vibe_kid
RMS Regular
Some read catching up on this thread haha. a good 30 mins well spent! Some luck you have!
The Continuous Car Thread of S_S - Skodas, BMWs, Austins...
- Thread starter surprising_skoda
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- bmw
surprising_skoda
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- Thread Starter
- #327
"I know that this thread is about to get a whole lot better because..."
I was getting pretty miffed that I hadn't been able to find a certain car that I've been hunting for 6 months. It's only a diesel daily but I want a certain one - nothing too particular, not adamant about spec or anything, just a car that's not that common anymore but still out there, and in a certain colour. it's not a rare colour, in fact its one of the more common ones. And there's around a dozen of these cars for sale at any time on ebay, some cheap, some dear, but none the colour I want.
So there I am doing my daily flick through ebay, gumtree and facebook to see if this car had appeared, and I scroll past something else that catches my eye. Something that wasn't on my radar at all. Something that looks good but is awkward enough to put most people off, because it's a project and it can't be driven away.
But it's a desirable car around these parts. And that means the price was a bargain, because sought after = worth a bit, so I'm looking at this car that I do like, just never aspired after, that I have the means to be able to repair, and it's worth more than it would cost me to buy and fix, and it's still a proper retro, and it's got nice spec, and I'm feeling a little like I haven't bought a car in a long while seeing as I've been holding out for this other thing I was searching for.
So I message the guy. And surprisingly he's quite pleasant, very laid back and not pestering me to come immediately (as some youngsters do when they want rid of something), and all in all it's easy to talk to him. Even on the phone, he then answers my questions, and arranging to go down in a couple of days is no problem.
I asked him, is there not dozens of people all saying they're going to come get it right away? And he says, there are, but they are all time wasters. And so I'm a little buoyed by this - someone who gets it, and also doesn't try to use facebook chatter as leverage to make me come see it earlier, or drive the price up.
As it happens, my mate wasn't free. This'll be one of the two guys I gave my trailer away to earlier this year, who have now fixed it up (by sending it back to the agent to be fully rebuilt, at great cost) and so that's my first port of call for getting cars moved now. And given that he is from Magherafelt originally, where they love this type of car, he's very enthusiastic. Even moreso than me. In fact I think he wants me to fix the car so he can drive it...
After a busy weekend I get on to the young seller whose name I cannot pronounce, and get his address, which is just over the border, and surprisngly the car is still there, and off we jaunt, about a full week after I first spied it for sale.
For the rest of this post, it will in pictorial format. You can make your own minds up whether this is wise or not, but joining the fleet from 3/12/19 is a 1996 Peugeot 405 GLX Turbo Diesel, in white, with black leather.
I was getting pretty miffed that I hadn't been able to find a certain car that I've been hunting for 6 months. It's only a diesel daily but I want a certain one - nothing too particular, not adamant about spec or anything, just a car that's not that common anymore but still out there, and in a certain colour. it's not a rare colour, in fact its one of the more common ones. And there's around a dozen of these cars for sale at any time on ebay, some cheap, some dear, but none the colour I want.
So there I am doing my daily flick through ebay, gumtree and facebook to see if this car had appeared, and I scroll past something else that catches my eye. Something that wasn't on my radar at all. Something that looks good but is awkward enough to put most people off, because it's a project and it can't be driven away.
But it's a desirable car around these parts. And that means the price was a bargain, because sought after = worth a bit, so I'm looking at this car that I do like, just never aspired after, that I have the means to be able to repair, and it's worth more than it would cost me to buy and fix, and it's still a proper retro, and it's got nice spec, and I'm feeling a little like I haven't bought a car in a long while seeing as I've been holding out for this other thing I was searching for.
So I message the guy. And surprisingly he's quite pleasant, very laid back and not pestering me to come immediately (as some youngsters do when they want rid of something), and all in all it's easy to talk to him. Even on the phone, he then answers my questions, and arranging to go down in a couple of days is no problem.
I asked him, is there not dozens of people all saying they're going to come get it right away? And he says, there are, but they are all time wasters. And so I'm a little buoyed by this - someone who gets it, and also doesn't try to use facebook chatter as leverage to make me come see it earlier, or drive the price up.
As it happens, my mate wasn't free. This'll be one of the two guys I gave my trailer away to earlier this year, who have now fixed it up (by sending it back to the agent to be fully rebuilt, at great cost) and so that's my first port of call for getting cars moved now. And given that he is from Magherafelt originally, where they love this type of car, he's very enthusiastic. Even moreso than me. In fact I think he wants me to fix the car so he can drive it...
After a busy weekend I get on to the young seller whose name I cannot pronounce, and get his address, which is just over the border, and surprisngly the car is still there, and off we jaunt, about a full week after I first spied it for sale.
For the rest of this post, it will in pictorial format. You can make your own minds up whether this is wise or not, but joining the fleet from 3/12/19 is a 1996 Peugeot 405 GLX Turbo Diesel, in white, with black leather.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #328
I bought the car off a facebook post, which has 6 comments and I think a fair description of the car. Certainly in the pictures it still had it's wing, which now resides in the back seat, and the exhaust that is "needed" is also "absent", but that's just semantics!
And this is the same post on another well regarded facebook group full of intelligent and thoughtful people and discussion.
And this is the same post on another well regarded facebook group full of intelligent and thoughtful people and discussion.
southsky sunrise
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now you’ll have to say hey after everything, wear denim with brown shoes and checked shirts.... apart from that It’s a reasonable buy by all accounts
surprising_skoda
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- #330
To be fair Fred, I do dress like I'm from Mid-Ulster 
quattro Rick
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Knew this was from Newry, used to see it being driven about quite a bit over the summer. Sad to see it in a state, as it was a very clean example from the outside anyway.
I'm sure you'll get it back to its glory days in no time!
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #332
Last week:
I was getting pretty miffed that I hadn't been able to find a certain car that I've been hunting for 6 months. It's only a diesel daily but I want a certain one - nothing too particular, not adamant about spec or anything, just a car that's not that common anymore but still out there, and in a certain colour. it's not a rare colour, in fact its one of the more common ones. And there's around a dozen of these cars for sale at any time on ebay, some cheap, some dear, but none the colour I want.
Monday this week:
Oh, there's the exact car I've been waiting for. I shall buy that.
So the regular facebook marketplace scan turned up pretty much just what I was looking for - except it was in the bottom echelons of Wales. Undeterred, I pursued further, and after the obligatory single question, in this case, "why are the rear lights taped on?", I arranged the purchase and collection of my latest steed.
Now, to step aside for just a second, I bought a salvage car from auction as well. That was collected 4/12/19. It's only mentioned, as I'm gunning for a personal record this week.
So that's an E46 touring with coilovers and an android screen. Those may come in handy later.
The BMW represents Article #2.
Returning to Article #3, the £200 bank transfer on Monday secured the soon-to-be new daily. Immediately I also entered a contract for almost three times as much to have the car moved. While McLoughlins are far from the cheapest out there, the fact that Shane text me back within a few minutes, with price and estimated collection of Wednesday and delivery Friday, is 100% the reason I keep going back to them. And that is exactly what happened, which is why at Friday around 3.30pm I saw this being offloaded and deposited in my yard.
Now the proud owner of another dressed up Rover75.
Lets count off how many ticks we got.
=Mk1 (pre-facelift, round lights)
=Trophy Blue
=2.0CDTI BMW M47R Diesel Engine
=Manual
=Towbar
=Not a complete heap of scrap
=/= Xenons
=/= MOT
I was willing to sacrifice the Xenons and powerfold mirrors found in high spec models, to ensure it was a Mk1 car. I don't really like the Mk2, or the extra electrickery bits they come with. I can add those bits in later.
I'm also glad it has a (fixed, rigid) towbar, which I would have been adding otherwise.
The colour was essential and I'm glad I held out for it. Could have bought any amount of green, silver or red cars but I wanted this lovely blue.
I did dally with a £3k high-spec model which was amazing in one of the flip-paint Monogram colours, but for a daily that will doubtless suffer plenty of abuse, this is perfect.
There's plenty of work to get done. Well, actually, I've no idea. It's 2 months out of test, and it may need very little, but the work will be to replace all the wearing components, and render it not needing looked at for the next couple of years. This will ensure a reliable, usable daily at all times, with no more of this "what am I going to drive this week" nonsense.
