Self Servicing

[Bper]

9 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Ah, Roy, I think that you maybe go far enough back to remember some things that the youngsters would doubt existed.

Such as ,can you remember the kits that you could buy in accessory shops for windscreen washers ?

I fitted one of those to a 105e van with side windows and rear seats, which turned out to be a lot trickier than hanging the furry dice from the rearview mirror.

The wing mirrors actually on the wings were also accessories, on some cars that came as standard without them ,in many styles .

If I found a car with twin carbs, twin headlights, and a rev counter as standard, I knew that I was in the rarified atmosphere of luxury and style.

Two that spring to mind were a triumph 2000 Mk1, and a Humber sceptre, they even had overdrive IIRC.

Paul, you mentioning a triumph reminded me that I used to own a TR7 red with a gold go fast stripe down both sides. Flip up front light worked when they felt like it. Always preferred the triumph stag with the conversion . Great sound but could not afford one when I was younger.

[Bper]

9 hours ago, DerekHa said:

I can recall fitting a door mirror kit onto my Mini 850 I had! Come to think of it now I'm sure that Ford 100E never had washers so fitted one of those kits you could get, no fancy electric pump but a manual one you had to pump away at mounted in the dashboard. Even fitted lights inside the under dash shelves on the old Austin 1100 and really nasty cheap radio in there too.

Had a mini van 850 as my first car .

[Rhymes with Paris]

1 hour ago, Yugguy1970 said:

Is it just me or are a lot of us Toyota owners quite old buggers? 🤣

I'm 52 but I'm feeling like a youngster here. 😀

Well, this shows that the wisdom of buying a Toyota has filtered down to you kids, 😁

Seriously though, I have seen so many people in their 30s 40s and 50s buying cars that run ok for a month or two, then they stop moving and are then are on bricks, and then "being repaired" for months .

My advice to them would be,if they ask for it of course,is to buy something with Toyota or Honda written on either end of it.

 

[Bper]

8 hours ago, Gerg said:

Hopefully this isn't going too far off-topic.

Oil changes every 3000 miles?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sItz5ZO2b9Y&ab_channel=BritishPathé

Great video, 25,000 miles cars tested on Autobarn. I wonder how modern cars would hold up doing the same without any issues. Mind you could they afford the petrol.😅

[DerekHa]

4 minutes ago, Bper said:

Great video, 25,000 miles cars tested on Autobarn. I wonder how modern cars would hold up doing the same without any issues. Mind you could they afford the petrol.😅

Tell you one thing Bper! They wouldn't be going anywhere with only 84 Octane fuel to run on!

[Bper]

9 minutes ago, DerekHa said:

Tell you one thing Bper! They wouldn't be going anywhere with only 84 Octane fuel to run on!

Tell you what Derek some of those old car were built like tanks. I had an old A40 slam into my mini van 850cc and there was hardly a scratch on the A40 ,coud not say the same for my mini van or me I ended up in hospital with concussion. 

[DerekHa]

Lol Bper.

Totally agree the old mini wasn't made well at all when it came to the bodywork, dead flimsy they were!

Hope you made a speedy recovery after your bang on the bonce. 🤕

[Rhymes with Paris]

3 hours ago, Hybrid21 said:

I had a GPO ( Post Office Telephones ) Morris 1000 van in the early 70's brilliant wee van and could take me places beyond my wildest dreams 😃😃

Well Hybrid21 , I did have a moggy van in 1979 , green, and ok it did take me too, to places beyond wild dreams, unfortunately  these dreams were nightmares of seized brakes in hot weather while loaded up.

A pal had a moggy pick up that spread it's front wheels like a good time girl on piecework, due to collapsed front suspension.

But I do acknowledge that the engines were pretty much ok , mine kept running well even after being stolen by robbers who swapped it in a car park for a heavier van, more suitable for transporting heavy safes , according to the police who recovered it .

I had to remove all the silver coloured dust on the door handles though from it being checked for "dabs"

The company vans would have been maintained much better, I suspect, than the neglected builders vans and pick ups ran by impoverished bricklayers who were on about £10 a week, and all the sand that they could eat.

