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37th time lucky: 2023 in review


barrett

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Briefly MOT'd in 2006, then 2010, last in 2012. Sounds like it's had a bit done to it since being dragged out again, although this could have been done by a monkey and need done again.

It could be a bargain with a shit advert or it could be a rotten shitheap that knocks like a cunt and is going to need an engine in 100 miles. You'd have to see it.

 

 

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Its nice dumpy looking thing :) 

very 1950's porridge as you say

and its a B series so you can fit a 1.5 diesel B series all the mechanicals should be piss easy to keep going at least!

 

the only thing I will say, is without making yourself sound like a number plate flipper, do see if you can make sure the plate is included in the sale!

I have sadly seen it on old suffix-less vehicles where its "Oh if you want the number plate thats £LOL extra"

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That wiring does look to be a mess but the electrics of an A50 are hardly more complex than the electrics of a Palladium.

A new battery will do you a few hours daylight driving even if the dynamo is missing.

Needs a nodding dog and a couple of faded “I’ve been to Rhyl” pennants in the rear window.

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8 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

the only thing I will say, is without making yourself sound like a number plate flipper, do see if you can make sure the plate is included in the sale!

I have sadly seen it on old suffix-less vehicles where its "Oh if you want the number plate thats £LOL extra"

I'd assume for whatever reason it's non-transferable otherwise I'm sure that would be the case

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1 hour ago, barrett said:

I'd assume for whatever reason it's non-transferable otherwise I'm sure that would be the case

I can tell you from the listing, that it is sadly a transferable plate, but its not been robbed yet surprisingly/thankfully :) 

and the Seller does include enough info in the listing that the moment you pay for the car, you could just do an instant online keeper change (which immediately  puts the car in your name no questions asked) before anyone has a chance to rob it of its plate LOL

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34 minutes ago, Out Run said:

'Robbing' is BS. The plate belongs to whoever owns the car.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Taking a plate off a car destroys the history of the car, and the plate. It's just an out-of-context series of numbers and letters, and the only people who care about 'private' plates are, to a man, cunts

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3 hours ago, barrett said:

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Taking a plate off a car destroys the history of the car, and the plate. It's just an out-of-context series of numbers and letters, and the only people who care about 'private' plates are, to a man, cunts

Your opinion.

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On 5/18/2021 at 8:59 PM, barrett said:

Yeah but he's been welding his up for as long as I've known him, which doesn't bode well. What do you reckon @Angrydicky

If anyone happens to live round the corner and wants to have a look on my behalf, speak now

Yeah, more cars keep joining the sanctuary and I just don't get the time to work on it! It actually doesn't need much.

This one looks pretty good to me, although the pictures aren't brilliant. Go and have a look and a proper poke around it. They are serious rotboxes and with the exception of the bits which are shared with the Farinas (floorpans, outriggers and inner sills) sod all is available panelwise which makes restoring a rotten one very difficult and incredibly time consuming. Low values mean they're normally bodged up with plates and filler rather than repaired properly. And the low values mean they're usually plate raped by dickhead number plate robbers (mine sadly has as well) which is why it's so nice this one still has its original reg, and Bluemels plates actually. Lovely to see. It's a Somerset reg and the last two owners on the V5 were in Somerset, so it doesn't appear to have travelled far in its life.

First place to check is the inner wings in the engine bay, under the battery and the wiper motor. There's a box section behind there, with vent holes allowing mud and salt to get thrown up from the wheels and land in these box sections, where it sits until it rots through into the engine bay. GR8 design, must have been to aid engine cooling but it wasn't really needed. Austin must have realised it was a problem as the wings were modified for the Farinas to remove this mudtrap. If it's sound there, the rest of it is should be pretty good. They go badly in the sills as well (though this one appears very good there), tops of the back wings and the inner wings. The front crossmember the starting handle passes through is another place to check, and run a mile if it's had any of those dreadful triangular bodge plates welded over the outriggers under either front floorpan.

If the chassis legs have been welded it's another sign of a poor car, mine had gone in big sections, as had my inner wings.

Running gear is bog standard B series so no problems there, most bits are normal BMC parts bin.

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22 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Is it possible to have a transferable plate changed to non-transferable, or would the doovla computer say no?

There was talk of the DVLA enabling owners to do this but I don't think it ever went anywhere. @LightBulbFun our resident DVLA expert, any ideas?

I hate the practice of robbing original plates from classic cars so much, I'd be prepared to do the three pre '63s I currently own which still have their original numbers, and everything that comes through my hands in the future. At least we know that non-transferable note cannot ever be removed once it's on there.

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8 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Is it possible to have a transferable plate changed to non-transferable, or would the doovla computer say no?

