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Oct 19, 2021 20:57:12 GMT
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Mad as a box of frogs!
Can't help thinking that a KV6 from a Rover 75 would be a LOT easier and more in keeping with it's heritage. A less powerful car and the KV6 doesn't really have many tuning parts available, but probably only a couple of weekends work!
Steve
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I sold 2 cars to a father and his son respectively on the same day and posted the 2 V5s in the same envelope. 1 v5 came back (to the son) in 5 days. The other one didn't come back at all.
About 4 weeks later I contacted DVLA to find out why, they told me they hadn't recieved the missing one and the PO must have lost it. When I explained how I knew they MUST have recieved it, there was a very long pause.......... and the line went dead! 2 days later a new V5 appeared at the father's house! Good innit?
If i'm sending anything to DVLA these days, I always send it recorded delivery. They haven't lost ANYTHING since I started doing this, before that I was losing about 1 in 5 things.
They've tried the fail to SORN fine trick on me numerous times, must have got lost in the post is my default answer, even if I HAVE forgotten! Never had to cough up yet! And i've bought several cars where the V5 was missing, none of those sellers was ever even contacted by DVLA after I applied for a new V5. Maybe i'm such a frequent flier, that i'm on a "don't mess with him" list at Swansea!
Steve
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Since you guys are nailing it, here's one last one. I'd love to own this but I'm sure it will be well beyond my budget. Guessing it is a period special but I am happy to be proven wrong. Cisistalia? If that's how you spell it? If so, it's multo moolah!
Steve
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Whenever I see a Porsche Panamera, I think of them Love how the blurb in the link compares it to an E Type Jag! Had the writer never seen a 240Z?
Steve
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Vauxhall Velox/Cresta/Wyvern? Lancia Fulvia Zagato Lancia Flaminia The Lancias yes, (the Flaminia is a bit of a giveaway!) but the top one is deffo not a Vauxhall, all the 50s Vauxhalls had distinctive chrome flutes down the bonnet sides. Not too sure what it is, my money is on either a Simca or something eastern european or Russian.
Steve
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Sept 16, 2021 21:00:23 GMT
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I too learned how to tow and reverse before I was old enough to drive, by manoevering a Landy with Harvey Frost winch and a car on the hook (great fun with a floating pivot) round the workshop yard as a 16 year old apprentice in 1970. So i'm in the never needed a test category. Been working with trailers from 4 foot boxes to 20 foot car trailers, caravans, trailer tents etc ever since and don't see what the fuss is about, it's not really rocket science!
Steve
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Aug 12, 2021 20:39:39 GMT
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Interested in the Toledo if it's a 2 door and maybe the Estate if you don't have it yourself, I have an evil plan involving a Skyline engine! And basically any parts for any of the Dolomite range. Can probably scrape up cash and transport for parts. Even in quantity! Can we have a clue as to the approximate location? I don't think specifics would be a good idea, might get gazumped! but something general like midlands, north east, south west or whatever would be helpful! Steve PFA
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In my garage yesterday! On the road very soon now! This is how it all began in 2012 Via This! Steve
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Sorry for the vagueness, but I was told by an old vauxhall hand about a large saloon made by vauxhall, can't remember which one, with chronic brake pull On getting it on the ramp and removing the front wheels, it had a disc brake on one side and a drum on the other..... I’ve heard that same story…..but it was a Morris marina😁 It was a Marina and I personally found it. Around 74, there was a recall on Marinas for duff wheel bearings. This particular car, a 1300, had to be recovered from Hayes to North Harrow because the bearing had actually failed (on the drum side) to the point that the wheel was hanging off and actually fell off when I winched it clear of the ground on the old Harvey Frost. So I dragged it back to Stewart and Arden and got a couple of drum bearings from the stores, only to find, once i'd done the duff drum bearing, that there was a disc and caliper on the other side! Having said that, I make no claim to exclusivity, there may well have been others! I also saw an early mkIII Cortina 1300 delivered new to Norman Reeves, the main Ford dealer in Uxbridge with an engine that was completely devoid of pistons! Steve
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Last Edit: Aug 2, 2021 21:51:06 GMT by Rich: Fixed quote, type outside of the quote script.
