Discussion
rat rod said:
P5BNij said:
That was brilliant Rosco - in my head I was picturing Peter Sellers playing you and Eric Sykes playing the milkman!
My dodgy wheel story involves the ‘last of the line’ Rover Mini Cooper I had as my daily runabout, back in 2004 I was helping my brother out with his Class 37 loco preservation group up in North Yorkshire and drove up there from Warwickshire. In those days I often drove like a demon, booting it on the long stretches where there were no cameras or other slight hinderances to making good progress, so the trip there and back was carried out with as much gusto as the little 1275 engine could muster, particularly on the M6, M1 and A1. Coming back I heard a very slight grinding noise from the O/S front corner as I approached the slip road for Rugby, then silence then I was suddenly facing north again before coming to a grinding halt. I got out to have a look at the front end to find the big 13” wheel stuffed right up into the wheel arch. Looking underneath it turned out the steering arm on that side had simply snapped in half. Stunned, it made me wince at what would have happened just a few minutes before when I was doing 90mph!
That's one of your 9 lives gone i would say .My dodgy wheel story involves the ‘last of the line’ Rover Mini Cooper I had as my daily runabout, back in 2004 I was helping my brother out with his Class 37 loco preservation group up in North Yorkshire and drove up there from Warwickshire. In those days I often drove like a demon, booting it on the long stretches where there were no cameras or other slight hinderances to making good progress, so the trip there and back was carried out with as much gusto as the little 1275 engine could muster, particularly on the M6, M1 and A1. Coming back I heard a very slight grinding noise from the O/S front corner as I approached the slip road for Rugby, then silence then I was suddenly facing north again before coming to a grinding halt. I got out to have a look at the front end to find the big 13” wheel stuffed right up into the wheel arch. Looking underneath it turned out the steering arm on that side had simply snapped in half. Stunned, it made me wince at what would have happened just a few minutes before when I was doing 90mph!
Edited by P5BNij on Friday 27th May 11:10
90 mph in a Mini ,
are you mad ,you must have been thinking you were in your Loco 
Here's something different - something for getting the El Camino to long distance shows and back....?
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1955-chevro...
Berkeley Part 3.
OK fella's here's part 3 of the wheel shedding Berkeley T60 saga.
After the second wheel loss performance I decided to overhaul the front driveshafts. One of the great benefits of being an engineering apprentice is access to really useful machine tools, processes and materials. The Berkeley had two in to one exhaust manifolds leading to a single Burgess silencer. The final tailpipe ran from the silencer up front, and tucked under the body, exiting at the rear. I replaced tis with 1 1/2" diameter brass tubing......painted matt black. A polished brass pipe under the car would immediately raise suspicions as to where the material came from at management level. It had a lovely musical crackling sound........Back to the kingpin damage. Back in the late 60's (and 7/8 years after the Berkeley company went bust, parts were difficult to source and there were very few places in the UK who dealt with them. The only one seemingly in the South East was a motorcycle dealer (perhaps Prices or Wilsons?) based in Leigh Broadway at Southend on sea. I was always poncing lifts of workmates and buddies to the dealer to get parts.
IMHO Berkeley used inferior metals on structural components. Both kingpins and trunnion blocks were cast steel. The use of the same material for both components really made the greasing-up an essential and regular chore. Enough said that the components on my car were totally knackered. Replacements (as I recall) were not available at that time but I was fortunate enough to obtain a second hand pair of assemblies for the car. These were totally 'shagged' too. So (and with the help of some of the more experienced toolmakers at work) we set the kingpin castings up on a lathe 'between centres' and machined the bearing surfaces perhaps 20 or 30 thou' undersize to get a good clean undamaged bearing surface. The trunnion blocks that pivot on the kingpins were bored out oversize and after machining some 'oilite' material to size 'pressed-in' and bored to match the undersize kingpins. It all worked fine. And now over to the missing door saga.
A Berkeley door is similar to an early Mini door. Other than the fact that the Berkeley door is glass fibre and a Mini door is steel - the concept is much the same.
A Mini has sliding windows without a door card and a full length 'bin' to store bits and pieces. The Berkeley has removable side screens, but like the Mini the door aperture is open. I used to keep all my tools in the driver and passenger doors - a really sensible place to store them and meant quick access in the event of a problem......they were frequently 'accessed' such was the reliability of the 'lil frigger!. The glass fibre doors utilised two external door hinges (just like a Mini) - however unlike the steel hinges of the Mini (which had their own wear problems) the Berkeley hinges were cast aluminium. They looked nice when polished though. 'Check' straps (to prevent the doors opening too far on to the front bodywork) were made from leather.
The company I worked for was one of the UK foremost potentiometer manufacturers (Colvern) and produced components for marine, aviation/aerospace industries. Their works were very close to the Romford dog track and at the end of a Cul de Sac. Drive to the end of the Cul de Sac and you would see the large company canteen on the left - on the right were the gates to the maintenance shed and employees car park. Straight ahead and directly in front was the impressive and relatively new all glass main entrance leading to the 5 story assembly block. The directors had offices overlooking the main entrance and reception at first floor level. Their cars, including a Mark 10 Jag, S3 Bentley, Rovers and others were parked facing outwards under the offices. I was driving to work in the morning in question to the end of the Cul de Sac intending to turn right into the employees car park. At this time there would be large numbers of assembly and office staff walking up the Cul de Sac to the main entrance. Several directors had parked their cars in front of the offices and were walking towards the main entrance.........I was perhaps trying to be a bit 'flash' and giving the little Berkeley some stick up the Cul de Sac (probably hoping some of the girls walking in to the factory would be impressed) with the intention of simultaneously braking hard at the last minute and turning right in to the employee car park in one 'smart' 'impressive' skidding maneuver..........boy, did that go badly wrong........
