How much shite is too much shite? Second One Recovered! And now back home!

[catsinthewelder]

3 hours ago, Saabnut said:

 a couple of teeth missing on the starter ring gear (a common problem on 2 strokes as they always come to rest on the same point of the flywheel),

Would it be too much of a bodge to unbolt the flywheel and turn it 180° ? (or different amount if odd number of bolts).

[loserone]

Really pleased to see the AX is still going, I really liked that car.  

[spike60]

Flywheel teeth can helped by stalling the engine instead of switching off assuming  it's manual. This makes it random where the engine stops, though I've never used it on a 2 stroke . On an Bmw 2500 6 cyl from 1973 it took it from about 1 in 2 settling on bad bit to about 1 in 6 times, much better. 

[Saabnut]

13 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

Would it be too much of a bodge to unbolt the flywheel and turn it 180° ? (or different amount if odd number of bolts).

That was my original plan and would work until I bought a few* spares recently. I think I have 14 spare engines plus a few extra flywheels so might just as well change it.

[catsinthewelder]

14 spare 2 stroke engines and a Wartburg that won't move 😉

[chaseracer]

2 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

14 spare 2 stroke engines and a Wartburg that won't move 😉

There's a plan for that... 😉

[Inspector Morose]

2 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

14 spare 2 stroke engines and a Wartburg that won't move 😉

Oi! It moves. Okay, we had to cut a tree down first, but it moved!

[Saabnut]

My plans for next week have had to change and I won't make the Sunday gathering up here now! Had a phone call this morning from my friend in France who keeps an eye on my place for me. Yesterday she arrived back from a 2 week trip to visit her parents in the UK and this morning she had a call from one of my neighbours saying they thought someone had broken into my house. She went straight down and called the Gendarmes as the shutters on one window had been forced and the window behind it broken. One window panel in the garage door had also been broken. And two of my cars were missing  

Cutting a long story short, my French registered Range Rover acquired from this very site which was parked in the barn, locked with the battery disconnected has gone, as has my friends 1966 Triumph Spitfire Mk2 which was in the garage next to the barn. To get the Spitfire out, they had to move the ride on mower with flat tyres so they parked that where the Rangie was. The house had been searched (for the Rangie keys which they found) and for the log book (which they did not find as it is here in the UK). Nothing else was taken, the TV etc is fine, the new electric bike is still in the garage etc etc. 

I am convinced that they were professional car thieves as they had done a recce and took the cars across the garden and through a field as the gates to the house were still locked. The only thing that bothered me a bit was taking the Spitfire as that was not going to be easy to get rid of.

This afternoon my friend called me again to say they had found the Spitfire. No idea of condition or anything but it appears it was abandoned in the next village about 5 miles away, and it has been recovered by a local garage who are awaiting to see if the police want to process it. This makes me think my theory of professionals is correct because as soon as they realised they had a rare, UK registered RHD car which was not going to be easily turned into cash, they dumped it. I doubt I will see the Rangie again as it will either be in Africa, eastern europe of a parts yard by now being a LHD car. Annoying, but could be worse.

Ferry booked Sunday night so will be in the Pays de Loir Monday lunchtime and the owner of the Spitfire is coming with me. Plan is to recover the car, sort the insurance for the damage to the house and see if anything else (like tools) are missing. All being well, if the Spitfire is OK we will bring it back to the UK.

More if and when I get updates or next week when I see for myself.

[Tayne]

Sorry to hear that, hope nothing else is gone.

[dome]

Ah fuck, that's horrible news. I hope nothing else is gone when you get there. 

[LightBulbFun]

Shit thats a kick in the balls! you dont deserve this sort of bollocks!, I am glad to hear the spitfire has been recovered at least,  fingers crossed its all intact and not been messed with, but thats shit about the Land Rover, I hope that it is still able to be found, is there a french equivalent of a PNC, or somewhere you can report the vehicle (and its VIN number) as stolen? so incase anyone tries to do anything with it, it flags up.

I hope nothing else was stolen or damaged otherwise!

 

I admit it would be interesting to hear what the French police make of it/if they decide to try and do anything about it, I know here in the UK often times the police have not been very interested in things like this sadly, so I wonder if the french police are just as bad or if they are better in any regard?

