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Shite Ron’s fleet


Shite Ron

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I just had to take some wheels to be welded on the most modern and shite car in the fleet!
A quick look on the internet confirmed this is a very common problem on the ridiculous oversize wheels modern cars come with.

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3 hours ago, HMC said:

Lovely, always interesting to see the options ticked on these. Have you got a pic of the centre console? Be interesting to see what other kit you have.

Have you lifted the boot well side hatches to look under the spare wheel and the opposite side? Interesting quick test to check a common rot spot.

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No other options as far as I can tell, it is an Elegance so had many items as standard. I believe the rear parking sensors and towbar are aftermarket, although both seem well fitted and good quality. The towbar is not a quick remove item which I believe factory fit was?

RH well looks good:

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LH well less good, I was careful not to prod too hard as it is a bit crusty. Doesn’t  look too hard a repair though. Just need to check where the fuel tank is.

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Spare wheel looks like it has never been on which is great. Also a nice stash of goodies found.

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 ‘They are classic if you can beat the rust.’
I am used to rust I have run Cortina’s for 36 years 👍

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18 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

You are a gentleman of superb taste - And I definitely am not biased by the fact that I also have a 4x4 for collecting things, a labrador as a travel buddy, and an S210 E Class Wagon 😅 They're fantastic cars, one of the most comfortable I've owned and they still feel luxurious even compared to the new cars I used to burn around in when I was a salesman. Mine is a V8, and whilst it's got engine noise novelty value I really wish I had the 320CDi as then I could actually drive places without worrying if the fuel cost will mean I can no longer afford the rent... A salesman I used to work with had owned a lot of these by way of taking them in chop against Jags when he was at JLR, and he was adamant that the 320CDi was the pick of the bunch as it pulled like the V8 but returned some level of fuel economy.

Well done on fixing the pixels, I wonder if it's much the same to do this on other German motors that have similar issues 🤔

Thank you, I am tempted by the V8’s, there is a blue E55 currently on ebay which if I had not bought this I would be very interested in. The E320 is the more sensible option though and does accelerate well and is quiet and smooth when up to temperature. There are plenty of you tube video’s on pixel repair and the one showing to use sellotape to stick them seems the best advice and is what I did. It did take three attempts though. Always watch more than one video on you tube as there is a lot of crap as well as the really informative video’s. Interesting about them being part exchanged for Jag’s. I am very much a Jag man, or was but this gives a similar ride with far more room and better economy, an all round nicer experience. I think I may be converted.

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Cheers for the tip, I'll have to have a look at some of the pixel videos. I kind of assumed that it was the screen that went bad, I didn't think about the ribbon. Luckily mine is ok currently but I've had a couple of BMW's and Audis that weren't and it always ruined the feel of the cabin for me by having a dodgy display in view, even though that may sound a bit pedantic!

RE parking sensors, if they are factory fit then I think you should have an LCD display mounted on the ceiling above the rear bench that would be visible in your rear view mirror with bars that fill up to show distances from the back corners to whatever you're reversing up against.

Speaking of E55's, that's the way I'm going with my E430... the gearbox blew up, and I needed another V8 box. My mate was breaking a CLK55 AMG, and for the cost of a replacement box he threw in the 5.4 AMG lump, prop, ECU's and anything else I wanted to rip out of it. Having just replaced the V6 and gearbox in my SLK I don't have much appetite for replacing Merc engines currently though so that is probably a job for next year 😅

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  • 5 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Rather than start a  new thread I thought I would keep this thread for the modern daily’s and maybe start another for the other cars, or can put all updates on here? Let me know the preferences?

As I mentioned nearly 2 months ago the Mercedes went straight through it’s first MOT in my hands, preparation included checking lights, wipers and horn, I also polished the headlamps!
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They came out quite well but I need to give them another polish before applying a UV film.

The panda failed on brake imbalance and welding

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I had paid a garage to get it through an MOT a few years back and the bodge lasted longer than I expected to be fair. I know the car needs a new sill but considering it is over 16 years old I am Impressed that this is the only welding it has needed. The garage quoted £300 to patch the sill, I bought a new welder over a year ago and had not yet got it out of the box so the saving o doing it myself paid for half the cost of the welder. There were two tiny holes either side of the plate which you couldn’t fit your little finger through so out came the wire wheel:

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No idea why the picture is upside down, but it would have made the job easier!

I partially stripped the interior

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Then started cutting and cleaning

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A template was made using a weetabix box

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Then some suitable metal was found and repurposed

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The area was then cleaned and painted with zinc primer before welding:

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I didn’t take pictures of the welding but am impressed by the R tech although I should have adjusted the settings using some scrap metal rather than as I went along.

