Woohoo.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, Elder wittered on forthwith;

Heh.

"For it looking so scruffy, I haven't seen one look so nice underneath for ages, it has had a fair bit of welding and all the engine/transmission and body mounts have all been changed, drives nice and tight for such a big lift too".

Yay, looks like a got a bargain, now to get an LPG flap opener and a cheap stereo.

Nicely done sir!

I know, it feels nice to have bought a bargain that needs some fettling, and not shares in a welding wire company.

So the rotten inner wings, cracked diff. casing and complete inability to get it to run properly on LPG are just minor 'fettling' jobs, then?

Cracked diff case can be plated, it is just pressed steek and just=20 weeps. Looks like it might have been backed into a rock.

The LPG will be sorted this weekend. It seems to be missing a flap=20 opener which is needed to idle if the mixer is behind the AFM. In this=20 case it is, and that means it has never idled. No biggy, it still drives=20 ok. The "rotten" inner wing is a small area of perforation, on a non=20 structural inner body panel that could even easily be patched with=20 fibreglass should I see fit. I'll get it welded when I get the diff=20 done.

Still a cheap fun car. I regassed the aircon the other day. Chilly as=20 owt, and has been for nearly a week, no oil goop leaks from the circuit=20 and no unexpected noises from the compressor.

It's a shed on the surface, but a very well engineered shed, with a=20 totally solid seperate chassis, box sectioned sills, new anchor points=20 for the rear seatbelts, one inner wing already replaced, the other=20 needing plating, and new engine, transmission and chassis mounts all=20 round, and fairly new, but well used Pro-Comp 9000 shocks.

I wasn't sure I would like it, but the clean MOT, and the whole roly- poly slow comfortable cruise, and never having to worry about being cut- up is actually quite nice.

It is a s**te old car to love and cost less than one month's mortgage.=20 Two months if you think of the few bits I have spent, the cost of the=20 MOT, and the few weeks of mainly petrol. About =A3200 of fuel, for 900=20 miles, in comfort, 50% of which was local nose to tail grind, and twice=20 I have spent over an hour near stationary on an M class A road, idling=20 and crawling.

I held off doing the non urgent stuff till after the MOT. Now I can=20 fettle. It hadn't been a daily driver previously, so it didn't need to be=20 perfect, just capable. I'm not tarting it up, just keeping it running.

Next owner can bob it should they wish, but that would be a waste of a=20 near new chassis.

Oh and it isn't 80's italian, so the rust isn't factory standard, it was=20 an option. It just has lucas electrics.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

Playing at home:Front Line Assembly-A Decade

HFM!?

That kind of fuel cost is enough to give me a heart attack.

That's coz you're not used to man size engines ;) :p

Maybe that's because I have no interest in burning that kind of money to get to and from work?

The Marea was crippling enough at 26mpg, ffs. Never, *ever* again.

I can afford it until I get the part I need to sort the LPG, then it=20 will drop to about =A390 for 900 miles.

I didn't to spend on the fix, until I knew it was worth fixing and not=20 shunting on as a project.

As long as the part arrives before then, it will be idling on gas by=20 Saturday night.

Not a complicated system. Give it gas, give it air, set up the idle gas level at 3k revs (is) that sets you cruising mixture (that is done).

The AFM meter flap is nearly closed, blocking most of the air, but the=20 gas level is a lot higher than petrol, so it is too rich to idle. I need=20 a vac operated flap opener to make it idle and have ordered one.

We know that is the case, because=20

1) Me and pete spent a little while with a gas tester, and got revs but=20 no idle, or idle but no revs. 2) An LPG specialist who doesn't stock the kind of opener I need because=20 the systems he sells use a gas pressure instead of vacuum based opener,=20 says yes, for the reducer I have and the AFM I have, if I want to idle,=20 I need a vac operated opener. So even though he couldn't make any money,=20 he advised what I needed.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

Playing at home:Front Line Assembly-A Decade

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, Elder wittered on forthwith;

But the insurance is dirt cheap, scratches and shit aren't an issue, it's comfy, quiet, V8, cheap to fix and - wait for it - fun.

Good job my services are free :-p

Like three hours. Worth it though.

Was that Andy Evans by any chance?

You loved it though.

It was the Tinley Tech (I emailed round a few web known Rangie LPG (Chris Perfect/Tinley/RPi) specialists) for prices. I was going to talk to your mate regarding servicing/fine tuning later once it idles.

'kin hell. I get better economy out of the lorry.

It's only 3MPG better than I get out of a 14L TD with a vehicle weight of 16 tonnes.

Yeah, but at 200 miles a week, 50% congested 30 road, I'm not doing=20 enough miles for it to be worryingly pricey, just extravagently.

The LPG will help with the costs, once the flap opener arrives.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

Playing at home:Front Line Assembly-A Decade

Douchebag.

Yeah, something like that, although I prefer the commercial name of "Bacardi Breezer".

That takes me back. To my very first GF, indeed first date. An under-age visit to the M/Cr Uni film club (schoolboys from my school could get membership). Then a daring visit to the local Uni pub.

I asked her what she wanted to drink (struggling with a whole world of alcoholic drinks I didn't understand). She said "Cherry B" so I asked for one of those at the bar.

The bar man yelled down a hatch in the floor.

"Oy Fred! While you're down there get another crate of leg-openers."