Back to the Shed!
Discussion
Following on from Retros
te's thread, I thought I'd give a rundown of my own shed exploits, such as they are.
In fact, I am not new to shedding, having been the proud-ish previous owner of one of PH's very own Sheds of the Week - https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-features-sheds...
I can't claim to be the originator of the hilarious advert, although I think it was a good pastiche of my own advert singing the praises of a fundamentally flawed design. In fact, when the buyer left my house the rear numberplate fell off as he pulled off my drive!
One of my pictures of the shed.
As you can see, when I had it, it was actually rather tidy.
Anyway, onto the other shedding. I'll give a brief rundown of some of the cars, some have bigger stories which I will elaborate on in later posts if there is the interest... or I'll waffle on anyway.
He's a few of the sheds of recent times...
First up is the BMW E34 530i/A. Total dog of a car, but running and driving, and somehow MOTd when I bought it. It has terminal rot in the back end, way beyond repairing even now the prices of these are going up. I bought it for the engine to put into a classic car, and for other bits to aid my 540i/6 stay on the road.
As I said, terminal rot. Both sills are like this, as is most of the rear wings, boot floor etc. but not bad for £350.
Next up is my Citroen AX GT rally car. Bought on a bit of a whim, along the lines of 'I've got £750 cash burning a hole in my pocket. What car can I buy, transport home, repair and insure in that budget?', so armed with my favourite Scotch and the missus out with her friends for the night I got on eBay...
The seller was not sure it would get through an MOT easily having been off the road for a number of years and stored outside. I gave it a check over, took it for MOT and it only needed one brake pipe replacing. Result. I used it as my daily driver for about 6 months, as the heater was fantastic, and on rally tyres it gripped very well in the snow! I even did a few rallies in it. After a while I got bought and put it up for sale. it took a while, but eventually it sold to a local guy who is planning to upgrade it to stage spec.
Next up is 'Cliopatra' - a Clio 172, sold as non-running spares or repair. I bought it to 'fill a trailer' I was trying to buy at an auction. Numpty here won the Clio and not the trailer... anyway, called a friend up who'd just taken VR and therefore I knew was free. I gave it a wash, took for MOT and it failed on discs, pads and a broken coil spring. Not bad, and cheap fixes. Anyway, on the way back from the MOT the dephaser packed in... NOT easy and cheap to fix. many many pounds later I've nearly finished it. Bloody thing.
Next shed is one I've had for a VERY long time, back when these were still 100% shed. E30 318iS, picked up for a few hundred quid... and a few hundred miles away too. Advertised as a non-runner due to a knackered fuel pump. Luckily, there was someone down the road from me with a nearly new fuel pump for sale for £20. How serendipitous. However, what the seller 'forgot' to say was that the car had been broken into, the iS specific lip was missing... oh, and it had been shunted in the back corner, so one side of the car was an inch shorter than the other. regardless of all this, I fell in love with the car, and now I'm (slowly) restoring it with a friend into a full FIA spec race car.
te's thread, I thought I'd give a rundown of my own shed exploits, such as they are.In fact, I am not new to shedding, having been the proud-ish previous owner of one of PH's very own Sheds of the Week - https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-features-sheds...
I can't claim to be the originator of the hilarious advert, although I think it was a good pastiche of my own advert singing the praises of a fundamentally flawed design. In fact, when the buyer left my house the rear numberplate fell off as he pulled off my drive!
One of my pictures of the shed.
As you can see, when I had it, it was actually rather tidy.
Anyway, onto the other shedding. I'll give a brief rundown of some of the cars, some have bigger stories which I will elaborate on in later posts if there is the interest... or I'll waffle on anyway.
He's a few of the sheds of recent times...
First up is the BMW E34 530i/A. Total dog of a car, but running and driving, and somehow MOTd when I bought it. It has terminal rot in the back end, way beyond repairing even now the prices of these are going up. I bought it for the engine to put into a classic car, and for other bits to aid my 540i/6 stay on the road.
As I said, terminal rot. Both sills are like this, as is most of the rear wings, boot floor etc. but not bad for £350.
Next up is my Citroen AX GT rally car. Bought on a bit of a whim, along the lines of 'I've got £750 cash burning a hole in my pocket. What car can I buy, transport home, repair and insure in that budget?', so armed with my favourite Scotch and the missus out with her friends for the night I got on eBay...
The seller was not sure it would get through an MOT easily having been off the road for a number of years and stored outside. I gave it a check over, took it for MOT and it only needed one brake pipe replacing. Result. I used it as my daily driver for about 6 months, as the heater was fantastic, and on rally tyres it gripped very well in the snow! I even did a few rallies in it. After a while I got bought and put it up for sale. it took a while, but eventually it sold to a local guy who is planning to upgrade it to stage spec.
Next up is 'Cliopatra' - a Clio 172, sold as non-running spares or repair. I bought it to 'fill a trailer' I was trying to buy at an auction. Numpty here won the Clio and not the trailer... anyway, called a friend up who'd just taken VR and therefore I knew was free. I gave it a wash, took for MOT and it failed on discs, pads and a broken coil spring. Not bad, and cheap fixes. Anyway, on the way back from the MOT the dephaser packed in... NOT easy and cheap to fix. many many pounds later I've nearly finished it. Bloody thing.
Next shed is one I've had for a VERY long time, back when these were still 100% shed. E30 318iS, picked up for a few hundred quid... and a few hundred miles away too. Advertised as a non-runner due to a knackered fuel pump. Luckily, there was someone down the road from me with a nearly new fuel pump for sale for £20. How serendipitous. However, what the seller 'forgot' to say was that the car had been broken into, the iS specific lip was missing... oh, and it had been shunted in the back corner, so one side of the car was an inch shorter than the other. regardless of all this, I fell in love with the car, and now I'm (slowly) restoring it with a friend into a full FIA spec race car.
