Tonight I dedicate my love for you...

[michael1703]

the sound of a 2.5Di is like an air raid siren - you have to lock everything up and rush to the window to see which Gypos are hawking for scrap.

 

amen brother

 

that engine note has managed to save my shitters from mouth breathers who want to put them on an oval

[seth]

This thread has got me wondering if I've ever been inside an old tranny. Probably have. Maybe on a school geography field trip.

[Cavcraft]

There's a joke in there somewhere.

[Negative Creep]

 

 

 

Does anyone else this shape looks like a giant dog?

[trigger]

I've grown up with Transits as my dad's had them, I remember my dad's first one back in 1985, a B reg 1.6 Mk2, I used to burn my bum on the vinyl seats in it, He then got a P100 in 1992 but that only lasted until 1996 as it wasn't big enough for his needs.

 

Then he got this one in 96, It was a fab old thing, really worked hard carrying about a ton of tools about all the time as well as often having a trailer on the back with a ton of sand/stones etc.

 

Dad's Old Ford Transit 2.5Di by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

Dad's Old Ford Transit 2.5Di by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

He never had a problem with it in the 11 years he owned it, and 90000 miles, he sold it in 2007 for £800 and replaced it with a new shape Transit which has spend more time in the garage then on the road, even last week the turbo pipe split and went into limb mode, the week before that the Viscous fan broke.

 

We used to have smiley faced Transit Mini buses at work as well as to rag about in, I loved them but they lived a very hard life being ragged 24/7 in 1st and 2nd gears and most just fell to bits or rotted away, we now have new shape Transit which keep breaking down, most get crashed though!

 

Ford Transit MiniBus Crash Damaged by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[wackywacerwill]

 

 

 

Does anyone else this shape looks like a giant dog?

 

Yep

 

[ashmicro]

Excellent homemade plate on the red MK2.

 

Never owned a Transit, but have driven a good few. Best of the bunch was the V6 one (MK3) run by the motor factors I worked in. It was bought to replace an atmo Escort 1.6D. A builder mate of mine always runs ex-BT Transits, which he always gets cheaply.

[Father Ted]

Excellent homemade plate on the red MK2.

Combination of black insulation tape, red insulation tape and original plastic raised digit number plate. The rear one was similar.

Bench seats in the back too.

[andrew e]

I bought one 6/7 years ago because of the fortune I was spending on skips - an ex-Shell Haven refinery crewbus. Up till that point I had the works van's to bring home, so didn't need one... having no bulkhead we picked up some 4m joists in for my old mans extention - unbolted the pasenger seat and he sat by the back doors holding them shut Funnily enough it had a custom passenger seat but a shite 1977 drivers one that was fixed in one postion!

 

 

Being a relic from an area that's turned upmarket in my life time, I had great glee dropping the kids off to school in it too. The following snap shows the residue in the street after the first jet wash and quick brush down...

 

 

Prior to me selling to a chap who wanted the diff and MT75 5 speeder (one of the first ones) it lived outside my brothers swanky gaff (note my not-so-swanky gaff in shot!) because he didn't drive, but his parking space was outside his front window and he was fed up with people reversing up to it in there company junior exec cars, neighbours loved it, but hey it was PLG

 

 

The last time I saw it I will make an effort to find the snaps of my OLD SKOOL FORD spec van - 98' smiley face SWB but with Pikey spec 150 chassis rating and 6 bolt wheels! My mate is still using the Dixonbate adjustable hitch on his discovery, 10 years later.

[revolting peasant]

[warren t claim]

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-moto ... g/79295870

 

Can someone tell me if the MOT exempt status of this cheap Tranny is bollocks or not?

[revolting peasant]

[Tayne]

.

[andrew e]

This has got to be the transit top trump though:

 

 

There is a metalic blue one on 5 studs (100 chassis) in Essex I've spied it!

[andrew e]

Or maybe the SWB150. Yes they were 3 foot off the ground from the factory. Most of the orange bumpered RAC ones were.

 

[Cavcraft]

Bollocks.

 

 

Surprisingly not neccessarily so. If it's 3501kgs or more and spec lift only it will be MOT exempt. Still wouldn't piss on one if it was on fire mind you because you can bet your bottom dollar it'll never have been properly looked after and MOT'd or not VOSA will hand the driver his arse on a plate when they stop him (or her) and find all those problems that have been ignored.

[warren t claim]

So to be MOT exempt it needs to have a tachograph fitted?

[Richard]

What happens if you buy a vehicle that's been incorrectly declared exempt and you want to go legit? Is it just a matter of taking it for a test or does it involve a massive amount of form filling and phone calls to the DVLA?

