For those interested in old cars.

[Horsetan]

Ivan , I spent my working life as a mechanic/technician , I know all about the problems

that running old out of date cars will bring , so I'm sorry but I find it hard to be sympathetic

to those that do and then find they are saddled with a wallet emptying vehicle .

If everyone thought like that, there'd be no classic car industry.

 

This particular car was Simon Kremer's own. Nothing wrong with it. What's there to fear, other than the price tag?

[Sidecar Racer]

If everyone thought like that, there'd be no classic car industry.

 

This particular car was Simon Kremer's own. Nothing wrong with it. What's there to fear, other than the price tag?

 

 I agree with what you say , but having had experience of some of the ' classics '

when they were still new I didn't like them then , even with full workshop facilities

maintenance could be challenging , now with the problem of finding spares and

the cost of employing someone  to do the work it can make it a rich mans hobby .

 

 Why has that RO80 only done 43000 miles since 1973 ?

 

 To me that's museum mileage not a lets use it every day  car . Sort

of smacks of having little faith in the reliability .

 

You had your's for 4 years , what sort of mileage did you do ? Daily runner or

weekend special ?

[Horsetan]

... .You had your's for 4 years , what sort of mileage did you do ? Daily runner or

weekend special ?

Always run at weekends. The only things that went wrong were one of the driveshafts on the day I collected it (repaired by Simon Kremer's RoTechniks), and a vacuum solenoid for the clutchless gear change (for which I had a spare unit in the shed).

 

Every old car I've had has run at weekends. That's the only time I get to enjoy them. Hell, I used to go to model railway shows in them. Hopefully I'll be driving the CX to ExpoEM and RailEx next year. Scaleforum too.

[PatB]

 

Probably still complete with burnt out rotor tips?

 

P

 

Wouldn't be original if it wasn't .

[Porcy Mane]

Ah, that hoary old chestnut. Rotor tips seals were sorted out by the mid-70s. Mazda ones are particularly long-lived.

 

I ran a '73 Ro80 for four years. Never a problem.

 

And the MPG & oil consumption?

 

P

[Horsetan]

And the MPG & oil consumption?

 

P

But that's how rotaries work. The Mazda ones are less thirsty, and have better torque.

[alastairq]

 I agree with what you say , but having had experience of some of the ' classics '

when they were still new I didn't like them then , even with full workshop facilities

maintenance could be challenging , now with the problem of finding spares and

the cost of employing someone  to do the work it can make it a rich mans hobby .

 

 

 

I agree with the first part.....I somehow cannot get enthused by mini's...having  owned several of them over the decades.  The same goes for Morris Minors.   But then, I wasn't a Mini enthusiast back then....just an owner/driver.

 

However, the spares situation for some old cars is becoming difficult...

 

Stuff doesn't have to be unreliable, to wear out.

 

But stuff that was once commonplace in the scrap yards of this land, has long since been bailed up and shipped.  Which, is the problem.

 

As for the last line? Well.......any hobby, or interest , will usually carry some sort of expense.  Even if not directly related to the subject in hand.

 

[The topic of this very forum is a good case in point?]

 

There is a hidden assumption that folk who decide to buy/acquire an old car [classic is an abused and hated, by me, description...there's nowt 'classic' about an Austin A30, in my eyes....which isn't to say I don't 'appreciate' them!!]...............will know little about the acquisition they made, aside from the fact it is a 'classic' car....with the description 'enthusiast' having a very limited interpretation.

 

It's a bit like thinking the inhabitants of this forum only buy their models....ignoring those who build from scratch....or....who have a well-stocked box[es] of spares and bits?

 

Personally, I don't farm out any jobs.....unless it's going to be cheaper for me to do so...and the workmanship is something I have trust in. [which is so rare, as to be notable, in my little world]  I can repair or rebuild mechanical things.....I have 'learnt' to use a welder, [in the same way, as a railway modeller I found out how to use a soldering iron.]  .....The sad thing is, this assumption is prevalent especially amongst some of the specific press.  That people acquire old cars, only to 'have someone restore ' them, to achieve a perceived value, money-wise.

 

 

Everything these days seems to come down to financial value....especially with old vehicles......which is a shame, as financial value distorts the viewpoint, of an object.

