Lord Sterling's fleet of failure - Small win

[oldcars]

My search for a Diesel vehicle has now ended as I've agreed to buy...

 

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Plasticvandan told me not to buy anything before I got to Turkey aswell

 

Big thanks to Red5.

Nice, same west coast plate as my 75. What are the remnants in the background from?

[Lord Sterling]

Nice, same west coast plate as my 75. What are the remnants in the background from?

Remnants are from a Scimitar by SOCs garage. This was when I first picked it up the Vectra for Red5 when he bought it.

[Pillock]

I like this but technical problems mean that I cant inform you of that in the usual manner.

 

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We've installed a plugin that prevents anyone liking Vauxhalls.

[Cavcraft]

Oof, well bought, Mo. Fantastic cars, quite likely the best looking estate of that era, too. 

[red5]

Absolutely right Billy. They look right as an estate.

[Ghosty]

Saw Vectra; feared worst. That though, is quite nice. Late Vectra Bs don't actually look bad at all.

[Lord Sterling]

Oof, well bought, Mo. Fantastic cars, quite likely the best looking estate of that era, too.

 

Cheers lads. Yep, an estate is bloody useful too. The amount of sofas I've turned down because I couldn't fit them into the BMW. Love it, great car.

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Well bought LS - I had one as a company car many moons back. Loved the thing. It just ate up the miles and was fantastically comfortable for trolling around the country/EU. Could really get a move on too if I wanted it to.

Hope it serves you well dude - looks a blinder. Looking forward to the updates...…….. happy trails

 

edit - and as Billy said - one of het best looking estates from the era.

[Noel Tidybeard]

on the minus side

• you have a nice vectra estate like wot i really wanted- i now dislike you!

on the plus side

• you now can say with utmost honesty that you have a BMW 3 series for the wife

 

[D Spares & Tyres]

Do you want this?

Free

[catsinthewelder]

Of course he does.

 

Good luck getting a sofa in a Vectra,  I collected a small one in the BX which took about 40 minutes to squeeze in and only fitted because one of the legs was snapped.

[Lord Sterling]

A couple of days ago I was idly browsing the web when I noticed what looked like my Vectra in an old eBay advert. I confirmed it was by the reg and sent the chap a message. He replied, it sounded like a car that had been well looked after, it had also had a remap which probably explains why it's so quick. He sent me some pics:

He suggested that the car was eventually sold it had 2 keys and some history so I'll see if I can recover these, if not, no worries. Anyway, it's back in good hands.

[Lord Sterling]

Do you want this?IMG_20190131_210436.jpg

Free

YES. PLEASE! I've now actually bought one but another one will be welcome.

 

When I get back from Turkey I'll come and pick it up.

[Lord Sterling]

Well, today I got a call; Mohammed, the BMWs ready, come and pick it up....

Breather valve has been replaced, it feels a lot smoother on start up, leak has been sorted too.

Obviously as it had been a few months, the beemer was looking worse for wear.

 

 

So it got a wash and the tyres pumped up:

And now its looking a lot better. However, the arches are starting to look a bit worse for wear and will need some attention.

Myself and Ma are gonna use it on alternate weeks as she is helping me keep it on the road with insurance, but she doesn't want to keep it long term at hers so will need to grab a parking space along the only unrestricted road which is difficult at the best of times. Drive way is full up and my parking places are now out of bounds;

Also, 2 Grey coloured Vauxhalls;

 

[Split_Pin]

Looks tidy that B. Letterbox exhaust are smart, I had one on mine.

[Lord Sterling]

Looks tidy that B. Letterbox exhaust are smart, I had one on mine.

Cheers man, I think the letterbox exhausts on these are standard as I've seen another SRi DTi 130 with one on. First time I saw them was on the 24v Vauxhall Senator B.

 

The letterbox bit of the exhaust on mine is a bit rattly which I think down to a hanger as I messed about with it the other day. It'll probably get sorted at some point. It has a squeal from one of the belts or cams. Probably a drive belt or something.

 

Driveability wise, it does stick to corners as well as the BMW, its not a confidence filler if you are cornering at speed otherwise it has some poke, noticeably more than the BMW.

[Split_Pin]

That will be the 2 square baffles inside the tailpipe. I just drilled 2 holes right through the outer skin and through the baffles and clamped it with 2 6mm bolts and nuts. That shut it up!

 

Vectra Bs are great cars. If somehow Rover 75s ceased to exist overnight, I would have another.

[Lord Sterling]

Today, the roffle Micra got an exhaust exchange.

Previously I found this;

Which caused the car to sound like a very chav-ly modded exhaust.

So today it got chucked up in the air, and a new exhaust chucked on;

£75 all in. Tyres needed pumping up too as they were pretty low. Then I decided it needed a wash:

All clean;

[tooSavvy]

..... easy, lyke :/

 

 

Missed your chance there......

