For those interested in old cars.

[Phil Parker]

I visited Rustival on Saturday, and it was fantastic. Organised by three YouTubers, I was one of the older people there, the place was full of da kidz! The cars (around 1000) were a real mix, mostly the sort that have me thinking "That's not an old car, there are loads of them around." before I realise there were loads of them around, but now there aren't. How did a Mini Metro become a classic? Surely they are new, or am I just old? 😁

 

Anyway, there are some photos on my Flickr feed

 

The thing is, the place was infested with people making their own YouTube films, but that's part of their hobby. The organisers managed to film their own, AND have it out the day afterwards, a level of comitment that is incredibly impressive.

 

 

And I want a Toyota Sera. For those doors.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Phil Parker said:

How did a Mini Metro become a classic? Surely they are new, or am I just old? 😁

 

I missed out on Metros. They went from being too new to extinct seemingly without passing through a stage in between where I could afford one.

[Dunsignalling]

9 minutes ago, alastairq said:

 

However, has anyone really looked into what other stuff has been introduced in our so-called 'petrol?'

The fact that, in petrol [fuel] these days, the head-end components have a much lower temperature of evaporation than the fuel of the 1960's....which has also led to higher exhaust temperatures in older types of engine design... Which leads us to issues in old bangers [classic cars?] of things like, hot starting issues, etc...

 

Apparently our modern day motorcars need the modern day fuel mixes in order to perform miracles?

 

 

TBH, I'd expect that to be the case.

 

With one-litre "shopping cars" nowadays delivering bhp levels that would have been considered "perky" in engines twice their size not so long ago, the demands on all the consumables that go into them must have increased substantially.

 

John

[Dunsignalling]

11 minutes ago, Phil Parker said:

I visited Rustival on Saturday, and it was fantastic. Organised by three YouTubers, I was one of the older people there, the place was full of da kidz! The cars (around 1000) were a real mix, mostly the sort that have me thinking "That's not an old car, there are loads of them around." before I realise there were loads of them around, but now there aren't. How did a Mini Metro become a classic? Surely they are new, or am I just old? 😁

 

Anyway, there are some photos on my Flickr feed

 

The thing is, the place was infested with people making their own YouTube films, but that's part of their hobby. The organisers managed to film their own, AND have it out the day afterwards, a level of comitment that is incredibly impressive.

 

 

And I want a Toyota Sera. For those doors.

 

There's one on Autotrader.....

 

Somebody over the road from my mum had a Sera for a year or two.

 

It was ages before I saw it with a door open; I'd just thought it had a glass roof...😊

 

John

[Phil Parker]

1 minute ago, Dunsignalling said:

There's one on Autotrader.....

 

When I say I want one, that would be in my dream garage. I AM trying to be sensible. Two broken VWs is enough, and there isn't any space for another car that I won't use.

 

It can all wait until I find a rust-free Matra Rancho.

[Dunsignalling]

12 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

I missed out on Metros. They went from being too new to extinct seemingly without passing through a stage in between where I could afford one.

 

In my case, I missed out on Metros because I only liked medium size cars back then.

 

I did have an '85 Fiesta as a stop-gap for a while, but the first small hatch to float my boat was my '91 Peugeot 205xs.

 

John  

[alastairq]

I had a Metro once....Or rather, my last Ex-missus had it [I bought it, she drove it]

 

It had a rust patch and hole.....in the middle of the bonnet!

 

I briefly had a Peugeot 106 which I quite liked.  Seemed to be a stouter car altogether than the 205?

 

Yonks before, in a previous marriage, my Ex#2 bought herself a 309 GTi lookalike. That went well enough..when it went!   I managed to graduate her onto an Alfa 33 green cloverleaf soon afterwards [Pug became a write-off, so Alfa purchased courtesy of someone else's insurance...as was my wont through life...getting someone else's insurance to fund my/our next 'new' cars... ]

That Alfa had its flaws, but went like stink, especially after we had the carbs rejetted [all 4 chokes]...