It has a mileage I don't need to be precious about, 158k. The seats are standard half leather alcantara, in below average condition. There's no radio, making the way clear for one of the many JVCs with USB drive that I have sitting around waiting for such a moment. The central locking (mostly) works, the lights (mostly) work and the electric windows (mostly) work. That's all the electrical gadgets I require, and there are no error lights on the dash. No massive scrapes or dents, just a few scuffs. Enough to not care about it, but not enough to make it untidy. I'll wash and buff it, so it's presentable enough, then use it until it dies.
Just to top it off, the original 18" hairpins are in the boot.
You may wonder, as do I, why not just use the Land Rover every day?
I find myself wondering this. I love the Discovery. It's really got under my skin. It has loads of space, torque and ground clearance. It's presentable without being pretentious, and workhorsey without being scruffy. I do find myself wanting a car to run to and fro in - the Disco is much more of a labour to use, despite being enjoyable. For some of the narrow and bumpy roads I need to traverse for work, a car would be much more dynamic - even though I hate that word.
30mpg isn't ideal either even though it's quite acceptable. However it's not great for going to view a car or buy a small part, which is something I do a lot of in the evenings. 48-50 from the MG will be kinder to the wallet, and thus the car-fixing funds.
I'm tempted to just keep the Discovery as well, and do something fun with it. I haven't had a car for some time that I'd be quite happy to drive a ream of woodscrews into the door of. But the head says it must go. I think it would be missed badly - even more than the Forester from last year. I'm sure I'll revisit both in the future.
I was getting pretty miffed that I hadn't been able to find a certain car that I've been hunting for 6 months. It's only a diesel daily but I want a certain one - nothing too particular, not adamant about spec or anything, just a car that's not that common anymore but still out there, and in a certain colour. it's not a rare colour, in fact its one of the more common ones. And there's around a dozen of these cars for sale at any time on ebay, some cheap, some dear, but none the colour I want.
Monday this week:
Oh, there's the exact car I've been waiting for. I shall buy that.
So the regular facebook marketplace scan turned up pretty much just what I was looking for - except it was in the bottom echelons of Wales. Undeterred, I pursued further, and after the obligatory single question, in this case, "why are the rear lights taped on?", I arranged the purchase and collection of my latest steed.
Now, to step aside for just a second, I bought a salvage car from auction as well. That was collected 4/12/19. It's only mentioned, as I'm gunning for a personal record this week.
So that's an E46 touring with coilovers and an android screen. Those may come in handy later.
The BMW represents Article #2.
Returning to Article #3, the £200 bank transfer on Monday secured the soon-to-be new daily. Immediately I also entered a contract for almost three times as much to have the car moved. While McLoughlins are far from the cheapest out there, the fact that Shane text me back within a few minutes, with price and estimated collection of Wednesday and delivery Friday, is 100% the reason I keep going back to them. And that is exactly what happened, which is why at Friday around 3.30pm I saw this being offloaded and deposited in my yard.
Now the proud owner of another dressed up Rover75.
Lets count off how many ticks we got.
=Mk1 (pre-facelift, round lights)
=Trophy Blue
=2.0CDTI BMW M47R Diesel Engine
=Manual
=Towbar
=Not a complete heap of scrap
=/= Xenons
=/= MOT
I was willing to sacrifice the Xenons and powerfold mirrors found in high spec models, to ensure it was a Mk1 car. I don't really like the Mk2, or the extra electrickery bits they come with. I can add those bits in later.
I'm also glad it has a (fixed, rigid) towbar, which I would have been adding otherwise.
The colour was essential and I'm glad I held out for it. Could have bought any amount of green, silver or red cars but I wanted this lovely blue.
I did dally with a £3k high-spec model which was amazing in one of the flip-paint Monogram colours, but for a daily that will doubtless suffer plenty of abuse, this is perfect.
There's plenty of work to get done. Well, actually, I've no idea. It's 2 months out of test, and it may need very little, but the work will be to replace all the wearing components, and render it not needing looked at for the next couple of years. This will ensure a reliable, usable daily at all times, with no more of this "what am I going to drive this week" nonsense.
It has a mileage I don't need to be precious about, 158k. The seats are standard half leather alcantara, in below average condition. There's no radio, making the way clear for one of the many JVCs with USB drive that I have sitting around waiting for such a moment. The central locking (mostly) works, the lights (mostly) work and the electric windows (mostly) work. That's all the electrical gadgets I require, and there are no error lights on the dash. No massive scrapes or dents, just a few scuffs. Enough to not care about it, but not enough to make it untidy. I'll wash and buff it, so it's presentable enough, then use it until it dies.
Just to top it off, the original 18" hairpins are in the boot.
You may wonder, as do I, why not just use the Land Rover every day?
I find myself wondering this. I love the Discovery. It's really got under my skin. It has loads of space, torque and ground clearance. It's presentable without being pretentious, and workhorsey without being scruffy. I do find myself wanting a car to run to and fro in - the Disco is much more of a labour to use, despite being enjoyable. For some of the narrow and bumpy roads I need to traverse for work, a car would be much more dynamic - even though I hate that word.
30mpg isn't ideal either even though it's quite acceptable. However it's not great for going to view a car or buy a small part, which is something I do a lot of in the evenings. 48-50 from the MG will be kinder to the wallet, and thus the car-fixing funds.
I'm tempted to just keep the Discovery as well, and do something fun with it. I haven't had a car for some time that I'd be quite happy to drive a ream of woodscrews into the door of. But the head says it must go. I think it would be missed badly - even more than the Forester from last year. I'm sure I'll revisit both in the future.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #333
Many years ago - I count 8, but it could be 10 or 12 - I found out about an old Skoda being possibly laid up in a barn about 20 miles away from me. I don't remember now how I was told, but nevertheless I hunted the place down, and got talking to the chap there.
He showed me the car, and it was laid up indeed, and buried in the back of a big shed.
Now, this man, being the owner of an old scrap-yard, back when it was dozens of old cars heaped up in a field, was a keen negotiator and fed me enough information to whet my appetite.
Laid up at just a couple of years old, purchased new by his sister in law, only 3 imported into Northern Ireland... And then the price got jacked up just beyond what I had at the time.
Every year or 18 months or so from then on, I kept popping back to see if he was ready to cut a deal. Every time, the price jacked up a bit beyond the last time. Each time i went prepared to pay what he wanted, and the price went up to just a bit more than that. At all points it was well past what it was "worth" so to speak, but not to this young and idealistic man persisting after it.
A couple of years ago as I prepared for my pilgrimage there, this time armed with a fistful of cash, ready to go play hardball and match *whatever* figure he pulled on me... I found out that he had just passed away. That sort of put a stop to the whole thing, and of course I backed off and didn't go near there again.
Until recently. I noticed a bit of building work going on not far from there and thought, if I do not do something, that place is going to get knocked down with my car inside. So I went a'knocking. Nobody home, but undeterred, I found a neighbour and asked them to pass on my number.
A few days later, I got a phonecall, and a nice lady asking me what I wanted with this old car. I told her the story, told her where we'd been with negotiations, and offered my condolences and explained why I had left it for this long. These factors were the right approach - she was (is) a savvy lady and by not trying to con her, but tell her what I had been prepared to pay her late husband for the car, she said she would talk it over with her sister and let me know.
A fortnight later, another call came, and it was the news I had been hoping for - they would sell me the car.
Arrangements were made, then cancelled, then made, then cancelled, then made, and it was getting drawn out and I was getting angsty. I didn't want to miss this one, I didn't want the deal to fall apart and it felt like it might, like it was straining everybody.
I took a drive down one afternoon just to satisfy myself it was going to happen, and that the car was still as I recalled. It was in a different place in the same shed and a little worse for wear, but still there, and I was able to have a face to face conversation with the lady which settled everything a bit more.
Arrangements were made again, then changed, and getting awkwardly inconvenient again and so I had to take the day off work, get another guy to come in on his day off and cover me, and take one of the staff with me to help as the buddy that was going to help couldn't make it at the time I was instructed to be there.
I borrowed my old trailer off them'uns what I'd given it to, and then had to find straps somewhere. I had one old one lying in the back of the Landie, and found another one on a shelf on the back wall at work. Figuring I'd need the pulling power of the Disco I towed with that and we were down there on time, and reversed in from the busy main road up the narrow track into the mucky main yard. After a scooch around, we got to loading it up, and with much trepidation I started winching using the front tow eye. Not only did it hold, proving a strong front structure to the car, but every wheel rolled. Not one seized! I couldn't believe it, so I checked the doors... and both of those opened and closed smoothly as well! Door latches on these things seize up for fun, so this was amazing.
