doilum Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 7 hours ago, boxbrownie said: Probably better to use a “competition” type battery cut off switch close to the battery itself, at least they are proper switches. Have just been asked to fit a red switch to daughter's new horse box. I did her last one as the tacho kept flattening the battery especially in winter. 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5 C Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 2 hours ago, alastairq said: Not so bad traffic-wise on a quiet residential street...which really were quiet back in those days. Also, likely drivers actually looked where they were going back than as well? There are plenty of instances where folk have been hurt, despite following all the H&S rules, etc..in the past...it's how the no-win-no-fee legal industry got going. But, when needs must and the economical devil rides...one did the job with what one had. Sure there were risks, but these were taken into account when balancing the alternative factors...like, not having a car available to go to work in? Or not being able to give the family a holiday this year because of the cost of towing the car to a 'garage' and paying someone to do the job? Different world back then....and I for one was no worse for it. Climbing to the top of a teetering stack of cars in a scrapyard in search of an elusive part was surely a rite of passage for many of us? In between part-time work and studying for A levels, I seemed to spend much of my late teens keeping my car on the road in the cheapest way possible. 3 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 21 minutes ago, 5 C said: Climbing to the top of a teetering stack of cars in a scrapyard in search of an elusive part was surely a rite of passage for many of us? In between part-time work and studying for A levels, I seemed to spend much of my late teens keeping my car on the road in the cheapest way possible. Definitely, hunting around old style scrapyards, removing the parts yourself was a handy way of judging the condition of an item and making sure that you get all the bits, as well as familiarising yourself with production changes and interchangeability between makes and models was not only an education, but a very green method of running a car and extending its useful life. Something that those with vested interests have taken a great deal of care to design or legislate against in the last thirty years or so. You would think that if manufacturers were as concerned about the planet as they make out, the very idea of a non serviceable sealed unit would be outlawed worldwide. 2 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I used to love scrawping around local scrapyards on Saturday afternoons with a couple of mates. Quite a few bits of various cars ended up "improving" my Rover, air horns, gauges etc. Can't remember when I last visited a scrapyard, they all seem to have gone apart from a couple of recyclers who don't accept visitors. These days the web is much easier. The wiper mechanism on my old Galaxy broke a couple of years ago, a £350 part from Ford. I sourced a good used one one the web, delivered for £30, and no oily three legged one eyed Alsatian to avoid !! Rover bits are also easily sourced also on the web, if a bit pricey. Brit15 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5 C Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 13 minutes ago, MrWolf said: Definitely, hunting around old style scrapyards, removing the parts yourself was a handy way of judging the condition of an item and making sure that you get all the bits, as well as familiarising yourself with production changes and interchangeability between makes and models was not only an education, but a very green method of running a car and extending its useful life. Something that those with vested interests have taken a great deal of care to design or legislate against in the last thirty years or so. You would think that if manufacturers were as concerned about the planet as they make out, the very idea of a non serviceable sealed unit would be outlawed worldwide. It was also a good way to practice the removal technique and to assess the validity of the classic Haynes manual line "Refitting is the reverse of removal". 3 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) One thing that I have missed with the lockdown is the autojumbles, not only do you often find a bargain, but get to hear about other parts and vehicles available. The internet is great for parts hunting, but it has made us lazy and lazy costs money. When it comes to motorcycles, I have in the past gathered all of the parts that are unique or not available new via the autojumbles to build entire machines. Nowadays too many visitors are just looking to buy stuff cheap and put it straight on eBay, so there's much less chance of a bargain. Edited January 31, 2021 by MrWolf 3 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northmoor Posted January 31, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, APOLLO said: Can't remember when I last visited a scrapyard, they all seem to have gone apart from a couple of recyclers who don't accept visitors. As others have said, (often dubious environmental) legislation has done for most yards. The last time I visited one of my local ones, I was told that there was no money in stockpiling spares now, it was a much easier business to simply ship it all to China. As so few people maintain/repair their own cars now, there is a much smaller market in 2nd hand spares. Even the classic car market now seems to be dominated by big warehouses selling new parts and dealers who buy cheap cars, valet them thoroughly, get them MOT'd (probably by a "friendly" garage) and flog them at inflated prices. 