The 480's and their odd little lives

[Cerberus]

ok... time i stuck a flag in the ground and actually got going on a diary thread... I'm sorting out the huge box of spanners and sockets I ended up with last time I did some work on the 480's right now. It rained so everything got chucked in a box and I ran for cover!

I have a plan for a cheap version of a snapon tool chest that involves a trip to IKEA so that may have to happen today too!

so.. first up... why a 480? Well I used to pass one on the way to the pub with me old man when i was a kid. I was always struck by the rear glass and the popups. Tho they seem a lot lot smaller nowadays! I never quite believed they were volvo's! It was a car I put on my 'I'd like one of them' list when I was only a little pup.

Time passed and I got into Spitfires and classics in general. It wasn't untill a mate of mine who was looking for a cheap run around accidentaly brought a barn stored black 480 that they came back onto my radar. I had a few quids hanging about and I set out to find another 480 for myself. Well, he got his for 100 quid and I MOT'd it the next day so I was enthused. I decided on a turbo and the closest I came was just missing a red one on the ebay. I sent the seller a not saying "if your buyer backs out call me" and went back on the hunt.

I found the first 480 I brought down on the south coast. It was an ES but it was straight and clean (allegedly) so I made a low offer on the ebay and won it. We travveled down, spent a night in a b&b (that a whole other story) and drove it back. On the way the brakes failed and 5th gear went boom. The seller was very reasonable and refunded me nearly 50% of the original purchase price.

The day I arrived home the owner of the red turbo emailed me (this is months after i missed the sale) to say his buyer had fallen through, the gearbox had gone, did i still want it. I made HUGE puppy eyes at she who must be obeyed and off we went to trailer it home.

Then... horror of horrors my mate decided to move back home to scotland so I brought the now MOT'd black car off him for the price he paid when he dragged it out of the barn (well to be fair I was the one who had fixed it up, so...)

The wife pootled about in the black one for a good 12 months and it became apparent that I was too busy playing with my Jag (which needed lots of welding for it's MOT) to fix any of the three 480's.

About that time, on a dark and stormy night, I was the wrong side of a bottle of rather good red, when a good buddy of mine (the one with the trailer!) msn'd me to say there was a green abd gret limited edition standing on a side street in london. It was sitting on ebay too and he sent me a link. 20 minutes to go, no bids, opening bid of 50 quid.

Remeber the red wine? ok so I put the opening bid on it just for giggles and waited to see how many bidders came out of hiding. I bet you can guess how many other bidders sprang from hiding and bid the price up. Precisely ZERO. so twnty minutes later I owned a 480 limited edition with no MOT and a huge hole in it's radiator.

I sent my buddy with the trailer down to get it and he delivered it to his own house! Apparently he decided I didn't have room for it and was too busy to fix it. so, held to ransom, I dutufully travelled to his house for 4 weekends running and we fixed her up. Three hundred quid in parts later and she was running and MOT'd. I made the mistake of leaving the car there for another weekend and when I came to pick it up it had an LPG kit fitted. Mainly because my mate thought it would be faintly perverse to fit one of his kits to such a small car.

So the black car got parked up with the red and the grey and the missus now tools around in her limited edition and is VERY proud of it!

Now all I have to do is turn these three cars into one working turbo for me!

My typing finger hurts now... so thats enough for now...

come back soon for progress on project "three into one DOES go"

cerbs

[Cerberus]

Updates.

I thought I'd best pop my annual update on.



Where does the time go eh.

The TT is running strong. Except I have to put a new water pump on it because it's gotten slightly incontinent.

The grey car hasn't moved a wheel and desite it's 'fixer upper' status has had a few parts stolen from it.

The black car has gone!

to be saucepans. I've kept the engine and a few bits and bobs that
are needed to get the grey car going again.

The red car is now my daily driver and has been for the last 6 months.
This weekend it was treated to a new battery and a 30mm drop.



And it rewarded me with a jammed on handbrake this morning.
yay

The car pc install is finished (for V1) and proves reliable in daily use.

Playing PS2 games at car meets appears to entertain people.

Another update in a year then?

C