Dez' 'fleet' thread. Another bl00dy transit!

[Dez]

I also had this b3 Passat estate. Again I bought it cos it was local and cheap. £400 off eBay as an MOT failure.
I’ve always got on really with these, I think this is by 5th b3 and I’ve had as many b4s as well.
None of the failures were particularly major, it seemed it had been subject to a very harsh test, presumably fishing for work on an ‘old car’.


As collected-



I welded up a 50p sized hole in the boot floor it shouldn’t have failed on anyway, it was only a heat shield bracket and well outside any prescribed area. I flushed the brake fluid and chucked some new pads in the front, changed a few bulbs and took the engine out.
Yes really! Exhaust was blowing due to Broken exhaust studs and I know from experience with these trying to take shortcuts does not work. Especially if someone has been there before like this, it had already had one helicoil put in on the curse word so I did them all.








I also spent a whole £8 on a timing belt when I found this-


Later on t also got a water pump and alternator as each was making funny noises. And also some rear shocks after they expired. Definitely wasnt anything to do with using it for stuff like this-


Or this-


Or this-


Or this-


You get the idea 🤣

I did remove the mid box with a level crossing when I had the chassis on the roof though, so it got de-boxed then.

I had it about 2 years and it did sterling service, but once I’d fixed a few others I didn’t really need it. I probably spent about £200’on parts in that time. I put it up for sale for £800 with tons of time wasters and dreamers messaging me.

In the end i took the wheels off and put some steels on, and sold the wheels alone for £400 (after fees!) on eBay. For those who don’t know they’re super rare fifteen52 ‘snowflakes, 16” versions of scirocco scala wheels, fully forged. Hence the strong money.

I then sold the car to a local lad for 400 quid. He was over the moon with it and I still see him in it occasionally.

So I’ll chalk that one up as another win, being it cost me nothing to own and saved me lugging stuff in nicer cars.

[Dez]

15 was another right place, right time thing.
My mate George who has the paint shop next door got offered an ‘Mx5 that’s been in someones garden for 7 years’ for scrap money. He just bought it unseen. Scrap was high at the time, so I think including sending someone to pick it up it owned him £250.
We were taking bets at how bad it was going to be.
I saw it and gave him £500 before it was even off the transporter 😂


It’s probably the most rust-free Mx-5 I’ve ever seen. Every bit on it was mint. Perfect sills and rear 1/4s, rear pockets, front wings etc. No rust at all anywhere. And it really has been parked in a hedge on wet grass for years, as you can see.


I’m calling it an Mx-5 but it was really a eunos. It was also REALLY early. The chassis number was about 1200. It was also a really good spec. PAS, air con, electric windows, headrest speakers, yellow projector fogs, momo wheel.
The only deviation from stock was the gash wheels. They were real cheap sh1t.
The thing that really let it down was the comically bad paintjob. It had been blown over, but f-k knows what with as it’s was up to 1/4” thick! It was also super chalky as you can see.
Looked alright when wet though.


I got it for the mrs, to be her first rwd car. It was perfect.

The roof was seized up and the rear window knackered so I bought a mint mk2 roof with glass rear screen for £150 and swapped the whole thing. I put some genuine chrome mirrors on as it didn’t come with any, and bypassed the faulty immobiliser and it ran perfect.






I serviced it, took the seats out and gave it a deep clean, put all new brakes on it, sold the gash wheels and put some 13” allycats with fat tyres on it, then tested it.


The shocks started leaking shortly after putting it on the road, presumably they had rust on the shafts.
I bought some TA technix as George has em on his old Mx5 and they were really good. They’d changed the design and the new ones were AWFUL. so soft it was undrivable.




It looked good though.


I was welding up another 5 for a friend at the time and I did a deal with him for his not very old HSDs as he had gaz golds to go on. So I swapped everything over and it was a total revelation.
Picked up a nardi and put that on too.


Bombed around in it for a few weeks before giving the mrs. it to make sure it was all good. No.1 dog approved of this.


It proved to be pretty reliable tbh, to say it has been laid up for so long. cooling system sh1t itself and blew the rad, turned out to be this bypass pipe.


Fixed


Belts and water pump and stuff were also done.


I think apart from that it had an alternator and a battery and a couple of tyres (weren’t new when they went on) and that was about it in about 2 years?