1 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 A lot of the classic car dealers I have come across have a goodly stock of overpriced polished turds with some interesting restoration work. Never met one who wasn't a total bread head either. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) 11 hours ago, boxbrownie said: Probably better to use a “competition” type battery cut off switch close to the battery itself, at least they are proper switches. Have just been asked to fit a red switch to daughter's new horse box. I did her last one as the tacho kept flattening the battery especially in winter. Edited January 31, 2021 by doilum 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doilum Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Northmoor said: As others have said, (often dubious environmental) legislation has done for most yards. The last time I visited one of my local ones, I was told that there was no money in stockpiling spares now, it was a much easier business to simply ship it all to China. As so few people maintain/repair their own cars now, there is a much smaller market in 2nd hand spares. Even the classic car market now seems to be dominated by big warehouses selling new parts and dealers who buy cheap cars, valet them thoroughly, get them MOT'd (probably by a "friendly" garage) and flog them at inflated prices. A few months ago I visited a modern dismantlers to collect a pair of seats on behalf of my brother in law. On entering a clean office which reassembled a man cave they apologised that the seats were not yet out for inspection and the complementary coffee machine was unavailable due to covid regulations. I was given a hi Viz vest and we went out into the stacks of vehicles. Of course the one I wanted was in the middle of the stack, but no problem, a giant fork lift appeared and extricated it for my approval. I was happy so the young lad set to work and in ten minutes I was on my way. I too have spent many happy / frustrating hours six inches deep in puddles removing parts and then negotiating with a dubious crowd of crooks, sarky beggers and the occasional honest John ......... Progress. I think so. Edited January 31, 2021 by doilum 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 We do have a pretty local scrap yard, but quite a while since I needed something from there (possibly a hub for a Corsa belonging to a neighbours girlfriend - bottom ball joint had gone and worn the hole in the hub oval). But fir the MX5 probably easier to find a specialist breakers (there is one over just south of Derby) I am missing the bike autojumbles. But project bike prices have gone through the roof over lockdown. Occasionally I have watched some restoration shows on tv, especially us ones. Way too often they annoy me by doing a slap dash job and then boasting about the profit. One on a few days ago they bought an old pickup truck that had been sat fir years (decades probably). Engine was a mess. They did a good job on the interior (well, mainly their local upholstery lady). Visible bodywork they pretty much washed and clear coated to keep the rust. Engine wise they just bought a new engine (not they right engine....) and stuffed that in. Minimal work on the brakes. But they did nothing to the suspension, any work on the chassis (certain to be a load of rot), differential, wiring, etc. All the best Katy 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 2 hours ago, MrWolf said: Definitely, hunting around old style scrapyards, removing the parts yourself was a handy way of judging the condition of an item and making sure that you get all the bits, as well as familiarising yourself with production changes and interchangeability between makes and models was not only an education, but a very green method of running a car and extending its useful life. Something that those with vested interests have taken a great deal of care to design or legislate against in the last thirty years or so. You would think that if manufacturers were as concerned about the planet as they make out, the very idea of a non serviceable sealed unit would be outlawed worldwide. Reminds me a little of the story of a friend of mine who about 15 years ago was a Thames Valley Police Officer. In those days, if a car was abandoned, the police would check to see if a car had been stolen. If it hadn't, they would arrange for a scrap yard to remove it. If the car was still roadworthy, the scrappy could choose to reregister it and sell it on rather than break it. One day my friend was called out to a scrapyard in Wokingham as the scrappy was attempting to reregister a stolen car. He and his buddy arrived, checked the paperwork and discovered that the officer who did the stolen vehicle check hadn't done a thorough job before calling in the scrappy. As they were about to leave, my friend spotted a TV crew filming in the yard. "What are that TV crew doing here?" he asked the dealer. "This is where they film Scrapheap Challenge," came the reply.... 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 51 minutes ago, Kickstart said: We do have a pretty local scrap yard, but quite a while since I needed something from there (possibly a hub for a Corsa belonging to a neighbours girlfriend - bottom ball joint had gone and worn the hole in the hub oval). But fir the MX5 probably easier to find a specialist breakers (there is one over just south of Derby) I am missing the bike autojumbles. But project bike prices have gone through the roof over lockdown. Occasionally I have watched some restoration shows on tv, especially us ones. Way too often they annoy me by doing a slap dash job and then boasting about the profit. One on a few days ago they bought an old pickup truck that had been sat fir years (decades probably). Engine was a mess. They did a good job on the interior (well, mainly their local upholstery lady). Visible bodywork they pretty much washed and clear coated to keep the rust. Engine wise they just bought a new engine (not they right engine....) and stuffed that in. Minimal work on the brakes. But they did nothing to the suspension, any work on the chassis (certain to be a load of rot), differential, wiring, etc. All the best Katy They make me laugh. "We've managed to restore this car in two weeks and made £1000! No, you haven't. 1. You haven't factored in any of the overheads. 