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Jan 24, 2020 20:18:42 GMT
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Ive just read this thread from the start while having a conversation with my 4-year old about his Lego, and totally misread one of the posts on page 1. I kept on seeing the word "wagon" and was quite convinced that you are building a P6 estate. I now know you're not, but I really think you should...
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1968 Cal Look Beetle - 2007cc motor - 14.45@93mph in full street trim
1970-ish Karmann Beetle cabriolet - project soon to be re-started.
1986 Scirocco - big plans, one day!
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 While it appears we used the forklift to aid in the removal of the hood/bonnet, we actually employed the services of a highly trained dog. |
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Jan 29, 2020 21:36:01 GMT
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Last Edit: Jan 29, 2020 21:56:11 GMT by wildrover
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California car all its life therefore slightly sunburnt paint but no real rust? My young ones would love it.
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    It does have some rusty bits, but by UK standards it is positively showroom fresh. We stripped the paint from the passenger door as there were some bubbles - it seems it's the door from a different model and so has trim holes that someone bogged over. We then thoughtfully left it in bare metal and ignored it to do our own projects - easily cleaned up and re primed. The grey is not the original colour - the previous owner shot primer over everything probably to protect the original paint which was getting very thin as far as we could see. It has the original numbers matching 283 in it - it shows just under 50,000 but if it's the first or second time around is anyone's guess. It runs and drives but we all have other projects going on and so it's just being ignored, and that's a real shame. Please ignore nasty blingy wheel(s) - I put that down to Sal and Sam having little or no taste - it's cultural  All original wheels are still present thankfully. |
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Last Edit: Jan 30, 2020 1:07:37 GMT by wildrover
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As an aside from carz n shiz, I am posting a dog related update as referenced in the excellent, but sometimes sad, letter from Manila thread by Mr. georgeb Just after my response to one of George's posts about his dogs' health we had a scare about the well being of one of ours - and we weren't sure how things would turn out.  Emma was behaving in an uncharacteristic manner - usually full of beans, even at the grand old age of 11-ish, all of a sudden she was lethargic and clingy. She was getting sick and wouldn't eat much - and this is a dog that would that would walk a hundred miles for the smell of a treat. I work from home, so I am with the dogs during the day, and after a call with the missus it was agreed that a trip to the vet was in order. A call was made, and I had an appointment for 30 minutes later... the vet expressed some concerns and recommended blood work and x-rays. Ever the cynic, yet concerned for Emma, I asked if the recommendation was a business or professional based recommendation. Convinced of the vet's sincerity, and after putting him to the ultimate test - I made him phone the wife - I agreed to the recommendation. The x-rays came back right away with a troubling "we don't know what this is" diagnosis - it's either a mass pressing on Emma's abdomen, or... ya know... it might be nothing. We need a radiologist to review the x-rays, but of course, that will be tomorrow. Please rest assured that no dogs were harmed during the creation of this post... the same however, cannot be said for my wallet. After waiting for an update we finally got the news which, while it had some downsides, was overall not too bad. There is no mass, the x-rays show that Emma is in good shape for her age, all is normal, except... she does have pancreatitis - and although it is serious it can be addressed with a change of diet. Also, work was done on the Country Squire - I will update shortly... promise |
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Last Edit: Feb 9, 2020 22:38:22 GMT by wildrover
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I like good news.  |
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Feb 19, 2020 22:31:45 GMT
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 I once heard it said that a dog will never break your heart, until, one day, they inevitably break your heart. That day was today. Emma had been diagnosed with severe pancreatitis, we were treating her and believed we saw some improvements. Over the weekend she went lame in her rear right leg - we put it down to an unrelated injury due to her weakened state - we took her to the vet and x-rays showed an inflammation of her knee - possibly confirming our theory. She had a fever, which was treated with a long lasting antibiotic. Once back home she showed tiny signs of improvement - she gobbled down a bowl of chopped up pork and she drank from the bowl that was placed beside her and refilled regularly. She was alert and responsive. Last night I found her on the floor at the foot of the bed, all seemed normal. This morning, there was a damp patch on the carpet by the bedroom door - I wasn't upset as she had trouble walking and I would rather she had an accident than drag herself outside. Emma was lying in the hall, sound asleep... at least that's what I thought. I went down to wake her and greet her... although she was there, she had gone. Emma lived her life at 110 miles an hour - this last 10 days has been hell for Lesley and me; we have taken it in turns to be with her so that she always had someone around. Poor Nelson, whom we adopted the same week in 2009 is confused by the absence of his lifelong companion. We are all devastated. I know that we are real softies when it comes to dogs, and I know that not everyone feels this way - that's okay, I don't expect everyone to feel the way we do. For those that understand, they know. You are missed Emma... |
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Last Edit: Feb 19, 2020 22:33:29 GMT by wildrover
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Sorry to hear this news mate. Take care!!