That lead Ex#2 to have a passion for Alfas from there on in.....I think she still has one, even though she is now retired and in her 60's.

 

At the time my personal motor was a Renault 4...followed by a VW type 2. How odd?

 

My Pug 106 was a Rallye version....with the non-standard gearbox...Rather a frantic thing to drive..couldn't help but drive like a rally driver in it.

Purchased off me by an ardent enthusiast, since something went wrong with the drive shafts.  Also, I never did get the speedo to work...

 

 

[stewartingram]

My 1st car, in 1967, was an Austin A30. 12 years old when I got it, I ran it (on a shoestring) for another 12 years, before storing it in the garage. It eventually went to local club owners for spares. I did 250k miles in it, and did all my own maintenance. This was in the day of BMC mix & match engineering off the shelf, there were plenty of spares available from all sources - new,3rd parties, or scrapyards. Mine ended up with a bigger A35 engine, newer A35 gearbox, part of the floor from an A35 to accommodate this, different rear axle, van rear springs, etc.

I even found an older handbook for the early A30, which showed how to reset the engine to run on 80 octane fuel instead of 95 octane. (Basically - think aka paraffin?) My mate had a Minor, his theory was, if you used the starting handle, with the engine set up properly it should start instantly. He wasn't far wrong, it is what I aimed for (without any sophisticated tools). I loved that car, with the good old A series engine.

After a few years with a B series Marina, I was made redundant, and bought a 3 month old demonstrator Ital from the local dealer. It had an A+ engine; that lasted me 250k as well. I then swopped to Rover 800s, and eventually in 2007 to Rover 75, where we are today. But I have a Metro outside partially restored.....

Edited March 12 by stewartingram

[Phil Parker]

9 minutes ago, alastairq said:

Seemed to be a stouter car altogether than the 205?

 

When I needed a "modern" in 2008 for commuting, I bought a 206. It was as old as my Beetle was when I got it, but rust-free. I always regretted having to sell it as I think they are very attractive cars, and this one had (for the time) all the toys. Even a CD multi-changer in the boot. Apart from a clutch throwout bearing, and servicing, it did me well for a few years. And I could have taken it to Rustival too!

 

When it was time to sell, I could hardly give it away. £80 to a local Landrover specialist who wanted a courtesy car. Very sad to see it go.

[russ p]

1 hour ago, Phil Parker said:

How did a Mini Metro become a classic? Surely they are new, or am I just old? 😁

 

I have a Metro turbo been off the road for about 8 years but hopefully it will get restored next year.  Doesn't need a massive amount it only done 20k

 

 

[Dunsignalling]

3 hours ago, alastairq said:

I had a Metro once....Or rather, my last Ex-missus had it [I bought it, she drove it]

 

It had a rust patch and hole.....in the middle of the bonnet!

 

I briefly had a Peugeot 106 which I quite liked.  Seemed to be a stouter car altogether than the 205?

 

Yonks before, in a previous marriage, my Ex#2 bought herself a 309 GTi lookalike. That went well enough..when it went!   I managed to graduate her onto an Alfa 33 green cloverleaf soon afterwards [Pug became a write-off, so Alfa purchased courtesy of someone else's insurance...as was my wont through life...getting someone else's insurance to fund my/our next 'new' cars... ]

That Alfa had its flaws, but went like stink, especially after we had the carbs rejetted [all 4 chokes]...

That lead Ex#2 to have a passion for Alfas from there on in.....I think she still has one, even though she is now retired and in her 60's.

 

At the time my personal motor was a Renault 4...followed by a VW type 2. How odd?

 

My Pug 106 was a Rallye version....with the non-standard gearbox...Rather a frantic thing to drive..couldn't help but drive like a rally driver in it.

Purchased off me by an ardent enthusiast, since something went wrong with the drive shafts.  Also, I never did get the speedo to work...

