The Continuous Car Thread of S_S - Skodas, BMWs, Austins...

[surprising_skoda]

Next up on the catch-up program: The 2002 Land Rover Discovery II TD5.

During the absolutely wild storms we had at the end of February, a buddy and I drove to the top of a mountain like the pioneering adventurists we are. We didn't manage to get out but it was pretty cool sipping some coffee watching the mists lift and seeing the lights from towns and villages in the distance light up the dark skies.
Which is precisely what the Land Rover did not do on the way back down - the lights on it are adequate, but still.

Couple that with a new-found hobby / way to waste time / way to justify the Discovery - It was bitterly cold; I know a few people with open fires who wouldn't necessarily have lots and lots of money; I also know lots of back roads where branches are constantly being blown over; any excuse to buy a new bowsaw...

Cutting up fallen branches, usually found along roadsides, gave me a great sense of community service, as did cutting them up into fireplace-sized sticks and logs, and distributing them, and was good exercise too - especially in this kind of quantity:

But again, the problem...

One day when I went to start the LR, it gave me that runaround again with the receiver sensor. I gave it a thump and it worked, but looking at it I realised it had some corrosion again.
So I took it apart and took into the bolt and the contact with a file.

That cleaned it up significantly and it's not been any trouble since.

But it started me down the path of fixing on-going issues.
Number two was the battery terminals that were just never quite tight enough and would bounce off over a big enough bump.

Does anyone know the old trick for this?
Yup.

Sorted!

Also the thread of the hole where an accessory wire would clamp down, was very poor, so I re-tapped it to accept this allen bolt, which meant I could start adding some wires to the battery.

The first thing needing resolved was the flashy lights in the grille. They had never worked right, and what wiring there was for them was just bare ends squeezed into the battery terminals, which of course with worn terminals as already mentioned, was destined for eternal failure.
So I pulled all the wiring out from behind the dash, and moved the control from under the knee-panel, to up on the top of the dash in a gap beside the drivers door.

I drilled some holes in the dash to run wires through, and re-soldered all the joints, which were pretty poor. Some wires had to be replaced / extended / fixed, but eventually it got there.
I thought that was it, but no, I had to then pull the grille out and re-wire all the wires there too, some of which had pulled apart just behind the grille lights - some were not connected at all, some were frayed, and some didn't even reach where they were meant to go!
So, hours later, it was fixed!

Finished now? NO!
The electrics box was out, and the LR was in the workshop. So it was time to do some stuff that was overdue and bugging me.

First step: found some cheapo roof-bars lying around not being used, that could be persuaded to fit the LR bars.

Step two: Measure, measure again, decide not to bother measuring, drill, drill bigger, try to find a bolt that will go all the way through, decide not to bother and use a shorter bolt, tap out holes in roof-bar...

Step three: step back and admire some honky handiwork!

Step four: repeat for the other side. The other side was measured up to match the spacing of the drivers side, so it's not totally hap-dash.
Then proceed to wiring phase, and run all the wires through the bar itself so as to keep it all neat and tidy.

Step five: run wiring to engine bay / dashboard - lots and lots and lots of it! Parallel relayed live feed, with the earthing point on the inner wing where the other accessory wires also earth.

Step six: Find toggle switches in toolbox that are a perfect and tight fit for Land Rover blank switch spaces, and wire them up.

Step seven: test function and hope for the best! (I'd not tested the lights when buying or at any time since!) And then resolve any issues.

While it was in there, I figured I'd just keep going.
The side boards had always felt a little soft to me. From underneath they looked OK just a bit flaky. I jumped on one but it was OK. So I grabbed hold of the roof-rail and pushed hard up and pushed down on the board with my feet, and it bent, so yeah, soft.
Out with the grinder!

The bolts were grown on and too rusty to get spanners to hold on to, so I had to cut the step in half, then twist the pieces up to get at the brackets holding them on. Thankfully I'm really strong (or else the metal was really soft) and I could bend them pretty easily.

And that was the end of the steps.

There's also a step on the rear and the last time I'd been out foraging for wood, I'd reversed into a tree when we were hub-deep in mud (such fun!) and wrecked the folding step. It was clearly rotten anyway, but I was going to chop it completely off. But one of the guys working with me seen me going at it and suggested just cutting the rotten footplate off and keeping the rest of it, seeing as it was not rotten further up the arm, and the plan was still a ladder and roofrack.
So that's the route I took, and the new foot plate got made out of a section of the sill step I'd just removed. Recycling!

Cleaned it all up with a flap-disc and then started my least favourite type of welding - outside upside down welding. Because you're looking upwards, the mask dims, and the bit you are trying to work on is in shadow - it's annoying, uncomfortable, and liable to end up with you getting grubby and burned.

But great penetration made it feel a little better. Finished the seams on each side and tidied up the sharp edges with the flap disc. A good coat of direct-to-metal black paint afterwards, and it looked pretty good.

So then, it was time to take it out and check out the lighting situation!

Yup, it has some!

Now that is some difference.

 

['96dc2]

MG is 2005, 82k. £150
Alloys and tyres are probably worth that

 

[surprising_skoda]

The next story is an interesting one.

It begins about a year and a half ago. A girl that was happy with any excuse to spend time with me drove me down to Kilkeel and I bought a "white" "M3". In fact we had to go down twice in one day as I didn't expect to do a deal on the spot.

Anyway I got I got it back up the road. It was originally a red 318is and although the paintjob was good, the engine conversion wasn't. I stripped the running gear out of it, put it back together as an iS, and stuck it up for sale. But it was one of those "bogey" cars, where no matter what, something would happen it every time it was taken out. And then it had constant views and test drives with people insisting they were going to come back in a few days with the money. None of them ever did - it got to the point where I thought it would never sell. It came round for MOT and it took three attempts to get through because each time I went up, a different indicator would fall out (common issue on E36s). The third time I went up with them taped in with clear parcel tape - to be sure. But the MOT centre manager got very shirty with me - ending up in letters to and from head office and threats of police action. The car was damaged underneath by him and the exhaust pulled out of line.
At this point I was fed up with it and thought I'd break it. But with no need, it sat around, still getting test drives and interest but with no real intent from me to sell.
I sold a VERY nice 318is within a couple of days of advertising to the first viewer, and the second viewer, well, he came anyway as he knew the white one was there, and he took a drive, and again it started mucking around, started pulling around at the front (needing tracked). I said we'd sort that and he left a deposit.
When he came back - we took it out again and it was fine for a while, until it started misfiring. AGH!
So we drove back and I said, that's it, it's getting broken.
We discussed a lower price but it wasn't coming together, so I gave him back his deposit and said I'd give him a call next time I got one in (which was very soon afterwards).

