Six Cylinders Motoring Notes

[Tadhg Tiogar]

That Oltcit looks like an amalgam of Visa and Mk.1 Fiesta.

 

.....currently aghast at the number of personal tick boxes that you have covered.

 

Amazing effort.

 

To be fair, he did work in the industry and has had loads of useful contacts..... Enthusiastic spouse who can fix broken things also helps!

[Eyersey1234]

How many cars have you and Mrs 6C owned in total?

[Six-cylinder]

How many cars have you and Mrs 6C owned in total?

 

I will reveal the last 7 years over the next few weeks and then somebody can have a count up for me.

 

Oh and yes then there are my company cars, rental cars from periods in the USA, farm equipment and spares only cars. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

I will reveal the last 7 years over the next few weeks and then somebody can have a count up for me.

 

Oh and yes then there are my company cars, rental cars from periods in the USA, farm equipment and spares only cars. 

 

Has to be well into the hundreds. 

[Momentary Lapse Of Reason]

"1972 MGB GT...  what I really want is a chrome bummer car, ..."

 

 

I never knew that was an available optional extra
 

[Six-cylinder]

2012 Purchases

 

1987 BMW 535i SE manual. Black met, black leather and shadow line trim what a beauty. My then 23 year old son who had my ZX TD with no street cred asked to borrow it, instead of saying no I said if you can insure it you can borrow it! Well he only had it a few months when he returned it because the fuel was killing him, his words. A friend asked to buy it and I let it go.

 

1994 Discovery V8 ES Auto. A randon purchase because I liked the look of it and I was not disappointed. I already had two working Range Rovers so when the snow came I let it go.

 

1994 Mazda MX5 1.8i (Eunos). Back in the early 90s my boss threatened to sack me if I did not stop using the low mileage nearly new MX5 we had taken in part exchange and I never forgot that car. Then in 2012 a friend bought one and left it with me for a week, I needed one badly. I started looking and fell for this one with bilstein suspension, a limited slip diff and Japanese paperwork. I still have it and like it very much.

[Six-cylinder]

I have not taken an engine shot of the MX5 in the 6 years I have owned it,  I found this engine shot from when I bought it, but I don't even remember the cam cover being blue!

[SiC]

MX5, you never normally need to open the bonnet so you'd never know what colour it was!

 

Getting a MGB GT without a sunroof is the big regret of mine. Problem was, at the time I didn't have a usable garage to store it. After battling leaky roof Smart Roadster, I didn't want another battle with something much older and leaker. I don't have the heart to even consider cutting a hole in the roof though.

 

I'm hoping to pull mine out later in the year and make a proper attempt at using it. Currently headlong into sorting out moving house, but once that's done it'll have a proper place to go near home. Will make it much easier if I want to go out in a cheeky spin in it if I don't need a 10 minute walk.

[Six-cylinder]

MX5, you never normally need to open the bonnet so you'd never know what colour it was!

 

Getting a MGB GT without a sunroof is the big regret of mine. Problem was, at the time I didn't have a usable garage to store it. After battling leaky roof Smart Roadster, I didn't want another battle with something much older and leaker. I don't have the heart to even consider cutting a hole in the roof though.

 

I'm hoping to pull mine out later in the year and make a proper attempt at using it. Currently headlong into sorting out moving house, but once that's done it'll have a proper place to go near home. Will make it much easier if I want to go out in a cheeky spin in it if I don't need a 10 minute walk.

 

I think you are right about the MX5, I have had it serviced a couple of times and never needed to lift the bonnet.

 

I had the roof covering on the B replaced 3 years ago, it is very disappointing the last one was at least 20 years old, but the new one has split already.

 

My storage is 6 miles away and I left a selection of tax free cars at the front to use for the new year shows etc, I made excuses and have taken the BMW 325i every time because it has found a spot in the garage at home. 

[hairnet]

some lacquer peel problem you have on the mx5

[richardmorris]

I must admit that BMW’s have never floated my boat. A good school friend ( who is now my parent’s next door neighbour) had parents who had matching his and hers BMW’s in the 1970s and 80s but I never liked them. Uncomfortable seats and very boring inside - compared to my dad’s dyanes, visa and gsas! ( matching private plates too which was very unusual in north wales then CPU1 and CGJU1 - we did joke that his parents had bought the plate first and named him after it)

 

 

I wouldn’t mind a 635csi though, based on looks alone.

[Six-cylinder]

some lacquer peel problem you have on the mx5

 

The MX5 was covered in stickers when I bought it and it seems to have faded the rear panel when I removed them.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....I wouldn’t mind a 635csi though, based on looks alone.

Unfortunately you've missed the era when they were reasonably plentiful, and spares prices (except for front wings and chrome bumper sections) weren't that bad. They all had sunroofs (which eventually leaked) and new roof skins have long been NLA.

 

Nowadays, everyone who owns one thinks they're sitting on a gold mine.

[CXTurbo]

Six-cylinder, do you know what happened to the brown 75/76 BMW ?

i would like to buy it if i can find the owner

[Six-cylinder]

Six-cylinder, do you know what happened to the brown 75/76 BMW ?

i would like to buy it if i can find the owner

 

I can't remember who I sold it to but it went to Aberdeen and this is the transport company who collected it. The photo is date stamped Dec 2014.