 

 

Basic 205s were a bit harsh, but the XS had much better sound insulation and seats, bigger brakes and an 85bhp, 1.4 engine, sort of a half-way-house to a GTi but better balanced (I drove both and wouldn't have swapped). I kept it ten years and regularly towed a half-ton trailer with it. Only time it missed a beat was when the filler cap vent got blocked and air-locked the fuel tank!

 

The friend who bought it followed up with a 106 Quicksilver (also a 1.4) but neither he or I were all that impressed. I replaced the 205 with a 206 D Turbo, that I also kept for a decade, then a 207sw that I never took to and sold on within three years. He currently has a brace of 206s, a 1.4 Sport and a GTi; the former running on the 6x14 second-hand aftermarket alloys I put on the 205 ten years before his 206 was built!

 

For the past five years, I've had a 2013 Skoda Yeti CR170 TDi, and that's staying with me while I have breath in my body!

 

John

Edited March 12 by Dunsignalling

[monkeysarefun]

The series 2 VE Commodores here (2010-2013) were tuned to use 85% Ethanol fuel. There was a brief period where biofuels were going to be the answer to Australia's fuel needs, due to the huge amount of bio-waste generated from sugarcane waste  etc, but Holden were the only manufacturer to jump on board.

 

My ute will run on it, it has multiple tunes mapped and can sense the fuel type and adapt accordingly. Its meant to be good for an extra 10KW of power but I've never actually used it. E85 is the mandated fuel used in the V8  Supercar competition up until this year at least, not sure what happens now that the class has changed. 

 

Back in  the heyday E85 was noticeably cheaper which offset the reduced mileage achieved. The whole exercise failed to catch on however , despite the huge number of 3.6L V6 and 6.0L V8 Commodores that could use it, many (such as me!) just stuck to 95 and 98RON  and gradually E85 bowsers have disappeared, and those still out there are pretty much on-par pricewise with 95 and 98RON.

 

 

Anyway, this is a long winded way of saying that hoses etc were not especially modified to use the 85% Ethanol fuel, nor were valve seats etc - my motor is a stock standard L series Chevy V8, only the tune was adapted for the Ethanol. 

Edited March 12 by monkeysarefun

[Captain Cuttle]

1 hour ago, 30801 said:

 

I missed out on Metros. They went from being too new to extinct seemingly without passing through a stage in between where I could afford one.

We had an immaculate metallic blue MG Metro in mid eighties, my wife drove it and liked it but i found the seat too narrow for my rear end! I think we had a water leak and on further investigation after lifting the carpets found the inner sills were rotting out so after a bit of disguising work got rid of it. Shame as it looked good and drove well.

[alastairq]

Off topic a bit [I don't use the other thread]...but I seem to think the Pug 106 had a slightly heavier bodyshell than the Pug 205?

I may be wrong in that, but the topic did come about back in the day [still this century, however]....when my eldest son dropped his dead 205 GTi in my garden for storage....

[MJI]

2 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Basic 205s were a bit harsh, but the XS had much better sound insulation and seats, bigger brakes and an 85bhp, 1.4 engine, sort of a half-way-house to a GTi but better balanced (I drove both and wouldn't have swapped). I kept it ten years and regularly towed a half-ton trailer with it. Only time it missed a beat was when the filler cap vent got blocked and air-locked the fuel tank!

 

The friend who bought it followed up with a 106 Quicksilver (also a 1.4) but neither he or I were all that impressed. I replaced the 205 with a 206 D Turbo, that I also kept for a decade, then a 207sw that I never took to and sold on within three years. He currently has a brace of 206s, a 1.4 Sport and a GTi; the former running on the 6x14 second-hand aftermarket alloys I put on the 205 ten years before his 206 was built!

 

For the past five years, I've had 2013 Skoda Yeti CR170 TDi, and that's staying with me while I have breath in my body!