I strapped it on to the trailer, and then had a long conversation with the lady, who regaled us with stories from back in the day over coffee and biscuits. The walls were broken down and I was offered another car, offered first refusal on a couple of others if they weren't collected by other people who had agreed to buy them, and I promised I would bring the Skoda back for her and her sister to see once it was restored.
So with an interesting back-story on their side, a pursuit on my side, this feels like a very "FINALLY!" moment, I have *my* car, another one of the important ones near the top of my list, one of those that mean something and are a reward of perseverance and already forming a sentimental bond.
He showed me the car, and it was laid up indeed, and buried in the back of a big shed.
Now, this man, being the owner of an old scrap-yard, back when it was dozens of old cars heaped up in a field, was a keen negotiator and fed me enough information to whet my appetite.
Laid up at just a couple of years old, purchased new by his sister in law, only 3 imported into Northern Ireland... And then the price got jacked up just beyond what I had at the time.
Every year or 18 months or so from then on, I kept popping back to see if he was ready to cut a deal. Every time, the price jacked up a bit beyond the last time. Each time i went prepared to pay what he wanted, and the price went up to just a bit more than that. At all points it was well past what it was "worth" so to speak, but not to this young and idealistic man persisting after it.
A couple of years ago as I prepared for my pilgrimage there, this time armed with a fistful of cash, ready to go play hardball and match *whatever* figure he pulled on me... I found out that he had just passed away. That sort of put a stop to the whole thing, and of course I backed off and didn't go near there again.
Until recently. I noticed a bit of building work going on not far from there and thought, if I do not do something, that place is going to get knocked down with my car inside. So I went a'knocking. Nobody home, but undeterred, I found a neighbour and asked them to pass on my number.
A few days later, I got a phonecall, and a nice lady asking me what I wanted with this old car. I told her the story, told her where we'd been with negotiations, and offered my condolences and explained why I had left it for this long. These factors were the right approach - she was (is) a savvy lady and by not trying to con her, but tell her what I had been prepared to pay her late husband for the car, she said she would talk it over with her sister and let me know.
A fortnight later, another call came, and it was the news I had been hoping for - they would sell me the car.
Arrangements were made, then cancelled, then made, then cancelled, then made, and it was getting drawn out and I was getting angsty. I didn't want to miss this one, I didn't want the deal to fall apart and it felt like it might, like it was straining everybody.
I took a drive down one afternoon just to satisfy myself it was going to happen, and that the car was still as I recalled. It was in a different place in the same shed and a little worse for wear, but still there, and I was able to have a face to face conversation with the lady which settled everything a bit more.
Arrangements were made again, then changed, and getting awkwardly inconvenient again and so I had to take the day off work, get another guy to come in on his day off and cover me, and take one of the staff with me to help as the buddy that was going to help couldn't make it at the time I was instructed to be there.
I borrowed my old trailer off them'uns what I'd given it to, and then had to find straps somewhere. I had one old one lying in the back of the Landie, and found another one on a shelf on the back wall at work. Figuring I'd need the pulling power of the Disco I towed with that and we were down there on time, and reversed in from the busy main road up the narrow track into the mucky main yard. After a scooch around, we got to loading it up, and with much trepidation I started winching using the front tow eye. Not only did it hold, proving a strong front structure to the car, but every wheel rolled. Not one seized! I couldn't believe it, so I checked the doors... and both of those opened and closed smoothly as well! Door latches on these things seize up for fun, so this was amazing.
I strapped it on to the trailer, and then had a long conversation with the lady, who regaled us with stories from back in the day over coffee and biscuits. The walls were broken down and I was offered another car, offered first refusal on a couple of others if they weren't collected by other people who had agreed to buy them, and I promised I would bring the Skoda back for her and her sister to see once it was restored.
So with an interesting back-story on their side, a pursuit on my side, this feels like a very "FINALLY!" moment, I have *my* car, another one of the important ones near the top of my list, one of those that mean something and are a reward of perseverance and already forming a sentimental bond.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #334
The "as found" Skoda pictures I took when I went down for a mooch around a couple of weeks ago.
This was the first time I'd seen the car since the one single time I saw it around a decade ago.
In the meantime, a similar photo has surfaced on the Skoda Owners Club page that a Czech fellow had been sent, and he had been trying to locate it since. Thankfully he had been told "somewhere near Dublin" and had got nowhere tracing it. He did try to buy it from me immediately, but got firmly rebuffed. Get yer mitts aff my car!
The D2TD5 did a sterling job of hauling the yellow unicorn around, and once again I found myself wondering, why is it for sale? I guess because I want a tidier one, but every time i think that, I realise the reason I like it so much is because I don't give one jot about it's appearance, condition or history, I just like that it works like a faithful old shirehorse, and I'm not afraid to use it however its needed.
So, erm, I bought something for it. I was thinking a work-truck needs a light-bar, and then someone I know from long time, local, put up a set of spots mounted to a piece of girder, for cheaps. Apparently, came fitted to a Nova he just bought. Yeow, what? That must have been nose heavy.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #335
I also managed to track another thing down this week. I keep in with certain local people that others would not necessarily want to, and they like to keep me happy too, for whatever reason I don't know. So when I went asking about a wing for the 405, to replace this buckled up thing, I got a phone number for a nephew that has a stash of spares for his own couple.
I got an answer from him after a day or so, and yep, he had one for me, and better yet, told me that the "big bumper" and "small bumper" cars have different wings, but mine was the big bumper and that's what the wing he had was for.
So now I have a wing for it from 3 miles away, when I had begun to wonder where I was going to get anything for it.
Last bit of news, the Rover, I mean, the MG, is up on the lift.
The brake hoses have all been changed for new, the brake lines were a little scabby in places so they've been taken off and new ones made, and bleed nipples are freed off ready to pump through a fluid flush.
The handbrake cables were bought, but only the small front one needed replaced, the rears were as new. The handbrake hadn't been working but that was down to poor adjustment by the look of it. All the discs and pads were very good - no need to replace. The handbrake shoes look like they're not long in it.
Now I'm waiting on complete front struts being built to order by DMGRS, and they have new rear springs ordered for me too as those were cracked. The front struts will include the top mounts and bearings which apparently are a known weak spot, as well as the drop links which I need. So that will be a complete suspension overhaul. The exhaust has been welded at the front where it had cracked in two places, and the rear section removed entirely. It looks rather similar to a BMW one so I'm going to try and use a S/H one seeing I have dozens of those and they tend not to rot badly being stainless steel.
In good news, the car appears to have fairly sound bodywork. We haven't found any holes in the metalwork yet despite some vigorous wire-brushing.
I don't often get the luxury of a free lift space, so it's really nice just to put the car up and keep it there until the job is done, and get everything done in one go. It's costing a fair whack, but the end up will be a car I hope will be trouble and maintenance free for 2 years at least. I can foresee me putting 20k a year on this thing if it doesn't explode, and knowing it's all sorted underneath will give me the confidence to do that.
Going through one car start to finish is yielding dividends in efficiency and focus, and I'm making plans to be better able to do that come next year. It's a way of operating I've wanted to bring from the methodology of customer work over to my own cars for a long time, and also next year I'll combine that with some apparatus I've wanted to install as well, which will allow that to happen. So now, it's just wait and see how we go for the next chapters.
I got an answer from him after a day or so, and yep, he had one for me, and better yet, told me that the "big bumper" and "small bumper" cars have different wings, but mine was the big bumper and that's what the wing he had was for.
So now I have a wing for it from 3 miles away, when I had begun to wonder where I was going to get anything for it.
Last bit of news, the Rover, I mean, the MG, is up on the lift.
The brake hoses have all been changed for new, the brake lines were a little scabby in places so they've been taken off and new ones made, and bleed nipples are freed off ready to pump through a fluid flush.
The handbrake cables were bought, but only the small front one needed replaced, the rears were as new. The handbrake hadn't been working but that was down to poor adjustment by the look of it. All the discs and pads were very good - no need to replace. The handbrake shoes look like they're not long in it.
Now I'm waiting on complete front struts being built to order by DMGRS, and they have new rear springs ordered for me too as those were cracked. The front struts will include the top mounts and bearings which apparently are a known weak spot, as well as the drop links which I need. So that will be a complete suspension overhaul. The exhaust has been welded at the front where it had cracked in two places, and the rear section removed entirely. It looks rather similar to a BMW one so I'm going to try and use a S/H one seeing I have dozens of those and they tend not to rot badly being stainless steel.
In good news, the car appears to have fairly sound bodywork. We haven't found any holes in the metalwork yet despite some vigorous wire-brushing.
