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Spot of the day, Part 5


keefr22

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Pulling away in a cloud of fumes from the local BP, a G-prefix Reliant Rialto in faded light blue. Best summed up by my passing neighbour as ' what the hell kind of an excuse for a car was that? ' . Presumabely they were spared them in his native SA.

Matt

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Saw this the other week - reminded me that I still need to sort out my estate version...  It was a slightly strange spec though, as the wheels and front grilles are from a later version than the interior.

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I haven't seen a Saab 9000 for years, let alone an early, pre facelift one - this was a Turbo too, and looked utterly immaculate, even down to the main dealer plates and stickers.  It brought back childhood memories of the two that my uncle had back when they were new, one of which was an equivalent shade of light blue metallic.

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And lastly, this Silver Shadow.

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Although this may be slightly cheating, as I was working on it...  Belongs to a friend, and at the time of the photo, I was changing the exhaust manifold gaskets on that side.  When I started, the headlights were playing up (no main beam, only one dip), only the front doors opened, as the central locking was jammed on for the rears, and only the driver's electric window worked.  I now know my way around all the wiring diagrams far better than I want to, but after a lot of new terminals (I lost count, but loads...), a few new wires and one new relay, those are all now working!

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4 hours ago, Six97s said:

Back to the mundane.  🙃 

 

spot19-vi.jpg

 

Bet that paint looks far better than when it came out of the showroom!! 

 

56 minutes ago, Paul H said:

I now know my way around all the wiring diagrams far better than I want to, but after a lot of new terminals (I lost count, but loads...), a few new wires and one new relay, those are all now working!

 

I bet that was fun... :drunk:

 

(one thing I absolutely detested when working on cars was electrics...)

 

Keith

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2 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

Bet that paint looks far better than when it came out of the showroom!!

 

The paint looked good, but the valve guides and/or piston rings definitely need some attention. 🙃

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1 minute ago, keefr22 said:

I bet that was fun... :drunk:

 

(one thing I absolutely detested when working on cars was electrics...)

 

Keith

 

Ha - trying to decipher the wiring diagrams was utterly mind numbing at times, and a very steep learning curve at fault finding.  This thing has electric seats, windows, central locking, interior light delays and a very complex air con system (although the latter has been disabled, and the engine bay stuff removed), but it is all using early 1960s technology...  Consequently it is a mass of wires - there's at least twenty wires into the driver's door, all running inside a hollow check strap so that nothing is visible (and two needed replacing so fun to re-thread), and must be at least ten loom connector plugs behind the trim on each A post.  There is a multitude of relays (well into double figures) that seem to be scattered randomly around the car, usually in inaccessible places (e.g. the dash top needs to come off to get at one relay board!), and the wiring diagrams take up several A3 pages.  Not only is there the theoretical diagram (which bears no relation to the reality of where components are actually located or how they are wired in - many earth runs on the diagram are combined together, suggesting that a component earths through another, when that isn't the case), but also several practical ones, to help locate the actual wiring runs & connectors.  It took a long time to get my head around what on earth was going on, especially as the way it is wired has some strange features - e.g. what R-R call a 'Headlamp Safety Relay' which keeps the offside front dip illuminated if there is no current in the main beam looms when switching to main beam.  Despite this complexity, the main issues were old age and corroded terminals though, which I guess isn't bad for 46 years old and well over 100K miles.  Whilst the main fusebox was badly corroded and so replaced with a better second hand one that was then cleaned up (this alone brought a few systems back online), I suspect that much of the other problems were just lack of use - once freed up, the electric windows started off lifting very slow, but are much quicker now that they have had some use.  The mechanical systems have their own challenges too (all good on this one though as the owner has reconditioned them all himself - he is a CAA D licence engineer and has also designed and built racing engines from scratch so more than qualified) so I can certainly see why these cars are capable of running up very large repair bills, and consequently why cheap examples are best avoided.  However despite the challenges, or perhaps because of them, once I understood all the diagrams properly, solving them was actually rather satisfying!

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11 hours ago, Paul H said:

Ha - trying to decipher the wiring diagrams was utterly mind numbing at times,

 

I bet - they were bad enough in a Haynes manual for a Mk1 Escort Mexico...!! 🤣

 

Sounds like you had an interesting time sorting that lot out, but as you say it's always satisfying actually getting something to work! :)

 

Keith

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Short drive back from the afternoon dog walk yielded an immaculate blue/cream Austin Healey 3000 on a -B , a wire wheel and chrome bumper MGB in cream on an -M , and a very clean looking G-prefix Toyota Corolla, which I suspect is probably the rarest!

Matt

 

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Right, Countess of Warwick show again, so lots of piccies.

Only thing I didn't photo was a yellow 'E' reg (I think) Fiat X1-9, spotted in the car park on our way out.

52318129772_53b3b944ca_b.jpg 52319353924_c886662f50_b.jpg 52319238648_7d99c84df2_b.jpg 52318969966_1e6793df4e_b.jpg 52318134622_becbfb4e7f_b.jpg 52319278528_28446224ec_b.jpg 52319358744_33b9708135_b.jpg 52319359704_ce35cab868_b.jpg 52318133782_ea4c2e769a_b.jpg 52319243118_1c585a1f70_b.jpg 52319359009_783ee84448_b.jpg 52319359389_2cdd7dc9a1_b.jpg 52319377055_d12a9ccf99_b.jpg 52319243263_e360156003_b.jpg

 

 

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And, of course, you can see several others in the background of my shots. For anybody who lives within reach of this show, it's well worth it. Near Dunmow.

