idiotboy Posted May 31, 2012 Author Posted May 31, 2012 Update Well I'm back home now after an Epic 12 hour round trip to Knaresboro' to get the Vanden Plas and unfortunately it was Vandan crap. Not sure how that car got an MOT as the exhaust was blowing like brass band, there were numerous electrical issues, no windscreen wipers being a key fail as it was pi55ing down with rain. Either the MOT tester was blind / stupid or this car had a Pub car park MOT. Also at some point in its life the brake master cylinder must have failed as there was no paint on the bulkhead, or servo unit, but now there was rust in abundance. The clincher for me was the dodgy repair of the front tie rod mountings where they had broken free of the body due to rust. Some "Artist" had welded the remains of the mounting to a plate and then bolted that back onto the car. The interior was nice though, but sadly the car was not as advertised, and I walked slowly back to the station; disappointed in the pi55ing rain, my rucksack full of tools and new Allegro emergency parts no longer needed. To add insult to injury I was then anally raped by Northern Rail to the tune of £95.30 to get a train back home to London! Arses!
idiotboy Posted May 31, 2012 Author Posted May 31, 2012 Update Well I'm back home now after an Epic 12 hour round trip to Knaresboro' to get the Vanden Plas and unfortunately it was Vandan crap. Not sure how that car got an MOT as the exhaust was blowing like brass band, there were numerous electrical issues, no windscreen wipers being a key fail as it was pi55ing down with rain. Either the MOT tester was blind / stupid or this car had a Pub car park MOT. Also at some point in its life the brake master cylinder must have failed as there was no paint on the bulkhead, or servo unit, but now there was rust in abundance. The clincher for me was the dodgy repair of the front tie rod mountings where they had broken free of the body due to rust. Some "Artist" had welded the remains of the mounting to a plate and then bolted that back onto the car. The interior was nice though, but sadly the car was not as advertised, and I walked slowly back to the station; disappointed in the pi55ing rain, my rucksack full of tools and new Allegro emergency parts no longer needed. To add insult to injury I was then anally raped by Northern Rail to the tune of £95.30 to get a train back home to London! Arses!
Mr_Bo11ox Posted May 31, 2012 Posted May 31, 2012 Sounds like landfill, good work on giving it the big FO
Mr_Bo11ox Posted May 31, 2012 Posted May 31, 2012 Sounds like landfill, good work on giving it the big FO
dollywobbler Posted May 31, 2012 Posted May 31, 2012 Nicely done. I'd've bought it anyway and then complained on an internet forum. That would have told him! Yeah! Anyway, now you can buy this. You must. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13981
dollywobbler Posted May 31, 2012 Posted May 31, 2012 Nicely done. I'd've bought it anyway and then complained on an internet forum. That would have told him! Yeah! Anyway, now you can buy this. You must. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13981
M'coli Posted May 31, 2012 Posted May 31, 2012 What a bag of shit!!! I thought this looked decent in the photos, I shall endevour to mosey along and take some of my own next time it's ont' eBay, what with me being less than 10 miles from it.
M'coli Posted May 31, 2012 Posted May 31, 2012 What a bag of shit!!! I thought this looked decent in the photos, I shall endevour to mosey along and take some of my own next time it's ont' eBay, what with me being less than 10 miles from it.
Cavcraft Posted June 1, 2012 Posted June 1, 2012 What a shame but as Sir B of Llox said fair play to you for giving it a swerve. Trust you've left suitable feedback to warn other potential buyers?
Cavcraft Posted June 1, 2012 Posted June 1, 2012 What a shame but as Sir B of Llox said fair play to you for giving it a swerve. Trust you've left suitable feedback to warn other potential buyers?
idiotboy Posted June 1, 2012 Author Posted June 1, 2012 The problem is he seemed a nice old chap, genuinely disturbed that it didn't work. Although he must be both blind and senile not to see the other issues. Yes it did look good in the photo's and this is proof positive that you should never buy a car without seeing it and testing it works. There is no substitute for the old Mk1 eyeball. Also never buy a car if all the fuses in the fusebox have been changed to 35Amp! Run away. As something is very wrong. What really makes me sad is that this car was a lovely car about 20 years ago. This is the 2nd VDP Allegro I've viewed now and its the 2nd time I've felt I was 20 years too late. Also I now (stupidly) have a load of new Allegro parts, so I've either got to find another VDP or 1500/1750 Allegro for around a grand or ebay the lot. Saying that I'm off to view a £500 1993 XJ 40 3.2 auto locally today. So if its a goer should I give up on the Allegro quest and go Jag XJ6 or stick with it and hope that something turns up?