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I applied some primer then the closest spare top coat for protection. I may tidy it up again with stone chip and a better colour match if I ever get the time. The brake issue was a pad jammed in the caliper so all pistons were checked, the pads cleaned up and refitted with copper grease. It seems the pad got warm so I will buy new pads soon to fit but the Panda passed its MOT yesterday so is back in use. It took nearly two months as I was working outside and two very nasty storms caused damage to the two polytunnels so repairing them also took up some of my time when we finally had dry weather. Then when the car was finally ready the garage were booked up for the next 10 days until they could fit it in.

Next up is the Rover 216 as mentioned on Matty’s thread.

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  • Shite Ron changed the title to Shite Ron’s modern fleet

I’d like to see all on this thread, as I love the mixture of old and newer. Especially would love to see more of your Cortinas obviously! Guessing from your other post, showing the alloys, that you’re doing the Cortinas to Cortina in September?

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4 hours ago, Wibble said:

I’d like to see all on this thread, as I love the mixture of old and newer. Especially would love to see more of your Cortinas obviously! Guessing from your other post, showing the alloys, that you’re doing the Cortinas to Cortina in September?

Yes, that is the plan. The first time I went was 2002 and would not want to miss it, I hope to take the mk4 Ghia estate again as we did in 2012 but I need to get it running right first. Are you going?

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Sadly it’s in term time and I don’t think my back would survive that distance in a Mk4 seat anyway! Always loved the thought of it though and my eldest wishes we could go. I hope all goes to plan, please share the trip with us when the time comes🙂

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1987.  I was 19. The front valance was sprayed Signal Yellow again shortly after this pic. It had seen a bit of very light front end damage (chrome bumper instead of black and no spotlights either). Check out the 80s-tastic tilt glass sunroof. 

A 2.0S.  I didn't have it very long, less than a year. An early 1977 one with the 'deckchair' striped seats, which changed slightly for 1979 model year.  Lowered about an inch with DemonTweeks springs and new gas shockers and void bushes so it handled ok. At the time I drove it like I was in The Sweeney, it was so controllable. It replaced a modified Mk1 Escort 1300E. Had started to collect bits for a Cortina Pinto rebuild as it had about 100k miles on it, Piper 285 cam, pair of 45 Webers, but then a mate was selling a tuned 3-litre Capri . . . .

Hmmm, didn't have to think too hard about that, especially after a test drive.

The Cortina was destroyed in a fire in 1989 about 6 months after I sold it. Bloke bought a Renault 18 turbo to replace it. (Remember them?).

Long time ago. Rubbish quality pic of a photo, sorry.

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A local taxi company ran mostly Mk4 and Mk5 Cortinas in the early /mid 80s. They'd had Mk3 Cortina taxis in the late 70s, 2000Es and GTs and GXLs.

"GL, 2.0S or Ghia sir? It's your choice.  1.6L if you want." 

The Pinto engines often ended up in Transit minibuses.

I remember a Mk1 Granada which had a 1600 Pinto.

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  • Shite Ron changed the title to Shite Ron’s fleet

Time for an update on the glacial progress. The Mercedes failed the MOT on welding, tyres and drivers door mirror. The mirror glass was no longer perfect, I ordered one off eBay, I unclipped the old one and could see it was not the same as original despite giving the seller the model and registration number. On the picture below you will see a purple wire and plug missing from the replacement. The back where the mirror should clip in was also different and would not clip in place. I ended up using three layers of double sided badge tape to get it to stick. I will need to come back to this if I find a correct mirror.

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After the annoyance of the mirror I thought I would move to another car . The Cortina GLS needs some welding doing so obviously I tackled the more important job of missing badges as I already had the double sided tape out. The Cortina badge was in the glovebox but the S badge was missing so I raided my parts stock. The other glaringly important job needed is number plates. Any recommendations on a good supplier of correct font plates ideally dealer plates.

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Sunday I thought I should make a start on the Mercedes and have a look at the welding, first I had to move the Rover,  l managed to push it on my own but  was not strong enough to move it the last two feet on my own so came up with a plan which surprisingly worked well:

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With the Rover moved it was time to get the Mercedes in a position to work on but the battery was flat so I had to jump start it off a spare battery.

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Once started it was time to get it high enough off the ground to get underneath and investigate.

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After crawling underneath and having a look around the area described there was no yellow crayon and the only hole was this:

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This hole was here last year and noted as non structural which is clearly correct. Am I missing something or is the tester a complete tosser?  I am thinking the latter as although the tyres are on the limit there are certainly no canvas or wires showing as written on the failure sheet. I will weld the wheel well as it is something I was intending to get round to but do not see how this makes the car unsafe and unroadworthy!
Whilst removing the spare wheel to gain access to the other side I had a helper

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I also had another go at opening the boot on the Rover. The boot lock will not turn and I cannot find a way to open the boot, also the drivers door and R/H  rear door will not open, I cannot turn the key in the drivers door and the switch/ lock inside will not move on either door. I assume I will need to take the door panels off next. Any ideas on the boot?

