Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - Renault VelSatis 3.5 V6

[Madman Of The People]

 

Another Nashville-based shitter?  Where have you been hiding?

I'm sure you've already been to Pull-A-Part on Centennial Boulevard.  Have you tried Hubcap Heaven on Murfreesboro Pike for those Buick wheel covers?

 

[Schaefft]

7 hours ago, Madman Of The People said:

 

Another Nashville-based shitter?  Where have you been hiding?

I'm sure you've already been to Pull-A-Part on Centennial Boulevard.  Have you tried Hubcap Heaven on Murfreesboro Pike for those Buick wheel covers?

 

I'm only here once a year, my other half's sister is living in Mt. Juliet so a visit has become a yearly thing. We've been in the Gatlinburg area last year though.

I had a look around that Pull-a-part 2 years ago and bought a set of Lincoln Continental center caps, it's definitely on the list of places I need to visit again. Haven't heard of hubcap heaven before but I'll definitely check them out, thanks for mentioning them!

[wesacosa]

On 07/10/2024 at 23:24, Schaefft said:

 

 

Sorry for leaving you guys hanging (had a headache all day long) but we do have 3 winners!

And not just any Xedos 9 but the top of the line Supercharged Miller Cycle in a lovely shade of metallic green!

There's a lot to be said about the Xedos 9 and how important it really was for Mazda together with the Xedos 6 at the time, more about that tomorrow.

Nowadays nearly extinct this happened to be enthusiast owned for 20 years and while not perfect should hopefully be a solid car (although there is big potential for drama with this one, more about that tomorrow as well!).

only just caught this. Nice one.  Was that the one off the FB forum recently ?

I noticed that 6 had disappeared off Gumtree, wonder if he decided to keep it as a garden ornament or weigh it in

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

only just caught this. Nice one.  Was that the one off the FB forum recently ?

I noticed that 6 had disappeared off Gumtree, wonder if he decided to keep it as a garden ornament or weigh it in

Yeah, it's the one that was offered in the group before and somewhat recently again. He was only a few minutes from my mate Theo who was going to come up to Newcastle anyway so it all somewhat into place. I'm hoping the Xedos 6 is still around. It might be rough but no rust is worth something on one of these.

[wesacosa]

1 hour ago, Schaefft said:

Yeah, it's the one that was offered in the group before and somewhat recently again. He was only a few minutes from my mate Theo who was going to come up to Newcastle anyway so it all somewhat into place. I'm hoping the Xedos 6 is still around. It might be rough but no rust is worth something on one of these.

cool

 No change of keeper on the 6 so maybe he decided to keep it

Now they have announced they are doing Super Touring Power 3 at Brands next summer I think I'm going to have to try and get a 6 to take to the classic car section assuming I can shift some of the fleet by then 

[Schaefft]

Time for more prime shite, courtesy of Pull-a-part Nashville. I was looking for various bits and pieces for my vast fleet of American iron* and this yard seems to be the best place to look in (second time I've been). They were also the only place having a '89+ Riviera:

Unfortunately no sign of its wheels. I've found two wire wheel hubcaps near it but turns out they came from this Olds Eighty Eight:

I would have taken them instead but being 14 and not 15inch there isn't much of a point. I took the good taillight and a set of original floor mats from the Riv though, mine will need them. I also found this:

Mazda Millenia, the Xedos' American cousin! Under 100k miles. There isn't a whole lot I need for mine but I took the narrow reg plate surround on the trunklid and the license plate holder in the front plus the gold package badging. I would have loved to take the OEM rear wing that you could never get in Europe but I might be pushing my luck taking that thing as hand luggage on board.

Here's what I ended up taking home. 43 quid in total, the taillight alone would have been more than that normally.

[Schaefft]

Here's some of the others. Rust is hardly ever an issue here but the paint and leather interiors sure get a beating in this climate. Then there are the typical morons ruining door panels and dashboards trying to get to specific parts finishing most interiors off.

[Spottedlaurel]

Fantastic! Particularly pleasing to see the Integra 3-door, older Subaru and Prairie (Stanza Wagon out there I think?).

[MrBig]

On 08/10/2024 at 22:44, Schaefft said:

Fun fact: A GW 626 estate with the 1.8 was the slowest car I've ever owned! It didn't feel any more advanced than the Xedos 6 I bought a few months later, despite being a generation ahead. 

The Xedos 6 was probably the best 500 quid (590 Euro) car I ever bought. I didn't realize it back then but they really were great cars. The V6 was so quiet that you couldn't hear the engine running at idle.