idiotboy Posted June 1, 2012 Author Posted June 1, 2012 The problem is he seemed a nice old chap, genuinely disturbed that it didn't work. Although he must be both blind and senile not to see the other issues. Yes it did look good in the photo's and this is proof positive that you should never buy a car without seeing it and testing it works. There is no substitute for the old Mk1 eyeball. Also never buy a car if all the fuses in the fusebox have been changed to 35Amp! Run away. As something is very wrong. What really makes me sad is that this car was a lovely car about 20 years ago. This is the 2nd VDP Allegro I've viewed now and its the 2nd time I've felt I was 20 years too late. Also I now (stupidly) have a load of new Allegro parts, so I've either got to find another VDP or 1500/1750 Allegro for around a grand or ebay the lot. Saying that I'm off to view a £500 1993 XJ 40 3.2 auto locally today. So if its a goer should I give up on the Allegro quest and go Jag XJ6 or stick with it and hope that something turns up?
Pete-M Posted June 1, 2012 Posted June 1, 2012 If its a goer should I give up on the Allegro quest and go Jag XJ6 or stick with it and hope that something turns up? Jag, always.
Cavcraft Posted June 1, 2012 Posted June 1, 2012 The problem is he seemed a nice old chap, genuinely disturbed that it didn't work. Although he must be both blind and senile not to see the other issues. Yes it did look good in the photo's and this is proof positive that you should never buy a car without seeing it and testing it works. There is no substitute for the old Mk1 eyeball. Also never buy a car if all the fuses in the fusebox have been changed to 35Amp! Run away. As something is very wrong. What really makes me sad is that this car was a lovely car about 20 years ago. This is the 2nd VDP Allegro I've viewed now and its the 2nd time I've felt I was 20 years too late. Also I now (stupidly) have a load of new Allegro parts, so I've either got to find another VDP or 1500/1750 Allegro for around a grand or ebay the lot. Saying that I'm off to view a £500 1993 XJ 40 3.2 auto locally today. So if its a goer should I give up on the Allegro quest and go Jag XJ6 or stick with it and hope that something turns up? Tough call. One is an unreliable, rusty, outdated old barge probably made entirely of Isopon and chicken wire and the other is an Allegro*. To be fair they're completely different cars and the Jag will be eleven million times nicer to drive. *Tongue in cheek.
lancialover Posted June 1, 2012 Posted June 1, 2012 HiI'm a newbie to Autoshite message board, although not a newbie to odd motors. It seems my missus has now caught this madness from me and has agreed that we need to sell our Mint Citroen LNA 11E for a larger car.I left the choice of car up to her and now it seems I have to travel 200 miles to collect a car that she's agreed to purchase sight unseen from eBay. Sigh.It gets worse. Thinking that my level headed partner would have chosen something "sensible" to keep our my broken Citroen Ami and dying Citroen 2CV company, which is reliable, tough and ready to drive at short notice, she has chosen a two tone brown 1976 1750 Allegro Vanden Plas. (facepalm)Does anyone on this forum have any hints or tips about owning one of these. I've only got metric tools (18 years of French cars does that to you) so if there are any imperial spanners/sockets that I need to acquire for this dinosaur what should they be?ThanksMatt Does your wife mind you calling her a dinosaur?