Next shed is my Triumph 2000 Mk2 Estate. It was at the right price, and having just sold a car, I had some space... and this was for sale for the same price as the other car I'd sold... as the tow truck was going that way anyway I figured it was worth a punt.
So, it's not perfect... far from it, but it runs and drives okay. I've just had the radiator repaired on it as the header and bottom tanks were both split. The fuel cap is locked with no key... and it's a bit rusty. Panels are like rocking horse poo for these, but there is a guy in Wales who has started having them remanufactured. It may mean waiting 6 months for the panels, but it's either that or nothing.
Strange, picture won't upload of that one...
Next shed was this Fiat 126. I had no intention of getting one of these, but it was available locally with no interest. I went to look at it and found all four brakes were stuck on hard and the engine didn't run. I negotiated a price for it and set about recovering it. Dragging it over the guys Cotswold stone driveway, uphill was not fun. We ended up using washing up liquid to slide it up the ramps as the tyres ripped apart on the gravel. I did a bit of work on it, but never fell in love with it, so I moved it on to someone that did want it.
Next shed was this Mk1 Eunos, again, for sale locally. it was out of MOT and didn't run, but I took a punt on it. As you can see in the photos the front wing is stoved in, so I have bought a replacement and fitted it over Christmas. I'm in the process of doing a few other things, but as it's been off the road for a few years it may need more than just a light service... we'll see. Hope to have it done for summer.
A shed from a few years ago. Triumph Acclaim bought for not much money (when they were worth even less than today!), non-runner, but came with a replacement engine. Spent a few weekends pulling the old engine out, cleaning the engine bay, fitting the new one and so forth. I loved this car... then took it for MOT and on the way there the 'good replacement' engine started knocking really badly. I fell out of love with it at this point. When I got back to my workshop I did the longest (one wheel) burn out it's ever seen, a good 30ft long. most impressive. At that point I shut the door and went home, and didn't go back for a few weeks. Hoping it was just a bad dream, when I got back I started it up, and sure enough the engine was still knocking. At that point I'd had enough, pulled the tow bar off which I sold for half of what I paid for the whole car, then sold the car for double what I paid for it. not ideal, but not a bad result.
Another shed from many years ago was this Triumph Vitesse 6. One owner from new, and they were going to scrap it as it was in the way of their new drive way being laid. My ex-boss and I trundled up to Nottingham to get it. My boss became the next owner, and on the way home we struck a deal for me to buy it, with him doing some work for me etc. Anyway, unfortunately it got vandalised and I lost heart a bit. I ended up breaking it for spares, with the engine going into another Vitesse I'd bought which the crank had broken in.
The ultimate in sheddery! 'Found' locally, where it had been laid up for a number of years after the owner went to China. I agreed to pay £50 for it if I could get it running in their garage, if it didn't run then it was £20. At that, it's worth a punt I thought! Amazingly with a jump pack and a clean of the battery leads it fired straight up... and stunk of chips. Surprisingly the old battery held charge, so that was a result. A friend was in need of a cheap run about, so we came to a deal that if he took it for MOT he could use the car and I'd pay for any repairs that were needed. It wasn't much in the end, a front spring, a seat belt and a few minor things. I managed to get all of it from the local breakers for a few notes. He used it for a few months, and then got the car he actually wanted. I offered it to my missus who decided she didn't like 'Frogzilla' as he became known.
With laquer peel on almost every panel, and a bit of a dint on the passenger side I didn't expect much, and got £350 for it from someone about 100 miles away. In some ways it's the shed I miss the most!
I've got a few others to add, but the next one is quite a tale, so will have to wait for another day... or later...
So, it's not perfect... far from it, but it runs and drives okay. I've just had the radiator repaired on it as the header and bottom tanks were both split. The fuel cap is locked with no key... and it's a bit rusty. Panels are like rocking horse poo for these, but there is a guy in Wales who has started having them remanufactured. It may mean waiting 6 months for the panels, but it's either that or nothing.
Strange, picture won't upload of that one...
Next shed was this Fiat 126. I had no intention of getting one of these, but it was available locally with no interest. I went to look at it and found all four brakes were stuck on hard and the engine didn't run. I negotiated a price for it and set about recovering it. Dragging it over the guys Cotswold stone driveway, uphill was not fun. We ended up using washing up liquid to slide it up the ramps as the tyres ripped apart on the gravel. I did a bit of work on it, but never fell in love with it, so I moved it on to someone that did want it.
Next shed was this Mk1 Eunos, again, for sale locally. it was out of MOT and didn't run, but I took a punt on it. As you can see in the photos the front wing is stoved in, so I have bought a replacement and fitted it over Christmas. I'm in the process of doing a few other things, but as it's been off the road for a few years it may need more than just a light service... we'll see. Hope to have it done for summer.
A shed from a few years ago. Triumph Acclaim bought for not much money (when they were worth even less than today!), non-runner, but came with a replacement engine. Spent a few weekends pulling the old engine out, cleaning the engine bay, fitting the new one and so forth. I loved this car... then took it for MOT and on the way there the 'good replacement' engine started knocking really badly. I fell out of love with it at this point. When I got back to my workshop I did the longest (one wheel) burn out it's ever seen, a good 30ft long. most impressive. At that point I shut the door and went home, and didn't go back for a few weeks. Hoping it was just a bad dream, when I got back I started it up, and sure enough the engine was still knocking. At that point I'd had enough, pulled the tow bar off which I sold for half of what I paid for the whole car, then sold the car for double what I paid for it. not ideal, but not a bad result.