I am going to digress for a moment to 'dwell' on the structural integrity of the Berkeley and speak about the body build and deterioration of the structure of my Berkeley.The basic build-up of a Berkeley applied to both the 328 cc 2 stroke twin 3 wheel and 4 wheel cars and the 4 wheel 500 cc triples plus 700 cc Royal Enfield powered 4 wheelers. The cabin had a shaped, pressed steel floor pan that the front and rear ends were 'hung' off. The 'glass' fibre front and rear sections were secured to the floor pan with closely spaced large pop rivets. Not really sure whether this was a design fault or just my vehicle but I couldn't understand why when braking there was a lot of scuttle shake (not unusual as such on a convertible) and why the driver and passenger doors would judder when braking. Seems that the pop rivets had been trying to pull through the 'glass'now, , gradually damaging and separating the weave. Which caused the next problem to occur - back to the story once again.As I braked hard and swung a right turn in through the car park gates the force of braking caused the pop rivets securing the cars front section to the floor pan to try and pull through the glass fibre. This caused the car to effectively 'flex' in the middle. In turn the rear of the doors rode up and over the door locks (the juddering sound I had previously heard) but on this occasion causing the passenger door to unlatch and violently swing open. A leather check strap wasn't going to hold this back and the door smashed back against the front wing, snapping off the hinges. It then unbelievably flew-off through the main gates towards the parked directors cars and reception, scattering all my tools over the road surface. Fortunately no one was hit by the flying tools or more importantly the door........but the door came to rest at the feet of the company's commercial director, Mr Mildren who had just stepped out of his rather smart Mark 2 Jaguar........unbelievable perhaps but all this 100% true and without exaggeration. Even more amazing was that once again it was almost like nothing had ever happened. Usually something out of the ordinary happening like this would have 'done the rounds' in a factory with over 500 employees........but nothing, no one spoke about it - I had expected to get a serious b*ll*cking (especially from the director who could, potentially been hit by the door).....but nothing. He didn't mention it either at the time or later.....quite bizarre really.
OK fella's here's part 3 of the wheel shedding Berkeley T60 saga.
After the second wheel loss performance I decided to overhaul the front driveshafts. One of the great benefits of being an engineering apprentice is access to really useful machine tools, processes and materials. The Berkeley had two in to one exhaust manifolds leading to a single Burgess silencer. The final tailpipe ran from the silencer up front, and tucked under the body, exiting at the rear. I replaced tis with 1 1/2" diameter brass tubing......painted matt black. A polished brass pipe under the car would immediately raise suspicions as to where the material came from at management level. It had a lovely musical crackling sound........Back to the kingpin damage. Back in the late 60's (and 7/8 years after the Berkeley company went bust, parts were difficult to source and there were very few places in the UK who dealt with them. The only one seemingly in the South East was a motorcycle dealer (perhaps Prices or Wilsons?) based in Leigh Broadway at Southend on sea. I was always poncing lifts of workmates and buddies to the dealer to get parts.
IMHO Berkeley used inferior metals on structural components. Both kingpins and trunnion blocks were cast steel. The use of the same material for both components really made the greasing-up an essential and regular chore. Enough said that the components on my car were totally knackered. Replacements (as I recall) were not available at that time but I was fortunate enough to obtain a second hand pair of assemblies for the car. These were totally 'shagged' too. So (and with the help of some of the more experienced toolmakers at work) we set the kingpin castings up on a lathe 'between centres' and machined the bearing surfaces perhaps 20 or 30 thou' undersize to get a good clean undamaged bearing surface. The trunnion blocks that pivot on the kingpins were bored out oversize and after machining some 'oilite' material to size 'pressed-in' and bored to match the undersize kingpins. It all worked fine. And now over to the missing door saga.
A Berkeley door is similar to an early Mini door. Other than the fact that the Berkeley door is glass fibre and a Mini door is steel - the concept is much the same.
A Mini has sliding windows without a door card and a full length 'bin' to store bits and pieces. The Berkeley has removable side screens, but like the Mini the door aperture is open. I used to keep all my tools in the driver and passenger doors - a really sensible place to store them and meant quick access in the event of a problem......they were frequently 'accessed' such was the reliability of the 'lil frigger!. The glass fibre doors utilised two external door hinges (just like a Mini) - however unlike the steel hinges of the Mini (which had their own wear problems) the Berkeley hinges were cast aluminium. They looked nice when polished though. 'Check' straps (to prevent the doors opening too far on to the front bodywork) were made from leather.
The company I worked for was one of the UK foremost potentiometer manufacturers (Colvern) and produced components for marine, aviation/aerospace industries. Their works were very close to the Romford dog track and at the end of a Cul de Sac. Drive to the end of the Cul de Sac and you would see the large company canteen on the left - on the right were the gates to the maintenance shed and employees car park. Straight ahead and directly in front was the impressive and relatively new all glass main entrance leading to the 5 story assembly block. The directors had offices overlooking the main entrance and reception at first floor level. Their cars, including a Mark 10 Jag, S3 Bentley, Rovers and others were parked facing outwards under the offices. I was driving to work in the morning in question to the end of the Cul de Sac intending to turn right into the employees car park. At this time there would be large numbers of assembly and office staff walking up the Cul de Sac to the main entrance. Several directors had parked their cars in front of the offices and were walking towards the main entrance.........I was perhaps trying to be a bit 'flash' and giving the little Berkeley some stick up the Cul de Sac (probably hoping some of the girls walking in to the factory would be impressed) with the intention of simultaneously braking hard at the last minute and turning right in to the employee car park in one 'smart' 'impressive' skidding maneuver..........boy, did that go badly wrong........