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Jun 16, 2021 21:23:43 GMT
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The 2 door Consul Classic has evaded me too, though i've had both a 4 door 1340 and a 1500 GT Consul Capri at about the same time. (1975) The Capri got a Lotus Twink courtesy of a rolled LC Police car that I bought from an Aylesbury Police pound auction for £175 (those were the days) and the 1500GT went in the more-door to replace the asthmatic and smokey 1340 it came with.
The Capri is near the top of the list of cars I should never have sold, but by the time i'd bought the 4 door Classic (For £15 if memory serves) i'd already been given my first MKII Zephyr, a 57 Hi-line which started a love affair with the 2553cc 6 banger that lasted me the best part of 20 years and encompassed 17 assorted MKII Zephyrs and Zodiacs including not one but two Automatic Zodiac estate cars (the "Farnham") and 8 MKIIIs. And a long stint as official tech adviser to the MKII CZZOC.
I can completely understand your unwillingness to disclose what you'd bought till it was on your drive! What a little honey!Back in 2007 , when I bought the Carledo, I was having a flirt with another Consul Capri, but it was more money than the Toledo and needed a LOT more work, the rest, as they say, is history!
Steve
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Jun 15, 2021 20:05:59 GMT
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That's the thing though. We all watch these American Customizing/restomod/rat rod/etc shows and wonder how they get away with it all. I saw a youtube clip recently where someone drove Richard Petty's 1970 Nascar Superbird up the highway, slicks and all. And we all envy their freedom to create whatever they like and drive it when we are weighed down with govt restrictions (and Europe is even worse)
They get away with because nobody for decades has bothered to enforce the laws, just as DVLA didn't and truthfully, probably couldn't, enforce the IVA rules, until the internet age let them gather evidence at the click of a mouse.
Am I surprised? Not really! As for rolling coal, IMO, it's childish and idiotic. But our colonial cousins do love to raise a digit to authority, especially those they see as curtailing their constitutional freedoms. So they shouldn't be surprised when the sleeping dragon they have prodded so incautiously, wakes up and bites off said digit! At the armpit!
However, I will miss the shows and some of the stunning cars built on them, if the whole industry goes pear shaped. Can't see it happening though, there's too much money involved to upset such a lucrative industry in these troubled times
One thing I don't get, is why the GT40 should be kept off the road? If it's the real thing, it was built in the 60s when there weren't any smog rules, so it shouldn't be liable for any smog compliance now. The laws aren't applied retrospectively.
Steve
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Last Edit: Jun 15, 2021 21:31:56 GMT by carledo
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Jun 13, 2021 21:21:25 GMT
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Well I DID own a 1954 Humber Hawk that was 2 days older than me, but that was in 1973! The oldest thing I own now is a mere stripling of 49. I'm 67!
Steve
Pre-suffix and proud of it!
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My Daily since 2017 but on the road continuously since 2011 It replaced a 95 Cavalier, which relaced a 91 Cavalier. Both of which are still around the house. The Carledo is looking good for another mini resto soon. like any 70s daily, it rots away within 10 years.
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Severe long roof envy going on here!
Steve
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Fitted with precrossflow engines include 997 and 1200cc Anglia and their related vans, 997cc 107E Prefect, 1200 and 1500cc MkI Cortina, VERY early MKII Cortinas, 1340 and 1500cc Consul Classic and Capri and early 1500cc Corsair. I can't think of any others. The only one that was a TOTAL turkey was the 1340, 3 bearing Classic engine. But I don't consider the 1500 to be "low capacity" My 3rd ever car was a 65 Cortina Super Estate (with the fake wood, a "bishop") I had that out to 1650cc with a hot cam, all balanced and nitrided some fancy head from somewhere and a pair of 40DHLA Dellotos + 4 branch and straight through, it made about 110bhp (not bad in '74) through a 2000E box and GT diff and I loved it! I even kept the bench seat and column gears it came with, there wan nothing to see on the outside except the banded steelies and Lotus quarter bumpers. Back when I had my V6 Consul 375 my neighbour had a well sorted PCF 65 Corsair GT 1500 2 door. I'd give my left testicle for that car now! Steve
PS, Last year I scrapped a 1700 Puma engine and box (from a damaged car) cos nobody wanted it. I'd saved the looms and everything but had it on ebay 2 or 3 times at £100 start and no takers. Had to bin it when my landlord died and I lost my workshop/yard.
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Last Edit: Jun 4, 2021 20:03:05 GMT by carledo
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So a 997 Anglia then!
The world really is your oyster, but for me there are only really 2 choices, keep it old Skool and go for a Burton-esque 1600+ Crossflow on a pair of Webers, or, for a more modern take, I think well of the 1700 Puma lump, it's quick, light and very responsive but strong and reliable too. Yamaha really got it right with this one. Maybe on ITBs or bike carbs. With a car as light as the Anglebox, you don't NEED massive horsepower or torque, the fun is in creating a balanced product that handles as well as it goes. Remember Colin Chapman's famous motto, "to go faster, add lightness!"
Have fun, Steve
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May 22, 2021 20:52:57 GMT
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I've been car mad since I was 3 years old. From about the age of 10 I found old pushbikes on the local tip and reconditioned and sold them, often customizing in the process. My own ride at age 12 was a home made "track bike" (long before BMX was invented) on a ladies frame (safer to fall off of) 3 speed gears, knobbly back tyre and skinny front and apehangers from a Raliegh Chopper. At 15 I got into motorbikes with a 1953 BSA D3 Bantam 150 which I rebuilt from the ground up, then, on passing my bike test, upgraded to a BSA Rocket Gold Star 650cc twin which I treated to the full cafe racer spec. 3 months shy of my 17th birthday, I parted company with the Rocket at about 85mph and wrote it off. My mum insisted I buy a car after that. What I bought was a 1956 MG Magnette ZA (£80 in 1971) and I just about managed to respray it in non standard Ford Aubergine over VW Savannah Beige 2 tone before I was old enough to drive it. When I blew the motor up 9 months later it seemed only sensible to add a few horses so it got an uprated 1.8 3 main bearing MGB engine and overdrive gearbox, not so much a transplant as a swap with overbore. I didn't do my first proper transplant till 1975, putting an Essex 3.0 V6 into a MkII Consul, I've been doing them ever since, my latest and ongoing project being the "Dolomega" a 78 Dolomite Sprint with the running gear from a 2000my Vauxhall Omega 2.2 16v. First and Latest! Steve
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May 15, 2021 21:20:52 GMT
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I like a Mustang, don't get me wrong! I'd like a 60s Pontiac even more! Doesn't have to be a Goat, a 66 Lemans or Tempest in the same 2 door shell would do nicely! But I got put off Mustangs by a mates car. He probably had the world's worst Mustang, a 1967 6 cylinder automatic fastback. It was a New York state car, so rotten as a rusty thing and extremely low spec. No power steering, drum brakes and no servo, awful, sluggish motor married to an even more sluggish C3 autobox, vinyl trim in a horrible metallic green (in a blue car!) He only had it cos his son had spent time in NY and bought it while there, then brought it back to England with him. I think he thought it would be worth thousands more here! My mate and I spent the best part of a year rebuilding the shell (Yes repro panels ARE available and surprisingly cheap, but they often need a lot of fettling) and repainting it, but there wasn't enough in the kitty when we finished to uprate ANY of the tired old mechanicals. I drove it (trade insurance) to it's first UK MOT and back, a round trip of 16 miles. That was enough, I hated it! I've driven a couple of other Mustangs (V8s) and they were better sorted and a nicer drive, but i'm still not quite convinced! And it's not lack of familiarity or unreasonable expectations. i've owned a 61 Galaxy, a 64 T-bird, a 72 Aussie XY Fairmont wagon with a 351 Windsor and an 84 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, fake wood and all (OK that last one WAS a turkey, even with a 305 4bbl) To be fair, they all left my custody for the same reason, unreasonable thirst! The Fairmont was probably the best of the bunch, I reckon that averaged around 16mpg. Steve
