My Family and other shite-imals

[richardthestag]

Bloody hell I am in a 5 cars family again! and there are only 4 of us living at home right now!

 

This thread is about bargainz and stuff that I find for my sons, stuff I fix for friends and some historic shite from years gone by.

 

It has been a busy year, the twin sons have both passed their driving tests and now have their own independence.

 

Lets start with David's Polo. He was desperate for a car, I almost missed this one because it had 4 weeks MoT left on it and there was a power steering fault showing on the dash. We went to have a look anyway. dealer on the posh side of Beaconsfield

 

keep fit everything on this one. not sure that one single box was ticked on the options list.

 

Inside was grubby, outside was peeling lacquer and fading pink. test drove and it was proper solid little thing, no rust underneath, no signs of accident damage.

 

Most importantly though was a folder full of receipts, no expense spared on servicing and maintenance. New front struts and wishbones, newish tyres, even clean oil in the engine

 

 

Mrs thestag handled negotiations and bagged it for "a Chinese dentist" £230, David is as happy as a cat with two arses

 

He is much less bothered than I am about these wheel trims, I found him a set of VW trims online for a very reasonable price but he said no.

 

He has detailed the arse out of the inside of it. Looks like a new car inside now. 

 

For the MoT I needed to find what was causing the steering fault. Cheapo cable from Amazon and vcds-Lite freeware (unlicensed) software identified the fault code and that the steering torque sensor was open circuit.

 

https://amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CQFB2K7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Online is full of stories of how difficult this sensor is to get at. Not on a 3 cylinder jobby it isn't. Removed the plastic engine cover and here it is. in the top of the rack. Cable runs around the back of the engine bay to the pump which is behind the front bumper. which needed removal

 

£50 found a salvaged and guaranteed replacement so I set to

 

old broken sensor is brown and nasty looking

 

sweet little engine that sounds great when revved

 

bumper about to go back on

 

So off I go for MoT and it failed because n/s wishbone was loose on the bush. removed it from the car and found that the slot that the front part of the arm goes into was 1mm longer than the wishbone. 5 seconds with Land Rover special tool #1 and it fit snuggly and MoT was issued,

 

David Celebrated by driving to York and back, actually David drives for an hour and then gets bored so his mum had to take over. A little cracker this one is though

 

 

[richardthestag]

So then Louis needed a car but was happy to wait. One of Mrs Thestags friends daughter was off to Uni and didnt need her car any more. Friend is the sort that lobs huge sums of money at local garage to keep the little car running.

 

We got it last week, £220 no haggling because friend etc

 

It is more dark grey than purple it looks here

 

flippin spotless and loads of toys to distract a new driver

 

Here he is stalling it

 

curious wiper arrangement, didnt really get a chance to have a good look at it before heading down to Devon. Back home again Saturday 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

My brother had a 51-reg Polo, the predecessor to this.  3-pot, 1-litre.  An absolutely cracking car, albeit utterly glacial. These are probably even nicer.

 

I've never quite forgiven him for part-exchanging the Polo for his Hyundai i20.  Which is a very sensible car but the little Polos really do have something about them.  Particularly these late small ones - before they got to silly sizes.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

And a pantograph wiper.  Dollywobbler will be all over that.

[richardthestag]

Pa in Law has yet to hang up his string backs even though in his late 80s

 

Still potters around locally in his Skoda Fabia Mk1. pretty sure he has had this since new. Plenty of elderly motorist damage disguised with rattle can blow over. and for some reason the front seat runners are both very rusty. no idea why,the carpets are bone dry.

 

Last month the dash all pack up on him, just one day after me commenting on how reliable the old bucket has been. I helped him out in getting the dash pod sent away to have a new voltage regulator fitted. We got it back and fitted it and all working again. Just* £80, for a flippin cheapo 50p component. I didnt fancy having a go myself. that said the company that did the work were quick and efficient.

 

next stop MoT which expired the day before. Failed! split steering rack gaiter, rear brake dragging and no headlamp beam pattern because of fogged over headlights.

 

Brakes was dead easy, pads had rusted into the carrier! even with the carrier on the bench one was a bastard to get out. 

 

Attacked the edges of the pads with a wire brush, applied coppagrease to the edges and backs. lubed up the sliders and put it back together again. did both side and found the other side dry of any lube also. Brakes fixed, no damage to lining material and pads fit snugly into the caliper so zero cost

 

Next up the steering gaiter, piece of piss me is thinking. err no. First the balljoint nut started to move and then siezed even though I had cleaned exposed threads etc. of course by this point the taper joint had released its grip and so there was no chance of getting the nut off intact. Tried all the tricks and in the end went medieval on it. Never mind though it will be a standard metric thread won't it? err no. In fact nothing in my extensive spare nut and bolt box nor available on line. ended up buying the cheapest ball joint I could find just for the flippin nut.

