vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Dec 30, 2018 16:36:26 GMT
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We have reached the end of week 5. This week began with the installation of an Accuspark Stealth electronic ignition kit to replace the condenser that failed the previous week. Initially I had set everything by ear and got things close so I could use the car until Mike brought the relevant tools home to set the timing and idle correctly. The Princess doesn't have a rev gauge, so it's necessary to set it with a tool, like this strobe thing from Snap-on that Mike's had for years. The boot of the Rover does make a very good tool table, it's just the right height and size. Since doing that, the car starts no better or worse than usual. It does, however, drive much smoother with no hesitation. In retaliation, the choke cable has decided that it doesn't always want to lock so I have now had to employ the 1980s staple of a wooden clothes peg for certain choke pull positions. The other job that was almost completed was the bottom section of the rear wing that had rotted out. It's a difficult profile to replicate so I made do with a section of the old front wing I replaced to give me the rough shape I required. I'm not as happy with the repair as I could be, it's not my tidiest work. That said, once filler and proper paint is applied, you'll never know. I ran out of time to do any more work on the inner arch cleaning and repair work so that will have to wait for another day. Coolant - no noticable consumption Oil - no noticable consumption The Rover, on the other hand, has barely moved. Since starting the experiment it had done a whopping 3 miles, and those were only so I could put some petrol in it. The spiders had very much set up home too. So at the start of this week I took it on a 20-ish mile bumble to get things warmed up and moving again, and some fresh charge in the battery. Unfortunately for the Rover, it just highlighted how much more I enjoy driving the Princess. I'm not entirely out of love with the Rover, it's still a very good car and I still like it, I'm just struggling to justify keeping it at the moment.
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retrolegends
Club Retro Rides Member
Winging it.....Since 1971.
Posts: 3,726
Club RR Member Number: 94
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Dec 30, 2018 22:28:01 GMT
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My dad used a clothes peg on his Dolomite for years, it’s a wonder BL didn’t supply them as Standard.
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1974 Hillman Avenger 1500DL1992 Volvo 240SE1975 Datsun Cherry 100a flying custard1965 Hillman SuperMinx Rock N Roller1974 Austin Allegrat Mk1 1.3SDL1980 Austin Allegro Mk3 1.3L1982 Austin Allegro Mk3 on banded steels2003 Saab 9-3 Convertible 220bhp TurboNutter1966 Morris Minor 1000 (Doris) 2019 Abarth 595C Turismo (not retro but awesome fun) www.facebook.com/DatsunCherry100a
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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It's for SALE! I've been tempted by one BX too many and I'm just not using the Rover. It does it no favours sitting idle and a BX has popped up I really want so it's time to try and raise the funds to acquire it. I'm asking a meagre £500 for the Rover. The whole gory story is in this thread and it's now a car you can get in and drive anywhere you please without bother. I regularly take it from Stockton-on-Tees to Maidstone without hesitation. It's had plenty of lovely new parts and anything its needed it has been given, as much as I'm able. It's also possibly the only R8 saloon with a folding rear seat and almost certainly the only Rover R8 with a burgundy carpet. It does come with the original steels and early wheel trims if you're not a fan of the gold three spokes. It also comes with a brand new alternator (which it doesn't need) and a brand new boot lid (which I never got around to painting and fitting). But really, for £500 what more could you ask? It's got electric windows and a sunroof and power steering and is utterly dependable. Get me back in a Citroen and do a buy.
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CaptainSlog
Part of things
Posts: 510
Club RR Member Number: 180
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Good luck with the sale
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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I could hold out for more, but I don't think the car I want to buy will be around long enough if I do. So £500 seemed sensible.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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There has been a development! A wild benefactor appeared so the funds are available to acquire my chariot of choice. I now just have to wait for a reply without wearing out my F5 key. Rover is still up for sale as it will need to make way for the new vehicle. I'm also selling a bunch of original artwork over here: forum.retro-rides.org/thread/207593/original-artworkEvery bit helps. I've got commission slots open too if you fancy an original artwork of your own, in digital or traditional media. Send me a message for details on that.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Sale agreed, collection happening next weekend. I'm so excited you don't even know. A white Citroen BX is one of my dream cars. There's something about them that's just right in a way I can't really explain. Once cleaned and polished they're stunning things to me. I had been holding out for a petrol one, and didn't think I'd end up back in a diesel until this appeared. 1.7 non-turbo, manual steering (unusual for a BX), and no sunroof. It's got the grey tweed interior I loved in my estate, and the early single spoke steering wheel. Most options are not ticked, it's satisfyingly basey. There will be a full report when I get it home. In the meantime I'm going to try not to be too giddy about this. You can keep your supercars and efficient German transportation, wobbly French nonsense is what does it for me.
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You can keep your supercars and efficient German transportation, wobbly French nonsense is what does it for me. Insert British for French and this is the identical principal that I run my Jowetts on (along with various others factors)
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,555
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Oh my, what have you gotten yourself in to now?
I guess I'll be along for the "ride"!
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I do like a white BX, nice purchase. A chap local to me used to have an immaculate white BX GTi with pug 205 GTi rims on it, he would drive it sitting in the weeds all the time, looked awesomme.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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There has been a minor setback. Looks like it's flatbedding home rather than driving.