Another shed from many years ago was this Triumph Vitesse 6. One owner from new, and they were going to scrap it as it was in the way of their new drive way being laid. My ex-boss and I trundled up to Nottingham to get it. My boss became the next owner, and on the way home we struck a deal for me to buy it, with him doing some work for me etc. Anyway, unfortunately it got vandalised and I lost heart a bit. I ended up breaking it for spares, with the engine going into another Vitesse I'd bought which the crank had broken in.
The ultimate in sheddery! 'Found' locally, where it had been laid up for a number of years after the owner went to China. I agreed to pay £50 for it if I could get it running in their garage, if it didn't run then it was £20. At that, it's worth a punt I thought! Amazingly with a jump pack and a clean of the battery leads it fired straight up... and stunk of chips. Surprisingly the old battery held charge, so that was a result. A friend was in need of a cheap run about, so we came to a deal that if he took it for MOT he could use the car and I'd pay for any repairs that were needed. It wasn't much in the end, a front spring, a seat belt and a few minor things. I managed to get all of it from the local breakers for a few notes. He used it for a few months, and then got the car he actually wanted. I offered it to my missus who decided she didn't like 'Frogzilla' as he became known.
With laquer peel on almost every panel, and a bit of a dint on the passenger side I didn't expect much, and got £350 for it from someone about 100 miles away. In some ways it's the shed I miss the most!
I've got a few others to add, but the next one is quite a tale, so will have to wait for another day... or later...
loving the 106 for £50!DanG355 said:
"armed with my favourite Scotch and the missus out with her friends for the night I got on eBay..."
This is how the best car buying stories start!
Oddly enough it's not only the only car I've bought when using the power of Lagavulin. The 318iS was also bought on a night out... At the time all my friends were into clubbing and I am very much more an 'armchair and open fireplace in a country pub' kind of guy. So, I found an oddly sticky sofa in the corner of the club and stuck a bid on. I have another E30, a 320i Coupe that I bought for £1010. I put the same bid on the iS, expecting to be outbid, but I won it for very little money. Cue the next day, and somewhat hungover, I jumped into my mates Defender with him and chugged up to Bradford from Warwickshire to collect it.This is how the best car buying stories start!
There have been a few others, but I forget them now.
For the record, I'm not an alcoholic! It just so happens that two of my vices go together very well; sippin' whisky and buying cars!
As the Volvo seems to have a bit of love I'll post a few more pictures and info about that.
So, whilst I was at Uni I had a Triumph Vitesse as my daily driver - I still have it, but to me a car is a shed if it costs less than a grand. The Vitesse, known as Piggle, cost me a smidge more than that. Here's a picture of it anyway for your enjoyment.
So, with the prospect of a year long placement looming, and moving to the other side of the country for it, I decided I wanted something else that could munch the miles a bit more comfortably. Whilst getting encouragement to look at something sensible, I decided to go for a Volvo. However, I chose the worst car Volvo ever made - the 480. I believe it was originally conceived as a DAF, and when Volvo bought DAF they decided to continue with the project.
To the best of my knowledge Volvo/DAF enlisted the help of other companies to improve the driving experience. Lotus were involved in the dynamics, and whilst the car rolled like hell, it stuck like glue, even in the snow. Porsche were involved in the tuning of the Turbo, and whilst it wasn't the most powerful car ever, it was pokey enough. Where this went wrong though was RENAULT did the electronics... and it showed.
Anyway, as i wanted to get to my destinations vaguely on time, a turbo model was called for, which even back in... 2009/2010 it was rare, and even rarer now. We found one in Peterborough at a dealers. When we got there we found the roof was dented and the windscreen was badly cracked, but we got the price knocked down from £1200 to £850, bringing it into my own category of shedding. The car still had MOT, so I drove it as it was for a few days then got the windscreen changed on insurance.
As a side note, for some reason, when we got to the dealer my Dad insisted we were there to buy some stty 1.5 Civic with fake chrome stuck all over it and mismatching wheels... That was even more of a dog, so god knows why he thought it was a good idea.
Anyway, the Volvo never broke down on me, although it did need some work during my ownership. Rear shocks, front lower arms, belts, water pump, speedo, Infocentre, radiator etc all got changed during my ownership. I did have it for around 2.5 years though, and I put many thousands of miles on it, so it seems a fair amount of work given the cost, age, mileage etc.
The one thing that always bugged me was the fuel gauge was a column of LCD bars... it would always show only the top half of the tank had fuel in, until it was nearly empty when it would show it was full before briefly flashing the red 'fill now' bar at me.
Overall I loved this car, and it was great fun, but very thirsty. Even on a cruise I was lucky to get 17mpg out of it... although maybe in hindsight I had a particularly heavy right foot when I was 20... I'd probably have another one if I found the right car, but there are other shed itches to scratch first.
So, whilst I was at Uni I had a Triumph Vitesse as my daily driver - I still have it, but to me a car is a shed if it costs less than a grand. The Vitesse, known as Piggle, cost me a smidge more than that. Here's a picture of it anyway for your enjoyment.
So, with the prospect of a year long placement looming, and moving to the other side of the country for it, I decided I wanted something else that could munch the miles a bit more comfortably. Whilst getting encouragement to look at something sensible, I decided to go for a Volvo. However, I chose the worst car Volvo ever made - the 480. I believe it was originally conceived as a DAF, and when Volvo bought DAF they decided to continue with the project.