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9 hours ago, Wibble said:

The MOT tester is indeed a tosser! Been looking forward to an update on the GLS but, being pedantic, shouldn’t the “Cortina” script be aligned to the left above the 2?

Have you tried flooding the locks with something like PB Blaster?

I thought the same about the script but checked my Crusader and also a spare 2.0GL tailgate I had and took measurements from both before fitting it.

I will look up PB Blaster as I have not heard of it, I have been flooding it with WD40 to no effect.

Progress is slow on the GLS as I will weld the Mercedes and then mk4 L estate first to hopefully get the hang of welding again before tackling the GLS. I have bought a rear fog light for it and need to get number plates for it as the ones on it are dreadful, suppliers of proper plates now seem to only advertise on Facebook and I have never used this.

Before clearing space to get it in a garage I tackled the stickers.

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Much better, all stickers are now removed but I didn’t  take a finished shot.

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RE the mirror on your 210, it looks like you may have the auto dimming glass on your original mirror which would explain the extra wire. I was looking for one a while back for the passenger side to try and get both sides wired up with dimming glass, but it seems quite difficult to obtain and expensive when it does come up for sale sadly.

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31 minutes ago, Shite Ron said:

I thought the same about the script but checked my Crusader and also a spare 2.0GL tailgate I had and took measurements from both before fitting it.

I will look up PB Blaster as I have not heard of it, I have been flooding it with WD40 to no effect.

Progress is slow on the GLS as I will weld the Mercedes and then mk4 L estate first to hopefully get the hang of welding again before tackling the GLS. I have bought a rear fog light for it and need to get number plates for it as the ones on it are dreadful, suppliers of proper plates now seem to only advertise on Facebook and I have never used this.

Before clearing space to get it in a garage I tackled the stickers.

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Much better, all stickers are now removed but I didn’t  take a finished shot.

I used fancy plates online for period correct font plates for my ‘97 ZX. Results were very good. 

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Weird re the badge alignment as all the photos I see show it like this:

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I’ve found PB Blaster to be really good and penetrates so much better then WD40 which isn’t really a penetrating fluid. Think is American but easy to get on eBay.

I’d also like replacement “dealer” plates so will look up @GregZX  supplier he used.

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23 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Weird re the badge alignment as all the photos I see show it like this:

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I’ve found PB Blaster to be really good and penetrates so much better then WD40 which isn’t really a penetrating fluid. Think is American but easy to get on eBay.

I’d also like replacement “dealer” plates so will look up @GregZX  supplier he used.

fancyplates.com

For pre 2001 font you'll need to use the show plates section. They're £29 for the pair.

Unfortunately you can't get Ford logos etc on them but there's a chap on facebook who can recreate original dealer plates for you. He's called Retro Plates. https://www.facebook.com/retroplates

 

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47 minutes ago, GregZX said:

fancyplates.com

For pre 2001 font you'll need to use the show plates section. They're £29 for the pair.

Unfortunately you can't get Ford logos etc on them but there's a chap on facebook who can recreate original dealer plates for you. He's called Retro Plates. https://www.facebook.com/retroplates

 

Thanks, I want some for my 1992 Senator but I don’t do Facebook but Mrs W does…🤔

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8 hours ago, Wibble said:

Sorry, I just wanted it to be correct, as I’m sure you do:

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Thanks for posting the picture, it is not one I have seen before. I agree that it is important to get these things right the Venus Gold car you posted first is probably correct as the Cortina badge is around 10 mm to the right of the 2, I was not too careful on fitting the badge on mine and it is probably a few mm too far to the right but closer to correct than being in line with the 2. The badges all need replacing when the car is sorted but better than nothing for now.  I am very happy with constructive criticism so nothing to be sorry for.
Thanks to @wesacosa and @GregZX for the suggestion on plates. I have ordered some from Retro Plates as I found an email address for them and they responded very quickly.  
I was sent some pictures from the person who sold the car in 1996 to the person I bought it from:

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New plates are not identical font to above but these are also unlikely to be original although if those were still on it replacement would not be such a priority.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A parcel arrived on Friday:

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Sorry it is upside down.

I have two cars first registered in Chelmsford and the only Ford dealer shown for 1982 is Tricentrol, the mk4 has one plate with Tricentrol on so it is good to have them matching. I have temporarily fitted the plates to the GLS to make it look a lot better and lift my spirits ready to do the welding.

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