Sold Omega 2 litre pez - £220

[320touring]

Oooh good buy Rob!

 

Puts me in mind of the one my mate bought for commuting back in the day, 6months sterling service then rod through the block!

 

Good times:)

[lisbon_road]

Looks very good.  You weren't done on this one either!

[RobT]

Badge snobbery in action.  I phoned Peter James today to add the Omega to my classic policy (I did a dayinsure yesterday just to get the thing home on a quiet bank holiday morning).  It isn't deemed a classic, and therefore cannot be added.  None of my stuff is a classic, a term I personally don't like anyway as it just leads to tedious 'is it or isn't it’ discussions, but I made the point they were happy to add the Astra dizzler of similar vintage to my policy in March.

 

I might have another go phoning tomorrow, to see if a different person gives the response I want!  Otherwise I’ll do a ring around of the other classic insurers or, worst case, get a normal policy.  The sensible thing would’ve been to check first obviously, but I was pretty much set on buying one anyway.

 

[HMC]

^ suprised here, IIRC they've usually been fairly accommodating in the past. I assumed Vauxhall And over 20 it would be a shoo in. Mind you it's on an r so technically can only be 20 from this August. Maybe that's it?

[RobT]

They're less accommodating these days and both the Safrane and Astra cost me £80 quid to add, rather than the £40 additional premium I've had in the past.  Still better than starting up a new policy though.

 

That '96 Mondeo I had was only 19 years old and they were happy to insure it (that was two years ago), so I was sort of hoping they'd do the same with this.

[inconsistant]

That's shit. They all are.

[AnthonyG]

Everyone knows Mk1 Mondeos are established classics, like Morris Minors or Austin-Healeys.

 

Assuming you get it insured, what's coming to Shitefest?

[RobT]

I'll have it insured tomorrow either way, so it's likely this will be my Shitefest steed unless I feel like bringing the Metro.

[dollywobbler]

Insurers do seem to be getting very picky of late. FJ notably so from October last year, when some 'list of approval' seemed to come into place. Haven't yet sussed out how they define something as a classic, but it's very inconsistent.

[purplebargeken]

Welcome to my world of insurance twattery.

 

Rob, bring it up to Edmonton. I have many interior valeting products if you fancy it. Local cafe does a superb bacon and sausage sandwich!

[inconsistant]

As the saying goes, is a silent is as a fish, and it pulls like a great.

 

 

Often wondered where that came from.

Someone's got that in their signature, it amuses and perplexes in equal measure.

[HMC]

It's BO11OX's signature, but unsure of its origins.

[egg]

Insurers do seem to be getting very picky of late. FJ notably so from October last year, when some 'list of approval' seemed to come into place. Haven't yet sussed out how they define something as a classic, but it's very inconsistent.

They accepted my Favorit in November.

 

Well bought Rob, I look forward to seeing it at a future meet.

[RobT]

It's BO11OX's signature, but unsure of its origins.

Unintentional comedy gold from an ebay listing probably.

 

I puckered up and bought a normal insurance policy for this today, as the classic lot weren't interested. If they're getting increasingly picky over what they'll insure then it was inevitable, but I could do without the added expense. On the plus side it means when I get bored of the Omega I can buy any old shit as a replacement!

[egg]

did you get commuting cover too Rob for your daily run?

[RobT]

Welcome to my world of insurance twattery.

 

Rob, bring it up to Edmonton. I have many interior valeting products if you fancy it. Local cafe does a superb bacon and sausage sandwich!

Thanks for the offer Ken. I think I've now sourced the smell to a rather stinky boot carpet, so will give it a blast with the steam cleaner I bought today.

[RobT]

did you get commuting cover too Rob for your daily run?

Yep, didn't cost much more so I'll forgo the train and drive in tomorrow.

[stuboy]

love it.. rather a v6 3.0

[Rocket88]

Much prefer the interior on the pre facelifts.

 

Pals mums ex partner had an N reg 2.5 V6 GLS auto estate in white, about 170,000 miles on it, ex traffic cop car, still went well and was a nice place to sit. I remember thinking the omission of rear electric windows was weird on a big car aimed at the sorta executive market but other than that the spec was spot on, this one even had wheel trims.

Deleted 'leccy rear windows probably to stop the crims in the back bailing out................................

[purplebargeken]

Seriously mate, bring it over. I have enough detailing products to tart up the majority of the cars on the forum. I'm doing nowt over the weekend. 

[New POD]

Nice buy Rob!

 

They have quite an 'involved' steering setup don't they?  I seem to remember drag links with numerous balljoints?

I think odd tyre wear is common on the front, there always seems to be a lot of negative camber.  My one never pulled to either direction though.

Bottom arm bushes are a good shout though, worn ones make them feel awful.

 

Looks like a good one as far as the rust is concerned!

 

 

Mine MV6 which came via 2 members here, had a proper vague sense of direction, which was not improved by any slight ripple on the road, white lines, using the brakes, or going faster.

 

Fixed by

1)New wishbones, (make sure they tighten up the bolts once it's sitting on the wheels - Mine were MOOG which are a million quid cheaper than GM parts.

