MonzaPhil
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Oh yeah, now after an accidental bid last weekend on a well known interweb auction site, I find myself getting rather excitable about collecting this tomorrow. A small amount of Googling has netted me this so far: from here but I've re-hosted the pics, anyone registered on that forum is welcome to say I've saved the car...... popularclassics.forumcircle.com/viewtopic.php?p=235259&Anyway, what can I say, it's a 2300S, one of a handful left from a small production run, 500 Bright Blue Starfire with (quite frankly horrid) Viking Blue interior and red and blue side stripes and "S" decal or Bright Green Starfire with (really nice) Onyx interior and two tone green stripes and "S". This model gained all the nice stainless trim, external door mirrors (wowee), a vinyl roof, reclining seats, cassette player and heated rear window. Also, as fitted to this one, a GM automatic transmission. Engine is the super (I've heard other words used) 2279 slant 4, it's a torquey and smooth engine, unstressed and has bags of power, ideal in a big saloon. I can't wait to get it home, it's only an hour away in Pompey so a good trip for the morning. Obviously I'll report back soon. We'll be taking the naughty red Discovery...... Another bonus, it's MOT'd for ages and 6 month tax so I can just jump in and use it, coupled with just 80k and 2 owners I'm a happy MonzaPhil. Looks like there are a few bits that need attention, the NSR door is an od shade, the bootlid still has a dent and needs a bit of paint around the lock and it's had a bump on the NSR corner, doesn't look major but I don't have a single straight rear bumper! Loads of front ones but 4 bent rear ones! Broken rear lamp on the NS too but I have boxes of them! Looks like it's had a couple of patches under he bonnet but I'll tidy up under there eventually. Interior is pretty gopping so full valet etc, needs new rear seat as the fabric has gone along the top edge. It goes, it stops, it'll be home by lunchtime. Don't get me wrong, I don't have an obsession, in fact, I'd much rather have Viva coupes (probably) but I do have a bit of a soft spot for these old things. If you've seen my other "Readers Rides" you'll see the green one was the first car I bought, hence the attachment I think, either that or I'm mad. Anyhoo, I've yet to break this wonderful news to my boss who provides me with employment, tea and biscuits AND parking......
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Last Edit: Sept 10, 2012 21:49:12 GMT by MonzaPhil
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Mar 10, 2012 20:41:23 GMT
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Anyhoo, an early start this morning (after poached eggs on toast and a cup of tea) saw MonzaNikki and myself on our way to collect the latest addition to the fleet. Some last minute mapificating meant I found out that rather than going to Pompey to collect the car, we only had to go as far as Hedge End to a storage yard. Result! The trip down was uneventful, 45 minutes to get to the motorway then about 20 minutes to actually do the journey. We arrived at 10:15 and met up with the vendor, a really nice chap called Terry who had acquired the car in a job lot because he wanted a couple of old commercial vehicles. Anyway, kicked the tyres, started it up, poked around and handed over the wedge then we were on our way. Obviously a couple of areas of paint to deal with! Anyway, it's all there, drove faultlessly home and we were back with a fresh cuppa by 11:30, a nice morning out, beautiful sunshine, windows down, passed the pale blue HC Viva that was on eBay recently fuelling up in Rownhams. I beeped a lot but wasn't stopping. "British Rail in the United Kingdom operated Motorail services from 1955. These lasted into the post-privatisation era, with the final one, First Great Western's Night Riviera service between London Paddington station and Penzance, operating until September 2005." according to Wiki. Found a mummified orange in the boot.... Interior is no way near as bad as the ebay ad showed although the rear seat top is holed badly, I've removed the duct tape as that is not a proper repair! Rear arches have been "built" by someone who has either never seen a car or never seen a Vauxhall FE.... they are ridiculous. P38 wide arch kit? Wobbly rear quarter.. Not tried a tape yet. Inner wings, a couple of patches but totally solid.. So far...........
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Last Edit: Mar 11, 2012 11:49:07 GMT by MonzaPhil
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
Posts: 2,456
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Mar 10, 2012 20:54:44 GMT
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Got it up on the ramp straight away, it's good to have such facilities... Underneath is reall good, there have been a couple of patches fairly sympathetically applied and the sills have had the rear ends done, overall though, it's much better than I hoped for. Alternator looks fairly recent all the bushes etc looked good but the exhaust, which has a bit of a blow, is a bit of a lash-up. And the fleet together Plans are to get is freshened up, sort the interior, paint and keep it preserved. It's been doing between 2 and 20 miles per year recently so I don't want to shock it into blowing up! With so few of these about, and since I have one to play with, it would be a shame to chop it about. Same sort of thing as the VX/490, aim to do it well once and hopefully it will have another 37 years. Cheers.
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Mar 10, 2012 21:34:19 GMT
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It's an auto...
Sir, I would like, respectfully, to call dibs on this when you're bored. Maybe. If I have money and my girlfriend lets me.
Seriously though, I completely sympathise with your apparent addiction and thoroughly respect your excellent taste in cars. I wish I still had all the parts I had a decade ago, I'd give them happily.
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Mar 10, 2012 21:42:09 GMT
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Nice motor Monzaphil! Enjoying your threads on these old beasts, hope you get a break on the other one - looked like a disasterous rot discovery! I heard that the stylists originally planned to have the grill unbroken by the front bumper and have two short separate bumpers and an asymetric number-plate set-up, have you seen it done?
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dazcapri
North East
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Posts: 1,057
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Mar 10, 2012 21:42:16 GMT
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nice fleet I had a couple of these when I first started driving they're an underrated car it's nice to see them getting some love
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Mk3 Capri LS
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Mar 11, 2012 18:32:41 GMT
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That looks tasty gorgeous sir...! You have got a cracking selection of FE's there...
