Ownership Verified: My Brooklands Green sports saloon...

Keep the Yaris and move out.
 
Don't let this sour experience with old cars ruin your taste for them. Old cars can be fun and rewarding, you just have to be smart about purchasing the right one. I've bought my fair share of shit cars, but I still love older cars and plan to own many more in my life.
 
Don't let this sour experience with old cars ruin your taste for them. Old cars can be fun and rewarding, you just have to be smart about purchasing the right one. I've bought my fair share of shit cars, but I still love older cars and plan to own many more in my life.
and this
 
Erm... I bought it back... :unsure:

It now runs but can't travel 'cause all the oil leak out of the diff while it sat for a month. It took a whole 3 evenings to get it from being broken to being together and running again and most of that was spent finding lost tools and dropped bolts and drinking tea. :oops:
It's getting sent away for MOT work next week, so I'm probably about to get quite a lot poorer.

Once that is sorted I can start on prep for "Operation Manchester"...

P5066695_1024x768_zpscacfd3a0.jpg
 
If operation Manchester is moving out (guessing and hoping), then why are you wasting money on this now...?

Otherwise I know what its like to have 'that car' that you've wanted for a long while so I guess congrats. But no more complaining about money...
 
I'm not moving out right now (and if I was it wouldn't be outside of Scotland), not without new employment and my applications are currently falling flat, although I'm undeterred. There is also a good chance of promotion at my current job in the next week or so, so income may well increase anyway. We shall see. Operation Manchester is more car related and considerably more ambitious than moving my entire life. :p

As for the money front I've realised that I don't actually spend my money on anything, it sits there and I live in fear of spending it, get irrationally angry when I have to spend tiny portions of it and then lament not spending it on what I wanted in the first place. It looks like I'll be keeping this car for a long while (I can't bring myself to properly sell it even when I hate it) so I might as well face the fact it's going to cost some money to get it sorted. (I can also remind myself that if it was a modern hobby car it'd be costing considerably more if it went wrong.)
 
I see someone wants to be broke and still living in his parents' attic when they're 40.
 
(I can also remind myself that if it was a modern hobby car it'd be costing considerably more if it went wrong.)

This is how I justify the cost of the Discovery. It's a toy and I have more reliable transport when needed (the train, for work), you have the Yararse.

Personally I'm glad to see the old girl back again, now do yourself a favour and buy an electronic ignition kit. :p
 
Aaaaaaaaaaand it's MOT'd for another year. Despite the fact the headlights point in random directions, the sidelight switch activates main beam and I fiberglassed my bumper on 20mins before the test 'cause a side mount bolt sheared.

Advisories for a handbrake cable and needing new brake shoes. Rear diff is now sealed up and not leaking, as is the hub that was leaking, the brakes have also been given a going over as one was sticking. Not bad for under ?200.
 
Coming up to 200 miles since the engine went back together. Running smoothly and happiest at around 50mph, radio now works, cooling is much better now with a functioning thermostat, last fuel up revealed I was getting a staggering 34mpg too!

Pretty high on oil consumption and getting a bit of blue smoke out of the exhaust sporadically on the overrun when slowing down from a long run at 55mph. It's probably the valves but I don't intend to dismantle this engine again and it only has to hold together until October (Sept 23rd to be exact) 'cause then I'll be hunting for a replacement engine.

Next show is planned for the 1st of Sept over at Grantown-of-Spey, a 115 mile round trip, although I may pop to Aberdeen before that which is a 100 mile trip anyway. Most of the driving has been under 65 miles a day so far.

Plan is to have it looking something like this by next Summer, although priority is dealing with bodywork and engine.

Dolly-Plans.jpg


The eagle eye'd amongst you will spot some cosmetic alterations.
 
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It's not going to be brushed on Hammerite, it'll be sprayed. I like the colour contrast of black sills, I find it works with the "sports-casual" look I'm going for. :lol: Besides, the sills are going to see a fair amount of work and I can spray them myself to a reasonable degree if it's satin black, also much easier to sand back and respray when it gets stone chipped and rust does break through. We can't all afford a respray you know. :p

Besides, it's better than the current, brushed on, greying job that ends in an awkward wonky line:

dolly-plans-pre.jpg
 
Used half a litre of oil in 60 miles. There is now white smoke from the exhaust and signs of mayo forming in the oil cap, no bubbling in the expansion tank this time but it looks like the head gasket has gone again and that either the head is probably warped or uneven in some way.

Operation Manchester, which was a planned trip to display the car as part of a stand at the Footman James Car Show in Manchester in September, is now officially off. It was intended to be the last real mileage this car does on it's current engine and a goal for me to work towards but there is limited space and given the high chance that my car wouldn't survive the 400 mile trip, even if it was working now, it'd be unfair to compromise the stand.

Still hope to make Grantown-on-Spey if I can bodge it in some way.
 
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