What would you buy & why?

Here's the place to chat about all things classic. Also includes a feedback forum where you can communicate directly with the editorial team - don't hold back, they'd love to know what they're doing right (or wrong of course!)
Message
Author
GHT
Posts: 1523
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 3:09 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1041 Post by GHT » Fri Apr 10, 2020 8:00 am

Atodini wrote:
Fri Apr 10, 2020 2:37 am
As a youngster, I only ever had 2 car posters on my bedroom wall, the E-type and a Lamborghini... I never was that interested in cars, preferring motorcycles so they vied for wall space with MV's Nortons, Beezas and Triumphs. John
My two wheeled licence came about in the days of the scooter mods. After an afternoon of getting the hang of the twist grip accelerator on the right handlebar and the gear change on the left, I was away. About a month later I took my test which consisted of me riding up and down while the examiner watched me from the pavement. then I was told to run around the next street, as I returned he stepped out from behind a bus shelter, raised his hand and shouted stop. I stopped, he passed me. That was it.

Alarmed at the prospect of me getting on some Triumph Bonneville, my father offered to buy me a car. He never had the money to do that, but I picked up the vibes of his concerns and said I wouldn't be getting a motorbike. The scooter went at the end of the mod era, I became a 'suit,' got married, acquired a mortgage and started my climb of the greasy pole. Fast forward a couple of decades, the mortgage is a long forgotten memory, there's money in the bank and I haven't lived from pay check to pay check for years. That motorbike itch was reignited when a good friend showed my wife and I photos of his Harley classic. "I wouldn't mind a big bike like that," I told my missus, "well go for it," she encouraged. So I did, had it for five years, sold it for more than I paid, never had so much as a wobble on it, no near misses, no scares, nothing. The itch was scratched and life moved on.
on the harley.jpg
on the harley.jpg (87.1 KiB) Viewed 24089 times

User avatar
Atodini
Posts: 48
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:21 pm
Location: Mansfield Notts.
Contact:

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1042 Post by Atodini » Fri Apr 10, 2020 9:52 am

Sounds like a direct copy of my own test!!! Early December 1967. My old mum didn't even know I had a bike! She came home from work to find a Matchless G12 parked in the front garden....

Week before Xmas. I came home to find a blue Reliant van parked outside - mum's attempt to lure me off motorbikes...... Didn't work, in fact I still have/ride a couple of old Hondas, a 1970 C90 "cub" and a 1973 CB 500/4....

It did keep me warm and dry going back and forth to work though, plus started a love affair with Reliants that still lasts to this day. It was cheap to run and fairly reliable and even after I passed my car test (Jan 1969) I still kept it - after all it "did the job".

F00102B wonder what became of you???

I also once had a Harley, bought new in 1972, before they became "fashionable" and when there was only one authorised dealer for the whole of the UK, F. Warr in London. It was OK, but, at the time not really the right bike for me. Flipping thing spat me off twice in the 9 months I kept it - it only had so smell a manhole cover (even a dry one) and it would "turn turtle" under me!!!, so it went and another Norton (Commando this time) came to replace it. Hindsight suggests that this was most likely the tyres than the design.

John
"I thought I was wrong once - But I was wrong"...

Dick
Posts: 1280
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:31 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1043 Post by Dick » Thu Apr 16, 2020 11:05 am

If i was going to get a bike id have to have a honda c50..i had one as a field bike as a kid , we used it as a trails bike.. not quite as good off road as the ty i had later but just so much fun..although the bruises have now gone..

keef
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:03 pm

Re: What would you buy & why

#1044 Post by keef » Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:01 pm

GHT wrote:
Sat Jan 05, 2019 6:57 am

There's not enough room on the internet to list the problems that I had with mine. And that, like your father's, was a 1978 on a T plate.
Maxi.jpg
This looks more like an earlier than T plated Maxi with hydrolastic displacers in the boot and vinyd rather than velour seat finish. ;)

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

"Tractor(ish" thing bought, why? Who knows!

