Sheds. Loads of em. My 2020 shed journey so far
Discussion
If like me, you can’t resist a good bargain, see the potential in something everyone else thinks is scrap, hate seeing things go to waste and like a variation to your daily drive, grab a cuppa and read on.
Starting just before Christmas I spied a Mk5 Golf TDI DSG for sale in Orkney, with a faulty gearbox. This intrigued me as it was a low mileage clean car from the pics so I enquired about it, made an offer which bizarrely was accepted and I had it shipped back to Aberdeen.
The car drove like absolute s
t, hopped and skipped gears, would only change manually so the mechatronics unit was removed for test and repair as this seemed to be the culprit, it tested fine, so it was refitted with fresh oil and the box recalibrated in the hope it was ok. It was and the wife used it for work once to which she said no way am I driving that over my R32, it’s awful.
Now this left me in a bit of a dilemma as I’d bought it cheap factoring in the mechatronics fault, for the wife to use, but as it was now fixed and she hated it, I had no need for it so I took what I got offered at WBAC for it which left me with a nice little profit.
After this I decided to have a bit of fun with this money, inspired by the threads on here about a car a month for 2020 and the art of shedding, just to see what I could buy for no further outlay than I had got for the Golf.
Let’s see what was next
Ahh the MOT fail caddy, bought it off an old guy with a dash like a Christmas tree, no brakes and a clutch pedal that was barely functional. In short an absolute st heap. Broken wires were the cause of the dash lights, new brakes all round a driveshaft replacement and the clutch bled meant it drove and was legal.
I did a few tip runs in it but ultimately it was an absolute turd, was sold on and I got my money back for it.
Next up
Mk4 Golf TDI 150. I’ve had loads of these and seen this locally, advertised cheaply, if I could get it motd it would have been ideal to put up to Orkney for us to use whilst we visit the in-laws. Sadly it had other ideas, it cut out 5 or 6 times on the mot ramp. I fitted a new fuel pump and filter to it, still done the same, and the final nail in its coffin came when the tandem pump was suspected. A country lad bought it for what it owed me and he’s chuffed to bits with it.
After this came a Mini Cooper, R50 which I got from a mates ex girlfriend. Gearbox was tricky to get into gear, electric window didn’t work so lubed up the linkage and whacked the door arc with the end of my fist and fixed it’s problems. Bombed around in it and had visions of stripping it for track use but i quickly realised that wasn’t going to happen.
Next was the 120d M Sport with some lovely spec on it. I planned to keep this and let the wife it or my Mk6 to keep the miles down in her R32. Things never do go to plan.
It needed a Coolant temp sensor, front spring, rear calliper and rear tyres, drove absolutely lovely, however I had seen something else
T5 Transporter 2.5 130, in need of a lot of TLC (the pic shown isn’t how I bought it) but after having 3 of these previously and only reluctantly selling the last one to finish my house I had to have it. BMW made way for it. I’ve spent a bit on wheels, wings, bumpers and fixed some niggles. It’s on 208k it’s getting a 174 turbo, new Intercooler etc in coming months.
After selling the BMW and buying the T5 I still had some money I would squander, on bits for the van most probably, so when this popped up as an mot fail I jumped at the chance to buy it. I shouldn’t have bothered
2.0 8v Colour Concept with blue/black leather Recaro. Turns out the car was ok at best but worth more in bits. Namely in order to get my money back and possibly give it another lease at life I needed to part ex the interior for a standard one. Duly done, motd and disposed of on gumtree I was happy to have the T5 and slow down with the shed swapping.
Funny how things throw you a curveball. Whilst at work a few weeks ago I was instructed to assist in removing a car from a restaurant car park and take it for scrap. No problem, easy job.
Arrived at said car park to be greeted by a Citroen C2 van and the restaurant owner who had used it for deliveries but now relied solely on deliveroo.
I asked what was up with it, I was told it needed a battery and had sat since it’s last mot in 2018. Right enough checked the history, it had done three miles since it’s last test. Bound to be worth a punt, it was far too good to just send off to scrap.
After fitting a new battery I tried it for an mot, failed on wiper blades and a CV boot split with sitting. Alternator needed replaced too
Horrendously fragile feeling, but fun to drive however it was never being kept. Mate bought it to use for commuting and tip runs
Which brings us up to date with my high mileage 330d. Bought it off a mate who took it as a trade in against an F31 335d.
It was an absolute mess when I got it, both inside and out so I’ve spent the weekend fitting replacement wings and cleaning it up.
Drives well for its 219k.
Seeing as this virus has got things on lockdown At the minute there won’t be much updates, but I fully intend to keep updating as I change/swap them out
For those that ask, so far my insurance has been ok with the swaps and the van is on a separate policy.