2) New brake pads and discs and cleaning all the calipers

3) Full Alignment readjust - Camber and toe were proper out at the front after the wishbones fitted, and the rear toe on one side was out.  There is a Must have angle for camber which I read on OOF - had to insist for it to be done exactly to that. (although I forget the figure now)  

4) New front tyres - the lack of correct adjustment by the guy that fitted the wishbones, fucked the old ones in about 500 miles.

 

Since then perfect tyre wear.  It's just the misfire I need to solve now - although it's mostly gone away today.

[RobT]

As mentioned previously, the interior of this stinks. It's something approaching the smell of an oil rig, so last night and today I set about it with a steam cleaner.

 

 

I think the offending source is in the boot, so I've chucked the boot carpet and will replace it with some house carpet off-cuts (my Dad being a bona fide giffer has loads in his shed).

 

Here's the oil stain in the boot, and this was after I'd cleaned it.

 

 

I'm no cleanliness freak, but I do like a reasonably tidy interior, and I'd guess this hasn't been cleaned properly in years. Switchgear caked in dead skin and dirt, that sort of thing. It'll never be mintola but is loads better now.

 

 

I also gave it a quick rinse and it scrubs up quite well.

 

 

Gaffer tape deployed to fix the broken door pull. The furry door cards give it a nice plush feel, and thankfully there's no shite pretend wood like you get in the facelifted Omegas.

 

 

On Monday my trusted Czech mechanic who's a Vauxhall specialist will check out the pulling to the left issue. He's a massive Omega perv so is best placed to tell me if it's expensively fucked or not!

[stuboy]

don a hi vis and waft about police styleee

[Isaac Hunt]

Pals mums ex partner had an N reg 2.5 V6 GLS auto estate in white, about 170,000 miles on it, ex traffic cop car, still went well and was a nice place to sit. 

eeerrr, unless when it was new and one was invited to 'take a seat in the back sir whilst we have a little chat and fill in a form'

[omegod]

Fuck I weighed in a prefacelift this week you could have had some trim bit's offav, I've had 12 of them and THEY ARE ACE. Your rear wishbone bushes are probably shagged and can be polybushed if you so wish but you can get the full arms for pennies.  

[Pillock]

Insurers do seem to be getting very picky of late. FJ notably so from October last year, when some 'list of approval' seemed to come into place. Haven't yet sussed out how they define something as a classic, but it's very inconsistent.

 

In your role as professional typewriter-abuser, could you not ask one or two classic-friendly insurers to define what a classic is?

Not in a "have an argument" way, but more to give them the chance to help people when they're choosing classic cars. Give them a column, bit of nice PR and a phone number, hopefully understand their logic a bit more. 

[RobT]

Fuck I weighed in a prefacelift this week you could have had some trim bit's offav, I've had 12 of them and THEY ARE ACE. Your rear wishbone bushes are probably shagged and can be polybushed if you so wish but you can get the full arms for pennies.

 

It's a bit rumbly at the front too, so hopefully just new arms and alignment will sort it. Otherwise it's pretty decent mechanically, so the PO prioritised that over cleanliness which is fair enough! It's had a new radiator, battery and two tyres within the last 8 months.

[omegod]

RobT, on 06 May 2017 - 10:30 PM, said:

It's a bit rumbly at the front too, so hopefully just new arms and alignment will sort it. Otherwise it's pretty decent mechanically, so the PO prioritised that over cleanliness which is fair enough! It's had a new radiator, battery and two tyres within the last 8 months.

 

When I said rear wishbone bush meant the bush at the rear of the front wishbone, not the rear of the car as their isn't a rear wishbone bush as there isn't a wishbone at the rear of the car, hope that's nice and clear

[RobT]

Yep, I knew that's what you meant!

[RobT]

Time for a rambling update...

 

Two weeks in and progress has been made on this.  The rank smell has mostly gone after my four hour session steaming the interior last weekend.  Boot carpet has been replaced by a Cavalier one I've got spare, which sort of fits.

 

The main win is it no longer tries to mount the pavement at every opportunity i.e. the pull to the left is sorted.  First garage tracked it up after replacing a seized NS tie rod (hence why the steering wheel was on the piss) and he advised me to get 4 wheel alignment done at a place with the kit.  At this point it felt no different which was annoying, but I’ve since swapped the worn ditchfinders on the front (shite BCT brand I've never heard of) for the new rear tyres just to see if it helped.  Too bloody right it did, better by about two-thirds I reckon. I normally find such easy fixes make zero difference, so buoyed up by some actual progress I got the 4 wheel alignment done this morning.  Â£70 lighter but money well spent for this piece of paper.

 

 

Decent blokes who were also happy to engage in some old car talk, which is always good - Wheel Power in Brockley, WUD REKOMEND. Before going ahead they advised me that the bottom rear wishbone bushes are past their best (as omegod suggested above) so that's on the To Do list, but atleast the thing is driveable now as it was fuggin' awful beforehand.  Front end is still a bit rumbly but it'll do. It's now fit for a first motorway blast this weekend, so time to see how good it is at munching the miles!

 

Repairs so far equate exactly to the (£cheap) purchase price, and despite being a bit shabby it's a decent car overall so is worth the initial effort and expense.  The shite BCT tyres will need replacing after payday, but I’ll get some decent branded part worns just to keep costs in check.