For those interested in "Modern Classic" Cars

[MJI]

And i just bought a poppy chassis jig. And instead of buying a chassis kit for a loco. Looks like a lot for a car one

[Hobby]

14 hours ago, boxbrownie said:

But of course knowing the past history and problems or not of a vehicle is worth more than just a straight monetary balance, never truer than with vehicles “better the devil you know”

 

True, but you could argue that this issue should have been known a year or two ago, rust doesn't just appear out of nowhere. Before spending some drastic money I'd suggest that the first thing is to give the existing car a thorough going-over to make sure there aren't any other things hiding... Of course if he were to look at a replacement car then a similar survey should be done...

[MJI]

Booked in a local LR restorer on the 20th

[great central]

On 13/08/2020 at 20:52, great central said:

Well they say that some fools never learn!

Having taken my car to the MOT station to get an opinion on the likelihood of it passing without needing major, and expensive, work I have been looking around at what was available within my fairly restricted budget.

The opinion wasn't good, pretty much as expected, suspension components on the front, around £350-400. Then welding on the offside chassis rail and both sills, another £250 perhaps?

Oh and the ABS light is on as well!

Not good all round. I've had the car 7 years and in the great scheme of things it's not cost me a deal to cover around 80,000 miles in that time, now 17 years old, 03 plate PT Cruiser.

So what to do? 

Well, with a budget of £1000 or preferably less what is there? Not much to interest me, cheap Ford's, Vauxhall's, Citroens and the like, all looking pretty much the same, until I came across another PT Cruiser. Mileage is higher than mine at 148k but then again it's a Merc diesel in the front, same as the one I've already got. Drove over to Brum with my son this morning in the Montego and brought this back!

 

 

 

06 plate, MOT til next June, feels like it could have a recent clutch as well. Needs a good clean inside as according to the MOT history it's done 3 miles between 2019 failure and 2020 pass, if I've read it properly.

All the electrical bits work, unlike my other one. The driver's door window didn't work but between us that's already sorted, just a broken wire. 

Drives nice so well happy at £750

 

And it definitely belongs in this thread cos it's a classic, says so on the tailgate

 

 

 

Bit of an update, given the reputation these cars seem to have in certain quarters

Taxed and insured from the beginning of September it's covered around 1100 miles since including a week's holiday which amounted to over 600 miles.

Oil change as a precaution before a deal of use. The only issue, so far, arose before I started using it. Had it out of the garage to give it a good wash and just putting it away again it stopped. 

Fuel pump was dead, much head scratching later turned out the earth wire was broken somewhere within the wiring loom.

Once discovered simply re route the wire from the pump to a convenient point on the bodywork, actually brought into the saloon under the back seat.

While checking round other stuff found it's got a fairly new suspension arm on one side at the front, new disc pads all round and one new caliper, so not bad at all in my opinion.

One of the brakes did drag for a while but has freed off with use.

It's a damn sight quicker than my other one, really feel the pull when the turbo kicks in.

[37114]

On 29/09/2020 at 09:14, MJI said:

Well I am now at a crossroads car wise.

 

My car has terminal chassis rust. However body is fine and engine runs lovely.

 

Choices

1) Try to get it welded again.

2) Scrap and get another.

3) Scrap and go newer with different risks.

4) Replace chassis with new one.

 

1) Will sill be an issue in a year or so.

2) Could be in same boat not far down line.

3) Road tax and engine failures.

4) Cost.

 

I had same issue with a Series 3 I owned I bought in 2002. Replaced the chassis but then became trapped in the circle of "I have shelled out on the chassis so I had better fix this..." I still own it today and have nearly finished a last nut and bolt rebuild. 

 

[298]

On 30/09/2020 at 20:50, great central said:

 

Bit of an update, given the reputation these cars seem to have in certain quarters

Taxed and insured from the beginning of September it's covered around 1100 miles since including a week's holiday which amounted to over 600 miles.

Oil change as a precaution before a deal of use. The only issue, so far, arose before I started using it. Had it out of the garage to give it a good wash and just putting it away again it stopped. 

Fuel pump was dead, much head scratching later turned out the earth wire was broken somewhere within the wiring loom.

Once discovered simply re route the wire from the pump to a convenient point on the bodywork, actually brought into the saloon under the back seat.

While checking round other stuff found it's got a fairly new suspension arm on one side at the front, new disc pads all round and one new caliper, so not bad at all in my opinion.

One of the brakes did drag for a while but has freed off with use.

It's a damn sight quicker than my other one, really feel the pull when the turbo kicks in.

 

It might be worth getting the sticky caliper overhauled before it catches you out (speaking from experience). The new wishbone was probably to replace a failed bush. 

 

My old one seems to have passed another MOT recently, and still has an extra 50000 miles on it due to inheriting a dashboard from another car...

[MJI]

13 hours ago, 37114 said:

 

I had same issue with a Series 3 I owned I bought in 2002. Replaced the chassis but then became trapped in the circle of "I have shelled out on the chassis so I had better fix this..." I still own it today and have nearly finished a last nut and bolt rebuild. 

 

 

A local resto business will have it for a few days and thouroughly check the chassis, whole back end is already plated so hopefully just the ARB mounts.