 

Whatever happened to having something, purely out of personal interest?  [Or, in my case, because 'I always wanted one, from being a kid?']

[BG John]

Everything these days seems to come down to financial value....especially with old vehicles......which is a shame, as financial value distorts the viewpoint, of an object.

 

Whatever happened to having something, purely out of personal interest?  [Or, in my case, because 'I always wanted one, from being a kid?']

You answered your question before you asked it! Although I suppose more cars would have been scrapped long ago if a "market" hadn't been created for them.

 

I'm really not looking forward to the time I need to replace my current vehicle. I want my 1993 Escort 1.8LXi Estate back. It was just about my ideal car. I'd quite like to have had a Mexico or RS2000 at some time, as I only got as far as an Escort Sport (and later a couple of XR3s), but with the price of Escorts and Escort parts now,  I think a lot of far more exotic cars might be more affordable! Actually an XR3 would be my second choice after the Estate, as the exhibition layout I had at the time was a perfect fit, so it was a very practical car, with a nice big handle on the back to pull it out of the garage without having to start the engine!

 

Otherwise, I suppose it will be a frustrating search for a bottom of the range modern car, that has the least number of annoying gimmicks I don't want.

[alastairq]

..........................the last of which, points to a Dacia Sandero?  

[alastairq]

I used to have a Renault 4, decades ago.....very good for transporting huge numbers of baseboards [modules, mainly]....and with an almost 'guaranteed' 45 mpg's....kept costs of the hobby really low.  Also 'good' for 70 mph....not a lot more, unless I 'let rip' down the M62 towards Manchester!  [To perhaps offset the struggle to keep some sort of pace, uphill towards the top?]

 

The priority [in those days] was, simply...'getting there'....

 

If time was of essence, then I'd leave earlier.

[BG John]

..........................the last of which, points to a Dacia Sandero?  

I think it could well do. My only experience of Dacias so far is a quick trip to a takeaway in a Duster a friend had just bought, and which seemed to have a problem with an intermittently sticking clutch pedal.

 

I think Dacia make something like a Fiat Doblo/Renault Kangoo sort of thing, but don't sell it here. That could be better, as it might be convertible into a mini motorhome. I'll miss not having a loo, cooking facilities and someone to sleep/put my feet up wherever I go.

[Rugd1022]

Always run at weekends. The only things that went wrong were one of the driveshafts on the day I collected it (repaired by Simon Kremer's RoTechniks), and a vacuum solenoid for the clutchless gear change (for which I had a spare unit in the shed).

 

Every old car I've had has run at weekends. That's the only time I get to enjoy them. Hell, I used to go to model railway shows in them. Hopefully I'll be driving the CX to ExpoEM and RailEx next year. Scaleforum too.

 

The clutchless gear change - is it the same as the 'Spotomatic' option which Porsche had with some early 911s and 912s...? They had a sensor under the gearknob which activated the solenoid as soon you put your hand on it.

[russ p]

The clutchless gear change - is it the same as the 'Spotomatic' option which Porsche had with some early 911s and 912s...? They had a sensor under the gearknob which activated the solenoid as soon you put your hand on it.

My mum's metro had clutchless gear change, well It did until I split a synchro ring!!!

Edited December 3, 2017 by russ p

[steve1]

Did someone say there are very few MG Metros left? Well one of them was trundling along quite happily in Goole today...

 

steve

[alastairq]

The clutchless gear change - is it the same as the 'Spotomatic' option which Porsche had with some early 911s and 912s...? They had a sensor under the gearknob which activated the solenoid as soon you put your hand on it.

 Didn't VW  [FowVay, as I've heard it referred to?] offer the same thing on the haircooled beetle?..That, as I recall, had a switch under the gear knob....

[johnlambert]

I saw a nice Citroen GSA today (red one, looked quite fancy) heading towards Warwick on the Banbury road today, outside Leamington Spa.  I've not seen a GS in a long time, it was a bit of a pity that I was driving the other way so I couldn't take a photo.

 

I did manage to snap some Jaguars at the British Motor Museum yesterday.

 

 

[Rugd1022]

Looks like the XJ13 beastie on the right... I believe Mr.Dewis had ' a bit of an off' in it at MIRA, just up the A5 from here...

