Practically Classics Forum

We suffered a major technical failure today. Okay that might be overselling it a bit. We lost a tail light bulb. https://i.ibb.co/CbRt6c8/IMG-20240416-162311.jpg Though admittedly on plenty of modern cars that is a pretty major headache! Takes much more than the five minutes and a flat blade screwdr...

The date on the front page will be accepted, it was for my Matra, however if it was built in 1984 then it will not be eligible for free tax until 1st April 2025. Thanks for the clarification. It's always going to be a bit of a struggle I think around here - when I got the Cavalier a couple of years...

It has now been renewed I believe. A couple of things struck me since my last post, firstly DVLA must know when the car was built, otherwise it would be on a Q plate. Secondly, Glass's Check Book doesn't cover vehicle which were not officially imported into the UK. I've got the 76-85 book and Traba...

Happy Birthday mate! Good updates, keep 'em coming. :D Thanks! -- -- -- In spite of my having picked it up basically as a bit of fun, not really expecting to do a huge amount with it, the Trabant as of yesterday has formally clicked over a thousand miles since it arrived with me at just before Chri...

The show was a bit of a mixed bag. Few interesting cars there, but a bit of a modern and modified leaning for my personal tastes for the most part. Was still fun though, and good to catch up with a couple of folks. We also managed to make a Volvo 480 look like a big car. https://i.ibb.co/P6FQdMq/IMG...

There's a local classic car gathering tomorrow (Sunday 31st) afternoon at the Beefeater opposite the XScape in Central MK tomorrow from 1500. My intention is to be there in something. Most likely the Trabant as the Rover is still covered in moss to an embarrassing extent to be seen in public beyond ...

Few little bits and pieces done this afternoon, but nothing particularly ground breaking. The Trabant has never been particularly fond of idling smoothly (even by two stroke standards), but it was definitely better after changing the blown head gasket. Today I had the thought of using an IR thermome...

Following the irritatingly erratic weather on Saturday it was lovely on Sunday. However my body decided that lumbering with me with a headache threatening to turn in to a full on migraine for a good chunk of the day was a great idea so my productivity was rather limited. In the quest to get some of ...

Kind of annoying day today as the weather kept looking decent for being outside, but pretty much the minute I'd start doing anything the heavens would then open again, for about 2 minutes. Then it would be sunny again. Rinse and repeat about a dozen times before I ran out of patience. I did at least...

This is always a bit nerve wracking even when it's a car you know well. Doubly so though when it's the first time you're putting a 40 year old car through the test. This afternoon it was time to find out whether I'd be getting a pass certificate or an expensive to do list. https://i.ibb.co/mDP6qGV/I...