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The GF was offered a free car...


gtd2000

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Excellent purchase*.

You've really really got to go over it 100% first before spunking any dosh on it. These free cars can suddenly become £650 cars very easily. Budget for brakes and tyres all round and check everywhere for rust etc.

Better to find out now if it's shit rather than spend £250 then find a £400 bill two weeks later.

Hope the rescue goes well.

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8 minutes ago, Agila said:

Excellent purchase*.

You've really really got to go over it 100% first before spunking any dosh on it. These free cars can suddenly become £650 cars very easily. Budget for brakes and tyres all round and check everywhere for rust etc.

Better to find out now if it's shit rather than spend £250 then find a £400 bill two weeks later.

Hope the rescue goes well.

Yes, exactly.

I know it will need new front discs and pads for sure and I just noticed that the check engine light was on in the dash shot, which I didn't pick up on last night.

There's a spare set of Honda Jazz wheels and tyres in the shed with a 100  PCD which I think might fit.

Looks like there's something with the tracking, as the front tyres are very worn on the outer edge.

I'll need to have a look at the known problems with the Alto cars.

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45 minutes ago, Agila said:

That's slightly what I was afraid of. Parts/fitting costs even if diy labour time, all add up.

You seemed switched on though and going into it with your eyes open. Part of the fun project is the satisfaction doing the right thing and saving it.

Yeah, I'll give it a good look ever and might even treat it to an ATS Groupon discounted MoT, to see what else it needs, I'm guessing I'd still be quids in, after selling it for scrap at that stage.

I've told the current owners the same thing so it'll not be a shock if it's not back on the road again.

The engine though, does sound very sweet indeed. Hope it isn't beyond saving.

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38 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Frasers of Falkirk! They are about 2 miles from my house. They've sold a fair range of cars over the years and are still going today although I couldn't tell you what franchise they have now. It was SsangYong the last time I looked.

I'm down in the Borders outside of Galashiels (Stow) so not familiar with the dealership at all.

Thought it might provoke a memory on here though ;)

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Really can't grumble at that .

Had an Alto a while back (Border cars pumped loads of these things out!). Remember the timing belt being a pain to get the right one and more expensive than I thought. Spark plugs are dear and water pumps bugger up when the impeller falls off. At least they were easy to work on.

Tinny as fuck too, but meh! It'll do, if it's not fucked. 

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An Alto that isn't rusty?

I don't believe you.

 

However, my experience of these type of Altos is helping a friend look after 3 of them in a row, in the NE of Scotland. Funnily enough they were all utterly awful underneath. They changed car due to each successive one failing an MOT spectacularly for rust so they'd just buy another one for about £500.

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I suffered a hilarious* complete brake failure in one of these. As I yanked in vain at the hanbrake I was at least comforted by the knowledge it would protect me well in a crash. 

They're great fun to drive though on account of weighing about 300 kilos and being three feet wide. Would. 

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On 8/6/2021 at 3:21 PM, Supernaut said:

An Alto that isn't rusty?

I don't believe you.

 

However, my experience of these type of Altos is helping a friend look after 3 of them in a row, in the NE of Scotland. Funnily enough they were all utterly awful underneath. They changed car due to each successive one failing an MOT spectacularly for rust so they'd just buy another one for about £500.

That's going to be subject to verification of course ;)

It does look pretty good from above but there may well be some horrors below.

 

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On 8/6/2021 at 3:14 PM, JMotor said:

Really can't grumble at that .

Had an Alto a while back (Border cars pumped loads of these things out!). Remember the timing belt being a pain to get the right one and more expensive than I thought. Spark plugs are dear and water pumps bugger up when the impeller falls off. At least they were easy to work on.

Tinny as fuck too, but meh! It'll do, if it's not fucked. 

A pals mother used to drive a very yellow one a while back - it had 150K+ miles on it too!

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On 8/6/2021 at 3:29 PM, davehedgehog31 said:

I suffered a hilarious* complete brake failure in one of these. As I yanked in vain at the hanbrake I was at least comforted by the knowledge it would protect me well in a crash. 

They're great fun to drive though on account of weighing about 300 kilos and being three feet wide. Would. 

These ones were definitely the opposite and locked on solid ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Finally got time to pop back up to the car tonight and get all the brakes freed off!

The N/S brakes were the worst affected, front and rear locked on solid.

Fair bit of faffing about on the front but finally got it free. 

Back brake hub required a bit of belting with a light sledge hammer, which was all that I had available.

Swapped over a couple of the wheels and pumped two tyres up.

Car is now ready to be moved back to my place. That'll hopefully take place tomorrow or at the weekend.

I get the feeling the bearing on the O/S rear might need either replacing or adjusting if tapered. Felt ever so slightly rough but might be due to brakes binding slightly. 

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This is one of the tyres that was swapped.

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This was the locked on rear that required a good tap!

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One thing I noticed tonight after freeing off the N/S front brake and then trying to free the rear end by going forward and reverse quickly... Was that the ABS warning light came on.

I'm wondering if I've buggered something up or if it's just due to the fact I was trying to free the brakes off?

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No epic collection thread I'm afraid.

There was a bit of drama as the front offside wheel wasn't on securely, that'll teach me to use a lower torque setting on the impact driver 😉

Towed the car back the five or so miles to the house under cover of darkness.

Will get the pressure washer onto it tomorrow, if time permits.

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Gave the car a bit of a clean today.  

Came up not too bad.

Some issues with the cheap as chips door handle. Removed them for inspection and possible repairs. Really cheap to buy from AliExpress.

 

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Rear door handle is a bit minced this one will likely need replaced.

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I actually repaired this one but will possibly order another one in case it does not hold up

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11 hours ago, marm said:

Following with interest as I'm also recommissioning a similarly worthless "free" Polo. Keep up the good work.

I'll be quite honest, it's the £30 road tax that makes it more appealing.

That said, if I can't get it all up to MoT standard for very little outlay, it'll be moved on.

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Not much progress this week.

Pumped up the tyres again after starting the car. Started first turn of the key.

Pulled the stupid looking black plastic rectangles off the corners of the rear bumper.

Had a look under the bonnet to see what was stopping the bonnet release catch from completely locking down the bonnet and noticed that I hadn't secured the battery down properly!

That took a few minutes to sort out then I had a look at the bonnet release cable. Didn't get any further forward but I suspect a bit of WD40 or similar will get things sorted. 

Had another look at the ridiculously dusty seats below the two sets of seat covers!

Went back inside for a cuppa!

😉

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