I am going to digress for a moment to 'dwell' on the structural integrity of the Berkeley and speak about the body build and deterioration of the structure of my Berkeley.The basic build-up of a Berkeley applied to both the 328 cc 2 stroke twin 3 wheel and 4 wheel cars and the 4 wheel 500 cc triples plus 700 cc Royal Enfield powered 4 wheelers. The cabin had a shaped, pressed steel floor pan that the front and rear ends were 'hung' off. The 'glass' fibre front and rear sections were secured to the floor pan with closely spaced large pop rivets. Not really sure whether this was a design fault or just my vehicle but I couldn't understand why when braking there was a lot of scuttle shake (not unusual as such on a convertible) and why the driver and passenger doors would judder when braking. Seems that the pop rivets had been trying to pull through the 'glass'now, , gradually damaging and separating the weave. Which caused the next problem to occur - back to the story once again.As I braked hard and swung a right turn in through the car park gates the force of braking caused the pop rivets securing the cars front section to the floor pan to try and pull through the glass fibre. This caused the car to effectively 'flex' in the middle. In turn the rear of the doors rode up and over the door locks (the juddering sound I had previously heard) but on this occasion causing the passenger door to unlatch and violently swing open. A leather check strap wasn't going to hold this back and the door smashed back against the front wing, snapping off the hinges. It then unbelievably flew-off through the main gates towards the parked directors cars and reception, scattering all my tools over the road surface. Fortunately no one was hit by the flying tools or more importantly the door........but the door came to rest at the feet of the company's commercial director, Mr Mildren who had just stepped out of his rather smart Mark 2 Jaguar........unbelievable perhaps but all this 100% true and without exaggeration. Even more amazing was that once again it was almost like nothing had ever happened. Usually something out of the ordinary happening like this would have 'done the rounds' in a factory with over 500 employees........but nothing, no one spoke about it - I had expected to get a serious b*ll*cking (especially from the director who could, potentially been hit by the door).....but nothing. He didn't mention it either at the time or later.....quite bizarre really.
P5BNij said:
The previous owner was a teacher who bought it new in 2000, her hubby was a mechanic and he put a non standard final drive in it, it went like stink as soon as you got it into third! It's the only Mini I've owned wit h13'' wheels, all the others were on 10''s, it was a bit twitchy sometimes but went really well, I only sold it to buy a Rover P5B Coupe.
Here's something different - something for getting the El Camino to long distance shows and back....?
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1955-chevro...
If i buy it do you mind if i park it at your house until i demolish mine so i can park it.Here's something different - something for getting the El Camino to long distance shows and back....?
https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1955-chevro...
Edited by rat rod on Sunday 29th May 00:04
It’s a hideous monstrosity and over 100K
What are these people smoking!
Like the Ghost buster Caddy, was 250k
Now a absolute steal at 99k
The mind boggles! Lol
Do people really have that sort of money and a complete lack of intelligence?
Is that possible???
Made an offer on the Yellow Duster , but alas no, we’re close so maybe a deal may happen??
What are these people smoking!
Like the Ghost buster Caddy, was 250k
Now a absolute steal at 99k
The mind boggles! Lol
Do people really have that sort of money and a complete lack of intelligence?
Is that possible???
Made an offer on the Yellow Duster , but alas no, we’re close so maybe a deal may happen??
newsatten said:
It’s a hideous monstrosity and over 100K
What are these people smoking!
Like the Ghost buster Caddy, was 250k
Now a absolute steal at 99k
The mind boggles! Lol
Do people really have that sort of money and a complete lack of intelligence?
Is that possible???
Made an offer on the Yellow Duster , but alas no, we’re close so maybe a deal may happen??
Hope you can deal on the Duster soon but think your in the driving seat What are these people smoking!
Like the Ghost buster Caddy, was 250k
Now a absolute steal at 99k
The mind boggles! Lol
Do people really have that sort of money and a complete lack of intelligence?
Is that possible???
Made an offer on the Yellow Duster , but alas no, we’re close so maybe a deal may happen??
with cash in the bank whether the Duster or anything else for that matter.
Watched Harrys garage last nlght doing a preview of Silverstone auction held this weekend,
The estimated prices are through the roof,a Lancia Integrale Evo 1 £125K-£150K, E 30 M3 BMW £150K,
Lotus Esprit 300 in yellow £75K , on C&C a not so desiirable 62 Galaxie 2dr post £30,000 ,was offered the very same car
around 7/8 years ago for £8k and it looks much the same, bought my 64 orange Galaxie 500 instead around the same time for £8,500
roscobbc said:
Berkeley Part 3.
OK fella's here's part 3 of the wheel shedding Berkeley T60 saga.
After the second wheel loss performance I decided to overhaul the front driveshafts. One of the great benefits of being an engineering apprentice is access to really useful machine tools, processes and materials. The Berkeley had two in to one exhaust manifolds leading to a single Burgess silencer. The final tailpipe ran from the silencer up front, and tucked under the body, exiting at the rear. I replaced tis with 1 1/2" diameter brass tubing......painted matt black. A polished brass pipe under the car would immediately raise suspicions as to where the material came from at management level. It had a lovely musical crackling sound........Back to the kingpin damage. Back in the late 60's (and 7/8 years after the Berkeley company went bust, parts were difficult to source and there were very few places in the UK who dealt with them. The only one seemingly in the South East was a motorcycle dealer (perhaps Prices or Wilsons?) based in Leigh Broadway at Southend on sea. I was always poncing lifts of workmates and buddies to the dealer to get parts.