So on a Saturday around midday in late January I looked at this white E36 and thought, I am so sick of you.


In January I was also back and forward over various car ideas. My buddies and I had talked long about cars that were disappearing, ones we would want to get and stick away before they all disappeared. A Mini Cooper S, Fiesta ST, 106 GTi, things like that. My list had a few other things on it like a Lancer Evo 6, FD RX7, Supra MkIV - all the stuff that's fast getting out of reach to someone who's idea of saving money is not buying another car that week. So I tempered down my budget and started looking. And I found something I liked. Something dark blue, two owners, FSH, cool, nearby, and petrol. It even had a big spoiler and it's something I'd wanted another, good, one of, since the black one I'd had before had disappeared along with the girl that I'd bought it for... anyway, different story.

So, I was poised to go see this car in Belfast. In fact, the cash from the white E36 was allocated to pay for it, and I had arranged to go down after work that day. So, that plan was scuppered.

And so I made a cup of tea and sat there with my glum face. Just as I'm doing now (the tea, not the face!) and so should you, this goes on.



A Facebook ping sounds.
A message reads... do you still have the white E36?
A second message... would you be interested in my car as a swap?
A third message... a spec list that includes an upgraded turbo and intercooler.
This can't be real, I think. Phone me, I reply.
A call comes. It is for real! Can you make it today, I ask?

An hour or so later and this guy and his girlfriend are standing looking around the BMW. He throws me the key of his car. Take that out for a spin he says. See if you like it.

I mean, I already do, but I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to drive a loud Japanese turbo car I've wanted for, like, forevaaaar...

Five minutes later I'm back. I don't think I could had hid how excited I was. He had looked around the E36 that at this point could only be described as a basketcase. It was like it was possessed or something - totally at random, it had started refusing to open the drivers door, so his girl had to climb in the passenger side and reach over to open the door.

He asks me, are you happy? If you're happy, so am I.
And I say - wait, no, you're not serious. Your car is worth twice what this thing is up for.
He says, yep. If you want my car, I want your car, and I'm happy to swap.

I stand there perplexed, and his girlfriend says, he does this all the time, if he gets it in his head he wants a change, then he just gets rid of whatever he's got and gets the new one.

So we do the paperwork and I'm still gobsmacked. This is too easy, I say. But it's all fine.

The conversation progresses. I've shown him every bad spot on the BMW and he's still happy. He doesn't care about the misfire or the exhaust because he wants to do an engine swap to it anyway. I say, I can't let you go at that. There's a couple of parts the car could do with just to tidy it up, a new grille for example, and I said, I will get one for you and bring it up to you.
Why bring it up? Because I asked him about the wheels that used to be on the car, and he says he still has them, but took them off as one got bent and he couldn't find another to replace it. So I said I would buy the wheels, as I know a great refurbishing place that can fix that.

And that agreed, off he went. I sat there totally dumbfounded. How did this just...?? Well, the favour of God, that's how. I know that. I knew that immediately. Because, yes, I could have went and bought one outright, but I couldn't have engineered swapping one for a BMW worth half as much that I had been categorically unable to get rid of like a leech for the past year.

So I called up a good friend and gushed down the phone at her, then arranged to pick her up later on that evening. Because, like any proper first trip for a max-power-era hero car, the first place I was going was... McDonalds. Straight down to Lurgan and round the drive-thru with that 5" pipe crackling away. Blap blap blap like it was 2002 again.
My friend, she gets on the phone to her friend, the cute blonde one -ahem - and then she says, listen to this... meaning I have to sit a rev a little 4-pot in the carpark like I did when I was 20, and then we arrange to go up to her (the other girl's) house via collecting some pizza, and I won't say how fast I got there but I used a quarter tank of super (which isn't hard), rounding off an unbelievable day.

So instead of the immaculate FSH 2000 Subaru Impreza 2.0 Sport AWD I thought I was going to buy that day, I ended up with a slightly shabby 2000 Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 with a VF22 turbo and supporting mods.

Which also turned out to have pretty good history as well:

Day two of Impreza Turbo ownership: it was leaking fluid. Oh no. I thought I had been sunk.
But it was just a bottle pump had come loose.

It was also unplugged for some reason. Stuck it all back together.

Noticed and fixed battery clamp issue at the same time:

And a week later as arranged I collected the wheels. I met the previous owner half-way and gave him the spares for the BMW. Dreading the answer, I asked him how he was getting on with it. Oh, great, he said. I put another coil-pack in from one I broke, and it's running fine now. I might just keep it like this for a while and leave the engine swap till later.
No regrets! Threw the wheels in my van, had to call him back as he went to drive off before I had a chance to pay him for them, and after he and girl had a smoke and we talked cars, we departed into the night.

And so an Impreza Turbo was added to my collection.

I got popular with the teenagers at church suddenly - I think they put videos of the exhaust note on instant-gram or snappy-chat or some other communications portal I dont understand. A couple of them bundled in for a rake up the backroads along with their dad and we spent the rest of the day looking up rally videos on youtube via their TV, however they managed to do that.
A friend of mine that had also been talking cars with over the previous few weeks/months got a spin in it too. I threw him the keys and suggested a race between him in the Impreza and his wife in their 1 series coupe. Which he won, despite going for an extra lap around his "triangle" when he was nearly home. We've all got a "triangle", right? Those three twisty roads near your house that form your own personal test-track? No? just us?
So now ever since that, he's been trying to find an Evo 6 to pitch up against it. Of course, we both know only a Tommi Mak edition will do, but there ain't none of us can afford one of those any more.

And then the bearing started whining. A rear wheel bearing. Nobody can hear it, especailly with that ridiculous exhaust, but I can feel it. I'm certain of it, so I've parked the car up until I get at that to fix it, and also service the brakes. I've had experience of both on Subarus before so it's not unexpected or annoying, but I'll take no chances and give it a full overhaul.
Once I get some lift space, that is. Soon.

 

[surprising_skoda]

Meantime I went to see my dad for the weekend as he's cooped up in isolation due to a rare viral disease eating his immune system up 15 years ago.
Off I went in the V6 MG - to do a 120-mile round trip. It is going to happen soon!

