The joy of SHITE

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I took this photo last night, for me it sums up the shite ownership experience quite well.

 

 

I'm not complaining at all - fixing up these old bangers is a real pleasure for me, i love buying them, fixing them, finding bits for them, talking other people who are interested in them, and all of the package of mucking about with old cars. My job is quite taxing, though I enjoy it very much, and after a busy day at work I love spending a couple of hours in the garage of an evening, working my way through some problem or other. I always bosh radio 4 on and for extra indulgence i might slurp a can of beer while i'm fannying about. I am currently halfway through fixing this Rover 214 with the bust cambelt, its a reasonably in-depth job, and will be all the more satisfying for that when it fires up. If I am in a good mood i often work till 11pm or midnight. I tend to not do any car stuff of a weekend though as thats kwalidee time to be spent with Ms_Bo11.

 

Sometimes my mojo takes a kicking, it was a bit low when I was prepping that Subaru for its respray, but since that car's out the garage it seems to be back with a vengeance.

[r.welfare]

Can of Cobra with the price sticker still on it! Excellent.My mojo is gone at the mo, although I don't mind doing the odd bit now and again. It's down to having a 3-month old daughter, so I feel massive guilt at neglecting my parenting duties by even thinking about spending a couple of hours nipping under a 405 or two. This probably means I will pass on the Rover 800 I have mentioned previously, but I will no doubt be pressganged into Baying it for the owner - watch this space.Nothing quite like completing a tricky job, or sorting something that has been bugging you for ages, mind. Putting the front end of the smashed 405 back together was probably my proudest achievement, although completing a cambelt change on that old 1.3 Mazda 323 I had - in the rain, and in under an hour - is right up there. A six-hour polishing and cleaning session on a really mucky old heap hits the spot, too.

[nigel bickle]

With you both there -although a knackered back, freezing cold and work issues means nowt of consequence happening here now. Love the pic -sums it up all beautifully -if a tad modern -for me. Spot on Mr B.

[retrogeezer]

Not really one for the mechanical side of things me....although if I had a big enough garage I probably would love it.I do get a big kick out of cleaning a car up and making it look clean & tidy again. Some of those faded red cars would be good to get hold of for a day!

[Guest]

Nice one Bollox, I'm of a similar frame of mind and love the whole process of making something respectable. I often work until the early hours a day or two midweek, but nearly all my weekends. Better for me than sitting around in a curry-stained bathrobe watching repeats of Turnabout (there is no Ms_H1R57 to worry about - this might be why). I tend not to get fed up with the work I do, but often individual cars. I sometimes wonder why I deal with the sort of crocks I do, largely 1980s 4 door J-tin that is appealing/interesting to few and is unlikely to be ever worth much, when I could get sack it all off and get a sporty roadster or something.The best thing I've found in mojo terms is to be working on more than one car at once - if you've got a job that seems to be going nowhere and you're getting frustrated, move onto a different car and do something else - especially if it's something that will give you an instant sense of achievement!Lost enthusiasm on a car that seems to be going nowhere will return at some point - my 323 "wellbeing meter" took a bit of a beating when I discovered a particularly nasty bit of grot in it and took months to recover. But I ended up working on the Stanza and Galant instead, and now I'm excited about it again as once I get the Cuore sold I can pay for any welding it wants and start thinking about pushing it towards an MOT, then all the fun stuff like servicing it, redoing the wheels in silver and fitting the strange mid-term facelift nosecone. It's going to be ace!

[Lord Sterling]

fixing up these old bangers is a real pleasure for me, I love buying them, fixing them, finding bits for them, talking other people who are interested in them, and all of the package of mucking about with old cars

Same here I love old cars and talking to people about them, they have so much character.

 

I have a rented garage but its 40 miles from home with no leccy supply so I use it as a storage facility only

 

Not really one for the mechanical side of things me....although if I had a big enough garage I probably would love it.

 

I do get a big kick out of cleaning a car up and making it look clean & tidy again. Some of those faded red cars would be good to get hold of for a day!

I am exactly the same, I'm not mechanically minded at all, but I will have a go at replacing parts like body panels or things that relatively bolt on/off, I've done some things like air filters, track rod ends and wheel alignment, but as I said, I'm not the type who really knows his way around an engine.

 

I love to clean cars too, and when I start cleaning I always tackle the bodywork, engine bays (With WD40 and a cloth) and the interior, I love to make a car look clean, and fresh like its just left the factory or at least looked after if it has a few battle scars.

 

When I first got my Sterling it was quite dirty and the engine was very grubby, a nice car wash and wax, a good hoover and a few hours on the engine with WD40 and alloy cleaner and it was certainly looking alot better.

