düdo
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Jan 12, 2015 13:09:51 GMT
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Looking good. How did you get the paint on - is that out of a tin? Looks nice and shiny. I wish I could have done something like this with my Dad but my Mum had a mortal fear of 'cars on bricks' so I had to wait til I left home.
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düdo
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That's a fine ride. Takes me back a bit looking at that. I had a Raleigh Bomber a few years ago but I couldn't find any of the bits to get it back to original such as the saddle and the blue tyres. I gave it to my dad and he turned it into something mutant - quite different from what Raleigh had designed! Well done with this one.
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düdo
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Sorry to state the obvious but is this at all 'retro?' Maybe in dog years?
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düdo
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Posts: 770
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May 22, 2014 14:43:17 GMT
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Heavens. I skimmed through the thread. My eyes hurt from looking at all that rust. I thought it was Lancias and Fiats of that era that had that kind of rot. Not a good ad for the flagship of the British car industry!
Your repair work and stamina are remarkable.
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düdo
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Jun 10, 2013 20:46:31 GMT
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Hats off to you mate! Ten years well spent. That would get some serious respect here sausage side.
I didn't realise they had the Tron style electronic display. There's some cars from that time that it's still unsure whether they're classics or not. No doubt about this one. Great stuff.
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düdo
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May 30, 2013 11:44:12 GMT
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I think those teeth give it a nice hungry look and - Aussie or not - it's got a bit of the Mad Maxes about it too! Good stuff, keep going.
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düdo
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May 15, 2013 21:11:24 GMT
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Thankyou. I'm from the London Suburbs and for years I didn't have a car - just a bicycle and a Honda C-50. Then since I moved here and got the use of a barn I've pathologically filled it with mostly old French tin which I've been trying to reduce. Most of our trips in the Merc have been the 1000km run to London and back or over The Rhine into France which is a two hour drive, to check the French scrapyards. Even my scrapyard indifferent wife had to admit that we ended up in some nice places as a by-product of the scrap hunt. I like quiet corners to park where you can light a fire, have a few beers, enjoy some nature etc.
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düdo
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Posts: 770
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May 15, 2013 17:45:40 GMT
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Don't think I've ever seen one of these. It does have a bit of the Aussie Holden vibe about it as someone mentioned and that interior is a time-machine . I also like the sticker collection - looks as though someone did a bit of touring around Germany and Austria, planted on those brown thrones! I can't ever see these browns making a come-back in the auto world.
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düdo
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May 15, 2013 14:00:07 GMT
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Sciclone wrote Good spot and not a bad punt. It is indeed a Renault, a 1988 R21 Nevada or Savanna as they were called in Uk.
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Last Edit: Apr 3, 2015 8:39:43 GMT by düdo
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düdo
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May 13, 2013 19:33:01 GMT
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I just read through the thread. Great to see such a tasty ride getting the proper respect. Nice flowing welds! I like this too..
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düdo
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May 13, 2013 12:52:03 GMT
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Thanks for the replies fellas.
Jamesv wrote
At a festival on The Isle of White a few people came up to the side window asking for chips, bacon sandwiches etc. Blame the sea air.
Not only is it slow but it's noisy as well. The motor sits back in the cab under a large plastic housing and though I've lined it with insulation stuff that looks like old gymnasium matting you can't hear the radio or barely speech over about 50 kmph. They kept making variants of these until 1986 with certain refinements like bigger motors and power steering. I have considered uprating the power but I'd have to change the entire drivetrain and I've already got enough building sites to keep me going.
The best ones that have survived here are ex-fire brigade vehicles which have been looked after, otherwise you see some real shockers about, badly hand painted DIY conversions which are on the last convoy to the scrapyard. They were very popular in the former East Berlin as squatter/crustie style dwellings after the wall fell. I've tried to keep ours looking as decent as possible to avoid such cliches and unneccessary border scrutiny!