To the best of my knowledge Volvo/DAF enlisted the help of other companies to improve the driving experience. Lotus were involved in the dynamics, and whilst the car rolled like hell, it stuck like glue, even in the snow. Porsche were involved in the tuning of the Turbo, and whilst it wasn't the most powerful car ever, it was pokey enough. Where this went wrong though was RENAULT did the electronics... and it showed.
Anyway, as i wanted to get to my destinations vaguely on time, a turbo model was called for, which even back in... 2009/2010 it was rare, and even rarer now. We found one in Peterborough at a dealers. When we got there we found the roof was dented and the windscreen was badly cracked, but we got the price knocked down from £1200 to £850, bringing it into my own category of shedding. The car still had MOT, so I drove it as it was for a few days then got the windscreen changed on insurance.
As a side note, for some reason, when we got to the dealer my Dad insisted we were there to buy some s
tty 1.5 Civic with fake chrome stuck all over it and mismatching wheels... That was even more of a dog, so god knows why he thought it was a good idea.Anyway, the Volvo never broke down on me, although it did need some work during my ownership. Rear shocks, front lower arms, belts, water pump, speedo, Infocentre, radiator etc all got changed during my ownership. I did have it for around 2.5 years though, and I put many thousands of miles on it, so it seems a fair amount of work given the cost, age, mileage etc.
The one thing that always bugged me was the fuel gauge was a column of LCD bars... it would always show only the top half of the tank had fuel in, until it was nearly empty when it would show it was full before briefly flashing the red 'fill now' bar at me.
Overall I loved this car, and it was great fun, but very thirsty. Even on a cruise I was lucky to get 17mpg out of it... although maybe in hindsight I had a particularly heavy right foot when I was 20... I'd probably have another one if I found the right car, but there are other shed itches to scratch first.
More shedding history... Only a few more to go now, honest!
Following on from the Volvo, whilst I was on my year in industry in Suffolk, working for a well known originally-from-Essex-now-from-Leeds plastic sports car company, my mechanicing, fabrication and importantly fault diagnosing skills improved dramatically. With a new found level of confidence, i decided to find myself another toy-shed. With limited means available to me, but thankfully my father having given up the garage at the family home for me, I could only afford to buy something 'a bit st', but could at least tuck it away in the garage for the time I was in Suffolk.
Cue the usual do of getting on eBay and seeing what was available.
In a small town near Coventry was a quite tidy looking Triumph 2000 Mk2 Post Facelift, in an odd shade of yellow, with Some Brown and Some Black interior trim option... there were even two different shades of brown, as well as the black.
I asked the usual questions of the seller, said that I was in Suffolk but visiting family that weekend and could pick it up on Saturday. I made him an offer on the car, which I was surprised he took. I was expecting it to open negotiation, and we'd finish at around a grand, but he just accepted outright.
As luck would have it, a friend was free and gave me a lift to collect it - when we arrived the car was as good as described, if not better, and there was half a container of spares the seller hadn't mentioned; 2 sets of doors, a NOS boot lid, the rest of both the black and the brown interiors, some servicing spares etc.
I had fun in it, but it always seemed to lack poke - I didn't expect it to set the road on fire, but I had hoped for a bit more. A bit of a tune up had her running sweeter. I drove her a lot over Christmas for the two weeks I was home, it was great fun in the snow and very predictable drifts too.
Unfortunately circumstances meant it had to get moved on, as I was only visiting home once every 2 months, so every time I got there I'd spend Saturday fixing it, in order to drive it on Sunday. All sorts of little fixes that would culminate in a full days work - split coolant pipes, stuck brakes, bad oil leaks, electrical problems etc.
I ended up listing the car for sale for what it was advertised for when I bought it. Within a few days a guy from Bournemouth came and bought it, then a week later it was relisted again for double what he bought it for.
It would be a few more years before I'd have another 2000, but that was an itch I had to scratch, and I'm now on my 4th one...
Following on from the Volvo, whilst I was on my year in industry in Suffolk, working for a well known originally-from-Essex-now-from-Leeds plastic sports car company, my mechanicing, fabrication and importantly fault diagnosing skills improved dramatically. With a new found level of confidence, i decided to find myself another toy-shed. With limited means available to me, but thankfully my father having given up the garage at the family home for me, I could only afford to buy something 'a bit s
t', but could at least tuck it away in the garage for the time I was in Suffolk.Cue the usual do of getting on eBay and seeing what was available.
In a small town near Coventry was a quite tidy looking Triumph 2000 Mk2 Post Facelift, in an odd shade of yellow, with Some Brown and Some Black interior trim option... there were even two different shades of brown, as well as the black.
I asked the usual questions of the seller, said that I was in Suffolk but visiting family that weekend and could pick it up on Saturday. I made him an offer on the car, which I was surprised he took. I was expecting it to open negotiation, and we'd finish at around a grand, but he just accepted outright.
As luck would have it, a friend was free and gave me a lift to collect it - when we arrived the car was as good as described, if not better, and there was half a container of spares the seller hadn't mentioned; 2 sets of doors, a NOS boot lid, the rest of both the black and the brown interiors, some servicing spares etc.
I had fun in it, but it always seemed to lack poke - I didn't expect it to set the road on fire, but I had hoped for a bit more. A bit of a tune up had her running sweeter. I drove her a lot over Christmas for the two weeks I was home, it was great fun in the snow and very predictable drifts too.
