Cars to 2019

SCROLL DOWN TO READ THE UPDATED BLOG
All the cars! Ones in Bold I still have.
Up to Dec 01th 2018 this is my car history so far..... Click a link to read more.

Car1 F923 EDS (1988) Lada Samara 1.3L (White) (Aug92-Nov94) Sold to sister.

Car2 A957 LKP (1983) Nissan Sunny 1.3? (Red) (Oct94-Mar95) Sold to Hoo engine center.

Car3 E86 xxx (1987) Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8GL ( Galaxy Blue )(Nov95- )EBR1

Car4 TNP xxxY (1983) VW Golf Formel E (Mars Red) (May98-April2011 ) EBR2 (Sold on ebay!)

Car5 G211 LHH (1989) Ford Sierra Sapphire 1.8LX ( Red ) (Apr99-Mar00) PXed for Bro's 325i sport

Car6 J937 DWU (1992) Vauxhall Carlton 2.0CDi (Burgundy) (Mar00-Mar03) Sold at auction

Car7 G400 SDS (1990) Ford Sierra 2.9 XR4x4 ( Tasmin Blue ) (Nov02-Jan03) Broken

Car8 G713 CRL (1990) Ford Sierra 2.9 XR4x4 ( Black ) (Apr03-Apr04) Sold

Car9 G100 KKW (1990) Ford Sierra 2.9 XR4x4 Twin Turbo ( White ) (June03-Aug03) Broken

Car10 F384 FRH (1989) Ford Sierra 2.9 XR4x4 ( Metalic Grey ) (Feb04-Mar04)
Sold

Car11 Hxxx xxx (1990) Ford Siera 2.0 XR4x4 (Tasmin Blue ) (Mar04-Jun04) EBR3 Sold Local

Car12 A508 AVO (1983) Ford Sierra XR4i Converted to 2.9 Twin turbo ( white ) (May04-July04) EBR4 Sold to Taps

Car13 K480 AHP (1992) Ford Sierra 2.0 XR4x4 ( Black ) (July04-Oct04) Sold to Locost owner.

Car14 M285 DVL (1994) Volvo 855 T5 ( Metalic Dark Green ) (Oct04-Sep06) Broken

Car15 D794 MNS (1985) Ford Capri 1.6 Laser ( Laqure Red ) (Jun05-Jan06) Swapped for Car 16.

Car16 L530 HJO (1993) Peugeot 405 STDT ( Black ) (Oct05-Feb06) Sold local.

Car17 J579 YEV (1992) Ford Sierra 2.0i Ghia (Tasmin Blue) (Jan06-Jun06) Broken

Car18 K202 FJN (1993) Ford Sierra 2.0i XR4x4 (Smokestone Blue) (May06-Sep06) Sold to Nathan

Car19 M672 BMA ( 1995 ) Ford Scorpio Cosworth 24V (Tourmallard Green) (Sep06-Mar09) Broken

Car20 Xxxx RDT ( 1982 ) VW Golf MK1 (Mars Red) (Jan07-May07) EBR5 Broken

Car21 J672 KVK (1992) Ford Sierra GT ( ? Blue ) (Aug07-Jan09) Broken

Car22 (1995) Ford Mondeo 24V Si (Stardust Silver) (Oct07-Mar2012 ) EBR6 Sold on.

Car23 L744 MLS (1994) Ford Granada Cosworth (Tourmallard Green) (Jun08-Jul08) Broken

Car24 (2002) Ford Galaxy Ghia 2.3 (State Blue) (Oct 2008 - ) (Oct08- )EBR7

Car25 EE0..... (1981) VW Golf 1.1 (Mars Red) (Apr09-Jan 10) EBR8 - Broken Up

Car26 G..... (1989) Ford Sierra XR4x4 Twin Turbo (Diamond White) (Dec09-) EBR9



Car27 ...... (20xx) Haynes Roadster (Zinc Yellow and Black) (Jan 10-) EBR10

Car28 ...... (2000) Volvo V40 1.8S (Red) (May 2011- Sep 2011) Sold Ebay

Car29 P457 HRM (1997) Merceded C230 Elegance (Ruby Red)(Sep 2011- Dec 2011) Sold Ebay

Car30 AE52 GBF (2002) Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCI Ghia X (State Blue) (Dec 2011 - Dec 2012.. ) Sold Via Ebay


