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34 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

DVLA says 1964 red Austin 848cc. Last changed owners 2015. No MOT results.  Awwwww.

But, . . . it's currently road taxed :-)  yaaaaayyy.  Tax due in August 2020.

Result.

Oh, just Googled it, it's the one from the 60s Randall And Hopkirk tv series.  Didn't know that. Have never watched any of these but look forward to seeing them one day, maybe on Netflix?   Fabtastic.  I think there may be some FD Ventora 3.3 rubbing-thigh moments there.

Paging @simon8201 for Randall and Hopkirk mini anecdote. 

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It's mum's birthday today, unfortunately my brain is mince so have been unable to get out and get anything for her. She did however express a strong interest in taking on LKX, she asked as if it was my place to say no! Having seen how my cars get of late, it wouldn't be right. Also Dad's Car for me is Mavis, LKX arrived just as I was leaving home I think.

I'm going to fire over to work to ask very nicely if I can come in and do a couple of quiet shifts, not that there's many going round, but I need to get back to work or I'll go mad!

She hasn't seen the car since last Saturday morning, it's normally parked up away from the house during the week, and dad was always off on adventures in it at the weekend. It looks a bit grim right now:

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Just dirty from the state of the roads, so I'll beast mode cleaning that while she's at her parents. 

I got a little something made too, I'm better at tasks than buying gifts. As was dad!

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Don't worry, it's not actually screwed down, I'm just an idiot and accidentally got it with holes, so chopped the heads off a couple of wood screws and superglued them in the holes. So completely reversible, even if it absolutely never will be. Though I can take it off if I'm deep cleaning the interior, so I'll be able to get some brasso on it without getting it everywhere.

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On 3/20/2020 at 3:01 PM, loserone said:

I can't make it play, but I am rubbish with technology most of the time.

It doesn’t do anything, I just too a photo of something out of the window that was making my cup of coffee vibrate across the desk.

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Went to go for a drive in the Porsche but the battery was flat again, somethings amiss there. 

So I took the Subaru. It really is well weapon. Sadly every other cunt in the world was also out driving slowly everywhere and whilst I did manage a few overtakes it was pretty crap.

It was a silly time of day to go out for a blast though, should be early morning or evening for the quietest roads. 

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Had pretty much a wasted weekend, on the fettling front at least.  This weekend's job was to try and sort out the water leak on the Scudo. 

I spent bloody ages removing the dashboard and the fuse box and loosening the blower motor assembly so I could trace the heater pipes back to the bulkhead and see where the water is leaking from.  Turns out they're not leaking at all.  The water is coming in through the air intake for the heater.  I'd previously ruled this out as a possibility as taking off the scuttle vent above the intake it was bone dry.  However further investigation revealed that the scuttle on the offside, due to a blocked drain and a stupid design, was holding an absolute fugging lake, and whenever I went round a right hand bend said lake would slosh across through the gap under the windscreen and find its way down into the cabin via the air intake.  It was slightly brown due to the accumulation of mud and dead leaves in the scuttle so I assumed it was coolant.  A quick poke around with a screwdriver unblocked the scuttle drain enough that the lake slowly dispappeared.

That still left the mystery of where the coolant was going.  I hadn't really investigated any other possibilities as I had assumed it was leaking out the heater pipes.  Turns out it's blown its head gasket.  The temp gauge sits rock steady, the heater works and there's no sign of fluids mixing, but opening the bonnet when running and up to temperature revealed a trickle of water down the side of the exmpasnion tank, and when I switched the engine off and unscrewed the cap, what can only be described as Mr. Matey poured out.

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So that's that fucked.  It's a shame as in every other respect it was pretty much the perfect van for me - sensible size, quick, economical, comfortable, handles well, even has cruise control.  If it had A/C as well it'd be perfection.  As it is though it's not worth me forking out for a garage to do the work, and there's no way I can do it myself (I can barely see the fugging engine let alone work on it), so I'm going to have to start looking for another van.  When I have some money to buy one with that is.

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Yesterday I gave the Cavalier an oil change and wash.  It'll be my weapon of choice for taking the other half to work this week (she's a key worker and I'm most definitely not).  This photo is the good side.  The other is a bit battered and full of wob.

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I also awoke the Metro from its five month slumber.  I was grinning all the way home until I could smell pez, then pulled over sharpish behind the others as the fire extinguisher was in the back of the 406.

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A clip on the fuel pump needed nipping up, but it's still not A1, and the fuel hose should really be replaced so I'll do that tomorrow as I've got some spare.  It was spaffing out all over the exhaust manifold...been there before in something else and that didn't catch fire either, but still.  Anal sphincter got a work out.

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On 3/21/2020 at 10:51 PM, holbeck said:

Paging @simon8201 for Randall and Hopkirk mini anecdote. 

Oh yes!

Almost bought this very car a few years ( 20 or more) ago from the then owner of Downton tuning. I went to see it in a barn in Norfolk and was so tempted, especially when I was told Tony Curtis drove it in The Persuaders as well as its regular role in Randall and Hopkirk.  The car was almost roadworthy at the time, needing brakes doing and it had quite a bit of surface rust. He was asking £2500 for it which at the time was about a £1000 celebrity provenance surcharge on the going rate for a mk1 mini. As I'm incapable of doing much more than changing a starter motor on a car I decided against buying. About a week later the chap contacted me and said he'd do the brakes if I bought it but I decided against, a decision I have often regretted but at the time was probably the right one.

Soon after that I bought HMB643C a similar cherry red mk1 Austin Mini which was in  much better order and cost less than BAP but i always felt it was lacking the anecdote value of having had Tony Curtis' arse sat on the very seats I was sitting on. I now content myself with my 51 year old mk2 Morris Mini and my downstairs lavatory which was previously owned by David Suchet of Poirot fame.

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I went a bit two bucket wrongun yesterday. Though largely using stuff out of dad's shed as it's only right it's done his way, at least for now. I also only used one bucket, i don't think a couple of extra swirl marks are going to make a difference given the state of some of the paint.

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So far I've only done the top half of the LH doors, above the trim, I'll work away at getting the whole thing done as and when I can. The front one looks to have had a stevie wonder respray, it's like it's covered in scratches but they're part of the paint? Rear one came up lovely though:

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Turns out using a product advertised as quick and easy to use by hand is even more quick and easy if you use a machine! I think it possibly says to not use it on a machine, and only on the "affected areas" bollocks to that! Worked a treat. Apparently it was meant for the Dacia, but knowing how thin their paint is I wouldn't want something this aggressive near it.

More detailing today, maybe go and do some photography. Who knows.

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Something fell in my eye on Sunday morning, spent from about 3:00am through until about 8:00pm last night with what felt like a half brick in my left eye. Tried over and over to get whatever it was and finally got it about 8:00pm. It was a SPIDER!

Yuck.

Granted a very dead spider but still. Now my eye is still watering and feels awful but not currently hurting.

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As a mate woke me up at 7:00 a.m. (by text!) and I had already had a shower, walked the dog, cleaned up after the other one (she's getting sneaky where she poos now, or possibly ashamed so keeps hiding it!) I have ust been out and washed the car, chatted to a mate not seen in ages (he likes my new car - I've had it since last September) and ust had the water bill. As I was online and doing banking stuff, I've paid it! This is definitely the first time I have ever paid the water bill on the day it arrived, let alone with 5 minutes of arrival. I wonder if I'll get a prize?

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Someone is trying to scam me over my car. It's an ancient (and pretty fucking lame) way of attempting to essentially steal it, so let's see if we can turn the tables on them. 

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