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Father Ted

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So I've been trying to avoid posting here just to calm myself down with cars. Unfortunately old habits die hard and in the last few days I've acquired two new steeds. 

Firstly:

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Now on daily duties. Late, Project Drive 45 TD. Yeah, I can feel the penny pinching going on with this one. Some utterly bizarre interior quirks, the wood is dismal, the seats are reasonable yet cheap, the mismatch of the window switches bizarre....the stalks from the long standing parts bin are the most robust feeling pieces inside. 

Saying that, it benefits from having the MG suspension (a late deletion of the Rover set up, again due to cost) makes it quite grippy and fun round bends. It's not really got any history, and JT makes a weird ' screeching bird ' sound when slowing down....good. It's quite something how old feeling the L series is, although the wave of torque it eventually builds up does give it a good shove. Happy to sit at 70 for ages and ages. 

Then:

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This appeared on C&C for not that much, I had to raid my savings to get it (which I hate doing) but my plan was originally to get it, test it, tidy it up and flip it, but by god it's a nice thing to waft in. Being a Turbo, it's got some beans as well. I think this is just about old enough to still be the 182hp model...there is some service history with it, and it's clearly been looked after, but the last cambelt was a concerningly long time ago. Not due by mileage yet, but let's not mention age! A previous owner decided to tear down the headlining and the hard board? it's in the boot. No rust worth mentioning, some niggly bits on the rear arch passenger side but solid otherwise. Gearbox seems fine. Fluid a bit dirty, but it doesn't smell burned. It's really tidy other than the small defects mentioned. Has a massive roof rack which is fucking awful on the motorway blowing s draft and dragging the whole car back, grim.

Interior is nice:

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Oil change on the Mini this morning. I went for 5w40 this time instead of the recommended 5w30. The last oil change made the car smoke on pulling away after idling and it burnt it at quite a rate. It stopped this behaviour after a few thousand miles after the oil got older. 

I have been driving around in it most of the day now and no smoking as yet.

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That 760 looks gr9 @bramz7 and probably quite rare with velour. Iirc the automatic option on the 760 turbo was something like £2300 extra. a lot of money back in the 80s.
If you're short of funds I reckon selling the roof rack might get a few quid, as well as saving the odd mpg.

PS. I'm not asking for dibs on the 760, as I'm being sensible, and getting my 850 fixed. 

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Part Two of the Streetwise rad hose replacement.

Before - bulginess

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After - no bulginess

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Pure filth

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Opulescent and cherry red

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Perfect temp gauge position, heaters in full on blast furnace mode

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I think that's a success - happy days. Bled perfectly, and the worse job was getting the clip on the bottom rad hose back on. Much swearing again.

At least it can go back to commutawagon duties this week. Still a fair few jobs to do, such as replace cam cover gasket, replace front discs/pads, and do some rust scraping underneath. Old girl fired up first time.

 

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A trip out today for the VP1500 to Milton Keynes Classic Car Club monthly gathering.

I have know for a week that the n-s rear indicator had stopped working but half an hour after I should have left I was still fixing it. The VP then decided to be difficult to start so I warned it that if it did not start off its own battery I would not be getting the jump pack out, just the keys to the Peugeot to replace it with, it did start just in time because I meant what I said!

I had to show the picnic tables off to the Escort MK2 owners!

The Micra is a 75 bhp SR.

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Post oil/filter change... forgot spark plugs as well, the car feels.... different.

It feels smoother and more sedate at low revs/tiny throttle openings but still goes like a stabbed rat if the pedal is prodded a tad. I long for the old days where when your Champion N9Y was 12000 miles old they were utterly fucked and looked it. These irridium/platinum things looked fine when I took them out, almost, just chuck them back in but I had the new ones so may as well... Old ones were burning a lovely colour as well...

So God alone knows how old those plugs were. Could the car have lived all this time without a plug change? 11years and 90.000? Been right through the service history and there is no 'tick' in the 'change spark plugs' box. Everything else has been ticked multiple times, even had a transmission oil change (at MB main dealer so that was nearly a grand alone!) so could they be the originals?

It is definitely running smoother at low revs and the idle is smoother but to be honest, it feels the same when you boot it (it makes a LOVELY noise above 3000 rpm :) ) but, I have noticed I am not having to push the throttle as much to get away so consequently it is always in higher gears as it is being driven in a more gentle fashion to go the same speed. Of course, the acid test would be fuel consumption increase/decrease s as I fill it up about every two months, I'll report back if I ever think about it again... which is doubtful!

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As per my MGB thread I went down to the Haynes Breakfast meet today and saw a couple of mates. Because the MGB disgraced herself, the Boxster needs some suspension work and the Dolomite is in bits, I took the Laguna.

Not the busiest Haynes I've been to, but was busy getting in. As the standings was all muddy and churned up, many just abandoned their cars on the edge of the hard surfaces. I did try parking up on the embankment outside Haynes but managed to get stuck. Luckily I could get off on reverse - even if it did rip the offside of the front bumper out of its mounts. Oops.

Car wise, there was less classics than there is in the summer. A few nice fancy stuff that was very pretty but of course I took pictures of the less fancy stuff...

Dolly 1300
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Granny with rust spots all over the body. I had forgotten how big these were. Not seen one in years. Interior looked pretty minging
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Best we could figure is that this has a FWD setup in it. I guess a GT-Four or similar. The track is ridiculous on it. Not actually very wide tyres though. 185/60/13 iirc. Wide I guess to fit the engine.
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I do like these. Helps that yellow is a great colour for cars.
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Panel gaps so wide that you can literally fit your fingers in.
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A great colour on this. Quite a lot of Midgets and Sprites at the meet today.
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"Mini"
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These were about the only vehicles that didn't have trouble.
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I don't seem to have taken anymore pictures today. Probably just me being a bit too busy chin wagging.