Starting just before Christmas I spied a Mk5 Golf TDI DSG for sale in Orkney, with a faulty gearbox. This intrigued me as it was a low mileage clean car from the pics so I enquired about it, made an offer which bizarrely was accepted and I had it shipped back to Aberdeen.
The car drove like absolute s
t, hopped and skipped gears, would only change manually so the mechatronics unit was removed for test and repair as this seemed to be the culprit, it tested fine, so it was refitted with fresh oil and the box recalibrated in the hope it was ok. It was and the wife used it for work once to which she said no way am I driving that over my R32, it’s awful.Now this left me in a bit of a dilemma as I’d bought it cheap factoring in the mechatronics fault, for the wife to use, but as it was now fixed and she hated it, I had no need for it so I took what I got offered at WBAC for it which left me with a nice little profit.
After this I decided to have a bit of fun with this money, inspired by the threads on here about a car a month for 2020 and the art of shedding, just to see what I could buy for no further outlay than I had got for the Golf.
Let’s see what was next
Ahh the MOT fail caddy, bought it off an old guy with a dash like a Christmas tree, no brakes and a clutch pedal that was barely functional. In short an absolute s
t heap. Broken wires were the cause of the dash lights, new brakes all round a driveshaft replacement and the clutch bled meant it drove and was legal. I did a few tip runs in it but ultimately it was an absolute turd, was sold on and I got my money back for it.
Next up
Mk4 Golf TDI 150. I’ve had loads of these and seen this locally, advertised cheaply, if I could get it motd it would have been ideal to put up to Orkney for us to use whilst we visit the in-laws. Sadly it had other ideas, it cut out 5 or 6 times on the mot ramp. I fitted a new fuel pump and filter to it, still done the same, and the final nail in its coffin came when the tandem pump was suspected. A country lad bought it for what it owed me and he’s chuffed to bits with it.
After this came a Mini Cooper, R50 which I got from a mates ex girlfriend. Gearbox was tricky to get into gear, electric window didn’t work so lubed up the linkage and whacked the door arc with the end of my fist and fixed it’s problems. Bombed around in it and had visions of stripping it for track use but i quickly realised that wasn’t going to happen.
Next was the 120d M Sport with some lovely spec on it. I planned to keep this and let the wife it or my Mk6 to keep the miles down in her R32. Things never do go to plan.
It needed a Coolant temp sensor, front spring, rear calliper and rear tyres, drove absolutely lovely, however I had seen something else
T5 Transporter 2.5 130, in need of a lot of TLC (the pic shown isn’t how I bought it) but after having 3 of these previously and only reluctantly selling the last one to finish my house I had to have it. BMW made way for it. I’ve spent a bit on wheels, wings, bumpers and fixed some niggles. It’s on 208k it’s getting a 174 turbo, new Intercooler etc in coming months.
After selling the BMW and buying the T5 I still had some money I would squander, on bits for the van most probably, so when this popped up as an mot fail I jumped at the chance to buy it. I shouldn’t have bothered
2.0 8v Colour Concept with blue/black leather Recaro. Turns out the car was ok at best but worth more in bits. Namely in order to get my money back and possibly give it another lease at life I needed to part ex the interior for a standard one. Duly done, motd and disposed of on gumtree I was happy to have the T5 and slow down with the shed swapping.
Funny how things throw you a curveball. Whilst at work a few weeks ago I was instructed to assist in removing a car from a restaurant car park and take it for scrap. No problem, easy job.
Arrived at said car park to be greeted by a Citroen C2 van and the restaurant owner who had used it for deliveries but now relied solely on deliveroo.
I asked what was up with it, I was told it needed a battery and had sat since it’s last mot in 2018. Right enough checked the history, it had done three miles since it’s last test. Bound to be worth a punt, it was far too good to just send off to scrap.
After fitting a new battery I tried it for an mot, failed on wiper blades and a CV boot split with sitting. Alternator needed replaced too
Horrendously fragile feeling, but fun to drive however it was never being kept. Mate bought it to use for commuting and tip runs
Which brings us up to date with my high mileage 330d. Bought it off a mate who took it as a trade in against an F31 335d.
It was an absolute mess when I got it, both inside and out so I’ve spent the weekend fitting replacement wings and cleaning it up.
Drives well for its 219k.
Seeing as this virus has got things on lockdown At the minute there won’t be much updates, but I fully intend to keep updating as I change/swap them out
For those that ask, so far my insurance has been ok with the swaps and the van is on a separate policy.
six port said:
Top work. Nice T5, any more plans for it?
Crazy what are now considered throw away cars really.
Your Mrs has good taste as well!
Thank you. The T5 is definitely a 20 footer, it looks fine from a distance. Crazy what are now considered throw away cars really.
Your Mrs has good taste as well!
