Re: Movers and Shakers...

Was apparently built to take part in a run down to and round Nurburgring that never happened.

It's not as cheap as final bid it achieved on there. ;-)

But cheap enough given the spec.

Maybe. The guy who had the Rallye off me fitted buckets, and I found them uncomfortable when I used it - the amount of vibration you got through them when ragging it down a bumpy backroad meant you had to back off to see where you were going, and I intend to use this for more than just trackdays.

I couldn't resist - picking it up in a week or so:

Again?

You're almost as bad as me. ;-)

Given the value of cars in Oz and the fact it costs about =A3750 to export one over there, so long as there are no SVA equivalent nasties you could come unstuck on, I'm debating whether or not to keep hold of something to get shipped over once I've settled in.

--=20 JackH

Yep :)

I like the BX, but it's been pissing me off lately, plus I rarely use it any more as I now get the bus to work. A Rover would be *slightly* more sensible. What I'm really after is a decent Swift GTi again, as it'll be perfect as an ocassional car because of the cheap tax, insurance and running costs. But still has a bit of a giggle factor. Then again, I think an SD1 might be a good move as petrol costs aren't so much of an issue ;)

Give me a shout if you do decide to sell it :)

Bought another 216GTI then?

BTW, you were right. The nice death rattle from the CRX were the valves

- adjusted them today (all of them bar one were too tight) and it's much improved.

Oh, and the one valve that wasn't too tight? It was way to loose and the locknut had been tightened by gorilla-wivva-toothache. It popped out of its seat when I tried to undo the locknut. And yes, I *was* turning it the right way[1]. Anyway, I got it back in without having to take the cam out.

Aye.

The overall spec (rollcage, stripped, lowered, rebuilt balanced and lightened lump), together with my well documented fetish for these, plus the, what I consider to be a bloody giveaway, price for it given all the above and the fact it's coming with a years ticket, proved too much even for me to resist. :-)

Excellent.

Good stuff.

We'll definitely have to meet up once I've picked mine up - should be the weekend after next.

Sounds like a plan.

A Honda D16 engined Rover would be *slightly* more sensible, you mean. ;-)

Actually, the SOHC 1.4 K series I drove a few months ago impressed me with the amount of poke it had, but you just know that sooner or later you'll be looking at HGF.

I thought that once... so I bought a 2300, and ended up nearly bankrupting myself in fuel costs.

Will do... I *may* export it, if it turns out to be that good, given how much cars are worth compared to here - you couldn't buy an equivalent for what it would cost to to buy and export that - my Golf is worth about =A32k here... over there it'll fetch about =A34k - net cost of exporting it is =A3750.

The only thing I've not looked into is any potential problems with import tax and / or 'rego' etc.

--=20 JackH

Given the value of cars in Oz and the fact it costs about £750 to export one over there, so long as there are no SVA equivalent nasties you could come unstuck on, I'm debating whether or not to keep hold of something to get shipped over once I've settled in.

You want something like a 3-5 year old semi-decent model BMW, you do. Even if it means financing it. It'll make you a modest sized packet, I tell ye.

Need to have owned it for a minimum amount of time, mind, before you can export it, but it's something that's definitely worth doing if one's heading out there for good.

Yep. I think you have to own it for 12 months. A 3 year old M3 will make you a packet.

Fraser

You been there? I always thought I'd like to move there until I went. Foods ropey and everything's miles apart (a bit like america, you need to drive everywhere really).

Aye... went four years ago, in January.

Could see plenty of pros and cons compared with here, but it's not like I can't come back if it didn't work out.

Maybe later on... I'm more interested in making sure that if I do go, I'll have something reasonable to drive about in - to get an equivalent to my Golf would cost a fair bit more than saving the =A3750 shipping fee and selling it here would raise.

I need to look into it a bit more before I do anything too drastic - for one thing, I'm not so sure parts would be that cheap and freely available for it over there.

Indeed.

--=20 JackH

Hmm... I've only had this about six weeks.

I wasn't planning on shipping it out for a few months anyway... want to make sure I'm staying for good before doing anything that drastic.

--=20 JackH