When I got back I squeezed a few overdue jobs into a busy week:
Replaced broken light on Mini

started prepping the replacement replacement [sic] mudguard for the Triumph

And then made a slight error of judgement - bought another car I don't want or need. This is where I acknowledge that I have an addiction and it sometimes gets the better of me, whether it's a pick-me-up when I'm a bit down, or a kick when I'm bored, but it's definitely not always smart to go car-buying.
So I bought another MG ZT. At least it was cheap enough and I'm not going to lose my shirt (or much sleep) over it but it does annoy me when I do something stupid without thinking.

It's a silver cdti with 6 months test, but somehow when looking at it I missed the bust front shocks, perilous cracked tyres, and several electrical niggles. I drove it later that evening and the next day and to be honest was quite appalled how badly it drove and how I'd missed it.
So the rest of tonights posting will be about how I used bits off it to make the blue ZTT better.

 

[surprising_skoda]

First up - battery cables.
The terminals on the blue car (ZT-T) are a little bit loose because of corrosion eating away the inside face of the terminal. We've been here several times before - refer to previous Mini and LR episodes. It's not just a British car thing by the way, although it would appear that way with this list! I've seen plenty of this on other cars too.
The positive cable first, which means unbolting from the starter. Thankfully quite accessible even though it didn't feel like it at the time!

After that was swapped over with the silver car (06 ZT CDTI), the earth strap was next.

You can see that someone was here before. It's no surprise then that at least twice the ZTT has refused to start despite a charged, oversized (bigger than it needs) battery that was in place for MOT. The cable is in bad shape. But I made the mistake of trying to undo that bolt holding the cables to the inner wing, and it was very tight - and then immediately it was very loose.
With that sheared clean off, I removed the bolt from the gearbox and released the manky cable.

The corrosion inside the cable is obvious. I didn't foolishly attempt to take the cable off the silver car as it would likely shear too, so instead I got fresher cables from a fresher BMW in the yard and put one from box to chassis - under the battery tray - and another from the strut top of the battery. It's not ideal, but they are good strong connections and the car starts impeccably now.
I also cleaned out and refitted the battery box, which was full of muck and oxidised lead dust. Now it's back to standard so a smaller battery was used. I really do not like Yuasa batteries but it was the only one I had to hand that would fit.

Lastly I took the replica Ispiri wheels off the Impreza, popped them on the ZT, and released the 18" Gridspokes to be utilised elsewhere.
On the ZTT, that is.

Meaning I could take the black Straights off. I don't like black wheels as a rule, and they didn't suit the blue car. Also, there are a set of 5 Gridspokes, so matching spares.
Also, this frees up some MG wheels to pop on to the V6, so that I can then get the original set of Straights refurbished for it. I bought that "refurbed" set last year, but a couple of them were really hard to seal, one of them never did, and they also had a couple of blemishes and one even chipped easily, so I think I'll just get the original wheels from the car done and done right.

Where was I? Oh yes. I think those look quite smart on the battered ZTT. And yes, the back light is held on with tape.
And finally off I went to the spares car, the other red V6, to relieve it of some trim pieces to try and resolve some other ZTT niggles.

That's enough for now. Next time - shiny wheels on Impreza!

 

[surprising_skoda]

So to start off, the blue Impreza decided to copy the blue MG and have some dodgy battery connections.
Also the battery had lost all it's charge, down to 7v.

I jump-started it, popped it on the lift and pulled off the Ispiri reps

Another way the Subaru and MGs are similar is that they have the exact same PCD and centre bore, so those wheels went on to the silver MG for now.

I did not realise that the Subaru had spacers on it too. No wonder the bearings are done. I did double check in case they were PCD adapters but no, just spacers.
So I could get on with putting some cooler wheels on.

The wheels came with four new (budget of course) 215/35/18s but I don't much like stretch, and I also don't like jarring rides over potholes. So I opted for 225/40/18 on the rears to see how they would look.
Meaty!

This thing has a super-squat-stance now. I love it!

I'll um, get back round to the bearings later, after I roll it outside for a better look at my fat-boy. Well, mainly because my cousins 1 series suspension collapsed and that needed to go up on the lift to be fixed.

 

[MarkP]

Impreza probably had spacers fitted to try and make the car look better along with those aftermarket arch add ons.

 

[surprising_skoda]

It's been six months (not to the day, but who's counting, eh?) since I last updated. Why? Well, living under a rock, were we? Someone ate a bat and then sneezed and 50% of the world became vampires, or something like that.
Since my friend (and employee) Ali was killed in a car accident in Feb 19, we've managed in work with me and two (very dedicated/loyal) workers - just the three of us while the business expanded and grew beyond our capability. One guy came and went in Sept 19, a shame as he was very hard working, just hardly managed to ever show up. Another started in Feb 20 - two weeks before he was told to go into isolation. One of the other guys did the next week after that - and suddenly there was just the two of us, running a business that although mainly a ELV dismantler, also does servicing and repair work. And we were swamped. Nearly all the mechanics near to us closed up, and we have/had regular customers in vital roles including several nurses.
So we stayed open and tried to keep up. We REALLY struggled. There were several weeks in April & May where I worked three days in a row without sleep. When either of us did go home to sleep, it was at 3am or later, and back in to open up the next morning. It's still a bit hazy how we got through all of that. It would have been incredibly stressful, other than that neither of us allow it to get to us. All his social stuff was cancelled too so with neither of us really able to go anywhere we just made the best of it and had a good laugh while working at 250% capacity faster and harder than we could really maintain. Many energy drinks were employed in this process.

You'd think that on our day off on Sunday we would go relax and try to take it easy.
But what we had at that time was amazing weather, so it was a really good time to work at stuff outside.
I pulled out tree stumps for an older friend who's not able to do it himself. Some I dug, some I went at with the chainsaw, and some... some I put my most able vehicle to good use with:

 

[surprising_skoda]

Let's talk about fleet additions.

In April over the Easter break I spied an M3 for sale, and with the amazing weather we were having, I thought a cabriolet would be just the ticket.
So went and bought an Estoril blue 3.2 Evo. Unfortunately it was not anywhere near as good as expected - it's really a tired one, so this is heading only one way...

After that I also spied another MG for sale, apparently with HGF. I asked the seller only two questions - do the boot electrics all work properly, and are the back lights still secured by their original fixtures and not gaffer tape? With two affirmative replies, I had it collected and delivered. I left it running one day for an hour and it didn't overheat. So, hmm. A great spares source for my blue one anyway.