[High Jetter]

FFS. That's real shite.

[hairnet]

thats not funny

props to the neighbours tho

[Saabnut]

Well, my flabber is well and truly gasted! This evening I have just received a message from my friend in France to say the Gendarmes have phoned her to tell her they have found the Range Rover as well. I really thought that would have been many miles away in a less salubrious country. It is of course possible it was parked and being observed to see if there was a tracker fitted. No more details as yet, but we have an appointment with the police on Monday afternoon where hopefully everything will become clearer.

[AnthonyG]

I don’t know the details as I haven’t checked the thread but is this a classic Range Rover? Or a P38 which again is pretty antique in 2025 terms? 

Just thinking maybe the crims had heard through the scumbag grapevine (although to be honest given this is in rural France I’m thinking of a dodgy cafe in a black and white episode of Maigret here) that there was a Range Rover parked up at your place and they rocked up expecting a 2019 model? Then bravado and ‘fuck it, let’s take it anyway’ took over, until in the cold light of day they realised they had two fairly obscure and not very resellable vehicles on their hands? 

Anyway pleased for you that both vehicles look to have been recovered, hope there is not too much damage. 

[Saabnut]

The rangie is an early L322 with the dependable* 3 litre 6 cylinder diesel and close to 200k km so prime theft fodder  . I don't think this was opportunistic as they had obviously done a recce to gain access and taken something to move them with. Hopefully more clarification will happen when I get down there. My main worry is if the keys are with the Rangie as I think they took both sets despite them being stored in different rooms.

[AnthonyG]

^ liked for the fact it’s a very AS sounding L322!

I do hope it’s in solid green or some other colour that only ‘old money’ customers bought. 

[Saabnut]

This one

[SiC]

There was a stolen car left on the road near where I used to live. It was abandoned there for about a week when it was really getting in the way. Speaking to a neighbour (thinking it was his), he said no and I did a check (on Totalcarcheck for free) that showed it as stolen.

Anyway the police came pretty quick and took it away. They told me that its very common for a car to be stolen and left somewhere quiet for a bit. That way if its a hot car from reported/tracked/etc then the thieves can keep their hands clean. If not then they'll pick it back up for use in something criminal. Presumably a L322 is a great escape vehicle as pretty quick and will take a large amount of abuse, but still being fairly discrete when driven around normally.

[cort1977]

Great news, hopefully the keys will be with it.

Makes me think about more secure storage for spare keys, mine are just chucked in a drawer. Handy for when SWMBO has misplaced her set but also not hard for a methodical thief to find.

[Saabnut]

Arrived in France this morning, After coffee with my friend it was round to the house to assess the damage and losses. Short version is the Spitfire abd Range Rover stolen, the battery out of the Iveco cherry picker removed and taken, all my tools (air tools, trolley jack, socket sets, boxes of spanners etc) all taken. Also taken was about 50l of diesel out of my kubota and 300l of central heating oil from my tank. Strangely half a case of beers was taken, a few packs of biscuits etc and some tinned UK foodstuffs were also taken. Only damage is the window broken for entry, a door removed from its hinges for exit and an outside lamp destroyed to see if it contained a camera. Could have been a lot worse, and apart from the cars and tools the only thing really bothering me was the keys for the stolen vehicles, the Iveco, and my electric bike although the Kubota keys were still there. All very strange.

After taking stock we went to see the Gendarmes. A very nice, hekpful and cheerful guy took all the details. The Spitfire was located at a garage in the next village, it was found about 8 miles from where it was stolen. The Rangie is at another garage in Tours about 40 miles in the opposite direction. Know nothing more as awaiting paperwork from Tours police. Hopefully in the next couple of days. Went to see how bad the Spitfire was. Hardtop missing. Battery stolen. Otherwise no damage and the keys still in the ignition! Paid the 350 euro towage and storage fee, borrowed a battery and drove it home. Result!

More hopefully tomorrow.

[Supernaut]

What's French for "what a bunch of cunts" ?

