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!!!

Car26 XR4x4 TwinTurbo

The latest addition to the fleet is the Sierra XR4x4.

It's got what I think is a 225BHP Turbo Technics Kit.

Bought unseen, it needs a fair bit of work if it's going to get back on the road. But it should be fun when it's done.

Little steps....

This evening I dashed out to the wifes MK1 golf.and loosened off the rear beam mounting bolts ( often a source of major anoyance ) and the fuel tank straps in a stunning 30 minuets including moving some tools, starting up the sapphire and jacking up the back end of the golf..

I am also onto another couple of ideas..

Idea 1...

I am bidding on an XR4x4 Twin Turbo.... YAAHHHHHHHHHH..........

Idea 2...

After me and my 5.5yr old watched "A Car Is born" my interest in building a Lotus 7 Replica has been very rekindled.. A Project for the two of us ;)

TT

Fixed one, another damaged

Well the mondeo was sorted with a new set of plugs which turned out to be an easy job. She had a flat battery the other day which was a surprise.. But at least she runs ok.

I have a full top end gasket set so I can clean up the top end inlet parts.


The wifes MK1 golf was raped to provid ignition parts for a M8's stricken POLO.. So it needs a couple of bits.


And some nasty person has damaged the door on the galaxy cracking the paint finish, it must have flexed the door . Not HAPPY :(

TT

MOT FAIL!!

Well the Mondeo went in for an MOT and failed on it's ridged brake lines. But it's not actualy due to expire until February so no major sweat.

Unfortunatly it's picked up a missfire which may finish it off if I can't sort it before the MOT. I have ordered a headgasket set although I doubt I will ever bother to take the heads off.


The MK1 golf was a real pain trying to get the main fuel pump sorted. So much so that I have bought a seperate high preasure pump to fit instead. The garage is now very tidy and work will recomence in the next few days.

I have ordered up some Aircon parts for the Galaxy so hopefully start putting that together over the next few months.

The sapphire has had a few more bits and bobs done, including the start of upgrading to the 278mm front brakes.

And the pugwagen.... I am thinking it may be time to part with it. But only if somethig replaces it. I am hankering after another XR4x4 or 4i ... With turbo's :)

Rob

Garage space!

I have been clearing out and selling stuff from the garage, the wifes MK1 golf is now in there with it's arse end up on axle stands. I am trying to sort out the fuel pump and stumbled at the main preasure pump hurdle. The unit I thought was correct turns out to be far too large to fit anywher under the car that's safe. So I have cut off the filter mount and also removed the overly large bracket. I just need to find the best location to mount this smaller unit. I have also managed to find the engine number, but in doing so have found that there is some damage to the water manifold on the end of the engine that may prevent it from sealing on refiting.

The Galaxy has been fine, now had it over a year!

The Sapphire has had the headlamp washers trial fitted and 1 or two other items located. once the Golf is sorted she will be squeezed into the garage.

The Pugwagen has done nothing. Although I am trying to win a GTI interiro from a MK2 on EBAY.

The Mondeo, Soldiers on. I have the parts to fix the blower. I need to book an MOT.

MOT, Faults and engine swap....

Well...

The Galaxy feels much beter after it's drop. It's cracked 60K and passed it's MOT the other week. I had however forgotten to get it retracked and it shreaded the front tyres (ooops)

The mondeo made it to ford fair and back, it still has an anoying clicking from the front drive... The heater blower resistor has burned out some of it's wiring and the screen has gained a crack.... Gona MOT it next month and see how it fairs.

The MK1 golf now has the POLO GT lump, it runs fine and took no time at all to install. There's a few minor bits to finish before a test drive..

Rob

Dropped. And Broken.

The Galaxy has had an anoying rattle from the front suspension since I bought it and it was getting much worse. The car also sat too high and lurched when cornering.

So She has now been dropped ~50mm, I took it to the garage for the work as it's a pig of a job on the front's. The had to replace a strut as the nut was stuck solid. They also did the oil and plugs... I need to get on top of this sort of thing realy.

The mondeo is finaly going to the garage for new CV's before fordfair. but The ABS is playing up and theres a funny noise from the back end..

Rob