Fleet Update: Jul ‘21: One Out, Three In...

[garycox]

Called the Police on Saturday via 101 to ask about what I need to do next, and they said to go to the Station and complete a vehicle incident form, taking the V5, MOT, driving licence, etc. Couldn’t provide any more info over the phone.

Fine, went there yesterday, to be told that it’s all online now because of COVID but they reluctantly could do it there. Gave all the same details as before, plus they wanted my insurance policy number which I didn’t have with me. I told them I wasn’t planning to claim but they said that once I provided the details they’d inform my insurance anyway... 

As it stands, I’m supposed to be emailing them the policy number... can’t see what good that will do, really.

The 75 would drive backwards but not forwards as the wheel was wedged in the arch. Reversed it round to the house on the spare (glad I bought that!) and we’ve got stuck into stripping it for assessment 

First impressions are pretty encouraging really; it’ll need, at least, a lower wishbone thing as that’s bent to feck, plus a track rod end as the thread on the balljoint’s bent. Other than that, I can’t see much awry in there, although I’m not 100% sure what a lot of the components are supposed to look like so there could be other damage I’ve not noticed. It’ll obviously also need a wing with side repeater and trim strip, and a tyre.

The door is now a bit creaky so I assume is slightly misaligned.

We’ve ordered a wishbone, will be nipping out to ECP for a track rod end, and a ball joint splitter should be coming today from Amazon. Plan is to get this done ASAP as we really could do with another working daily (although changing the wishbone on the drive with basic tools might prove troublesome, we’ll see).

In 406 news, I was quoted £4-500 to get it MOTd. This is for welding the offside sill and near side sill/rear arch, supplying and fitting a couple of exhaust sections and a steering rack gaiter.

I like that car and would’ve just paid it but with the 75 incident and having to unexpectedly buy a new TV I just don’t have the cash available right now.

It could be back on the road pretty cheaply if you’re handy with a welder, so if anyone’s interested in taking it on, let me know. It’ll scrap for £250 but I really don’t want to do that. I’ll do a proper FS thread once it’s back from the garage.

[Split_Pin]

Liked for getting stuck into the 75. Subframes are Forth Bridge like so I bet you'll be grand with what you plan to do.

[hairnet]

tv died or it fell off the wall?

you just wanted another right :P

shouldnt be too hard to split stuff even without a splitter right?

[garycox]

Replacement wishbone and mountings in, and a new track rod end.

Looks a bit more like it... 

Have managed to track down a wing in the correct paint code; it’s miles away but only an hour or so from my brother so he’s going to collect it and send it down.

Just a tyre then and I think we’re done!

[Split_Pin]

Looks nice and central that, grand work in bringing this back from the brink.

I appreciate this was a financial decision as your 406 would cost more to keep on the road but its good to see this live on.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how much of a bastard was the wishbone?

[garycox]

12/10 would not want to do again in a hurry - all mountings both inaccessible and seized.

Installation of the new one was differently shit, as the way the old one had bent had made some bits more accessible and some less so.

I imagine this wouldn’t be a cheap job to farm out so it was either a massive ballache or scrap the car really; hopefully it’ll live on though!

Once this is done, if the 406 is still here maybe that can go on the drive and get done slowly... that’s where the Dolomite usually lives though and I don’t really like leaving that just on the street.

[Split_Pin]

I've heard 75 wishbone replacement is a crap gig, good one for smacking in about it.

[garycox]

The Dolomite has been getting hot for ages; we’d swapped the thermostat, sender, radiator, hoses and done many coolant flushes with no success and we gave up for a bit and parked it up.

With better weather coming it’s quite a fun commuter so, keen to get it back in action, thought we’d revisit the stuff we’d done. A complete thermostat kit with housing and sender was fitted and it now seems fine! 
 

New tyres are next on the list as it’s still on the ancient ones that came on the slots.

The Rover’s now fixed too, new wing fitted and we did a 7-hr round trip in it on Monday with no issues. 

Would’ve been fixed sooner if we knew the wheel was cracked and needed replacing; didn’t discover that until a new tyre had been put on it...

I advertised the 406 on here but there were no takers so I decided to give it a chance on eBay - went for £420 minus fees so I roughly broke even and had a month’s use out of it.

And the unexpected one in... 2001 Volvo C70 Convertible with the 2.0 5-cylinder and low pressure turbo.

Listed on EBay in the parts section, it has some pretty minor scrapes/dents/rust but MOT til November and a pretty clean history, loads of service history and all the paperwork back to when it was new, including original bill of sale, brochures, handbooks and even photocopies of period road tests. 106,000 miles on it.

I need new sun visors, a headlight and a washer bottle cap but the car was cheap so I don’t mind that.

It was only about 40mins away so I’ve not driven it much yet, but initial impressions are good. It’s a bit wobbly, similar to a Saab 900, but much more comfortable than the Saab and I prefer the driving position. 
The roof works well and doesn’t have a fiddly cover or anything like the Mk3 Astra did, or even manual clips on the roof rail, just one button. Much better. The Astra was a lot more rigid though.

Although it’s the lowest spec engine, it’s got 160-something bhp and it’s not slow; it’s my first 5-cyl and it makes a nice sound, it’s quiet though and there’s quite a bit of wind noise with the roof up or down so you rarely hear the engine.

Overall it seems like a nice car, I think I’ll enjoy having this for a bit!

[Split_Pin]

Wow the Rover looks amazing now, great work.

My cousins husband has the same spec C70 on a 54 plate, and it really wafts. Nice light controls. I thought it was deceptively large, I forgot its not an Audi 80 but a large Volvo.

[garycox]

Been a while…

The 306 had the other front wheel bearing replaced, but now something’s going on with the rear, it feels a lot looser and less predictable than before. I suspect axle mounts or something. To be investigated.

Despite vowing to buy no more cars at the moment, I was offered a Ka for less than scrap value, working and with a decent chunk of MOT. So that was bought.

These are really fun little cars, I thoroughly enjoyed driving it and, although clichéd, it does remind me of driving a Mini.

Annoyingly, the fuel pump failed and it had to be recovered home by the AA. It’s not the best example (I’d like a good one to keep, though) and Josh had been making noises about trying some non-contact oval racing, so its fate was decided. It currently looks like this; at least the horrible wheel trims have gone.

At some point around this time, I won the roffle for the forum bike Rover 25 GTI.

Its very fun. Fast, loud, firm, a bit tatty but pretty good for its age.

As my road is full of my others cars still, that one’s still in my “holding area” (round the corner out of sight) and I’ve not had a chance to spruce it up yet. It’s had occasional use though, and the damaged drivers seat has been sewn up.

And then… hopefully my search for an old diesel auto came to an end, obviously at the worst possible time when I have more cars than money.

For £toomuch I now have this:

 

It’s MOTd and the engine, gearbox and shell seem good. But it needs an exhaust, a windscreen and a load of other bits. The interior’s pretty tired despite only 137,000 miles.

The plan is for the 940 to be a keeper for the medium term at least, if I can find an exhaust for it… and if anyone has any other 940-compatible bits, I’m all ears.

I briefly had ten cars, but then @w00dy came to collect the C70 and I was down to a sensible* number again.

Anyone want a Rover 75?

[hairnet]

respec for fixing the 75

volvo lol and volvo lol

are you part scottish cos you seem to like volvo estates