The mrs enjoyed it, but was fancying a change. (You’ll see to what shortly).
Tbh it was a real fun car.
On the little wheels with fat tyres but low and stiff it was a great b lanes car. You could absolutely wring it’s neck and not die.


George was interested in it and had done me a deal with it in the first place, I added up what it owned me (a grand) and let him have it for that. So one crossed off, but it means another coming in.

[tom13]

Quality thread dude one of my faves.

I had older racelands on my mx5 and everyone slated them but I thought they were really good. I'm thinking the same must have happened with those as the cheap ones are all much of a muchness. Fitment looks good on those wheels as well. Look nice and low but still useable.

Someone got a good buy with that Passat. Even if it was a bit bashed you had done all the hard work to make a reliable daily for someone.

[Dez]

Oct 13, 2020 15:43:15 GMT tom13 said:

Quality thread dude one of my faves.

I had older racelands on my mx5 and everyone slated them but I thought they were really good. I'm thinking the same must have happened with those as the cheap ones are all much of a muchness. Fitment looks good on those wheels as well. Look nice and low but still useable.

Someone got a good buy with that Passat. Even if it was a bit bashed you had done all the hard work to make a reliable daily for someone.

I’ve had good results with racelands in the past too, especially on VWs.

The Passat was a good car really, yeah it was only a 1.8 petrol but they seem to be largely overlooked by most VW people. Tbh I think they’re better than the compatible mk2/3 golfs. Build quality is certainly a lot higher.

[Dez]

No. 16 was tacked on the end because I more or less forgot I owned it 😂

Id bought it about 4 years previous off rob0r and it had been stored at his all that time.

This list kinda kickstarted me into sorting something out with it so I got it picked up and dropped off here to assess.






It’s an alpine white early metal valance e28 with a Pacific blue interior.
It’s also a m30 2.5 manual.
On top of that it’s a fairly good spec with 4x electric windows, electric mirrors and check panel. The front end around the slam panel is rather rotten but the rest is really not that bad. I’ve picked up a few parts like a a pair of sills and a wing but I still need a lot more. It’s future is currently undecided though. I’d rather not break it as it’s a really rare spec. But time is not on my side at the moment.
It does have its own thread here, but not that much has happened tbh.

forum.retro-rides.org/thread/211239/1982-525i-manual-alpinewe-pacificblau

But that wraps up the original list, in that it was all I owned at that particular time. Best do new additions next then 🙄😂

[Dez]

Well as I’d done so well reducing things down from 16 to 9, I’d Best Buy a few things hadn’t I? 🙄
My fleet my rules I guess, and all 3 can be well justified.
Yes I’ve bought 3 more vehicles 😂

This first one is fully allowed as it’s the subject of
this thread.
So unicorn vehicle=allowed.


It still on the chassis table right now but Is
Only 2-3 days off being a roller, when I get time.
Tbh it actually ties up a few loose ends form earlier in the thread, as the leftover running gear and chassis from the ‘38sedan have gone under it, as has the leftover flathead originally from the ‘47 truck that went on the ranger chassis. Recycled vehicle and all that.

I’ll do a build thread at some point, I’ve taken enough pics.

So that’s either #17 or #10, depending on how you look at it.

[Dez]

The next one (#18 or #11) was a replacement motor for the mrs.
She wanted something ‘newer and tidier looking’. Given She’d basically had two cars that were iconic in their own fields and excel at what they do, it was proving troublesome to find something I’d spend actual money on.

In the end we went for the left field choice of a z11 cube, as they look newer than they are, and are a bit funky.
She only really needs a city car given her low speed commute. I underestimated how comically sh1te the running gear is in them though tbh.
My falcon is nearly 60 years old with a 2.5l straight 6 and does better mpg and is faster. How’s that for progress 😂

It’s a tidy enough example in cream with a brown interior. Getting a good colour combo was important. It’s a 1.4 CR14DE, shared with micras and notes. and a true auto not CVT.







I bought it off a friend whos a Datsun/Nissan specialist and knows these cars well. It was his mrs car, and there were receipts for all the right bits, including a replacement engine bought off a very well known cube specialist.

I didn’t get home before the headgasket went..🙄 that’s me and nissans all over tbh. I’ve never had one that wasn’t awful, despite trying pretty hard over the years.
This was day 3 of ownership I think!


My friend was very accommodating and we sorted out a deal that covered some of the cost and I did all the work he actually offered just to have it back but I stubbornly refused.
Turned out the engine from the cube specialist was knackered and probably had at least triple the claimed miles on it. It was filthy inside.




