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Memoirs from the Hard Shoulder: bASeman's Spot of the Year award.


BorniteIdentity

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20 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Just read the advert. £1000 and no MOT? Are they having a laugh?

Just spoke to him, a very nice chap in fairness.  He is being swarmed by exporters who have already offered him £750.  I dare say they pull the cat and send it to Africa - and fair play to them if that's how they put grub on the table.  What it does mean is I am, sadly, out.  Timing was shite anyway - but if it was £500 I'd have bought it, bought a new shed, and just pulled it apart over the course of a weekend.

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6 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’d say if they’ve offered him £750 tell him to take it. In actual fact they’ve probably offered him £300. He’ll be chancing in you falling in love with it and paying over the odds. Anyone who didn’t have mince for brains would snap someone’s hand off if they’d got £750 sheets in their hand. 

I would normally, regrettably, agree with you - but I've exported one of these myself.  They are phenomenally popular and always fetch good money.  

But I appreciate and respect your naturally cynical outlook.

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I am a cynic, you are right there but it’s born out of years of bangernomics. That said I’ve just ordered a load of clobber to preserve the underside of the wife’s 16 year old Focus, maybe I’m getting less right in old age. 

Old Toyotas have always gone to Africa, where in Nigeria it seems Mercedes is king, I don’t know how they get along with changing the pads on a Sensotronic, I suspect there are a lot of fingerless mechanics in Lagos now. 

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4 hours ago, sierraman said:

If you’ve an old car of that age it’s always worth picking one up to break, you’d be amazed how handy it is having a spare starter motor or a spare alternator sat on the shelf at home as and if you need it.

That said I’ve a shed full of bits of Mk2 Mondeos and Focuses that have met their fate in my hands that I’ll not use now. 

Parts acquisition does come in handy. I've built up a reasonable amount of Capri parts which can be very useful at times. Do I recall you were thinning out your Mk2 Mondeo spares collection? 

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2 minutes ago, N19 said:

Parts acquisition does come in handy. I've built up a reasonable amount of Capri parts which can be very useful at times. Do I recall you were thinning out your Mk2 Mondeo spares collection? 

I was wanting to get rid of them to whoever could come and pick them up, I’ve moved storage to another shed that’s bigger so I’m not in an urgent rush but I’ve moved on to the newer models now so it’s not much use to me. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Motoring has been fairly minimal of late due to the post COVID boom at work, kids constantly needing reliable transport to various things and the arrival of a (hopefully uninterrupted) cricket season. 

As noted elsewhere we spent last Sunday in the company of Fuzz Townshend and other enthusiasts with the Escort but, since then, minimal fun. If this is how life is going to be, there’s precious point in owning any more than 0.5 cars. 

I thought I’d better get the Mini out as it’s been at the front of the garage now for approximately 7 months. Shit form really. So have a cold start video where all the petrol is bank in the tank! 
 

Sadly. The clutch is Donald Ducked. We had to free the slave cylinder with a hammer back in 2019 and, being honest, it was far from perfect. Seemingly half a year off the road has seen it seize again. You can change gear if you turn the engine off but if you start it in gear it lurches, so the clutch is clearly not disengaging.

I think, unless I have a windfall, the Mini will have to wait until the end of the year for some TLC. I do want to get it nice, but I’m nervous about getting started without the cash reserves to see it through. I’ve just invested £5k in our little rental house and, along with a few other unforeseen expenses, don’t have a lot of headroom right now. 

It does make me a bit sad to see it parked up, but ultimately I have it - it’s here - so that’s the main thing. 

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  • 2 months later...

Through Lockdown 1.0, my immediate neighbour and fellow fan of motoring pursuits began a 'virtual' car club in the village.  He's a very sweet man - it started with lockdown car shows (show and shine on your own drive) then, through the wintery months, grew a newsletter with articles of interest on small, local car builders. (like Berkeley of Biggleswade).  Finally, a couple of months ago, we had our first 'Convoy' out - approximately 20 cars trundling around the Cambridgeshire countryside - just purely for the sake of burning some petrol and raising some smiles.

The first drive was undertaken in the Escort.  This man is a friend of a friend, and delighted in telling his son what a rare car I had.  Funny, as he'd turned up in a 100 year old car himself that was far rarer! 

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This weekend, we had our second drive out - this time towards Wimpole.  As you can see, whilst the weather wasn't quite as good - the cars were, once again, a lovely eclectic mix.