IMHO Berkeley used inferior metals on structural components. Both kingpins and trunnion blocks were cast steel. The use of the same material for both components really made the greasing-up an essential and regular chore. Enough said that the components on my car were totally knackered. Replacements (as I recall) were not available at that time but I was fortunate enough to obtain a second hand pair of assemblies for the car. These were totally 'shagged' too. So (and with the help of some of the more experienced toolmakers at work) we set the kingpin castings up on a lathe 'between centres' and machined the bearing surfaces perhaps 20 or 30 thou' undersize to get a good clean undamaged bearing surface. The trunnion blocks that pivot on the kingpins were bored out oversize and after machining some 'oilite' material to size 'pressed-in' and bored to match the undersize kingpins. It all worked fine. And now over to the missing door saga.
A Berkeley door is similar to an early Mini door. Other than the fact that the Berkeley door is glass fibre and a Mini door is steel - the concept is much the same.
A Mini has sliding windows without a door card and a full length 'bin' to store bits and pieces. The Berkeley has removable side screens, but like the Mini the door aperture is open. I used to keep all my tools in the driver and passenger doors - a really sensible place to store them and meant quick access in the event of a problem......they were frequently 'accessed' such was the reliability of the 'lil frigger!. The glass fibre doors utilised two external door hinges (just like a Mini) - however unlike the steel hinges of the Mini (which had their own wear problems) the Berkeley hinges were cast aluminium. They looked nice when polished though. 'Check' straps (to prevent the doors opening too far on to the front bodywork) were made from leather.
The company I worked for was one of the UK foremost potentiometer manufacturers (Colvern) and produced components for marine, aviation/aerospace industries. Their works were very close to the Romford dog track and at the end of a Cul de Sac. Drive to the end of the Cul de Sac and you would see the large company canteen on the left - on the right were the gates to the maintenance shed and employees car park. Straight ahead and directly in front was the impressive and relatively new all glass main entrance leading to the 5 story assembly block. The directors had offices overlooking the main entrance and reception at first floor level. Their cars, including a Mark 10 Jag, S3 Bentley, Rovers and others were parked facing outwards under the offices. I was driving to work in the morning in question to the end of the Cul de Sac intending to turn right into the employees car park. At this time there would be large numbers of assembly and office staff walking up the Cul de Sac to the main entrance. Several directors had parked their cars in front of the offices and were walking towards the main entrance.........I was perhaps trying to be a bit 'flash' and giving the little Berkeley some stick up the Cul de Sac (probably hoping some of the girls walking in to the factory would be impressed) with the intention of simultaneously braking hard at the last minute and turning right in to the employee car park in one 'smart' 'impressive' skidding maneuver..........boy, did that go badly wrong........
I am going to digress for a moment to 'dwell' on the structural integrity of the Berkeley and speak about the body build and deterioration of the structure of my Berkeley.The basic build-up of a Berkeley applied to both the 328 cc 2 stroke twin 3 wheel and 4 wheel cars and the 4 wheel 500 cc triples plus 700 cc Royal Enfield powered 4 wheelers. The cabin had a shaped, pressed steel floor pan that the front and rear ends were 'hung' off. The 'glass' fibre front and rear sections were secured to the floor pan with closely spaced large pop rivets. Not really sure whether this was a design fault or just my vehicle but I couldn't understand why when braking there was a lot of scuttle shake (not unusual as such on a convertible) and why the driver and passenger doors would judder when braking. Seems that the pop rivets had been trying to pull through the 'glass'now, , gradually damaging and separating the weave. Which caused the next problem to occur - back to the story once again.As I braked hard and swung a right turn in through the car park gates the force of braking caused the pop rivets securing the cars front section to the floor pan to try and pull through the glass fibre. This caused the car to effectively 'flex' in the middle. In turn the rear of the doors rode up and over the door locks (the juddering sound I had previously heard) but on this occasion causing the passenger door to unlatch and violently swing open. A leather check strap wasn't going to hold this back and the door smashed back against the front wing, snapping off the hinges. It then unbelievably flew-off through the main gates towards the parked directors cars and reception, scattering all my tools over the road surface. Fortunately no one was hit by the flying tools or more importantly the door........but the door came to rest at the feet of the company's commercial director, Mr Mildren who had just stepped out of his rather smart Mark 2 Jaguar........unbelievable perhaps but all this 100% true and without exaggeration. Even more amazing was that once again it was almost like nothing had ever happened. Usually something out of the ordinary happening like this would have 'done the rounds' in a factory with over 500 employees........but nothing, no one spoke about it - I had expected to get a serious b*ll*cking (especially from the director who could, potentially been hit by the door).....but nothing. He didn't mention it either at the time or later.....quite bizarre really.
Bet there wasn't many passengers volunteering for a lift when you owned the Berkeley,OK fella's here's part 3 of the wheel shedding Berkeley T60 saga.
After the second wheel loss performance I decided to overhaul the front driveshafts. One of the great benefits of being an engineering apprentice is access to really useful machine tools, processes and materials. The Berkeley had two in to one exhaust manifolds leading to a single Burgess silencer. The final tailpipe ran from the silencer up front, and tucked under the body, exiting at the rear. I replaced tis with 1 1/2" diameter brass tubing......painted matt black. A polished brass pipe under the car would immediately raise suspicions as to where the material came from at management level. It had a lovely musical crackling sound........Back to the kingpin damage. Back in the late 60's (and 7/8 years after the Berkeley company went bust, parts were difficult to source and there were very few places in the UK who dealt with them. The only one seemingly in the South East was a motorcycle dealer (perhaps Prices or Wilsons?) based in Leigh Broadway at Southend on sea. I was always poncing lifts of workmates and buddies to the dealer to get parts.
