Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Hello Hood watertight - check Interior in - check Insurance - check MOT - check Tax - check It still may be now show queen but the weather was fairly good so it would be rude not to go for a spin, 50 miles later around the Chiltern roads and I am totally hooked, the car is so tight and on the steelies and skinny’s is a hoot to throw around and get that ‘real’ feedback, not enough power to get into trouble but enough to put a smile on the face. A former dalliance use to own a 1997 Merlot MX5 which had all the whistles and bells and was fairly ‘anaesthetic’ compared to this one, still a long list of things to do but I feel a big corner has been turned and I can now start to fall in love with driving again rather than attacking everything at speed which the green machine does in a formidable fashion.. I have to head to Chipping Norton tomorrow to drop a birthday card and bottle to a friend....... I already have my NorthFace jacket, woolly hat and gloves ready for the 7 a.m start. Prawn Jalfrezi with Spanish Rioja for Tea......
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 24, 2021 18:40:02 GMT
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Hello Quite a productive day today driven by the fact I insured it for £88 yesterday and will tax it at the end of month! The sidelight/indicator units made their way into the dishwasher last night that cleaned them up a treat but has left condensation so I need to wait to ‘borrow’ one of the girls hair dryers to rectify that As the weather was good after I had spent the morning gardening and making the front of the property like miles better with the application of gravel in a trench with random Lavendar dotted through it (new builds have the carpets soil known to man, also challenged by the shittest property developer in the UK IMO).... we digress. Simple plan to put the carpet back in and add the drivers seat, reinstate centre console and generally make it driveable... Rear deck carpet not yet fitted as I need to do a final leak test and source some trip fastening clips from the bay of e, I also repaired a crack in the front number plate mount with some gorilla glue I had lying around, as good as 24 years old so happy with that. Tomorrow I have to take eldest child to have her glasses fitted so that will wipe out the morning and I have a friend popping round in the afternoon with his Malkshi puppy so we can drink beer while the dogs play.... To Do List Source trim clips Source replacement ecu cover for passenger side Leak test for roof Rebuild or replace door cards Rebuild both manual window winder mechanisms Oil and Filter Deep clean inside, have half heartedly hoovered and thrown come vinyl cleaner around Final cut and gloss of paint All of the above is on the as and when needed list, clean and polish first though while the weather is good. Thanks for looking
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 22, 2021 20:36:13 GMT
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 21, 2021 17:52:41 GMT
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Hi Glen, apologies for missing it, I had no notification via the UI or email but thanks to your prompt have responded.
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 21, 2021 16:31:14 GMT
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Replacement catch arrived but the base was slightly different to the existing one, make do and mend and stripping down both made one good replacement, happy to say after a bit of tweaking the alignment is much better Time to crack on with the detailing, however the effects of my COVID jab are kicking in and suffice to say I feel properly rubbish!
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 19, 2021 20:30:07 GMT
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Replacement catch sourced from the bay of love so hopefully once arrived I can get the hood finished and then paint. Between calls today I polished the centre caps to make them presentable and retain some ‘patina’ so a small job off the list.
Need to focus on detailing the final panels while the weather is good so hoping to do that Wednesday / Thursday if time permits.
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 18, 2021 17:29:24 GMT
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How come you’re thinking of moving it on? Hi Glen A couple of reasons that my man maths can’t work out, firstly space I’m about to bring two cars out of winter hibernation on to the drive and the daily will go into the barn meaning I will have four cars on a 2 car drive plus a space in front of the house so 1 car too many (new build hell I’m afraid), secondly we use my daily or L200 for dropping eldest at school and if we go Dog walking it’s the truck we use... yesterday on my 300 mile round trip I decided something has to go and have been musing a EV with short range such as a BMWi3 which means the 435 goes...... however eldest turns 17 in October and that means another Car. Unless I move I’m buggered basically, I can keep 2 cars in storage but at this rate we will have three if we include the Mazda and 3 on the drive. Hope that makes sense? Unfortunately in south Oxfordshire storage is a premium, I pay 100 a month for the Mini and Porsche!!
