Lord '2 Jags' Sterling's fleet of failure - The return of the Jaguar... 🐆

[Lord Sterling]

21 hours ago, JMotor said:

My Vectras all were either plated or rotten there. It's doubled skinned and not very well protected.

The Estate I owned was going to get that area done. Then found the whole arse end was quite BROWN with rot. 

Which was inconvenient.

Hopefully, if I do get it done, which is very likely. So long as the current lads who have my Jag do the job they say they were going to do, I.e. weld it properly and shultz it underneath, then I'll probably opt to do the same thing. 

I think this year is going to be tough financially as both the Jag and Vectra will need spending on considerably. There is always the option to sell the car, but it's something I'd like to avoid if I can.

[JMotor]

Sounds like a plan.

It's box section basically. So very repairable. 

When you can hand the car's own handbook through the inner rear arch tub.....

Then maybe worry a little 😂.

By the way! I have some leftover parts from mine. Even have a newish fuel tank. EDIT - if you need anything that is.

[Imhotep]

7 hours ago, JMotor said:

By the way! I have some leftover parts from mine. Even have a newish fuel tank. EDIT - if you need anything that is.

Trip to Scotland @Lord Sterling? Means I can drop off the games that @AnnoyingPentium bought off me about a year ago because as usual every postal service seems to think he lives in the highlands so postage is insane!

[AnnoyingPentium]

31 minutes ago, Imhotep said:

Trip to Scotland @Lord Sterling? Means I can drop off the games that @AnnoyingPentium bought off me about a year ago because as usual every postal service seems to think he lives in the highlands so postage is insane!

Maybe they think I live on the Isle of Arran (also KA postcode). It's weird considering I'm a serial eBay-ist and I don't have bother otherwise... 😂

[Imhotep]

5 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Maybe they think I live on the Isle of Arran (also KA postcode). It's weird considering I'm a serial eBay-ist and I don't have bother otherwise... 😂

Maybe, it does seem odd as I’ve posted to near you before and never an issue. All I get is either ‘we don’t post to the highlands’ or ‘here’s an insane charge for us to do this’

[Lord Sterling]

10 hours ago, Imhotep said:

Trip to Scotland @Lord Sterling? Means I can drop off the games that @AnnoyingPentium bought off me about a year ago because as usual every postal service seems to think he lives in the highlands so postage is insane!

Can do. But Ramadan has just started ans I'm 'hibernating' until then. I'm off to Brussels mid March until late, then possibly, when I'm back, we can make a trip?

[beko1987]

10 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Maybe they think I live on the Isle of Arran (also KA postcode). It's weird considering I'm a serial eBay-ist and I don't have bother otherwise... 😂

Problem is you'll be on the ban list at Postal Area or District level (KA is Area, Ka1 is a District, KA1 1 sector etc). They need to be clever and do it at PAF level then your postcode would work 😥

 

[Lord Sterling]

As alluded to in various other News 24/Grin threads, I've been to Brussels and back. All was happy and nice until I got to bloody Bromsgrove. Clearly my car isn't welcome there. Fuck Bromsgrove. 

Anyway. For thread completeness, we'll start at the beginning with the Vectra. Prior to going abroad, I'd left it out to pasture for a couple of weeks which caused the battery to lose its juice. No problem, out with Noco and it fired into life:

There had been some sand carried over fron the Sahara by the weather which left many cars, including the Jag looking like this:

So I pumped up the tyre with the slow puncture and took it out for a wash and a blast around the local roads:

As I did, I spotted some road bilge and went snap-happy:

*The above was prior, when the BMW was in for work. 

Whoops...

Chap that owns the above 3 red cars lives around the corner from my Mum's. He is looking to sell the TR7 and P6 soon.

Now, I spotted this from the train when going to pick up the S-Type from @Imhotep's. I'd always said I'd track it down and I did. In the carpark also was a Ford Escort or Fiesta on RS alloys, but mostly covered with a car cover so didn't bother getting a pic.