Speaking of which, one of those nurses I know reversed her BMW straight into my ZTT

while I was chatting to her husband at the other side of their house. We heard the clatter, figured that's what had happened, and talked on. She was pretty mortified but given that their back bumper already needed painted due to previous similar incidents, and that the MG bumper was the only panel on my car that wasn't dented (until now), we figured it was all OK. I did make a point of showing the damage to all our mutual friends though, for purposes of high quality banter.


And then I was given a Rover 75 for taking away

And bought an E38

 

[surprising_skoda]

So that means I can now give a fairly accurate updated list, correct to around the start of summer or so.


1930 Austin 7 Ulster (totally stripped project)
193? Austin 7 Special (totally unstarted project)
193? Austin 7 chassis
1978 Cadillac Coupe DeVille (stalled project)
1979 Skoda S110R (just needs wheels)
1985 Skoda 120G Garde Cabriolet (unstarted project)
1985 BMW E28 M535i (waiting patiently)
1985 Skoda Estelle 120L5 (languishing)
1985 Fiat Regata 70 (unstarted project)
1987 Skoda Rapid 136 (unstarted project)
1987 Skoda Estelle 130LSE (languishing)
1988 Skoda Rapid 136 (unstarted project)
1990 Skoda Rapid 136 (languishing)
1992 Skoda Favorit Pickup (languishing)
1992 Skoda Favorit 136LS (languishing)
1993 Alfa Romeo 164 V6 Cloverleaf (unstarted project)
1994 BMW E32 740i (stalled project)
1995 Skoda Favorit Estate GLXiE (stalled project)
1995 Skoda Favorit Estate GLXiE (stalled project)
1995 Skoda Favorit Estate GLXiE (unstarted project)
1995 BMW E34 540i Touring (in use)
1996 Peugeot 405 GLX D-Turbo (stalled project)
1997 BMW E36 M3 Evo Convertible
1997 Skoda Felicia L 1.9d
2000 BMW E38 728i (in use)
2000 Subaru Impreza Turbo2000 (in use)
2000 BMW E39 528i Sport
2001 Alfa Romeo 156 V6 Sportwagon
2002 Triumph TT600 (ongoing project)
2002 Land Rover Discovery II TDS (in use)
2002 MG ZT V6 (in use)
2004 MG ZT-T CDTI 135 (in use)
2006 MINI One (in use)



And spares cars:
1989 Skoda Rapid 136
1994 Skoda Favorit Estate
1995 Alfa Romeo 146
1997 Alfa Romeo 164
2002 MG ZT-T 120
2004 Rover 75 CDTI 135
2006 MG ZT CDTI 135


Head's melted, easy to see why!

 

[Mark_C]

Meantime I went to see my dad for the weekend as he's cooped up in isolation due to a rare viral disease eating his immune system up 15 years ago.
Off I went in the V6 MG - to do a 120-mile round trip. It is going to happen soon!
View attachment 275172

When I got back I squeezed a few overdue jobs into a busy week:
Replaced broken light on Mini
View attachment 275173

started prepping the replacement replacement [sic] mudguard for the Triumph
View attachment 275174


And then made a slight error of judgement - bought another car I don't want or need. This is where I acknowledge that I have an addiction and it sometimes gets the better of me, whether it's a pick-me-up when I'm a bit down, or a kick when I'm bored, but it's definitely not always smart to go car-buying.
So I bought another MG ZT. At least it was cheap enough and I'm not going to lose my shirt (or much sleep) over it but it does annoy me when I do something stupid without thinking.
View attachment 275175
It's a silver cdti with 6 months test, but somehow when looking at it I missed the bust front shocks, perilous cracked tyres, and several electrical niggles. I drove it later that evening and the next day and to be honest was quite appalled how badly it drove and how I'd missed it.
So the rest of tonights posting will be about how I used bits off it to make the blue ZTT better.

Was your dad a member of Dungannon camera club yearrrrrrrs ago? If so I remember attending meetings with him at Inn on the park

 

[vw1500]

New onto the forum and just noticed this epic thread, you've some collection there..................favourite has to be that orange 110 coupe!!

 

[surprising_skoda]

@Mark_C Yes that's right!
@vw1500 That's one of my favourites too, of all time. I'm so glad I got one before the prices went insane.

 

[BarryPort]

Really really enjoy these & missed your updates

 

[surprising_skoda]

"My Summer Report" by S. Skoda

Well class, it all begins on the last day of term.

I was driving in to work and stopped off at a friends house to help her with her 306.
This one:

This low mileage, quite delightful little Cabrio was bought from a forum-ite so she could cruise to the beach with the top down. Being a woman who knows nothing at all about cars and is used to a showroom fresh model every 3-4 years, I've landed the job of maintaining this.
In exchange for occasional use of it, of course. Can't miss out on the perks.

I attempted to leave, in my noisy, thirsty Subaru, and it was out of petrol and would not go.

After I got someone on the phone to bring a gallon over, I then got 1/4 mile before it cut out again - battery flat! But it started literally one minute earlier..?
So, realising something was badly amiss, I pointed it in the direction of my friendly knows-about-Subarus-mechanic. And got jump leads and a battery brought over from work.

How do you like my Time Machine?

What is actually going on with the car is (was) a failing alternator, probably more than just coincidentally linked to a series of blown fuses, relating to some dodgy wiring behind the dash, resulting in inoperational central locking and electric windows, and eventually the instrument binnacle failed. The brakes still need done as well.

That was fixed and I took it home. On the way home, the binnacle went blank again. The car also went into limp mode and wouldn't rev cleanly.
After consulting the same mechanic I bought a new MAF - only £154 (!!!!) from the dealer. Apparently Version 5 MAFs are not only prone to failure but very hard to get. I did track down a s/h one as well, only £60 so a good spare to have I think. I also got an original blob-eye waste-gate as well for the intercooler, as the shiny cheap junk Chinese one on it was not only incorrectly mounted, it was blanked off behind it. Now as far as I can tell, that's done so that the over-boost between gear changes will be forced back through the turbo for reasons of noisy chatter. This thing has a big IHI snail on it that I don't fancy replacing any time soon. Subaru waste-gate re-fitted.
After that made it run properly, and not risk melting pistons, I set into the wiring. In the end most of the dash came out, and lots of fuses were blown and multimeter readings taken until it was traced to a heavily corroded drivers door loom plug. This was pulled apart, cleaned, and repaired where possible. Two of the wires just broke clean off, so they were cut back and joined direct externally to the connector - and immediately the E/W were working again.