 

[MikeR]

I would give the rear bumper supports that are behind the back wheels a clean up to preserve them  ....  they rot like hell and are a mot fail

[loserone]

That looks as good as it did six years ago Mo, you should be proud of that.

 

Does it pull any differently with the new exhaust on?

[loserone]

Still think it looks a bit wrong with those later nostrils on though

[Lord Sterling]

That looks as good as it did six years ago Mo, you should be proud of that.

Does it pull any differently with the new exhaust on?

Photos really make it look it better. It still has all it's battle scars. It does pull marginally better than before.

 

The master remote key has been lost so Ma and Sis have to use the passenger side lock to unlock the car but the lock was stiff so some WD40 was applied. Ma is budgeting for a replacement remote key.

[Lord Sterling]

The Vectra has needed some front tyres changing for a while now. I decided to bite the bullet and sort them out today as they were cracked to buggery and one was losing air every few days. I got 2 front matching tyres on the same axle, I always make sure to do this;

The car next to me was also a Vauxhall product of similar vintage, a 1.6 Astra SXi originally supplied by Ludlow Motors;

The lad who owned it bought it for £500 a couple of years ago, it was apparently owned by a vet based in Ludlow early on in its life.

I celebrated its new tyrage by treating the Vectra a good wash and hoover, it's never been cleaned properly since I got it;

Hoovering it has got it reasonably clean but not as I'd have liked as one of the lads at the garage wanted his car hoovered aswell, his interior was much worse.

With it's new tyres it feel better. Next pay day will see newer tyres on the back.

The Vectra seems to have a problem with the clutch sometimes where the gear is very difficult or impossible to engage/disengage the gear so clutch needs pumping sometimes even whilst I'm driving, as its a hydraulic clutch I am hoping it just needs oil topping up. Hopefully this'll be looked into at some point.

[Pat Earrings]

Nimmings tyres I see Mo!

[Lord Sterling]

Nimmings tyres I see Mo!

Yep, just for convenience really. Yeah it looks like a bomb site. They have a good selection of tyres and a car wash bay.

[Lord Sterling]

Yo.

Woke up this morning to find Micras making a nuisance on my parking spaces:

I vaguely remember leaving the Vectra to the wolves in Birmingham and taking the Micra home with me last night. I've also been suffering from flu symptoms so my memory is hazy.

So the roffle Micra went in for MOT and passed but with serveral advisories. It's had some work done since we got our grubby mitts on it but stuff still needs to be done. I can have my Vectra back now though.

Today whilst at the garage, aswell as my usual cleaning/tidying up duties. I also got the task of taking the garage works van for a valet. I'd also sorted out some proper floor mats for it because that is what I do. I am sad car floor mats man. I wish I could find something more interesting to be interested in, like rare stamps or pillow cases, not bloody things you put your feet on.

Out with the old:

In with the new;

 

I also briefly drove this Mk1 2.0 DTi Zafira. I really liked it (it had OEM Astra front mats in the back) and I kind of still want one;

However, I'm happy-ish with my Vectra B at the moment.

Also, bimmer battery got charged up. Last night;

Hopefully I'll actually be able to get into it now....

EDIT* Just tried the battery, everything lights up, door key barrel just turns and doesn't unlock the car so I'll have to try the spare key. I really cannot be bothered right now I'm so tired. Tomorrow...

[Lord Sterling]

Same as above. More garage work.

Ma_Sterling is probably sailing to the IoW at the end of the month, originally she was meant to go this weekend but not was too short notice.

Anyway, I mentioned last time that underside needed tidying up, she wanted this done before the weekend so I managed to get it booked in today as today is my day off due to French bank-holiday.

So I rolled my up to Brum from Tewkesbury from work to pick up the small Micra. I woke up this morning to find this in my space again;

Then down to the garage and eventually after lunch, on the outside ramp:

VACTAN rust treatment and sealant was applied so hopefully this;

Will be treated and sealed from getting worse. 

Micra had a slight misfire which might be sparkplugs, they were taken out and cleaned.  However, exhaust is starting to blow between the new section. Job for another time methinks.....

Whilst at the garage, I discovered that thier canteen table had a leg which had broken almost completely off. I was asked to repair it. The break had occured where the table leg meets the skirting meets under the table top. The table had always been fairly rickety, I discovered that it was due to the screws in each leg not being tightened enough. Fir repairs, I drilled a couple of holes in the skirt under the table top to screw in some long wood screws. It wasn't the most professional job but the table is less rickety and the leg is at least back on.

There were some interesting cars there...

Modded Rover 220 SLi

This Porsche was gopping though, really badly modified council-estate gopping with a crap numberplate ?

[Fumbler]

Could be crustier! In fact, your suspension spring pans on your rear axle look nearly the same as mine did before I did any repair!

[MikeR]

Dont forget the rear bumper mountings behind the wheels . they rot well !