[Horsetan]

The clutchless gear change - is it the same as the 'Spotomatic' option which Porsche had with some early 911s and 912s...? They had a sensor under the gearknob which activated the solenoid as soon you put your hand on it.

 

Virtually the same Fichtel & Sachs. Two-pedal driving; very easy system. Easy to fix if vac. solenoid fails. Only gripe I had was that the "throw" of the Ro80 gearstick was a touch long.

 

Still have all my old Ro80 workshop manuals - as supplied by Audi-NSU; no CD-ROMs in those days!

Edited December 3, 2017 by Horsetan

[Rugd1022]

Tis awful dark outside, how about a splash of colour...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[steve1]

Whilst looking for something else, I found this:

 

 

Pretty good but inside was this:

 

 

 

 

 

Came with these and a comp slip addressed to me personally(!) A 15 year old car nut :-)

 

 

steve

[PatB]

You answered your question before you asked it! Although I suppose more cars would have been scrapped long ago if a "market" hadn't been created for them.

 

I'm really not looking forward to the time I need to replace my current vehicle. I want my 1993 Escort 1.8LXi Estate back. It was just about my ideal car. I'd quite like to have had a Mexico or RS2000 at some time, as I only got as far as an Escort Sport (and later a couple of XR3s), but with the price of Escorts and Escort parts now,  I think a lot of far more exotic cars might be more affordable! Actually an XR3 would be my second choice after the Estate, as the exhibition layout I had at the time was a perfect fit, so it was a very practical car, with a nice big handle on the back to pull it out of the garage without having to start the engine!

 

Otherwise, I suppose it will be a frustrating search for a bottom of the range modern car, that has the least number of annoying gimmicks I don't want.

 

I agree. B family transport is currently a 1998 Toyota Hilux dual cab (crew-cab) ute (pickup) which is showing its age. It's an agreeably basic and practical vehicle and is sensibly sized. At the moment there is no real direct replacement on the market in Oz. All the Japanese and Japanese derived utes have, at some stage in the last 20 years, become bloated into gigantic things laden with pointless and (if my experience on minesites is anything to go by) rather fragile gizmos, which are more likely to create an interesting display of dash warning lights when they fail than be of any practical use while they work. The only real options I can see are the offerings of Tata and Mahindra, maybe Great Wall as well. Even these have a few (admittedly legally required) bits and bobs I'm not fantastically keen on, but at least they're generally being sold as proper working vehicles rather than lifestyle accessory SUVs.

[BG John]

The only real options I can see are the offerings of Tata and Mahindra, maybe Great Wall as well. Even these have a few (admittedly legally required) bits and bobs I'm not fantastically keen on

A reason why I want my old car, from the days before all this new legal nonsense, back, rather than a modern basic one. The only annoying gimmick my Escort Estate had was central locking, and I suppose I could have disabled that. In fact, I wish I'd done it before my dog locked himself in, with the keys in the ignition!

[RJS1977]

How long before classic car spare parts (and maybe even replica classic cars) can be 3d printed to order?

[PatB]

A reason why I want my old car, from the days before all this new legal nonsense, back, rather than a modern basic one. The only annoying gimmick my Escort Estate had was central locking, and I suppose I could have disabled that. In fact, I wish I'd done it before my dog locked himself in, with the keys in the ignition!

 

The Hilux had an aftermarket (possibly dealer fitted) central locking system hen we bought it. I removed it some time later after one of the solenoids burned out, almost setting the inside of the door on fire and filling the interior with acrid smoke. At the same time I removed the (also aftermarket) immobiliser, finding that it had been spliced into the factory loom with dry twiddle joints and a miserly quantity of insulating tape. Subsequent experience suggests that this is typical of WA auto electricians.

[PhilJ W]

How long before classic car spare parts (and maybe even replica classic cars) can be 3d printed to order?

I can imagine easily damaged components such as rear light and indicator lenses being 3D printed, if someone hasn't started doing so allready. At a model railway exhibition a few years ago there was a display of 3D printing, among the items on show was a 'master' for a car door handle that was ordered by a classic car group.

Edited December 7, 2017 by PhilJ W