Car31 Y653 UOT (2001) Jaguar S-Type 3.0 Sport (Pacific Blue) (Nov 2012- Oct 2014) Sold Via Ebay



Car32 N89 BNB (1996) VW Passat 1.8TDI CL Estate (Indian Red) (Jan 2014 - Aug 2014) Sold to a m8



Car33 GM04 BJY (2004) BMW E61 530D SE (Oriental Blue) (AUG 2014-   Mar 2015)to WeBuyAnyCar

Car34 Y869 ... (2001) Jaguar S-Type 4.0 ( Pacific Blue) (Apr  2015 - )

Car35 W167 ... (2000) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec ( Panther Black ) (Nov 2015 - July 2016)
Sold to Friend and then bough back for parting out..
Car35b W167 ... (2000) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec ( Panther Black ) (June 2017 - )

Car 36 V98 ... (1999) Jaguar S-Type 3.0 ( Cardinal Red ) ( May 2016 - May 2017)
Stripped for parts and scrapped.

Car 37 XXXX (xxx) Jaguar S-Type 3.0 ( Light Blue ) ( Nov 2017

Car 38 ST56 xxx (2006) Transit MWB HIgh T350 100 (White) (June 2018- XXX)

Car 38 ST56 xxx (2006) Transit MWB HIgh T350 100 (White) (June 2018- XXX)

Mid life crisis????

Time to get a van! [ Back in June! ]

Yes I decided for a number of reasons to get a van, my startup trading business in Mantiques and retro items made collecting stock in the Jag was impractical most of the time. Also we do a few car boot sales and although I have a trailer, it was not easy to just get up and go!.

Also with building works going on and other things....

A van made some sort of sense.

Found a clean white transit on ebay. Did not know much about them but got it for a good price..

Found out soon enough that it had a terrible whine and kept cutting out.

However with some guidance from the forum I found "FORSCAN" and it told me some things that my very cheap Bluetooth OBD2 reader did not. The information tied in with some hints from forum members that the SCV (suction control valve) is a likly culprit... £170 from Ford or £60 from PF Jones... Orderd, Fitted, Sorted!!

I have a new Axle to go on which will hopefully cure the whine, and also drop the RPM at 70MPH as it's got quite a low ratio in at present.. The garage will be fitting it..

The bulkhead has already been removed and I have a pair of seats to go in the back so we can use it as a Day Van with bikes and stuff. Need to get a glazed sliding door though. I actually got a full set of minibus seats and have managed to sell the extra for a good proffit...

Over all it's been quite useful. And the jag has had a rest for a couple of months.

Trying to sell the trailer now!

2017 Christmas Update...

Well we are at the end of 2017 what has happened in the last year and a bit???

V8 Jaguar :- She has been fairly good to me. The MOT this year picked up a few advisories on the rear brakes, then a month later a slightly noisy wheel bearing changed to a very noisy wheel bearing with a lot of play! Parts were supplied to the garage and she came back fixed :) . It's now arround 12K since the engine went in. Still a few niggles to sort out, and having replaced ARB deop links for MOT in May I am finding they are starting to knock again ( CHEAP! ) . I have some new rear shocks to go on that I got very cheap 70% off list! so that will be done in the spring. Tyres keep goign flat and the battery is on it's last legs.  Love it still and it's entering the rare breed of cars I have owned more than 3 years as a driver ( despite a long period off the road )

Galaxy:- This was showing signs at 108K of a failing head gasket, I put in a bottle of K-Seal and that did the trick but I wanted it sorted so forked out ~£700 on having the head gasket replaced. Still loosing water but not sure why. She runs ok though. Just need to keep nursing it along for as long as possible.

Red V6 Jag:- This was eventualy stipped bear and the shell dispatched. made a decent little proffit on it.

The Focus:- This came to the end of it's working life with my friend, and as agreed I bought it back cheap as I wanted the engine, my alloys and the interior. It's had a hard life in the time it was not with me. I need to find the time to begin the strip out.

Blue V6 Jag:- Picked this up locally as a total MOT failure. It's to be stripped for parts too but maybe not as drastic as the last one... who knows..

Galaxy update...

The galaxy tends to get slightly neglected, we have had it over 8 years and covered just about 50K.