[Cavcraft]

It would need a tacho Warren, yes. Also if you took cars to scrap and put the wheels on the back afterwards technically you'd be breaking the law as you're carrying (as opposed to towing) goods. Oh, and taking cars to scrap is also technically illegal because you're only supposed to tow 'legit' (i.e taxed, MOT'd and broken down) vehicles. Therefore this would rule out buying/selling cars for a profit and using the truck to move them about.

There's a whole can of worms with these things to be honest including the fact you'd really need skids to tow a 4x4 or RWD automatic car to save knackering up the gearboxes.

 

 

*And then you'd need an 'O' licence as you'd need a tacho. The rules changed a bit back now and you can only tow stuff in within something like 60 miles of your base without a tacho.

 

 

Richard: just take one for an MOT and that's as simple as it gets. Any decent company would MOT there's anyhow and it always makes me laugh how people advertise them as test exempt and describe them as perfect. If that were the case they'd MOT them themselves surely?

[Captain Mainwaring]

Good call, Cavette. Everybody loves Transits.

 

The only time I've ever driven one was before I passed my test and a family friend, an upholsterer, let me have a go in his MK3 'smiley' around Odsal Stadium car park. The two things that stick in my memory from the experience were it's screaming for second gear at about 8mph and a lack of self-cancelling indicators.

 

The sound of a 2.5d is probably one of my favourite noises ever, never mind just for a diesel engine.

[shite_meister]

Does anyone else this shape looks like a giant dog?

 

Although I might look rotund like a mk2 LWB tranny I do not look like a giant dawg.

 

I've driven the oval-grilled transits and they've been really nice to drive, however one of my previous employer had the same shape 2.0 petrol, SWB with no power steering, without doubt the worst pile of dogshit I've driven, 68 turns lock-to-unassisited-lock and a throttle pedal designed for use by a crab. Hated it.

 

I quite like the shape before the current Transit in terms of driver environment.

[Gompo]

I've only been in three, the oldest being a P-reg. Pretty horrible to be honest, but I'm sure they're fine for short journeys rather than 3-up on a trip down the A1. However, I'm sure most older vans were similar.

 

There's a few shite Mk2s in my spotted thread, but this one hasnt made it in there despite being my favourite Mk3:

 

 

The rear 'hinged from the top' back door is my favourite mod.

[Cavcraft]

I loved the way the minibus type ones rotted like mad around the rear windows. I got one (crewbus type) once as part of a deal with two LDV200 crewbuses and an LDV200 pick up.

I started really half heartedly rubbing the bodywork down and lobbing some filler into the ever increasing holes then got bored of it and threw it into the auctions. It was smoking like a laboratory beagle, looked as rough as anything and the tank was half full of cherry yet it still made about £400.

 

The box van Transits I used to drive were mega high mileage, badly serviced and repaired old tat but pretty much refused to die. The garage that did them up 'rebuilt' the engine on one (E696VND I think) and presumably reconditioned it with a Kersies used headgaskey and about fifty litres of mayonnaise. It smoked like you wouldn't believe and it got so silly I had to use black tape to 'accidentally' change the 'phone number stickers on the door so when people finally got past me and beeped the horn they didn't have the company number to complain to when I gave them the old 'reverse Winston' salute.

[HillmanImp]

My cub pack bought a Mk2 minibus back in the early 80's. It was ace with the 4 wheels at the back, we used to think it was like the A Team van (but blue, and our Akela was a fat bloke with thinning hair, certainly no Mr T). Even better is there were holes all over the floor so we could see the road underneath and get out fingers stuck in etc. Only lasted a few months before I assume it was fragged. It got us to a few camps though.

 

I had a Mk3 when I moved up here and it was fine but nothing I could place above any of the other vans i had hired over the years TBH. I did hire a modern one about 4 years ago though. Cant remember if it was a Mk6 or 7. It was not like driving a van, it was smooth fast and handled well. It was happy cruising at over a ton and I got from Staines to Leeds in 2 hours 20 mins with a sofa in the back.

[Tayne]

.

[Richard]

BRAND NEW?

[Cavcraft]

(E696VND I think)

 

My dad bought that new.

 

 

 

 

Back on track I quite fancy a 'D' plate Mk3 Transit spec lift so I could get a banana manifold engine to go with the banana chassis.

[eddyramrod]

It was not like driving a van, it was smooth fast and handled well.

 

Many modern vans are like that, which is rather nice when you're fronting 40-odd orders of fresh produce for primary schools 100 miles from base, and have to get back so tomorrow's orders can be put on. I think the last Transit I drove was about a 97 model, swb with a refrigerated box body. Going way back, I did drive 70s Mk1 and 2 versions, both petrol and diesel. Never owned one, but I did have a Bedford CF which had waaaaaaaaaaaaay better suspension and a petrol engine I liked better too.