The Reverend Bluejeans Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 Sounds like a right shed. What you might consider is going to one of the less upmarket classic car auctions such as Anglia Car Auctions and buy what ever takes your eye and is decent. I've never, ever set out to buy anything - always on impulse and I've never really gone wrong. Very often, you see a car that wasn't on your radar at all and fall in love with it. You could set out to buy a 1976 VDP Allegro and end up with a minty 1973 Hillman Avenger.
trigger Posted June 4, 2012 Posted June 4, 2012 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1977-VANDEN-P ... 1e6ec169f2 This one looks tidy enough, You might get lucky with a best offer on it?
idiotboy Posted June 6, 2012 Author Posted June 6, 2012 That bloody White VDP was sold before it was listed it seems either that or it was bought by a sodding psychic Allegro hunter, as I emailed the chap for his telephone number as soon as it was listed (ebay alert on any new allegro's listed) and it was sold already. B@startdo! Anyway a recommendation from a friend who knew a chap in the Allegro Club International put me in touch with a dude selling a rare 1977 1500 Special in Raynard Metallic with a brown vinyl roof, and a symphony of crushed orange velour for an interior. Berenice (the missus) fell in love with it at first sight and a deal was struck. The colour is hard to describe but if you remember "Life on Mars" its near as dammit the same colour as Gene Hunt's Cortina. Not sure the Gene Genie would approve. For those like me who are not sure what is special about a 1500 special, well this is what I've been told: Front FogsBetter seats and upholstery Vinyl RoofHeadrestsSexy wheel trimstwin black coach liningGloss black stripe on arse end Its not the VDP that I wanted but it is seriously good mechanically and pretty much rot free with 45K miles on the clock. The journey home was a bit eventful when it suffered a vapour lock in a traffic jam on the M3. I've got a spare fuel pump and I'm going to re-route the fuel line away from heat sources, so that should resolve the issue. Now does anyone know if I can fit a rev counter in the spare blank dial in the instrument cluster? Also has anyone got a fuse box cover for an Allegro as mine is missing. Cheers.
dollywobbler Posted June 6, 2012 Posted June 6, 2012 Nice one Matt. Raynard is a bloody superb colour. Possibly my favourite Allegro shade. Looks a nice motor. Sorry I didn't reply to your text last night, I was at a gig.
Betaboy2.0 Posted June 6, 2012 Posted June 6, 2012 Lovely looking 1500 Special you have there. I know the guy you bought it from - decent, honest chap, with a passion for all things BL, so, IMHO a far better long term bet than the fated VP. Funny how these things work out! Will you be bringing it along to Shitefest?
idiotboy Posted June 6, 2012 Author Posted June 6, 2012 PHWOAR lol is that you Bastock? Funny Berenice said the same thing when the cover came off and it was revealed in all its glory.
idiotboy Posted June 6, 2012 Author Posted June 6, 2012 Lovely looking 1500 Special you have there. I know the guy you bought it from - decent, honest chap, with a passion for all things BL, so, IMHO a far better long term bet than the fated VP. Funny how these things work out! Will you be bringing it along to Shitefest? Hi Betaboy Yes its funny how things work out, I just wish I'd could forget the VP fail of last week that really cost me. You're right though, Ian was a nice chap and the BL force was strong with him lol. As to shite fest I'll try, hopefully its not this month as I'm chocker and I've got to sort out Roxy's running issues, we've also just been asked to bring it to a 1970's revival in Letchworth in November and a local car show in July, and we've owned it less than a day.
Louise2cv Posted June 6, 2012 Posted June 6, 2012 PHWOAR lol is that you Bastock? Maybe. It is "proper lush" though.
idiotboy Posted June 6, 2012 Author Posted June 6, 2012 PHWOAR lol is that you Bastock? Maybe. It is "proper lush" though. Its the vinyl roof and that sexy black stripe that does it for me. In truth though from my first Allegro drive yesterday, I was quite impressed by it. It felt solid...like a potato, rather than the lightweight tin I'm used to. I'm not sure that makes any sense, but there you go.
Louise2cv Posted June 6, 2012 Posted June 6, 2012 I couldn't get over how fast mine was and that was a little 1300 with engine issues!
idiotboy Posted June 6, 2012 Author Posted June 6, 2012 I couldn't get over how fast mine was and that was a little 1300 with engine issues! This should be a stonker if I can make sure it gets fuel. Anyone got any SU carb advice, I haven't a clue how these work. Is there any thing I should check on the carb?
dollywobbler Posted June 6, 2012 Posted June 6, 2012 Presume you've checked that it's got oil in the dashpot? Can't offer much advice really. Rachel's Mini has an SU and has needed absolutely nothing doing to it. Weak fuel pump possibly?
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