With regards to further plans, I’m not sure. I’m only doing the turbo as it’s still on it’s original and the intercooler is starting to split with age .
The 330d is the biggest bargain of the lot, I returned to work today driving it, aside from the gear linkage being a bit sloppy it drives beautifully
She does indeed
I thought I’d update this, as I’m now on furlough and rather bored
When I was told I was being furloughed I sold the BMW, I had no use for it and wanted my money out of it.
The Intercooler on the T5 had bowed and split, not bad innings at 16 years old and 208,000 miles.
Day 1 of furlough resulted in this
I also replaced the top boost pipe from the Intercooler to the EGR as the old one had been bodged, broken clip and screwed in place. Much better.
I found a cheap Kenwood DAB headunit on marketplace so that’s been fitted along with an aerial from amazon. I like having the variety of options offered on DAB
Tomorrow it’s having new front wheel bearings, inner steering arms, track rod ends fitted, as it’s wandering all over the road and these are all original. The track rod ends are well past their best with lots of play.
Arranged to purchase a Mk5 Golf GTI steering wheel too, so that will be fitted once it arrives.
Just before lockdown happened, a scour of FB marketplace found me something I had never ever considered before, but I was intrigued by it, however it had just ran out of MOT. Still worth a look
I behold this, £170 of Citroen C4 HDi Goodness,
It failed its mot on Thursday on a wheel bearing, broken spring and a couple of bulbs. Result.
It drives brilliantly, i fixed the broken door handle, bodged the washers so they spray and I’m getting the above fails fixed for £130 including the retest cost.
When I was told I was being furloughed I sold the BMW, I had no use for it and wanted my money out of it.
The Intercooler on the T5 had bowed and split, not bad innings at 16 years old and 208,000 miles.
Day 1 of furlough resulted in this
I also replaced the top boost pipe from the Intercooler to the EGR as the old one had been bodged, broken clip and screwed in place. Much better.
I found a cheap Kenwood DAB headunit on marketplace so that’s been fitted along with an aerial from amazon. I like having the variety of options offered on DAB
Tomorrow it’s having new front wheel bearings, inner steering arms, track rod ends fitted, as it’s wandering all over the road and these are all original. The track rod ends are well past their best with lots of play.
Arranged to purchase a Mk5 Golf GTI steering wheel too, so that will be fitted once it arrives.
Just before lockdown happened, a scour of FB marketplace found me something I had never ever considered before, but I was intrigued by it, however it had just ran out of MOT. Still worth a look
I behold this, £170 of Citroen C4 HDi Goodness,
It failed its mot on Thursday on a wheel bearing, broken spring and a couple of bulbs. Result.
It drives brilliantly, i fixed the broken door handle, bodged the washers so they spray and I’m getting the above fails fixed for £130 including the retest cost.
It’s been a few months and many sheds have passed through MRT towers, some good, others not so good.
Many of these were purchased whilst on Furlough, for something to do whilst stuck at home, some I made money on, some I broke even and others were passed on at a loss. Over the course of them all I’ve pretty much broken even, saved myself from eternal boredom and some cars from being scrapped
Focus 1.8 TDCi, bought it needing an injector, it then broke the handbrake cable when I got home so 8 done rear brakes on it too. A workmate now owns it
Focus 1.6 Style, this was bought the day before I sold the estate, only this one needed a clutch, wheel bearing, spring and ALOT of cleaning. Chap was going to scrap it so it was a good car saved as it drove mint once fixed
VW Caddy TDi, I was initially offered this van in part ex for my T5 a few months prior to buying it, but the deal never worked for me.
I bought it off him outright, hated it as soon as I drove it away, too low, bouncy, rattles, then the bodged aftermarket stereo drained the battery and locked me out.
Fixed the stereo with an OEM Nav unit, sorted out some of the other bodged issues and a friend of a friend took it off my hands.
This Mini I got from a chap at work, unseen, and when I seen the colour I held my head in my hands. Awful. It was an original, unmolested car and I gave my son his very first driving lesson in it.
This Clio came from another colleague, she no longer needed a car for work since becoming a mum. Typical country girl, drove it without a care, NSF strut had actually separated, elec window held up with wood, fuel cap broken off to name but a few.
Fixed it’s issues and a friends missus uses it for going to her horses, he was fed Up of their “good” car stinking of horse
[url]
|https://thumbs
nap.com/e3tmNRCN[/url]
Mk4 GT TDi, I purchased this unseen in Orkney, and had it sent down on the boat when we were up visiting relatives. The plan was to keep this and use over winter but I wanted something with £0-30 tax ideally
Great car, tatty on the bodywork, it needed a brake pedal switch and some fuses replaced before being used between Aberdeen and a Glasgow for a while. It’s now being used by a mature student in Edinburgh.
