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!)
Phil P wrote:I totally agree about wiring looms. If we do another series I think that should be something we do. Looms are available for most classic cars. Bodged wiring combined with some of the 'Prince of Darkness' best components is a recipe for disaster. The owner and vehicle are then joined by a common word, gutted!
Not disagreeing here at all.
Just a thought, even if you can't get a replacement loom off the shelf, it would be instructive to show how to remake a loom using the old method of a large piece of plywood, a bunch of nails, a bunch of connectors, shrink sleeving and binding tape. Along with a few rolls of cable.
Added points for soldering on connectors and shrink sleeving them properly. Anyone who suggests scotchlocks to summarily suspended from a engine hoist via the application of a rusty handbrake cable wrapped around the (the rest of this post has been deleted) - nah not really
Landrovers and Welding go together like Bread and Butter. And in the wet they are about as structurally sound
I have a big bag of scotch locks that I have removed from my loom while looking for various electrical issues. I have only put one back in to bridge a corroded multi-plug for the puddle lights in my drivers door.
They make their own looms in the factory at work, no binding tape, they have REALLY big heat shrink. The finished product looks pretty good.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
I still enjoyed it, despite the sniffing Craddock gave it for its unoriginality. It has what is called history, a tale to tell, where each mod and change was done for a reason, and I fully commend the guy for basically telling him to get stuffed it's staying as it is. When a car has been part of the family for so long, it'd be like your aunt going in for plastic surgery and coming out looking like someone else 30 years younger, just wrong for the owner.
it'd be like your aunt going in for plastic surgery and coming out looking like someone else 30 years younger
Hmm, maybe not the most effective analogy there, Rob. Why did I say that? Well, my Aunt was quite foxy 30 years ago and if she were 30 years younger it would be OK to get to know her better. Eh, eh?
Completely agree with the sentiment though, after all, I can't recall ever having encountered a totally factory stock LR outside of the surreal world that is the concours d'état circuit. They all have at least one extra switch, possibly a nice big storage locker in place of the middle seat, some stickers and of course a periscope. Mr Haddock is of course entitled to his opinion and indeed possesses an enviable wealth of product knowledge, but that's all it was; opinion and lest we forget, he famously drove a SII with a Ford V6 conversion during the late '80s/early '90s which proves that he's either suffering with memory loss or has an even more subtle sense of humour than we'd previously realised.
J "Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
It might be nice to show how to make a loom up but the producers are very careful that the programme is an even split of social/personal side and technical/restoration. We film hours of restoration that doesn't get shown. I can't say too much but losing a day of work on a vehicle to film a small piece that isn't used can be frustrating but this is TV land. We all get on well, no egos get in the way and I think that comes across in the programme.
John Craddock gave up his time freely and tracked down parts for the programme so he is entitled to make his comments. The remit was to restore it back to how it was when off roaded and not when it rolled out of Solihull. It was also ex military so again it was not as a civvy version. It turned out very nice in the end and the original owners daughter was really happy and that is what Car SOS is all about.
The only thing that goes to my had is a hat or catarrh and the hairdresser on a search for anything follicle! 'Workshop Phil' is the name the producer gave me. I was suprised it appeared in the programme. I can't complain they seem to to keep putting up with me.
The Land Rover Series I is a seriously iconic British car. Born in 1948 it went on to conquer the world. Rugged, simple, but with only just 39,000 ever made, examples of this national treasure of automotive pride are getting harder and harder to find.
Philip and Ant hope to find, rescue and restore a Landie back to as good as new. Unfortunately the only example they can get their hands on has been sitting in a barn for over 41 years - un-driven and covered in cat poo.
Philip meets the fanatical Landie lovers who eat, drink and sleep these cars - from trialers who gather in damp woods early on Sunday mornings to thrash their cars in the most basic form of motor sport, to a real life Lawrence of Arabia who depended on the Series 1 to keep him alive in the desert.
Phil P wrote:The remit was to restore it back to how it was when off roaded and not when it rolled out of Solihull. It was also ex military so again it was not as a civvy version. It turned out very nice in the end and the original owners daughter was really happy and that is what Car SOS is all about.
And that's what raises it up above the others, the personal side rather than the trying to make a quick buck brigade. At least you get to see the owners reaction when it's revealed, and you know that they appreciate the work that has gone into bringing their car back from the brink, rather than the alleged this sold for £X or this is worth £Y if you sell it. It is nice to see the owners thoughts being taken into consideration, rather than these cars being restored to how they left the factory. A Landie should have battle scars of character from the years
mach1rob wrote: the trying to make a quick buck brigade. . . . . . . rather than the alleged this sold for £X or this is worth £Y if you sell it.
That's what always gets me with Wheeler Dealers - they obviously have to spend a lot of time on the restoration yet the labour charges are never taken into account - it's always what the car cost, how much the parts were and what it sells for afterwards.
Phil P wrote:The remit was to restore it back to how it was when off roaded and not when it rolled out of Solihull. It was also ex military so again it was not as a civvy version. It turned out very nice in the end and the original owners daughter was really happy and that is what Car SOS is all about.
And that's what raises it up above the others, the personal side rather than the trying to make a quick buck brigade. At least you get to see the owners reaction when it's revealed, and you know that they appreciate the work that has gone into bringing their car back from the brink, rather than the alleged this sold for £X or this is worth £Y if you sell it. It is nice to see the owners thoughts being taken into consideration, rather than these cars being restored to how they left the factory.
Absolutely. The personal touch is one of the highlights.
I've managed to get hold of 4 of the first 5 episodes (can't find Ep 2) and have just watched the MGTA and Cortina GT shows. Very enjoyable and (I'm not afraid to say) slightly tearjering.
Topaz wrote:
That's what always gets me with Wheeler Dealers - they obviously have to spend a lot of time on the restoration yet the labour charges are never taken into account - it's always what the car cost, how much the parts were and what it sells for afterwards.
Sorry but I totally disagree - Edd is always saying "a garage will charge you £X for doing this". Also I've probably watched just about every episode and at no point has anyone ever claimed that they are making a living, or could be making a living, out of what they do.