 

the old gaiter came away easy, but is very tight to the subframe. only way I could see to access it was from above

 

Pleased that it was the passenger side, because drivers side was completely hidden. I then messed about for half an hour trying to get the gaiter to slip over the end of the steering rack. In the end #1 son slowly rotated the gaiter from within the wheel arch while I used a bent screwdriver to try hook the gaiter into place. it worked yay. two ties and that is job #2 done

 

Headlamps b4, wet n soapy 1600 grade paper and lots of soapy water

 

followed by some car body wax got me to this. 

 

And once the nut was secured to the ball joint MoT was given

 

[Tickman]

Bloody hell I am in a 5 cars family again! and there are only 4 of us living at home right now!

 

 

I 'think' I'm back to double figures and there are only four of us!

*Shakes head*

[richardthestag]

My first car, before JKR made them popularer

 

Bought from a chum for £250 in 1984. many were amused that it was 3 years older than me, more were dismayed that I bought such a shonky old motor at the very end of its useful life

 

thing is that back in the 1980s, like now, 10 years was the theoretical useful life of a motor. I looked at loads of chod from the mid 1970s and all (in my price bracket) were rusty, fucked and unloved. The Anglia was a survivor and cheaper than a rusty non running 1300GT that was choice #2

 

I extended my tinkering hobby from bikes and lawn mowers to cars.

 

And got into the classic* car scene along with a load of dusty old blokes. but it was a load of fun

 

Knocking big end bearings made me curious. so with a mate we pulled the engine and gearbox. Then the front suspension. My mum came home from work and went flippin nuts at me! thought I was breaking it for parts in front her nice house in a nice suburban street

 

The TR7 was mums and the white Triumph was a 1500TC automatic that was a freebee from the person who bought my dad's Sierra. More on that later

 

 

[richardthestag]

I also painted the car, and the inside of the garage and everything inside it

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final straw might have been when I kicked a litre of imperial maroon paint down the driveway. Nothing would get the stain out. I had to go to the pub to escape the harranguing

 

 

[richardthestag]

Engine build was an eye operer into the word of Pre crossflow tuning.

 

Bottom end was balanced courtesy of Carshalton rebore, diff was Mexico someone from the 105e OC told me. I siezed that up on the roundabout over the bridge in Kingston on Thames.

 

yes I found out that the engine mount was upside down

 

A second gearbox, (mine had no syncho on first be design and weak syncho on 2,3 and 4) was given to me by a chap who I met at a local car show. dusty and at the back of his garage, pulled thee cover and it all looked minty clean so I fitted it. That was a peach

 

Engine and box back in

 

After running in, CR told me it should be good for 7-8k RPM. fitted a small rev counter and stretched it on the M40. The speedo needle went off the end of the gauge  verified by a mate in his P6, he backed off when I got to an indicated ton.

 

And all on it's original drum brakes, brakes just slow you down doncha no.

 

The Anglia became part of a collection of cars, along with the 1500TC, a P6 2200SC, another Anglia and my first Stag. The whole lot was sold for my first house on which I lost my shirt. Ah early 1990s ploperty crash, should have stuck with the cars

 

wish I hadnt sold the Anglia

[richardthestag]

I wanted to buy this Jaaag, the owner was sort of interested in selling

 

2.8litre Check

cloth seats Check

keep fit windows Check

Manual gearbox Check

Hearing Aid Beige Check

 

BUT Factory sunroof, low miles, manageable* rust

 

no MOT and had been standing for a while.Plan was for me to get it back on the road and smoke around in it for a while

 

 

 

 

 

Owner in the end refused to sell. I note with disappoint that it never went back on the road again. Lovely old thing it was 

[Uncle Jimmy]

This is ACE

My old man told me repeatedly that his Anglia (only car he bought new) refused to budge off the ice it had frozen onto in '66, all the power of a wet mop.

[Bren]

I imagine 140 bhp in an xj6 would be something of a disappointment.

[richardthestag]

I imagine 140 bhp in an xj6 would be something of a disappointment.

 

not as disappointing as having to drive it like you stole it  to keep up and because of the weak fuel mixture pistons became an annual service item.

 

Still wish I had managed to buy it

[richardthestag]

This is ACE

My old man told me repeatedly that his Anglia (only car he bought new) refused to budge off the ice it had frozen onto in '66, all the power of a wet mop.