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Feb 20, 2020 10:39:31 GMT
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Ah, that's bad to hear. Very sorry about it.
It's not been a kind year on the animal front for many on here this year.
I'm just waiting on the vet to visit now, as I've two who've taken a little setback.
Look back on the good times and smile.
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Last Edit: Feb 20, 2020 10:40:10 GMT by georgeb
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Feb 20, 2020 10:42:14 GMT
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Bu**er
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,543
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I've just found this thread. I must say I love the Wagon!
I've also found there to be very many animal lovers on this board, myself included. I'm sorry for your loss and know the feeling. It's really tough. All the best...
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Feb 25, 2020 18:45:58 GMT
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Thanks for the good thoughts - they are very much appreciated. georgeb I was really bummed to see your latest update on your pack - here's wishing the rest a full and speedy recovery. rblote thank you westbay yes, it really was. eurogranada thanks Alex - I love your build, keep up the sterling work. The photo of Emma above was taken at the adoption event in July 2009 - she was recovering from a broken leg. In spite of her early injury she always moved at light speed. When walking her she would pull like a sled dog - we tried everything to get this to stop... if you pulled her back she would stop, rock back on her haunches and pull harder! After years of trying we just gave up and accepted that it was just Emma being Emma. Ironically, she came to us with an injured leg, and eleven years later she left us with that same leg injured. Our thoughts are now focused on our other dog, Nelson. We got him at the same adoption event - I went down intending to adopt Emma, but after meeting Nelson there I had to call home and explain that there would now be two dogs! On the one hand Nelson seems fine - on the other, he is clearly a little lost. Nelson avoids going down the hallway where I found Emma - if he has to, he will sprint down it, but he always hugs the wall to avoid the spot where Emma lay. Generally he will go out the dog door in the back room and circle the house to come through the dog door in the living room. He no longer lies outside the bathroom when Lesley is getting ready for work - again, it was somewhere that Emma had been on her last night. Nelson has never spent any time alone in the past eleven years and he was never separated from Emma. I am a little worried as today I have to go out and he will be alone for the first time since we got him. I am sure he will cope - I know I am projecting my own feelings on to him, but that's the way these things go.  On the car front... small progress has been made on the Country Squire - you are now able to open and close all doors from the inside and the outside. Progress is also being made on the power windows - the tailgate motor was rebuilt and now the glass goes up and down - it still needs some cleaning and lubrication of the regulator mechanism, but it works. The rear door windows also work well now. The problems lie with the front windows - this car has the power mini-vent window that opens first. It's a fussy system and is giving us fits. The vent window drops down first, followed by the main window - we can get this working, but, the track that holds the vent window in place has come away from the glass and is damaged. I have the correct primer and adhesive but the track is a little damaged. I have tried looking for replacements, but like so many, many things on this car they are very elusive. Several Fords, Lincolns and Mercurys of this era had the power mini-vent, but it seems, based on my research so far, that I need something from a Ford or Mercury from model years 73-75 - finding exactly what I need is proving challenging to say the least. Another issue I have encountered that surprised me is trying to locate mounting bolts for the power window motors. It seems that Ford in their infinite wisdom used a "trilobular" bolt - when you look at the bolt closely you can see that it has three flat-ish sides on the threads - and the threads do not match up with metric or imperial sizes. Just one more challenge. |
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eurogranada
Europe
To tinker or not to tinker, that is the question...
Posts: 2,543
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Feb 25, 2020 19:28:00 GMT
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Thanks for the very kind comment.
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retrotoe
Posted a lot
anything rusty
Posts: 1,361
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Seats are looking spectacular. Do you know where to buy some VERY plastic dogs to go in the back?   here pimped out version ready for weekend track day lol |
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Mar 21, 2022 23:02:59 GMT
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It has been some time since I last updated this thread, he said in what was quite possibly the understatement of the decade... To be perfectly honest not very much has happened with with either the wagon or the Rover; partly because of well. you know, life; partly because it's a (they are) project(s) and one's mojo ebbs and flows; also, there was that thing... you know, the one that fecked everything up for nearly two years - can't remember what it was now, but I am sure it will come to me soon enough 
I have made some progress on the cars - not much mind, but some. However, before I get there there is sad news - well for us it was. I know there are lots of animal lovers on here, and so, I hope you will indulge me momentarily before I get to car stuff. My last major post was about the loss of our dog Emma - she left a huge hole in our lives but, at least we still had Nelson. Sadly, he too has gone  We said goodbye to our most faithful friend on Valentine's day - just a few days shy of two years since we lost Emma.
Those of you with dogs that are great big softies like me will understand. I won't go into details... Nelson was old, nearly 14, and as much as we wanted him to stay, he was tired and it was just time. Just writing that has put tears in my eyes...
Nelson spent almost 13 years with us and along with Emma we couldn't have wanted for a better pair of furry companions
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Mar 21, 2022 23:10:09 GMT
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Thank you for indulging me. Now... cars... Not much has really been done on either the wagon or the P6, but progress, although glacial has been made. Currently the Ford sits on some nasty modern Mustang wheels - which is fine for a temporary measure but certainly not long term. I only had one original steel wheel that came with the car - it was duly sandblasted and painted in the same luxurious green as the car 
You can just about make out the pinstripe which I did in cream - I think in hindsight I should have used red to make it stand out more.
New tire acquired - thin whitewall for that 70s vibe. I left the wheel to get the tyre fitted and when I got back they had the whitewall on the inside - 5 minutes later all was good and right in the world.
The Country Squire originally came with a full stainless wheel cover but I kind of like the idea of the green steel with a truck dog dish hubcap - the hub cap doesn't seem to fit this wheel, which makes no sense but, as this will be the spare I'm not going to worry about it.
I plan on getting a full set of new steels from Wheel Vintiques www.wheelvintiques.com/ - I will probably go a little wider than the original 6 1/2" and will make sure that the hubcaps fit - their showroom hasn't been open to the public for almost 2 years now so I haven't been able to stop by. Now that things have "settled" down a little I will just need to find the time to nip by and find what I want |
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Last Edit: Mar 21, 2022 23:18:21 GMT by wildrover
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Mar 21, 2022 23:22:20 GMT
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As for the Rover... well, after the best part of "a very long time"* I heard from Joe, my engine builder to say that the build is "getting closer" - well, from his perspective it is. Of course, even when he is done there is still a long way to go but, baby steps... baby steps...
*Please note, any delay is not down to Joe... well, not always He has always been very patient about time and budget. |
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Last Edit: Mar 21, 2022 23:24:03 GMT by wildrover
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Mar 21, 2022 23:26:02 GMT
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In other wagon news... The front end looked like this when I got it. The previous owner parked it in his yard and as he got older and his aim got worse he had the odd tractor/wagon interface... hence this:
After a little tear down it looked like this:
Sorry to say there are no inbetweenie pictures but it now looks like this...
