A Visit to the Auction...

[AnthonyG]

...resulted in the purchase of a Mondeo 1.8LX for £400. This will make a excellent runround to save knackering a new Mondeo on my folk's long and very pothole infested farm track. I will try and get pics up but it is a 1999 V Mk2 Mondeo (oval grille) in a (actually quite nice) metallic sky blue. Needs new front discs and pads, but nothing else imminitely. If I get to like it I will treat it to a new cambelt kit!Naturally it has cracked bumpers, one artfully concealed by a oval Welsh dragon sticker. That and the little welsh flags on the left hand bit of the numberplates should keep local plod at bay!!Other interesting/shite stuff included N plate Volvo 850 2.5 T5, near Mint with full Mot and 102K on the clock for £420. J plate Merc 190E in very nice nick for £300 (I would have been very tempted but no V5 put me off).L plate Hyundai Pony, looked very clean, for £130.V plate Kia Pride for £360!!! R plate Hyundai Coupe (with a knackered front wing) for £240and a clean looking X plate Freelander, not sold at £900 top bid. I know the 1.8s are disliked, but had no idea these were so cheap now!

[M'coli]

What auction were you at?

[r.welfare]

Great skills! Cheap for a '99 Mondy. That 850 T5 sounded like even better value - but I know the Mondeo fits your criteria better!

[mk2_craig]

Hope the clutch is ok on the Mondeo, I'm led to believe it's a total bitch of a job to change and is the primary cause of scrappage! I'd still have a bash myself mind even if it did mean whipping the engine out.

 

 

A friend and I spent yesterday afternoon repairing a towhitch-shaped hole in the front bumper on my Zetec. It's amazing just how insubstantial they are, hopefully the filler and fibreglass repair is solid enough to create a bit of rigidity/won't fall out on hitting the first big pothole after it's painted.

[Richard]

Sometimes it can help to drill holes and cable tie the bumper together before filling. I don't think that would have been necessary on the one above though.

[AnthonyG]

The auction was in Synod Inn (near Newquay, about 30m south of Aberystwyth) on the West Wales Coast. It's run by a local auction house/estate agents called Fred Davies, who found the inclusion of cars into their monthly farm machinery sale, orginally just three or four, growing bigger & bigger until it outgrew the original event. It's monthly and is the best/only source of cheap cars in the area - nearest proper car auctions are at Swansea or in Leominster on the Welsh borders.As to the car, the clutch is OK, there is a bit of judder when moving off, but otherwise all appears all right. It is a big job, as Mk2 Craig indicates - the engine out and front subframe lowered and then I believe locating pins are needed in the subframe /body/engine attachment points to maintain the alignment settings.For banger money Mondeos, clutch failure is generally followed by scrappage, particularly as the 4cyl petrol engines (Zetecs) are popular for rallying and 'oldskoolford' conversions - a sierra gearbox bolts straight on, despite the Zetec/Duratec engines never having been used for factory RWD applications.I'm not too bothered about the cracks in the bumpers as I intended to buy an old smoker with which I wouldn't worry about getting scratched or dented, although I expect to keep it smart enough looking not to attract any unwelcome police attention!