IMHO Berkeley used inferior metals on structural components. Both kingpins and trunnion blocks were cast steel. The use of the same material for both components really made the greasing-up an essential and regular chore. Enough said that the components on my car were totally knackered. Replacements (as I recall) were not available at that time but I was fortunate enough to obtain a second hand pair of assemblies for the car. These were totally 'shagged' too. So (and with the help of some of the more experienced toolmakers at work) we set the kingpin castings up on a lathe 'between centres' and machined the bearing surfaces perhaps 20 or 30 thou' undersize to get a good clean undamaged bearing surface. The trunnion blocks that pivot on the kingpins were bored out oversize and after machining some 'oilite' material to size 'pressed-in' and bored to match the undersize kingpins. It all worked fine. And now over to the missing door saga.
A Berkeley door is similar to an early Mini door. Other than the fact that the Berkeley door is glass fibre and a Mini door is steel - the concept is much the same.
A Mini has sliding windows without a door card and a full length 'bin' to store bits and pieces. The Berkeley has removable side screens, but like the Mini the door aperture is open. I used to keep all my tools in the driver and passenger doors - a really sensible place to store them and meant quick access in the event of a problem......they were frequently 'accessed' such was the reliability of the 'lil frigger!. The glass fibre doors utilised two external door hinges (just like a Mini) - however unlike the steel hinges of the Mini (which had their own wear problems) the Berkeley hinges were cast aluminium. They looked nice when polished though. 'Check' straps (to prevent the doors opening too far on to the front bodywork) were made from leather.
The company I worked for was one of the UK foremost potentiometer manufacturers (Colvern) and produced components for marine, aviation/aerospace industries. Their works were very close to the Romford dog track and at the end of a Cul de Sac. Drive to the end of the Cul de Sac and you would see the large company canteen on the left - on the right were the gates to the maintenance shed and employees car park. Straight ahead and directly in front was the impressive and relatively new all glass main entrance leading to the 5 story assembly block. The directors had offices overlooking the main entrance and reception at first floor level. Their cars, including a Mark 10 Jag, S3 Bentley, Rovers and others were parked facing outwards under the offices. I was driving to work in the morning in question to the end of the Cul de Sac intending to turn right into the employees car park. At this time there would be large numbers of assembly and office staff walking up the Cul de Sac to the main entrance. Several directors had parked their cars in front of the offices and were walking towards the main entrance.........I was perhaps trying to be a bit 'flash' and giving the little Berkeley some stick up the Cul de Sac (probably hoping some of the girls walking in to the factory would be impressed) with the intention of simultaneously braking hard at the last minute and turning right in to the employee car park in one 'smart' 'impressive' skidding maneuver..........boy, did that go badly wrong........
I am going to digress for a moment to 'dwell' on the structural integrity of the Berkeley and speak about the body build and deterioration of the structure of my Berkeley.The basic build-up of a Berkeley applied to both the 328 cc 2 stroke twin 3 wheel and 4 wheel cars and the 4 wheel 500 cc triples plus 700 cc Royal Enfield powered 4 wheelers. The cabin had a shaped, pressed steel floor pan that the front and rear ends were 'hung' off. The 'glass' fibre front and rear sections were secured to the floor pan with closely spaced large pop rivets. Not really sure whether this was a design fault or just my vehicle but I couldn't understand why when braking there was a lot of scuttle shake (not unusual as such on a convertible) and why the driver and passenger doors would judder when braking. Seems that the pop rivets had been trying to pull through the 'glass'now, , gradually damaging and separating the weave. Which caused the next problem to occur - back to the story once again.As I braked hard and swung a right turn in through the car park gates the force of braking caused the pop rivets securing the cars front section to the floor pan to try and pull through the glass fibre. This caused the car to effectively 'flex' in the middle. In turn the rear of the doors rode up and over the door locks (the juddering sound I had previously heard) but on this occasion causing the passenger door to unlatch and violently swing open. A leather check strap wasn't going to hold this back and the door smashed back against the front wing, snapping off the hinges. It then unbelievably flew-off through the main gates towards the parked directors cars and reception, scattering all my tools over the road surface. Fortunately no one was hit by the flying tools or more importantly the door........but the door came to rest at the feet of the company's commercial director, Mr Mildren who had just stepped out of his rather smart Mark 2 Jaguar........unbelievable perhaps but all this 100% true and without exaggeration. Even more amazing was that once again it was almost like nothing had ever happened. Usually something out of the ordinary happening like this would have 'done the rounds' in a factory with over 500 employees........but nothing, no one spoke about it - I had expected to get a serious b*ll*cking (especially from the director who could, potentially been hit by the door).....but nothing. He didn't mention it either at the time or later.....quite bizarre really.
Was this before or after meeting Mrs rosco,brave woman if she frequented the passenger seat
mind you she seems happy to travel in your monster C3 so things haven't changed much apart from
none of the wheels or doors haven't fallen off it.
Edited by rat rod on Sunday 29th May 09:48
rat rod said:
newsatten said:
It’s a hideous monstrosity and over 100K
What are these people smoking!
Like the Ghost buster Caddy, was 250k
Now a absolute steal at 99k
The mind boggles! Lol
Do people really have that sort of money and a complete lack of intelligence?