I don't often get the luxury of a free lift space, so it's really nice just to put the car up and keep it there until the job is done, and get everything done in one go. It's costing a fair whack, but the end up will be a car I hope will be trouble and maintenance free for 2 years at least. I can foresee me putting 20k a year on this thing if it doesn't explode, and knowing it's all sorted underneath will give me the confidence to do that.
Going through one car start to finish is yielding dividends in efficiency and focus, and I'm making plans to be better able to do that come next year. It's a way of operating I've wanted to bring from the methodology of customer work over to my own cars for a long time, and also next year I'll combine that with some apparatus I've wanted to install as well, which will allow that to happen. So now, it's just wait and see how we go for the next chapters.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #336
I've been spending a couple of days downloading all the old photos found in the first few posts from Photobucket.
Some people have mentioned to me about them being blurred out, and I thought I'd fix that and also take the opportunity to expand a little on some of the cars and their stories.
However it's not possible on RMS to edit such an old post, so as I break the photobucket links, the posts will become a bit redundant.
But on Retro-Rides it is possible to edit, so I am updating the thread there and you can see the back catalogue of photos and stories there.
forum.retro-rides.org
It's otherwise the same thread and I'll continue to put the same content on both, so there's no changes, other than that is where the first couple of big posts from the start of the thread and all the pictures in them, can be seen.
Some people have mentioned to me about them being blurred out, and I thought I'd fix that and also take the opportunity to expand a little on some of the cars and their stories.
However it's not possible on RMS to edit such an old post, so as I break the photobucket links, the posts will become a bit redundant.
But on Retro-Rides it is possible to edit, so I am updating the thread there and you can see the back catalogue of photos and stories there.
The Continuous Car Thread of S_S - Dream Car #1 Achieved '23 | Retro Rides
I've long argued against starting project threads as I take a long time to do anything. Years, in fact. But, one thread for the whole lot might move at a pace slightly above a snails, and taking some
It's otherwise the same thread and I'll continue to put the same content on both, so there's no changes, other than that is where the first couple of big posts from the start of the thread and all the pictures in them, can be seen.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #337
I don't think this made it up - someone side-swiped the LR before Christmas and wrecked the driver side mirror. They were speeding, I was stopped, and so I reported it, and the police managed to track them down.
I bought the bargain one off ebay, but it was rubbish quality and would not line up at all, so I had to get another better one that cost twice as much. Sorted now though.
The MG got undersealed too
I ordered new suspension for it, so it has new genuine rear springs to replace the cracked ones, complete front strut assemblies and droplinks.
Essentially complete underneath now except for the exhaust. I was meant to pick one up a few nights ago but the breaker that was removing a "near new" one from another ZTT wouldn't answer his phone when I was meant to go, so a set back of a week thanks to him as the car had to come down to free up the lift again, so I can do some paid work.
I bought the bargain one off ebay, but it was rubbish quality and would not line up at all, so I had to get another better one that cost twice as much. Sorted now though.
The MG got undersealed too
I ordered new suspension for it, so it has new genuine rear springs to replace the cracked ones, complete front strut assemblies and droplinks.
Essentially complete underneath now except for the exhaust. I was meant to pick one up a few nights ago but the breaker that was removing a "near new" one from another ZTT wouldn't answer his phone when I was meant to go, so a set back of a week thanks to him as the car had to come down to free up the lift again, so I can do some paid work.
Last edited:
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #338
Now then, allow me to try and produce even half an idea of what's gone on in the last fortnight.
Firstly, the MG was still on the lift, but, it's off now. I ordered a new, spurious exhaust given I'm not keen on being mucked around.
Up went a white E36 I had for sale, which needed an exhaust blowout fixed. A harsh MOT examiner (bad enough to have written a letter of complaint about) the exhaust was banged up, and the car is lowered and so with multiple test-drives the exhaust eventually got clattered once too many times.
After that, the 405 went up.
It got worse the longer I looked at it.
That's the drivers side front inner arch. It's not insurmountable...
But this is the passenger side view, across the under-radiator cross-member. That's pretty groggy.
Worse still is the back end.
Those rails are GONE. Thankfully the floor itself is OK, so these are fixable, but only, only just. It's going to be a lot of welding.
On top of that of course it still needs a complete exhaust system - there's simply nothing there.
And then the hubs. Now I knew I was going to need a passenger front hub so I had that bought, and new bearings while we are in there anyway, and then new bottom balljoints which screw in to the hub, and the more I looked, then tie rod ends were ordered, and then so were steering rack gaiters, and now there isn't really much left! Well, the brakes - nope, already had new pads, discs and hoses all ordered too, and hoses for the rear too. Actually they all look OK, but they are very cheap, and even the front pads and discs I managed to find Ferodo ones for about £20 delivered all in. Peugeot parts are very cheap.
So the hubs had to come off. But they were well grown in.
Once I had eventually persuaded them off, using a chisel to open the strut clamping...
Then I could finally look at the balljoints. They use a special tool, one I don't have, and they were flat out not going to come off. I rang Paul the mechanic and he had the tool (does a lot of Peugeots being near Ardboe) and lots of oxy for heat. So I dropped them off with him and he pulled them apart - but one of the hubs broke the casting when in the press. So, I need a hub now... and the car is stuck on the lift... and many other jobs are looming.
One side is at least rebuilt, so I'll get that back on.
Firstly, the MG was still on the lift, but, it's off now. I ordered a new, spurious exhaust given I'm not keen on being mucked around.
Up went a white E36 I had for sale, which needed an exhaust blowout fixed. A harsh MOT examiner (bad enough to have written a letter of complaint about) the exhaust was banged up, and the car is lowered and so with multiple test-drives the exhaust eventually got clattered once too many times.
After that, the 405 went up.
It got worse the longer I looked at it.
That's the drivers side front inner arch. It's not insurmountable...
But this is the passenger side view, across the under-radiator cross-member. That's pretty groggy.
Worse still is the back end.
Those rails are GONE. Thankfully the floor itself is OK, so these are fixable, but only, only just. It's going to be a lot of welding.
On top of that of course it still needs a complete exhaust system - there's simply nothing there.
And then the hubs. Now I knew I was going to need a passenger front hub so I had that bought, and new bearings while we are in there anyway, and then new bottom balljoints which screw in to the hub, and the more I looked, then tie rod ends were ordered, and then so were steering rack gaiters, and now there isn't really much left! Well, the brakes - nope, already had new pads, discs and hoses all ordered too, and hoses for the rear too. Actually they all look OK, but they are very cheap, and even the front pads and discs I managed to find Ferodo ones for about £20 delivered all in. Peugeot parts are very cheap.
So the hubs had to come off. But they were well grown in.
Once I had eventually persuaded them off, using a chisel to open the strut clamping...
Then I could finally look at the balljoints. They use a special tool, one I don't have, and they were flat out not going to come off. I rang Paul the mechanic and he had the tool (does a lot of Peugeots being near Ardboe) and lots of oxy for heat. So I dropped them off with him and he pulled them apart - but one of the hubs broke the casting when in the press. So, I need a hub now... and the car is stuck on the lift... and many other jobs are looming.
One side is at least rebuilt, so I'll get that back on.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #339
Meanwhile the Land Rover has had a few more people asking about it, but every time I do something with it, it reminds me why I'm in no panic to sell. It's just sitting 'right' here, in it's natural environ.
and some cars arrived. Up until the 20th of January I'd actually managed not to buy a single car since the start of the year! I was getting a little bit anxious about that (joke) so I had a poke online and found an E36 for sale.
A particular E36.
This one.
That was the last car that my friend Ali drove, and the car we used as the centre-piece in the display at his funeral last February.
It was sold on by the family after a while, and has passed hands a few times. Finally it arrived with someone in October who realised it was a bigger bite than he could chew and it's come this way to have the treatment - a full overhaul.
It's running an M44B19 that Ali and I fitted in my workshop, but unfortunately the FSH that the car had has been lost.
Because I bought some of his project cars and parts from the family, I actually have the original M43B16 from this car as well. I could put it back to totally standard, or leave it with the M44. Either way it needs an exhaust and a little bit of bodywork and generally a good tidying.
