Shouldn't be too hard to find a refurbished one. Presume battery knackered too. - Wheel bearing grumbling. - Running like crap. Will replace fuel and vacuum pipes and add fuel filter. Then perhaps a carb strip down and rebuild. Aisan 980 carb as far as i know, same as the Toyota was, - Flat tyre. It's currently sitting outside with a flat battery and no fuel, so that's not a good start! As I have very little talent, time or money, and suggestions / help greatly appreciated. These are the pictures I have so far - looks good but it's a lot more dull in real life...
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As title, anyone near or in Bromyard able to assist with a recovery of a vehicle.? Cheers, Sam Today, 12 ish