In the last couple of years it's had a few maladies, the water pump failed in 2014, closely followed by the wiper mechanism ( common fault ), then the coolant sensor, when I also uncoverd a collapsed gearbox mount) and then the battery. The wiperes seized again whilst on holiday March 2016, but stripping and lubricating on the camp site restored them to opperation.

The last few years have also been beset with random electrical oddities with the alarm, locking and indicators. At one point the tailgate was failing to open and rear light and demisters were playing up. I checked the tailgate loom and it was shorting and breaking up in places. I replaced it and everything seemed good for a couple of weeks. then the normal indicator alarm issue returned. It was difficult to diagnose, as soon as you moved the car onto the drive to have a look the issue went away.

We got used to this, however whilst on holiday in August 16, I decided to have a poke under the bonnet at the distribution box to see if I could get the issue to present itself. I could not. Next morning, the alarm, indicators and boot release were non functional. We had to tow the trailer home the next day!! ARG!

On the way back to the campsite that day ( sans indicators ) we stopped in Aldi, and had such good fortune that they had Digital Multi Meters on offer!!

Back at the camp-site I quickly diagnosed a lack of power on one of the connectors out of the junction box. I rigged a jumper cable and everything worked again. Not only that It worked as it should.

Satisfied that the in hand issue was fixed I ordered a replacement box while still on holiday. that was quickly swapped on a few days later and we have had no further issues ( except there are some broken wires in the passenger front door that cause an occasional problem)

As I was now satisfied the core issue was solved I felt it was worth spending a bit more time on the old girl.

the Drivers rear door had not worked on the central locking for a few years, I quickly traced this to a dead earth at the motor so just rigged a new earth.

A full new exhaust was fitted at MOT with no other issues.

The only other electrical oddity is the passenger rear window motor that does not work on the switches but does through GLOBAL. both loom and motor were swapped with the door a few years ago so I need to look further.

Number . 3.0 Jaguar S-Type V6 Parts Car.

This car was on EBAY for a few weeks with ever reducing price, mechanically it was not of great use to me as it's a V6 not a V8. but it looked fairly good and had under 83K on the clock. It was only half an hour up the road.

 I thought that I could probably strip it for a few good bits, and flog the rest to make the purchase price back. I got it for £200 in the end, +£40 for insurance to drive it home.

The car looked very good, A colour I had not previously liked but now do. The front hubs  were rough , as was the brakes. But she drove lovely other than that. It seemed a shame to break her, but when totting up the cost which would also require a rear subframe replacement  it was obviously an uneconomical car to repair.



Quite a number of little trim bits were swapped to my V8 car, the headlamp washers have been put to one side to fit to my car.  The heated seats were swapped to my car.  generally made my car better using ~£170 retail on parts.

The rest of the car was quickly stripped although there is still a bit to do and she sits on the drive quite sad :( . But selling bits and bobs netted ~£600 extra profit and a few other spares remain on the shelf.

I would do it again but space and time do become a problem.

 

Between March and May, I hauled out the dead V8, it was a long and drawn out process due to partly to the weather, stuck fastenings and the fact the gearbox bell housing had corroded to the engine making it almost impossible to split the two.

In the end the old lump finally broke free of the gearbox and was hauled out. I cleaned up the engine bay made sure everything was prepared and ready and then on one afternoon went from no engine to having the lump bolted in in ~1hr and the rest of it connected up and ready to run over the next 3 hrs.

The first start up was noisy due to no exhausts. Subsequent ones were quieter but it was a bit smokey. Since I had never seen or heard the donor engine I was a little worried.

However she went for MOT and passed without any issue of note. She stayed off the road till the end of June. But then was put back into service and now in late December has accrued 3800 miles.

The Focus was sold on to a friend, on the proviso that it was retuned for a 50% rebate as the car was fitted with my Wolfrace VooDoo wheels and a reasonable ST interriror. It also has a 1.8 Zetec that may be useful ;)

The  focus was a fun little beast, it did everything asked of it.

The Jaguar is super, it does require a little fetteling due to rattles from the suspension. And a cold misfire. But it's FAB.

Dead Engine, And a focus....

On the way to Keswick one Saturday afternoon in late October we were stuck behind a slow moving tractor on the A66 in the V8 Jag.

At an opportune moment I pulled out and accelerated hard to overtake, then the car started behaving ODD! I let off the throttle but it kept up the revs. I pulled back in, cut the ignition and tried to restart but it would not play ball.

