So here we are .... as some may know having experienced a track day with the 16v GTE I was hooked and aching for a car to use rather than spoiling my OE GTE.
I looked at a few of the eBay items for a couple of weeks, some being base models and some GTE's but all outside the budget I had planed £600 - £700 ... I made an offer to a few or the sellers but none were ready to budge down to my offers. I then spotter the advert on the forum for the C reg 1.8 and again though it was above my budget I made an approach to the seller and my offer was still a little low for them. Meanwhile one of the eBay sellers contacted me again having dropped their price to £750 and offering it (a 1.6 Auto 37k (one lady owner)) to me I decided against.
Meanwhile I had a PM dialogue (or 5) with DarrenH and bombarded him with questions on various models and advice on some of my options and my thanks to Darren for his guidance.
Then last week the seller of the C reg contacted me and said they had considered what the least price they would sell the car for and it fell just into my budget {only just} As if I needed one this gave me an excuse to run the GTE down to Brighton to view the car and seal the deal.
A quick inspection with a mirror slid under the car of the points raised on the MOT failure ticket confirmed some welding of the obvious (usual) places was indeed needed and probably more once the sill covers come off. So hands were shaken and Tea was supped (a very nice couple the owners and my thanks for their hospitality) and then back off home I went with plans to collect the car some time over the next 14 days.
On arrival home I was told by the MOT Test station that my tow vehicle (Ducato van) had failed on corrosion within n distance from tow bar and some more close to rear spring front mount point. Well corrosion was an understatement ... it was like tissue paper and right across the back section and down both (what would be) inner/mid sill box sections. My MOT garage guy was going on holiday for a week and anyway was unlikely to tackle a repair as big as this one so it was up to me.
Crawling around for 2 days on and off and about a third of the problem area is repaired but I'm eating into my sheet steel stock so ordered up a couple more sheets for delivery next week.
So now left thinking where I could borrow a trailer from and would I get the tow van done and tested in good time?
Not owning a decent trailer yet I decided to bite the bullet and rent a Transit car transporter for the weekend and get the car home (one less thing to worry about).
So picked it up Friday evening and this morning (Sat 22nd September) I did a quick test of loading (with Denise's SRI) and off I went with the dog for a drivers mate .....
Traffic was bad on the M25 in the Surrey area with reported 61 minute delay Thanks to the wonderful TomTom it gave me an alternative route that kept me on schedule.
So loaded up the boot with boxes of bits, signed the documents and away we went, soon after leaving my drivers mate gave me a look that indicated that it was her turn for a bit of R&R so parked up in a layby and went for a nice walk in the Brighton country side ......
Then back to the truck ....
Another 3 hours including a quick stop for a veggi burger and chips to share and we were back home safe and sound .....
So what's in store now ?????
Answer: nothing much till other things are completed but I may just roll the MGB off the ramp and have a quick once over to start a list ..... Just spotted my spare N/S full sill and a rear panel along with an O/S rear quarter repair panel left over from the stuff bought double for the 16v so that's a start.
So I guess this is where I say ........ To be continued ........
I looked at a few of the eBay items for a couple of weeks, some being base models and some GTE's but all outside the budget I had planed £600 - £700 ... I made an offer to a few or the sellers but none were ready to budge down to my offers. I then spotter the advert on the forum for the C reg 1.8 and again though it was above my budget I made an approach to the seller and my offer was still a little low for them. Meanwhile one of the eBay sellers contacted me again having dropped their price to £750 and offering it (a 1.6 Auto 37k (one lady owner)) to me I decided against.
Meanwhile I had a PM dialogue (or 5) with DarrenH and bombarded him with questions on various models and advice on some of my options and my thanks to Darren for his guidance.
Then last week the seller of the C reg contacted me and said they had considered what the least price they would sell the car for and it fell just into my budget {only just} As if I needed one this gave me an excuse to run the GTE down to Brighton to view the car and seal the deal.
A quick inspection with a mirror slid under the car of the points raised on the MOT failure ticket confirmed some welding of the obvious (usual) places was indeed needed and probably more once the sill covers come off. So hands were shaken and Tea was supped (a very nice couple the owners and my thanks for their hospitality) and then back off home I went with plans to collect the car some time over the next 14 days.
On arrival home I was told by the MOT Test station that my tow vehicle (Ducato van) had failed on corrosion within n distance from tow bar and some more close to rear spring front mount point. Well corrosion was an understatement ... it was like tissue paper and right across the back section and down both (what would be) inner/mid sill box sections. My MOT garage guy was going on holiday for a week and anyway was unlikely to tackle a repair as big as this one so it was up to me.
Crawling around for 2 days on and off and about a third of the problem area is repaired but I'm eating into my sheet steel stock so ordered up a couple more sheets for delivery next week.
So now left thinking where I could borrow a trailer from and would I get the tow van done and tested in good time?
Not owning a decent trailer yet I decided to bite the bullet and rent a Transit car transporter for the weekend and get the car home (one less thing to worry about).
So picked it up Friday evening and this morning (Sat 22nd September) I did a quick test of loading (with Denise's SRI) and off I went with the dog for a drivers mate .....
Traffic was bad on the M25 in the Surrey area with reported 61 minute delay Thanks to the wonderful TomTom it gave me an alternative route that kept me on schedule.
So loaded up the boot with boxes of bits, signed the documents and away we went, soon after leaving my drivers mate gave me a look that indicated that it was her turn for a bit of R&R so parked up in a layby and went for a nice walk in the Brighton country side ......
Then back to the truck ....
Another 3 hours including a quick stop for a veggi burger and chips to share and we were back home safe and sound .....
So what's in store now ?????
Answer: nothing much till other things are completed but I may just roll the MGB off the ramp and have a quick once over to start a list ..... Just spotted my spare N/S full sill and a rear panel along with an O/S rear quarter repair panel left over from the stuff bought double for the 16v so that's a start.
So I guess this is where I say ........ To be continued ........
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