 

pretty sure the 997cc was a very humble 37bhp and 30 seconds 0-60........ stroll

 

[richardthestag]

more old shite photos of family cars, a 35mm scanner has been great fun scanning in my collection of 35mm negatives

 

This will be late 1970s, dad's Mk4 Tina 1.6L, No mod Cons. Holiday to Norfolk. we used to fight to ride in the estate boot. back in the days before elf n safety

 

Family home on right, yobbo from over the roads (mum told me) tina estate, an epic wreck. This one ended up floating in the Thames near Hampton Court

 

The Triumph 2000 was a lovely motor, neighbour knocked both front corners off it within weeks of getting it. driving home from the pub, late sunday afternoon. I wanted to buy it and sort it out but he was saving it for his son, who was like 10 at the time. Though the lad did have a passion for Imps so not all bad. The Triumph went to the tip late 80s. 

 

This P6 belonged to my mate who sold me the Anglia. tried to kill us on the M4 near Bath when nearside rear tyre blew out and my mate made a proper hash of over correcting the slide. We were on a lads holiday to Cornwall. it pissed with rain the whole week and was a shit time. Though I did find a couple of scrapyards full of 60s and earlier stuff. that was in 85ish so probably a housing estate now

 

My ancient Raliegh bike met with a sad end. I ran it into the side of an MG Midget and sailed over the top. fucking hurt some I can tell you.

 

My brothers first car, bought from the same bloke I bought the Anglia off. he was my bestie and all that. It was a fucking shed held together with tape. This job was to try and fix the trailing arm bush which was seized (welded) into place. what an arse of a job. I still have that trolley jack

 

 

 

Freeman cruiser that I bought a share in. ended up costing me a fortune but had a marine version of a 105e engine 

[richardthestag]

My sister always had a thing for Moggies, her first was a 56 splitty, 

 

Fitted a new loom to it, the old one was part of the heating system but once all the smoke leaked out it was good for nowt

 

Then it broke a crank, because of a wooden piston!

The BX was my brothers 5th car. After the 1100 - scrapped, Panda - Scrapped, Allegro - crashed and then scrapped, peach of an early pez 1.4 BX sold to buy this one which was a fucking nail

 

Me and chum preparing to remove engine and box .. again

 

found another gearbox with synchro and the engine was a good runner for £25

 

If anyone ever asks you to swap out the front subframe on a BX, run screaming

 

the part was only £80 if my memory is good but Citroen wanted £800 to fit it. Late 1980s

[wuvvum]

I 'think' I'm back to double figures and there are only four of us!

*Shakes head*

I 'know' I'm into double figures and there's only one of me.

[wuvvum]

 

This will be late 1970s

 

7 6 - (24).jpg

 

X-plate 128 wagon says otherwise .  Don't think I ever recall seeing one that late.

[richardthestag]

X-plate 128 wagon says otherwise .  Don't think I ever recall seeing one that late.

 

Crikey didnt notice that. yep must have been 82/3 because dad got his sierra in 83 and the Tina was sold

 

here it with my bro being helpful* for once

 

 

*rather than wrecking cars and sending them to the scrapyard

[r.welfare]

Great thread. How we used to live and all that. Love the “giffer mod” of wing (not door) mirrors on the Mk4 Cortina there.

[richardthestag]

Great thread. How we used to live and all that. Love the “giffer mod” of wing (not door) mirrors on the Mk4 Cortina there.

 

that was normal for 70s chod a door mirror was a luxury item on the options list in many cases

 

Here is another Cortina, this was my Grandfathers (dedicated his entire life to driving chod) He went away and I patched up some of the holes for him.

 

someone ticked both the 1.3 engine and vinyl roof options on the order form. It wasnt horrific, got another front wing from the scrappy.

 

welding the rear arch meant fuel tank out first, I recall a mate telling me I was a mug to waste all that time. 

 

Slopped some paint over the top. Granddad was well chuffed when he got home from his holiday

[Amishtat]

Loving this, I'd have been about eight at this time and remember my next door neighbour glueing a piece of tin over an inner wing hole before underselling it copiously on his white 2000E about two months before it went to the scrapyard. This feat impressed me at the time. More please!

[artdjones]

My sister always had a thing for Moggies, her first was a 56 splitty,

 

Fitted a new loom to it, the old one was part of the heating system but once all the smoke leaked out it was good for nowt

66- (10).jpg

 

Then it broke a crank, because of a wooden piston!

The BX was my brothers 5th car. After the 1100 - scrapped, Panda - Scrapped, Allegro - crashed and then scrapped, peach of an early pez 1.4 BX sold to buy this one which was a fucking nail

66- (12).jpg

 

Me and chum preparing to remove engine and box .. again

20180816_121144.jpg

 

found another gearbox with synchro and the engine was a good runner for £25

66- (19).jpg

 

If anyone ever asks you to swap out the front subframe on a BX, run screaming

66- (17).jpg

 

the part was only £80 if my memory is good but Citroen wanted £800 to fit it. Late 1980s

66- (18).jpg

Was the BX subframe rusty or did it crack.A lot cracked right across, which probably explains why the part was so cheap.I replaced one about 15 years ago on my last BX,a 92 1.9 diesel estate that I scrapped a few months later because the windscreen was cracked and because I needed an engine for our ZX.I've been kicking myself ever since.I don't remember the swap being difficult,about 2-3 hours work?