Unfortunately circumstances meant it had to get moved on, as I was only visiting home once every 2 months, so every time I got there I'd spend Saturday fixing it, in order to drive it on Sunday. All sorts of little fixes that would culminate in a full days work - split coolant pipes, stuck brakes, bad oil leaks, electrical problems etc.
I ended up listing the car for sale for what it was advertised for when I bought it. Within a few days a guy from Bournemouth came and bought it, then a week later it was relisted again for double what he bought it for.
It would be a few more years before I'd have another 2000, but that was an itch I had to scratch, and I'm now on my 4th one...
SVX said:
I owned a '94 L plate 480 turbo in red, with the manual boost upgrade. Went way faster than it had a right to. Your shed history is interesting, you just need a jag or a ropey S-class for a winning hand 
Was this your Volvo SVX?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE-r5WwUoMA
My lodger has bought an S-Type 3L for £470... so we have a shed Jag in the household...
One more shed post for today... although not the end of my shedding activity.
An old colleague of mine really wanted a Mini, and as I had been smoking round in a Herald for a few years I offered to go and look at one with him. He decided not to do this, and went and bought one anyway. He asked me to come round and appraise it so I took my trusty screwdriver and pokey hammer.
It. Was. fked.
I near enough cut the front wings off with the screw driver. It was all pretty bad. The combination of the number plate and the fact it was so holey led to it having the name 'Gesuhs' pronounced Jesus.
Realising that he was never going to be able to get this done he weighed up his options and put it up for sale. I ended up buying it for a few hundred quid, which was probably a fair price for it, as this was at least 12 years ago now I'd guess.
As you can see, outwardly it doesn't look terrible, but once we removed the interior etc we realised how bad it was. Patched on patches on patches... and i don't mean the fantastic song by Clarence Carter. We came to an agreement that my colleague would put the seats back in, and wire up the lights etc, and we would tow it behind my mates van for the few miles back to my Dad's place. This was the start of the farce... I was night time, so we had the engine running to help with steering and brakes, and for the alternator to charge the battery up etc. It had no headlights fitted, and near enough no glass or tail lights. We got to the first set of traffic lights and the fking tow rope snapped!!
The masking tape sign was partially true for some of the journey!
I had no way to tell my mate driving the van that this had happened, so all I could do was try to get it into gear and drive after him, hoping he'd stop.
Further on down the road, he took a wrong turn, and I dived off down the lanes, forgetting I'd been driving by his tail lights for the last few miles. Pitch blackness. st. I remembered there was a layby on the side of the road, which I tried to steer into by feel alone. If I'd have got it wrong I'd have been parked in the brook! Realising he'd gone wrong, my mate then pulled into the layby, and I drove the rest of the way (all of another 2 or 3 miles) using his headlights. Unfortunately we'd only chucked a few litres of fuel in the tank, expecting to only idle the engine for the journey. At this point the peppy, but poorly timed 1275cc engine started to cough and splutter, so I just booted it back for the last half a mile! Dad couldn't stop laughing when I arrived. It reminded him of when he'd bought a Ginetta G4 project car when he was about 20, and they flat towed the bare rolling chassis back home with no body attached, using a broom handle to stop it rolling into the tow car!
Anyway, I then got stuck into further stripping down the Mini... it was even worse than thought!
Even the speakers had been hacked in badly.
I ended up replacing a lot of the panels, or letting in new metal where required.
I gave it a rattle can paint job, and it ended up not looking too bad for a first ever attempt at resto (My Herald had already had the body done when I bought it).
Circumstances changed for me as I was off to Uni, so needed a bit of spare cash, and I knew I wouldn't have the time to work on the car. I put it up for sale and had a few stupid offers, my favourite one being a lad from Scotland saying "it will cost me more to come and get the car than you're advertising it for, so can I have it for free?" I politely but firmly pointed out to him that his proximity to the car was of no concern of mine.
In the end I sold it to an old school friend who was looking for a project car to do up with his step-dad. They did a much better job than I did, and fully restored the whole thing, although it did take them about 6 years, and I had it for about 2 months... It went from this strange semi-pearl green to red and white. It looks amazing, and is a credit to their workmanship, labour and dedication.
An old colleague of mine really wanted a Mini, and as I had been smoking round in a Herald for a few years I offered to go and look at one with him. He decided not to do this, and went and bought one anyway. He asked me to come round and appraise it so I took my trusty screwdriver and pokey hammer.
It. Was. f
ked.I near enough cut the front wings off with the screw driver. It was all pretty bad. The combination of the number plate and the fact it was so holey led to it having the name 'Gesuhs' pronounced Jesus.
Realising that he was never going to be able to get this done he weighed up his options and put it up for sale. I ended up buying it for a few hundred quid, which was probably a fair price for it, as this was at least 12 years ago now I'd guess.
As you can see, outwardly it doesn't look terrible, but once we removed the interior etc we realised how bad it was. Patched on patches on patches... and i don't mean the fantastic song by Clarence Carter. We came to an agreement that my colleague would put the seats back in, and wire up the lights etc, and we would tow it behind my mates van for the few miles back to my Dad's place. This was the start of the farce... I was night time, so we had the engine running to help with steering and brakes, and for the alternator to charge the battery up etc. It had no headlights fitted, and near enough no glass or tail lights. We got to the first set of traffic lights and the f
king tow rope snapped!! The masking tape sign was partially true for some of the journey!I had no way to tell my mate driving the van that this had happened, so all I could do was try to get it into gear and drive after him, hoping he'd stop.
