THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[ashmicro]

Shite phone pic, but this Merc camper was clean as can be. SIA makes it 1981 County Antrim reg mark

 

 

Pov spec 91 Beemer. Last of this shape, an import I'm told, from Sith Ifrka.

 

[whitevanman]

so where would LIA26 have been from?

[gearoil]

Spent Saturday searching breakers for 2nd hand panels for the Cat D A4 Avant Quattro my mate bought a couple of months back and accidently bought a Jag XJ6 & V6 Vectra.... unsold at auction so straight to the breakers, still have the auction stickers on them.

 

Pics to follow when we collect.

 

Thank god swmbo doesn't read this...

[messerschmitt owner]

  RedSparrow said:

  messerschmitt owner said:

Bought a Fiat Punto Cabrio on Friday - one owner from new, full main dealer service history - in the garage on Friday for a timing belt and major service.

 

Oof. My dear old ma had one of these. They manage to rust in different places from normal Puntos, fuel tank, brake lines etc. Plus don't break any of the interior plastics, a lot of them are specific to the Cabrios and are a bitch to get. Some dodgy Italian firm bought all the stock and charge a fortune for it.

 

Hope you have got a good-un though.

 

 

it's a one owner from new car, with full main dealer (they saw them coming) service history from new. There's no rust on it, but then again, there was no rust on the last Punto either. I know about the plastics - but again it's all good, and it had the half leather option too. Swapped the stereo it came with out for a nice Blaupunkt but now have to sort a way of having the stereo work on the steering wheel.

 

In for a service on Friday, with coolant and timing belt change too.

[RedSparrow]

Sounds good, sorry I was so negative before!

[Anglevan]

Yeah - Gold Lancer has another 12 months MOT no advisorys (but had a wink to sort the exhaust out)

Now I can concentrate on the White Lancer

[Father Ted]

Micra has 12 months (well nearly 13) MOT on it as from today.

 

My "Cold Welding" Skillorz rock.

[dollywobbler]

Today, I treated the BX to a minor servive. £16! I should do it myself more often. I reckon I could get the price down even further if I found somewhere cheaper for my oil/filters.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

The cheapest oil change I completed on the 405 was something like £12.50. Lidl oil 5 litres of 15W/40 at £9.99 (NLA unfortunately) and a £2.50ish oil filter.

[whitevanman]

Morrisons oil is £7.99 or £8.99 for 5 litres....15W/40, large Asda's still do 20W/50 for £5.99

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

My trolley jack failed and dumped the Mini on the ground. No damage fortunately.

[Jon]

I think I may have just bought a car....from 12,000 miles away! Await to hear back the verdict tomorrow.

 

Anyone fancy a nice Mk 1 MX5 in Mariner blue? Potentially the last car I need to sell in the UK.

[Volksy]

The Hi-Ace is now running and looking slightly more respectable. Even took it for a spin round the block.

 

Most of the cab paint was cut back by hand.

 

 

I runs really sweetly, to say it's been up on bricks outside for the last two years. Have redone all the brakes, and the wheels are being sandblasted and stove enamelled. One will have to go back, as he guy doing it left all the balancing weights on...

 

In other news, the trusty Volvo racked up to 150k the other day, and last week saw it driving to London, Shrewsbury, Manchester, Todmorden, Sheffield and Wakefield. DIdn't miss a beat..

 

[Jon]

Wasn't that Hiace on the verge of being scrapped? If so, it makes this update all the sweeter!

 

Are there still plans to ditch the camper body and convert to a pick-up or am I getting myself mixed up again?

[Volksy]

It was at the eleventh hour.

 

The idea is to take the camper shell off, the roof is collapsing and the timbers down one side of the frame are all rotten. All the units and cupboards inside are knackered too.

 

The co-owner is busy converting her front garden into a parking space for it, so soon there should be some movement on this.

 

We're going to carefully take the shell off, with the view of possibly restoring the body. But to get the truck on the road, it's going to be far easier to get the chassis cab MOT'd than the whole thing.

 

Sadly the Newlanders, rare as they are, ain't worth buttons.

 

Hopefully the Renault Master camper, currently in the fleet also, will fulfil camping duties. When I get time to start on that one I have no idea!

[Louise2cv]

I heart your camper. Can't wait for the next instalment!

 

 

North Wales news...

 

I haven't seen my Allegro for a week now

[Mike D]

  cav_estate said:

I think I may have just bought a car....from 12,000 miles away! Await to hear back the verdict tomorrow.

 

Anyone fancy a nice Mk 1 MX5 in Mariner blue? Potentially the last car I need to sell in the UK.

