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johnthesparky , haha, I sure wasn't trying to pick a fight, was just wondering, and what you say makes sense to me.  Forgot to say the result looks great! I knew that, when I read my response it sounded snarky in my head... it wasn’t, but I couldn’t be bothered/ didn’t know how to rewrite it any better so added that for clarity |
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Looking good, the brush painted signwriting makes all the difference to the here today gone tomorrow easily
changed vinyl signwriting as seen on most vans these days. ( please note that I am not being derogatory to genuine craftsmen)
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Looks damn fine to me. If your work is through word of mouth (the best) then I totally agree with your logic. Saves getting phone calls in the middle of the night from folk with a problem, who then don't want to pay for the service!  |
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That might be ‘just’ beyond my skills  |
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Well it’s been an interesting week! Was working with Sean on Monday, so mid morning we collected the van and dropped it at home as we passed between jobs, in the evening I noticed the black in the drop shadow was still slightly tacky! It was a lot colder on Sunday and though we’d used a paint booth, we hadn’t used any heating from it as it wasn’t ours to mess with, and on the Sunday we were let in and left to finish off without supervision. So Monday evening I spent an hour out in the wind with a hot air gun warming the paint gently... this seemed to do the trick, and tuesday it was fine. Tricky to get photos of the signwriting though, as when the sun did briefly show up it was too shiny, and didn’t really stand out on photos in the gloom the rest of the week (blooming weather!) but here are some anyway         So Tuesday morning I’d booked an MOT, had spoken to the garage about it smoking a bit and had some Forte diesel cleaner stuff to put in. So ran it right down on fuel, added the additive (hoping it would be a bit more concentrated) and took it for a long drive to get it really warm and drove straight to the MOT, and it passed (it blooming should after the amount of work, but always a bit nervous in case I had missed something) Got a lot of compliments from the lads and a clean MOT so was chuffed with that  It’s done 10500 miles since the last MOT, the most it’s done in a long time   Then it went a bit wrong! After MOT drove to job in Oxford, driving to Oxford is a pain again now with traffic everywhere... I have to remind myself that I needed some work when I first fixed this job! But the job turned into a bit of a nightmare with one of the builders lads plasterboarding over ting main cables! But worse than that one of the lads reversed into the front of the van  Really low speed obviously, but enough to smash a headlight and crack the number plate...   Also were cutting blocks right next to the van, so it got a bit redder too  So ordered another headlight for a tenner, then noticed the arrival time was going to be well over a week... so ordered another for £20 that gave 48 hour delivery, but they returned my money the next day for whatever reason, so ordered another with quick delivery time and crossed my fingers... that was waiting for me when I got home today (And since both headlights have been despatched, the other one will probably turn up tomorrow anyway) ... but think I’ll order a cheap drivers side light and keep a pair as spares as they aren’t on the shelf available anymore and I could end up stuck because of it. Also ordered another number plate, which arrived and then I realised I hadn’t ordered any more black screw covers... luckily jamesd1972 sent me a set back in July, but I had also ordered a set.... so I wonder if he is really a soothsayer for my impending doom now instead anyway, thanks again James  I also won a pair of GSi seats off of eBay, for the princely sum of £10, which I collected too.. the plan was, since they were about half hour down the road from Oxford, that I’d go down there after work.... but with issues on the job and the reversing incident, and also because it’s now Autumn and the nights are drawing in, this caused a small issue as the beam pattern had gone on the nearside and the only way to not blind every other car was to adjust (it may have keep fit windows, and no power steering... but the head light adjustment is electric ) the headlights right down, which made the journey home in the proper dark, not the most enjoyable drive Anyway, they are filthy, the drivers seat has a worn out bolster and they have a few holes... going to see if I can repair the bolster and clean them up, but from a quick sit on them they are less collapsed than the drivers seat in there (though I’ve got used to it now ) They also come with the seatbelt buckle bits, which one of the ones on the van is cracked. So if nothing else I’ve got a cheap one of those, with some seats thrown in (as I couldn’t find a replacement for less than £30 when I last looked)      I also got shamed into replacing the gearstick gaiter, and since it was a tenner, I relented and ordered one up, which arrived and got fitted in about a minute.   Expect another exciting update when I change the handbrake gaiter too Also dropped the spare injector pump and injectors at SMS diesel services which are just outside town, they are going to check and calibrate the pump and clean and check the injectors (assuming they don’t need rebuilding/repairing) so though it passed the MOT and I have time on my side, I’ve started the ball rolling on that too So a mostly productive week, with a slight downer... have booked a ticket for Caffeine and Machine on Sunday morning, so will have to give the van a wash tomorrow afternoon |
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Shame about the damage but at least the parts cost wasn't too bad - will you be able to get the cash back off the culprit? And you've got spare headlights as a result which means you'll never break a headlight ever again! Is it just me that finds the MOT tester's name funny?! |
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Shame about the damage but at least the parts cost wasn't too bad - will you be able to get the cash back off the culprit? Indeed, part of the criteria when I was looking for the van was being able to find bits, and yeah already weighed me in for the damage fingers crossed for that Not any more!! |
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jamesd1972
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,921 
Club RR Member Number: 40
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Glad the screw covers came in - sorry you needed them !
James
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That really does look fantastic
A great resto love it
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Fraud owners club member
2003 W211 Mercedes E class
1989 Sierra sapphire
1998 ex bt fiesta van
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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Van looks great John, my van is always full of sawdust and screws.
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1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924
1974 VW Beetle 1600
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Fortunate it wasn’t any panel damage and just bolt on bits.
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Oct 10, 2020 15:20:05 GMT
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I think you spent your money wisely on the respray , sign writing and wheels. Look really good 👍🏼
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14 Audi A3 Sportback - Easy driver
05 Audi TT MK1 3.2 DSG - Damn quick
73 Triumph 2000 - Needs work
03 Range Rover 4.4 V8 petrol. Had to get it out of my system.
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Oct 11, 2020 13:55:00 GMT
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Oct 31, 2020 20:39:22 GMT
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Few bits have been happening with the van and the Fug in the background, I’ll leave my excuses for the Fug thread as that has been the most inactive, the van has continued to be used but I haven’t finished sorting out the brakes or the seats... but with another lockdown due I may have time on my hands again Keith ( gtviva) sorted out a few bits, but with new puppies, dogs needing ops and general life I only grabbed them this week. An estate trim for the boot threshold to finish that off from painting. I had stuck some gaffer tape on which seemed to protect it well enough but this will stop the carpet moving around too (maybe need new pink carpet soon too!)   He also sorted seat belt clips (one of mine is cracked) These were a dealer fit replacement for faulty ones on the mk3   And a window grille, but that will need some modifying to fit too Working with a builder this week, gave him my keys to grab something out of the back of the van... and somehow he deadlocked it and it wouldn’t unlock. After a huge amount of faff involving climbing in through the front and making room to remove the trim, and then the lock I sorted that... not sure what happened, I’ve not deadlocked it before so suspect it’s stiff in the mechanism or something and jammed, but ok now and won’t be letting anyone else operate my van! For MOT I ran a load of injector cleaner through it, it worked and passed MOT... unfortunately it seemed to work a bit too well and started misbehaving afterwards. Over the next week it started to; smoke more and more Was horrible to start from cold and would stall again a couple of times, then would hunt terribly until warm Fuel economy took a dive, and it smelled of diesel particularly when cold And it seemed down on power I’d sorted new/refurbished injectors and had the other injector pump refurbished and calibrated in readiness,    The plan was to drop it off this weekend and swap the injectors and the injector pump. Somehow I got that confused and so it hasn’t happened, but the running was getting ropey, so instead of waiting again I swapped the injectors myself, on the drive in the dark and rain so using the injector socket I scored the other week just in case I set too. The hard lines were a bit of a pain, which is why I was going to do it with the pump but with some gentle persuasion got them all swapped over.    It spluttered a couple of times on start up, then settled down. I took it out for a trundle and it seemed to have a bit more get up and go and though it was dark, didn’t seem to be smoking when you accelerated. So that seems to have sorted most of the issues. Remaining ones are black smoke on start up and again when accelerating hard. I wonder if the pump has been turned up to cause these?  Also tickover seems too high (always has been) so again wonder if it’s been adjusted? The pump, I believe a Bosch ve, should have a damper on the front and that is missing from the one fitted so I wonder if it’s been messed with to compensate for issues, and because it has a leak anyway it seems prudent to just swap it rather than spend too long messing with it (Which, fingers crossed, will be next weekend) Other than that, I’ll have driven 10k by the end of next week and still stop and take photos which I’ll call a win      |
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Oct 31, 2020 20:47:16 GMT
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More good work going on there John
And Keith coming up trumps with more parts
He is a top bloke, I just want to buy another Vauxhall because he’s a great person to deal with!!
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Last Edit: Oct 31, 2020 20:48:15 GMT by Mercdan68
Fraud owners club member
2003 W211 Mercedes E class
1989 Sierra sapphire
1998 ex bt fiesta van
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Oct 31, 2020 20:59:30 GMT
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More good work going on there John And Keith coming up trumps with more parts He is a top bloke, I just want to buy another Vauxhall because he’s a great person to deal with!! He is indeed, and I really like that he has brand new, old stock stuff for a 25 year old van. |
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Love the photos - the van is looking great. Is it just me or in that top one does it look like a model in a diorama?
Hope you get the running issues resolved soon. Maybe 10k in not very long has been a bit of a shock for it? 🤔
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 2,010
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Is it just me or in that top one does it look like a model in a diorama? I thought the same. |
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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Love the photos - the van is looking great. Is it just me or in that top one does it look like a model in a diorama? Hope you get the running issues resolved soon. Maybe 10k in not very long has been a bit of a shock for it? 🤔 The running issues aren’t really that bad, It runs fine really, it was grumpy starting when cold, but was back to normal yesterday and today It has left a 6” patch of diesel on the drive in the time I’ve owned it, which is reason for pump change mostly. Other than that is smokes a bit which isn’t that bad except it’s at odds with the rest of the van |
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Forgot to say the result looks great!