Is that possible???
Made an offer on the Yellow Duster , but alas no, we’re close so maybe a deal may happen??
Hope you can deal on the Duster soon but think your in the driving seat What are these people smoking!
Like the Ghost buster Caddy, was 250k
Now a absolute steal at 99k
The mind boggles! Lol
Do people really have that sort of money and a complete lack of intelligence?
Is that possible???
Made an offer on the Yellow Duster , but alas no, we’re close so maybe a deal may happen??
with cash in the bank whether the Duster or anything else for that matter.
Watched Harrys garage last nlght doing a preview of Silverstone auction held this weekend,
The estimated prices are through the roof,a Lancia Integrale Evo 1 125K- 150K, E 30 M3 BMW 150K,
Lotus Esprit 300 in yellow 75K , on C&C a not so desiirable 62 Galaxie 2dr post 30,000 ,was offered the very same car
around 7/8 years ago for 8k and it looks much the same, bought my 64 orange Galaxie 500 instead around the same time for 8,500
More money than a Pantera ffs,
I’ve never understood those sort of cars
Like Cosworth Escorts and such , it’s a fast crappy Ford, what’s the deal??
Sierra’s the same I had a 2.3 diesel one, so the same as a 100k Cosworth really just a tad slower,
The hideous Vauxhall Carlton is the same,
Absolute Bas—-d car,
Rosco’s plastic pig had more Character and Charisma
Same with poxy VW golfs, some of the prices they fetch now is utterly ridiculous,
But it’s a brave new world now inhabited by 40 something’s with money, and tattoos,
Rant over
Feeling old , my State pension paperwork dropped on the mat yesterday,
Looking through it and checking my National Insurance contributions made me feel old,
50 Fu——g years I’ve been at work !
Only one year with missing payments when I was unemployed between 2012 and 2013 so down 39 weeks,
Or 229 quid!
Which apparently I can pay but it won’t make diddly to my pension!
So I’ll have to think about that eh!
Yeah we’re close on the Duster, I’ll may try and call in and have a look when we’re on our way home from Lyndhurst in a couple of weeks time,
Hopefully some one will buy it before that and I’ll be free again
newsatten said:
Yeah I noticed one of those Lancia things at 150k plus,
More money than a Pantera ffs,
I’ve never understood those sort of cars
Like Cosworth Escorts and such , it’s a fast crappy Ford, what’s the deal??
Sierra’s the same I had a 2.3 diesel one, so the same as a 100k Cosworth really just a tad slower,
The hideous Vauxhall Carlton is the same,
Absolute Bas—-d car,
Rosco’s plastic pig had more Character and Charisma
Same with poxy VW golfs, some of the prices they fetch now is utterly ridiculous,
But it’s a brave new world now inhabited by 40 something’s with money, and tattoos,
Rant over
Feeling old , my State pension paperwork dropped on the mat yesterday,
Looking through it and checking my National Insurance contributions made me feel old,
50 Fu——g years I’ve been at work !
Only one year with missing payments when I was unemployed between 2012 and 2013 so down 39 weeks,
Or 229 quid!
Which apparently I can pay but it won’t make diddly to my pension!
So I’ll have to think about that eh!
Yeah we’re close on the Duster, I’ll may try and call in and have a look when we’re on our way home from Lyndhurst in a couple of weeks time,
Hopefully some one will buy it before that and I’ll be free again
The big reminder for me was my driving license renew form with one whole side being filled up with a giant 70 on itMore money than a Pantera ffs,
I’ve never understood those sort of cars
Like Cosworth Escorts and such , it’s a fast crappy Ford, what’s the deal??
Sierra’s the same I had a 2.3 diesel one, so the same as a 100k Cosworth really just a tad slower,
The hideous Vauxhall Carlton is the same,
Absolute Bas—-d car,
Rosco’s plastic pig had more Character and Charisma
Same with poxy VW golfs, some of the prices they fetch now is utterly ridiculous,
But it’s a brave new world now inhabited by 40 something’s with money, and tattoos,
Rant over
Feeling old , my State pension paperwork dropped on the mat yesterday,
Looking through it and checking my National Insurance contributions made me feel old,
50 Fu——g years I’ve been at work !
Only one year with missing payments when I was unemployed between 2012 and 2013 so down 39 weeks,
Or 229 quid!
Which apparently I can pay but it won’t make diddly to my pension!
So I’ll have to think about that eh!
Yeah we’re close on the Duster, I’ll may try and call in and have a look when we’re on our way home from Lyndhurst in a couple of weeks time,
Hopefully some one will buy it before that and I’ll be free again
as if i needed reminding , That figure can to have a psychological effect on you and others around you, the
fact that you are now old if you let it unlike the passing of 50 or 60 birthdays, i got a constant reminder from my kids and friends along
with remarks from my 49 year old girl friend at the time and all her 40 something friends referring to blue pill jokes ,
No i'm not ready to join my local bowls club quite yet or wear a beige M&S
cardigan although there's nothing wrong with that just not for me . looks like it's going to be back to 69 on
my next birthday.
Seeing you will be that close when comiing down for your break ,would be rude not to see the Duster,will kill or cure it
for you ,As you previously said it's been for sale for a long time and you may find the reason why although it was priced quite high
at first . It will probably be at the Mopar show today at Brooklands as not far from Farnborough .
Was going but thought at my age maybe i should take it a bit easy and have a cup of hot Overtine and a nap instead.
.