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I'm reliably informed by my friend who knows more about this sort of stuff - that it's a Ferrari F8 Tributo.  Yes - not all of my neighbours are crippling disappointments on the local media scene.

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This is a glorious car, and I've had my eye on it for a long long time.  At some stage, it will come up for sale.  Unfortunately I'm about 8th on the list and it won't be cheap.  It's about the best example you'll ever find of one though, completely original, 2 owners and 70k.

The local garageman has a few M3s, and a set of tradeplates.  I like his style.

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Really enjoyed paying this much, much more attention than the Ferrari or the Bentley that arrived a little later.  Also, a lovely moment as two friends hug for the first time in 18 months.  🥰

Little bit of flexing in this corner, but that's fine.  All owned by thoroughly lovely people whose interest and passion for cars is no greater or different to ours.

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Yes, it's a 1.9.  Yes, he just bought it.  No, I'm not crude enough to ask £hfm.  

The weather just held out for an enjoyable 24 mile route.  Half the cars go clockwise, and half the route go anticlockwise.  We do this to try to prevent holding up too much traffic.  The great thing is - at approximately the halfway point - you see the other cars coming towards you which is great!  

The Sierra?  Well, it was only the second journey out with the newly installed clutch and everything is fine.  It is the lowest clutch in the history of low clutches, but that will be rectified when I can get a gap at my local garage who can fit a new adjuster.  It still seems to be losing coolant somewhere but I can't for the fucking life of me find out where.  There's little to no trace of crystalised coolant, but it seems to just drop the level.  I wonder if it's finding its own happy place down towards the bottom of the expansion vessel?  Either that or it has a hairline crack, or the cap is faulty.  Fucknose.

Anyway, an enjoyable trip out.  FotU next (subject to me feeling like going, which is 50/50) and that'll be the longest run it's done in about 3 years!

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I was planning on going to FotU but car mojo is a bit low at the moment. It's a shame because I was both gutted last year when it was cancelled and delighted this year when it was reinstated. Dunno, just feeling a bit glum at the moment when it comes to cars.  The wider picture is peachy AF.  I'm sure it'll bounce back.  People bounce back.  Dennis Hopper.  Rolf Harris.  There are others.

I've had a five year inner battle with this old hector.  Sustaining it is quite a challenge, and I've had to be both strict and realistic with myself.  When it comes to remedials, IF I can make it better - then I will. If I can't, it gets left alone. If it needs to be addressed but is beyond my scope, then it's done properly and well. There's no point in paying good money for shit repairs just so it can be 'authentic'. It's an organic thing this car, and it's come simultaneously a long way and not very far in 5 years.  

The rear panel has been bubbling away for a long time now. It has now holed, but doesn't seem to let any water in. This week I finally bit the bullet, took the plate off and painted it up with some Hammerite which, in fairness, is a fairly decent match. Well, I'll let you be the judge!


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Eeek. I might need to learn to spray! Still, as the old saying goes, anything's better than rust. I took the opportunity to slap a bit around in the boot on some slightly brown bits and, if nothing else, it makes me feel a bit better about things.  From 6 feet it looks red and fine.  

What next?  Well, I managed to get a bonnet cable from ebay for £4 which is a result (I hope!).  I've also bought a new clutch adjuster so will deliver both of those and the car to my friendly garage so it's just f**king done.  The next gig is the doors, and I might just get a second driver's door which has a manual winder arrangement for ease.  I'll likely get them whacked on next year so that I'm not banging about in the depths of winter with new metal and paint.  

So, as soon as we're done with the little jobs on this, it's Mini time...

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9 minutes ago, Kiltox said:

Hang on, is it staying? Did I miss that?

The guy who wants it isn't in any rush, and nor am I.  I think it'll be more of a crossfade than a rushed relay.  I would be surprised if it's still here this time next year, but if it takes him 6 months to get his house in order and start his tenure on a good footing, then that's fine with me and probably better for the car.  

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2 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

The rear panel has been bubbling away for a long time now. It has now holed, but doesn't seem to let any water in. This week I finally bit the bullet, took the plate off and painted it up with some Hammerite which, in fairness, is a fairly decent match. Well, I'll let you be the judge!

You can take it to the bank that water's getting in, is it getting out though? Some wob or a bit of tactical gaffer tape might be the answer.

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5 hours ago, RoadworkUK said:

This is great news. Sorry that it won't be at FOTU, so no licking can transpire, but its nose did brush against my leg in Felixstowe, so I'm good.

Ha.  That was a great day out.  

