OK, so I had been trying to sell my Lexus LS400 here and on eBay and ended up in one of those situations where you end up taking a whole lot less than you wanted for it. But I just couldn't afford to put any more fuel in it and two of the tyres were bald as slicks.
The original plan was to flog it and buy Slater's Avenger, it being cool as polar bears paws but 'twas not to be as values of big V8 barges seem to be on the floor right now.
Then the eBayer who had won the Lexus came up with a bunchof his mates and through a variety of means managed to convince me to let it go for £400...
After which I thought "hand on a minute" but by then he was gone and taken the car so, pah...
So instead I decided to buy this
off eBay, assuming it would sell for like £250 or something. But was astounded when it sold for £400.
Needless to say I was not on the high bid.
I did also attempt to buy this Orion
Which was for sale locally but sold before I got back to the guy. oh.
This left me without a daily and needing one. I knew a mate had been talking about selling a '89 Fiesta 1.6S which I convinced myself was just what I needed and due to its very short T&T I was offered the car on a sort of sale or return basis.
It was a bit grubby to say the least
with the grime of ages
don't let Kim and Aggie see this
totally matt white paint
check the "reflection"
So I got a bucket of my favourite dish detergent and some Autoglym tar spot remover and washed the car in both.
it was clean at least but the grime under the dirt was now visible. Oily finger prints and the like
So time to break out the Farecla and the mop
Here's a before of the front wing (bonnet has already been done)
And here is the "after" shot.
even the rear clusters polish up a treat
and reflections in flat panels!
So I then carried on and waxed the car with some old Turtlewax I found in the shed
Now we have reflections (compare with earlier photo...)
look a bit better, yeah?
also the interior was a bit needing a touch of vacuum and spray foam cleaner
came up nice.
Now the car is something like one owner (maybe not since new, but for ages) and has like 54k on the clock. And being the "stripper" 1.6 carb one it goes well and is quite fun to drive but Mrs Ku say "NO!" so I then returned it from whence it came.
This was OK because by then I had another eBay beauty in my sights and my chum Steve ran me down to pick up the results of my biddings.
1990 Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 CDi
So far just washed it and driven it.
KFW caught me scrubbing the ATS fake splits with a toothbrush....
more significantly it has a small amount of grot.
practically just surface rust really.
Or as my 3 year old puts it when pointing out the rust "Daddy, your new car is a little bit broken"
But considering the fact I can't remember the last time I even saw one of these on the road (other than the drifty one at the last Trowell meet) I think its good going to get one for £300 at all.
Plenty of ticket, drives spot on, insurance company won't let me mod it at all, so all in all it probably should give reliable motoring while I get on with other projects. And fixing this one.
The original plan was to flog it and buy Slater's Avenger, it being cool as polar bears paws but 'twas not to be as values of big V8 barges seem to be on the floor right now.
Then the eBayer who had won the Lexus came up with a bunchof his mates and through a variety of means managed to convince me to let it go for £400...
After which I thought "hand on a minute" but by then he was gone and taken the car so, pah...
So instead I decided to buy this
off eBay, assuming it would sell for like £250 or something. But was astounded when it sold for £400.
Needless to say I was not on the high bid.
I did also attempt to buy this Orion
Which was for sale locally but sold before I got back to the guy. oh.
This left me without a daily and needing one. I knew a mate had been talking about selling a '89 Fiesta 1.6S which I convinced myself was just what I needed and due to its very short T&T I was offered the car on a sort of sale or return basis.
It was a bit grubby to say the least
with the grime of ages
don't let Kim and Aggie see this
totally matt white paint
check the "reflection"
So I got a bucket of my favourite dish detergent and some Autoglym tar spot remover and washed the car in both.
it was clean at least but the grime under the dirt was now visible. Oily finger prints and the like
So time to break out the Farecla and the mop
Here's a before of the front wing (bonnet has already been done)
And here is the "after" shot.
even the rear clusters polish up a treat
and reflections in flat panels!
So I then carried on and waxed the car with some old Turtlewax I found in the shed
Now we have reflections (compare with earlier photo...)
look a bit better, yeah?
also the interior was a bit needing a touch of vacuum and spray foam cleaner
came up nice.
Now the car is something like one owner (maybe not since new, but for ages) and has like 54k on the clock. And being the "stripper" 1.6 carb one it goes well and is quite fun to drive but Mrs Ku say "NO!" so I then returned it from whence it came.
This was OK because by then I had another eBay beauty in my sights and my chum Steve ran me down to pick up the results of my biddings.
1990 Vauxhall Carlton 2.0 CDi
So far just washed it and driven it.
KFW caught me scrubbing the ATS fake splits with a toothbrush....
more significantly it has a small amount of grot.
practically just surface rust really.
Or as my 3 year old puts it when pointing out the rust "Daddy, your new car is a little bit broken"
But considering the fact I can't remember the last time I even saw one of these on the road (other than the drifty one at the last Trowell meet) I think its good going to get one for £300 at all.
Plenty of ticket, drives spot on, insurance company won't let me mod it at all, so all in all it probably should give reliable motoring while I get on with other projects. And fixing this one.