Edited by rat rod on Sunday 29th May 10:46
rat rod said:
The big reminder for me was my driving license renew form with one whole side being filled up with a giant 70 on it
as if i needed reminding , That figure can to have a psychological effect on you and others around you, the
fact that you are now old if you let it unlike the passing of 50 or 60 birthdays, i got a constant reminder from my kids and friends along
with remarks from my 49 year old girl friend at the time and all her 40 something friends referring to blue pill jokes ,
No i'm not ready to join my local bowls club quite yet or wear a beige M&S
cardigan although there's nothing wrong with that just not for me . looks like it's going to be back to 69 on
my next birthday.
Seeing you will be that close when comiing down for your break ,would be rude not to see the Duster,will kill or cure it
for you ,As you previously said it's been for sale for a long time and you may find the reason why although it was priced quite high
at first . It will probably be at the Mopar show today at Brooklands as not far from Farnborough .
Was going but thought at my age maybe i should take it a bit easy and have a cup of hot Overtine and a nap instead.
My 70 year old license paperwork is a distant memory - the faffiing about finding a decent and acceptable photo that met their requirements and ending-up using one of those photo machines to end-up with an image reminicent of a police line-up.
I looked at the license card yesterday and it 'entitlements' realising that time flies and the thing has to be renewed every three years (this time next year for me!)
.
as if i needed reminding , That figure can to have a psychological effect on you and others around you, the
fact that you are now old if you let it unlike the passing of 50 or 60 birthdays, i got a constant reminder from my kids and friends along
with remarks from my 49 year old girl friend at the time and all her 40 something friends referring to blue pill jokes ,
No i'm not ready to join my local bowls club quite yet or wear a beige M&S
cardigan although there's nothing wrong with that just not for me . looks like it's going to be back to 69 on
my next birthday.
Seeing you will be that close when comiing down for your break ,would be rude not to see the Duster,will kill or cure it
for you ,As you previously said it's been for sale for a long time and you may find the reason why although it was priced quite high
at first . It will probably be at the Mopar show today at Brooklands as not far from Farnborough .
Was going but thought at my age maybe i should take it a bit easy and have a cup of hot Overtine and a nap instead.
My 70 year old license paperwork is a distant memory - the faffiing about finding a decent and acceptable photo that met their requirements and ending-up using one of those photo machines to end-up with an image reminicent of a police line-up.
I looked at the license card yesterday and it 'entitlements' realising that time flies and the thing has to be renewed every three years (this time next year for me!)
.
Edited by rat rod on Sunday 29th May 10:46
Thanks guys 
Feeling a tad better now, as my wife’s back onside!
She hated the thought I’d buy another car and start the whole process over again,
But having had a proper chat this morning I explained that is absolutely not going the happen ,
She saw just how difficult it was doing the RT at home,
She actually suggested that I should find another toy to play with,
She also said we should just get a cheaper daily so my budget would be bigger, bless her.
But that defeats the whole object of flogging the Dodge,
So no not doing that , I’ll endeavour to find something that fits the bill within my budget
The criteria being , smallish, small block , manual trans
And definitely on the side of rattly , no fancy paint and body stuff, all the effort on the running gear !
Feeling a tad better now, as my wife’s back onside!
She hated the thought I’d buy another car and start the whole process over again,
But having had a proper chat this morning I explained that is absolutely not going the happen ,
She saw just how difficult it was doing the RT at home,
She actually suggested that I should find another toy to play with,
She also said we should just get a cheaper daily so my budget would be bigger, bless her.
But that defeats the whole object of flogging the Dodge,
So no not doing that , I’ll endeavour to find something that fits the bill within my budget
The criteria being , smallish, small block , manual trans
And definitely on the side of rattly , no fancy paint and body stuff, all the effort on the running gear !
newsatten said:
Thanks guys
Feeling a tad better now, as my wife’s back onside!
She hated the thought I’d buy another car and start the whole process over again,
But having had a proper chat this morning I explained that is absolutely not going the happen ,
She saw just how difficult it was doing the RT at home,
She actually suggested that I should find another toy to play with,
She also said we should just get a cheaper daily so my budget would be bigger, bless her.
But that defeats the whole object of flogging the Dodge,
So no not doing that , I’ll endeavour to find something that fits the bill within my budget
The criteria being , smallish, small block , manual trans
And definitely on the side of rattly , no fancy paint and body stuff, all the effort on the running gear !
Must be a fair bit of choice out there with your criteria - just a case of sorting the wheat form the chaff and the chancers from the genuine sellers...? Easy for me to say I know, but best of luck. Hope it doesn't take too long and you don't end up giving up! Feeling a tad better now, as my wife’s back onside!
She hated the thought I’d buy another car and start the whole process over again,
But having had a proper chat this morning I explained that is absolutely not going the happen ,
She saw just how difficult it was doing the RT at home,
She actually suggested that I should find another toy to play with,
She also said we should just get a cheaper daily so my budget would be bigger, bless her.
But that defeats the whole object of flogging the Dodge,
So no not doing that , I’ll endeavour to find something that fits the bill within my budget
The criteria being , smallish, small block , manual trans
And definitely on the side of rattly , no fancy paint and body stuff, all the effort on the running gear !
I've fallen down the Italian rabbit hole again, watching youtube stuff on small '60s and '70s Fiats with Abarth bits bolted on, little demons they are when done nicely. There is actually enough room to build a single garage in the dead space behind my existing garage, big enough for a various small Fiats, Alfas, Abarths etc, the trouble is every spare bit of dosh is going into the Maser kitty at the moment.