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One step to greatness. Just let the other side down and your done.
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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It'll be FINE. If I say it enough times it might just be true. End of week 6. I'm a little late on this, meant to do it yesterday and got somewhat distracted by a French car. Coolant - no noticeable loss Oil - Put about 200ml in to keep it above the minimum on the dipstick It's been a productive week. Finally got the front arch liners fitted, which is a less than pleasant job. They do catch on the tyre sometimes on full lock, but only a little so I'm not terribly concerned, they probably just need massaging into the arch a little more, or an extra fixing putting in. The sills and rear inner arches got a nice fresh coat of underseal. The whole car looked a lot smarter for that and it should help keep rust and stone chips at bay. I tried out a different local fuel station which I probably won't use again because it's incredibly small and cramped. Made for an okay fuel up snapshot, all the same. Ticked over another little milestone this week too, having now reached 77k. My attention then turned to the rear suspension displacers. All of the spares I've got have seized pivot shafts. This is a common Princess problem and unfortunately, the only way to get them out is to sacrifice the trailing arms. I did take the one liberated displacer to a local machine shop, along with a complete trailing arm assembly, and even they couldn't get the pivot shaft out. Fortunately they did free the stub of pivot shaft from the one displacer that had already been cut out of a trailing arm so I do now at least have one usable spare. Mike and I then refitted the stonechip guard trims to the sills. It's held on with polyurethane sealant and button head screws rather than the rubber seal and rivets the car came to me with. It helps make the car look just that bit more finished and should protect the doors from stone chips. I doubt there will be a problem using sealant rather than rubber trim. The Princess continues to behave really rather well and to do everything I need. Motoring has become somewhat uneventful, happily, so I've been able to focus on less essential jobs and just enjoy using the car for its intended purpose.
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Last Edit: Jan 7, 2019 19:31:19 GMT by vulgalour
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hello MPG > MPH
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 11, 2019 23:02:21 GMT
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That there was one of our many breaks on the way home. It turned out to be a very long day, with an 8:30am start (7am for Mike), and not getting home until nearly 10pm. Accidents, break downs, more accidents, lots of breakdowns, roadworks, traffic, and seats that sent your bum to sleep were all contributors to this super long day. It was a good day, all the same. Seller was brilliant, as expected to be honest, and while slow the journey was relatively uneventful. Getting the BX on the truck was a little tricky because of clearance at the apex and getting it off again required a couple of planks of wood under the back wheels to give us enough height to clear the apex. With a burst LHM pipe there's no brakes except for the handbrake (which works very well!) so it's a bit of an adventure. First impressions is that this is a very good car. What problems it does have, are easy to see. The problem areas BXs suffer from have either already been fixed, need minimal attention, or haven't become a problem yet so getting it all tip top shouldn't be too painful. It drives, the clutch is actually nice (unusual for my purchases) and the diesel engine suprisingly quiet given its vintage. I'll be going in tomorrow for a more detailed fettle. Honestly, I can't see it needing a great deal. It feels 'right'. Nothing feels particularly flimsy or worn out and the worst cosmetic issue seems to be the vinyl trim getting a bleaching in the French sunshine, something this car spent quite a bit of its life in since it used to travel between the UK and France regularly from what I'm told. Looking at the interior, it really does have that south-of-France bleached look that cars only seem to get over there. The one thing I really can't get over is how clean it all is. Usually my purchase are super grotty and need a deep clean, but not this one. It seems to mostly just need things like the vinyl being redyed and some of the satin black bits repainted to make it look like a new car. There's not even any parking dings down the flanks, and these cars are particularly bad for those because of the origami styling. Suffice to say, I'm incredibly happy, and still very excited about this car. It's so utterly different to the Princess that it feels a much better counterpart to it than the Rover, and it's shockingly comfortable.
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The speedo / odometer - (whatever you want to call it) reads 64,300 miles - any chance of this being genuine then ?
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,254
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Jan 12, 2019 11:32:21 GMT
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Unfortunately not. That said, looking at the general condition it is believable. It had the cluster replaced in 2007 which is why the mileage jumps from 78k to 140k that year, the replacement cluster being at 40k and the tester sticking an extra 1 on for the benefit of the computer system. In reality, it's done nearer 102k (78k plus 24k since the change). If I can, I'll clock it forward so the odometer matches the MoT properly.
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Last Edit: Jan 12, 2019 11:35:50 GMT by vulgalour
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Jan 12, 2019 11:58:04 GMT
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Sale agreed, collection happening next weekend. I'm so excited you don't even know. A white Citroen BX is one of my dream cars. There's something about them that's just right in a way I can't really explain. Once cleaned and polished they're stunning things to me. I had been holding out for a petrol one, and didn't think I'd end up back in a diesel until this appeared. 1.7 non-turbo, manual steering (unusual for a BX), and no sunroof. It's got the grey tweed interior I loved in my estate, and the early single spoke steering wheel. Most options are not ticked, it's satisfyingly basey. There will be a full report when I get it home. In the meantime I'm going to try not to be too giddy about this. You can keep your supercars and efficient German transportation, wobbly French nonsense is what does it for me. LOVE THIS...!!!
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***GARAGE CURRENTLY EMPTY***
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