I'll show you also what I've been test driving in the last few days:
This is a "Neon Edition", a limited run of E30 Cabriolets with unique colours and interiors. We were tasked with resolving a poor running engine and electric problems - actually the customer thought the engine was bad and wanted it replaced. We did some cursory examinations and found the engine was sound - and over the last couple of months have been removing and replacing the complete immobiliser system, alarm system, and ignition system - all of which were faulty. The PAS was also inoperative. All of these have been fixed and it's undergoing a bit of test-driving to make sure that everything is good and there are no more intermittent ignition issues. Nice to keep the original engine in it, and changing it wouldn't have fixed any of the problems anyway. When you get the freedom to really investigate and iron out issues it can often lead to a more preferable result.
And lastly, there is a NEW CAR! Something very exciting, so exciting I have been driving it for the last week and have not actually stopped long enough to take any pictures... I have to run it on super-unleaded so it's been a costly week, but still lots of fun.
Will update soon.
and some cars arrived. Up until the 20th of January I'd actually managed not to buy a single car since the start of the year! I was getting a little bit anxious about that (joke) so I had a poke online and found an E36 for sale.
A particular E36.
This one.
That was the last car that my friend Ali drove, and the car we used as the centre-piece in the display at his funeral last February.
It was sold on by the family after a while, and has passed hands a few times. Finally it arrived with someone in October who realised it was a bigger bite than he could chew and it's come this way to have the treatment - a full overhaul.
It's running an M44B19 that Ali and I fitted in my workshop, but unfortunately the FSH that the car had has been lost.
Because I bought some of his project cars and parts from the family, I actually have the original M43B16 from this car as well. I could put it back to totally standard, or leave it with the M44. Either way it needs an exhaust and a little bit of bodywork and generally a good tidying.
I'll show you also what I've been test driving in the last few days:
This is a "Neon Edition", a limited run of E30 Cabriolets with unique colours and interiors. We were tasked with resolving a poor running engine and electric problems - actually the customer thought the engine was bad and wanted it replaced. We did some cursory examinations and found the engine was sound - and over the last couple of months have been removing and replacing the complete immobiliser system, alarm system, and ignition system - all of which were faulty. The PAS was also inoperative. All of these have been fixed and it's undergoing a bit of test-driving to make sure that everything is good and there are no more intermittent ignition issues. Nice to keep the original engine in it, and changing it wouldn't have fixed any of the problems anyway. When you get the freedom to really investigate and iron out issues it can often lead to a more preferable result.
And lastly, there is a NEW CAR! Something very exciting, so exciting I have been driving it for the last week and have not actually stopped long enough to take any pictures... I have to run it on super-unleaded so it's been a costly week, but still lots of fun.
Will update soon.
BarryPort
RMS Regular
You posted this as the wife switched channels to Love Island, blessing.
that’s a nice tribute to Ali. Either engine would suffice but even though I didn’t get to know the guy the transplanted lump should remain in my eyes. Shame about the full history - I don’t know how guys genuinely lose these sort of documents!?
e30 looks very different & im sure desirable being a unique spec
that’s a nice tribute to Ali. Either engine would suffice but even though I didn’t get to know the guy the transplanted lump should remain in my eyes. Shame about the full history - I don’t know how guys genuinely lose these sort of documents!?
e30 looks very different & im sure desirable being a unique spec
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #341
I think the history papers got lost when his parents moved all of his stuff out of the house he'd been in. I'm going to try to get them back.
Last time I checked in, the Peugeot was still on the lift, needing a hub.
I couldn't get one anywhere for a 405. I asked around and found out that a 406 Mk1 was the same.
I tried to get one of those but at this point I was out of time - the lift was required urgently.
I popped in to a local breaker and took a look at a 406 Mk2. It looked similar enough to try so for £25 I grabbed that and then took over to my tame diesel mechanic Paul, who was well impressed by the yet unnamed new car.
The hubs returned with the new balljoints in them. The 405 drivers side one has a new bearing and new hub flange now, which it didn't actually need. It was the passenger side with the problems, but I figured, if I'm doing one, do both sides. Being that the passenger side hub broke, it was kinda pointless in the end, as now it has a 406 Mk2 hub in it with original bearing and flange! However the 406 has a larger sized balljoint, so that was removed, and the new ones I bought were installed. They were very, very tight to get in.
The driver side one went on smoothly, but I had to use a gearbox jack to push the arm up on to the strut as it was very reluctant to slide.
The 406 Mk2 hub was said to be different to the Mk1 and the 405. The only variance I could see was an extra round hole drilled for taking the ABS sensor. Otherwise it was visually identical.
With those on, the wheels could go back - but I needed non-rung bolts. I checked all the bolts on the car, and found most of them to be either rung, or the wrong size.
I went over to my mums old house where I still have that white Berlingo van that blew it's turbo, and nabbed two bolts from each wheel.
Those of course fitted the 405 properly and meant it could have the wheels fitted without stripping threads everywhere.
Out it went.
And I took a race 30 miles away one night to pick up wheels for the new car. These wheels had been on it before, but were a little bit knocked out of shape, so they'd been taken off. They came with new tyres too, although too small for my liking.
Thinking I was finally getting somewhere, I was quickly cut down... the new car has a very loud exhaust so nobody could hear anything, but I could feel a twitch at the rear on cornering. I jacked it up but could detect no bearing play, but when I drove it again, I was certain there was a bad bearing, so it's not being used again until that's properly checked.
New gaskets arrived at last for the E34 but no time to fit.
The Land Rover felt significantly down on power then as well on the way home, and being low-ish on fuel I didn't want to gun it in case it ran out.
And the MG still has a wheel that goes flat in a day.
It was less of a problem with the customer E30 needing test-driving but after using it for 3 or so days it was well enough tested.
So, running out of cars, I used the LR again. It was difficult to get it to start on account of the immobiliser wasn't working on the fob. After several presses I got it to unlock and then fire up. The system on a Disco 2 is one where the immobiliser/alarm is very integral, the ECU will lock out when the ignition is switched off, and there's very little you can do to bypass it. Which is fine, until you switch off at a fuel station to fill up, and then it won't re-start! Locking and unlocking the doors with the key in the handle serves only to unlock the doors - it doesn't turn off the alarm or the immob! So opening the door just gets you a blaring siren. The only way to stop that is to open the bonnet and pull the terminal off the battery. Can you re-set it by leaving the terminal off for a while? No!
This was on a day where I had to be somewhere early. For an hour I tried to do all I could, changing the battery in the key, locking and unlocking and much button pressing trying to configure or re-sync it but nothing worked.
I looked up some forums on my ipad and read about water getting into the keyfob signal receiver module, which is mounted to the rookskin between where the twin sunroofs would be. Except mine doesn't have sunroofs.
Anyway at this point I was frustrated enough to pull my pocket knife out and slice a hole in the headliner. By hole, I mean a 3'x3' square!
Instantly I spotted two receivers, one not plugged in. Hmm. I moved the plug from the one to the other, and got out, and tried the key. Nada. OK, so I swapped it back over, and tried again. Well, just that plug-moving was enough to wake the receiver up for a second, and the keyfob worked, and locked then unlocked the doors, meaning the immob was off, hurrah, so I pulled the door open, relieved to not get a blast of alarm siren for the first time in an hour, and started the brute.
I drove it to work and dumped it there. i got a lift home that night as I was really running out of usable cars!
So, after the weekend - to the MG, the easiest fix.
I pumped the tyre up to 50psi, and raced into work where the old wheels were located. They are the same style but two tyres were done and they need a refurb.
Well, for now, one of the old wheels was swapped on, the one with the still quite good Yokohama tyre that hasn't even gone flat while sitting unused.
MG back in action. A simple fix, but I had been trying to avoid driving on the tyre that looses pressure, given that it's a brand new Avon, but needs must.
Now, with something to use, I turned my focus back to fixing the LR. After a bit of forum-reading and research, I surmised that the receiver for the keyfob signal was indeed the problem I faced, basically because it sounded like the easiest to fix. To ebay in search of a module - and the cheapest one was £71 plus post! I baulked at that.
However this guy here is well used to cross-referencing part numbers and when I did that, I found that this LR part was also used in an MG... the ZT model to be precise! Now I have one of those on the road, a ZTT nearly ready to daily... and a ZT V6 spares car. The module is behind the dashboard in them and gives much less trouble. So I grabbed my tools and off I went to where that car is stored, to pull the dash out in search of this module.
There it is! The job was surprisingly easy as somebody had been in there before, and the clocks and trim had only a couple of screws between them so five minutes and I was in. However I'd managed to not bring any form of 10mm socket, so I had to go scouting for a suitable tool. Eventually I found a rusty 3/8 socket in a plastic box and as any good bush mechanic will know, that is the same thing. And so the module was removed, and I congratulated myself on my (hopefully) cost-free fix.