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 18, 2021 13:12:28 GMT
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A SMALL VICTORY It started bright but cold so I had no excuses, not many photos were taken as I had a deadline to meet!! It really is a two man job, not sure if taking the frame off is the best idea as it I’d a total PITA making sure everything is as it should be including the rain rail but I got their in the end Really pleased with how it turned out, but a couple of issues, couple of small leeks but I think I need to re torque everything and one side sits up at a jaunty angle as it did before. Also one of the worm screws in the catches was seized solid and when I tried to adjust it to eliminate the gap it sheared.. This is not good, calling ianlea73 if you have catches from your old hold specifically the left hand one, can I supply you with beer tokens when you swap your hood over.. This is what I need.. Next on the list will be to sort the leeks, final detail on the paint and put the interior back in....
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Apr 17, 2021 17:57:33 GMT
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OFF WITH HIS HOOD THEY CRIED Hello, today or rather this afternoon I decided to remove the old hood after a 300 mile round trip collecting youngest child from her fathers, upon returning to the shire the sun was out, birds were not singing so I cracked on, firstly this is what we have I read the first half page of the instructions, reached for a couple of cans of Heineken and proceeded to the garage, all was going well until I had to remove the tensioners, rather than read the instructions I ripped the old roof to find the offending screw Started collecting bits of frame which will be a jigsaw tomorrow On a side note the paint looks good A real PITA of a job and finally worked out time to remove the whole frame to make it easier, as I said before this little Mazda has spent time waterlogged so every nut was a battle even after being doused with penetrating oil. Finally mission accomplished And a rather naked Mazda Tomorrow will be ‘the reversal of removal’ according to the instructions, quite frankly it’s going to be a curse word nightmare, the new hood does not have the holes for the rain rail so I will have to make those to rivet the pair together, on the rain rail front just a couple of 2 inch cracks which I addressed with aluminium foil. I’m now tired, hungry and in need of more ale...... unfortunately the girl friend is cooking Tea tonight so I suspect it will be child friendly and cause indigestion so I have Brandy and Gaviscon to counter that effect. On a final note before I slip into more Heineken I will most likely be selling the Mazda in the near future so if anyone is interested PM me. Enjoy your evening.....
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Thanks Glen
I ordered a vinyl roof with a plastic window and a lined roof with a glass window was delivered, I called the supplier and they were not overly concerned and asked if I was happy to keep said hood at no extra cost !! I’d call than a win win as the delivered item was a couple of hundred pounds more than the original item, now all I need is a pleasant weekend to fit it.... looking at the long range forecast I suspect the 17th or 18th will suffice.
In other news I have been amassing parts, discs pads and fitting kit arrived from Rock Auto, Dynamat to replace the manky, sodden sound deadening and the car will be having the cambelt, water pump, tensioner s and brake fluid changed Monday.
Once I have the hood water tight and interior refitted ‘if’ the paint behaves I shall enjoy it for 6 months RFL before dropping the subframes and suspension to be rebuilt over the winter.
Top food tip, home made ginger cake with lemon curd liberally spooned on!,
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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So..... bit of a change to today’s plan of removing the roof, a friend has a Skoda Felicia FIA log booked Rally Car he purchased a while back to accompany his collection, plan is to do targa rally and it has been going through several changes to comply with the rules, one of these is it has to be back to one colour with a headliner and numerous other things. Following a reversing incident in the dog walking L200 with a tree piloted by my girlfriend, I purchased a Amazon dent puller that gave pretty good results on repairing the tailgate and a dent in the side tub caused by me sliding into a 30 speed limit sign..... the less we say the better!,, Anyway, pictures below.... The Skoda has been rolled before and sustained damage to the rear and OSF roof skin, the rear I managed to move slightly but it has a lot of WOB on it so resulted to a jemmy bar with a rubber tip which cracked the filler but restored some form. The OSF was restored to as good as can be expected pulling out 5-6 mm dents, took about 2 hours with lots of working the area but no filler will be applied when the car goes for its blow over in white next week...... why no filler I asked also? Its a rally car not a show Queen and will most likely end up on its roof again!!! All in all a good few hours and I have been loaned a small head oscillating detailer to hopefully ‘titivate’ the MX5 paint into something more acceptable.
