Conrad D. Conelrad Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 4 hours ago, barrett said: I did look at the fuse box, and replaced the wiper fuse just in case, and it all ostensibly looked okay in there, but I guess I'd need to remove the whole thing to check all the contacts? Nah, if the fuse felt secure it's probably fine. Next suspect: the switch. Also easily removed and checked for continuity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 11, 2021 Author Share Posted June 11, 2021 Hey gang, remember this old pile o' wank? Well, the bumper held together with gaffa tape and only very approximately connected to the rest of the car was really starting to embarass me. It looks great from the rear but when you walk round the front it all sort of falls apart. Anyway, I've had a replacement bumper in stock for ages so I nipped up to the office today (more space to work, lots of tools) to have a crack at swapping them over. This is nearing the end of an actual SIX HOUR day dealing with this shit! All the bolts were, predictably, rusted solid and without a grinder or anything I was reduced to going to town on them with a junior hacksaw which is not something I'd like to repeat any time soon. Of course, the bolts for these are totally specific to the job so I had to do some major bodging finding 'suitable' bolts - no problem, it's a temporary fix until I get the wings replaced, as both bumper mountings on the sides are way out of alignment anyway thanks to the car having at least one knock on each side and one on the front. Anyway, looks about a million times better now even though the whole front end is still quite squiffy. I was fucking knackered after all that carry-on but was quite pleased with the result. I also replaced the broken rear exhaust rubber mount and I was feeling flushed with success. Jumped in the car shot off home, and after about 20 minutes of driving a fucking deer jumped out of a hedge right in front of me. I slammed on the anchors but there was no way I wasn't going to hit it, which is exactly what happened. Actually it was more like a 'nudge', and the little fucker jumped up and ran off into the hedge again. Of course, it's put a great big fucking crack in the new bumper. If I wasn't laughing so much about this I'd be quite pissed off. Why do I bother???? Fumbler, Minimad5, tooSavvy and 20 others 7 3 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angrydicky Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Bit late now, but heat is your friend with this kind of job. A blowlamp on the bolts, and a decent impact socket would crack them off no bother, and you’ve got the bonus that you can clean up and reuse the original bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Never mind the moderns, what is this? Twiggy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Even after a deer strike, you still don't have the shittest 205 front bumper on autoshite. Behold that accolade courtesy of a family member who pranged ours - and his resultant 'fix'. 205 bumpers are hardly ten a penny in NZ... Lacquer Peel, GrumpiusMaximus and loserone 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 3 hours ago, Angrydicky said: Bit late now, but heat is your friend with this kind of job. A blowlamp on the bolts, and a decent impact socket would crack them off no bother, and you’ve got the bonus that you can clean up and reuse the original bolts. I did try heating the bolt that goes through the wing but it wasn't having any of it, and there is no space to get anything other than a little spanner in there. On the other ones it would have just resulted in pile of melted plastic. Once I got them off it was pretty clear they would never have shifted, the threads had totally fused together. Bloody French shite 2 hours ago, Asimo said: Never mind the moderns, what is this? It's the ex-Sir Malcolm Campbell 1938 Ford V8 woodie, which I am partly responsible for looking after, seen here with Campbell's Bluebird K3 WSR boat timolloyd, BL Bloke, GrumpiusMaximus and 31 others 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted June 13, 2021 Share Posted June 13, 2021 Really? Wow. Respect. How is it now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 Well that photo was taken years ago and it's had a new roof covering since then, plus quite a bit of woodwork repairs, but it looks exactly the same and is still just on the button and doggedly reliable and still pissing off idiots who think it should be 'restored', though it hardly had any use last year for obvious reasons. chaseracer, timolloyd, Coprolalia and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 Facebook has just told me that it's SEVEN YEARS today since I travelled to Chester and picked up my first BX! And also the new owner of Grey Haggie has just got it back from the bodyshop looking amazing Two cars I miss, but at least one of them lives on in good hands BL Bloke, LightBulbFun, Minimad5 and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 Not sure why it's so low res, but I've been sent some teaser shots of Pall Paint Progress!!! puddlethumper, Low Horatio gearbox, wuvvum and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 Here's a less shit image. Looks INCRED! egg, puddlethumper, anonymous user and 23 others 26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skizzer Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Oh my, that looks superb. You must be hopping with excitement! LightBulbFun 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted July 10, 2021 Author Share Posted July 10, 2021 Well, this thing has left the building. What a pointless purchase! One of the few cars I've lost money on, so I guess it all evens out in the end. New owner reckons he's going to fully restore it with a respray and eveything, so I hope it's gone to a good home. I've also done a deal to swap this pile of Panhard for most of the work that's ongoing with the Palladium, which solves two problems of needing to make space and needing to find money to pay for the paint etc So that's two out in one week, although I only have beer money in my pocket to show for it. This is going to evaporate pretty quickly (if I don't piss it away in the pub first) as the 205's n/s driveshaft is starting to make some pretty horrendous noises under cornering - well, I assume it's the driveshaft, might just be the ball joint or whatever, in which case I've got one ready to fit, but life's never that simple. Rover still without wipers but is going to have be the main commutor wagon until the 205 is fixed. BMW wafting enjoyably, but it's too expensive to drive every day. Xantia hasn't moved for a month and is 'resting' until further notice. Fumbler, Coprolalia, Jim Bell and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 This thing's really coming on! ETA beginning of