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Second MX5 meet of the weekend!! Off to bunch of fives today.

 It’sa static’s meet in a services where there’s a Costa and a Maccies!

Brownnova the younger (the 11 year old not the foetus) took some photos... 

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Bring a mk1 person my favourite was this tastefully upgraded one... 

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There was also this nice clean and almost standard UK car one too... 

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Another nice topless drive home in it too... 

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There was no escaping the horrible fact that the LDV Maxus had shat it's head/gasket.

As I need a van everyday for work, I believed myself to be quite fucked.

Not one to wallow in self pity, nor to blame anyone else for an old van to become incontinent, I had what can only be described as a "eureka!" moment!

My brother rang me to ask "when are you going to move this fucking van off my land?"

Aha! I bought a Peugeot expert last year and left it in his field! 

This would now become my daily transportation, with such issues as "it only blows hot air M8".

Along with, " Yeah, all the gears are in there, just some need encouragement, they're a bit shy."

Not to forget, "Oh, tyres aren't supposed to have wire and chord poking out?"

An excellent start, to what can only be, a brilliant year, of scrap wrangling.

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A quick heads up for anyone considering buying a mk. 2 Mazda MX-5 very soon. I will have a W-reg MX-5 with long MOT for sale some time next week. It's dark green, drives really well, has a stack of receipts for important work done and most importantly has had all the important bits welded. All arches and outer sills solid, front chassis rails also done so it's a good one. I'm no MX-5 aficionado but I did about 35 miles in it today and it was the most enjoyable drive I've had in a smaller sized vehicle in a long long time. Anyway this is sort of a preamble. A full for sale ad will appear one some of the crud has been cleaned off the thing, and there is enough sunlight for a half decent photo.

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2 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

I sold two vehicles to shiters in November, and both have shat their head gaskets in the last week.  Neither was a vehicle particularly know for being prone to such issues, and neither had shown any signs of impending problems.

Weird.  And embarrassing.

Was thinking of resuscitating the MGF, think I may wait until this curse is broken.

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9 hours ago, cms206 said:

In other news I may have bought a car on Friday night. WIFE_CMS is furious and she doesn't even know yet. It's out of test and I have nowhere to put it.

 

Situation normal.

do you have a space on yer body for a fresh bruise or 37 or do the boss just give up now :D

 

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2 hours ago, Broadsword said:

A quick heads up for anyone considering buying a mk. 2 Mazda MX-5 very soon. I will have a W-reg MX-5 with long MOT for sale some time next week. It's dark green, drives really well, has a stack of receipts for important work done and most importantly has had all the important bits welded. All arches and outer sills solid, front chassis rails also done so it's a good one. I'm no MX-5 aficionado but I did about 35 miles in it today and it was the most enjoyable drive I've had in a smaller sized vehicle in a long long time. Anyway this is sort of a preamble. A full for sale ad will appear one some of the crud has been cleaned off the thing, and there is enough sunlight for a half decent photo.

 

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Old news from Friday! Small collection as I'm a shit shiter and not into public transport in any way. Agreed to buy an ex. raffle car a week or so go and had been procrastinating about the journey to get it. Mate was heading up to me on Friday to collect a car trailer then down to Glagow to drop me off. After that he was heading to Wigan overnight, next morning to Salisbury then across to Kent to pick up a non running Morris Minor, back to Wigan overnight and back to Glasgow (Better Shiter!)

Any way thanks to Andy CMS206 and Jamie Bangernomics for patience and general helpfulness. Great to meet Andy as he is proper Shiter and part of the Scottish contingent I hadn't met yet. 

First stop at an actual airport to pick up trailer.  

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Bloody Ford invading!

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Boot Full

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Let it in eventually.

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Still a handsome motor the Mk2 in my opinion. I owned an 1800 back in 2001 and always liked them. Only fault is it tramlines a bit with the low profile tyres on it. Also the windscreen scooshers were bereft of any scoosh on the front but I found a clue to that and likely just a pipe or something

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Nice selection you have there :) 

I have just become a 'druggy' bought CBD things to see if they can help Phoebe. Her legs are sooooo bad after two days out she cannot walk at all without help from me - another cripple. Also she has not kicked off at all at the fact that for the last twwo days I have taken Chester to the park without her, this I find worrying.  I don't mind if she doesn't want to go out anymore but I'd rather she has the choice.

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14 hours ago, Tam said:

Also the windscreen scooshers were bereft of any scoosh on the front but I found a clue to that and likely just a pipe or something

Assuming it is the same as a MK1, yes there are too little rubber pipes (for front and rear) that run off the screen pump that deteriorate over time and can pop off - quite exposed to the elements down there.

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29 minutes ago, egg said:

Assuming it is the same as a MK1, yes there are too little rubber pipes (for front and rear) that run off the screen pump that deteriorate over time and can pop off - quite exposed to the elements down there.

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Hopefully that means they are quite accessible then. I'm usually pretty ham fisted with wheel arch liners ?

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20 hours ago, brownnova said:

Second MX5 meet of the weekend!! Off to bunch of fives today.

 It’sa static’s meet in a services where there’s a Costa and a Maccies!

Brownnova the younger (the 11 year old not the foetus) took some photos... 

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Bring a mk1 person my favourite was this tastefully upgraded one... 

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There was also this nice clean and almost standard UK car one too... 

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Another nice topless drive home in it too... 

I need to pop along to one of these MX5 meets as I'm only over the water...

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