I saved this car from the scrap man in December, it failed its mot on seriously rotten outer sills, but the rest of the car was too good to pass up.
It was fixed properly at my mates body shop with new sills fitted, all painted and some other jobs done. I really should have kept this one but I’d spent far more than I initially budgeted for.
“Hugo” the aptly named Yaris, another car that had no mot and an impressive fail sheet. Being diesel it’s a bit of an oddball and worth a fix so that’s what I did.
I didn’t like it much if I’m honest, which was a shame as it was silly cheap, and fell into the £30 tax. It’s now happily flying around Aberdeen delivering takeaway food
This Focus brings me almost up to date, this was a trade In at my mates work, ideal runabout and I really liked it but the damaged quarter annoyed me somewhat so it was advertised and moved on. Fixing it was an option but I didn’t like it THAT much
[url]
|https://thumbs
nap.com/mpaS5FSc[/url]
Bringing us up to date is this little gem bought from good old Gumtree yesterday, unseen and 200 miles away
Fits my £30 tax criteria, paid less than £300 for it but it has a gearbox issue, that I’m hoping is the selector tower
A2 TDi, with odd wheels, that I’m rectifying on Sunday.
I paid for it last night at 7pm, it was picked up by my work at 8.30am this morning and headed south
That’s it delivered to work, I was off today as I was getting teeth removed so I’ll see tomorrow what stheap I have got myself.
Plan is to run this over winter and keep the C63 off the road as much as possible when the salt starts being used
Many of these were purchased whilst on Furlough, for something to do whilst stuck at home, some I made money on, some I broke even and others were passed on at a loss. Over the course of them all I’ve pretty much broken even, saved myself from eternal boredom and some cars from being scrapped
Focus 1.8 TDCi, bought it needing an injector, it then broke the handbrake cable when I got home so 8 done rear brakes on it too. A workmate now owns it
Focus 1.6 Style, this was bought the day before I sold the estate, only this one needed a clutch, wheel bearing, spring and ALOT of cleaning. Chap was going to scrap it so it was a good car saved as it drove mint once fixed
VW Caddy TDi, I was initially offered this van in part ex for my T5 a few months prior to buying it, but the deal never worked for me.
I bought it off him outright, hated it as soon as I drove it away, too low, bouncy, rattles, then the bodged aftermarket stereo drained the battery and locked me out.
Fixed the stereo with an OEM Nav unit, sorted out some of the other bodged issues and a friend of a friend took it off my hands.
This Mini I got from a chap at work, unseen, and when I seen the colour I held my head in my hands. Awful. It was an original, unmolested car and I gave my son his very first driving lesson in it.
This Clio came from another colleague, she no longer needed a car for work since becoming a mum. Typical country girl, drove it without a care, NSF strut had actually separated, elec window held up with wood, fuel cap broken off to name but a few.
Fixed it’s issues and a friends missus uses it for going to her horses, he was fed Up of their “good” car stinking of horse
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/e3tmNRCN[/url]
Mk4 GT TDi, I purchased this unseen in Orkney, and had it sent down on the boat when we were up visiting relatives. The plan was to keep this and use over winter but I wanted something with £0-30 tax ideally
Great car, tatty on the bodywork, it needed a brake pedal switch and some fuses replaced before being used between Aberdeen and a Glasgow for a while. It’s now being used by a mature student in Edinburgh.
I saved this car from the scrap man in December, it failed its mot on seriously rotten outer sills, but the rest of the car was too good to pass up.
It was fixed properly at my mates body shop with new sills fitted, all painted and some other jobs done. I really should have kept this one but I’d spent far more than I initially budgeted for.
“Hugo” the aptly named Yaris, another car that had no mot and an impressive fail sheet. Being diesel it’s a bit of an oddball and worth a fix so that’s what I did.
I didn’t like it much if I’m honest, which was a shame as it was silly cheap, and fell into the £30 tax. It’s now happily flying around Aberdeen delivering takeaway food
This Focus brings me almost up to date, this was a trade In at my mates work, ideal runabout and I really liked it but the damaged quarter annoyed me somewhat so it was advertised and moved on. Fixing it was an option but I didn’t like it THAT much
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/mpaS5FSc[/url]
Bringing us up to date is this little gem bought from good old Gumtree yesterday, unseen and 200 miles away
Fits my £30 tax criteria, paid less than £300 for it but it has a gearbox issue, that I’m hoping is the selector tower
A2 TDi, with odd wheels, that I’m rectifying on Sunday.
I paid for it last night at 7pm, it was picked up by my work at 8.30am this morning and headed south
That’s it delivered to work, I was off today as I was getting teeth removed so I’ll see tomorrow what s
theap I have got myself. Plan is to run this over winter and keep the C63 off the road as much as possible when the salt starts being used
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