So I got everything as it should be and re-built the interior. I moved the car out of the workshop and down the yard, and right before I switched it off, the fuse popped again and the window was stuck half-way. In exasperation I just got out and left it be.
Given that was a very dry week it was fine, but about four days passed before I stripped the WHOLE dash out AGAIN and started tracing. I went over the plug but everything was in order. I pulled all the fuses out then, and just started putting one into each slot until I found the specific one that was blowing even when the car was off. I traced this along and I kid you not - this whole stupid thing was caused by a faulty interior light dimmer switch. I unplugged it, fitted all the fuses and everything stayed working.
To date, no more blown fuses.

While on this successful turn, I got the back wheels off the ground to look at the spacers and bolts. There was one bolt missing each side. Figuring it was a lock-nut issue, or something, I researched and found out the bolts required, and tracked down replacements to fix the spacers. Unfortunately the bolts didn't matter as the splines were wrecked - there still looked like splines inside the holes, but they were obviously damaged. So I ordered new spacers. And sure, lets have some neo-chrome tuner wheel nuts too while we're at it, why not.
And also lets address the shabby rear arch. I tracked down the origins of the wide-body arches - ABW Motorsport - and got in touch about a replacement piece or two. Thankfully they were more than happy just to sell me the bits I needed as a full kit is a fair bit of change, and my front arches are perfect.
The rear drivers arch is damaged around the bolt holes but some discreet washers can fix that. The passenger side has been damaged badly, and someone has cut it down and refitted it with screws, leaving it loose, untidy and ugly.
I was impatient and dabbled with bolting on some universal arches, but I couldn't get them to sit right with the lines of the car, and ended up screwing them into the rear doors. There's already holes in the rear doors anyway from the previous arch but at least it was two-piece and the doors could still be opened.
Doesn't matter. This is one of the reasons I really like having crappy versions of cool cars - I can take a drill to the back doors and screw them shut if I want to.
I'm still waiting on the arch pieces to come, then I'll re-tyre the gold wheels, and enjoy some 4wd grip all winter.


Also during summer break I took the MG on holiday to Donegal

And took the E38 hiking

Anyway, that was June. We can just skip July and half of August, because I just wasn't too interested in cars then, other things happening were way more interesting and important.

Car stuff will resume after that, beginning with the emergence from hibernation of the most gorgeous car I have!

 

[surprising_skoda]

On the first of August, after talking about it for several weeks, I finally took the covers off the S110R and started to edge it out.

It was as you can see very tightly tucked away behind the 2-poster, between an M635csi and a 323i. A new lift went in a few months earlier but there was no free room to move around it, and so one car had to leave the workshop permanently, as well as re-arranging several others that remained.
Also, it really is time to wheel up the Skoda.
Also, I made space for it at home.
Also, it's 40 now. although at the time the 40 year MOT exemption clause hadn't been ratified in NI, it has now (October), so this car is fully legal for the road.
It's in a completely roadworthy state too and despite being in hibernation for some time, true to form as it so amazing and pretty it just fired straight up, even on old stale petrol, held a perfect idle and drove itself out.

I will have to wash it though!

For a while in the Spring and into Summer my dad's SAAB stayed with me as I figured out battery drain and other various niggly issues with it - issues that meant he was fed up with it, and with being cooped up at home he didn't really need it, so it seemed the time to resolve it all.
Eventually I had to strip the whole lower dash out in pursuit of issues.

and I'll not bore you with many pictures, but I found chafed wires, weird boxes and most telling of all, a parrot handsfree module, which once unplugged immediately meant the radio was no longer locked in "telephone" mode and started blaring Radio2 out again. Of course I turned that off in disgust. I don't think you're allowed to listen to it anyway when you don't pay for a TV licence? Not that I want to listen to anything the Beeb puts out.
OK back on track, radio fixed, battery drain resolved, engine covers re-affixed, steering aligned, interior cleaned, and for sale and sold quickly (the best way of selling). Goodbye SAAB. Never had a good one yet. Will endeavour to avoid in future.


Next up took some time to replace awful wheels and creaky suspension on the E38 with some lowering stuff I had kicking around (well, removed from another car - one I'd built to sell, then couldn't, because the "trader" before me had told the DVLA the car was scrapped before giving the V5 to me knowing full well I was taking it to restore. Dirtbag.) For wheels I dug the 18"x10j RH Toplines with 275 tyres out of the back of the unit.

Whereupon the engine promptly melted on the way home the next evening, and thus my E38 cruising plan was scuppered before it even began!


However I did still have the MG to fall back on, and as mentioned before I had a donor wagon bought for spare parts that I had been trying to find without much success.
I mean, I only needed two good rear lights and a boot handle, but between scarcity, and prices of spares when available, it was more efficient to get the whole spare car.
It took some serious persuasion to get the boot handles off them!

But eventually I did, and checked the red handle over on the blue bootlid, which worked, so then I set to swapping the coloured covers over, which took ...hours...
And also the rear lights, which are two pop-in pins on the outer side and two screws on the inner side. The plastics were all broken around the screw holes on the blue units, hence being taped in. I removed them, and had to vice-grip the remains of the screws out of the plastic sockets. After that I could remove the light clusters from the red car and slide them in. No more tape! A working rear hatch.
The blue ZTT is practically perfect now!
For me, that is. None of you normal people would touch it.

 

[surprising_skoda]

One car missing from the recent list is my Range Rover P38.
Although not really much of a car any more, it was still a very much present huge lump of burned out steel.
After the fire that destroyed it last July, knowing as I do since that anything heavy will sink in that field, I knew I had no way to get it out.
I did ask a neighbour with a tractor about towing it out last year, but at that time the yard was jammed full and there was no way to get a tractor in to the field.
This summer, with a bit of a dry spell hardening the ground up a tiny amount, and with evenings long enough that I could get the yard cleared up after work, I was able to make enough room for a tractor. This time I asked a 14 year old with a John Deere 6900 to come and drag it out.
The Deere made it look easy - although we snapped a fair few straps doing it, especially near the end with the ground building up underneath the Rangie as it was dragged flat across the top of the clay field.