[richardthestag]

Was the BX subframe rusty or did it crack.A lot cracked right across, which probably explains why the part was so cheap.I replaced one about 15 years ago on my last BX,a 92 1.9 diesel estate that I scrapped a few months later because the windscreen was cracked and because I needed an engine for our ZX.I've been kicking myself ever since.I don't remember the swap being difficult,about 2-3 hours work?

 

rusty and crash damaged. brother hit a curb during some enthusiastic driving. (note his history of scrapping cars) the nearside foot well mount and arm was rusty and bent.

 

the job was horrific because of the sheer number of pipes and fixings all covered in a decades worth of road grit and engine oil*. On top of this joy was that I was working mainly on my back on cold concrete. most definitely more that 2-3 hours, I recon it took two of us 1-2h just to install the new subframe and get the car back down onto it's wheels. nearer 3h for 2 blokes to liberate the old unit. that would have been maybe 8-10 man hours which would explain the Shitroen dealer cost.

 

On a 4 post it would have been easier

 

*The car used oil, partly through leaking and partly through burning due to merciless thrashing. Brother was a little sloppy pouring new oil back into the top of the engine. He worked an early shift often leaving home at around 5am and would sit outside the house revving the engine until the belts stopped screeching 

[mrbenn]

Great thread! Some cracking stuff there.

 

Someone suggested to me that the VW Polo as per the above pics is a bit of a modern day Morris Minor. Could sort of see his point actually.

[richardthestag]

found this pic of my mates lads car.

 

Nope he didnt drive it at 2,000 mph into a brick wall. this is the distressing amount of work required to change headlight bulbs on a corsa

 

youtube videos about squeezing hands into impossible tight places just delayed me from the inevitable. a dozen or so torx screws hold the bumper in place followed by 6 screws to hold each headlamp in place.

 

Once the light unit was free from the car I realised that there was no way that the youtube method was going to work. 

 

[richardthestag]

found some piccies of Dads shite

 

the Jaaaag was a 4.2 but not a Sov. dad traded mums Metro for it which didnt go down well despite the offer of any car from the company car list. After weeks of haranguing dad said he would sell it "over my dead body" was mother thestags response. Then she chose a BX GTI from the list. coolio. with an automatic box no less

 

The company sierra 2.0 Ghia that preceeded the Jaaag. Fatha thestag wtf are you wearing

 

 

The 1.6L (for luxury?) Mk4 Tina that preceeded the Sierra

 

the second of two Marinas that Dad owned, this one I managed to destroy weeks after passing my test

 

and the FD 2000

 

 

[mercrocker]

Excellent work over the years, there.....Cars are great but THAT HOUSE!   

[MiniMort]

My family didn’t really have company cars back in the 80s, my grandad had use of a few cars when he worked at the college though. First there was a Citroen GSA Estate, then a Volvo 360 and finally (or at least from what I’ve been told) a Rover 800.

 

Later on my Nan got a new job which came with a company car, out with the Citroen AX Highlight and in with a Peugeot 106, then a Rover 400!

[richardthestag]

Clio has been misbehaving a little 

 

Louis thestag phoned me in Devon to say "car no starty" after a little over the phone diagnostics, starter is not spinning but something is clicking. Lights stay on when starter position on the ignition switch is engaged. Thus me thinking Battery ok, starter fucked.

 

Never mind I am back home the next day so leave it where it is and I will fix it. Hastily ordered a cheapo used starter from ebay.

 

brief diagnosis when I was in front of car was starter fucked, 12.6v at battery, 12.1v at starter solenoid, bump started fine so miladdo relocated the the car Chez Nousside

 

Starter access is about as easy as it gets on these. disconnect battery neg. 13mm socket to undo two bolts securing the starter. 13mm socket to undo the main battery lead to the starter. 10 mins max

 

old and old replacement side by side. didnt even bother to test as dark and raining. Predictably no starty situation persisted. Found a lump of wire to connect battery positive to the 12v feed on the starter solenoid and the starter merrily spins over. 

 

Problem exists between ignition and the solenoid then. something is clicking so assumed that relay was ok

 

after a little internetage found that starter relay is the middle of the smoll bank of 3 black relays centre right in the piccy

 

removed, tested fine, reinserted

 

started

 

gah, at least I now have a spare starter and it was on £18 delivered