Festive festering fun

[bigstraight6]

The sister in laws Peugeot 106 failed its MOT recently in spectacular fashion, I would of done the work needed accept for the acres of weldage to it's perforated underside, paying someone to do that was a non-starter. There wasn't a lot of cash available for a replacement vehicle either, but then a good motor trade friend of mine known as 'Dodgy Des' came up trumps with a Fiesta that he'd just taken in PX, on the plus side it came with 6 months tax, half a tank of fuel, the shortcomings being a short MOT (end of Jan) and cosmetic issues, but for £100 I thought I'd have a punt on it

Apart from this rusty bit, its very solid including the underside, I had it up on a ramp and it's never been welded, and won't need any for the coming MOT!

It appears to have been polished with a brillo pad the bonnet and roof are not pretty....

 

Here's the best bit! 1100cc's of low-tech lovelyness!

I gave it a good oil change, lobbed in some antifreeze and gave it a quick once over yesterday afternoon and drove it upto the sister in laws over in Dawlish this morning, it drives absolutely spot on, the only issue being a blowing middle silencer. I don't think it will need much more than a new exhaust for the MOT, stand by for a thrilling update in late Jan

[dollywobbler]

Cor, that just screams "blissful simplicity" in a way I thoroughly approve of. I lost interest in Fiestas after this point. They went a bit blobby and peculiar.

[Cavcraft]

Cor, that's a right bargain. They're a bit slow (obviously) but a reliable little plodder that won't set the world alight but will do you a bloody good turn for a pocket money price. Truly and firmly in the 'can't go wrong' department.

 

*In a 'hammering a slightly newer joke over an older one' style I shall await Felching Magic to come along and tell you you've been ripped off because the petrol filler cap is slightly off colour.

[Timewaster]

I lost interest in Fiestas after this point. They went a bit blobby and peculiar.

And 100 times nicer to drive. Well, new anyway.

 

I was only grumbling in the origins of user names thread that £100 bargain* cars were a thing of the past. Seems I was wrong again.

 

Top work!

[ashmicro]

A mate of mine ran one of those until recently as his "work" car. It only has about a dozen moving parts, so it's hard to go wrong, especially at a ton. Good find. A decent set of plugs and correct valve clearances (Rule of 9 IIRC) will see it go quite well, and they're not thirsty.

[bigstraight6]

Just a quick update on the cheapest car I've ever acquired, it gained a fresh MOT yesterday! Over the Christmas break I had to replace the centre and rear exhaust sections when it more or less fell off the car, and in doing so knocked a rear brake line which was so brittle it started leaking It was a right pain to replace...

 

It went for testing last weekend and failed on only 2 issues, front wishbone bushes on both sides and the o/s/r brake lacking efficiency, so yesterday morning we replaced the wishbones and pulled off the brake drum and just cleaned and adjusted everything then took it for re-test. I didn't think that's too bad for a scrap value motor!

 

It does have a slight cold starting issue, I've replaced the spark plugs as they looked awful which has improved things slightly but it's still not quite right, and splutters and coughs when starting from cold, other than that it runs really well. Any ideas what else I should be looking at regarding the cold start issue chaps?

[Father Ted]

Any ideas what else I should be looking at regarding the cold start issue chaps?

No ideas Im afraid, but mine did exactly the same, flooding if you were not careful and it stalled within a minute of starting. Was a right royal PITA.

[RedSparrow]

I had one of these, almost identical.

I don't wish to sound too negative but it was the most unreliable thing I have ever driven. Beware of dodgy autochoke, single point injection and emergency fuel cut off. My one would not idle at all, so learnt to do some interesting pedal work at junctions and especially roundabouts.

That said, I hope you have found yourself a good-un!

[Split_Pin]

Just noticed this thread. Top purchase! I passed my test in one of these and borrowed Mum_L's manual choke one to go to the chippy with my mates!

 

These cars are getting a bit rarer now an almost all the survivors seem to be in this colour.

 

How about replacing the plug leads?

 

If you want to continue on the supreme budget theme however, which I admire in this car, you could just spray WD40 on the leads on a cold morning.

[bigstraight6]

Update time! This old heap is still alive and well, in the last 12 months I've replaced the complete 'zorst system, a few brake pipes, lower ball joints, rear brake cylinders and shoes to keep it rolling and legal. I wasn't to disappointed when it failed the MOT last week on both front tyres and a headlamp full of water.

 

The local car breakers supplied the required items and the car now has another years grace, possibly longer as there were no advisories from the MOT test!, after an oil and filter change earlier today I had the pleasure of driving the old knacker from Plymouth back to sister-in-laws in Dawlish and enjoyed every minute of it, the rolling Devon hills and an 1100cc OHV Relic certainly remind you of what driving is all about

[Negative Creep]

Still a surprising number of these on the road. Will have to keep an eye out for it, although chances are you've driven past me in the last 12 months

[Lord Sterling]

Always loved these little Fiestas. Good to hear its keeping you mobile, being a light car on skinny wheels I'd imagine snow doesnt hamper its progress. I hope you got rid of the poundland trims in favour of genuine Ford trims.

[bigstraight6]

Always loved these little Fiestas. Good to hear its keeping you mobile, being a light car on skinny wheels I'd imagine snow doesnt hamper its progress. I hope you got rid of the poundland trims in favour of genuine Ford trims.

 

Ah, those wheel trims, I did actually lose one on the A38 near Buckfasleigh today while thrashing the arse of the the wreck much to the delight of 'er indoors following me, only 3 to go

[warren t claim]

Feeling the need for some Fiesta in my life, what are the 2001 turbo diesels like?