A long time ago in a Galaxie far, far away (and other shit)

[hairnet]

cmf

im running away from here later

 

[sdkrc]

This thing is ACE. 

@Mally is a gent and a hero and the car is superb. 

Proper write up later when the traffic is less shit and I'm home

[Jim Bell]

50 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

This thing is ACE. 

@Mally is a gent and a hero and the car is superb. 

Proper write up later when the traffic is less shit and I'm home

 

I see that sir chose the performance stability passenger side preload weighting option. 

A fine choice. 

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, sdkrc said:

This thing is ACE. 

@Mally is a gent and a hero and the car is superb. 

Proper write up later when the traffic is less shit and I'm home

Where's the one for your other foot?

[loserone]

9 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Where's the one for your other foot?

You can't talk about another man's partners like that!

[sdkrc]

Got home at 6pm and felt like death. A low quality write up awaits you below:

It's in very good condition mechanically from what I can see. Nothing obviously crusty or rusty. 

No knocks or rattles besides a solitary, mystery clunk on A roads that I can't recreate.

Tracks straight. Wheels and tyres are good. Brakes in good nick but appear to be spongy from factory (TADTS).

Interior is decent and complete. It'll clean up well.

For me, the hard top detracts from the experience. It's nice to have the option but it'll spend more time in the garage than not. 

Central locking seems to be slow and in classic me fashion I've fucked the driver's door handle up within 30mins of picking it up. Looks a very easy cheap fix though. 

Cosmetically I don't think it's bad at all, the known lump on the front bumper can be easily sorted with a replacement panel but I've not seen any other dings besides that. 

The cabin is classic threadbare Ford at the turn of the millennium. The leather feels like it was commissioned by Stranraer council and they stuck to a HARD budget. The switchgear feels Ford-cheap.

 

It's surprisingly OK for room but I'm at the upper limit at 6'1"-6'2". Seat was very comfy for me. Legs and feet not so much. 

Hard top gives you blind spots the size of planet earth.

The handling is great. Direct but light. It wants you to throw it and push harder and harder at every roundabout. Why the fuck the steering locks out when you've BARELY turned the wheel is beyond me. It makes the Alfa steering lock seem reasonable. I dread to think how hard it is to do a 3 pointer. Parking is surprisingly tough in small spots. 

 

Gear change is absolutely 10/10. Especially with the aluminium (?) gearknob. Tiny little throw. No ambiguity, just slots straight in. Feels excellent 

 

Clutch gives you ZERO feedback. 2 feet of travel and no discernible change in feeling even though it's definitely biting.

Engine is PERFECT for the car. Still has lots to give at 70mph. Revs freely, idles well, sounds sweet and the gentle rasp is charming . Lightly fruity.

It's rock steady on the motorway. Feels bigger than I expected and I didn't think twice about getting overtaken by lorries. 

 

Overall, I love it. Loads of character. Extremely good value at sub £1250. Haven't told the missus about it so will see how that goes...

[loserone]

1 minute ago, sdkrc said:

missus

"Hey Mrs, you know how we're moving further away from the city centre? I bought you a car so you can have some out of town driving lessons"

 

WCPGW?

[Matty]

On 4/7/2023 at 10:21 AM, sdkrc said:

Last time I was in Rochdale was 5.5yrs ago and I bought 70,000 kitchen doors. That went as well as you'd expect

All them doors and no match for the one in the flat? 😄

[sdkrc]

Quick night drive to Inverary, just above the balls and shaft of Scotland with some podcasts for company

[somewhatfoolish]

Did you say hi to the duke?

[sdkrc]

10 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Did you say hi to the duke?

I feel like this is a euphemism for doing a massive shite or getting a hand job in the public toilets...?

Either way, yes I did.

[sdkrc]

Absolute belter of a week. Moved house and the missives were signed at 5pm the day before we were supposed to be out of the old place. Didn't get keys to the new place until 3pm the day after either. New house is great though, massive relief to have finally moved.

The old question of 'does a Galaxie fit in a new build garage?' has been answered.

It does, BARELY. I'll figure out how to un-neglect my pride and joy later in the week when I've had time to settle and relax.  

My dad bought this Frankenstein Iveco 4x4 which is genuinely nuts but par for course for him. It has no steering, 1 working brake and needs welding. It has a 2.9 common rail out of something newer, a 55mm turbo, back axle from a unimog, other parts from a land rover etc. Previous owner was £3000 deep and just said 'fuck this'. 

[somewhatfoolish]

500 turns of the grinder in the gaol for the toilet trading, no one will notice you leaving a dirty protest as the council only clean them once a year to save money.🤣

On 4/9/2023 at 10:35 AM, sdkrc said:

I feel like this is a euphemism for doing a massive shite or getting a hand job in the public toilets...?

Either way, yes I did.

 

[Split_Pin]

Congratulations  on the house move.