A Vectra that I remember being in everyday use, but appears now to have been parked up for a while. I could only see the back end fron the road so went a bit braver and got a bit nearer.

Chevrolet Suburban 😍

My uncle (now sadly passed away) from Kuwait had one of these. We used to travel from Syria to Lebanon and the Turkish border and indeed the beaches of Latakia in his one.

Anyway, the next day, I was ready to fuck off abroad:

The weather in both England and Belgium was absolutely atrocious, pure rain everywhere. I remarked to myself that the last time I did a big journey in the Jag it was also just as wet during some sort of storm (Claudia ?) When I went up to Northumberland. 

After the first couple of days, it started getting drier and nicer. So as well as the model car buyage and general pottering around the city of Brussels, I took the opportunity to snap a few vehicles for your delictation:

Spotted this 5er on two different occasions. I've always loved these e34s.

Love the architecture of Woluwe Shopping centre and its adjoining metro station Roodebeek:

Believe it or not, its actually quite clean and doesn't smell of piss.

I visited that Roodebeek carpark. Surprisingly, there was little of note. There doesn't appear to be any abandoned cars anymore:

Previously, this Renault looked abandoned, seems to be in use now.

The Vanderveken building is still not in use. There was talk of it being converted into a Kitchen warehouse type place, but nothing appears to have happened yet.

Coats 'n' 'ats

Base spec minge baggery.

There is an absolute fuck-tonne of these Mercs here in Brussels. Its as if the owners have no imagination. 

Corsa was at the top of the (now closed but re-opened as Delhaize) Cora carpark. This was the lower carpark:

It was VAST! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go back and do more exploration. I'm hoping I can do so in the summer.

Next, Carrefour carpark:

Not a lot to see here. They also do have a lower carpark which I haven't checked out yet.

Sorry about the reflection in the glass. Driver's side window doesn't go down so taking pics are through the front window rather than out the side window.

Spotted this before I went and got my teeth done. Beautiful W126:

Interestingly, it has a modern steering wheel:

My favourite carpark near DeBroukere:

Spotted this whilst heading for the exit:

Its a 2.5 V6. A little unloved like mine appears to be.

Nearly imapled my arm reaching over a gate with spikes on top:

Camper, spotted on a council estate.

My Jag visits it's relative:

I spotted it previously last year when I was in the XJ:

I spotted this Peugeot last year. It looked a little cleaner this time around and was actually parked in the compound. 

New business opportunity?

Got some bits for Fatha_Sterling' car:

Tried to fit the radio but the rats nest of wires put me off. I didn't want to leave Fatha_Sterling without tunes and crucially a system to put his phone through. 

At least it fits.

Then there was the door mirror debacle:

UK spots:

And one for @AnnoyingPentium

Lastly, yesterday, I managed to score myself some OEM rubber Jag mats for the S-Type. Cheap at £20 and didn't take me too far off my route. This time it was far more interesting to go through the Dartford tunnel and up the M1 rather than M20/M25/M40.

I'll clean up later and give them a black shoe polish to get the colour back.

From our Brussels correspondent Mo, back to the Mo in the studio...

[Lord Sterling]

On Sunday, I got a call from the welder, the XJ was ready. Brill! But due to logistics and family, I couldn't get there until Tuesday (today).

Mick (the welder) sent me this:

So today started like this:

Yes, I had @Imhotep's MG with me for a couple of days. Because of the parking situation around here, rather than be a loser with nowhere to park, I need to be just as bloody minded as the folk around here. I needed to use the S-Type but despite owning 4 cars, I only had this one at home (Jag XJ was at welder, Vectra is in @Imhotep's garage and BMW is with @red5) so @Imhotep lent me the MG for a couple of days so I could do my running about without losing my space.