The next morning, I unscrewed both units from the LR roof.
Well, the bolt holding it in was quite rusty, and was also the earthing point, so I took a wire wheel to it and gave it a good clean. Popped the MG receiver module into place, and the keyfob now worked fine. Lock and unlock worked and kept working, immob and alarm were deactivated and the LR started fine.
I then thought, hmm, that bolt was pretty rusty. I cleaned the contacts on the modules that had been in the LR. One by one I put them in place, and they both worked fine also.
Well, shiver me timbers. The whole episode was caused by a corroded bolt! All the modules worked.
I dropped a spare in the LR, took the MG one back and put it in the other MG - best place for small electrical spares is in the car, just in case, y'know?
The LR still feels a little bit down on power, and i think it's the injectors needing done, and/or the turbo getting worn. I've been speaking to a couple of people about taking it in for a refresh and overhaul but nobody is keen. I may yet take into it myself.
So success? No, not really, still too many cars not really right, but keeping moving at least.
Last time I checked in, the Peugeot was still on the lift, needing a hub.
I couldn't get one anywhere for a 405. I asked around and found out that a 406 Mk1 was the same.
I tried to get one of those but at this point I was out of time - the lift was required urgently.
I popped in to a local breaker and took a look at a 406 Mk2. It looked similar enough to try so for £25 I grabbed that and then took over to my tame diesel mechanic Paul, who was well impressed by the yet unnamed new car.
The hubs returned with the new balljoints in them. The 405 drivers side one has a new bearing and new hub flange now, which it didn't actually need. It was the passenger side with the problems, but I figured, if I'm doing one, do both sides. Being that the passenger side hub broke, it was kinda pointless in the end, as now it has a 406 Mk2 hub in it with original bearing and flange! However the 406 has a larger sized balljoint, so that was removed, and the new ones I bought were installed. They were very, very tight to get in.
The driver side one went on smoothly, but I had to use a gearbox jack to push the arm up on to the strut as it was very reluctant to slide.
The 406 Mk2 hub was said to be different to the Mk1 and the 405. The only variance I could see was an extra round hole drilled for taking the ABS sensor. Otherwise it was visually identical.
With those on, the wheels could go back - but I needed non-rung bolts. I checked all the bolts on the car, and found most of them to be either rung, or the wrong size.
I went over to my mums old house where I still have that white Berlingo van that blew it's turbo, and nabbed two bolts from each wheel.
Those of course fitted the 405 properly and meant it could have the wheels fitted without stripping threads everywhere.
Out it went.
And I took a race 30 miles away one night to pick up wheels for the new car. These wheels had been on it before, but were a little bit knocked out of shape, so they'd been taken off. They came with new tyres too, although too small for my liking.
Thinking I was finally getting somewhere, I was quickly cut down... the new car has a very loud exhaust so nobody could hear anything, but I could feel a twitch at the rear on cornering. I jacked it up but could detect no bearing play, but when I drove it again, I was certain there was a bad bearing, so it's not being used again until that's properly checked.
New gaskets arrived at last for the E34 but no time to fit.
The Land Rover felt significantly down on power then as well on the way home, and being low-ish on fuel I didn't want to gun it in case it ran out.
And the MG still has a wheel that goes flat in a day.
It was less of a problem with the customer E30 needing test-driving but after using it for 3 or so days it was well enough tested.
So, running out of cars, I used the LR again. It was difficult to get it to start on account of the immobiliser wasn't working on the fob. After several presses I got it to unlock and then fire up. The system on a Disco 2 is one where the immobiliser/alarm is very integral, the ECU will lock out when the ignition is switched off, and there's very little you can do to bypass it. Which is fine, until you switch off at a fuel station to fill up, and then it won't re-start! Locking and unlocking the doors with the key in the handle serves only to unlock the doors - it doesn't turn off the alarm or the immob! So opening the door just gets you a blaring siren. The only way to stop that is to open the bonnet and pull the terminal off the battery. Can you re-set it by leaving the terminal off for a while? No!
This was on a day where I had to be somewhere early. For an hour I tried to do all I could, changing the battery in the key, locking and unlocking and much button pressing trying to configure or re-sync it but nothing worked.
I looked up some forums on my ipad and read about water getting into the keyfob signal receiver module, which is mounted to the rookskin between where the twin sunroofs would be. Except mine doesn't have sunroofs.
Anyway at this point I was frustrated enough to pull my pocket knife out and slice a hole in the headliner. By hole, I mean a 3'x3' square!
Instantly I spotted two receivers, one not plugged in. Hmm. I moved the plug from the one to the other, and got out, and tried the key. Nada. OK, so I swapped it back over, and tried again. Well, just that plug-moving was enough to wake the receiver up for a second, and the keyfob worked, and locked then unlocked the doors, meaning the immob was off, hurrah, so I pulled the door open, relieved to not get a blast of alarm siren for the first time in an hour, and started the brute.
I drove it to work and dumped it there. i got a lift home that night as I was really running out of usable cars!
So, after the weekend - to the MG, the easiest fix.
I pumped the tyre up to 50psi, and raced into work where the old wheels were located. They are the same style but two tyres were done and they need a refurb.
Well, for now, one of the old wheels was swapped on, the one with the still quite good Yokohama tyre that hasn't even gone flat while sitting unused.
MG back in action. A simple fix, but I had been trying to avoid driving on the tyre that looses pressure, given that it's a brand new Avon, but needs must.
Now, with something to use, I turned my focus back to fixing the LR. After a bit of forum-reading and research, I surmised that the receiver for the keyfob signal was indeed the problem I faced, basically because it sounded like the easiest to fix. To ebay in search of a module - and the cheapest one was £71 plus post! I baulked at that.
However this guy here is well used to cross-referencing part numbers and when I did that, I found that this LR part was also used in an MG... the ZT model to be precise! Now I have one of those on the road, a ZTT nearly ready to daily... and a ZT V6 spares car. The module is behind the dashboard in them and gives much less trouble. So I grabbed my tools and off I went to where that car is stored, to pull the dash out in search of this module.
There it is! The job was surprisingly easy as somebody had been in there before, and the clocks and trim had only a couple of screws between them so five minutes and I was in. However I'd managed to not bring any form of 10mm socket, so I had to go scouting for a suitable tool. Eventually I found a rusty 3/8 socket in a plastic box and as any good bush mechanic will know, that is the same thing. And so the module was removed, and I congratulated myself on my (hopefully) cost-free fix.
The next morning, I unscrewed both units from the LR roof.
Well, the bolt holding it in was quite rusty, and was also the earthing point, so I took a wire wheel to it and gave it a good clean. Popped the MG receiver module into place, and the keyfob now worked fine. Lock and unlock worked and kept working, immob and alarm were deactivated and the LR started fine.
I then thought, hmm, that bolt was pretty rusty. I cleaned the contacts on the modules that had been in the LR. One by one I put them in place, and they both worked fine also.
Well, shiver me timbers. The whole episode was caused by a corroded bolt! All the modules worked.
I dropped a spare in the LR, took the MG one back and put it in the other MG - best place for small electrical spares is in the car, just in case, y'know?
The LR still feels a little bit down on power, and i think it's the injectors needing done, and/or the turbo getting worn. I've been speaking to a couple of people about taking it in for a refresh and overhaul but nobody is keen. I may yet take into it myself.
So success? No, not really, still too many cars not really right, but keeping moving at least.
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #342
Wow, 2 months. Time has been been busy.
So you will remember that I was having difficulty with not enough fully working cars.
One of the guys in work was dealing with a young girl that had phoned in looking to sell her Mini. It had been smashed at the rear and was only good for scrap. But being nearby and assured that it was not smashed so bad to be undriveable, my dad and I went over after work one night and I knocked on the door. I had to wait in the sitting room with the girl's parents until she was out of the shower, because she'd totally forgotten that I was coming, or that she was selling the car, but anyway I set the £200 on the coffee table and made off, it was getting late and a hot dinner was on my mind.
The battery was totally flat and the car wouldn't even start on a bump so we had to go get a battery then. So the dinner had to wait, and we ran about getting jump leads and a battery and tools. We needed all of them in the end, but once the Mini spluttered into life, it soon started remembering how it felt to be on the open road and it got better as it went on. Electrical parts that didn't work at first started to kick in as the alternator woke them up, and the energetic drive home loosened up the stiff undercarriage.
By the time I'd done the 10 miles back down the roads towards home, I decided I'd just drive this for a while instead.
