The Art of Shedding

[Retroshite]

Not much has been happening lately, I have my eye on a Cortina estate so looking to offload a couple of things...
I's hoped the Cortina would be the first car of 2022 but managed to buy a couple of other things first including a 2003 Audi A3 TDI Quattro and a 1996 Volvo 850.

RJC_0892 by srblythe, on Flickr

DSC_6486 by srblythe, on Flickr

The photo of the Volvo is from 2015 when a friend owned it, I need to arrange collection at the end of the week.

RJC_0863 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_0835 by srblythe, on Flickr


The Subaru and Skoda have a small amount of interest in them so maybe I'll find new homes for them in 2022.

[Retroshite]

20220115161334_IMG_6305 by srblythe, on Flickr

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Got the tracking done on the Audi and it seems to have made it a lot better to drive. When I first bought it, it was very difficult to keep in a straight line and felt totally fked, the massively wide 17" S3 alloys made it feel horrible to drive so I bought some 15" alloys with balloon tyres which also made a huge difference even before the tracking was done.
I bought the Volvo before I'd managed to fix the Audi and it was always at the back of my mind that I'd keep the one I like the best. I picked up the Volvo last night after being out in the Audi all day and definitely prefer the Audi.
It didn't help that the Volvo was absolutely minging inside.

20220122160349_IMG_6313 by srblythe, on Flickr

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Gave inside a good scrub and vacuum and swapped some part worn tyres onto it. I think I'll be flogging the Volvo.

[Retroshite]

I had a bit of a clear out and flogged a few cars.

Sold the Subaru for £3300

RJC_0853 by srblythe, on Flickr



The Skoda went for £1900


RJC_0845 by srblythe, on Flickr


Sold the moped for £100

RJC_0724 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_0173 by srblythe, on Flickr


Sold the SJ for £470

IMG_20211026_140234921 by srblythe, on Flickr

Sold the Corolla for £800


Bought a 505 estate for £500 plus spent another £500 transporting it from the south coast of England.

IMG_20220312_145232425_HDR by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1225 by srblythe, on Flickr


Decided it was too much of a project for me so sold it for £1000 and broke even.

I bought this old thing for £2800

RJC_1379 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1381 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1380 by srblythe, on Flickr

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I bought a Honda c90 last weekend, it runs nicely.

[Retroshite]

I sold the c90 for £1500 and bought a Suzuki TS 50 for £1600.

280495404_2527674037366326_3103155920484497107_n by srblythe, on Flickr

I think I underestimated just how dreadfully slow a 50cc bike would be with a man of my size and weight riding it so sold it a week later for £1500.

I agreed to drop the bike off to the new owner using the 504 pickup to transport it but noticed a low brake fluid warning light. On closer inspection it was weeping from the clutch slave which is strange because I had already replaced it once before.
I ordered another slave cylinder which was cheap and easy to fit with just a couple of bolts holding it on and discovered a small crusty hole in the passenger side floor.

504 rust by srblythe, on Flickr

504 rust by srblythe, on Flickr

504 rust by srblythe, on Flickr

504 rust by srblythe, on Flickr

Which turned to a large hole in the floor plus inner and outer sill.

It looks like a lot of the truck was wobbed up and resprayed a few years ago and is now starting to show through, I'll just have to keep using it and doing a bit at a time and try keeping it solid.

IMG_20220524_194634661 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_20220526_122505136 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_20220526_134704918 by srblythe, on Flickr

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My LDV pilot failed its mot.

278795848_2509106129223117_7632189341104250132_n by srblythe, on Flickr

278801457_2509105869223143_8947116058513090814_n by srblythe, on Flickr

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These small areas of rust turn into massive holes when cleaning it back to solid metal.

279302748_2514342752032788_5348990783132900221_n by srblythe, on Flickr

https://youtu.be/GMEfGnmxoDg


RJC_2804 by srblythe, on Flickr

I bought another moped for £400, it's actually quite sprightly, previous owner derestricted it so it would do 40mph.

https://youtu.be/pqMKXuKsfa4

RJC_2618 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_2612 by srblythe, on Flickr

This popped up for sale, I don't think I'd ever seen this shape corolla in estate form so I bought it. It's quite a nice driving car since changing the front discs and fitting a new set of tyres. It's a 1.3 16v efi, it's not particularly fast but it goes well for the size of it.

278870958_2509906892476374_82588836986721150_n (1) by srblythe, on Flickr

278842416_2509916945808702_3752984173451087298_n (1) by srblythe, on Flickr

Also bought a mk1 MX5 for £320.

https://youtu.be/IMSnB_KPLg4

It was really quite rusty so sold it for £500

RJC_3416 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3419 by srblythe, on Flickr

https://youtu.be/wQkGeO-fR-E

Also bought this at the start of the week but it's not really me so hopefully it'll be sold today.