They were like flies around shit.

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First time my old boy had driven a Sierra since July '94.  Note how he has more fashionable fashiontrousers than I do.

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Sorry I wont make FotU.  Just life dragging me in other directions I guess!

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2 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Ha.  That was a great day out.  

They were like flies around shit.

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First time my old boy had driven a Sierra since July '94.  Note how he has more fashionable fashiontrousers than I do.

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Sorry I wont make FotU.  Just life dragging me in other directions I guess!

Bloody hell, when I saw that pic of the Sierra I thought it had had a smack on the side, it's just the reflection in the door but it really worried me for a min !

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  • BorniteIdentity changed the title to Memoirs from the Hard Shoulder - Caravelle Vacation

With depleting stocks on the Bornite forecourt, and reduced mojo still a factor, attention has turned to our much loved T4 Caravelle. For newcomers, it’s a long nose, long wheel based van with starship mileage. I don’t think I’ve ever bought a vehicle that was so loved by its previous owner; not measured in bills and receipts (although he spent thousands on it) but measured in memories. They would travel to the south of France each year, and the bus was as much a member of the family as their daughters. 

In peace time, we’d head for a week to somewhere like Dorset for some holiday park action. It works well for us with four kids who, despite my best efforts, I’d really like to spend more time with. However, the Covid price structure means that we’d pay £1500 for what usually costs us about a third of that after staff and last minute discount. 

So, we’ve bought another tent (exactly the same as the one we already have for ease of erection) but I’m now realising how daft I’ve been. The Caravelle is huge inside. Remove the rear row of seats and then boot is 190cm long - comfortably enough for a full size bed. The floor space reduces around the wheels to 120 but at its widest is 160cm. Rather than buying an air bed that won’t be quite big enough (probably only a single) I’m going to nick and idea we used as kids. Every time I stayed at my Grandparents I’d sleep on the floor on the “biscuits” from our home settee. Laying them out in the van abstractly should allow max coverage; they can then be stacked during the day. This will get my wife and her broken spine out of a tent, and a child too. 

Then I realised I can likely get another shorter child across the bench in the back; probably my youngest. The width again is 160, only concern is the seats are quite narrow. I laid out two more cushions and it’s supremely comfy. 
 

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I need to think about how to stop him falling onto the floor. Those seats don’t recline, and I don’t want to be lugging stuff around just for minor trivialities like child safety. You can buy beds that have sides that strap to the headrests, but I don’t want to spunk £150 on something we may never use again. (If this is a disaster, it’s Tenerife next year!)

Any suggestions welcome here. We could remove those seats on site, but they’d need to then go somewhere and they’re cumbersome. It won’t work.

Aside from camping plans, i had to buy a new number plate for my trailer. Decided to fit the nice new one onto the van, and the old one onto the trailer. It seemed a shame to stick something new on a trailer that’s used four or five times a year, plus a chance to add a post-Brexit plate to the van. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Camping. Once cheap fun and an opportunity, if you were either Sid James or Bernard Bresslaw, to try and have your wicked way with a convent girl called ‘Babs’. 

These days, especially in the autumn of Covid, it’s actually quite an elite sport. Rather than modest tents of canvas and fibreglass construction, it’s all Air Tents and Motorhomes these days. Some pitches are commanding £60 per night, par with a Premier Inn if you can find one. 

Me being me (wanting to keep it real and keep the money in my pocket) we shopped hard and came up trumps. The first camp site we visited was hippy AF. Lots of women with either pink or blue hair, and not a bra between them. Majestic. It was proper off grid with hooks for solar showers and a marvellous wild flower meadow. We loved it so, so much.

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Each pitch was 10m x 10m with the pitches cut into the grass and 10m between pitches. Behind, your own clearing among the trees. The van accommodated four with the other two of us in the little tent. 

After this, we moved onto another place at Mundesley. This was very different; much more touristy and no chance of me catching a glimpse of my wife washing her magnificent bosom among the trees like a Timotei advert. That said, a shower was welcome and the wife was pleased not to have to lather in full view of Darren from Hull. It was 5 mins from the beach and lovely, albeit for different reasons. 
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My son got his GCSE results whilst we were on site (superb) and we’ll never forget it. 

Are we fully paid up campers now? Well, nearly. Wife struggled with her back a bit. A larger tent would have helped but I’m keen not to become someone who has to have all the latest gear and gadgets. Other than struggling to keep things dry it was great, and I’m ready to go again. 

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