The new headgasket didn’t work, the head was fine but it appeared to have warped the block (open deck design so understandable).

I then did what I should have in the first place. I bought a donor engine from the newest, lowest miles note i could find-


Then did this all over again-


And after this it worked, ish. Here it is nearly 15 miles away without doing kettle impressions as proof-


Now overdrive has stopped working on the gearbox and I’ve just done discs and pads and spent ages sorting out stuck caliper slider pins 🙄

For all it’s cool quirky design and the great design and ergonomics of the interior, I cant bring myself to love it as it’s massively let down by sh1t running gear. It been an experience, but I think it’ll be getting moved on soon.

[Dez]

N N N N N N Nineteen is the unveiling of a secret* project! I’ve had this stashed away for nearly a year now.

I had unfinished business with one of these due to the fire. The other one id given to the mrs, and was a week or two away from being on the road, but as I had so much else to deal with post-fire she said to just forget about it. Which we did, I just canned it (well, sold the burnt out shell to a banger racer) and moved on.
But when this one came up for sale locally I had to have it to replace the one she’d lost.
I even kept it a secret from her, for the best part of a year until recently when i accidentally called at the yard with her with me and I’d left it parked out front 😖😂
She was actually fairly impressed is gone to the trouble of finding such a similar car and buying it for her again though, so it went down pretty well.

It is of course, another lada riva estate.
Here it is being delivered.


It’s only done 43k, and was sold as having been dry stored for nearly 20 years. It is is rather amazing condition, never welded and only needing minor attention in that department. It needs a full mechanical overhaul and some bizarre mods undoing, before being given the treatment.



I found out the other week the the 20 years dry stored was an understatement, as it appears it’s never had an MOT!

The will be a build thread soon, it’s now not stock and not far off being done, admittedly I did get a bit carried away with the running gear freshen up which is why it’s taken so long. That and waiting for bits from Russia.



Overall it’s worked out well, it’s a much nicer car than the other one in a better colour, and still a 1500 so the best engine. Yes it’s cost a few quid building basically the same car twice, but it’s only money...

[Dez]

Ok so I lied about only buying 3 more 🤥
I bought this as well, for logistics reasons.




It’s a mk6 (so the better/less explodey engine) with a mk7 front, 2.4turbo rwd. It’s got a warn 8274 winch on the bed, a £200 head unit, and very crusty sills and arches. Well, there was a reason it was half the price of what they generally go for.
Panels are comically cheap though, it was only just over £200 for inner and outer arches, inner and outer sills, and full cab steps. I decided I’d rather buy a shagged one and do it myself rather than a ‘good one’ somebody else had welded, after seeing the ‘quality’ of some of the ones that had been done!
As well as gaining the mk7 facelift, it’s also got rust free tourneo doors so I’ve gained electric windows (and possibly central locking but it doesn’t work so needs investigating).

It’s been converted from a tipper so there’s far too much metal in the bed, it needs to go on a bit of a diet. Pretty easy to cut a load of stuff out and throw it away though.
But it’s had a new motor and loads of other parts replaced recently, so mechanically it seems reasonable.
It certainly drives very nice, I tested it by going to get it in the falcon and loading that up on the back to see what it drove like.


I’m going to make some changes to it and tidy it up a fair bit, but that’s will happen as and when.
But it means I can move (most) of my vehicles round now, meaning thinning the fleet just got a lot easier.

[vulgalour]

Car transporters don't count as a purchase because you don't lose a parking space. Them's the rules.

[colnerov]

Oct 17, 2020 23:42:05 GMT vulgalour said:

Car transporters don't count as a purchase because you don't lose a parking space. Them's the rules.

Hi, They also count as a ramp or raised working platform.

Colin

[Dez]

Time for a recount I reckon, and some more talking about the fleet overall.

So, what’s left-
1. '28 model A ford
2. '48 chevy fleetmaster
3. '50 ford shoebox
4. ‘47 ford/ranger pickup
5. ‘63 ford falcon sedan delivery
6. 1980something nissan c32 laurel
7. ‘66 lincoln continetal coupe
8. ‘01 lupo tdi sport
9. 1981(?) bmw e28
10. ‘34 ford pickup
11. ‘04ish Nissan Cube
12. 1995 lada riva estate
13. ‘04 Transit recovery truck

So I’m at about 2/3 of what I had. That’s a good start despite the additions.

