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Dollywobbler's Consolidated Tat Thread


dollywobbler

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On the other hand exploring the engine and it's issues helps with channel content surely. As said if it goes belly up get another engine but make sure a breaker bar and socket extension is on the Christmas present list,  mine is on the dozen or so  tools that I must have list

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20 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

 I got outbid on a Berlingo Multispace today - a 2008 that eventually sold for just over £1400. That seems insanity to me given it had no timing belt replacement

Shows how expensive things are up my way that even without the belt change, i'm sitting here going 'that's cheap'.

Mk1...that's been more or less bottom end of the market for them here for over a year, one as late as an 08 can comfortably still command north of 2k. There's one about 40 miles from me up for £2400 right now.

For the Mk2, how longs a piece of string?, tired, scabby ex taxis can be got for about 1800, for anything you'd actually want to consider buying you're looking at more like 3k give or take a few hundred.

When was the last time anyone saw a 120,000 Vauxhall Omega sell in England for 2k?, Because i saw one sell here for 2.5k a couple of days ago.....

A car i got outbid on last year at £1600 is up for sale again locally, he's asking £3500 for it..... He'll probably get close to 3 for it.

Earlier in the pandemic, it was a feeding frenzy on cars around a grand. Gone within minutes.

I was needing one and a Focus C-max came up, £800. Small dealer, asked me to pop around in the morning. When i got there, there was already 4 other people there, all wanting it, all outbidding each other. I just walked away with them going mental, last thing i heard was 'i'll give you £1400 cash for it'.

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There does seem to be a shortage of brand new cars at the moment so there is demand for good second hand motors. 1-2 year old cars on forecourts round my way are matching or higher than the list price for new.

Even 10-15 year old stuff seems to be holding its value - just scouring eBay there are loads of Berlingos older than the one on the video for more.

10 month’s ticket, practical, only a grand https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/saab-9-3-estate-diesel-/115132465792?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

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1 hour ago, dollywobbler said:

Tried reassembling today, but the gasket set I had didn't have one critical gasket - ie the leaking coolant gasket in the inlet manifold. I think it might be the wrong gasket set...

Which is a shame as the idea was to put it back together and do further diagnosis. Oh well.

Its silicone time!

 

 

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Just watched the Ebay video - probably a good fail, at that price! I’m sure you will have done, but perhaps you could consider a Picasso? Far cheaper (coz objectively they’re ‘orrible), same running gear as a B’lingo, and due to the lower premium you could definitely afford the massively superior 2.0 hdi engine. There’s some weird scene tax on Berlingos and Partners that doesn’t seem to apply to anything that was actually designed as a car. V. confusing! 

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As said by others and myself, chuck a engine you've seen working in or bin it. 

I'm a sentimental fool and spend far too much on worthless cars, but the Charade is not a car I'd feel guilty scraping at the moment. Not particularly rare and still loads about. Then it's the type of car where there will be oodles of low mileage granny owned examples around for years on end. 

It's a car built cheaply to a low budget and it's showing that now at this age. Even after fixing the engine, there is good chance it'll need electrical and suspension bits soon. 

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I think one thing to keep in mind that a lot of people are slightly forgetting is at least from what I understand that its more Miss Dollywobbler's car then it is @dollywobbler car if that make sense

and I imagine to Miss Dollywobbler being her first car of sorts she is understandably quite attached to it

so while to most people its just yet another car of the Dollywobbler fleet, and one that in most situations should just be binned off for a better replacement

but to one person its their first car and If you look at it like that on its own (ignoring the fact it shares the stables with a bunch of other cars) it makes sense to want to try and save it despite everything against it

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1 hour ago, LightBulbFun said:

but to one person its their first car and If you look at it like that on its own (ignoring the fact it shares the stables with a bunch of other cars) it makes sense to want to try and save it despite everything against it

I think one thing to keep in mind that a lot of people are slightly forgetting is that stripping down a modern OHC engine and rebuilding it is an awful lot of work. There is a reason why virtually no garage will rebuild a modern engine. Especially one that isn't that common and parts, like overbore liners and pistons, aren't readily available. 

Even a simple 4 pot BMC engine cost over a grand to have be professionally rebuilt. That's despite a lot of cheap and plentiful parts, competition and simplicity. It takes a lot tools, knowledge and time to do one properly. 

In an ideal world it will only need new rings and a good hone. But at 130k all bets are off. And as Split_Pin mentions above, a lot of these age engines aren't intended to be rebuilt - certainly at this level.

This is why many have said it'll be quicker and easier to drop in a replacement lump. Or even drop it off at a metal recycling centre. 

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2 hours ago, SiC said:

It's a car built cheaply to a low budget and it's showing that now at this age. Even after fixing the engine, there is good chance it'll need electrical and suspension bits soon. 

Having owned one of these for 12k miles and mum having had hers for over 15 years and over 100k, the build quality is actually very good (bar the seat fabrics) and she has never had any electrical issues in all that time.

The problem is that these cars rarely get the chance to warm up properly as they're primarily owned by the older generation and rarely driven above town speed limits.

With regard to a used engine. I'd want to see it running in the donor vehicle before buying. Just because it's got 50k on it doesn't mean it's not going to smoke.

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3 options then

1) Rebuild 130k engine, total war (let's be honest), as said, the rest might or might not be FUBAR.

2) Replace the engine. No guarantee that the used unit will be any good. But its a much easier route to take than 1)

3) Which leaves option 3, weigh it in and get something else.

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I may, or may not be wrong here, but i think i heard in a video that they spent a lot getting it welded for the last MOT... That's always a difficult one, because you've already thrown several hundred quid at something you logically probably shouldn't have to get more use from it, and you're never getting back regardless so you're at the point of spending a bit more to get a good working car, or cutting your losses and feeling like you'd have been as well setting fire to a wad of £20 notes.

So you throw more money and effort at it.

Then find a load more needing done, but you've put even more money into it now, so you can't really stop.

So you do a bit more, then find another £500+ needing done, and if you're unlucky, more welding.... Which given all you've spent, you feel you have to do to get some value for that outlay.

And it just keeps going until you pull the plug or punt it on.

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I know I'm a miserable fun sponge, but this is another reason why you shouldn't give cars cutesy names.

It's a consumer appliance not a puppy. 

Without any emotional attachment it is a knackered Japanese shopping box made of unobtainable parts. . 

Scrap it. 

 

Unfortunately this is chemmy our little friend. Please try and and save it. 

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The 'first car emotional attachment' thing is quite tricky. I remember when I was ten, thinking that I desperately wanted my dad's bike with its FIVE gears, and that I'd never want or need another bike again once I acquired it. However, time passed, I learned a bit more and realised it was a worn out pile of scrap - which I replaced with something far more useable and easy to maintain. (I then added five more bikes to the collection, but that's another story)

 

Same with our AX (which has just left the custody of our own @DoctorRetro) - when it became clear that it had become uninsurable for us, it was still a wrench to get rid of it, because we were emotionally attached and it was our first car. Some cars are forever cars, but your first car is unlikely to be in this category, however much you like it at that time. I like our current 106 and I'm sure that in ten years time there would be a space for it in our fleet - but in between times, do I have space to store it or funds to keep it running and roadworthy alongside the larger car that we will shortly require? Not a chance. Having experienced a far better example of the breed (our current Pug) would I even want the AX back? No thanks! This may be the same when Miss Hubnut drives a Fiesta or similar. 

 

Echoing what others have said - there will be good, low mileage examples of these coming up for sale for years to come. This could be a good opportunity to allow Miss Hubnut to experience a different car (with fewer engine weaknesses and less rust - important in a daily driver used by a partner) and then in a few years there will no doubt be the opportunity to buy another Charade if desired. 

 

Obvs I am completely lacking in experience and know-how, so take this with a giant, chip shop-style shaker of salt. 

