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The Autoshite holy grail is now one of us!


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  • 2 weeks later...

Yes please WorldofCeri! I'll PM you.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates chaps, I've been ridiculously busy lately. 

 

Part three:

 

Much merriment was had with permanent markers.

 

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St Ives.

 

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We were then craving real pasties, so decided to make a run out to Truro in search.

 

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Eventually, we made it to Land's End!

 

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(L-R: Myself, Matt (RoverMatt), Ed (ejm06921), Adam (don't think he's on here, but needs to be).

 

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Having explored Land's End, we found an abandoned tin mine to explore.

 

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From there it was time to start heading back West, which meant going across Dartmoor:

 

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The final day. We stopped overnight at perhaps the friendliest campsite we've ever stayed at, after getting turned away from one down the road which was "adults" only. The owner proudly brought his S1 Land Rover that he'd restored out to show us after seeing the old cars!

 

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The next morning we went to the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary in the morning, then visited a local Little Chef in the afternoon, which proved to be the most dated one yet!

 

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And that was it. Afterwards we took a scenic drive back from Devon to Ed's house in Oxfordshire.

 

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Which was where some scruffy Eastern European gentlemen in a battered Sprinter pulled up and asked if I wanted the scrap car taking away!

 

From there I drove home via Theydon Bois to drop Adam off, perved over his friend's immaculate W reg Escort 1.3 GL, and then home!

 

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1,071 miles covered. Other than a couple of slight hiccups, nothing that I would consider a breakdown. This really is a fantastic car, I can see why Leroy kept it for so long as it's nice to drive, comfortable and it never fails to start.

 

Hope you enjoy reading! I had a great time exercising the AS Sierra Base on probably the longest journey it's done for years. Superb car, would do again A++++

 

 

 

 

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So, having made it home without incident, it was time to look at some of the other bits and pieces.

 

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I had a new screen fitted by my tame local screen fitter as the original was cracked. Unfortunately the original rubber seal with the chromed plastic insert was in very poor condition and had shrunk by several inches on each side, hence the large amount of silicone sealant stuffed in there. The chap had brought along the type of seal used on the MK2 Sierra, so while it's not completely correct, it fits much better and should do a better job of keeping the water out of the screen surround.

 

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There was some surface rust in the surround which he primed but he said it "wasn't too bad". Pleasingly the car is completely watertight with the exception of that ill-fitting rear quarterlight.

 

As you can see, I wasn't sure what to do with the Green Flag sticker and after the screen was changed I put it at the top corner along with the MoT reminder sticker which the MoT place I used still give out. I have since moved it back to the odd position Leroy put it to cover the crack in the original screen, along with the old Hackney parking permit.

 

The most irritating problem that manifested itself during the Cornwall trip was that the brakes were squealing terribly. I'd already checked the pads, which looked almost new. I haven't had many cars with disc brakes so I wasn't sure of the cause. Adam suggested the pads could have glazed, a problem with cheap pads which haven't been bedded in properly. So I stripped it down:

 

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I've probably already mentioned it, but this Sierra is beautifully simple to work on. Changing the pads on my Vauxhall 2300S was a right old battle in comparison.

 

The pads were indeed very shiny and glazed, so I roughened them up with some sandpaper, then refitted them with a smear of copper grease on the rear of the pads. I've since done 1000 miles and carefully bedded them in and no more awful squealing! Result!

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While I was in Wales collecting a wing for my Austin Somerset (I was driving the Maestro on this trip, sorry) I stopped off at Chez Skizzer who very kindly put myself and Ed up for the night, as well as showing us around his impressive car collection. He also donated a set of Paddy Hopkirk roof bars to the Sierra which, following careful examination of the Flickr photos, were exactly the same as the ones it used to wear. They were also just as tatty, perfect. I fitted some new gutter mountings to them, removed the rubber protector things from the ends and bolted them up. The car looks so much more "right" with its roof bars reinstated, it had had them for so long it looked strange without them in my eyes!

 

The next big trip it did was to the Hagerty Festival of the Unexceptional. The car attracted a hell of a lot of interest from both Autoshiters and Flickrites, I found myself talking for most of the day to various people and it was great to put a face to the username with several internet old car fans. There was also an impressive turnout, definitely up on last year.

 

Have some pictures of the bASe next to Electric Leyland's (good to meet you Rich) brilliantly patinated Mazda 323.

 

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Hello all!

 

Upon Richard's gentle insistence here's a very brief introductory half-paragraph from me.

I actually joined Autoshite something like four years ago, but only to PM someone on here to get them to let me into an entirely different forum. In doing so I was clearly a bit of a philistine, because having been along to bits of this year's Shitefest and met one or two more of you hither and thither, this strikes me now as a very excellent group indeed.

 

I'm currently running the Wolseley Six you've seen before, as well as not running a Vauxhall FE VX4/90 (as an impoverished and for-the-time-being unemployed student I can't scrape together enough for the insurance). All being well the Vauxhall will be coming on mine, Richard's, Matt's, Adam's and whoever else's next roadtrip, which may or may not venture abroad for the first time next summer.

 

I'm not sure where the classic/shite boundary lies today, but both cars would have been unquestionably shite pre-scrappage scheme and both are a far cry from showroom condition, so I'd like to think they'll qualify! The Wolseley is also Harvest Gold, which I'm reliably informed by those that know about these things is an really awful colour.