Gotta be honest, it was a little bit tight getting it towed the last few metres through the gate. And tight for turning area, so that was as far as the Deere could bring it. At least from there it was at the edge of the hardstanding, so I could attack it with the forklift.
My old Manitou All-terrain has no issues lifting the 1.8 tonnes of an E39, and got my 2.1 ton Discovery off the ground before as well, but could it lift the shell of a P38? Not even slightly. Not a bit. In the end there was a combination of straps and blocks and tricky manoeuvres that got it just about in to the yard. It was fighting all the way.
The next day I went at it again but with some help.
First we thought about removing the engine and box. Then we thought about dropping the axles. Finally we decided the body and chassis had to be separated.
Gaining access to most of the bolts was easy...

Although the last couple under the rear seat were awkward, as the seat frames were rusted into place. We took into them with grinders and crowbars and eventually got it split. It was taking three of us a lot of effort, so the final rip apart was a bit of a 'yeahhhhhh' moment

Leaving a (really good!) chassis behind, with a melted 4.0 engine and what looks like otherwise fine mechanicals...

And I took the body off to Clearways

Bye bye Range Rover!

 

[surprising_skoda]

Several vehicles need updating but we'll start with the project that is the Triumph.

Earlier in the year, debating on selling it, or restoring it, I got crossed up (as I usually do) on the pro's and cons of this particular bike.
I only need a bike to give me an adrenaline rush. I don't really care what bike I have. However the TT600 is a good physical size fit for me, i.e. it's not as tiny as a Japanese sportsbike tends to be. It's also low mileage, which I like, it also cost me less than another would (I got it well priced as it had been dropped and repaired), and I quite like the stratospheric rev limit. I've put a new tyre on it as well as chain, servicing, brakes, fork rebuild - mechanically it's grand, just the bodywork is poor.
On the downside the bodywork was tatty. The more I dug the worse it got - mismatched and missing fairing bolts, missing bits of fairings, what was there was cracked - in fact some of the replacement panels were also cracked! And several of them were yellow on the inside so obviously there had been some paint involved. The more I stripped back the less I liked it. I priced up new fairings, even good used ones, and quickly went off that idea.

So.

I started looking for another bike. I settled on a couple of options that I really thought were the look, size, style, engine type etc that I wanted. Another Triumph, and a Ducati. I might not want an out and out roadracer sportsbike, but I also don't want a cruiser, or a moto, or a plain old commuter. The 675R and the Monster 620ie fit somewhere in the grey area in between all of that. Also I realised that I had completely bypassed all the Japanese makes and looked to European and American bikes only. Something more offbeat was definitely high on the priority list. More and more I found myself drawn to, looking at, researching, what I will call, a "muscle-bike". Given I can't get hold of a Buell all that easily... and given that I have a perfectly sound (mechanically) Triumph with a frame well regarding for handling - I may have found the solution.

Yes, another project.

So more and more research went into the TT600 chassis and what I can do with it. Some 'theoretical' compatibility was hinted at on various forums and after a while of going round in circles unsure what would fit and what wouldn't, I just started buying stuff on ebay with the reckoning that I would just adapt or alter until it all went together.

Took it apart and down to the frame.
Saddle and rear frame from a Daytona 650. The frame bolted straight on, but is far too wide at the rear. Saddle isn't a terrible fit but ideally want's trimmed down, and the plastics underneath it are far too bulky and most of the front hook has been cut off it.

A carbon fibre Daytona 675 tail has come which will need to be cut up to fit, and other bits from some other Triumph bikes are going to be needed to make this all tie together. Trial and error has actually shown me that the under-guard from the original tail will fit on to the 650 one, so I don't need to make any custom battery or EFI module housings. That's a huge help.
There is a 7" round headlight for the front end in a box here and the bracket for the front being steel can be cut and shaped to suit. I did try to get a Speed Four (nekkid TT600) front bracket but that proved difficult and costly, and I own a welder, so to pot with that.
Plenty to consider - expansion bottle location, clutch fluid reservoir, wiring routing, brake lights, indicators, lowering? raising?

It's coming along as and when. I think I need to take it over to the workshop now though, for trimming bodywork to fit and more access to drills and fastenings. We'll see, there's no rush.

 

[surprising_skoda]

Another one to update is the Discovery.

I used it extensively last winter and all through Spring with the storms and winds we had. Then when the warmer weather came, I started using some of those other cars mentioned earlier, and the Land Rover entered a temporary role as a shunter at one of my work yards. A "shunter" is something that is used for pushing or pulling rather unwilling rolling stock around, just like in a trainyard.
A few weeks ago I decided it was time to bring it home and searched around for a replacement shunter, buying a really, really rough L200 off a mate's farm.

So the LR was able to drive back to the main yard for essential repairs.

In the picture it looks like a capable machine enjoying it's natural habitat, but it hides many problems. The rear door started randomly jamming shut. Prised it open a couple of times and then it would work again. All the indicators were cracked and so were the headlight mounting plastics. Still had the bent bumper bar at the front, the flashy lights had stopped working after one of the guys broke the control box I'd carefully mounted to the dash, and the battery had went totally flat and dead.

Replaced all of the broken lights. I eyed up welding a nudge bar together for the front, but then one of the guys said, why don't you stick an E38 (BMW) bumper on to it? Well we tried but it wouldn't quite fit. And we tried a few others but nothing suited - until I remembered another one I had and we got it out and started cutting and trimming... until, basically, we realised that we'd discovered how Land Rover had managed to design the Disco 3!

Well, allow me a little bit of creative licence, will ya? Anyway that was grand for entire ONE day until it blew apart one of the PAS hoses at the front again, the nice rusty ones. I had forgotten just how long my "temporary" fix was... last July!
But it poured out a litre of fluid all over, well, everything, and I was really annoyed. I pulled the X5 bumper we'd spent two hours fitting, right off, broke all the mounts we'd made, with my bare hands (grr) and told the main mechanic to remove the rusted metal pipe and replace with a hose like I'd done before.
That he did but unfortunately this must have been a higher pressure pipe because after being fixed, it promptly blew off again. This cycle continued endlessly for a couple of days until I just fixed it myself. then I drove it back down to the other yard, because, there was an old van there that needed pulling out of a ditch, and the L200 could not do it. Also the L200 has a worse turning circle than the Disco - however that is possible - and couldn't get round to the front of this old van. Anyway I strapped the LR onto it and yes it was some hard work for it and it was spinning and bouncing all over the place, but a few sharp jabs and some moving around to find grip and the TD5 power pulled that old van right out, uphill, on grass, pulling the nose of the van sideways. Proper beast mode - but right in the middle of me moving it into place for one of the big pulls, it blew that PAS pipe off again.

