Vorsprung Durch Ticket (MOT) - Ohdearme’s turn of the century emporium

[gadgetgricey]

But was the train 30 mins late?

323 looks great by the way. 

[Ohdearme]

40 minutes ago, gadgetgricey said:

But was the train 30 mins late?

323 looks great by the way. 

Yep, actually about 40 so delay repay sent off already

Seller was a jolly nice chap and had cleaned it, checked all the levels and wot not before sending me on my way after a cup of coffee.

Managed 34.9mpg on the run back which is about as good as these get, they’re thirsty little things but bloody good fun.

I paid £500 for this one and can see me making it the wife’s car and gradually cannibalising the other one so I end up with one good one and one that will no doubt be classed as ‘my’ car (i.e. tip run, fetch compost, dispose of body duties).

[Ohdearme]

White Mazda will have no such abs issues as the silver one, on account of not having abs, thank god I didn’t buy   it as a donor

In daylight there are a few minor bits on the white one needing attention but overall I think it’s the slightly better of the two.

They're both running now so will bumble around till xmas holidays before I disassemble the abs or do anything major to them.

Mrs ODM passed judgement in daylight this morning...

”It looks ok in white”

High praise indeed.

[Ohdearme]

Volvo dispatched to the new owner...

...I hesitate to say new home, I’m sure it’ll be fine, just needs a top up m8

 

[Ohdearme]

The life of an up and coming business professional...all set for the hop to the train station and horror of horrors, you find your wife has left the children’s lunchtime snack behind, (clementines because shipping fruit from South Africa is marginally kinder to the planet than hauling them from Peru, apparently).

You race to catch her, lest your kids have to eat a british grown apple, only to miss your train, of which there is no other for an hour!

Lesser vehicles would cost you that hour of productivity but not the 323, one simply folds down the executive desk* and proceeds to work from the comfort of the drivers seat.

In other news, after being stood a week, it started on the button as it should and after their obscene £26 admin fee for changing a vehicle, esure are generously giving me a £9.17, which won’t even touch the sides in the railway tickety machine.

[Ohdearme]

A quick sniff of the shitely thread saw me volunteering to transport something down south mere days after waving off the V70...

Tape measures aren’t old school, I headed off to Derby with nothing but 323-2 and blind optimism to collect a Seat Arosa door for onward delivery to @Forty45
 

As any real man knows, the only real way to measure boot capacity is by the level of expletive used to coerce a door that is at first, second and third glance bigger than the available orifice into which it is to be inserted.

Impressive performance, yet again by the plucky oriental.

 

[Forty45]

On 11/12/2019 at 9:34 PM, Ohdearme said:

A quick sniff of the shitely thread saw me volunteering to transport something down south mere days after waving off the V70...

Tape measures aren’t old school, I headed off to Derby with nothing but 323-2 and blind optimism to collect a Seat Arosa door for onward delivery to @Forty45
 

As any real man knows, the only real way to measure boot capacity is by the level of expletive used to coerce a door that is at first, second and third glance bigger than the available orifice into which it is to be inserted.

Impressive performance, yet again by the plucky oriental.

 

Thanks again to @Ohdearme for delivering the Arosa door. When I saw how much of the back of his car it filled I realised he'd taken a chance using that size car for such a task. But the gamble paid off. Where there is hope there is a way etc..

[Ohdearme]

@Forty45 you're welcome, I'm sat drinking part of my payment now

I'd probably take a tape next time if I'm honest...the guy I collected from thought I was nuts.

[Forty45]

14 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

@Forty45 you're welcome, I'm sat drinking part of my payment now

I'd probably take a tape next time if I'm honest...the guy I collected from thought I was nuts.

Or a roof rack!!??

[loserone]

You need to try a BG. I enjoyed my Mazda phase.

[Ohdearme]

Every time I tickle these things with love they reward* me handsomely...

new set of his and hers Bosch wipers

Plus a new set of Bosch Gigalight H4s for the white one...proved useless and I do need to sand the lenses really.

How did it thank me? Well, I noticed a slight squeak from the belts pulling out or Trowell (what is it with 323s, me and belts?) On the motorway the squeak stopped but then the battery light came on.

Swift next junction exit and the popping the bonnet revealed coolant spaffed all over the electrical bits.

Quick head scratch and dry off with my woolly hat in case it was the coolant causing a short or something.

it wasn’t so I quickly eyeballed the belts...sorry, belt.

i think I know why the squealing stopped, ? .

Currently sat off J25 M1 killing 2-3 hours till the RAC get here...only going to Horsley tonight! 180 miles to go, might be a long one.

 

Edit to add, should have bought more pasties at the services.

[beko1987]

Ouch. My Xantia did this to me but luckily I had tools in the boot and it wasn't fully shredded.. Only drove it to work and back... 

Good luck with everything, your too far away for me to offer to nip out with a flask

[Ohdearme]

2 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Ouch. My Xantia did this to me but luckily I had tools in the boot and it wasn't fully shredded.. Only drove it to work and back... 

Good luck with everything, your too far away for me to offer to nip out with a flask

Honestly, the weirdest thing is when I went in the cellar to get  a pair of gloves to do the wipers tonight, I knocked my 12mm ratchet spanner on the floor and thought about taking it...you know, in the unlikely event of...

tbh though, the presence or not of tools in the boot is largely negated by the fact I haven’t a fucking clue where exactly on the M1 the remnants of the bastard belt is!

 

[Ohdearme]

Aux belt located.

[Ohdearme]

Oh dear, eleventy fan belts in the back of the van and none of them the right size.