I'm aiming to get down to about 6 cars, but if it stayed at 7/8/9 for a while that wouldn’t be a huge problem.

Next I really need to decide on a priority order. Not the easiest of things to do, some are equal 100% Keepage, some are equal 100% get rid. Some are circumstantial, are very much needed at the mo, but might not be soon.

Only the model A and the 34 pickup are 100% keep regardless.

The Lupo, falcon, cube and transit are here because they all work and are in service. Each are practical in their own way, and fulfil different roles. The lada is very close to joining this list too, and the 47/ranger pickup is a little further way but not miles off.

The Chevy and shoebox are what i would call long-term liabilities. They’d be difficult sales as they stand, for any reasonable amount of money anyway. I’d have to decide what I did and didn’t want to go with them if i sold too.


The laurel and Lincoln will probably be easiest to sell so that’s likely where I should concentrate my efforts. Especially as the Lincoln is massive and it going would be like selling two cars.

The e28 is in danger of getting broken if I sell it and it’s one of the reasons I’m hanging on to it, but realistically it should be the third on the ‘sell’ list.

So, all I can do is advertise stuff and see what happens....

[Dez]

Oct 17, 2020 23:42:05 GMT vulgalour said:

Car transporters don't count as a purchase because you don't lose a parking space. Them's the rules.

This is true. Also your landlord doesnt complain if you turn up with it and park it somewhere you shouldnt cos all your spaces are full/not big enough, as he knows it’s something very useful to have access to 😉😂

[Dez]

I had to buy some new number plates for the truck as they were smashed and I don’t want to get pulled. Chunks of number plate missing just makes it too easy for them.

Rear was smashed cos it was poorly mounted-


It was literally screwed onto the very back of the bed in a prime position to get twatted.

As that bottom bar was just part of a now redundant ramp rack and doesnt actually add any structure, I chopped it off and ground it back and folded up a simple recess panel in some 1.6mm steel I had laying round, welded in in the new gap and then painted it. Some new legal font pressed aluminium plates are extra insurance against knocks.
I also rewired all the number plate lights properly using solder and heatshrink rather than twisted together wires and electrical tape 🙄
The lamps themselves are LED ones that seems a fairly recent addition.





You can see it sits a little higher than the light pod bits, so shouldn’t get bashed.

With that improvement completed, I went for a short local trip and picked this up-


It’s getting broken as I wanted some parts off it to complete mine, mostly stupid little bits I lost in the fire that are difficult to source unless you’re stripping a breaker yourself. I also wanted the earlier brake and clutch master cylinders are they’re a bit different, and better suited to my setup in the ’47. It was already pretty well picked over. No engine/box, bolt on panels, lights or front end.
I’d sold the carpet out of it before I’d got back to the yard, and the bed is going at the weekend. The body and bed are now unbolted after a couple of hours work and will be off tomorrow, leaving a complete donor chassis with paperwork for another body swap.

[Dez]

Oh yeah, I’ve also sold the laurel.

Good deposit paid so I’ve dragged it out (literally, it’s very low and got quite beached in all the mud that’s there cos it hasn’t stopped railing for a month).








All done by the power of winch, as sod trying to do it any other way with how wet it is!


Then I did some of this-


and it now looks like this-






Next job is bolt it back together a bit, to make it easier to transport (dropping engine and box back in being the major point). Then deliver it.

[Dez]

The ranger was ‘processed’ quickly.


Bed off and sold, Body removed and stripped of all parts, parts I wanted filed away and rolling chassis sold.



I did this with the shell-


And then took a trip down the weighbridge. So I now know that the transit weighs empty..... care to have a guess?

[glen62]

Really enjoyed reading through all of this
haven't been on here for a while. Nice one look
forward to the next lot of updates

[vincento]

I’m not overly sure on a flatbed but I knows 3.5 sprinter or similar is 1.1-1.2 payload so I’m going to have a guess at....
Still thinking....



1467 without a passenger ?
Not a clue really because I don’t know what it weighs.

[dodgerover]

2100kg

[Dez]

dodgerover is closest.

It’s a rather lardy 2200kg!

Given the MIS when new is 1679kg (that’s for the bare chassis cab with a light bar/bumper and spare wheel) that means the bed, winch and ramps are a hefty 500kg!
I knew there was some extra metal going on but not that much. I think I can easily half that by removing a load of the redundant tipper frame metalwork and getting some lighter ramps.