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Aug 10, 2021 17:46:46 GMT
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Similar to the drum/disc scenario, I used to work for a company that reworked lots of the ex LR press and off road 4x4 Experience vehicles along with those "problem" children that the dealerships couldn't fix and would be bought back from the irritated customers.
There was two instances we found on that stand out...
1. Vehicle with excess brake vibration...turns out it was a ventilated caliper and solid disc combination, but only on one side. The pistons were nearly half way out on that side before the pads made contact! 2. Draining the front differential of one of the 4x4 Experience to discover that rather than oil, it had been filled with swivel housing grease to silence it.
Of a more extreme tale, worked with a former Zimbabwean policeman, who claimed they would stack sandbags on the floor of vehicles to make a rudimentary blast protection system from landmines! Not sure how true it was,but can see the logic behind it.
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2014 - Audi A6 Avant 3.0Tdi Quattro 1958 - Chevrolet Apache Panel Truck 1959 - Plymouth Custom Suburban 1952 - Chevrolet 2dr Hardtop 1985 - Ford Econoline E350 Quadravan 2009 - Ovlov V70 2.5T 1970 - Cortina Mk2 Estate 2007 - Fiat Ducato LWB 120Multijet 2014 - Honda Civic 2.2 CTDi ES
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Aug 10, 2021 18:58:12 GMT
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I was in the trade very late 70's to about 84.
The Bedford dealer I worked at had the contract to supply the CF2 chassis cabs and final PDI for Everest Double Glazing fleet. At the time the Bedford TM tractor unit (artic) was available as a last gasp TM38X with a detroit V8 two stroke diesel. To get Everest to buy the TM's for their heavy fleet the then sales manager assured the fleet manager the whole truck was British built (EDG wanted to buy British) and to sweeten the sale gave the fleet manager's wife a Chevette Special (two tone brown/gold with lovely velour trim).
The first Maestro MG 1600 had twin 40 DCNF Webers which the chimps at the factory couldn't tune so they just got them running and punted them out. Most dealers had to get a local specialist in to sort it, hence later versions got a bigger engine and FI.
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Needs a bigger hammer mate.......
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,112
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Car Stories You Were Told. glenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Aug 11, 2021 11:27:12 GMT
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My dad used to tell a story of a commercial vehicle manufacturer in the 50s (who’s name escapes me), that had an issue with their Diesel engines surging at idle. They apparently offered a cash prize for anyone that could solve the problem. He wrote to them saying that the issue would be cured if they fitted larger bore injection pipes. He never heard back from them, but the affected vehicles were recalled and had different injector pipes fitted…
I suppose, being charitable, there may have been many people suggesting the same thing, and the prize went to the first letter received, but dad was always a bit cross about it. 🤣
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Car Stories You Were Told. ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Aug 14, 2021 13:29:32 GMT
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Which makes me wonder if it's actually an urban myth? Edit- just read carledo's post, maybe not! Probably not an urban myth at all. If parts are not available on the production line for the car specifications they are building they will stick the next available part on to keep the line moving and it should be picked up at dealer level on PDI. Can you imagine shutting down an entire production plant because the NS RHD headlamp bin is empty? 😆 I’ve heard stories of mixed solid and vented discs, left hand drive headlamps, all sorts. It does happen and there is a reason. This. Line stoppages can't really happen. If you're not making, you're not earning. After all, the employees are still earningand need to be paid. My dad's Evoque has LED lights fitted instead of the Xenons for example, as they had no Xenon lights at the line. Obviously, we didn't complain . This is one reason (amongst cost and pokey yoking)why manufacturers now have limited the domain on options, specifications and engine sizes. It all costs, takes up space, and someone has to be pay for it. Theres a reason all right richIt's the reason we don't have a car industry any more 🙁 Anyhoo we're getting away from the point of this thread One I was told years ago about the most expensive insurance claim, be out of date now though An American in a Ford pickup broke down on a level crossing Whilst he was away looking for help, a freight train hit the pickup Most of the trucks derailed and fell into a parallel canal, where they destroyed several barges 1/3 of a mile of canal had to be drained while six cranes got to work clearing up the mess The cost was well into millions of dollars The driver lost his NCB British brands may be owned by foreign folks, but they still have a whiff of the BL/AR days about them in many places. See loads of stuff that has been "missed" during assembly. This is my favourite, the Roberts forgot to put a circlip on one side of the gudgeon pin. Managed 110,000 miles before the belt snapped and I found it though, gave me a mild poo in pants moment when I stuck the honer in and it all jammed up and made all the loud electric buzzing noises. I have a few stories. Quite a few from today, but for obvious reasons, I'm not going to share here (maybe at RRG) . Some which frankly I wish I didn't know from many moons ago, but they are eye openers. As for others? Several. I remember going to the Ace Cafe to HoTWire's Awards night. It must have been 2012 or 2013. God, that seems like a while ago now! I went down in the Stag, just as I'd finished lowering it etc. It was great to catchup with alot of familiar faces like Seth, sumpcracker, PhoenixCapri, dbizzle and more. The awards were done in the corner of the cafe, and then we went to check out the cars. At that point, I had a chap come over and speak about the Stag engine. This chap was an editor of Classic Cars. He was saying that apparently the engine broke at the weld where the two Dolomite engines were welded together. I didn't manage to laugh or tell him he was talking rubbish (contrary to popular belief, the V8 shared more in common with the V4 engine which never quite made the light of day), I just listened and enjoyed hearing another Stag tale. The other was that Ford made the Jag V8 engine (now called the Jaguar AJ133 in its current iteration). From what I understand, Ricardo made it, but as always, happy to be corrected .