Recovery to home preferrred as I’ll do the belts myself, working away for a few days, biggest arse is the need to get a train at 5:18 tomorrow morning now.

Surviving belt is looking a bit crusty too.

 

[Ohdearme]

Not bad, two years of shitery and my first ftp.

[mrbenn]

9 hours ago, Ohdearme said:

.......biggest arse is the need to get a train at 5:18 tomorrow morning now.

 

*chunders*

[Ohdearme]

8 hours ago, mrbenn said:

*chunders*

This was factually incorrect, it transpired having to get an bus at 4:42 after only getting home and unloaded at 3:00 was significantly more horrifying.

Bus thingy itself was fine and usb a bonus, but not knowing where the stops were and only knowing the town centre based on the bits I drive through left me with a breathless but not quite running but fast walking James May style transfer across a deserted Wakey town centre.

Also, I have to work in Southampton on Friday, if by some miracle of miracles someone needs a car delivering from Southampton to Leeds on Friday night, I may be able to oblige.

Plan B is five hours on train and beer, actually plan B might be plan A.

[Ohdearme]

Belts were ordered for £25 with a eurocarparts discount code but as I couldn’t get to the last bolt on the bottom of the alternator without looking like I’d dived in a woodchipper...

I drove it round the corner (which is literally 1/4 mile so not worried about overheating without a water pump running) with a bicep bursting lack of power steering to my local garage and they fitted the belts for the sake of an hours labour.

Also spent an extravagant £2.50 on a new besting aerial as the other was rotten and had some weird signs of life on it.

 

Over Xmas I’ve got a headlamp polishing kit and a pela pump to do the oil and atf fluid, etc.

I’ll also change the front fog for a new one as it’s gone yellow.

[Ohdearme]

Snuck half an hour this morning while the kids were occupied to make a professional* attempt at restoring the headlights on 323-2.

I’d received the smoll version so the discs and pads weren’t suitable for my da polisher so just used a batter drill to sort it.

 

Improved. I await darkness to see if I can actually see anything now when driving.

Was going to change the front fog too but timed out or rather the kids reached the end of the time they could manage to not attack each other.

 

[purplebargeken]

I've got one of these drill based kits but I keep forgetting about it and using the old fashioned method of many grades of fine wet and dry. 

The difference is noticeable in the piccies to my eye at least.

[Ohdearme]

1 hour ago, purplebargeken said:

I've got one of these drill based kits but I keep forgetting about it and using the old fashioned method of many grades of fine wet and dry. 

The difference is noticeable in the piccies to my eye at least.

It is noticeable, they’re not yellow now  like they were and although a bit rushed due to kids, I think they’ll be a lot better. Even with Nightbreakers in they were like tea lights before.

[Ohdearme]

Not a particularly big secret but I shall be pottering on down in a southerly direction tomorrow to add five doors and six cylinders to the fleet so late afternoon and evening updates may appear here.

Not much to report of late, the Mazdas continue to be competent at providing mobility, noticed the silver one is getting increasingly hunty at idle and the alternator light made a guest appearance in traffic today - not sure why, I just turned it off and on again and all was magically fixed*.

Have taken to driving the white one through the gears to get a bit more fun out of it, it requires a bit of left hand mastery for switching between L/S/D and periodic switching on and off of the hold button and bits but it means I can drive it through the first three ratios like a Manuel when I’m so inclined.

Mot incoming for the white one, expecting a conversation about welding to occur.

Alarm works on the silver one as I’ve had to pop outside not ten minutes ago in my slippers  as the arse end of Ciara has set it off. Solved by unlocking car and returning to house.

[Ohdearme]

School run first thing and the reason for the 323 alarm going off becomes clear, errant tree branch/debris suspected.

Bugger.

[Ohdearme]

It has been fixed with a rubble sack and masking tape for now but what is interesting is the majority of the glass was outside. The main rear window was open by about a mm (thanks to child #1 pratting about with the keep fits) and I think what has happened is the wind has blown in through the window gap and created Dyson-esque internal pressure and blown out the quarterlight.

The bay suggests £25 for new* one so that will be ordered.

Fortunately, having two identical cars is handy and the wife will nab the white one for the school run - I was going to be good and change the tyre on the white one that's slowly losing pressure but once outside, the sideways hailstones put paid to that idea.

I've splashed out and spent a quid on air at the local garage and stuffed 40psi in it to do the school run tonight.

Tomorrow, the children will travel to work in altogether finer automobile, assuming LNER and the trains have not catastrophised themselves today.

[Ohdearme]

Travel has commenced for collection.

All the essentials packed.

Sanity gel at the request of Mrs ODM who fears the Novelsatis/Carina virus.

Also, she lied about being ok with it when I mentioned the imminent withdrawal of £250 for insurance purposes (a skip is £240).

I doubt she’ll be chuntering quite so much when I use the new steed to transfer the offspring to school in the morning for her.

[Crackers]

Five doors and six cylinders says he. 

Wolwo box says I.

[Ohdearme]

8 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Five doors and six cylinders says he. 

Wolwo box says I.

Nope, ticked that box last time.

Poo Count now 1, company office is next to Leeds station so tight arse that I am has gone in there for free coffee and poo instead of Starbucks.

and yes, to answer the question that nobody asked, I did use Quidco to get 0.5% Cashback on my £4.30 train ticket - it all adds up!

 

[Sir Snipes]

17 minutes ago, Crackers said:

Five doors and six cylinders says he. 

Wolwo box says I.

Somebody hasnt been keeping up with the roffle threads!

[The Moog]

That is proper mingebaggery wtih the quidco! Well done ...