So the engineer that works for me took at it and made some swaged metal pipes for it and fixed it properly. Which so far has lasted a week. The rear door jammed shut again and we couldn't get it open although I spent less time trying this time. The horn, they had broken, somehow, with the button pulled clean out of the steering wheel, and that never got fixed.
I removed my spot lights from the roof. I removed the wiring for the flashy lights in the grille. I made terminal extensions and made it so that a normal battery could go into it instead of using a reversed-pole battery, which I don't have a single other car with even the Cadillac or Impreza. So it can take a normal battery and I put the drained and dead one into the scrap pile.
Lastly I secured it's fate for good, and removed my stereo. And walked away.

Good bye Land Rover.
Your faithful service will be missed. You were a good truck. But we need you to be a shunter, and you need too much fiddly fixes to pass another MOT.
I was going to sell you, but at least you get to stick around and do something you are good at. Just don't break any more.

 

[surprising_skoda]

Getting ever closer to being fully up to date for this mess of a year, the Impreza:

I said before about ordering up some new spacers and bolts to replace the previous incomplete/damaged ones, and they finally came.

Shiny wheelnuts:

And rear arches sorted. Removed and refitted the driver side one, so it's better secured now and tidier, and the replacement passenger side came from ABW which was sprayed and drilled and bolted on with new holes, because the riv-nuts used previously were wrecked and unusable, a few missing too.
Looking tight again:

Now, I'm still chasing this electrical fault. I've been test driving the car up and down the road for weeks with lots of different body connectors unplugged entirely, no dash, no lights, no doors, basically running it with nothing but the ECU and fuel pump still plugged in, and it's still popping fuses like no end.
It happens at random, sometimes when the car is sat still with ignition on, sometimes it's fine sitting idling but pops one when driving. Farthest I've got so far is about 2.5 miles. Very frustrating.
For this reason I've not been able to use the car at all. This pangs as I kind of decided to stick with the Impreza and forego a couple of other cars/projects/ideas in favour of it. I'm not far away now from buying a complete new wiring loom for it, but it does need a few other things too and I'm not sure if I want to go down the road of complete resto on it when I could still (just about) find another standard one to replace it and transfer the mods over. It's a bit of a nuisance in this state but I have shooed away a couple of annoying people trying to buy it so I'm definitely not done with it or fed up with it yet. In fact car selling seems to be extremely irritating at the minute and all I'm getting is people with grubby mitts trying to get a hold of cars that are appreciating fast, and of course shafting you the owner in the process. It's really unpleasant, I've always tried to be fair with people both buying and selling, and this rude, entitled, money-grubbing trend recently really gets on my wick.

Anyway I do like Subaru's and one was offered to me cheap, not quite cheap enough but I haggled until it was, by a person of no permanent abode with a Transit recovery truck - this 2009 Outback.

Now it's a really nice car and it was sold to me as a "non-starter". I found it advertised online before I'd even paid him with "broken cam". I still bought it anyway, before researching further and finding that the crank snaps in the early boxer diesels and knowing full well that would be the problem, I got one of the guys to confirm for me then shoved that into the corner to break for parts later. It's a shame as it's a really nice place to sit inside, but an engine is £2.5k+ for them (as they're so hard to get) and it's not worth that. This is why I buy cars with unknown faults cheaply and I've no regrets and wont lose any money, but for about one day at least I was able to think about driving around in a car that actually looked like a modern (only 11 years old!!!) with heated leather seats and inoffensive mileage.
Ah well, back to 20 year old bangernomics for now.

 

[surprising_skoda]

I believe we have finally come to the point of being up to date, just about, and so I need to just round it off by showing the updates to the fleet.
By updates, I of course mean additions.

Firstly, at the end of July I added a 2004 BRG MG ZT-T 135 CDTI with "interesting" interior modifications - wood, screws and bolts used to make things that should have been plastic from the factory - and 19" wheels.
That was bought to be (yet) another parts donor. I think subconsciously I've been future-proofing myself by stocking up on MGs and parts supply so I can navigate the next few years with those as dailies.

It must be something because at the end of September I also added a Navy Blue one!

Immaculate interior, Xenons, no rust, MOT and only 2 miles away, all for a couple of hundred quid!
Well, there was an "intermittent" non-start issue, which may or may not be (it totally is) an expired high-pressure fuel pump. We spent about 2 days on it changing the whole rail and sensors and also the ECU set trying to eliminate fault possibilities, because the ECU would not connect and so we initially thought that was the error, but even after putting another one in there were still OBD communication problems. Eventually a trial-and-error diagnosis was reached and sometime very soon this car will get the whole engine and box transplanted from the silver saloon, because, despite riding like a bag of gloop on a broken skateboard, the actual engine and box in that car were pretty good.
So that's another project which shouldn't prove too hard but it has been 2 months since I looked at it because, well, lots of other projects taking precedence.

And one last addition:

Yeah!!!!

 

[cauld1]

Must be something about the MG ZTs, my dad has no bought an ex police manual 190 saloon as a parts car for the auto estate. The estate is much nicer, so might end up with some bits from the saloon on it. Crazy just how cheap these are, and they really aren't a bad car at all!

 

[surprising_skoda]

Must be something about the MG ZTs, my dad has no bought an ex police manual 190 saloon as a parts car for the auto estate. The estate is much nicer, so might end up with some bits from the saloon on it. Crazy just how cheap these are, and they really aren't a bad car at all!

they do just seem to have something about them. Handling is great for such a big size as well and although they have lots of known problems, they do seem to give very little real bother. Like yes, the rear lights might let in water but the gearbox isn't about to terminally expire on you like a BMW and the electrics aren't one step away from total shutdown like a Mercedes.
Anyway step one for your dad should be put the 190 brakes onto the estate as it probably has the smaller ones (180?)

 

[cauld1]

they do just seem to have something about them. Handling is great for such a big size as well and although they have lots of known problems, they do seem to give very little real bother. Like yes, the rear lights might let in water but the gearbox isn't about to terminally expire on you like a BMW and the electrics aren't one step away from total shutdown like a Mercedes.
Anyway step one for your dad should be put the 190 brakes onto the estate as it probably has the smaller ones (180?)