 

John

 

A 205XS tried to beat me at traffic lights once, (Sunbeam) first lights I did not really try, next lights I hit power band when he hit max revs, mine had close ratio box and tall gearing. Third set, nothing.

 

So tall gearing Sunbeam was similar up to 20 to 30 then the serious power cut in. Would JUST do 60 in second.

[Hobby]

4 hours ago, Phil Parker said:

How did a Mini Metro become a classic? Surely they are new, or am I just old?

 

 

 

Design wise they date from the late 70s early 80s so are quite old! I had several over the years as well as several Minis, they were a step up from the Minis, especially the later ones. Gael had a red one and still wants another!

[Dunsignalling]

51 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

A 205XS tried to beat me at traffic lights once, (Sunbeam) first lights I did not really try, next lights I hit power band when he hit max revs, mine had close ratio box and tall gearing. Third set, nothing.

 

So tall gearing Sunbeam was similar up to 20 to 30 then the serious power cut in. Would JUST do 60 in second.

What size Sunbeam?

 

The XS was only a 1.4 but, if you had the nerve to ignore the red line would pull 7000rpm to no apparent ill effect. Probably wouldn't have been smart to make a habit of it, though! In normal driving, 4500 was enough to get it into the meat of the next gear.

 

I put 185/60 x 14 wheels/tyres on mine in place of the standard 165/70 x 13s which gave it longer legs and improved the road holding to the extent that, with just 85 bhp on tap it was pretty much corner-proof! 

 

What I really liked about it was the contrast from the gutless 1100 Fiesta it replaced; 55% more power and 20% better fuel economy. It was almost impossible to get it to do less than 40mpg, whereas the Fiesta had to be driven in maiden aunt mode to reach that figure. 

 

John

Edited March 12 by Dunsignalling

[Kickstart]

4 hours ago, alastairq said:

The issues with hoses, etc and ethanol makes me wonder whether we have a 'chicken-&-egg' situation here? 

Have we ,in fact, actually seen a 'change' in the quality[cheapness?} of the stuff hoses and certain gaskets were made of, in more recent times? Which has led us t having issues when the percentage of ethanol was [very slightly] increased, in fuel?

 

 

Finding decent fuel hose is hard enough !

I have bought hose that lasted about a week, and even some of the quality hose now can be very thick walled (which us hard to route on some bikes for example)

 

Fuel hose is something that gets to me, as it is something that needs replacing occasionally (especially on bikes where the tank needs to come off far more often, disturbing the connections more often - plus fuel hose hardening with exposure to some fuels is more of a pain when you need to remove it more often). And I am dubious about paying a premium for something that I have no idea whether it is actually better than the stuff that lasts a week

 

All the best

 

Katy

[Captain Cuttle]

Nice colour that suits it, hopefully with that mileage pretty good underneath?

[MJI]

1 hour ago, Dunsignalling said:

What size Sunbeam?

 

The XS was only a 1.4 but, if you had the nerve to ignore the red line would pull 7000rpm to no apparent ill effect. Probably wouldn't have been smart to make a habit of it, though! In normal driving, 4500 was enough to get it into the meat of the next gear.

 

I put 185/60 x 14 wheels/tyres on mine in place of the standard 165/70 x 13s which gave it longer legs and improved the road holding to the extent that, with just 85 bhp on tap it was pretty much corner-proof! 

 

What I really liked about it was the contrast from the gutless 1100 Fiesta it replaced; 55% more power and 20% better fuel economy. It was almost impossible to get it to do less than 40mpg, whereas the Fiesta had to be driven in maiden aunt mode to reach that figure. 

 

John

 

Tuned 1600 which valve bounced just over 7200 rpm and was 90 at the rear wheels. Was fast road not race.

 

So about 115 or so at crank.