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Wheel Update I set about the wheels last weekend, firstly a wire brush followed by wire wheel on a drill and then a 800 grit to take out any deep imperfections. I then liberally brushed on a rust killer I found from a decade or so ago then as directed rinsed them off the following Day. I have been working Dubai hours this week which meant a 6 am start meaning a wake up call at 5 am...... why is this important you may ask, well I managed to have a couple of warm afternoons to spray the wheels. Two coats of primer, inners in satin black and outers in a generic silver from amazon, two coats each and then lacquered also. I ordered some Avon tyres from Blackcircles which mail ordered turned out to be 37 quid a corner.... quite reasonable but I had to pay for removal and fitting on top...... Below is the only photos I have of the finished article....... Discs and pads were orders last Saturday, I think it was either euro car parts or GSF had a 60% off sale and the parts came in at £160 so I ordered them from RockAuto in the states for £116 to find out if I went to MX5 Heaven in the UK they would have been £100. Either way money saved but it will pay to shop around more in the future! Hoping to get the wheels on tomorrow and a seat in so it can go to the garage for a cambelt next week then go into my storage so I can take the hood off and replace it while the Porsche is not in their.... all busy busy and as usual my faithful garage will do some of the mechanical stuff as my work takes priority. Thanks for looking and Happy Easter..... I can highly recommend a very chilled Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc with black bomber cheddar and proper chunky Branston Pickle!
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Mar 27, 2021 21:34:45 GMT
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That looks awesome..... much better than the pink panther I am working with!!!!!
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Mar 23, 2021 18:43:22 GMT
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Spent an hour tonight with a wool mop head as I wasn’t happy with the cut the foam pad was giving me, certainly worked quicker and the ‘clouding’ nearly gone. I would have taken some photos but diner preparation was needed due to hungry bin lids!
I need another couple of hours to finish the near side and will then revert to a foam pad with G3 all around and then Maguiers cutting compound by hand.
I dropped the rims off to be de-tired ready for a clean and spray, the tyre fitters said they could get them refurbed for £200 which seemed a little excessive for steel rims??? If they were alloys then I would say it was a cheap price for a strip and powder coat but also not seeing any of their work and wanting to do as much hands on as possible was another determining factor.....
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Can you let me know what order of materials to do the mop & polish? On mine I've used g3 by hand on my mirrors & number plate panel. I want to do my main panels with my mop but unsure what process to do. You are using g3 & 2 meguiars compounds, which way round are you using them? Hi Ian As the paint is proper buggered I’m using 2-3 applications of G3 with the Mop, this turns it to a hazey red, following this Maguiers ultimate cutting compound applied by hand, again 1-2 applications per panel depending upon finish. The boot received a cost of Autofinesse One Step that I have used on one of the other Cars, once I have reassembled the MX5 with refurbed wheels and new hood this will be used for the final polish. Red is a b1tch to work with as we all know and I suspect yours will me more forgiving.
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Mar 20, 2021 20:18:02 GMT
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Paint looks better looked after than mine!!!
Any thoughts on hood and rain rail yet? I’ve been looking at MOSS Europe and will most likely go for the vinyl with zip out window.
Forgive me if I’ve missed it but is yours a 1.6 or 1.8? I remember years ago..... 20 plus.... a friend looking to turbo charge one and the 1.6 was the better spec for a number of reasons including a lower compression ratio....