2. You have an army of people hunting down parts and services, or pulling in favours for a 'plug'. 3. In the case of one show, the cars you restored last week and returned to their unsuspecting owners appear in a lot of background shots still in primer... 4. Items bought cheaply, restored and sold for a serious profit in one show, turn up as man cave decor in the follow up show... Call me cynical if you will... 3 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Nick C Posted February 1, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 1, 2021 12 hours ago, 5 C said: It was also a good way to practice the removal technique and to assess the validity of the classic Haynes manual line "Refitting is the reverse of removal". I read that initially as "the classic Haynes manual lie" Which is generally correct... 1 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr.king Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 I got to know the lucky (?) buyer of a Volvo coupe "restored" by one of the TV outfits. He said he saw receipts for expenditure that vastly exceeded the costs declared on the TV programme. Not too long after buying the vehicle, certainly not long enough for "new" rot to have run riot, he said he also discovered a lot of rot in the inner wings, suggesting that this had not previously been revealed or that it had been ignored, indicating in either case that the work done was not a full restoration. 1 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 I can’t say these surprise me. And Wheeler Dealers is far from the worst. All the best Katy 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Just been told that Morecambe scrap dealer Ken Allen has died, I don't know if it was covid related. Well known in the area he was sometimes my last resort for keeping a car on the road when parts prices from main dealers would have been a week's wages. e.g. Renault 20 engine management computer £198 from main dealer, £30 from a scrapper at Ken's. My take home pay at the time was just over £200. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 Apparently it was covid related according to social media, one of the last old school car breakers. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Northmoor Posted February 1, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 1, 2021 (edited) 20 hours ago, MrWolf said: They make me laugh. "We've managed to restore this car in two weeks and made £1000! No, you haven't. 1. You haven't factored in any of the overheads. 2. You have an army of people hunting down parts and services, or pulling in favours for a 'plug'. 3. In the case of one show, the cars you restored last week and returned to their unsuspecting owners appear in a lot of background shots still in primer... 4. Items bought cheaply, restored and sold for a serious profit in one show, turn up as man cave decor in the follow up show... Call me cynical if you will... Off topic but most TV makeover shows are very selective in what they reveal about their methods; property programmes are partly to blame for convincing the public that anyone can be a property developer. Sarah Beeny was one of the better ones for pointing how much, or often how little, money the "developers" efforts had actually made. Typically they'd made 20%, except that deducting the local rise in the market over the year meant they'd actually made half that themselves, then deducting the cost of their work meant they'd built a house for someone else to live in for half what working in a coffee shop would have paid them, in half the hours. I have a couple of her early books which make clear that no professional developer would stay in business for the Net margins made on her show. Edited February 1, 2021 by Northmoor 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rugd1022 Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Some more golden oldies.... 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrWolf Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 I can just imagine that pump attendant saying "I don't care if it is 3d a gallon cheaper Sir, you can't run your Vitesse on 2 star. It's designed for hedgecutters and is only a couple of octane points above rain." 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted February 2, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 2, 2021 There could be some very rude comments about the top one..... all I will say he seems very happy for her to point out the serial number of the pump! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
peanuts Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Spotted this on the wall at a delivery today 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 1 hour ago, russ p said: There could be some very rude comments about the top one..... all I will say he seems very happy for her to point out the serial number of the pump! I did wonder what he might have had in his hand that had edited out... steve 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Nobody could ever call the 1800 a pretty car. Purposeful in rally format maybe but attractive, maybe not. steve 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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