[Retroshite]

Bannock said:

How the hell do you find time to do anything for a living, mate? Honestly in awe of this thread.

I work Monday to Thursday which leaves me plenty of time to mess around with cars Friday to Sunday.

[Retroshite]

Ryyy said:

How the hell do you find a mk1 mx5 for £320?

It was on Gumtree. There was a reason it was so cheap. It was incredibly rusty, engine smoked like a chimney, clutch was slipping and interior was wrecked.

[Retroshite]

cedrichn said:

This thread always deserve a visit
What happened to the BX "chicken wire" edition ?
You will fix the LDV van ?

I removed the engine from the bx and sold it for £350 which was around what the car owed me so scrapped the rest.

I'm planning on fixing the LDV, I have finished the welding on the drivers side step, cross member, inner and outer sills.
Passenger side step is done but it needs a lot of the sill repaired around where the side door roller sits and loads around the inner sills.
I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

[Retroshite]

RJC_3599 by srblythe, on Flickr


Managed to sell the Cortina, dealt with some amount of morons before a genuine buyer got the train up from Essex and handed over £4200 for it.
Old school Ford fans are the worst.

RJC_3620 by srblythe, on Flickr


RJC_3641 by srblythe, on Flickr


RJC_3645 by srblythe, on Flickr


I took the 504 up to Fort William to buy another top quality motorcycle, I already have an east German MZ so thought it would be cool to have the Czechoslovakian equivalent CZ. It has 4 gears and the kickstart also doubles up as the gear lever.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGRhZiCPbOw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKrt01Sqllw


Also sold the SLK bought for £700, drove it a couple of times and sold for £1200, not bad.

[Retroshite]

RJC_3650 by srblythe, on Flickr


As well as amassing a collection of rubbish vehicles I've been organising monthly retro car meets which I started doing again in February 2022, I'd held a few over the years starting back in 2013. They've become quite popular, we've outgrown each venue due to increased attendance, the meet in February had around 40 cars and last months meet had over 120 cars.

https://youtu.be/VAw7sCdBv1A

DJI_0297 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3534 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3497 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_2677 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_2694 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1742 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_2709 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1723 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1685 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1668 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1662 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1655 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1325 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1318 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1313 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1311 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1304 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1283 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1040 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_1087 by srblythe, on Flickr



Always a good selection of stuff, next one is being held at the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum near Dunfermline at 11am on the 24/07/22 if anyone with a retro pre 2000 vehicle is interested in attending?

[Retroshite]

RJC_3712 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3713 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3716 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3719 by srblythe, on Flickr


Scruffy E36 318 for under £1k, why not?

[Retroshite]

Wow, not updated this in a while...

I got the A3 tdi quattro mot'd but just seemed to encounter dreamers and timewasters when trying to sell it.

RJC_3734 by srblythe, on Flickr


I swapped the Audi for a diesel 306 which I raffled and sold out pretty quickly.

RJC_3751 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3752 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_3762 by srblythe, on Flickr


I bought a strange looking Simson moped for £1k

IMG_7554 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_7556 by srblythe, on Flickr


Had some fun razzing it up and down the road then swapped for a Subaru Impreza estate with the 1.8 non turbo engine.

IMG_7614 by srblythe, on Flickr

It was in dire need of some new CV joints so I raffled it off, it struggled to sell out so I gave away the remaining numbers to friends so I could go ahead with the raffle. Coincidently a friend won it, replaced the knackered cv joints with new drive shafts then sold it back to me for £500. I'm still using it at the moment!


With the success of the 306 raffle netting me £1180 I thought I'd give it another go with a diesel 205 I bought for £700.

IMG_7564 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_7565 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_7567 by srblythe, on Flickr


Right enough it sold out instantly and I got back £1180 for my trouble...


That E36 I bought in July I swapped for my old Skoda Estelle which proceeded to blow its head gasket on the way home...

RJC_4273 by srblythe, on Flickr

https://youtu.be/28fVBxq4Sj4


My LDV Pilot finally got another mot after countless hours welding it up.

IMG_20220924_143325880_HDR by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_20220924_163742463_HDR by srblythe, on Flickr

I picked up a Triumph Acclaim for £700 then flipped it on for £1500.

https://youtu.be/R2RdtAXjXrA

20221007150402_IMG_7917 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_4729 by srblythe, on Flickr


I picked up this Visa for nothing but it cost me £100 to transport, it had sat for a couple of years and was pretty disgusting inside so after getting it running and changing all of the tyres which had been slashed I decided it really wasn't for me so moved it on for £300.

https://youtu.be/Ff9XHVPKwvo

RJC_5007 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5014 by srblythe, on Flickr

Subaru is my current daily, it heats up relatively quickly and clears the windscreen which is really all I want for a winter car.