[CXTurbo]

Thank,s ive googled it and Tranrec where on Uship but is now suspended ??

i suppose i could try the mobile number on the truck.......

thanks anyway pal !

[Six-cylinder]

2013 Purchases Part 1

 

1995 Volvo 850 2.5 10v Auto GLT. Another random purchase because it was there and I liked it, the paint was flat but the car was great. His and hers for a while! I sold it to a fiend who passed it on after a few years to a friend of his who took it to live in Portugal.

 

1994 Rover 220 SLi. My first shot at an Autoshite bike! Good to discover the Autoshite way, buying cars with honest descriptions.

 

2003 MG ZT-T V6 190 Manual. Stunning car that had been loved with bling stuff , Pioneer double din DVD front screen with drop down rear screen and two wireless headphones Focal subwoofer, X power exhaust back box, Piper Cross induction kit, Legal darkened rear windows, LED side light, LED interior lights, Chrome Gear Knob. The thing is it had also been loved with a high standard of maintenance. It went to live in France with a French MG enthusiast.

 

1968 Triumph Spitfire MK3 2.5 6 cylinder. A friend was offered it from a house clearance but decided he did not want it so it came to me. Period custom look. I have received quite a lot of help from the Autoshite community on this one and would now like to do a final push so we can drive it up the road. After all it is taxed, insured and MOT exempt.  

 

1987 Maserati 425 Bi-Turbo saloon manual. Some years ago Mrs6C had found one she liked but we could not agree a price with the seller, I had looked at a couple over the years and finally we bought. This one is  triple valve 2.5 Carburettor with the carb in the aluminium box on top of the engine, pressure fed from the turbo. Mechanically it has been fine but we have chased rust quite a lot.

[hairnet]

The MX5 was covered in stickers when I bought it and it seems to have faded the rear panel when I removed them.

joke missed - never mind

[Six-cylinder]

Just in time!

 

I collected my Range Rover TD6 at lunchtime after the broken air suspension was fixed and a fresh MOT done and now it is snowing!

[hairnet]

take the jag or the caddy out quick

[Six-cylinder]

take the jag or the caddy out quick

 

Caddy is still broken, I can't find a gear selector cable for it.

[hairnet]

speedy cables.

[Six-cylinder]

speedy cables.

 

Yes but I need to get the old one taken off first!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....1995 Volvo 850 2.5 10v Auto GLT. 

 

....I sold it to a fiend .....

 

[Six-cylinder]

 

I know many fiends some of them devilish! 

[richardmorris]

I’m up for more work on the spitfire, but can it be when it’s not snowing please?

[Six-cylinder]

2013 Purchases Part 2

 

A busy year 10 bought, of those I still have 3.

 

1994 Audi Cabriolet 2.6 V6 manual. The last from a collection of a guy giving up classic cars, sad really and like all his cars good to own. I used it for 2015 Shitefest. Last year I was telling a friend I could not face changing the heater matrix and he said I will buy it then!

 

1995 Jaguar Soveriegn 4.0. I had to work on a Saturday and spotted this Jaguar at a low price on ebay, I messaged some friends and three of us decided to get it together and buy it that night. One loaned it to his Australian father in law for a month and gifted his share to the remaining two of us. A few months later my friend swapped it for a MG TF, then he sold the MG TF and that chapter was over.

 

1996 Audi 2.6i manual Coupe. My Audi Cabriolet arrived as a non runner and somebody had pulled the fuse/relay box apart and it was baffling my local garage. I had seen a MOT failed Coupe for sale in Essex and suggested I got it. He said I know one locally so we got it to rob for my Cabriolet. With another car as a paten he soon had the convertible back together and the fault was not the wiring simply a seized fuel pump which was replaced with a new one. We then had the Coupe intact and the garage said there is very little wrong with it, I can easily do the bits and get you a MOT! I sold it as I had the Cab, I don’t know why but I am happy that it has just been MOTed again until Jan 2020.

 

1998 Citroen C15D van. Bought without MOT and unfortunately it needed lots of welding and it never returned to the road.

 

1996 BMW M3 Evo Convertible. Rather non Autoshite but as the adverts used to say “ultimate driving machine” 321 bhp, 6 speed manual RWD no nanny control electronics. It needs a new roof covering now and that is going to hurt!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....

P1420297 broad.jpg

1996 BMW M3 Evo Convertible. Rather non Autoshite but as the adverts used to say “ultimate driving machine” 321 bhp, 6 speed manual RWD no nanny control electronics. It needs a new roof covering now and that is going to hurt!

Hasn't this got VANOS? That's not exactly cheap if/when it goes wrong!

[Six-cylinder]

Hasn't this got VANOS? That's not exactly cheap if/when it goes wrong!

 

The Evo is twin Vanos which is why I bought it from a BMW specialist who claims the Vanos amongst lots of things had been rebuilt. I drove it home 176 miles and it would not restart, when I did get it going I took it a my local BMW specialist who quoted £3000 to fix the Vanos problem.

 

The seller claimed it was a 17 year old car and he could not be expected to guarantee it and he had a point. However they had advertised it with rebuilt vanos and because they were a specialist BMW garage and enticed me to buy from them I felt they should fix it. An amount of unpleasantness followed but eventually they did fix it for me FOC.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

...local BMW specialist who quoted £3000 to fix the Vanos problem....

Sounds about right at today's prices. Having said that, I was once shown the parts for VANOS, and there didn't seem to be much there for the money....