[eddyramrod]

"Les Anglaises"

[eddyramrod]

But seriously: glad you've got on well with Les Flics, and that they are on the job for you.  Spitfire sounds like it hasn't suffered too badly, which can only be good in the circs, and it looks like you'll be able to reclaim the RR too.  Best of luck for making everything as right as it can be!

[Saabnut]

After many, many liters of LPG have been consumed, and with the old Saab 9-5 now showing well over 201k miles I am back home. Last week was very stressful and I am in no hurry to repeat it. After recovering the Spitfire and making a list of damaged and stolen property, I went to start a claim with the insurance broker/company. At least my French is improving which is lucky as they speak no English, and the first thing they said was the stolen fuel would not be covered. |Welcome to France. I handed over a copy of the police report listing everything and after much back and forth the claim was started. A local window man was contacted and came round to measure up for a new window and that is now being manufactured.

On Mondays visit to the police station, I was informed I could not recover the Range Rover until the police in Tours sent through the paperwork which I would have to sign. Annoying, as storage charges were increasing, but again, welcome to France. They reconned the paperwork would be ready in a couple of days.  The next day, the insurance company called to say as the police report did not specifically mention the window in the garage door was broken, everything taken from the garage would not be covered! I am getting used to the French ways so off I went back to the police station and in my terrible French asked them to add an addendum to the report. The Gendarme I was dealing with said in his opinion all insurance companies are bastards  so no problem. Two minutes later I had a new version of the report which was immediately delivered to the insurance company who reluctantly agreed all would now be covered.

Thursday afternoon it was back to the police station to see if the paperwork was through from Tours police. Of course not  . However, by now they knew me and we were getting on well, so they phoned Tours and gave them a hard time, so that about an hour later I left with the required police PV form. Too late for that day, but it meant Friday I could go and track down the Rangie. Friday morning saw me in Tours and eventually I tracked down Deppannage Fillon.There was a friendly, helpful guy there who explained I was lucky to catch him as that garage is not normally manned (the head office is the other side of town) but confirmed the Rangie was there. Of course, this is France, so there was a big BUT......

He explained that whilst the car was there, and I did indeed have the PV form to allow collection, the car was still sealed by the Tours Gendarmes and only they could remove the seal. Sorry and all that.......  Back up to Chateau du Loir and into my local  friendly plod. They immediately phoned Tours, gave them a severe talking to and promised me it would be sorted later that day and they would call me which they did. Of course it was too late for Friday but it would be clear and ready to collect at 4pm on Saturday. I was a bit surprised with it being Saturdy but happy to go with it. Saturday morning, another local Gendarme phoned me to confirm 1600 hours collection. Of course, this is France......

Saturday afternoon saw me in Tours by 1530 to be on the safe side. 1600 comes and goes. At 1615 I call the number on the gate. Very friendly man explained they were never open on a Saturday and I would have to go back on Monday. Tours is just over an hour and about 50 miles away. Bugger. Still, this is the way in France so back home. Sunday was spent in the usual fashion of wine and oysters. One of the usual Sunday wine and oyster crowd did not turn up, and we found out Sunday evening she had died of a heart attack on Saturday night. Put my problems into perspective.

Monday morning at 0830 I was back at the garage and the same guy from Friday was there. He confirmed the Rangie had been released and at last I could open it up and look for keys and check for damage. They had let off the dry powder fire extinguisher to prevent forensics, but apart from that there appeared to be no damage but sadly no keys. I arranged for them to recover the car back to my place for a very reasonable by French standards 370 Euros. For some unknown reason they did not charge me for recovering it to their depot (25 mile trip) nor for storage and obviously I was not going to press the point. I asked when they could do it and he said he would close up the garage and follow me up the road, which he did. I pinged the neutral override on the gear selector which made it easier although of course the steering lock remains on.

Once it was dropped off, we vacuumed the worst of the dry powder out of the car. If the gits had not stolen my air line, that would have been useful!  Now I need to see if I can get replacement keys and a new battery as that was stolen as well. After a quick clean it was pushed back into the barn with the tractor.

 

[loserone]

Liked for significant progress 

[Cookiesouwest]

What he said ^^^^^

[DSdriver]

You should have told the local crack-heads that the white stuff was cocaine and they would have hoovered your car with their bugles for free.