This morning, I took the MG back to @Imhotep as his Toyota is being a shit and not allowing its hub to be removed from the driveshaft. No worries, it was supposed to be a good day, the only good thing was the drive to Erdington and meet with @Imhotep. As soon as I got to the train station, everything started to go wrong...

It was three trains and two connections to get from Erdington to Lye where the welder is. First train, arrived with no issues, but as we were about to enter into New St, the trains stopped for at least 5 minutes because the station was "crowded" or something  

I found my next platform but missed my connection. I waited for the next train, but it kept being delayed. Finally, 45 minutes after I arrived, it arrived and I boarded, but then, of course, the announcer stated that an engineer was aboard because of a fault with the comms system or whatever. 10 minutes later, they announced that it was cancelled. 

Fucked off with this, I marched my plump and angry self over to Moor St station because fuck New St or whatever its called. West Mids Railways couldn't run a bath.

I finally boarded a train to head directly to Lye, then a brisk walk up to Mick's workshop and finally, my chariot of Jagness was ready:

Initially, the work was only for the underside, but he also did one wing for me. Just need some paint on it now.

The tyres are utterly shite and will get changed, but shit me, it drives nice. Plus, the central locking problem appears to have resolved itself. Maybe it was the bitter cold that caused the issue? As it was still winter when it went in.

After that, on the list is the ball joints and I'll get the front subframe cleaned up and sprayed, I don't want to have go through this again. 

Vectra

Also, as has previously been alluded to, but added for thread completeness, a couple of weeks ago, the Vectra got stored away for a few months until I can pay off a few things and get myself in a better position financially to get the Vectra back on the road. It failed it's MoT on a few things.

The Vectra had been stored in my favourite parking space around the corner from mine. @Imhotep kindly offered me the use of his garage to keep the Vectra in until I can sort things out.

As it hadn't been used for a number of weeks, the battery in the Vectra was naturally dead, as in; even the Noco couldn't wake it up. So, it was off to here...

To buy these:

The S-Type has a powerful battery (which it needs to start that thing) and it was enough to jump start the Vectra.

Annoyingly, it meant clearing out the boot which added more time to getting the Vectra ready. Even more annoyingly, getting it ready took a good hour or so to sort out when it could have taken 20 mins, because petrol stations no longer sell useful items for cars anymore, they're tiny supermarkets devoid of any actual useful car stuff.

Once I got the Vectra started, I got the one rear tyre with a slow puncture some air in it, hauled it down to Halfords again to buy some oil as it literally had none in it and sloshed some petrol in it. Then, it was a matter of hauling it down the M5 and M6 into Erdington to its temporary home:

That's where it'll stay until I can get myself on my feet again. 

[Lord Sterling]

Spottage time:

My camera decided not to function properly as I was trying to grab a pic of this Volvo  

Cortina belongs to Mick the welder who's done my Jag.

Jag belongs to a customer of Mick's who took his time picking up his car (about several months after it was finished)

BMW belongs to a neighbour of mine he lives a few doors up. Its often garaged.

[Wibble]

32 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

Spottage time:

My camera decided not to function properly as I was trying to grab a pic of this Volvo  

Cortina belongs to Mick the welder who's done my Jag.

Jag belongs to a customer of Mick's who took his time picking up his car (about several months after it was finished)

BMW belongs to a neighbour of mine he lives a few doors up. Its often garaged.

Some brilliant spots there, thanks for sharing.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Lord Sterling said:

Spottage time

Fake Zoo in 1st pic

[Lord Sterling]

9 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Fake Zoo in 1st pic

It's actually an IT place. I think it's called Zoo because its near a Safari Park.

[High Jetter]

11 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

It's actually an IT place. I think it's called Zoo because its near a Safari Park.

Wifi connected animals? 😀

[Heidel_Kakao]

@Lord Sterling Glad to hear you have the XJ back, we can work on knocking out some of those advisories if you like! Even if my short period of X308 ownership I have realised you have to keep on top of problems and rust or otherwise they will get so broken that it is not fun to own or will dissolve into thin air.