Unfortunately I understeered it into a curb on the roundabout outside Gateshead Metrocentre. With one of the control arms snapped, TÜV pretty much expired and a cheap E38 already waiting I called the local scrapyard to take it away, not without taking some parts off it though.

Fast forward 11 years and an early Mica blue manual V6 with the factory spoiler is another car I must own again. They were already getting crusty back then so finding a clean one is near impossible now. They do exist in Germany but now at appropriate asking prices 

Lovely things these. I remember looking at them when they were a couple of years old with my Dad at the big car supermarket in West London. They had about 6 in, but they all had mould on the drivers seatbelt, so he went elsewhere. Anyway, a few years later (early 2000s) I picked one up for a song, identical to the promo picture car here. The engine was glorious, so smooth. Nobody knew what it was and it was a dream to drive. Mine was already going crusty in a few places then, god knows what they are like now, if there are any left. Mine got sold on when it started burning oil and I really didn't fancy doing 24 valve stem seals! Still remains one of my favourite cars ever though!

[Asimo]

Handy having all the cars off the ground balanced on old wheels.

[Schaefft]

8 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Fantastic! Particularly pleasing to see the Integra 3-door, older Subaru and Prairie (Stanza Wagon out there I think?).

Yeah, I was genuinely surprised to see both the Loyale and Stanza Wagon, either of them were not only fairly rare when new but also far outside of the typical era of cars they usually stock.

1 hour ago, Asimo said:

Handy having all the cars off the ground balanced on old wheels.

Yeah, pretty standard in these yards I think. Definitely a huge help when pulling a gearbox or transmission as often is the case.

5 hours ago, MrBig said:

Lovely things these. I remember looking at them when they were a couple of years old with my Dad at the big car supermarket in West London. They had about 6 in, but they all had mould on the drivers seatbelt, so he went elsewhere. Anyway, a few years later (early 2000s) I picked one up for a song, identical to the promo picture car here. The engine was glorious, so smooth. Nobody knew what it was and it was a dream to drive. Mine was already going crusty in a few places then, god knows what they are like now, if there are any left. Mine got sold on when it started burning oil and I really didn't fancy doing 24 valve stem seals! Still remains one of my favourite cars ever though!

I guess Mazdas always liked to rust and their premium cars were no exception, despite the lengths they went to to make them more corrosion resistant. The engine burning oil is surprising to hear though, usually they are very solid powerplants without major issues.

[Madman Of The People]

Looks like you did well at Pull-A-Part.  I haven’t been there in years, not since I finally got rid of my old 240 and 740 Volvos.  I remember having to find a driver’s side window regulator for the 740 because the part was no longer available from Volvo.  I ended up buying a whole door, regulator and all.

Every time I went, they always had something interesting in the European section of the yard.  I remember a Fiat 124 estate and a very rusty Renault Dauphine that looked like it spent the last 40 years rotting in a field.

 

[hairnet]

how much to do the jag and give teh airbags to @eddyramrod

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, Madman Of The People said:

Looks like you did well at Pull-A-Part.  I haven’t been there in years, not since I finally got rid of my old 240 and 740 Volvos.  I remember having to find a driver’s side window regulator for the 740 because the part was no longer available from Volvo.  I ended up buying a whole door, regulator and all.

Every time I went, they always had something interesting in the European section of the yard.  I remember a Fiat 124 estate and a very rusty Renault Dauphine that looked like it spent the last 40 years rotting in a field.

 

I was a little disappointed the last time I've been there in late 2021, it felt like I was about a decade too late to find a yard full of the stuff I'd be interested in but it only makes sense, 1999 is 25 years ago now and most cars hardly make it beyond 15 it seems. I'd probably really have to venture out into the sticks to find what I'm looking for, still some lucky finds there though!

Saw some shite you wouldn't expect to find around here today, courtesy of the Lane Motor Museum. Apparently it all started with the owner getting a disassembled MG TF as his 12th birthday present back in the 70s, his collection grew to a size at some point where the a non- profit museum seemed like a good idea. Expect a museum full of obscure Luci barges from all over the world in North East England soon...

[Madman Of The People]

 

I've been to the Lane Museum several times over the years.  It's an amazing place and you'll see something new and different every time you go.

 

[Schaefft]

Some more cars from the Nashville/Lebanon area over the last few days.

Ford Tempo (replaced by the Mondeo-based Contour for some extra trivia)

Chevelle SS!