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Last Edit: Apr 7, 2015 10:58:17 GMT by düdo
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düdo
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May 12, 2013 17:04:06 GMT
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Hello old tin fans, here's my rig, it's not going to break any landspeed records : 3.5 tons with a 2.4 litre diesel engine putting out a measly 60hp. You develop patience driving this thing as well as upper arm muscles as it has no power steering and parking it can be like wrestling with a rock! Once it's parked up for the night though it offers old school comfort or used to do before three kids came along and made it a bit tight for my wife and I. It was made in Düsseldorf in 1972 hence the nickname of this series of vehicles as 'Düdos' ( ergo my user name), was registered in Jan '73 and bought by a furniture company who used it until the engine blew around 1982. Then it was bought by my father-in-law who replaced the engine, put windows in and converted it into a campervan which was driven all over Europe until he decided to convert a more modern Merc van. I came on the scene about twelve years ago and my wife and I inherited the 406 a couple of years later and did quite a few runs between S.Germany and UK. It dumped it's oil on the M4 five years ago which led to a top-end rebuild and I've done all the jobs over the years to keep it going. Fortunately almost all parts are still available from Mercedes and generally, if ordered before 5pm, are there the next day. Now I'm giving it a mild resto so that it hopefully will qualify for historic status this summer ( An 'H' ending on the registration number) which means the yearly tax will go down from €500 to €190 and we can drive through all the 'environment zones' that many Germany cities have introduced to control older polluting vehicles like this! About five years ago. The stripes on the rear doors conceal a badly executed repair after the door bottoms rotted out - a common problem with these. I've now sorted that Our dog Pelops at the wheel I've used it as a tow vehicle too which is alright on the flat but it goes up hills at walking pace in first gear leaving a huge queue of traffic behind! As it stands now in the barn being worked on New metal welded into the rusted out bottom of the passenger door, driver's door next. Fortunately all these panels still available. The entry steps on both sides have gone through. A place in Berlin which breaks these things is sending me complete sections cut out of a wrecker. The lower panels on both sides are packed full of filler which in some places is 2-3 cms deep. Under the filler is the predictable brown stuff. New panels going in all around in the next weeks. Wheels off a Mercedes 319/early 406 from 1968. Sand-blasted and primered, ready to be painted. To me these look like big slot mags! The tyres which are 6.00 R16 are now very hard to find in Europe. Michelin make a classic tyre in this size for an eye-watering 400 quid! They seem to be still available for a more reasonable price in India for jeeps and light trucks but that's a way to go for new tyres. I fitted four 'new' (2004) SAVA Comet ( made in Slovenia) tyres to replace the 1980s Continentals but one threw its tread coming into London on the A3 so I decided to get shot of them. Luckily the Belgian army was having a clear out of Firestone tyres that they used to fit to their trailers, so I bought six of these. Again 'new' old stock, to be fitted with tubes and hopefully a bit tougher that the SAVAs which very dubiously had 'economic' written on the side of the them! I'm hoping to have it done by the end of summer and I thought posting a few pics and info up might help me stay motivated! And memories like this from a couple of years back
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düdo
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So, were the Monaco seats common across the Renault range? I'm no Renault expert though I seem to recall I've got one lurking/decaying in the corner of the barn.
Kev wrote
Er yeah, I should have written 'newer' rather than older, blame the booze. I did once have a '69 C-90 but my C-50 is 1979 - I found it abandoned on the street in Clapham about ten years ago and wrote to the DVLA and they said I could have it. So not all grandads are artists wise in the art of restoration? Some are old bodgers! ;D
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düdo
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Were these seats out of a Renault 21 Monaco? And where are they now - have you saved them for your next ride? I've got a red C-50 similar to your one - mine's a bit older - '79 and a bit rougher - yours looks like proper grandad quality. Don't think I've seen a 5 on the road for about ten years.
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düdo
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Posts: 770
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Apr 23, 2013 19:09:28 GMT
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Good on you mate for perservering with this. I thought that this would have been the last BX to dodge the scrapper but it's making a solid comeback! I don't think the rear spats were the rust creators - it's just the arch getting all the crud from the road and the weather etc plus its age. There is a box section that goes along the back behind the bumper that I used to see available on ebay. I know because I did this very job two years ago on my BX estate but I don't know if you can still find the complete section. Good luck with it all and I'm sure you'll be chuffed when you've got it all back together. My BX estate was a basket case that I was so close to giving up on but I'm glad I stayed the distance and it's now my everyday ride. This is the last time that I saw your car - outside the Formula 1 hotel in Monswiller ( Alsace, SE France) on the 'BXagon' Oct 2009. I just dropped by for the evening with my BX pictured there. That's me sitting on your car and the other bloke was Ian 'Dollywobbler's' co-pilot, can't remember his name but he was into east European commie cars I remember.
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düdo
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Posts: 770
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Apr 22, 2013 17:33:14 GMT
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Love your cars. I grew up in Staines in the 80s and knew loads of blokes running moody Escorts patched up with primer. Everyone was dreaming of having an XR2 or a Mexico - the real deal not some look-a-like. My first car was a '77 Fiesta base model so I've got a particular soft spot for your XR2. Is this photo taken in Suffolk then, looks a bit coastal?
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düdo
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Posts: 770
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Apr 21, 2013 19:23:48 GMT
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düdo
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Apr 18, 2013 18:27:09 GMT
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This Visa looks like it just rolled out of the showroom. The dash that 'Dorset Clive' was referring to was discontinued in 1982. What a shame. I photographed this one in a French scrapyard a few years back.
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düdo
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Apr 18, 2013 18:20:24 GMT
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That's a big ole boy you've got there - looks as though you could carry a load of stuff around in style. Looks good, nice rack too! You probably don't want to think about it, but is the 2.8 auto a bit thirsty?
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düdo
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Apr 18, 2013 17:20:35 GMT
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Great little van and surprisingly spacious - long enough to stretch out and sleep in the back. I had a very early '79 Datsun C120 which was the first version of the Vanette - it had a Nissan badge on the front but it was registered as a Datsun . My girlfriend and I went all over in it, sleeping in the back. As mentioned in a prior post, there's a few of them surviving in NZ and Aus still as they were exported there in greater numbers and probably as the weather is a bit kinder to their old bones.
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