audio-talk

Ali Tait wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2019 5:28 am Better start polishing then.

Nah, save polish. Just introduce it to a brick wall like they all should be

The only Fiat I owned (strada), was in fine condition when I was given it by Kays father where it had lived undercover and did the occasional trip to the shop around Essex. After two years of Yorkshire weather and hills, the bodywork evaporated, the roof liner turned into powder and the gearbox needed to be kept in gear with a knee.

Polish it! Phffffft, not a chance the paint is the only thing holding it together....oh and the filler

I had a Triumph Dolomite 1500 TC. (yeah baby Twin Carbs) that was cherished and then promptly fell apart within two years of living outside and been driven in all weathers. My Dad bought a new Renault 14TS, within a year both front wings had started to rot through, it burnt oil like it was going out of fashion and deposited just as much on the drive way. The only car we had during the 70s and 80s that didn’t rot or fall apart was a Volvo hatchback thingy, drove like a barge and stopped as quick as an oil tanker.

I remember us having a Renault 18 estate from new, never went wrong and never rusted either. Sailed past 100,000 miles with no trouble at all when such things were almost unheard of, and that was living its life in Braemar, an area with the worst winter weather in the UK.

Nick wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2019 8:57 am The only Fiat I owned (strada), was in fine condition when I was given it by Kays father where it had lived undercover and did the occasional trip to the shop around Essex. After two years of Yorkshire weather and hills, the bodywork evaporated, the roof liner turned into powder and the gearbox needed to be kept in gear with a knee.

There was that Top Gear programme about Lancia's – "Oh no! We left it out overnight in the rain and now look what's happened!"


Neal is this the one you were having all the bother with?

I think lots of cars from that era rusted lots and died. From my own own recollection of our family cars 'we' had...

A Turquoise Farina Austin A40 which rusted and died.

Then a Vauxhall Victor 105e which also rusted and died.

Next was a 1300cc Countryman Estate thing. That rusted. And died.

Then came an Allegro, I passed my test in that. It rusted. And died. Post driving test thankfully.

Then Dad bought bought a Ford. An 1100cc Fiesta. That rusted and died.

So impressed, he bought another 1100cc Fiesta, but a Ghia this time. He gave Julie and me this when we had no money or anything. We gave it a home for many years, and rust. It died.

Julie had a 1000cc Metro. It was born with rust. I gave it papier mache wings to get it through an MOT. It passed. Then later died.

I had a 2CV6, that was ace. It had rust but refused to die because its had a lot of surgery. I sold it to a mate. It later died.

Then a BX16 TRS. For a change that rusted differently as bits of it was made of plastic. But the brakes and suspension died. From rust.

Ooo, the Ford Escort skip, we had a diesel Estate for years. That rusted and died too.

We've got another Ford at the moment. Its very modern, only 14 years old. Guess what....

When we first me, my wife had a Fiat Panda.

It was a disgrace. Two years old and you could push a finger through the wings. Complete rust-bucket.

@ dtb, it's utterly perfect, no rust whatsoever, has not died, and is the best car you ever had

Ant wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2019 9:00 pm @ dtb, it's utterly perfect, no rust whatsoever, has not died, and is the best car you ever had

Bang on correct Ant

Mind you, before that we had a Ford Skip, that we said the same about.

Then before that a Ford Fiesta my Dad gave us when we had nothing....

Etc etc etc etc

DIET! I forgot about a few, like the Austin Marina Van. That rusted and died.

Then a Mk3 Escort Van with Gong's Flying Teapot imagery painted on the sides. That didn't die. I sold that before it died. Maybe its still around.

I then had a magnificent 1979 Jaguar Series 3 XJ6 4.2 Saloon, my 1st ever car. The rust variant on that was proper posh. It died on its 9th owner. I was the 7th.

We live in the Sunny south, how come all our cars rust and die I wash them every year for the MOT.

Dave the bass wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2019 9:06 pm
Then a Mk3 Escort Van with Gong's Flying Teapot imagery painted on the sides. That didn't die. I sold that before it died. Maybe its still around.

That just shows you how good Gong were .

There have been two Fiats in my life. The first was a devastatingly pretty AC series 124 coupe. I bought it as a non-runner when it was about seven years old, thinking I might be able to restore it but the rust was just overwhelming. Managed to flog the engine and gearbox for more than I paid for the whole thing, thank God. Main memory was taking out the carpets to reveal the floor pan surprisingly intact, but then being able to wipe the paint off with a cloth back to bare metal.
Much more recently I had a Punto diesel. 33k on the clock when I bought it, 140k when it went to its final reward, not due to rust but due to a dead high pressure fuel pump which was going to cost £700 to replace. It went ridiculously quickly for a 1.3 diesel and averaged 69mpg for the eight years I owned it.
When I told the workshop manager of the garage that MOTd it every year that it had finally expired he was really sad. They’d been holding bets on whether it would get to 200k!

They make some good diesel engines, used in a few cars- the Vectra for instance- loads of high mileage ones around.

Well, my 2003 Volvo V40 (1.9 diesel) is just shy of 200K and running perfectly - surprisingly economical too. No rust at all. It's getting a little tatty now with some minor bumps and scrapes and the lacquer is flaking in places. It doesn't make sense to replace it now so I'll just run it until it finally expires. Best car I've owned for reliability and running costs.

We walked to Crayford today and passed a place and noticed there was a blue plaque on the wall, its finally been recognised for its history, whahey!





The shop on the left used to be the A.M. Pyne music shop, he was an ex Vox employee and set up on the same site. When I was at college round the corner I used to help out, make tea, play bass a bit, drive the van and lift stuff in there.