 

7 hours ago, Angrydicky said:

There was talk of the DVLA enabling owners to do this but I don't think it ever went anywhere. @LightBulbFun our resident DVLA expert, any ideas?

I hate the practice of robbing original plates from classic cars so much, I'd be prepared to do the three pre '63s I currently own which still have their original numbers, and everything that comes through my hands in the future. At least we know that non-transferable note cannot ever be removed once it's on there.

 

im not aware of anything specifically being rolled out

but all it is, is a marker/code applied to the vehicle record, so in theory if you call up get the right person on the DVLA phone and get friendly with them, in theory they could just apply the marker to your vehicle record and thats that

on the back end its nothing different then updating a vehicles colour or such :) 

(its all stored in coded form and decoded via a lookup table its all quite fascinating) 

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On 18/05/2021 at 20:45, barrett said:

Since selling the Sceptre and then failing to buy a Standard Ensign, I have seriously been pining for some grey porridge in my life. Possibly this is just a general need to be driving an old car, which I've not done for ages. The R16 has been off the road for like a year (starter gave out and I can't move the thing to get it to a garage) and my only working old cars are Vintage, and not really suitable for just blezzing about in every day. I just want the option of getting in something obsolete to potter to work or the shops or whatever.

So, I've been looking at this thing at least four times a day since I spotted it on ebay

s-l1600.jpg

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/194128142566

I just like the combination of the nice old reg number and the general shabbiness of it. Just looks like An Car rather than a show piece, and these things always look better with a bit of wear and tear I reckon. It's an A50, so it has the 1500cc B-series, but an earlyish one with the 'short boot' which I genuinely think is a really pretty bit of vernacular design. I love the little vestigial fins and the circular rear lamps. I fuggin' want it!

Now, I know it'll be rubbish, I've driven a wide enough variety of old cars of all ages to know that this is gonna be a pretty miserable old lump, but I don't care. Obviously it needs those nasty little radials sacking off for some proper tyres, but that should be easy to sort with zero money spent (I know a guy, so I never pay for tyres). Bodily it looks okay, and the main selling point is the brakes have all been done as that's something I really don't wanna get involved in as it never goes well for me. Bloke says it needs the tank cleaned out, and I'd probably just fit new fuel lines too, which is just about within my capabilities. If it's not rotten underneath it's probably not outrageously priced, although more than I'd be willing to pay. My main worry is that nasty fucking wiring underbonnet. It just looks like the sort of thing that's gonna develop a load of mysterious maladies that can't be traced or solved and I'm pleased to say I've not had, or needed, breakdown cover for two years now and I really don't want to have to start relying on the fucking AA to get me home everytime this thing fizzles out on the side of a motorway in the middle of the night.

It's like a four-hour round trip to go and see it, though. I'm not exactly well-off, but I can take some money out of my savings and then pay it back at £100 p/m and - in my twisted melon - that's just like having a free car. Better than borrowing from the bank, right, with 0% interest and no hassle if I miss a payment?

So what's the Autoshite hive mind opinion? I don't want to get a reputation as somebody who buys cars, half-fixes them and then flogs them on for no reason which I'm definitely in danger of doing thanks to my last two old British cars which were bought in similar fugue states of unconditional longing. But I also really want it. HALP

@barrett - I have a Renault 16 starter motor in my garage, if it's of any use? Message me. 

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8 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Are R16s assembled around their starters in the same way some cars are built around their heaters? 

Not quite, but on mine I had to remove the gear lever linkage under the bonnet from the steering column to get the motor out (because RHD)... I have a lovely photo of my father standing inside the engine compartment of my 16 removing said motor! 

Mine was a '73 TL - Dad had to take his angle grinder to the motor we had which was from a 1970 GL and was slightly different: likewise, don't know if the TS/TX motors are different. 

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  • barrett changed the title to 34th time lucky: shitheap incoming

Well, a most uneventful collection after work means this is now parked outside my house. First impressions - it's a lovely motorway car, composed and relaxed at 65mph (albeit with a dreadful trim rattle from somewhere). Something a bit graunchy from the front end under certain turning conditions - track rods or maybe engine mounts possibly. It's pretty rough, but it's a running, driving, solid P6 and the price started with a '1' so I'm fairly pleased so far!

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IMG_20210528_212502_369.thumb.jpg.ecf29d4dd6fc33c77ca5e030cdec6ec0.jpg

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  • barrett changed the title to 35th time lucky: Get yer trousers on! New tat has arrived
14 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

That looks a lovely old thing.  I thought the days of reasonably priced P6s were behind us, but perhaps there's hope yet.

I mainly got it because its the cheapest one I've seen for a long time and I figured it was now or never. It's never gonna win any prizes and it's had a LOT of welding in the past but as something old to smoke round in for a bit it seemed like a no-brainer.

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