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I dont quite understand all these comments about scrapping it over gummed rings. The car is a known entity for starters and seems a reasonable enough car. When buying right at the bottom of the market you could very easily end up with a lemon of a car and although it isnt perfect it could be a lot worse. Its probably one of the simplest repairs that can be done to the internals. You dont need to remove the engine or gearbox. If it was me I would be ripping the head and sump off in situ and just honing the bores and whacking new rings in. Cant be worse than it is and its a cheap enough attempt to sort the issue.

Its £50 for a set of rings for it. People sink way more into doing a clutch on the drive and thats just as involved. It makes good content and its a good learning experience.

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Despite the drama that comes with these, rust, shortlived rings and mega expensive parts they actually are properly decent small cars that are next to go practically extinct, imo the way to run with this is more of a slow burn project,,little bits here and there without too much head space investment. 

Mine is up for sale but as its unlikely to sell, I might investigate getting a spare power plant for it as the current one smokes, then maybe strip the outgoing engine down to see what the state of the bores and rings are.

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If any charade doesn't smoke that much then i wouldn't even bother getting the engine sorted. 

Mum's has been smoky to varying degrees for the last 5 years and 30k and has always passed the emissions. 

Hers uses about a litre of oil per 1500 miles so we just chuck in whatever is cheapest now.  

20/50w should lessen the smoke a bit

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Over the years, I have really enjoyed your vids DW, you often go places and do things with vehicles that I can only dream of, please keep posting.

Lately though, I have found it painful watching some of the vids where you have been gainfully trying to fix things (Rover 75 and Multiplex in particular) and getting nowhere, painful in the respect that I wish I could help in some way as often you get disheartened and overwhelmed with all of these broken vehicles, I can totally relate to that. I understand that your tinkering then generates content for your channel too but some of the recent stuff is hard to watch.

I used to own over ten cars back in 2018/2019 (thirteen I think doing a quick count up), mostly older (pre-2000) Beemers that were all worth a bit of coin each and all needing something done to get them road legal, I got to the point that the only vehicle I had in working order was my Defender and even that had a snapped handbrake cable for a few weeks. I called time as I was fed up being broke all the time, the final straw being when trying to fit my E32 735i in to the last remaining space left on my drive, I reversed its towbar into the side on my Z1 and cracked the side panel.....

I sold almost all of them, not a decision I got to quickly and my wife was very understanding too. Five of them went away together one day on an auction house's transporter, my wife said she visibly saw the sense of relief on my face as we watched them go. Around this time I also had a nasty bout of shingles most likely brought on by stress, the situation I had gotten into with all of these cars had probably added to bringing the shingles on.

Look after yourself DW 

 

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10 minutes ago, Steviemillar said:

Over the years, I have really enjoyed your vids DW, you often go places and do things with vehicles that I can only dream of, please keep posting.

Lately though, I have found it painful watching some of the vids where you have been gainfully trying to fix things (Rover 75 and Multiplex in particular) and getting nowhere, painful in the respect that I wish I could help in some way as often you get disheartened and overwhelmed with all of these broken vehicles, I can totally relate to that. I understand that your tinkering then generates content for your channel too but some of the recent stuff is hard to watch.

I used to own over ten cars back in 2018/2019 (thirteen I think doing a quick count up), mostly older (pre-2000) Beemers that were all worth a bit of coin each and all needing something done to get them road legal, I got to the point that the only vehicle I had in working order was my Defender and even that had a snapped handbrake cable for a few weeks. I called time as I was fed up being broke all the time, the final straw being when trying to fit my E32 735i in to the last remaining space left on my drive, I reversed its towbar into the side on my Z1 and cracked the side panel.....

I sold almost all of them, not a decision I got to quickly and my wife was very understanding too. Five of them went away together one day on an auction house's transporter, my wife said she visibly saw the sense of relief on my face as we watched them go. Around this time I also had a nasty bout of shingles most likely brought on by stress, the situation I had gotten into with all of these cars had probably added to bringing the shingles on.