 

As on all forums I join I'd like to optimistically make it known that 70s Renaults are categorically my cup of tea and should anyone on here be contemplating parting with one (not now but in a year or two when I can actually afford one), do let me know!post-17294-0-67438600-1472301280_thumb.jpg

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It certainly seems to be getting better and better with every passing mile, even that dent in the door is looking smaller. It is almost as if it realises it has fans and its self esteem is improving!!

 

Got a be a kids book in here somewhere. "Angry Dicky and the Sierra of Baseness" has a J.K.Rowling feel to it (and as a result will sell shitloads of copies, mainly to us lot)

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That article looks great! I didn't know about it.

 

There was another issue that became a lot more noticeable in Cornwall with all the hills. The Sierra was pinking badly under acceleration. I experimented using a combination of super unleaded and Castrol Valvemaster Plus which incorporates an octane booster as well as being a lead replacement additive. Running on this combination, the pinking was substantially reduced.

 

Upon returning home, I dug out our 1990s "Unleaded petrol and your car" book and it stated that for the 1.6 Sierra, to run on unleaded the timing needed to be retarded to 8 degrees BTDC. I got the strobe light on it, after cleaning more oil off the engine so I could see the timing marks, which revealed the car had never had the timing adjusted for use with unleaded petrol. It was still at the factory 12 degrees BTDC. I put this down to living in London and rarely having to accelerate hard. Anyway, adjusted the distributor and it now runs spot on with no pinking whatsoever. Also, I weakened the mixture a bit as the engine was hunting during the trip to the Festival of the Unexceptional.

 

I've been using the Sierra to go to work in, to the shops, the boot sale (it fits right in here) and most other trips I've needed to do recently. It always starts first time on autochoke with a little bit of throttle, the choke shuts off when it should and, during the trip to Cornwall, I realised that the slipping clutch had stopped slipping. I haven't noticed it slipping since, although it is still heavy and high and there's a new one in the boot which JohnK has agreed to fit. 

 

The other thing was the instrument lighting. Most of the time I've had the car, only the right hand side of the speedo has been illuminated. I thought a couple of bulbs had probably blown, but didn't fancy pulling out the instrument cluster to change them. Anyway, I started the car last week after I finished work at 10pm, switched the lights on and I noticed I had a load more of the instruments illuminated. A swift thump to the top of the dashboard above the instruments brought everything back to life, and it's stayed working! Result!

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Ever since I first joined the consortium to save the Sierra Base for posterity, there has been one particular car I've wanted to get pictures of it with.

 

For as long as I can remember, there's been a seriously ropey A reg MK2 Granada 2.8GL knocking around locally. I used to see it in the mornings coming out of Shoebury as I was heading to work, the chap used to return my waves which was nice. It didn't look like it had ever been washed and was very crusty indeed. According to the MoT history, it was just as ropey as it looked and required a weldathon every year to scrape a pass. I used to joke that the owner would be buried in it, it was such a local celebrity. Unfortunately, I was unable to pinpoint exactly in Shoebury it lived so I could pap it for my spotted thread. However, Steve (EssDeeWon) discovered where the owner works and managed to talk to him and pap it at long last. 

 

Eventually, having some spare time I popped over there in the Sierra during the week and managed to get some pictures of two of the ropiest 1980s Fords in existence together at long last!

 

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Note the bald front tyres with exposed cords!

 

This car was such an amazing survivor. I say was...

 

Where the Granada was parked during the week was in a car park visible from a main road, so I always looked out for it. Last week I realised I hadn't seen it there for about three weeks. I was hopeful the owner was away on holiday, but checks online revealed it was now uninsured. The next day, I was passing not too far away, so popped into the car park in the Sierra. It was quite late in the day, about 5pm. I pulled up opposite a chap sitting in a Land Rover Freelander with the engine running. I noticed him looking at the car and then realised that he was a middle aged bloke with dark hair and a big moustache, just like the owner of the Granada. He started to reverse out of his space and I flagged him down.

 

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you but are you the owner of the old Ford Granada that is always parked here?"

 

"Well, I was..."

 

"Oh no, what happened to it?"

 

"Oh, well I wrote it off".

 

"Shit! It couldn't be repaired?"

 

"No, unfortunately not".

 

So there you have it. The world's ropiest MK2 has now bitten the dust in a road traffic accident. I suppose it could have been worse, it was a very poor example with rust holes under the screens, a patchwork quilt of welding underneath, worn out mechanical components, etc etc. At least it died at the hands of its owner of 21 years, saved his life and did not die like its siblings on the track at Arena Essex.

 

R.I.P. A536 JEH.

 

:(

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Whoops, just ran out of petrol on my way to work! Fortunately my manager and two other colleagues came out and helped push the buttery biscuit base the 200 yards to the petrol station. Then my manager lent me a tenner to put in the tank because I hadn't brought my wallet. Pleased to say it started straight up with some fresh petrol in the tank.

 

Just for future reference, the gauge is reasonably accurate as old cars go, but it runs out as the needle enters the red.

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Gutted to hear about A536JEH Dicky, I notice he had changed the indicator lenses since I last saw it.  

 

My dad works in Shoebury and early every Friday morning about 7am he passes a beige Mk2 Granada in lovely nick by Bournes Green, but only ever see's it on a Friday!  Its deffo not A536JEH as he also used to see that in the mornings too.  So keep your eyes peeled.... 

 

Here is A536JEH the last time I saw it - RIP

 

16393921641_5e1f495282_c.jpg1984 Ford Granada 2.8 GL by steve wilson, on Flickr

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