 

What ever happened I think it was ripped when the ARBs were locked, either hard cornering or going over the pinch point.

[big jim]

Just has my insurance renewal for my minis and Touareg, it’s stayed pretty much the same as last year, obviously all the mods are declared on all the cars, less than £950 for the 3 cars which is pretty good In my opinion 

 

as for the cooper S I’ve taken the induction kit off and refitted a modified standard air box, I found that the induction kit pipe and filter was getting warm from the heat under the bonnet so I’ve done a modification which replicates a JCW airbox, the cone filter is basically now housed within the airbox using a Wickes drainpipe adapter! The other end of the adapter is in the opposite end of the airbox poking through a 3’ hole into the bulkhead below the scuttle vents to get a better cold air flow into the engine

 

also changed the intake pipe for a silicone version 

 

[peanuts]

just wtf ?

[steve1]

2 hours ago, peanuts said:

just wtf ?

 

I do hope that is just photoshop and not real.

 

steve

[peanuts]

now then old boy thats a sporty little number 

[steve1]

9 hours ago, peanuts said:

now then old boy thats a sporty little number 

 

If that's real, then it's a stunning looking vehicle.

 

steve

[John Harris]

On 29/09/2020 at 13:27, boxbrownie said:

Tell me about it, our eight year old Range Rover was a rotten as a pear around the rear arches and rear hatch, the Freelander 2 i6 we have as a stand by is a 2006 and is completely rust free........

 

The second generation Freelander is based on the Ford EUCD platform, which itself is based on the Ford C1 platform. The Ford EUCD platform was also used under a number of  Volvos, unlike previous Land Rovers, the second generation Freelander was manufactured in the Halewood Body & Assembly facility, near Liverpool.

 

Essentially, it's a Focus wearing stilts!

 

jch

[steve1]

Are Land Rovers, Discos, Range Rovers et al still subject to high degree of thievery? I seem to recall this being a problem at one time. For spares wasn't it?

 

steve

[peanuts]

1 hour ago, steve1 said:

 

If that's real, then it's a stunning looking vehicle.

 

steve

saddly not a apparently a very clever photoshop of a jaguar s type and an Etype .have to agree it is stunning 

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, John Harris said:

 

The second generation Freelander is based on the Ford EUCD platform, which itself is based on the Ford C1 platform. The Ford EUCD platform was also used under a number of  Volvos, unlike previous Land Rovers, the second generation Freelander was manufactured in the Halewood Body & Assembly facility, near Liverpool.

 

Essentially, it's a Focus wearing stilts!

 

jch

I’d prefer Volvo V40 on stilts........

 

I worked in R&E all during the development of the FL2 while we were developing the vehicle, hence it is so good 
 

[peanuts]

just ? shakes head just ? bewilderment 

[steve1]

Built for a film maybe?

 

steve

[big jim]

One for @russ p maybe, got followed by an R reg maestro yesterday, would that have been one of the post rover models you could buy as a kit? 

[russ p]

8 hours ago, big jim said:

One for @russ p maybe, got followed by an R reg maestro yesterday, would that have been one of the post rover models you could buy as a kit? 

 

That would be a 'Ledbury ' Jim.  They were supplied fully assembled but were registered as kits.

Their origin was a company called Rodacar a rover subsidiary they set up in Bulgaria to assemble CKD kits over there which unfortunately failed . A company in Ledbury bought the kits which were all 1275s and assembled them . They were all base model shells with metal bumpers , there were also some vans.

There used to be a 51 plate one round here 

[Hobby]

https://maestro.org.uk/forums/forum/technical-forums/frequently-asked-questions/miscellaneous/5342-ledbury-apple-2000-maestros

[big jim]

The time has come to admit defeat with the blue cooper S, started misfiring when cold yesterday so took it I’ve too my mate who after a compression test confirmed the head gasket had gone on it, thankfully caught it quite early so not a complete disaster, no warped head or anything, anyway to repair that combined with work I was looking at having done renewing the big end shells, sump gasket etc the bill was going to come in at 4 figures so I’ve decided to get the bare minimum done to be able to sell it on as a working car and get shut of it 

 

I’ve already provisionally got myself a replacement from my mate, an 06 plate cooper S, so 3 years newer with a factory fitted LSD, new clutch and pretty much an engine strip by him fully documented with the work he has done, for the asking price he is going to swap all the performance bits off my blue one onto it, exhaust, manifold, intercooler, coil pack, leads, coilivers, wheels etc and swap those bits to the blue car for me to sell on, unfortunately the cost of the car means I’ve also got to sell the convertible to cover it but that’s something I’ve been pondering for a while anyway, this is the final justification for doing so, still reluctantly though! 
 

Hopefully all being well this is the new one (I’ve already unbolted the G wing spoiler off the blue one to try on it!) 

[big jim]

and here is the culprit, the metal bottom part of the gasket had split 

 

[boxbrownie]

That’s weird, I wonder if it was bent accidentally before fitment and they relied on the clamping effort that it would be fine?

[russ p]

5 hours ago, big jim said:

and here is the culprit, the metal bottom part of the gasket had split 

 

 

I still think those minis would have been better with a K series,  although to start with there would have been quite a few head gasket failures but with the triple layer gasket the problem goes away