I'm really surprised the Galaxie fits in a new build integral garage. My 9-3 takes mine to the absolute  limit width - wise.

[sdkrc]

1. Ford Ka is out. Didn't flip it for profit, just couldn't justify the hassle of a 7th car whilst moving house. Looks like it's found a better home than I would've given it.

 

2. Alfa misfire sorted. Replaced the 8 spark plugs and that seems to have done the trick. Big shout out to Alfa for adding 4 unnecessary and proprietary sized spark plugs into the mix here, cost me £50 for the 4 odd sized ones. 

I've done >1k miles in it so far and it's been pretty decent. Also managed to de-aids it a bit more. Just need to buy a decent steam cleaner to sort the very dirty bits. 

Oil consumption does appear to be happening at 2008 VAG FSI rates but my desire to sort that out is absolutely zero.

There's some amount of comfort in driving a cheap shitbox that's pre-dented. I don't care how I park it or how hard I thrash it. Potholes in a £5k car would concern me but not so much in this. 

 

3. Painted the house doors to match the Galaxie too.

[sdkrc]

What a powerful, un-MOT'd fleet. Looking forward to the backlash from the neighbours.

Special mention to the Audi for starting up first turn after sitting for 2yrs. Absolute monster. 

[sdkrc]

Which 90's executive car looks best on a trailer? Vote NOW. 

 

Had a hell of a day - started off by pocket dialling 999 whilst I was racing my son upstairs on all fours making animal noises.

I accidentally pocket-deleted my cloned barrier key fob so we were temporarily trapped in the car park.

Rounded the day off with a luke warm roast at the Brewer's Fayre and washing the car with a single bucket and old dirty sponges/towels (perfectionists @Schaefft + @Split_Pin please look away now because I did a shit job)

[Split_Pin]

I'm more perplexed by the lukewarm roast 🤣

Also, the Lexus looks the best, hands down.

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

I'm more perplexed by the lukewarm roast 🤣

Also, the Lexus looks the best, hands down.

Green Volvo does it for me (only 'cos we have one)

[sdkrc]

Big shout out to @Lacquer Peel for taking a fuck load of time out and transporting multiple cars on his day off, same for @Supernaut. Incredibly sound of you guys. 

An even bigger shout out to all the hard working folks at Brewer's Fayre for the completely adequate Sunday roast. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

15 minutes ago, sdkrc said:

Big shout out to @Lacquer Peel for taking a fuck load of time out and transporting multiple cars on his day off, same for @Supernaut. Incredibly sound of you guys. 

An even bigger shout out to all the hard working folks at Brewer's Fayre for the completely adequate Sunday roast. 

Funny thing is that I always figured the Rexton to be a biggish car but it's dwarfed by the three likely lads there?
(and no, it's not a Dougal moment)

[captain_70s]

3 hours ago, sdkrc said:

Kerb stomping local property values right through the fucking ground.

[EyesWeldedShut]

4 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Kerb stomping local property values right through the fucking ground.

 

Oh I dunno - they're in date order, surely that counts for something (or hints at a possible diagnosis for somebody if it's by design)?

[sdkrc]

26 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Funny thing is that I always figured the Rexton to be a biggish car but it's dwarfed by the three likely lads there?
(and no, it's not a Dougal moment)

 

The Rexton just keeps on delivering. Serious piece of machinery for the money. Especially since it does the vegetables without a fuss. Just ask @Jim Bell 

[Jim Bell]

HAULIN TAT. what a way to spend a Sunday lads. 

[320touring]

SSANGYONG Sundays are for winners!

[Lacquer Peel]

41 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Funny thing is that I always figured the Rexton to be a biggish car but it's dwarfed by the three likely lads there?
(and no, it's not a Dougal moment)

The three cars we towed today are longer than the Rexton, especially the LS, and the trailer puts them on a pedestal. 

It is intimidating being aggressively "tailgated" by three thrusting executive cars but none as intimidating as having a rear view mirror full of Galaxie. 

[sdkrc]

I believe that's my crank pulley and that's my timing belt on the Alfa. Quel bastardo.

quick finger check and they're all tight. I don't have any socket that will catch the centre nut and I don't have the star shaped attachment either. Any ideas?

[Split_Pin]

Those look like either Ribe screws or Torx Plus. I bought a set for the 75 a while ago, very handy. Basically like Torx but with a slightly different layout. I got my Laser set for about 25 quid from ebay or youre welcome to borrow mine if your stuck/ in a rush. Just need to check my set goes up to a big enough size.

No idea on the centre head size, Ive some pretty big impact buggers that might do.

Of course these could also be some kind of Alfa Romeo special fittings and I'm talking utter tripe.

[sdkrc]

You're spot on, they're Ribe. Ordered a set with Amazon prime as I now have space to own tools.  Thanks for the offer though, much appreciated 

Also, I'm a fucking idiot and that's the aux belt. Definitely the lesser of two evils