83C's Shite-esque Fleet: Let’s all stand in a hot field.

[83C]

Train 2. Travelling companion Charlie is clearly excited*

[motorpunk]

Your seat awaits 

[motorpunk]

Bye bye best proper car I’ve ever  had. 83 is a gent. Lovely dog too.

[83C]

Arrived!

[83C]

And back home. 

Thanks again to @motorpunk, the 5 is a lovely car.

[83C]

Petrol station shot:

Full tank gives a decent range:

Went to the local jetwash, it’s broken. A wash and brush up will have to wait.

[motorpunk]

Fantastic. Glad you like it. I honestly love that car, it got me through some tough times, and had been a faithful thing.

Fingers crossed my new one is as good. I’ll start a thread on that sometime.

[bramz7]

Well bought. Can't think of a better colour combo on that gen of 5er. I will try one out (must try to wait until 2025 though).

[83C]

With the arrival of an assistant for the day I had a plan to get the Mini running and also get the Disco to a point where the new engine could be started.

First, the Min. Got the front jacked up, got my brand new power probe (that is absolutely not an M10x120 bolt with some insulation tape wrapped around it) on the boost pack and applied power to the positive cable to the starter. Car unlocked, bonnet up, boost pack on and started no issue. 

Got it moved out of the way and onto a charger. Unfortunately 5 hours later this was the state of the charger:

I think it’s fair to say the battery is the problem here. 

Meanwhile, the Disco started the day with the engine placed in but not secure, so job one was to tighten up the engine mounts, then refit the turbo, power steering pump, starter motor, wiring and engine side plumbing sorted, so by the end of play this was the state of the engine:

And it runs. Started only briefly because no coolant but it fired up almost immediately and sounds pretty good. Tomorrow if the weather holds the rad and intercooler go on and it should be good to move under its own power for the first time with the new engine. 

[83C]

The 525d has settled straight into regular service here, carting the family down to Cornwall for the weekend:

Pictured here at Perranporth during high tide.

[83C]

Browsing my emails earlier I saw one, not entirely unexpected but possibly a bit premature, bill from Bristol Ports for handling charges landing my cargo from Japan. A swift check on the progress of the Glorious Leader showed it to be steaming away from Southampton towards Central America:

Given that my cargo wasn’t supposed to land until the first week of November, and in Bristol (where the Glorious Leader hasn’t been), I was a bit confused. However, on re-reading the paperwork it seems my machine was transshipped at Zeebrugge onto sister ship Coral Leader, which right now is berthed at Portbury, Brizzle:

Oh ship indeed - I have 10 days free storage there before I start racking up charges, and I hadn’t planned to move the vehicle until early November. 

Best arrange a day off then…

[motorpunk]

On 18/10/2024 at 19:23, 83C said:

The 525d has settled straight into regular service here, carting the family down to Cornwall for the weekend:

Pictured here at Perranporth during high tide.

Fantastic pic. I really miss that car. It’s replacement is too big and too fancy for me.

[stuboy]

great looking 5 series... been better with a slushomatic box fitted

[83C]

1 hour ago, motorpunk said:

Fantastic pic. I really miss that car. It’s replacement is too big and too fancy for me.

Give it a few months and I reckon you’ll settle right in - given how many miles you’ve done in the E61 it was always going to be a bit of a shock to the system.

[83C]

Loaded and setting sail for Brizzle:

Paperwork, tools and PPE.

[mark165]

Watching with interest!

[83C]

Quick pitstop in Gloucester for some essentials. 

And a trailer:

[83C]

On, and gone:

[High Jetter]

2 minutes ago, 83C said:

On, and gone:

Suzy?

[UltraWomble]

Well, that is a surprise.

[Stinkwheel]

44 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Suzy?

If not then Daihatsu?

[LightBulbFun]

3 hours ago, 83C said:

On, and gone:

you are Mrs @dollywobbler AICMFP  

[Asimo]

No, I didn’t guess that.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

If not then Daihatsu?

No, straight line where the bottom of the side window meets the window on Hijets & Porters.

[83C]

It’s a Subaru Sambar kei truck - 660cc and 4wd. It won’t be staying long, needs a fog light, an MoT and registering. I’ve long wanted to import something from Japan and have my eye on a specific vehicle, but I really wasn’t sure about the whole process so I thought something like a kei truck would be a good first go and minimal risk. I’ll do some more in depth photos tomorrow but it was dark by the time I got home so all I have are these two before it got loaded:

[High Jetter]

Nice. That should be fun to drive. Does it have aircon?

[Matty]

Fiver says you have a drive and end up keeping it 😋

[mark165]

Brilliant! Wasn't expecting that. I bet that's a happy little thing to drive.

[cort1977]

That looks like fun.

My instagram (don't judge) is awash with these things. It seems Americans have cottoned on to how good the are and they are now the next big thing with a certain enthusiast type over there. Saw one fitted with a Harley engine which made me chuckle a bit.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, cort1977 said:

Saw one fitted with a Harley engine which made me chuckle a bit.

Someone in the UK fitted a Yamaha bike engine to a Daihatsu, on the Hijet forum