August and I'll be driving it home... Jim Bell, outlaw118, vulgalour and 16 others 19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 Interestingly* somebody is selling some photos of the Dyna showing it stripped down by BL apprentices back in the 1970s. Slightly disheartening to think it's been in exactly the same state ever since, but oh well egg, Isopon, outlaw118 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 Had a bit of a silly moment in the Rover the other day, driving down the A23 there was a bit of noise coming from the o/s front wheel, and for some reason I started imagining all sorts of horrendous wishbone/track rod/ kingpin/ spring issue which were going to cost me loads of money to sort, ignoring the fact that it was wearing ancient tyres. Anyway, I was overtaking somebody at 70mph and it suddenly went from 'annoying noise' to 'something's about to fall off' so I pulled into a layby and of course the tyre had just completely given up Anyway. Got on the blower to the lovely folks at Longstone Tyres and got a set of Cinturatos sent over, which arrived the next day. GR9 service as usual, highly recommended etc Unsurprisingly the ride and handling are significantly improved. Even though the old rubber looked 'fine' it just goes to show how much of an improvement can be made. It feels much more sure-footed now and I've been tossing it around with gay abandon (fnar). Really need to find a replacement driver's door now, as that one is rapidly disintegrating. Asimo, RobT, GrumpiusMaximus and 22 others 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhatfoolish Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I just looked at the price of cinturatos and had to sit down briefly; they do look nice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabergé Greggs Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Oh man, so nice. One of the ways that I can tell that I’m maturing from reckless hooligan youth into weird old car guy is that I’ve really come to love a correct set of fresh tires on a car. Like really really LOVE barrett, egg and Low Horatio gearbox 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crackers Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 *looks up cost of Cinturatos* *gazes wistfully at car through kitchen window* You know what, I think I'll stick with the Toyos actually... Tadhg Tiogar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
High Jetter Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 But think of those wonderful Pirelli ads in the ?80s? They made great slippers too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain_70s Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 I don't think I know anybody who pays for Longstone tyres for normal cars, they all seem to be working in the classic press and acting as publicity... I imagine if you have a £100k+ car the issue of £600-700 tyres stops being an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 24 minutes ago, captain_70s said: I don't think I know anybody who pays for Longstone tyres for normal cars, they all seem to be working in the classic press and acting as publicity... I imagine if you have a £100k+ car the issue of £600-700 tyres stops being an issue. *cough* can't remember the last time I actually paid money for a set of tyres... but, happy to give Longstone a big-up because A. Dougal's a lovely bloke and B. 'proper' tyres for old cars would be much more difficult to come by if it wasn't for the industry they pretty much single-handedly spearheaded. And they're not really that expensive in the grand scheme of things. If you run a Vintage car you have to accept £200 a corner as a fact of life, so a set of Cinturatos is hardly gonna break the bank for a lot of people. I've had a £2000 set of tyres off *another company* before but won't be publicising them, because the owner is a mentalist Coprolalia and Low Horatio gearbox 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somewhatfoolish Posted July 22, 2021 Share Posted July 22, 2021 Is that for the Palladium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted July 22, 2021 Author Share Posted July 22, 2021 2 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said: Is that for the Palladium? perhaps. They're very nice tyres, though somewhatfoolish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 10 hours ago, barrett said: ..... If you run a Vintage car you have to accept £200 a corner as a fact of life, .... A bit more than that if you're running Michelin XAS, and a quite a bit more if you're running anything requiring metric tyres.... DSdriver 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three Speed Posted July 23, 2021 Share Posted July 23, 2021 In the slightly arcane world of Traction Avants which use 400mm tyres, there are some who advocate the use of 16inch tyres to minimise the cost. That causes some very emotional discussions that make the flare-ups on this forum look very tame indeed. Just thought I’d throw it in here and see what happens! BorniteIdentity, lesapandre, DSdriver and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted September 24, 2021 Author Share Posted September 24, 2021 I know I've been saying it for ages, but this thing really is very nearly done now... this will be the last teaser shot I think before the big reveal! Coprolalia, SiC, Dyslexic Viking and 17 others 20 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davocano Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 On 6/14/2021 at 10:44 AM, barrett said: Well that photo was taken years ago and it's had a new roof covering since then, plus quite a bit of woodwork repairs, but it looks exactly the same and is still just on the button and doggedly reliable and still pissing off idiots who think it should be 'restored', though it hardly had any use last year for obvious reasons. January 2016 at Brooklands: mk2_craig, chaseracer, outlaw118 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low Horatio gearbox Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Of use to you? Early strip speedo/late SC rubber dashmat. Could do witha clean but wont fit my late V8 and I dont want to cut it as its dirty but pretty pristine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrett Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 As of this morning, the Palladium is now tucked up in its new home with the Riley. Haven't taken any photos as the headlamps need to be assembled and it looks a bit rubbish, but otherwise all the bodywork is done and it performed okay over the 60-odd mile journey back Otherwise, nothing really to report except this satisfying milestone in the BMW the other day egg, Low Horatio gearbox, Minimad5 and 28 others 31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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