 

Lord Sterling

[AnthonyG]

Although I am not brilliant at mechanical stuff, I do like mucking about with old cars and know precisely what you mean MrB.Lots of respect for saving an early 'R8' 200, as these are the sort of thing that is everwhere one moment and then just vanishes a year or too later. Still quite a lot of the facelifted ones about in West Wales though!Does it need a new head, ot just new valves? Are you going to try the Land Rover spec (MLR?) 'improved' gasket on it? - or are these just available for the 1800s?

[Owain-328i]

Excellent. Fixing something is always very satisfying. Especially a job like that. Is that a K series?

[155V6]

Does it need a new head, ot just new valves? Are you going to try the Land Rover spec (MLR?) 'improved' gasket on it? - or are these just available for the 1800s?

The gasket fits all the K series engines,I had one put on my old 214 SEi

[Owain-328i]

They say to get a different thermostat aswell. One that opens at a lower temp.

[andrew e]

Mr B LIVE THE DREAM O'SHITE Shite repatriation is good for the Karma, mines taken a bashing due to my youngest being in plaster since september - now shes out its ffff freezing.... you have spurred me on to wind Mrs E up by spending monday croozing scrappies for AX bitz, as the girls are back to school.

[Spottedlaurel]

I get vicarious satisfaction from watching your rebuilds come together Mr_B! I am pitiful at doing anything on our cars myself, but aside from normal family life the house we bought is such an all-consuming project (in terms of time, thought and money) that I just can't get around to doing anything on them.One problem I find is that if the list of things to sort on a car is too long I end up thinking is it worth sorting any of it? Not good I know, but that was certainly why the 240K eventually had to go, and to a lesser extent the Laurel hardtop. The forthcoming new car is, I believe, sufficiently good that I won't let it suffer that indignity, and I've now got a garage for it to live in.The Bluebird is probably good enough that I ought to gradually work through its minor faults, have made a start on that with the purchase of a new thermostat. I need to look after that one, as it may well end up being my daily.I have done my part in trying to help others out though, like selling and delivering for next-to-nothing a 100A engine to an elderly lady who has owned hers since new, and a few bits off that same 100A went to a young lad locally who is repairing some accident damage on his, he seemed very grateful.Then of course there's the interesting people I meet that I wouldn't have done otherwise (away from the forums, I mean), like the lovely old boy who owns the Stellar.

[scrappylad]

I like to potter about on my cars. I love cleaning them and can spend hours gettings things to a 'new' condition again. Finding the time is often a challenge though. I am more able at body, trim & electrical odd jobs & can carry out a service without too much bother. When it comes to mechanical jobs I prefer to entrust stuff like that to my local garage. I went to change the n/s/f strut insert on my daily Audi but couldn't get the track rod end out of the strut body and ended up knackering both the track rod & end. Arse!On the other hand I successfully took the engine, box & PAS rack out of my spares Accord without any trouble. A job I wondered if I'd actually manage but thought I may aswell have a go at to test myself. It seemed easy in the Haynes manual & in reality it was pretty straightforward. No injuries to myself at all & I only swore occasionally!Now I'm stuck with a dismantled, immobile car in my garage that I'll have to get hauled out & picked up by the scrappy. I'll have to be quick so I don't end up having to pay them to uplift.

[AXrescuer]

My wife must hate you Bo11ox! It was seeing you wax lyrical about tinkering with old cars that got me into this whole autoshite thing in the first place. Now I'm never without a reason to be out the house tinkering in the garage with a worthless old jalopy! That said, I've learned a lot from all of you in one way or another. Bloody shame I can't get my arse in gear and do the cambelt on my Astra Sport!

[bigstraight6]

Great pic MrB, sums the shite experience up perfectly, how many times over the years have I contemplated such a sight as I nurse an acheing back and curse skinned knuckles as the neighbours snigger behind their curtains! but we always go back for more, such is the addictive nature of shite old motors.

[garethj]

Having kids around limits my shite time too, fortunately the Land Rover has been pretty good for needing my attention.Replacing the clutch hydraulics was done in a couple of evenings and I fixed the speedometer in the car park this morning while my son was playing tennis I can use the kids "help" when there's only one of them and it's good fun, but 2 or 3 around means you get nothing done as they start running around with screwdrivers / Stanley knife / angle grinder etc...

[Ratdat]

I know where you're coming from Mr B. My only wish was that my workshop was much bigger so I could get maybe half a dozen cars in it at a time. Two long term projects means I have to work on shite like my Pony pickup outside and nothing knocks the mojo like wind and driving rain! I do get great satifaction from fixing hopelessly undesirable shite like the Pony, just as much as i do from a full on resto of something nice. I think half the enjoyment is pitching your own skills against the challenge of bringing a complete shit heap back to usefullness.Unfortunately I seem to have got myself into the position where all the urgent work required is on cars that are outside and I can't get them indoors in the company of Radio 4 and my space heater