Look after yourself DW 

 

This is an excellent bit of wisdom - whether or not you keep the Charade, some fleet reduction might significantly improve your headspace and give you some mental breathing room. 

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20 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I think one thing to keep in mind that a lot of people are slightly forgetting is at least from what I understand that its more Miss Dollywobbler's car then it is @dollywobbler car if that make sense

and I imagine to Miss Dollywobbler being her first car of sorts she is understandably quite attached to it

so while to most people its just yet another car of the Dollywobbler fleet, and one that in most situations should just be binned off for a better replacement

but to one person its their first car and If you look at it like that on its own (ignoring the fact it shares the stables with a bunch of other cars) it makes sense to want to try and save it despite everything against it

I have kids at my school ( I am A Teaching Assistant/Forest School Leader . ) Offering me CASH for my 2CV - I say Shes sold - TO ME !!! @LightBulbFun

on subject of small cars how abouts a Toyota yaris MK1 (A friend has one and she loves it so much - she will not sell it for anything- owned 2011-) @dollywobbler I think one would be a cool test car or as a MissDW Backup car.

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14 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

Ah you soon get used to big cars, get her a volvo 740 👍

TBH a Volvo 740/940 is a good call, especially the estate. They are really practical for family motoring: easy to drive; great all round visibility (especially when reversing); a good turning circle; huge load carrying ability; galvanised bodies and panels which make them ideal to combat the wet weather in Wales; lots of safety features; well-built; easy to maintain on a DIY basis and with a strong enthusiast following. Most came with a decent specification, with full leather common and IIRC, electric windows, mirrors, sunroof and heated seats as standard on most models. They are fairly frugal too, with the 2.3 auto getting around 32mpg in mixed driving. They are still out there for less than £1k and on purchase, I suspect they would keep their value longer term, as they are starting to be regarded as classics.

I could be biased, of course, as I have owned several and still have a 1990 2.3 GLE estate, for all the reasons mentioned above...

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Plenty of decent sub 1k family cars about still. This sold today not too far from me for well under that and is the 7 seater version (iirc):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-grand-scenic-1-5-DYN-DCI-2010-/224735963679

People carriers like that are out of fashion already (as not a Qashqai seating position) so are pretty much worthless. Done a few miles but they're pretty tough engines at that generation. Plus extremely economical. 

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The trouble with Volvo 740/940s - particularly estates - is they are all at least 23 years old and most have been run into the ground, because ‘it’s a Volvo and will last for ever’.  

The ones that haven’t are unlikely to be available for less than a grand - saloons maybe, particularly low spec ones, but not estates.

I suppose there might be the odd ULEZ refugee but it’s unlikely to be super cheap unless the seller has no idea of their value. 

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DW , I do like watching your videos on YouTube . Regarding the charade , as people have already said , it's probably going to be cheaper to put a 2nd hand engine in it than try sorting the old one . Youve got a nice mix of cars , all different , but also alike. Be nice to see some Yugo action soon . 

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3 hours ago, SiC said:

Plenty of decent sub 1k family cars about still. This sold today not too far from me for well under that and is the 7 seater version (iirc):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Renault-grand-scenic-1-5-DYN-DCI-2010-/224735963679

People carriers like that are out of fashion already (as not a Qashqai seating position) so are pretty much worthless. Done a few miles but they're pretty tough engines at that generation. Plus extremely economical. 

That was in my watch list as it's similar to mine, albeit a bit older and higher mileage (and lower spec).  They're a pretty decent drive and loads of space for something based on a Mégane.

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Cheers folks. I suspect a fleet reduction will occur in 2022, but then people with a problem always say that, don't they?

Wasted a day looking at an absolute shitbox of a Peugeot Partner today. Red flags a-go-go mean I shouldn't have even viewed it but travelled all the way to Gloucs to confirm it was f*cked. One sill had a hole in it filled with expanding foam FFS! Seller didn't even turn up, so we pissed off back home. 

All this after losing the key to the Multipla. I was meant to be delivering it to the new owner, so that went well too.

Conclusion. Should have stayed in bed. 

 

 

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