We costed to a layby, and she would not turn over. Not even a little. RAC took 4 Hrs to get to us and another 1.5 to get us recovered.

The engine eventually started at home but sounded dreadful. I am in the process of replacing it.


To keep me mobile I started scouring EBAY/Autotrader. Looking at everything from some horrid euro trash to XJ8's .  Eventual I bought a Panther Black 1.8L Zetec focus 3Dr. The trip to pick it up over in the north east was not fun as the weather was dreadful with torrential rain and flooding.

£300 bought it, and so far 5 months later I am still enjoying it's fun handling ( although it's a bit slow. It needed a window winder £40, cam cover gasket £8, rear bearing £12, and a caliper £15.  I also swapped on my Wolfrace Voodoo wheels and bought an ST170 half leather interior... MOT next month!

This is the beginning of the strip down to replace the engine that sized in October. The grill was swiftly removed. The front bumper was more of a problem due to rusty fittings.

I March 2015 I got fed up with the BMW. It did not drive well and I constantly expected it to blow up. Also the bodywork was nothing to be proud of, the fuel economy was not vastly better than the old S-Type.. And to top it off 20p/L had fallen off the price of fuel.

In swift order I decided to change. I wanted an S-Type back. But Idealy A V8 ;)

I took the BMW to WebuyAnyCar and got offered just under my minimum... But I took it and walked 6 miles home via a Pub lunch.

A few days later I was on the train to go and look at a Pacific Blue 4.0 S-type.  I took it home for a Steal of a price :)

TT

Jag laid up.

In early 2014, I was in the process of changing jobs. My commute was not significantly different so car changes were not on the cards.

But the Jaguar started loosing water from somewhere, I could not find it but the Garage said it was the radiator. Anyway my friend had  a 1996 Passat TDI estate that whilst not looking pretty was a fine workhorse. I paid £175 .

She was used up to mid august and sold to another friend, unfortunatly he became unable to drive so she was eventually scrapped but even at 185K on the clock she could have gone on for more and more!!

My brother in law was getting Married in May and as a gift we decided to offer the use of the Jaguar as both the wedding and honneymoon car ( he had a T4 Transporter, not ideal holiday transport)

After this I decided we needed a vehicle re-think. The Jag was gr8 perfomance wise but impractical. The Passast was practical but not very presentable. The Galaxy was presentable and practical but no real performer.

My plan was to replace the three with a fast powerful oil burning estate. and then have a small city car for the second car.

I bought a BMW E61 530D, unseen from 300 miles away. The guy wanted paying upfront, we decided to collect after our holiday. He was very quite and I was nervous I had lost £2200. But eventually managed to get the car picked up. It turned out to be a bit of a dog! litterally the car was covered in dog hair. But worse the rear arches had been badly repainted. The remotes did not work , nor did the rear wiper, the lumbar support would not deflate, and it broke down with a blocked DPF on the way home.. £1,000 further out of pocket.

I sold the Passat soon after. but held on to the Jaguar to October 2014! I trusted the Jag but not the BMW.

The E61 is not a great car in my opinion, and it seemed far to fragile. I fixed the Remote Locking, Lumbar issue, Parking, Rear Wiper, some other bits. But just did not find it CLICKED.  It looked like it was going to need new discs and pads, and potentially new shock absorbers. Then started throwing ECU errors for the throttle body.

In March 2015 I drove to "WeBuy...." with the hope to get £2200 minimu and just cut and run. After a bit of haggling (and the fact that the worst paint job in the world was missed) I actualy got £2175 , did not run, but walked the 4 miles back to town via the pub.

It took a while for the wife to ask where the car was! Whilst she was not overly impressed that I was swapping cars again ( potentially back to a Jaguar). We all hated the BMW and were not sad to see it go.

I decided recently that as I no longer needed a car to do significant mileage that I would sell the Mondeo and buy myself a toy. I set my heart on a Jaguar S-Type and was looking for either a 3.0 V6 or a V8. The main criteria was that it must not be silver ( as many of them are!) I found one 100Miles away in my price range, in blue, 3.0 Sport.

So far only found 1 major issue which is a faulty heater control valve, and a couple of minor nigles...

It's Lovely.