I mean, there is actually nothing wrong with it, under than lots of lacquer peel.
And this is the damage:
It's not even bad enough to be bothered trying to fix it.
It's running around on an old 063 battery I had that could only muster 200A. Now, that is low. Originally these have a 460A or so. That means, you only get a couple of goes at starting it. Thankfully it is a really easy starter and takes no effort. It's a peachy one to drive, and I've driven a few rough ones now. The alternator puts out plenty of current so it runs the electrics while the car is running.
There's only one story to tell. The battery was not only underpowered, it has worn terminals and the leads would not clamp down tight. So every so often they would bounce off, like the Land Rover does. One evening I went over to football training and bumped over a pot-hole on the way. The alternator kept the car going but the battery was now disconnected. Also, another thing that this Mini has is auto-locking when it goes over 10mph. So the doors were locked, and the battery was off...
Yeah.
I pulled up at football, and switched the car off... and could not get out. I knew what had happened immediately and so my mind started at the most obvious choice first, smash a window open. But then I grabbed my phone and called one of the other guys who hadn't arrived yet, and asked him to rescue me.
Often I didn't bother taking my phone to football so I was glad that I had this day!
When he arrived I pulled the bonnet from inside, they connected the battery lead and I was able to hit the unlock button and escape.
Still, I didn't fix that for another 6 weeks, I just made sure to hit the unlock button every time before turning the car off!
I went round one Sunday afternoon to some friends for lunch, and there is a ford at the end of their road. I'd desperately wanted to take the Land Rover through it but this was in mid-Feb when the rain was heavy and the rivers were high. Very high, this tributary runs past his house and we worked out it had risen 12 feet...
It was scary looking out at it in a Mini that sits less than a foot off the ground with the little 15" wheels.
Since that, the wheels have been replaced with 16" Cooper wheels in white, to make it a little nicer looking, and mainly because I'd been doing loads of burnouts and handbrake turns in it because I'm not a proper grown-up yet and so the 15" tyres were getting low.
So, that's the Mini, the "spare daily", which has clocked up several thousand miles in the last 10 weeks or so.
So you will remember that I was having difficulty with not enough fully working cars.
One of the guys in work was dealing with a young girl that had phoned in looking to sell her Mini. It had been smashed at the rear and was only good for scrap. But being nearby and assured that it was not smashed so bad to be undriveable, my dad and I went over after work one night and I knocked on the door. I had to wait in the sitting room with the girl's parents until she was out of the shower, because she'd totally forgotten that I was coming, or that she was selling the car, but anyway I set the £200 on the coffee table and made off, it was getting late and a hot dinner was on my mind.
The battery was totally flat and the car wouldn't even start on a bump so we had to go get a battery then. So the dinner had to wait, and we ran about getting jump leads and a battery and tools. We needed all of them in the end, but once the Mini spluttered into life, it soon started remembering how it felt to be on the open road and it got better as it went on. Electrical parts that didn't work at first started to kick in as the alternator woke them up, and the energetic drive home loosened up the stiff undercarriage.
By the time I'd done the 10 miles back down the roads towards home, I decided I'd just drive this for a while instead.
I mean, there is actually nothing wrong with it, under than lots of lacquer peel.
And this is the damage:
It's not even bad enough to be bothered trying to fix it.
It's running around on an old 063 battery I had that could only muster 200A. Now, that is low. Originally these have a 460A or so. That means, you only get a couple of goes at starting it. Thankfully it is a really easy starter and takes no effort. It's a peachy one to drive, and I've driven a few rough ones now. The alternator puts out plenty of current so it runs the electrics while the car is running.
There's only one story to tell. The battery was not only underpowered, it has worn terminals and the leads would not clamp down tight. So every so often they would bounce off, like the Land Rover does. One evening I went over to football training and bumped over a pot-hole on the way. The alternator kept the car going but the battery was now disconnected. Also, another thing that this Mini has is auto-locking when it goes over 10mph. So the doors were locked, and the battery was off...
Yeah.
I pulled up at football, and switched the car off... and could not get out. I knew what had happened immediately and so my mind started at the most obvious choice first, smash a window open. But then I grabbed my phone and called one of the other guys who hadn't arrived yet, and asked him to rescue me.
Often I didn't bother taking my phone to football so I was glad that I had this day!
When he arrived I pulled the bonnet from inside, they connected the battery lead and I was able to hit the unlock button and escape.
Still, I didn't fix that for another 6 weeks, I just made sure to hit the unlock button every time before turning the car off!
I went round one Sunday afternoon to some friends for lunch, and there is a ford at the end of their road. I'd desperately wanted to take the Land Rover through it but this was in mid-Feb when the rain was heavy and the rivers were high. Very high, this tributary runs past his house and we worked out it had risen 12 feet...
It was scary looking out at it in a Mini that sits less than a foot off the ground with the little 15" wheels.
Since that, the wheels have been replaced with 16" Cooper wheels in white, to make it a little nicer looking, and mainly because I'd been doing loads of burnouts and handbrake turns in it because I'm not a proper grown-up yet and so the 15" tyres were getting low.
So, that's the Mini, the "spare daily", which has clocked up several thousand miles in the last 10 weeks or so.
southsky sunrise
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This was not to far from you bud if your looking another “fixed car” diesel with loads of test. Possibly abit modern for you but boy asked me £600 & like everything it would be negotiable I’m sure. I can send you his number if you wish...
but boy asked me £600 & like everything it would be negotiable I’m sure. I can send you his number if you wish...surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #344
Next up: the 540.
I mentioned that the gasket had arrived.
To recap, the water pump had seized. No idea why, it wasn't broken, but it had just stopped rotating. New belts were already bought and I had altered and fitted a slightly later pump, from a 4.4 V8. That engine (from the E39 model) has an extra pipe as well as a sensor in the waterpump, but I blocked them off and determined to not fork out £75 for a new pump when I had a dozen known good ones sitting there.
I'd fitted it using some "instant gasket" stuff but it hadn't quite sealed and in the most awkward spot, right in the centre of the "V" or the engine, it was spurting out a tiny stream of coolant. So it had to come off again and I decided if I have to do this awkward job a second time, I'm not going to chance it, so the gasket was ordered. It took several weeks to arrive, so it was late Feb before I could start on that.
So I did. This time, rather than the excruciating hand and arm twisting to get at the bolts, i thought I'd take the pulleys off the front and make life easier. Well, that was the plan.
The radiators had to come out first. The coolant one was fine, the but air-con ones are notorious for being difficult.
I managed to get the larger nut to un-do, eventually, but the smaller one, well, it almost went, then it twisted and snapped the radiator pipes (which are alloy) and that was that. Well, it wasn't I then had to still take into the whole thing with a grinder as the bracket was pinned by the pipes being disconnected and/or broken on opposite sides of the bracket.
Next up was the simple task of unbolting the various pulleys. Simple.
What I did was sheer off the bolt that holds the alternator tensioner on.
*^"&£E**&(*&R*(*)(*(#@^%~!!!!!
Thinking long and hard about how fast I could ram this car into a wall, or whether I had another engine to drop into it, or whether to just sit in a puddle and cry, I eventually got the drill out and started the arduous task of drilling the bolt out. There was lots of space to work with and I didn't have to twist and cramp my hands to do this job at all [/sarcasm][/irony].
Now, I'm not gonna lie, that car sat there for almost a month.
Two reasons, one, someone "borrowed" my very large, very expensive tap'n'die set a long time ago and failed to return it. As it happens I think it's the same ex-friend that owes me a set of HSR coilovers and possibly an IRP handbrake. Which is 4 figures worth. Best not thinking about it. So new employee that had just started said he'd bring his set in, but kept forgetting for about a week.
Reason two, I'm lazy and this job was way too hard and scary.
But eventually, it had to be faced, and I got stuck in, and tapped it out, after much more careful drilling and tapping and making sure it was dead straight. I mean, it's only the tensioner pulley for the main auxiliary belt for the alternator and PAS and waterpump on a 286bhp 1.75 ton V8.
But, it worked! And very, very tentatively I built it back up.
And that right there is a photo of it working. If it could be a picture with noise you would hear a V8 rumble and know that it was a good fix. Sweet relief. And it's not like it's going to get any more pressure than it did when fitting the belt, that's when the whole thing is stretched the most, so if it was going to snap again, it would have by now. I'm definitely chalking up a win on that one. Or a save, to be more precise.
The next day I asked one of the guys to give me a hand to hold the replacement viscous fan as it tightened it on.
SRSLY!