Explorer and it's Mercury badged sibling:

Bro truck

As ugly as they might be, early 2000s W-body Monte Carlos are one of the most common cars of the era I'm still seeing driving around here. I guess their Impala counterpart were more often just run into the ground as family transport.

Late 80s Bonneville, shame that cars like this once so common are almost completely gone here now as well. At least this one looks like a survivor.

SVT Lightning

[Schaefft]

And a few more from today:

Malibu Maxx, Chevy's strange attempt at marketing a midsize hatch to the American people, naturally unsuccessfully and therefore a rare spot now:

Naturally as the owner of two Mark VIIIs I appreciate seeing this clean Mark VII:

Also Caprice donk:

[somewhatfoolish]

Is the death penalty available for wheel choice?

[Schaefft]

29 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Is the death penalty available for wheel choice?

I think there's not a single Caprice/Impala of this era left that's not on some huge alloys.

[Schaefft]

Our 10 days in Nashville might be over but we aren't done with the States just yet!

Have some shite around Queens/Brooklyn:

Initial observations: Things look grim for the big 3 domestics, it seems like they sold hardly anything here in the last 20 years. The density of older cars seems a bit higher though which is good.

Also, you absolutely can take a bootlid panel on the plane without too many questions if it doesn't fit in your luggage.

[loserone]

On 25/10/2024 at 01:57, Schaefft said:

Expect a museum full of obscure Luci barges from all over the world in North East England soon...

Looking forward to providing logistical assistance in exhibit acquisition.  

[Volksy]

Myself and a mate are flying over to Los Angeles on Monday for a bit of a roadtrip. Will defo try and check out some Pull a Part sites for S classes for switches bits of trim etc.

 

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, Volksy said:

Myself and a mate are flying over to Los Angeles on Monday for a bit of a roadtrip. Will defo try and check out some Pull a Part sites for S classes for switches bits of trim etc.

 

If you encounter any V8 R129, W140 or W210 from ~'95 to ~'98 I would greatly appreciate it if you could check for the following pump that's sitting right behind the driver side wheel arch liner:

These always seem to be forgotten about and get scrapped with the car, which then results in them being super expensive ($500+) when you need one. Part numbers are:

0004301032

0004300632

0265410018

A0004301032

A0004300632

With prices usually being as low as they are it would make a big difference! Unfortunately I couldn't find one in Nashville.

[Volksy]

I can certainly have a look. I'm hoping - being LA/California - there might be the odd older higher end Mercedes in the breakers, as there seems still to be quite a few W126's running about.

Is it a washer/Vacuum pump?

I'll have minimum tools, but will see what I can find. 

 

[Schaefft]

42 minutes ago, Volksy said:

I can certainly have a look. I'm hoping - being LA/California - there might be the odd older higher end Mercedes in the breakers, as there seems still to be quite a few W126's running about.

Is it a washer/Vacuum pump?

I'll have minimum tools, but will see what I can find. 

 

California is probably the best place in the world to find an older Mercedes in the scrapyard considering their popularity there. It's the pre charge pump for the first ESP system Mercedes offered on their top spec models, hence only found on the V8/V12  SL, W140 and E420 for 3 years.

[24vdiamond]

Great USA pictures, those dark street shots look like someone could jump out and mug you at any moment! 😁

Some of you lads certainly get around 👍 

[Schaefft]

21 hours ago, 24vdiamond said:

Great USA pictures, those dark street shots look like someone could jump out and mug you at any moment! 😁

Some of you lads certainly get around 👍 

I think a lot of people associate NYC with gritty streets and a criminal underworld. I'm not sure about the latter but I'm glad that some of the vibes of the former still are faintly there, but we haven't really been here long enough to get a real impression outside of the tourist areas. Here's some more spots from yesterday:

[Schaefft]

And a few non-car related pics. It shouldn't come as a surprise but I'd really recommend visiting the 9/11 memorial and museum. I feel like I've seen everything there was see about the event before but visiting the site really is a sobering moment and puts things into perspective. Expect to be in there for 4-5h minimum.

[Schaefft]

A few more from today and yesterday. Naturally spotting a Suzuki Cappuccino in Southern Manhattan was the biggest surprise.

[TrabbieRonnie]

That wee black two door (Mustang?) looks great, really would like something of that sort one day. 

'Knight Rider' Transams are probably my favourite American motor... I know, I know, but I'm just a product of my 80's childhood!