DustyBin
Established Member
My first car in '88 was an old Cavalier MK1 in GL trim and with 80K on the clock. It only did 20mpg, because as it turned out the camshaft was worn. So I got a replacement cylinder head from a scrapper and put that on.
Magnifico for a week, then the piston rings went (probably because the top end was so tight now). This had the effect of producing copious clouds of grey fumes inside and out, because the leaky rings allowed partially burned fuel and exhaust vapours to pressurise the crankcase and puke out of the rocker box breather.
So I got a replacement engine off another scrapper and then managed to sell the thing for £800 which was what I paid 10,000 miles earlier.
I got married and ran about in my new wife's old Mini Kensington. That was the first car that I ever crashed into a ditch. Every Sunday for a year I battled to get it match fit for the Monday morning commute.
One Sunday I went to the Lucas Autospares shop in Durham which is now a housing estate and managed to buy replacement brushes for the wiper motor. Installing them required three fine screwdrivers to push the contacts back against the springs while with whatever other grasping limbs were available slid the assembly onto the spindle. Then it turned out the gears were seized it wasn't the brushes at all. Cue immersion in a bucket of penetrating oil.
Later I learned to change wheel bearings (frequently) shim up the suspension (frequently), extract and change the steering rack (once only), and I also had to do something to the rear radius arms and some U-bolts.
Once when it had a blowing exhaust valve, my late, great father in law Tom (who could show James May a thing or two) and I whipped off the cylinder head, replaced the valve, ground it and the other valves back in, improvised a valve spring compressor from a floorboard, and successfully reassembled the top of the engine, exhaust manifold, head gasket and all. WooHoo!
But, ladies and gentlemen, pride cometh before a fall.
Now as some of you will know the 1L Mini engine featured a curious cylinder head bypass hose which was a short concertina rubber number, essential to the working of the cooling system.
Fearing the reputation of this little hose I had acquired two spares at Sewells in Billingham from an old man in a brown dustcoat. Sadly, when the engine was reassembled and restarted, water was pouring from this bypass hose. On examination it was apparent that someone (OK, me) had clumsily put a screwdriver through it.
According the the bible (the Haynes Authorised Version) "It is nearly impossible to replace the cylinder head bypass hose without removing the cylinder head". Note "nearly". It was 7PM on a Sunday night. No time to strip the engine again. Somehow by trimming the hose ends, applying lubricant, and forcing the thing with a pair of tongs we contrived to get the spare hose in place, and the two jubilee clips tightened up. (Do anyone else's knuckles twinge at the thought of a jubilee clip?).
I flogged that Mini, got a better job, started buying three year old cars in the 2nd hand market and paying someone else to fix them. I haven't worked under the bonnet of a car since 2003 and I'm not starting again. But I can say "I was there".
Sewells probably still carry that part, there’s nothing they don’t have.... And last time I was there I was served by a man wearing a brown dust coat.... What a place!
Hey! I also started learning after my 17th birthday in the same month , and passed more than a year later in October 2020 (after dealing with THAT stressful queuing system). My original test date was also delayed like yours due to the pandemic, but it's like after learning to ride a bike; you never forget how!
I would probably get a Toyota Aygo as my first car, but not till after uni.
I once had to drive an Aygo, under duress (actually it was because the hire place had nothing else). It was painfully slow but the absence of lateral grip meant it was still entertaining. When it got out of shape though it was a real handful, the short wheelbase and relatively high centre of gravity makes them very unstable.
1980 W-plate Vauxhall Chevette hatchback in Jamaica (banana) Yellow.
Arguably not the least cool vehicle in the sixth form car park, as a friend had an Allegro...
Learnt to drive in a BSM Maestro 1.3, but for reasons I can’t recall, took my test in Dad’s Volvo 240, and passed first time.
You perhaps (understandably) didn’t want to be seen in the Maestro?