 

Ooh!

 

More info please

[Guest]

Amazon news:

 

It's still broken. Several eBay bargains on rev counters and wheels however. SORN.

 

****** news:

 

It's not ready yet!

 

C4 news:

 

It still [mostly] works. Sort of.

[cms206]

Dear Diary,

 

Yesterday was a pure Jim Hunt of a day. Blew up a loaned LDV, went to hire a van, did a pretty comprehensive house move - 2 up in a block of modern flats, to four up in a tenement - with the suspiciously clean 86k mile 07-plate Transit then promptly wrote off a Peugeot 207 with it. Exchanged details, dropped van back at hire place, drove home and realised I'd locked the house keys in the hire van. A long and uncomfortable sleep was then had, in the driveway, in the car. Got keys back this morning, some accident forms, got home and realised I'd run out of fffking Ready Brek...

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Twat.

[dollywobbler]

Crikey CMS. Hope our move is a little easier than that! Phase 1 of 'Move to Wales' commences shortly. BX is full of stuff, Mini will soon be loaded full of plants (!) and then we're on our way! Phase 2 to follow next week when I hire a big truck and the 2CV tags along, then one last trip of BX/CX, unless the big thing sells...

[Louise2cv]

Abby has collected her Allegro... HURRAH!

 

She drove drove it for 20mins before it broke down... BOO!

 

She limped back to the seller... HURRAH!

 

The fuel tank has a hole in it... BOO!

 

The seller has put a replacement tank on for her... HURRAH!

 

He took it from his wifes car... BOO (for poor wifey)!

 

She hopes to be setting off for home shortly. I hope she doesn't hate me

[dollywobbler]

BL FAIL for us too. Set off in convoy, BX and Mini on the 200 mile trek to the new house. Got all of about 30 miles before the Mini temp gauge started hovering around 100. Rather nervously, with a big cloth, I was able to remove the rad cap, proving that there was coolant there, and that it wasn't hot enough to be spewing out under pressure.

 

We swapped cars and I gingerly coaxed the Mini to Telford with the gauge still high, but absolutely no signs of overheating. It's getting a bit odd, because the Mini's not charging very well either. "Fan belt's knackered," I hear you cry. But it isn't, and the tension is good. Voltage fluctuations do affect the gauge though, so I think it may be lying. Mini wasn't too keen on starting this morning - so clearly is only just charging.

 

Mini is now at the new abode awaiting that rare moment where we have some time to look at it. BX is back here in the East after lapping up another 500 miles in two days. CX hasn't sold, so that and the 2CV need to take the trip to Wales soon. Also, the Westminster didn't sell at auction, despite what I thought was a tempting £2200 reserve. Now that is a problem, as I really don't want to drive that juicy beast to the land of the Dragon.

[M'coli]

^^^ Check the top engine mount - this is the engine earth point too, and have a habit of stopping earthing. Connecting a jump lead from engine to body should show this one up.

[dollywobbler]

Ah, thanks M'Coli. We'll give that one a go. We have replaced the earth strap, but that was a while ago now. Just need to get back to Wales on a more permanent basis now... (should be there by the weekend)

[dollywobbler]

Westie update. It was sold for £2050, which seems cheap. New owner has it on Ebay already for £3500. Good luck! Not sure how his description of 'Original' applies to a car that's clearly had paintwork and welding carried out to it...

[whitevanman]

I know it's all part of the game, but I hate folk that beat you down on price, then dump it on ebay at a huge mark up..hope it doesn't sell for him

[HMC]

xj40 progess-

changed the oil (8 litres)

I nearly ran out of containers!

[dollywobbler]

Well, I can hardly be bitter. Bought retail and sold at auction losing only £150 in the process. Some people have managed worse than that on Bargain Hunt with a budget of £300!!

[ChinaTom]

  brookjm said:

xj40 progess-

changed the oil (8 litres)

I nearly ran out of containers!

 

Only 8? 11 in mine.

[seth]

I had the Hillman's calipers apart today as the LH one had become prone to sticking on. Cleaned up the pistons and fitted the odd new seal. Hopefully all good now. I think the brake pads are the wrong ones though as early cars like mine had different ones to later cars. I have a new set of the earlier type but want to see whether the other work has made improvements first.

 

While under there I had a cursory look at the sill areas as the MOT is due in a few weeks. Nothing too drastic but I will have to break the welder out before then as previous MOT spec plate-over-rust repairs have gone bad on the forward inner sills. I'll be chopping that all out and doing it properly then...