So the 540iT is almost fixed. Well, back to the shabby standard it was at before. Not "fixed". I still don't know what to do with it. Sell it, most likely, but I'm not sure if I care enough to fix it really well and then sell it, or just let it languish and then sell it as it is, needing a lot of niggly little things sorted. I've a lot of cars like that right now.
I mentioned that the gasket had arrived.
To recap, the water pump had seized. No idea why, it wasn't broken, but it had just stopped rotating. New belts were already bought and I had altered and fitted a slightly later pump, from a 4.4 V8. That engine (from the E39 model) has an extra pipe as well as a sensor in the waterpump, but I blocked them off and determined to not fork out £75 for a new pump when I had a dozen known good ones sitting there.
I'd fitted it using some "instant gasket" stuff but it hadn't quite sealed and in the most awkward spot, right in the centre of the "V" or the engine, it was spurting out a tiny stream of coolant. So it had to come off again and I decided if I have to do this awkward job a second time, I'm not going to chance it, so the gasket was ordered. It took several weeks to arrive, so it was late Feb before I could start on that.
So I did. This time, rather than the excruciating hand and arm twisting to get at the bolts, i thought I'd take the pulleys off the front and make life easier. Well, that was the plan.
The radiators had to come out first. The coolant one was fine, the but air-con ones are notorious for being difficult.
I managed to get the larger nut to un-do, eventually, but the smaller one, well, it almost went, then it twisted and snapped the radiator pipes (which are alloy) and that was that. Well, it wasn't I then had to still take into the whole thing with a grinder as the bracket was pinned by the pipes being disconnected and/or broken on opposite sides of the bracket.
Next up was the simple task of unbolting the various pulleys. Simple.
What I did was sheer off the bolt that holds the alternator tensioner on.
*^"&£E**&(*&R*(*)(*(#@^%~!!!!!
Thinking long and hard about how fast I could ram this car into a wall, or whether I had another engine to drop into it, or whether to just sit in a puddle and cry, I eventually got the drill out and started the arduous task of drilling the bolt out. There was lots of space to work with and I didn't have to twist and cramp my hands to do this job at all [/sarcasm][/irony].
Now, I'm not gonna lie, that car sat there for almost a month.
Two reasons, one, someone "borrowed" my very large, very expensive tap'n'die set a long time ago and failed to return it. As it happens I think it's the same ex-friend that owes me a set of HSR coilovers and possibly an IRP handbrake. Which is 4 figures worth. Best not thinking about it. So new employee that had just started said he'd bring his set in, but kept forgetting for about a week.
Reason two, I'm lazy and this job was way too hard and scary.
But eventually, it had to be faced, and I got stuck in, and tapped it out, after much more careful drilling and tapping and making sure it was dead straight. I mean, it's only the tensioner pulley for the main auxiliary belt for the alternator and PAS and waterpump on a 286bhp 1.75 ton V8.
But, it worked! And very, very tentatively I built it back up.
And that right there is a photo of it working. If it could be a picture with noise you would hear a V8 rumble and know that it was a good fix. Sweet relief. And it's not like it's going to get any more pressure than it did when fitting the belt, that's when the whole thing is stretched the most, so if it was going to snap again, it would have by now. I'm definitely chalking up a win on that one. Or a save, to be more precise.
The next day I asked one of the guys to give me a hand to hold the replacement viscous fan as it tightened it on.
SRSLY!
So the 540iT is almost fixed. Well, back to the shabby standard it was at before. Not "fixed". I still don't know what to do with it. Sell it, most likely, but I'm not sure if I care enough to fix it really well and then sell it, or just let it languish and then sell it as it is, needing a lot of niggly little things sorted. I've a lot of cars like that right now.
Yeah, go on, I might dally with that seeing I don't know what to be atThis was not to far from you bud if your looking another “fixed car” diesel with loads of test. Possibly abit modern for you
southsky sunrise
RMS Regular
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- 11,013
- Drives
- Old skool
Pm sent. Bit late for a text
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #347
Towards the end of February, I hired a Telescopic for the day and stuck the long toes on. We arranged to stay in work late and just keep going to try and clear some space.
We hauled off a Mini Cooper and an E46s and this E36 compact, and a rusty 2002 and one of the Skoda Rapids I bought last year for spares - and moved some other stuff around.
Eventually we made enough space to fit another lorry container in, so I was able to call a guy (after tracking him down again) and get him to deliver me a trailer over.
Another job needing tackled was the case of the seized solid locking ring. The Makita 9" grinder uses a larger hole spacing than our other grinders, and the tool for it was nowhere to be found, so eventually, I just figured I would make one.
This is why we keep old broken tools lying around...
And it fitted perfectly!
Alas though - it bent. It bent real bad. I straightened it and strengthened it a couple of time but it just wasn't going.
The next step was to weld something to the locking ring.
That was welded to the side in the hope that I could then break or cut it off afterwards and re-use the ring. But after much heaving, it snapped off.
Hours were passing by.
Next step.
A bit of bar welded straight to the ring.
Many extensions were used for leverage, but this solid 12mm steel bar bent rather than release the ring!
Eventually I had to call in the professionals and the grumpy old engineer that works for me smacked it off with a massive mallet while I held the locking pin in with one hand and the grinder still with the other - and tried not to take a hammer to the temple.
Well who cares, you say? Well, it was needed, because the days of the Stihl saw were coming to a close. Hundreds of hours of work over 5 or 6 years were making the stone saw a little tired, and I'd spent hundreds on keeping it serviced over the last couple of years, so a new saw became more and more enticing. So I needed the 9" working in order to release the Stihl from duties.
The Skoda Rapid was moved into the "kill zone" and over St Patricks day, I took a couple of days off and stripped it to a bare shell.
Unfortunately the welding of a lump of bar to the Makita locking ring meant I had to wait on a new one to be sent out to replace it, and the noisy orange beast had to be called upon again.
But it was worth it to save a rust-free non-sunroof roof-skin for a car that went out of production almost 30 years ago.
And what remained was carted off to the recycling yard. It was good to finally finish that off.
A couple of days later the fellow that sold me those last two Rapids stopped by and told me he'd made contact with someone he had been trying to get hold of, and there were two more to be dragged out of another field. Just what I needed!
We hauled off a Mini Cooper and an E46s and this E36 compact, and a rusty 2002 and one of the Skoda Rapids I bought last year for spares - and moved some other stuff around.
Eventually we made enough space to fit another lorry container in, so I was able to call a guy (after tracking him down again) and get him to deliver me a trailer over.
Another job needing tackled was the case of the seized solid locking ring. The Makita 9" grinder uses a larger hole spacing than our other grinders, and the tool for it was nowhere to be found, so eventually, I just figured I would make one.
This is why we keep old broken tools lying around...
And it fitted perfectly!
Alas though - it bent. It bent real bad. I straightened it and strengthened it a couple of time but it just wasn't going.
The next step was to weld something to the locking ring.
That was welded to the side in the hope that I could then break or cut it off afterwards and re-use the ring. But after much heaving, it snapped off.
Hours were passing by.
Next step.
A bit of bar welded straight to the ring.
Many extensions were used for leverage, but this solid 12mm steel bar bent rather than release the ring!
Eventually I had to call in the professionals and the grumpy old engineer that works for me smacked it off with a massive mallet while I held the locking pin in with one hand and the grinder still with the other - and tried not to take a hammer to the temple.
Well who cares, you say? Well, it was needed, because the days of the Stihl saw were coming to a close. Hundreds of hours of work over 5 or 6 years were making the stone saw a little tired, and I'd spent hundreds on keeping it serviced over the last couple of years, so a new saw became more and more enticing. So I needed the 9" working in order to release the Stihl from duties.
The Skoda Rapid was moved into the "kill zone" and over St Patricks day, I took a couple of days off and stripped it to a bare shell.
Unfortunately the welding of a lump of bar to the Makita locking ring meant I had to wait on a new one to be sent out to replace it, and the noisy orange beast had to be called upon again.
But it was worth it to save a rust-free non-sunroof roof-skin for a car that went out of production almost 30 years ago.
And what remained was carted off to the recycling yard. It was good to finally finish that off.
A couple of days later the fellow that sold me those last two Rapids stopped by and told me he'd made contact with someone he had been trying to get hold of, and there were two more to be dragged out of another field. Just what I needed!
surprising_skoda
RMS Regular
OP
- Thread Starter
- #349
Only if it's a yellow or blue Mk1 1.4 3dr...
'96dc2
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- 7,890
It’s blue, 1.4, 3 door, need to check the year