Tbh it’s why I prefer falcons, and the 6cyl variants. They’re just no pretence with them so they’re more enjoyable from what that are. There’s none of the ‘ooh it’s mustang, HI PERFORMANCE’ undertones like there is with a pony. My falcon is a stock 144ci 3 on the tree manual with non power drums all round. It’s in fairly good condition mechanically, and drives nice for what it is- a low spec totally stock 1960s wagon. . I do plan some running by gear upgrades but it’s linked to lowness and gear ratios rather than going fast or anything. I have no quarrel with 3 speed column shift manuals, or a straight 6, having owned a large number of MKII and MKIII Zephyrs and Zodiacs (4 on the tree in the MKIIIs) even had a couple of early, cable operated Laycock overdrives which were lovely. But a Falcon is about the same size as a MKIII Zodiac and has a bigger (4.1ltr? Or so i thought, but 144ci is only about 2.4ltr) 6 with less poke than the Zodie and more weight. And American manual gearboxes are just SOOO agricultural (anyone know why?) that I honestly prefer an auto. Which in turn really needs a beefy motor to get any sort of a result. Then i'm back on the performance vs fuel consumption merry go round as all my cars are likely to be pressed into service as dailies. And I guess, when all's said and done, I AM a speed freak. If I had to choose between a 63 Falcon and a 63 Zodiac, i'd have the home grown product. The only advantage I can see to the Falcon is it's less likely to be rotten as most imports are dry state survivors. And very slightly rarer, in the UK at least.
Steve
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May 13, 2021 19:37:29 GMT
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I’ve been meaning to reply to this thread again arguing for why something like a falcon or early mustang really makes an excellent choice as a daily driver classic in the UK. They’re simple, solid, easy to fix cars. Both mustangs and falcons use the same platform through the 60s with minor differences to the underpinnings. Bodies are obviously totally different, and mustangs command a bit more because of their ‘muscle car kudos’ or something. There’s little to go wrong with them, they have ample power, and are generally quite ‘modern’ to drive. They have strong followings so are easy to pick up parts for and find support. Personally I’d go for a straight 6 over a v8 for daily driver duties. They’re a bit more frugal and very torquey. The 6s are ‘million mile’ engines. Just change the fluids and there’s little else to do. 1. Rust. They’re all imports. So generally speaking the ones people have bothered to import are pretty good condition and from dry states. They don’t rust much anyway. Battery tray (bolt in) front floors under feet (single skin, very quick and easy repair) and lower rear 1/4s into arch being the only real rot spots. All areas easy to inspect and not that expensive for remedial work if you don’t have the skills yourself. 2.parts availability. There is literally nothing they do not reproduce for these cars, and pretty much all of it is reasonable quality and cheap. I really mean nothing. Body panels, trim parts, seals, glass, interiors. All available. For example when I needed a starter motor I ordered a brand name (ACdelco) one off rockauto for £58 delivered and it came in 3 days. Sure there’s UK stockists if you insist on using them, but they’re a lot more expensive and generally no quicker unless you’re local and can collect. One interlinking factor with that is brexit and it’s effect on parts prices. Whilst the price of parts for pretty much every European market car, and every British car that has reproduction parts made in Europe (which is all of them, we make pretty much nothing here now), parts for all American stuff has remained the same. This makes them very competitively priced when everything else has just taken a 25% hike. It’s levelled the playing field a huge amount. 3. Upgrades. Because they’re popular There’s a bolt in kit for everything. Power steering. Air-con. Disc brakes. Engine transplants. Transmission swaps. Rear end swaps. Uprated suspension. Electrical upgrades. Security. Pre-made interior stuff like seat cover and carpet kits. All off the shelf, no thinking or figuring out. Buy, fit, forget. 4. Size. They’re UK car size. A falcon wagon is 16ft long, a sedan is 8” shorter. A mustang is a little shorter still. They fit anywhere including in uk garages. 