I had some cash left over from selling the Acclaim and Visa and this popped up for sale near me.

RJC_5038 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5030 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5041 by srblythe, on Flickr

a 1983 Vauxhall Cavalier with the 1.3 engine and 4 speed gearbox. Drives ok for the age of it so considering using it over the winter. Rear arches are a little bit scabby but at £44 a side for the repair panels I'[m not too bothered if they deteriorate over the winter.

https://youtu.be/jtKTY2EFvCg

[Retroshite]

_Mja_ said:

Hey Retroste ironically I've been subscribed to your YouTube channel for some time but didn't know you had a thread on here until I was signposted from my Y reg Corsa C thread. The guys on there said I should talk to you on how I can get involved in potentially offering the car for period dramas etc

I've got the Y Reg Corsa (timewarp, 11,000 miles on it) a 95 Corrado VR6, 91 Golf GTI 16v (not ready yet) and a 96 Golf GTI 16v. Would be nice to put them to use and any pocket money will help keep them on the road too (and get passed the wife on having some many cars....)

I've had a few cars in different film and TV productions but didn't go through any kind of official way or services.
Basically, I know someone who works in a prop store who passed my number onto someone who sources cars for productions. He calls occasionally to see what I have available then I send some photos of what I have. Occasionally the production company will want a car and I have to be available at short notice and able to bring the car to a location on any given day.
It's quite boring at times having to hang around all day but the in site catering is usually good. We had a Subaru being used in a Bollywood film, the food was amazing.
Pay can range anywhere from £200-400 a day per car, we did one in Edinburgh called "our ladies" which were paying £400 a car and brought 3 of them over for a day with the assistance of the Mrs and a friend and the cars were just used for background dressing and only had to be driven between locations.
I'm not entirely sure how you would go about getting into the industry, I imagine there will be official agencies out there sourcing cars but for me I just kinda fell into it.
I've not done any film or TV work for around 2 years.

[Retroshite]

JESTER_ST1 said:

When is your next meet? I'm guessing you announce on Facebook but apart from forums, I don't do social media.

Meets are generally arranged through Facebook but will also be posting the dates on the retroste dot com page. Next one is in April.

[Retroshite]

Where were we?

I bought a few more cars...

IMG_8099 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_8103 by srblythe, on Flickr

IMG_8114 by srblythe, on Flickr


Seat Toledo, Bought for £600 and raffled for £1180.


RJC_5155 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5154 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5162 by srblythe, on Flickr


BMW 518 bought for £1k and raffled for £2k



RJC_5166 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5165 by srblythe, on Flickr

RJC_5176 by srblythe, on Flickr


Bought for £1200 and raffled for £1600.

Also bought a Mercedes 190D and a couple of motorbikes since last update!

[Retroshite]

j4ck100 said:

Where do you tend to buy from? Fb and gumtree?

Facebook, gumtree, eBay, forums etc although the last few were offered to me rather than me actually going out looking for them.

[Retroshite]

https://youtu.be/ZhEADckdvpg

Last Sunday I swapped the cavalier for a Belmont!

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I bought an awful transit!

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Friday must be the day for buying awful old fords!

[Retroshite]

Escort ownership is going well...

Day 2 of escort ownership I decided to have a closer inspection of the drivers door.









Someone had previously covered the bottom of the door in silver tape to hide the massive flappy bit of rust! I had a spare door so chopped out a section of it and welded it in.



Also made a better temporary fix of the nsr door quarter glass which had been smashed due to an attempted theft and had been fixed by the previous owner by taping a boots bag to it. My solution wasn't much better but I used some plastic I cut from a drum and made a metal backing so it would be difficult to force open from the outside.

Day 3 of escort ownership I thought a 300 mile trip to the scrappy would be nice. I also spotted a set of wheels for sale near the scrapyard so swung by on the way back.



After a successful day out at the scrapyard and buying a set of wheels disaster struck around 80 miles from home. The rear tyre gave way and all of the steel wires poked out before deflating in a layby.
I discovered I had 5 spare wheels and no jack. I considered all of the ways I could possibly get the car high enough but fortunately I knew someone local to where I was so asked them to bring a jack and half an hour later I was on my way again.
Day 4 of escort ownership I removed my temporary repair and fitted some glass I bought from the scrapyard. I made a start on removing the wheel and found all of the bolts were incredibly tight and one of them sheared when removing it.






Ended up having to remove the front hub, drill the broken bolt from the back and weld a nut on the few protruding threads before it came out. I was afraid that I was going to have the same drama on all other bolts but although tight, they all eventually came out.




Also the trip to the scrapyard was amazing and I got some fantastic drone footage of the place.

Edited by Retroste on Friday 10th February 08:59