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Mar 20, 2021 17:11:02 GMT
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Hello Managed a few hours between other chores today and surprisingly no hangover which allowed me to get on with the mind numbing job at hand,,,,, the paintwork! I ordered some more G3 and a Maguiers Ultimate Compund to crack on with. Machine polish and G3 really did’nt touch it, but 3 Machine Polishes with G3 and a finish off with the Maguiers gave pretty good results, to be honest I think another application of the Maguiers will get it as good as it’s going to be...... I’ll let the pictures do the talking for the few areas I have done so far... I had to go and get one of my other Cars from storage so when I returned it was getting to cold to polish ( thank god!! ) so I took the wheels off and put it on stands, the tyres will be taken off so I can refurb the steel rims to get that job ticked off the list. While their I noticed the back pads have less meat than a cat walk model so I will replace front and rears place change the brake fluid, service and change the cambelt. While in the air I pulled out the hose and cleaned the wheel arches out, one would have used the petrol power washer but next door is expecting child and did not want to add too much stress to the situation, results below... Quite pleased with the above, no frilly arches either, below is a shot of one sill showing how solid they are.. The only sign of grot is on the o/s rear sill end which looks to be water ingress under the stone chip, a prod with the technical tapping tool and its surface rust so I will clean it up and reapply a stone chip along both sills. I have to build some planters tomorrow and do some gardening chores but hope to finish the paint and lube up the hood mechanism ready for hood replacement next month!! Thanks for looking, and as I have had a busy day outdoors I have decided to treat the bin lids to a takeaway tonight to save me cooking, personally I’d like a Chinese but ultimately the decision is with the GF as she is running a half marathon tomorrow in prep for the London Marathon she has a place in!!! Thanks for Reading
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Last Edit: Mar 20, 2021 17:14:47 GMT by Battenberg
Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Mar 20, 2021 16:49:43 GMT
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Peek A Boo Had a call from my mate I share storage with this morning needing me to move the Porsche so he’d could get ‘one’ of his Rally cars out, I took the opportunity to stash my daily away until it is needed at Easter and bring out the Green Machine. Glad to see no oil leaks from the repairs done last year, however the D light was flashing (this is a tip tropic gearbox shared with AMG Mercedes) which a quick internet search showed a raft of expensive and panic inducing scenarios. I decided to drive it anyway, still goes into 5th and the tip buttons work fine so hopefully a code reset will sort it, I did notice however it was difficult to engage Drive at first so could be a stretched cable as some suggest....I’m sure a good lube will also help 🙈 I have missed this and hope it will be a simple fix......
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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My thoughts? It’s very Big Brother are my thoughts. They want to know everything about you so they can screw you. They tell you it’s all for your good, yeh right Don’t tell them your name Pike! However you look at it you have a legal obligation to complete the census, no one will be concerned if you have 2,4 or 6 vehicles, the data is used to look back at trends/statistics and to project future statistics for things such as planning, spending etc etc If you think about all the information you provide unknowingly to the government through NI and Tax for example, and other public and private companies it’s quite staggering. The MID knows how many vehicles you have insured and submitted value, DVLA hold Taxed v’s SORN, MOT history is held centrally, your telco provider knows who you call and when and Alexa knows more than you know!!!
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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Battenberg
Part of things
Time for Cake....
Posts: 744
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Mar 14, 2021 11:17:28 GMT
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The one thing that I really wish we’d splashed out on with our Mk1 was a quality hood. It came with a new, standard one and plastic rear screen - if I had known more about them I’d have paid more for a lined mohair one and glass heated screen. My roof is unfortunately short to pieces. The back window is so brittle it cracked when I pressure washed the moss & leaves off the canvas. This also showed up a multitude of little holes in the soft top. When I removed all the interior from the boot I noticed a constant drop from the rain rail so that's obviously perished aswell. I'm looking at a 2nd hand roof from a mk 2.5 as these are made from more durable material apparently Mine is exactly the same, when inside I can see day light through ting pin prick holes, as mine will only see the road 6 months a year I’m going for an original plus new rain rail.
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Current Fleet: 1968 Wolseley 1000 2022 BMW 430xd MHT Coupe 2007 L200 Animal - Dog walking transport 1998 318is Coupe 2007 Mini Cooper Supercharged 1989 BMW 530 - in storage
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