5. Cost. You can buy a pretty reasonable 6cyl 4dr falcon sedan for £5k. A wagon will be £8k plus in the same condition, and 6cyl mustangs start at about the same. But compared to most other classics of similar age, that’s very good value for money. I’m pretty sure Amazon’s are more than that now? As are most other 60s/70s classics that would fulfill the other criteria. Chances are when (if) you come to sell it’ll be worth more than you paid for it too. I paid a bit under £7k for my sedan delivery 3.5 years ago and I’d get £10k if I sold it now. Good examples of Volvo 240s and the better models of e36 make that sort of money now. Even lower spec e28s and w115/123 are that sort of money too. Insurance is cheap. Still Sub -£200 with SDP and commute on there through a specialist. 6. Support. Americans almost speak the same language as us, and quite like to use forums and the like too, so finding answers to problems is dead easy. All the info is out there and easily searchable without having to learn a new language. There’s probably more points I’ll think of yet too... I like a Mustang, don't get me wrong! I'd like a 60s Pontiac even more! Doesn't have to be a Goat, a 66 Lemans or Tempest in the same 2 door shell would do nicely!
But I got put off Mustangs by a mates car. He probably had the world's worst Mustang, a 1967 6 cylinder automatic fastback. It was a New York state car, so rotten as a rusty thing and extremely low spec. No power steering, drum brakes and no servo, awful, sluggish motor married to an even more sluggish C3 autobox, vinyl trim in a horrible metallic green (in a blue car!) He only had it cos his son had spent time in NY and bought it while there, then brought it back to England with him. I think he thought it would be worth thousands more here! My mate and I spent the best part of a year rebuilding the shell (Yes repro panels ARE available and surprisingly cheap, but they often need a lot of fettling) and repainting it, but there wasn't enough in the kitty when we finished to uprate ANY of the tired old mechanicals. I drove it (trade insurance) to it's first UK MOT and back, a round trip of 16 miles. That was enough, I hated it! I've driven a couple of other Mustangs (V8s) and they were better sorted and a nicer drive, but i'm still not quite convinced!
And it's not lack of familiarity or unreasonable expectations. i've owned a 61 Galaxy, a 64 T-bird, a 72 Aussie XY Fairmont wagon with a 351 Windsor and an 84 Olds Custom Cruiser wagon, fake wood and all (OK that last one WAS a turkey, even with a 305 4bbl) To be fair, they all left my custody for the same reason, unreasonable thirst! The Fairmont was probably the best of the bunch, I reckon that averaged around 16mpg.
Steve
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Last Edit: May 13, 2021 20:01:37 GMT by carledo
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I don't think you can beat a MkIII Cavalier, they are simple and easy to maintain, have mod cons like good heaters, PAS electric windows, EFI and much more. Even A/C on the top CDX and V6 cars. You can choose an early model for simplicity, no cat or ABS but stil have the essentials or pick a later car which has both. Reliability is outstanding, parts are still fairly easy to get and not expensive and on my preferred 2.0 model, fuel economy is very good for a car of it's size. Up to 40mpg on a run for my 2.0 16v GLS auto. Prices for the more exotic models, Turbos, GSis SRis and 4x4s are already beginning to head for the stratosphere but you can still get a Tidy GL or GLS 2.0 for a grand or thereabouts. This one I bought for SWMBO to use as her daily, I only got it back when her spine deteriorated to the point where she had difficulty getting in and out and I bought her a Picasso. I've had it since 2006 and its been faultless. I've not used it since 2017 and it's not quite so pretty now, but still starts on the button (it actually HAS a button!)will be for sale in the next week or two. I just don't have time to put it to rights, there are too many cars (6 at the last count) ahead of it in the queue! Steve PS, I also have a prefacelift 2.0 8v auto saloon without cat or ABS to sell too!
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