The brakes and a good lower front grille were the 2 reasons for buying the other one as well as a spare set of wheels. A manual box, pedal box and spare engine were just a bonus!

 

[surprising_skoda]

As time goes by I find myself less and less inclined to have any "online presence" and I'm quite happy to not have have used social media for anything other than work for months. Which means every time I go to put up an update on this very thread, it takes a few days of "can I be bothered" "is it worthwhile" "there's x or y things need done" before I get up the motivation to write something. Not that I've no motivation otherwise, you understand, just struggling to continue doing things that I can't see the purpose of. I'm sure there is a purpose - to that end, if you know what it is, do share please. Why do we want reader's rides threads? What do you get from them that makes them worth the effort?
Hopefully I'll figure it out and can re-energise these posts.

This one will have some words in it. Do you prefer something to read, or pictures to look at? I've got both.

Tractor picture:

The Fergie got a couple of runs out. I've never driven an old tractor above walking speed before so this was a definite trail by fire, and it was great. Tipping along in 4th gear it was much faster than I anticipated, and much less shaky actually. I guess my wee grey has been better maintained than most as there's good brakes, good idle, good mpg, in fact it just works properly and it doesn't even have any of the typical rust problems that many of them do.


Car picture:

The S110R got tyres inflated, and driven home from where it had been in storage in work for a couple of years, so it can go into my garage at home, wait out the winter and be ready for adventures next summer. It's 100% a dry weather only car, simply owing to the rarity and obscurity meaning I won't risk it getting rusty, dirty, or damaged. But I absolutely LOVE driving it and even bringing it home in the cold and the wet in November it was still fantastic. Would have been better with both headlights working though!



Talky bits:
Y'all have read how I grew to like the Discovery 2 I bought in a pinch a couple of years ago. You might even have read the bits where I moan after it got steadily more damaged and ended up being impractical to fix, although I did start into it anyway. Eventually though the Disco got relegated to yard shunter and the search began for a "nicer" one. Well, a more roadworthy one, anyway. I would have liked a fully optioned one in a nice colour, to keep as a tidy weekend use car with the occasional towing job of off-road excursion. However I knew that I'd really got to like the bash-ability of the silver one and I'd probably ruin a really tidy one. It's the same reason I can't just go buy a Range Rover Sport TDV8. You can't shove old trailers out of the way with them or reverse them through overgrown thickets.
So with this constant "on one hand / on the other hand" debate raging in my mind, I tried to find and purchase a "reasonable" D2. One that was sufficiently tidy but also slightly scruffy so that it wouldn't matter if it got the 'odd' ding. This went on from last summer to late autumn. I kept trying to buy whatever came available, but it was all broken down or very tidy (with a price to match). There were no middle of the road examples coming up. I considered travelling to England but with the travel restrictions it was always proving awkward, and despite a healthy budget much of what was available was just overpriced, high mileage, worn out junk. Top end of the scale shouldn't have cars with oil leaks and non-functional central locking, and bottom end of the scale were mostly no better condition than the damaged D2 I was trying to replace!
Eventually a red high mileage TD5 came up about 50 miles away on ebay, and being the first thing I had seen in N. Ireland that actually ran and had an MOT, I bid away on it. I actually didn't win it but a fortnight later it went back up and that time I did get it. It had belonged to a few mechanics who one after the other all used it as a parts hauler and it was in reasonable mechanical shape but pretty untidy inside as you can imagine. But it wasn't badly priced, had recent tyres, a decent clutch and most of the electrics worked. Other than a whining wheel bearing it was good to go and so that was added to the fleet about the middle of November.

Not done with that, I bought my dad a new car, I bought several cars for work and before I knew it was staring down the barrel of a record breaker for me - most cars bought in a week - 9 in all. I know it doesn't sound like many really, but that's finding them advertised, going to see them, doing the deal, bringing them back - it can take all day or a couple of days to complete a full purchase. I've done big buys before getting many cars off one person, but not as many as 9 and even then they don't all get picked up in the same week.

The first one of the week had been a 2005 BMW 325ci cabriolet M Sport manual, in Mystic Blue with grey leather. I'd seen it for sale a couple of times over the preceding month, and it moved around a bit between some driveway traders, but I managed to pounce on it when it came up again. It was 50 miles away as well - several of the cars this week were all located within 5 miles of Carrickfergus and that's not the same side of the country as I'm on.
The 325 is just an average mileage, not very exciting spec, but fully functional cabriolet in a colour I like, and having all but given up on trying to find that red one I'd missed by moments 3 times in a row as it also bounced around various driveway traders last year, this Mystic Blue example was driven straight home and parked up, so I'll have a pretty cabrio next summer. I feel like it's going to get modified a bit - I haven't had a shiny car for a while, and a sport cabrio with some lows and nice wheels would suit that quite well and be very easily done.
A picture, you ask? No, no pictures. Not until those 'orrible MV2 wheels are off it, and it's had a decent clean. It's still a diamond in the rough, although at least it's not an undiscovered gem any more, I've got it now, just needs cut and honed into something a bit more sparkly.


Then, if you are still following the timeline (unlikely), after getting back to the yard with a maroon red Discovery 2, which was a bit rougher than desired but the only one in the country that was MOT'd and wasn't suffering fire damage, I happened to flick through the classifieds again. Always a dangerous game, especially when in the buying mood, which I was, as I was actually hunting cars for work all week, and I saw an advert roll up for something that made me look out the window and say that well-known onomatopoeic phrase, "d'oh!"
I contacted, I went to view the next day, and I bought, a good condition, but high mileage, Discovery 2 Landmark TD5 in black, with black heated leather; mechanically good, non-rusty, well equipped - pretty much a basis for making a really good one. A worn steering wheel, lacquer peel on the 18" wheels (will get changed anyway) and unfortunately, twin sunroofs, completed the list of good/bad points. The heated leather was the real deal-maker for me, but I'd actually have preferred a solid roof (no leaks then) and the lower spec heating (twisty knobs instead of unreliable climate control system) but it's surprisingly original with all the handbooks, original radio etc.
It certainly does need tidied up a bit inside, just owing to the mileage on it, but it drives quite well indeed and it's very much ingraining itself into the more permanent end of the fleet.
A picture of this one is available - did I mention just how many miles it had? :

And there is one more car to tell you about from this week of automotive pursuits.
I told you it was going to be a bit talky, this post!