When I bought the car it came with the nose piece from another LTD - I had it sandblasted then started the usual round of prime, filler, block sand, prime, filler, block sand, prime, colour, clear coat, wet sand. I am quite pleased with the result and really like the green - it has a bronze tinge to it. I probably won't touch the rest of the body for now as I quite like the patina - I will repair some of the other areas that were introduced to the tractor but for now it will stay as it was found.
Please note that the dog in the photo is fine - he is checking for oil leaks
The only remaining problem is closing the hood. I put a new (2nd hand) hood hinge as the driver's side was badly tweaked - the hood now opens smoothly but... we cannot for the life of us get the ferking thing to fit in the hole. The bonnet just won't adjust far enough to avoid contact with the shiny new painted nose panel. Current state of play is that we have decided to ignore this problem and are hoping that if the hood has enough time to think about its bad behaviour it may self-correct... failing that we may have to find a man that understands these things better than me and my mate.
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Last Edit: Jul 1, 2023 5:39:20 GMT by wildrover
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One of the next problems is that of the shattered windscreen. Now as many of you already know we can pretty get away with driving any old piece of sh1te on the highway here - it's America after all! While that's not strictly true, we do seem to have a fair amount of latitude in California (your mileage may vary in other states) especially as we don't have any form of MOT - only the biennial smog test. However, with that said a cracked windshield will get you stopped. Not to worry, I thought in a sort of famous last words kind of way, Summit Racing carry a new screen for this very car made by the good folks at Pilkington Classic glass - and for a reasonable $300 - I'll do that later, I thought with all the confidence of a man who just never learns his lesson about availability of classic car parts. I am sure that I am like many of you - first you get all excited and buy loads and loads of stuff from eBay and other online resources because "it's rare and I'll never find one of these again" - you will accumulate a vast stock pile which will eventually get lost or, you will discover it's the wrong one for your car - usually when it's way too late to do anything about it. You will alternate this behaviour with that noted above - I'll buy that when I need it... In fairness, who knew there would be a once (I hope it's once) in a lifetime event that would cause such disruption. When it came down to it and I was ready to purchase said new Pilkington screen... you guessed it - nope! It seems that, and I quote from Pilkington's response to my email "Unfortunately Pilkington no longer has a separate Classics division." Bbbbbbut.... what now? I spent hours searching for a windscreen - every online company that listed them as being "in stock" turned out to be full of... I finally found a really helpful lady who had been in the industry long enough to remember fitting screens to these cars when they were still common - she put me on to a windshield broker - who know such a thing existed? Short story long - I spoke to Ira at Glass Seekers and there are only two that he can locate in North America - yep, two. And they are both in the country north of here where it says here be dragons on the map, the great white north that is Canada - great says I, ever the naive fool - how much? Poor Ira had to break it to me that it would cost even more to buy a new windshield than it would to fill up my gas tank... a whopping $1,400 plus shipping - soooo, that's a no then. Some of you may have seen Desert Valley Auto Parts on some of those *reality* shows on TV - it's a real junkyard and it does have a fairly decent selection - but prices ain't cheap www.dvap.com/. They will sell me a screen for $250 plus shipping - or, I could drive out and collect from them - it's a mere 800 mile round trip. I would save the cost of shipping and the anxiety that the screen would get broken in transit and I could knock it out in a day if I left really, really early - the jury is out on this. If any of our Canadian members take a peek in here - any chance you could check some of your local places for a new screen long forgotten and hiding in the back? Same goes to any fellas in different parts of the US - it would be much appreciated as I would prefer NOS over one pulled from a car that's sat in the desert for who knows how long. |
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Last Edit: Mar 22, 2022 0:13:01 GMT by wildrover
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All original wheels are still present thankfully.
We said goodbye to our most faithful friend on Valentine's day - just a few days shy of two years since we lost Emma.