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cjhillman
Posted a lot
1979 Capri (Rolling Project) 1985 Escort mk3 (Daily)
Posts: 1,588
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Aug 14, 2021 22:57:02 GMT
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Anyone ever heard the story about late 80s Fords around D reg being made in Spain and transported via boat (uncovered) to their next destination? Apparently this is why Fords of this era basically rotted away. I remember hearing that loads as a kid. We had a D reg Escort that rotted so bad for no reason... Not that my C reg Escort has been much better
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Rumour has it that the Boss of an Italian car distributor flying out of Heathrow glances out the plane window shortly after take off and sees paddocks of Lancias. Plane lands in the next country and he rushes to a phone to buy all these cars and ship them to his country. The paddock of Lancias was because the UK importer refused to sell them as they were rusting before they got them. So instead of rusting in the UK they ended up rusting in a far away country.
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Vitesse 6 Saloon Vitesse Mk2 Convertible BMW R1150GS VW Amarok
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Aug 16, 2021 13:21:37 GMT
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A few spring to mind:
Around 2000, while working for a Euro car import website, we had a lot of the then-new(ish) Toyota Yaris being imported from Holland. One such, a 1.3 CDX, arrived but didn't feel quite "right" when taken for fuel. Turns out it was missing a rear coil spring.
Some years earlier I had an old chap working for me who used to be a debt collector for a Hire Purchase company. A client had defaulted on payments for his Ford Consul, so Barry went out to knock on the door. The client looked a bit glazed when asked about his missing payment. It transpired he'd applied for the loan in his name but his son was using the car and supposedly making the payments. The client couldn't even drive, because he was blind.
An attractive older lady brought her new MG BGT LE (the Pewter one, in silver) in to a garage local to me. She complained of poor fuel consumption and rough running. Investigations proved inconclusive so the mechanic asked to be driven by the lady to see how she drove. I think he also took a bit of a liking to her - she was what we'd probably now call a "Cougar". Anyhow, she got into the car, pulled out the convenient handbag hook*, hung her handbag on it and drove off.
* Choke.
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Aug 16, 2021 13:57:10 GMT
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Working at Europcar rental one of the managers took delivery of his new montego Since somehow I'd become responsible (!) for company cars he came to see me saying that it cornered brilliantly but the ride was a bit harsh The suspension chocks for the transporter hadn't been removed from PDI..... Strangely enough I didn't complain when the MD asked me to test drive his sapphire cosworth 4x4 because he'd clipped a kerb on the way in that morning That test drive took hours!😀
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Car Stories You Were Told. ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Anyone ever heard the story about late 80s Fords around D reg being made in Spain and transported via boat (uncovered) to their next destination? Apparently this is why Fords of this era basically rotted away. I remember hearing that loads as a kid. We had a D reg Escort that rotted so bad for no reason... Not that my C reg Escort has been much better Yup. I heard they were sat outside Dagenham during a strike. Our D reg Fiesta Finesse already had rotten sills and inner wings by 1993! It was that bad! I think many forgot here how bad stuff used to rot away! In its defence, it was a little trooper that car! Always started and never went wrong. D133 FFD was the reg of it. It came from thr Billinghams dealership in Brum. I remember in 1994 seeing a Dolly Sprint rotten beyond repair on a neighbour’s drive. It wa so bad the owner was even too scared to sit on it. It was not a well car at all.
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Last Edit: Aug 17, 2021 7:33:07 GMT by ChasR
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,112
Club RR Member Number: 64
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Car Stories You Were Told. glenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Yeah. My mate’s mum had a 2CV Dolly that needed chassis welding for its first mot. 😱
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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Aug 17, 2021 10:25:59 GMT
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Rumour has it that the Boss of an Italian car distributor flying out of Heathrow glances out the plane window shortly after take off and sees paddocks of Lancias. Plane lands in the next country and he rushes to a phone to buy all these cars and ship them to his country. The paddock of Lancias was because the UK importer refused to sell them as they were rusting before they got them. So instead of rusting in the UK they ended up rusting in a far away country. I've heard a variation of that tale where the UK importer of Lancia Betas stored them in a field near Heathrow for a year or two before they got to the dealer showrooms, which is one of the reasons they rusted so quickly (they were never great anyway, but it didn't help!).
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norm75
Part of things
Posts: 658
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Aug 24, 2021 16:12:39 GMT
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On the topic of production line assembly issues, I was talking to a lady I was doing some gardening for yesterday and she told me about her grandfather that moved to Cowley to work for BMC, delivering vehicles. One day he had to come down south near where the lady lived at the time with her parents. He arrived a day late. Upon leaving the factory he didn’t make it far before a wheel fell off. On inspection when the hubcap was removed there were only two wheel nuts inside that obviously were hurriedly put on before the car left the production line, and the car ended up off the road in a ditch.
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Last Edit: Aug 24, 2021 16:13:06 GMT by norm75
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