Further on down the road, he took a wrong turn, and I dived off down the lanes, forgetting I'd been driving by his tail lights for the last few miles. Pitch blackness. s
t. I remembered there was a layby on the side of the road, which I tried to steer into by feel alone. If I'd have got it wrong I'd have been parked in the brook! Realising he'd gone wrong, my mate then pulled into the layby, and I drove the rest of the way (all of another 2 or 3 miles) using his headlights. Unfortunately we'd only chucked a few litres of fuel in the tank, expecting to only idle the engine for the journey. At this point the peppy, but poorly timed 1275cc engine started to cough and splutter, so I just booted it back for the last half a mile! Dad couldn't stop laughing when I arrived. It reminded him of when he'd bought a Ginetta G4 project car when he was about 20, and they flat towed the bare rolling chassis back home with no body attached, using a broom handle to stop it rolling into the tow car!Anyway, I then got stuck into further stripping down the Mini... it was even worse than thought!
Even the speakers had been hacked in badly.
I ended up replacing a lot of the panels, or letting in new metal where required.
I gave it a rattle can paint job, and it ended up not looking too bad for a first ever attempt at resto (My Herald had already had the body done when I bought it).
Circumstances changed for me as I was off to Uni, so needed a bit of spare cash, and I knew I wouldn't have the time to work on the car. I put it up for sale and had a few stupid offers, my favourite one being a lad from Scotland saying "it will cost me more to come and get the car than you're advertising it for, so can I have it for free?" I politely but firmly pointed out to him that his proximity to the car was of no concern of mine.
In the end I sold it to an old school friend who was looking for a project car to do up with his step-dad. They did a much better job than I did, and fully restored the whole thing, although it did take them about 6 years, and I had it for about 2 months... It went from this strange semi-pearl green to red and white. It looks amazing, and is a credit to their workmanship, labour and dedication.
So, next instalment of my shedding adventures goes a little like this…
Back in 2018, my partner and I were in a position to buy our first house, and knowing what other friends had experienced, a ‘load lugger’ was in order. The people we were buying the house from had rented it out for at least 10 years, so they were leaving much of the furniture on there, and they used the garage as storage, so that was full of junk from their other houses etc. Knowing we would have a large number of tip/charity shop runs, I figured it would be as cheap to buy a car as to rent a van for a few weekends. Man-maths at it’s absolute finest. Thankfully, my partner agreed with me… or at least, cared so little she didn’t care how the junk was moved.
My shopping list covered a few basics; big, old enough to have on my classic policy, RWD and manual. Preferably with enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, or with enough modifications available to make it do so… that led me down one path. An old Volvo tank.
As we all know, it’s very hard to beat an old Volvo estate for pure ‘st lugging’ ability. So, I did my usual thing of getting on ebay and seeing what was available. For only a few hundred quid I found a Volvo 740 Turbo estate, stripped of it’s interior for extra loadspace. Result.
A few things of note… the car was not standard.
It was painted flat green.
It was lowered.
It had a side pipe with no silencer.
It had some stickers dotted over it.
It had a huge shark mouth down the side.
IT WAS AWESOME.
It was also in Edinburgh. Balls – long way from Warwickshire. 670 mile round trip in fact.
But undeterred, I went home and asked the other half if she’d like to celebrate our house purchase with a weekend break in Edinburgh… she was up for it! I emailed the seller to ask a few questions, and he seemed very genuine, and a huge fan of Volvo estates, saloons and Coupes.
With the bidding hovering at the £400 mark, I was smitten. I always wanted a car with a mental paint job, but didn’t have the guts to do it to one of my existing cars. Having it ready done removed that pain. I wasn’t free at the end of the auction, so I stuck a bid in and waited to see what happened. I came back to find I’d won the beautiful Turbo Tank. Time to plan how to get to Edinburgh.
The seller was really nice, and agreed to drive the car out to our hotel near the airport, but it would have to be early in the morning due to other engagements. Fine by me. The plan was set for a mental and bloody expensive weekend…
Thursday am – Visit the solicitors, sign paperwork, formally buy the house.
Thursday pm – Find a pub, celebrate a bit, then get the train to Birmingham airport, fly to Edinburgh.
Friday am – seller delivers Volvo to hotel, then spend the day visiting the city.
Saturday pm – Cruise down to our friends near Bolton, arriving late evening.
Sunday – Carry on back to Warwickshire.
Monday am – Collect parents for a weeks canal boat holiday – nice and relaxing after a busy weekend.
But, of course it wasn’t that simple. It is NEVER that simple.
All the paperwork went well, and we got to the airport on time.
Nearing our time to depart, and still no gate, at around 6pm or so. 9pm. No info. 10pm. Nothing. Had I got the right day??? Eventually, with the airport emptying, there was finally a gate announcement. Over 5 hours late. The bleeding flight only takes 45 minutes! Boarding went fine, although everyone was very cranky, as you’d expect.
Around 20 minutes into the flight, so around half way there, the plane shuddered and noticeably slowed… the pilot came onto the intercom “Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce we will have to turn back to Birmingham airport. One of the engines has failed due to low oil level. Whilst we can fly perfectly safely on ONE engine, protocol dictates we return to our departure airport.”
HOLY. FING. st. I looked out the window and sure enough the engine wasn’t turning – how exciting! Was this Volvo not only going to kill me, but my partner as well?? She was reading the in-flight magazine more thoroughly than I’ve ever seen anyone read about something they don’t care about, in a destination we’re not going to, or how you can get an excellent deal on some knock-off perfume. Right now it wasn’t perfume we were smelling – fear and panic-farts can overpower anything.