[Nick C]

4 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

Basic 205s were a bit harsh, but the XS had much better sound insulation and seats, bigger brakes and an 85bhp, 1.4 engine, sort of a half-way-house to a GTi but better balanced (I drove both and wouldn't have swapped). I kept it ten years and regularly towed a half-ton trailer with it. Only time it missed a beat was when the filler cap vent got blocked and air-locked the fuel tank!

 

The friend who bought it followed up with a 106 Quicksilver (also a 1.4) but neither he or I were all that impressed. I replaced the 205 with a 206 D Turbo, that I also kept for a decade, then a 207sw that I never took to and sold on within three years. He currently has a brace of 206s, a 1.4 Sport and a GTi; the former running on the 6x14 second-hand aftermarket alloys I put on the 205 ten years before his 206 was built!

 

For the past five years, I've had a 2013 Skoda Yeti CR170 TDi, and that's staying with me while I have breath in my body!

 

John

The 205XS was a popular choice amongst my student motorsport club in the early 2000's - you could pick them up for a couple of hundred quid, and they didn't rust like a lot of contemporaries (though they were somewhat renowned for electrical gremlins!) Also being under 1.4 got them into a lower (and therefore cheaper...) class in quite a few events, as well as being a lot cheaper to run and insure than the GTis...

[Dunsignalling]

1 minute ago, Nick C said:

The 205XS was a popular choice amongst my student motorsport club in the early 2000's - you could pick them up for a couple of hundred quid, and they didn't rust like a lot of contemporaries (though they were somewhat renowned for electrical gremlins!) Also being under 1.4 got them into a lower (and therefore cheaper...) class in quite a few events, as well as being a lot cheaper to run and insure than the GTis...

 

AIUI, mine is still around as a competition car, though little but the shell remains....

[Northmoor]

I've had four Peugeots this century:

1. 309 1.6; bought as an emergency second car from a colleague for £150.  It used to cut out randomly which I discovered was a loose king lead.  Closed up the connector with pliers and the problem went away.  The previous owner had had it in and out of the garage three times..... I did nearly 11,000 miles and sold it to another colleague, for £250.
2. 306 1.4; also bought from a colleague who just wanted £700 (£50 more than she was offered as a trade-in against a new Tigra).  The engine was un-burstable; torquey at low revs but as others have said you could easily hold the revs to 4500 or more in an overtake without it sounding cruel. I did 58,000 miles with very few faults - one head gasket failure - and sold it for £560.
3. 406 TD; £1440 and probably pound-for-pound the best car I ever owned.  About 12y.o when I got it, not a rattle or squeak, bodywork and interior was perfect and I could get 60mpg on long runs (I was doing 24,000 a year at the time) without driving slowly.  Then one Friday it started making a rattle so I thought, I'll drop that into the garage near work on Monday morning.  I only got four miles before the water pump failed and caused the belt to jump, taking out a cylinder. Gutted.  When I sold it for scrap it had about £50 of fuel in it that I couldn't drain but I took every bulb and swapped the battery for a poor spare.
4. 306D Estate; £950(?), a slow but very practical workhorse which was quite boringly reliable.  Kept for about two years before selling for £400.

#2 and #3 I would hold up as examples for those who think Peugeot build quality didn't match the "aspirational" brands.  I regularly used to park the 306 next to a Merc C220(?)  the same age in the office car park.  The Pug was unmarked, the Merc had seriously bubbled front wings.

[Dunsignalling]

A quick warning about Peugeot engines. The cam belt intervals are very generous (over double those for the VAG engine in my current car). However, they really mean what they say, and one should always fit a new water pump and tensioner along with it, even if you don't get the "official" kit.

 

I got my old 206 done ten thousand inside the recommended mileage, but six months over the prescribed time interval and the old one had already started fraying.

 

John

Edited March 13 by Dunsignalling

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

I got my old 206 done ten thousand inside the recommended mileage, but six months over the prescribed time interval and the old one had already started fraying.

 

Future old car owners will have super fun with wet belts. Especially Ford ones...