Points of interest:

My wife got talking to the Isetta owner and now wants one!

The Trabant owner knew a lot about them and was willing to talk. She showed us the fuel gauge - a bit of stick that is dipped into the tank

Lovely seeing a Corsair in such good nick.

Also the Moggie, which was in the car park.

Don't know which McLaren that was.

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I remember a while back someone did a tongue in cheek post about a 6R4 doing donuts in the local car park. Not a 6R4, but similar situation - yesterday a Lancia 037 doing handbrake turns and power slides amongst other things :) (which included a Bond Bug and the not-yet-launched De Tomaso P72)

 

A few other bits of exotica too, but in the spirit of keeping to the mundane I'll give you a picture of the Morris Ital I saw. Can't imagine anyone being too interested in the Lancia, after all, seen one 037 you've seen them all...

 

52320489958_c1d6e47594_b.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's that I hear the Britmodeller collective say, you do want to see the 037? Oh well, here goes

 

52320178896_29ee1cc438_b.jpg

 

As you've probably all worked out by now, this wasn't in the local Tesco car park, but I have cheated too by going to Silverstone Classic. Unfortunately as I'm nearing my limit before I have to pay Flickr you'll need to follow this link to see more pics.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/93jwEz16ZcauzPoC8

 

Hope you like them.

 

 

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No photos , I'm afraid , but the other day I saw a 1983 Austin Metro City in seemingly excellent condition .  I was somewhat surprised on two counts , that it had survived at all , and that someone had chosen to save the ultimate poverty-spec version,  which didn't even have reversing lights or a rear parcel shelf .

 

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16 hours ago, Windy37 said:

The blue and white MG getting attacked by the tree was quite concerning ....

I don't know why he parked it there instead of amongst all the others. Did you notice the Lodges bus next to it, one you can remove the side windows from!!

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46 minutes ago, MR2Don said:

I don't know why he parked it there instead of amongst all the others. Did you notice the Lodges bus next to it, one you can remove the side windows from!!

I hope the branches haven't rubbed the paintwork . 

I did noticed the bus without windows.  Early air conditioning  , but imagine doing that nowadays  !!!

Gary .

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This morning a very tidy looking Mk2 MR2 in shiny bright red paint. Parked directly opposite a shiny bright red Nissan 350Z on an 04 plate. I know the Z car isn't really a classic, but that one is 18 years old and looked as good as new! Also don't ever recall seeing one in solid bright red paint before and I think it really suits it!

 

K

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Went to our local National Trust and sat in car park was a lovely Triumph Spitfire and a XJ6 convertible

 

And on the way back there is a white XK120

 

And here is the XJ6, not an XJS, I've never seen one before

 

http://village.photos/images/user/3fd98ff2-9fea-4b70-8371-3ab0a98c18b4/d9c77e4e-d311-45f8-bd31-66997a1daaf1.jpg

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Parked up on the A217 just beyond my usual turn, a W123 Mercedes 280 saloon on an -S suffix. It was very nice and all that, but the reason I noticed it and had to drive past for a closer look, it was orange. Wouldnt really have been my choice.

Also yesterday looking completely ridiculous, an absolutely spotless new Defender 90 in retro pale green and cream, with a full snorkel kit and extras in equally spotless matt black.

I know their money, their car, but....

 

Matt

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To be fair, even a S1 80” looked fairly shiny the day it drove out of the factory.  There’s always a faint possibility the new Defender you saw was going wading, though I’d choose something more robust and/or cheaper myself!

 

I see plenty of Landies with snorkels round here. I assume if they actually go wading the seals are good enough to stop the engine ingesting water, but given LR build quality they’ll need new carpets and seats at least, as I bet the door seals etc aren’t up to much…

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On 29/08/2022 at 21:02, Spiny said:

I remember a while back someone did a tongue in cheek post about a 6R4 doing donuts in the local car park. Not a 6R4, but similar situation - yesterday a Lancia 037 doing handbrake turns and power slides amongst other things :) (which included a Bond Bug and the not-yet-launched De Tomaso P72)

 

A few other bits of exotica too, but in the spirit of keeping to the mundane I'll give you a picture of the Morris Ital I saw. Can't imagine anyone being too interested in the Lancia, after all, seen one 037 you've seen them all...

 

52320489958_c1d6e47594_b.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's that I hear the Britmodeller collective say, you do want to see the 037? Oh well, here goes

 

52320178896_29ee1cc438_b.jpg

 

As you've probably all worked out by now, this wasn't in the local Tesco car park, but I have cheated too by going to Silverstone Classic. Unfortunately as I'm nearing my limit before I have to pay Flickr you'll need to follow this link to see more pics.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/93jwEz16ZcauzPoC8

 

Hope you like them.

 

 

A Morris Ital with an Austin grille badge?  Did I miss something, back in the day?

 

Love the 037, though!

 

Trevor

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