We landed safely, but with it now being well past mid-night there were no other planes at the airport for us to swap onto, and not even any trains running. Cue lots of angry queues. What an ordeal. We got a form for making a claim, and then got a taxi back home. Unfortunately I didn’t have the number for the seller of the Volvo, so all I could do was message him on eBay and hope he would accept my sincere apology, and that the plane losing an engine really wasn’t just a messers excuse! I also explained that due to our holiday plans I wouldn’t be able to come up again for at least a week.
One side note here, due to the flight not reaching it’s destination, it counted as a failure, which meant I could claim 250 Euros each for me and my partner as well as a full refund… so actually, the Volvo really only cost me about £200.
As luck would have it, a friend was on holiday around the Edinburgh area, and whilst we were chatting during the week it transpired that the alternator on his Opel Manta had failed, so he was stuck. A-ha, thought I! A plan formed, whereby he would find the seller, collect the Volvo, which I’d pay for by bank transfer, and take it to his house near Bolton, then after my holiday I’d go up and collect it.
So, some time later than expected, I finally got my Turbo Tank. What a machine! It was great fun, pops and bangs on the over run, easy to get sideways, but controllable due to it not being the first barge I’d been in that week!
Sure enough she served her purpose of dragging stuff everywhere, and all was going well…
For a while.
One evening I was drag racing my mate in his V70 D5 (a very slow drag race mind you), and I was doing well, the car had been making good power, and felt nice when all of a sudden ‘DONGDONGDONGDONGKLONKERKLONK-KLANK’. With that, she was toasted.
I never got round to dissecting the engine, but I think it was a big end spinning or similar. I just found one from a breakers yard and bought it complete, changed the wiring loom over, and a few other nice bits, and spent some money on it too – new engine and gearbox mounts, new coolant pipes, fresh oil, filter, plugs, dizzy caps etc. I also remade the side exhaust including a factory silencer, flex joint and V-band clamps. just to take some of the layers out of it and make it a bit less droney on motorways.
Sadly, time was called on the Tank when the MOT tester threw his book at it, and without the time to repair it, I put it up for sale. It found its way down to Twickenham, with the new owner planning to put it back to a more standard looking car.
Turbo Tank, I miss you, but glad you’re living again.
Back in 2018, my partner and I were in a position to buy our first house, and knowing what other friends had experienced, a ‘load lugger’ was in order. The people we were buying the house from had rented it out for at least 10 years, so they were leaving much of the furniture on there, and they used the garage as storage, so that was full of junk from their other houses etc. Knowing we would have a large number of tip/charity shop runs, I figured it would be as cheap to buy a car as to rent a van for a few weekends. Man-maths at it’s absolute finest. Thankfully, my partner agreed with me… or at least, cared so little she didn’t care how the junk was moved.
My shopping list covered a few basics; big, old enough to have on my classic policy, RWD and manual. Preferably with enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, or with enough modifications available to make it do so… that led me down one path. An old Volvo tank.
As we all know, it’s very hard to beat an old Volvo estate for pure ‘s
t lugging’ ability. So, I did my usual thing of getting on ebay and seeing what was available. For only a few hundred quid I found a Volvo 740 Turbo estate, stripped of it’s interior for extra loadspace. Result.A few things of note… the car was not standard.
It was painted flat green.
It was lowered.
It had a side pipe with no silencer.
It had some stickers dotted over it.
It had a huge shark mouth down the side.
IT WAS AWESOME.
It was also in Edinburgh. Balls – long way from Warwickshire. 670 mile round trip in fact.
But undeterred, I went home and asked the other half if she’d like to celebrate our house purchase with a weekend break in Edinburgh… she was up for it! I emailed the seller to ask a few questions, and he seemed very genuine, and a huge fan of Volvo estates, saloons and Coupes.
With the bidding hovering at the £400 mark, I was smitten. I always wanted a car with a mental paint job, but didn’t have the guts to do it to one of my existing cars. Having it ready done removed that pain. I wasn’t free at the end of the auction, so I stuck a bid in and waited to see what happened. I came back to find I’d won the beautiful Turbo Tank. Time to plan how to get to Edinburgh.
The seller was really nice, and agreed to drive the car out to our hotel near the airport, but it would have to be early in the morning due to other engagements. Fine by me. The plan was set for a mental and bloody expensive weekend…
Thursday am – Visit the solicitors, sign paperwork, formally buy the house.
Thursday pm – Find a pub, celebrate a bit, then get the train to Birmingham airport, fly to Edinburgh.
Friday am – seller delivers Volvo to hotel, then spend the day visiting the city.
Saturday pm – Cruise down to our friends near Bolton, arriving late evening.
Sunday – Carry on back to Warwickshire.
Monday am – Collect parents for a weeks canal boat holiday – nice and relaxing after a busy weekend.
But, of course it wasn’t that simple. It is NEVER that simple.
All the paperwork went well, and we got to the airport on time.
Nearing our time to depart, and still no gate, at around 6pm or so. 9pm. No info. 10pm. Nothing. Had I got the right day??? Eventually, with the airport emptying, there was finally a gate announcement. Over 5 hours late. The bleeding flight only takes 45 minutes! Boarding went fine, although everyone was very cranky, as you’d expect.
Around 20 minutes into the flight, so around half way there, the plane shuddered and noticeably slowed… the pilot came onto the intercom “Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce we will have to turn back to Birmingham airport. One of the engines has failed due to low oil level. Whilst we can fly perfectly safely on ONE engine, protocol dictates we return to our departure airport.”