Well 8 Months on and the Mondeo of peril has cost me a small fortune, I have had new disks, thermostats, shox, service's, tyre (damaged ) , clutch & flywheel!! . And also had 2 injectors fail but covered under warranty. I could have driven the Merc for 2 years on the money I have thrown at the Mondeo, Anyhoo... The old 24V mondeo went to be replaced by a trailer tent.

So what has happend...

The MK1 golf had the 1.3 Upgrade with EFI, and was a hoot to drive. But it kept breaking down on the wife. So that was sold.

We got the Volvo V40 of my Brother in law, this required some work but was a good little work horse. The wife did not realy like it.

I bought a Merc C230 of a freind, that was super. A real lovely car to drive ( 1997 C230 Elegance estate auto ). But a change of job meant that it was going to cost far too much in fuel.

So the hunt was on for the sensible comuter car.

And in stepped the Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Ghia X.

It matches the Galaxy, same colour, same year, almost the same trim level ( galaxy not being an "X".

Done 2,000 miles so far!!!

Now to get on and finished one of the 3 project cars!

GMS

Cecil Street Auto Repairs Carlilse ( the citys newest garage )

Also Backlink the garage service, yes this is a shameless plug for the garage to try and get it up the garage ratings on search pages. we are probably the closest garage to the city center of Carlisle.

Our garage can service your car whilst you shop in Carlisle
Our garage can repair you car whilst you shop in Carlisle
Our garage can MOT your car whilst you shop in Carlisle
Our garage will endevour to slot you in in an emergancy folowing a breakdown.

Don't put off servicing and maintenance as they will lead to costly repair bills.



GMS

New Garage in Carlisle

New garage in carlisle

Cecil Street auto repairs (CSAR) are specialist in Ford, Vauxhall, Peugot, Citroen, Toyota but are happy to service and repair all makes of car.

MOT , Diagnostics and repairs of ABS, aircon and general electrical works.

47 Cecil Street
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA1 1NS

01228 599688

www.csauto.co.uk

info@csauto.co.uk

IT's gone!

The Pugwagen has now gone, the final components were removed and the shell taken away by the breakers.

This leaves much more room, less to do and a sense of relife. Made a few quid profit.

I have picked up metal for the roadster floor, and orderd other bits for it.


And tidied up the garage a little....

Must crack on whith the MK1 golf.

She Runs,

Wow, it's been a few weeks since the last update!

With a rebuilt loom and a fresh set of plugs, a lot of pissing about with the distributor and leads and everyhtng. She finaly fired up and runs! Yes the XR4x4 is a runner!!! Got some Konis on the way too.

Next week we are going over to saturn sportscars to pick up front and rear suspension componenets.

The MK1 golf is edging closer to being finished!!

Rob

Updates...

Well I have been seriously planing building a Lotus 7 Replica. A Haynes roadster to be exact. I was expecting to buy a chassis kit from saturn sportscars http://www.saturnsportcars.co.uk/ but last month a forum member decided to sell up, and I snapped up his built up chassis.. I had to collect it from Glasgow but it went on the roof of the galaxy with no hassel.

The Turbo XR4x4 still refuses to start despite my intensifyg efforts to get it running.

The Mondeo has failed it's MOT and is now off the road.

The Galaxy goes on as usual,

The Pugwagen has been stripped, the shell should be sold on EBAY today, the eninges have gone, the seats and wheels have gone.. I think I have made 100% proffit so far :)

The Wifes MK1 golf needs to be done to replace the Mondeo , but I am having trouble motivating myself.

Erika the sapph awaits the garage space...

Rob

SNOW GO!!!

My GOD...

The world has been snow bound since the 19th! of december and it's now the 9th of Janruary!

It's serverly impacted on any car progress.

I did buy a set of OZ wheels for the 4x4. and sold the Pug wheels for more or less the same money. :)

I have tried many times to get teh car started but there's no spark as yet. I would be working through the issue but it's too cold. I have tidied her interior and checked her over a bit. She needs a pair of sills at the very least.

The Pug wagen will be getting broken up, and will hopefully fully finance the XR4x4.

The wifes MK1 golf is almost ready for the little welding patch for the seat belt. But it also need a patch at the sill closing .

I am collecting parts ofr a Haynes Roadster build, I have the rear brake/shaft/diff set up and engine, loom on it's way :) . Big problem at the moment is the lack of gearbox. V6 boxes are in short supply.

TT

SNOW GO!!!