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

2 hours ago, Roy124 said:

Get some time in.  I can raise you 10, but I think Rhymes might beat me. 

Maybe a bit on age Roy , but there is an old saying that with age, comes wisdom.

Not always so in my experience, there is another saying that, the older they get, the dafter they get.

Hopefully, I haven't got daft quite yet, and these motoring history rambling monologues are of some interest to the youngsters 😁.

[Rhymes with Paris]

1 hour ago, Bper said:

Paul, you mentioning a triumph reminded me that I used to own a TR7 red with a gold go fast stripe down both sides. Flip up front light worked when they felt like it. Always preferred the triumph stag with the conversion . Great sound but could not afford one when I was younger.

Bob, my dream car when I was in my early twenties was a stag, but like you they were beyond my finances then.

Even before the clued up started swapping out the overheating 3 litre triumph engine for the 3.5 Buick/rover V8.

Yeah, the tr7 , had fairly rusty one from bawtry auctions ,a silver and rust one on an X reg.

It had a sparkrite aftermarket alarm on it that cleverly disabled the engine during rain.

All you had to do was wipe down the bonnet, the distributor, the Battery, and the inner wings, and then it would start.

It never got stolen during my ownership, but that may have been due to the car thieves of the day not carrying a good supply of dry rags with them.

 

 

[Bper]

21 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Bob, my dream car when I was in my early twenties was a stag, but like you they were beyond my finances then.

Even before the clued up started swapping out the overheating 3 litre triumph engine for the 3.5 Buick/rover V8.

Yeah, the tr7 , had fairly rusty one from bawtry auctions ,a silver and rust one on an X reg.

It had a sparkrite aftermarket alarm on it that cleverly disabled the engine during rain.

All you had to do was wipe down the bonnet, the distributor, the battery, and the inner wings, and then it would start.

It never got stolen during my ownership, but that may have been due to the car thieves of the day not carrying a good supply of dry rags with them.

 

 

Hi Paul,

This colour magenta was what one of my friends owned who ran a garage. He sold it for £1800 it was auto with overdrive and a biscuit interior with a leather roll over bar. It was immaculate.  The best I could do was to drive it a couple of times with the top down.

The sound from the exhaust was magic. Everyone would turn round and look when you drove past. I was to young to afford it and could only afford cars in the £200- £300 range as I was a young apprentice at the time.

It's funny really I could afford one now but haven't got the patients or want to worry about the constant maintenance they need.

Still it was a dream then to be able to have one. As I said earlier the only triumph I had was a TR7

.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Yes, the stag was a nice dream for young.. men in the 70s,alas unobtainable for most.

The Triumphs that were attainable then for me, and owned for a time,were:

2000 Mk1

2.5 pi with carb conversion

Vitesse 1600 6 cylinder

Spitfire mk 2

Herald with wonky prop shaft ,replaced for £4 from scrappy and a bit of spannering

The previously mentioned TR7 in silver and rust 

The Triumphs had something about them then ,even when in banger territory , and not much engine trouble either on the ones I had.

 

 

 

[Derek.w]

I rememder that at one time manufactures wanted to treat engines as black boxes if it go wrong then just replace it as a compleate unit.

[Bper]

21 hours ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Yes, the stag was a nice dream for young.. men in the 70s,alas unobtainable for most.

The Triumphs that were attainable then for me, and owned for a time,were:

2000 Mk1

2.5 pi with carb conversion

Vitesse 1600 6 cylinder

Spitfire mk 2

Herald with wonky prop shaft ,replaced for £4 from scrappy and a bit of spannering

The previously mentioned TR7 in silver and rust 

The Triumphs had something about them then ,even when in banger territory , and not much engine trouble either on the ones I had.

 

 

 

Funny the spitfire reminded my of mates old MGB, I remember at 16 years old going on a two week holiday to tossa del Mar in spain. He drove all the way and it took us a day  and a half to get there. It was a long haul of a drive in a very uncomfortable car.

Drove through France up the pyrenees mountains and into Spain. Great experience but wouldn't do it again.