HOLY. FING. s
t. I looked out the window and sure enough the engine wasn’t turning – how exciting! Was this Volvo not only going to kill me, but my partner as well?? She was reading the in-flight magazine more thoroughly than I’ve ever seen anyone read about something they don’t care about, in a destination we’re not going to, or how you can get an excellent deal on some knock-off perfume. Right now it wasn’t perfume we were smelling – fear and panic-farts can overpower anything.We landed safely, but with it now being well past mid-night there were no other planes at the airport for us to swap onto, and not even any trains running. Cue lots of angry queues. What an ordeal. We got a form for making a claim, and then got a taxi back home. Unfortunately I didn’t have the number for the seller of the Volvo, so all I could do was message him on eBay and hope he would accept my sincere apology, and that the plane losing an engine really wasn’t just a messers excuse! I also explained that due to our holiday plans I wouldn’t be able to come up again for at least a week.
One side note here, due to the flight not reaching it’s destination, it counted as a failure, which meant I could claim 250 Euros each for me and my partner as well as a full refund… so actually, the Volvo really only cost me about £200.
As luck would have it, a friend was on holiday around the Edinburgh area, and whilst we were chatting during the week it transpired that the alternator on his Opel Manta had failed, so he was stuck. A-ha, thought I! A plan formed, whereby he would find the seller, collect the Volvo, which I’d pay for by bank transfer, and take it to his house near Bolton, then after my holiday I’d go up and collect it.
So, some time later than expected, I finally got my Turbo Tank. What a machine! It was great fun, pops and bangs on the over run, easy to get sideways, but controllable due to it not being the first barge I’d been in that week!
Sure enough she served her purpose of dragging stuff everywhere, and all was going well…
For a while.
One evening I was drag racing my mate in his V70 D5 (a very slow drag race mind you), and I was doing well, the car had been making good power, and felt nice when all of a sudden ‘DONGDONGDONGDONGKLONKERKLONK-KLANK’. With that, she was toasted.
I never got round to dissecting the engine, but I think it was a big end spinning or similar. I just found one from a breakers yard and bought it complete, changed the wiring loom over, and a few other nice bits, and spent some money on it too – new engine and gearbox mounts, new coolant pipes, fresh oil, filter, plugs, dizzy caps etc. I also remade the side exhaust including a factory silencer, flex joint and V-band clamps. just to take some of the layers out of it and make it a bit less droney on motorways.
Sadly, time was called on the Tank when the MOT tester threw his book at it, and without the time to repair it, I put it up for sale. It found its way down to Twickenham, with the new owner planning to put it back to a more standard looking car.
Turbo Tank, I miss you, but glad you’re living again.
Ha well, this one really is a shed... it's been used as one too!
It's a Triumph Herald 13/60. Been off the road for YEARS. Apparently it's 'recently' had a rear brake rebuild, a stainless steel exhaust and it runs and drives.
Clearly it's in need of some work before MOT.
I'm not sure on the plan yet - it's being delivered on Saturday, so will be able to go through it more then and decide what to do with it.
Not the rustiest car ever...
But certainly been used as a shed. Hopefully the interior won't be too damaged from having stuff piled in it.
It's a Triumph Herald 13/60. Been off the road for YEARS. Apparently it's 'recently' had a rear brake rebuild, a stainless steel exhaust and it runs and drives.
Clearly it's in need of some work before MOT.
I'm not sure on the plan yet - it's being delivered on Saturday, so will be able to go through it more then and decide what to do with it.
Not the rustiest car ever...
But certainly been used as a shed. Hopefully the interior won't be too damaged from having stuff piled in it.
Chapeau!
You Sir, are a man who has done what I've dreamed of.
However, I have had a stab at it in my youth but nothing as mental as yourself!
Biggest regrets for me?
1971 Mk3 Cooper S with a 1340cc gold seal engine, half cage, twin tanks, LCB, Spax adjustable, twin 40 Webers. Teal blue with white roof and magnesium wheels (forgive me for forgetting the brand, it was 33 years ago!). I remember buying a Phillips stereo and speakers and feeling thrilled only to find out that the noise of the exhaust beat the volume of the speakers so could only enjoy my Heaven 17 tapes when parked up!
I remember many occasions on 2 wheels the grip and set up was so taught!
Next regret? 1962/3 drop top Herald Vitesse in OEW with knock on wheels. I believe the smallest capacity 6 cylinder engine ever made? Lovely drive with the gear stick dropping right into your hand low down.UTC51D, where are you now? Also had a red 13/60 with full Webasto sunroof. The farting exhaust note was a pleasure in it's own right.
Great thread and fun to read. I wish I'd carried on and am spurred on to 'try again'.
Huzzah!
Cheers.
You Sir, are a man who has done what I've dreamed of.
However, I have had a stab at it in my youth but nothing as mental as yourself!
Biggest regrets for me?
1971 Mk3 Cooper S with a 1340cc gold seal engine, half cage, twin tanks, LCB, Spax adjustable, twin 40 Webers. Teal blue with white roof and magnesium wheels (forgive me for forgetting the brand, it was 33 years ago!). I remember buying a Phillips stereo and speakers and feeling thrilled only to find out that the noise of the exhaust beat the volume of the speakers so could only enjoy my Heaven 17 tapes when parked up!
I remember many occasions on 2 wheels the grip and set up was so taught!
Next regret? 1962/3 drop top Herald Vitesse in OEW with knock on wheels. I believe the smallest capacity 6 cylinder engine ever made? Lovely drive with the gear stick dropping right into your hand low down.UTC51D, where are you now? Also had a red 13/60 with full Webasto sunroof. The farting exhaust note was a pleasure in it's own right.
Great thread and fun to read. I wish I'd carried on and am spurred on to 'try again'.
Huzzah!
Cheers.
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