My slightly knackered old cars

[CLINT]

Not that it matters a toss to anyone really but as a kid I used to live a couple of hundred yards from where that Volvo was bought new. John Wallwork of Kidderminster. It's now a car wash.

[RetroShite]

Not that it matters a toss to anyone really but as a kid I used to live a couple of hundred yards from where that Volvo was bought new. John Wallwork of Kidderminster. It's now a car wash.

I'm sure the dealer plate says something along the lines of Dando's of Chipping, Sodbury on it.

[CLINT]

AB is a Worcestershire plate. Maybe traded in and sold by them when not that old? Or whatever, who knows...

[RetroShite]

AB is a Worcestershire plate. Maybe traded in and sold by them when not that old? Or whatever, who knows...

Ah but the plate is actually AE...

[RetroShite]

Sym Jet4 by srblythe, on Flickr

Bought myself a top quality Moped from a guy at work for £100. Planning on getting it tested then trying to swap or sell it.

[RetroShite]

RJC_8829 by srblythe, on Flickr

Sold the moped for £500 and the E28 for £1200, not bad at all for minimum effort.
Then I spotted a Polo a friend used to own and went and bought that.

Polo round 2 by srblythe, on Flickr

Polo round 2 by srblythe, on Flickr

Really I just wanted the wheels, they usually sell for £80 per wheel between all of the local stock car racers, they are the correct offset for them and quite sought after.

[RetroShite]

So, what have I been up to lately? Not an awful lot. I stuck the Polo in for an mot and it failed on wheel bearings, brake imbalance and a blowing exhaust manifold. I seriously couldn't be fucked carrying out any of the work myself so handed it over to a garage I occasionally use and got it back with 12 months test and a much lighter wallet.

RJC_8934 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_8932 by srblythe, on Flickr

I did manage to get most of the interior fitted back into the car but the wooden steering wheel was knackered so I borrowed an Audi 80 wheel. I also sourced some replacement carpet.

RJC_9266 by srblythe, on Flickr

I used it over the weekend and although it drives really well, is relatively quick and handles well it's not something I'd want to use daily due to the excessively loud exhaust, I briefly put it up for sale and got a couple of good offers around £1k which is pretty much what it owes me but I think I'd like to get a quieter exhaust and get some use out of it.

RJC_9258 by srblythe, on Flickr

I also fitted steel wheels with balloon spec tyres which made a huge difference to the handling and acceleration of the car, it drives so much better.

RJC_8974 by srblythe, on Flickr

Other exciting things... I changed the tyres on the W123 which made a huge difference to how the car drives, there's now no steering wheel wobble/vibration at any speed. I did discover the two rear wheels were leaking air so I had to swap the tyres onto another pair of Mercedes rims I had sitting that I knew held air. Here's hoping the tyres will hold air with the replacement rims.

RJC_8971 by srblythe, on Flickr

My Audi 80 is now away at the same garage my Polo went to, I got so far with it but just couldn't find the motivation to get the brake lines done, apparently the lines are done but he's trying to source new handbrake cables and then it won't be far off an mot.
I decided to not buy any cars this month and instead pay someone else to get cars I already owned finished, it seems to be working quite well, I think the next job to farm out will be the CV joint on the W123 240D. That's a job I really can't be bothered attempting.

[fried onions]

A fantastic collection. Do you prefer Continental cars?

[RetroShite]

A fantastic collection. Do you prefer Continental cars?

I prefer cars that don't cost an awful lot of money, it's just coincidence that I've managed to acquire lots of similar cars at the same time.

I think the purchase price of each car might surprise people.

W123 230E £350
W123 240D £500
Polo £550
Audi 80 £350
black Subaru MV £1200
beige Subaru MV £100
Ford Ranger £700
Corolla £300
Volvo 360 £500
Chevette £900
Felicia £275
305 GR £475
305 SRD £200

[MRustbucket]

An interesting collection of cars - and so many of them! It's quite an undertaking to keep this many on the road.