Back on topic - not sure exactly what it was, but I spotted a large '50s yank convertible on the M6 this morning on the way home from work, very long, with medium sized fins at the back, in red with a creamy white soft top, possibly a Buick or a Cadillac.
rat rod said:
Bet there wasn't many passengers volunteering for a lift when you owned the Berkeley,
Was this before or after meeting Mrs rosco,brave woman if she frequented the passenger seat
mind you she seems happy to travel in your monster C3 so things haven't changed much apart from
none of the wheels or doors haven't fallen off it.
The Berkeley was a good few years before I met up with 'er indoors. Happy to to travel in my 'monster' C3?........'er , no.....not very happy at all. Firstly sitting in passenger seat and struggling to see over the dashboard for her dosen't go down well. Its far from quiet in the car and the occasional squeaks from the rear tyres and resulting 'wiggles' dosen't endear her to the car. I have to drive it so, so carefully so as not to get moaned at that its not really a pleasure to drive.
Strange really - during our 'early' days when I was smoking around in my hopped-up, lowered Galaxie 7 Litre she didn't seem to be to fussy and enjoyed the journey.......
Was this before or after meeting Mrs rosco,brave woman if she frequented the passenger seat
mind you she seems happy to travel in your monster C3 so things haven't changed much apart from
none of the wheels or doors haven't fallen off it.
The Berkeley was a good few years before I met up with 'er indoors. Happy to to travel in my 'monster' C3?........'er , no.....not very happy at all. Firstly sitting in passenger seat and struggling to see over the dashboard for her dosen't go down well. Its far from quiet in the car and the occasional squeaks from the rear tyres and resulting 'wiggles' dosen't endear her to the car. I have to drive it so, so carefully so as not to get moaned at that its not really a pleasure to drive.
Strange really - during our 'early' days when I was smoking around in my hopped-up, lowered Galaxie 7 Litre she didn't seem to be to fussy and enjoyed the journey.......
Edited by rat rod on Sunday 29th May 09:48
Yeah just going to see how things go,
I still like the idea of a Lotus Europa,
As we’ve said before whether I’d be able to get out of it is another matter!
I’ll roll over Wingham Sports cars at some point and have a nose around,
I’m in zero rush so will just keep my eyes open
And see what turns up,
The hunt is always a fabulous part of old car ownership!
The thing that appeals to me with something like a Lotus is the Ki Car type of build, so much easier to reproduce stuff like interior trim and headlings etc,
Like a E’s interior it’s all vinyl covered mouldings and pressings,
No blown plastic pooh,
And they are light weight so much easier to move around when not running,
So I’m hoping that opening things up to other stuff other than yanks will give me more options!
given my less than great budget, I think I’ll need all the help I can get ,
Bit like you with the Maserati , if it scratches that itch and is within budget why not ,
I’m happy to work with GPR so that’s another plus,
But I’ll see how the Plymouth goes , as it’s a turn key car
With all the right bits!
I still like the idea of a Lotus Europa,
As we’ve said before whether I’d be able to get out of it is another matter!
I’ll roll over Wingham Sports cars at some point and have a nose around,
I’m in zero rush so will just keep my eyes open
And see what turns up,
The hunt is always a fabulous part of old car ownership!
The thing that appeals to me with something like a Lotus is the Ki Car type of build, so much easier to reproduce stuff like interior trim and headlings etc,
Like a E’s interior it’s all vinyl covered mouldings and pressings,
No blown plastic pooh,
And they are light weight so much easier to move around when not running,
So I’m hoping that opening things up to other stuff other than yanks will give me more options!
given my less than great budget, I think I’ll need all the help I can get ,
Bit like you with the Maserati , if it scratches that itch and is within budget why not ,
I’m happy to work with GPR so that’s another plus,
But I’ll see how the Plymouth goes , as it’s a turn key car
With all the right bits!
Quite a few Norfolk breadvans on c&c at the moment....
https://www.carandclassic.com/cat/3/29/europa/
I'd love one too....
https://www.carandclassic.com/cat/3/29/europa/
I'd love one too....
Haha ,
Yeah I’ve seen them,
I’ve a dealer very near me so I’ll go and have a nose around
Over the bank holiday if he’s open??
I figure I’ve at least 2-3 more years at work so really need to utilise the facilities at my disposal,
Just hate my empty garage! Lol
But I’m not letting it all go tits up and cause me to much grief!
And don’t forget Lotus stands for
Loads of trouble usually serious
Yeah I’ve seen them,
I’ve a dealer very near me so I’ll go and have a nose around
Over the bank holiday if he’s open??
I figure I’ve at least 2-3 more years at work so really need to utilise the facilities at my disposal,
Just hate my empty garage! Lol
But I’m not letting it all go tits up and cause me to much grief!
And don’t forget Lotus stands for
Loads of trouble usually serious
A sense of the ridiculous is definitely needed!
The Whole Europa thing is just a throw back to the old days,
It was my original want car, guess I was 15-16 at the time,
And In love with a JPS twin cam and the drop dead bird who worked in the ice cream parlour at Folkestone Harbour!
She must be 75 now so the Lotus seems a better bet!
And I’ve worked on them in the past, pretty basic cars ,
Probably more wires behind my tele!
Plus they have a 1 piece body shell so they are actually pretty strong,
newsatten said:
A sense of the ridiculous is definitely needed!
The Whole Europa thing is just a throw back to the old days,
It was my original want car, guess I was 15-16 at the time,
And In love with a JPS twin cam and the drop dead bird who worked in the ice cream parlour at Folkestone Harbour!
She must be 75 now so the Lotus seems a better bet!
And I’ve worked on them in the past, pretty basic cars ,
Probably more wires behind my tele!
Plus they have a 1 piece body shell so they are actually pretty strong,
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