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***GARAGE CURRENTLY EMPTY***
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Mar 11, 2012 20:04:51 GMT
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The first thing that came into my head when I saw this pic was "Princess Volksangyl needs to get his hands(and his buckets of soapy water) on this interior" ;D
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MonzaPhil
Posted a lot
Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Mar 11, 2012 21:18:59 GMT
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I've tried getting Volks here but he doesn't seem to want a holiday washing ganky interiors! I'll start on the interior clean up soon but it has a nice, homely, lived-in (died in) feel about it that will hopefully stop people asking for a lift..... Thanks for the comments folks. Regarding the front grille, there was one on eBay recently with a cut front bumper and offset plate and I don't think it suits it really, sadly it was a 2300S that had been matt blacked and slotmagged despite looking really good when it was for sale last year as a standard car. Each to their own. Anyway, I've left it at work so I can do stuff next week. The (interfering) neighbours made the mistake of asking how many more cars I had..... I said "6" and am now proceeding to bring home some really horrible ones in the hope they'll shut up and go away. Flat rules say I'm only allowed 2 on the site but they must have tax and MOT. No laws on how rusty or scruffy thay can be. I digress, the Auto is going fine and had a nice trundle in it today, looking forward to getting it all tidied up but as it's on the road, it can wait until the 490 is finished. * According to "How Many Left" this is the only 2300S auto, my manual one is one of 5 and the VX4/90 is one of 6. Yes, I have 25% of the remaining cars.
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Last Edit: Mar 12, 2012 0:35:48 GMT by MonzaPhil
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Mar 12, 2012 11:43:29 GMT
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I've got that radio, came from my engine donor HC. Unsure what to do with it at the moment. One of the companies that puts modern innards in an old radio is top of the list but really I want a great condition, period, Vauxhall-badged radio. And last time one of those went on Ebay as 'untested' it sold for £150ish. Can sympathise with you over nosey neighbours too. When I had 3 cars on the drive and one parked on the empty road outside my house the snotty cow from 3 doors away came to have a word when I got back from work. Kept having a dig then said, 'you make it look like a car park'. My response of 'yeah, that would be nice' didn't go down well
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Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
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Mar 15, 2012 20:46:11 GMT
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I once had a farmer pick up one of my CXs with a forklift truck, because it was in the village car park (deliberately placed so it was a: often blocked in, and b: behind a wall so not visible) because one of the neighbours complained. Left a dent in the door.
I'd have complained, but I did have 7 cars around the village, and the person that made the complaint was clearly just a bitter and unpleasant creature, living in a new build house that was sinking into the ground one half at a time. Oh, and the farmer died very shortly after. So the moral is... um...
Well, just make sure no unpleasant gits cause those lovely FEs to be damaged.
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MonzaPhil
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Ah, they're safe from my neighbours.
Progress today is fitting new bumpers and rear lights so now it doesn't look like it's been driven into everything.
After some Google Earth research, it turns out the elderly previous owner actually lived pretty much opposite the garage that looked after the car. Curiously, with a telescope or some big binoculars I could actually see their house from here. They were in Totland Bay on the Isle of Wight and I live on the cliff top at Barton..... Weird huh.
More pics soon, and a VX4/90 update too.
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dugong
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One Of Us Will Live To Rue The Day We Met Each Other (Wire : 2008)
Posts: 3,292
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Got some KN Geminis that would fit this, if you're interested.........
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MonzaPhil
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Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought
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Mar 16, 2012 20:53:34 GMT
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I might be interested, pics and price?
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dugong
Posted a lot
One Of Us Will Live To Rue The Day We Met Each Other (Wire : 2008)
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Mar 16, 2012 22:59:23 GMT
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I might be interested, pics and price? Er, PM sent.
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Mar 17, 2012 17:01:41 GMT
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Aha - I had this firmly on my watch list a couple of weeks ago, but it crept above my meagre budget... I'm glad it's found a better home that I would have been able to give to it! I very nearly had a pop on the FE Estate a few weeks back, but the seller wouldn't answer any e-mails, and it was a bit too far away to go have a looksee... (Hope it was saved, and didn't end up bangered?!) This one:
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Last Edit: Mar 17, 2012 17:02:51 GMT by fluoxetine
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Mar 17, 2012 17:19:58 GMT
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I've tried getting Volks here but he doesn't seem to want a holiday washing ganky interiors! I'll start on the interior clean up soon but it has a nice, homely, lived-in (died in) feel about it ..... This is why you're into cars and not selling package holidays Sometimes, I get the urge to tackle another grebby interior, then I remember spending about 3 weeks of cleaning for a couple of hours every day on the Princess and realise I'd need paying (in something other than magic beans and pixie dust, I've fallen for that before!) to want to do it again. I do like blue cars with blue interiors, and this one is lovely. I'm very pleased to hear that you're planning to keep it as unmolested as possible.
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MonzaPhil
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Mar 17, 2012 17:28:37 GMT
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Aha - I had this firmly on my watch list a couple of weeks ago, but it crept above my meagre budget... I'm glad it's found a better home that I would have been able to give to it! I very nearly had a pop on the FE Estate a few weeks back, but the seller wouldn't answer any e-mails, and it was a bit too far away to go have a looksee... (Hope it was saved, and didn't end up bangered?!) This one: The estate has been saved so don't worry, it has stopped running but nothing serious. Will update about it when I get some more news.
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MonzaPhil
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Mar 17, 2012 17:29:27 GMT
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Blimey another one.......... You are going to hoover up the remaining ones in the UK? The latest one came with a free dustpan and brush.......
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