#1045 Post by JPB » Sun Jun 20, 2021 6:38 pm

Good News! ( I think). I have bought a replacement for the van that's less complex to maintain, on account of the fact that its otherwise very familiar looking but bigger- and with a turbo - engine and in fact everything else bar the body are similar to those bits as found in the HiAce 4x4 forward control vans :mrgreen: , but as to the question of why, well that's where it gets complicated.

I found a great (as in; willing to fork out my asking price) buyer for the taller of the Toyotas and have had some money for that but, as part of a complex and ultimately slightly confusing (as in; what the f*** have I done) deal, I've not only had some money for Yoda but now also own the "SUV" of my dreams and no, I couldn't find another sufficiently well preserved Discovery so it's not one of those.

It is, in fact, a 1997 P plate Hilux Surf that was imported in 2003 and hasn't seen a welding torch in its entire life thanks to its original UK keeper's belief in the benefits of Shell Ensis V from when it came off the boat and XCP Rust Blocker more recently.
It's the Range topping 3 litre Diesel model, which in mine has had its cylinder head sorted many years ago by replacing that with an upgraded, aftermarket head and a similarly uprated radiator as well as an accurate coolant temperature gauge, fresh, SVO compatible pump seals and even some wood on the dashboard. It's typical Toyota wood in that it does its best to look like plastic but did come from a tree.
It arrived on Friday morning but hasn't been out yet as I made the classic error of deciding to wind down the tailgate window. Initially, I was just chuffed to have found one with functioning tailgate electrics and was glad of the cooler air flowing through the thing when I was giving it its first run in my ownership but then, I parked it on the drive in the campervan-sized space, pressed the button on the remote and marvelled at the way in which every opening pane of glass in the entire vehicle closed as the door locks all, er, locked. Every piece apart, that is, from the one in the tailgate, which rose magnificently about three quarters of the way up and caught on something at the left edge, which left the glass at a jaunty angle. It would happily drop, but wouldn't then go beyond that position described above.

So that was Friday night entirely trashed as I'd been standing for about an hour under the open tailgate having removed the internal trim so was quite literally screaming with pain thanks to the nasty leg cramps and muscle spasms that this ill advised activity had triggered. So this morning, more stable and able to put some weight on my feet again, I went out with the intention of removing the carefully placed bin bags used to keep the moths away during the night and Saturday.
I had however failed to find a volunteer to grab the glass and give it the slight tweak needed to get it past the sticking point so I gave up and sitting in the boot, a Volvo estate equalling seven feet long, replaced just enough parts to prevent losing stuff.

I'm certain that the chipped tooth on the right quadrant isn't helping but as the damage is to the part of the quadrant that, once window raised, continues to make the earth for the rear wiper, a simple but effective way to prevent wiping the window unless it's fully closed, I'm now thinking that some form of distortion in the pivot point of the left quadrant is much more likely to be not only responsible for the "teething problem" but is also going to be dead simple to fix, however that won't happen for some time to come as I've now been medicated properly thanks to the local (they're only about forty miles away) emergency GP service and am not in pain, but had lost a big toenail at some point and was bleeding from the remains of its toe. Just the job when the carpets right through the house are very light beige and I had been unable to get my by then quite badly distorted feet into any form of footware, ideally blood resistant. :oops:

I'll get some piccies once I can get down from the house to the ground outside but ho-hum, at least that engine and (almost :oops: ) every other thing on the truck works, there's quite literally no chassis or body rust and it came with five very recently fitted tyres, some value there methinks as they're all year-round, mud and snow rated 275/70%x16" ones which are, according to the chap who delivered it and went home - to the south coast - in the tall van, really quiet on tarmac yet amazingly capable when on steep slopes covered in wet grass. We shall see :geek: ...
Its very complex four wheel drive setup is all fine, so that provides rear only, four with centre diff locked, four with centre diff open, high and low range in all 4x4 modes and something else operated by one of the many switches whose function I have yet to identify. Edited, it's the firmness control for the dampers. Ooh-er. :shock:

It's a low mileage old thing too, with a mere 263,000 KMs showing from new, history to prove it and it came with side steps that are not only set at a great level for my needs - once lower limbs are all working properly again - but have no rust where their brackets attach to the chassis rails so can handle my weight without a murmur, though having dropped from 17st 3Lb on the 16th of March last year to my current 12st 8Lb, I'm so light that a good stiff breeze would have me away if I weren't holding onto something. :lol:

The only underbonnet thing that I have to attend to in the shorter term is the air compressor clutch. The belt for the compressor has been removed as it has no other function, but I knew about that when I agreed to take on the vehicle and its pipework is all present and connected, the condenser and the rest of that system is all fine and bizarrely, both air gauges are showing the sort of residual pressure that ought to see the aircon working properly once the compressor is fixed, a thing that should be possible without removing the body from the engine as it's right at the top and there's plenty of room to get in about with a puller to remove the clutch hub, though the broken springs are all long gone so I may do the sensible thing and just buy a new compressor from Rock Auto in Wisconsin. At a mere £104, this would work out cheaper than trying to rivet new springs to the clutch hub, especially as the pulley has been sitting loosely attached to the unit for some time, but isn't doing any harm as it's not currently belted. I'd then take it to the place I usually use to drain the whole system, freshen it and refill it for me. Being a modern unit from 1997, it can be charged with 134A so I don't even have to search for remaining supplies of reclaimed R22 in place of NLA R12.
Phew!

:)
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

Dick
Posts: 1280
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:31 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1046 Post by Dick » Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:49 am

Ooh new toys! When can we have pictures please??

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1047 Post by JPB » Wed Jun 23, 2021 8:27 am

Once I'm able to get out again, then pics will come. Just now I'm still flat on my back and oramorphed up to the eyeballs, which is all because I tried to work overhead to fix the sticking window. Funnily enough every one of the YouTube clips, that exist to demonstrate how to do this simple and commonly needed fix, shows people working from inside the boot and sitting cross legged on the load floor. I couldn't even get in the back 'cos my legs are too long. Imagine an adult trying to get into a child's playhouse without injury, an otherwise empty one of course :oops: , the feat of flexibility required would be similar and besides, Toyota's book procedure for doing the job is to remove the tailgate, lie it on a bench and work from above!

As it is, I have a not quite fully closing window and that won't stop my using the car once I'm fit to drive, whereas running about sans tailgate isn't possible as the spare wheel cradle latches to the outside of the door. I've got someone booked to do the job for me, that'll be within the next few weeks so my home carer will be bringing polythene and gorilla glue when she's out here later on Friday. :idea: Hmm, so Friday's looking good for photos to be taken.

Meanwhile, I'm getting used to drinking tea while completely horizontal. I can't recommend this as it's messy. Very messy! :lol: As for eating lain down, easy as I'm being fuelled with a hose and that's why it's better to get a suitably fit person to do the job. Any job. The pain and the immobility I can manage, but being fed by machinery.. Anyone who's passing by this way and passing a takeaway en route, please bring lots of unhealthy deep fried food, beer, wine, rum and extra chips! And for lunch, maybe just some of that "direct injection" consommé with a roll & egg to follow.

:drool:
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

Dick
Posts: 1280
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:31 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1048 Post by Dick » Thu Jun 24, 2021 5:43 am

Bugger, get well soon mate.. at the moment im building up stonework around the beams for my ceiling... it involves bashing my head every 5 minutes.. gave me a headache yesterday... tried a hard hat but it keeps getting in the way or knocked off..

User avatar
JPB
Posts: 10319
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:24 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1049 Post by JPB » Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:36 am

Hmm, hard hat eh? :idea: That gives me an idea about some similar way of managing to work in the confines of the Surf's rear load area.....

Image

Just a quick phone call to my friends at the local Cyberium should get me assimilated for the price of a can of WD40!
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

Dick
Posts: 1280
Joined: Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:31 pm

Re: What would you buy & why?

#1050 Post by Dick » Thu Jun 24, 2021 2:31 pm

JPB wrote:
Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:36 am
Hmm, hard hat eh? :idea: That gives me an idea about some similar way of managing to work in the confines of the Surf's rear load area.....

Image

Just a quick phone call to my friends at the local Cyberium should get me assimilated for the price of a can of WD40!
Are they related to those bl##dy cylons? Swines got into my Freesat box and deleted the final episode of bsg! :twisted:

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests