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What do you do when struggling with enthusiasm?


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28 minutes ago, smallfry said:

 

Is it the coupe, like the Firenza ? Always wanted one. Matt black, big wheels, Chevy V8.

Actually all this confession is quite comforting in a way. I always got the impression that everyone else had a running Land Rover except me !

So its no shame really. Ten years disuse is the norm !

Too many projects certainly dilutes your effort.

No the two door 1800 saloon. I would say unfortunately its not the 2300 In Firenza shape but dad bought this new in 1974 so I love it for what it is and the restoration will be to as new with no mods. But... I do agree, the coupe shape was lovely. 

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This thread is making me feel much better about the Bedford TK i bought 10 years ago and have 1/3 finished and the 109 i have 2/3 finished that should have been ready for my wedding 2 years ago 🤣

Got another chassis change to do now on dads 110 so those both get kicked back yet again...

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To add...i think the trick is not to stress yourself out about it for no reason. My 90 was stressing me out as i had set myself unrealistic deadlines, when i realised those deadlines were made up and did not matter I enjoyed it a lot more.

Ross is the pro at not setting deadlines for his build! 😁

 

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8 years into a restoration that is in a barn 15 minutes away from home. Hate to say this, but 2020 has been good to me as my son's rugby matches have been cancelled as well as his football which has meant I can do more work on the 110. My biggest enemy is myself and wanting things done once rather than getting the vehicle up and running knowing I will have to something again. Hopefully I shall finish her in 2021, but that is what I said in 2020. Sometimes I think the spannering is better than having a useful vehicle.

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20 hours ago, reb78 said:

One of the best looking cars ever made IMO. They are just lovely from every angle.

As a 10 year old I was taken to school by a friend's mum in a P5B. I always felt that car was a bit special but didn't really know why at the time.

I do remember us running out of petrol on more than one occasion 😅

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2 hours ago, reb78 said:

No the two door 1800 saloon. I would say unfortunately its not the 2300 In Firenza shape but dad bought this new in 1974 so I love it for what it is and the restoration will be to as new with no mods. But... I do agree, the coupe shape was lovely. 

 

 

Still like it though, can you even still get the panels ? I see it has the earlier wings with the higher ridge along the top. Goodyear Grand Prix S tyres ?

Good luck with it, not many around now, not that there were in the first place.

My Rover has not been on the road since 1979. Bought new set of Avon Turbosteel VR crossplies for it 1996, cost £600 then. Was going to do a quick recommissioning. Never got round to it. Never fitted the tyres. Now they are too old to use :rolleyes:

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8 hours ago, western said:

I must be the odd one out here, only got one vehicle my 110, use it every day & for rally recovery work, I don't know how you all manage with more than one or two vehicles. I have enough to do with just the 110 & day job. 

That's why we are swamped and depressed lol regards Stephen

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10 hours ago, western said:

I must be the odd one out here, only got one vehicle my 110, use it every day & for rally recovery work, I don't know how you all manage with more than one or two vehicles. I have enough to do with just the 110 & day job. 

Ah yes, but busy people can always fit something else in, its only lazy people who claim they are too busy and have no time ! 😆

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16 hours ago, smallfry said:

 

Is it the coupe, like the Firenza ? Always wanted one. Matt black, big wheels, Chevy V8.

Actually all this confession is quite comforting in a way. I always got the impression that everyone else had a running Land Rover except me !

So its no shame really. Ten years disuse is the norm !

Too many projects certainly dilutes your effort.

A guy I knew had a South African factory Chevy powered coupe mat black bonnet.

Octane mag IIRC did a piece on it at Bruntingthorpe, they also had the then current BTCC cars and drivers there.

When the BTCC guys saw the car they burst out laughing,

until,

my mate (ex stock car racer) drove it with a terrified data logger guy in the passenger seat at 157mph with no helmet or seat belts.

Then they gave him and the car respect.

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I set myself a target of one year to complete my V8 auto conversion which takes me until around the end of March this year.

I also had a 110 and a Cosworth Capri sat here but apart from the odd trip neither saw much use each year and if I did need to travel locally then weather permitting, I’d always choose the Series.

So the 110 and Capri were sold to make room for the V8 project to start and to be honest, without having it to go to each day during the various lockdowns last year when I was between jobs, I’m not sure how I’d have coped. Selling the other vehicles gave me the mental and physical space to focus on the Series.

Relying on others for things like proper welding and fabrication is frustrating as it stalls progress due to my lack of skill and adds to the cost but it’s just one of those things you have to do if you want the job doing right.

Maintaining a build thread can also be very time consuming but it’s a good way of keeping a record of what you’ve done as my memory is pretty poor. It’s also a way to learn from the more experienced folk on here who have provided me with advice and support which is very much appreciated. Hopefully it will also help others avoid making mistakes by learning from mine.

I still don’t know if it’s going to work though, time will tell 🤷‍♂️

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My current project list is early 110 (wife's daily), ibex (my daily). I simply couldn't afford to own these if they weren't daily drivers, neither are finished and have plenty to keep me going. I also have two mini Jem's one is a complete shell that needs restoration then building. The other is a heavily modified shell that isn't complete, it needs sticking back together then building. Wife tells me these are retirement projects but I'm hopeing sooner. There will be a house extension and workshop build in the near future. Then on top of all of this is a aus style caravan or some sort of truck camper.

Yeah I think I'm going to be busy for a while. But to be fair I'm in a state of forced inactivity at the moment and it's driving me nuts.

Mike

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@Escape you're right to a point, certainly spending hours every day sat in a car you hate is no fun. However, not wanting to put anyone's nose out of joint but you do have the facility of a fairly large workshop to keep your collection in while others here would be stuck spannering in the road in the rain if their daily went wrong. Also, I assume you can fund the costs of running & repairing your daily Lotus without compromising your other projects too much - again, something that others may not be able to do, and money spent on the daily driver takes money away from essentials or pushes their passion projects back over the horizon.

If cash is a major limiting factor on a project I say pick the cheapest daily you can find and pour the savings into the project - every time you get into the boring daily you're reminded why you're doing the project.

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Hi out there to all. I made a few changes a while back. I had the 110, an 88, a rrc, a mil lw left hand drive, a 200tdi disco and a 300tdi disco and off roading every other weekend. What struck me was "I needed to cut my cloth to suit the width/situation as I was just bouncing of one lr to try to get on with the mounting to do list. Kept the 110 the rest I of loaded and never looked back. It was nice to have had them all and the same goes for my motorcycles as well. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do and only that person can fix the situation. Things change accept it, you only get one go at life.   Regards Mark

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I actually disagree with fridge on this and he knows it. Whilst I have a reasonable collection of cars I have zero cash. If I had a normal car (I tried it once and hated every minute) I simply could not afford to run a toy. I would far rather justify a daft car as a daily and live with the fact that I'll be under it in the rain or stuck at the side of the road, than give in to the monotony of a normal car. Hell even my wife's car is a 38 year old 110 and yes she complains when it's broken but see how much of a beating you get if you suggest selling it.

Mike

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@FridgeFreezeryou certainly have a point. I realize I'm spoiled with toys and the Workshop.
But I too started out wrenching on a driveway as the garage was too low for my Defender. And too narrow for the P38. Then when the Workshop burned down I was again limited to  my dad's driveway or in his garage while he was away. While severely complicating or limiting what could be done and making the whole experience far less enjoyable, it didn't stop me. In fact, at that point in time I was only too happy to be able to pick up the spanners again. The thought of a sensible daily driver didn't really occur when looking for replacement cars. I tried a few other 'specials' but quickly decided only another Esprit would do. And while I can't deny the initial price was higher than the average LR (although most Defenders now seem to go for considerably more!) it hasn't been expensive to run and maintain at all, apart from fuel and rear tires. I'm sure many of my friends and colleagues spent far more on their boring euroboxes than I do. The biggest factor being labor of course, but that brings us back to having to do work on a car you don't even like. With P38s being as cheap as they are and parts getting cheaper as well, as long as you can do the work yourself it's not an expensive car to run at all. I can't see myself paying a few €k on a car I don't like, knowing it will be scrap in a few years. I'm often shocked when getting parts for normal cars because of the higher prices. You can get something cheap and run it too the ground, but I doubt that will be more reliable than a LR you give a minimum of TLC.

As a side note, after you kindly lent us your Jaaag 2 years ago (after a certain Range Rover broke down far from home...), I did look into one of those a sensible addition to the fleet. It looks nice and classy, drives pretty good and most of all, I found little or nothing to annoy me. The V6 can be had very cheaply, but would cost me more on taxes than the Esprit. So that didn't seem so sensible after all.

@ThreePointFive we opened the engine and that wasn't too bad workwise. Unfortunately the crank was damaged so we moved it on with a damaged engine and didn't get the profit we expected. Moreover we never got to try it in anger. Still glad we bought it, we live and we learn and I got to drive my first Volvo. 🙂

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Like so many others I have an embarrassment of projects; not all of them cars and the motivation varies from day to day. 

The '89 LR110 CSW with the 200Tdi will need a bulkhead, four doors and paint soon. It's been rebuilt in my hands once and I'm not sure I have the enthusiasm to get it done again. If it works, it is the usual daily driver but the family find it cold and noisy. (It has been a godsend while sorting furniture, books, CDs and records pending my parents downsize and relocation). I'm thinking seriously of a Grenadier in 2022/3, so the 110 may be sold as someone-else's project.

The '91 LR90 van with windows still needs its dash put together, MOTing and potentially painting. It's 7 miles away in a traders compound, so getting it done is proving to be a real struggle.

The '72 Morgan 4/4 1600 has been sent to a mate/marque specialist for the body and trim restoration work. I have the engine to rebuild (again); for a Ford crossflow, it is quite highly strung and 160k miles has killed it. 

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The '00 Mazda MX5 California is mostly great, my wife saves it as a high days and holidays car. It will need paint and suspension wishbones sometime.

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The '13 Fiat 500C and '02 Vauxhall Agila are modern-ish and between MOTs treated as white goods. The Agila is the LR substitute if the 110 won't start. 

 

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Planned but unstarted projects are remove most of the front garden manky turf and replace with permeable hardstanding and build another shed for the back garden, (home office to get some division between work space and home space).

 

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4 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

@Escape you're right to a point, certainly spending hours every day sat in a car you hate is no fun. However, not wanting to put anyone's nose out of joint but you do have the facility of a fairly large workshop to keep your collection in while others here would be stuck spannering in the road in the rain if their daily went wrong. Also, I assume you can fund the costs of running & repairing your daily Lotus without compromising your other projects too much - again, something that others may not be able to do, and money spent on the daily driver takes money away from essentials or pushes their passion projects back over the horizon.

If cash is a major limiting factor on a project I say pick the cheapest daily you can find and pour the savings into the project - every time you get into the boring daily you're reminded why you're doing the project.

I actually agree with fridge. I mean I'd like a groovey car as a daily, but I like a car that always works more. my VW Polo bluemotion, 70MPG, tax free, now 8 years without too many problems. Saved me an awful lot of money and frustration. Boring, but needs must.

I would go as far as saying that having a cheap run around saved me enough to allow me to do those expensive events. You cannot have it all basically.

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While we're owning up to the shameful state of our projects queue I'll join in...

  • The 109 went off-road just before lockdown #1, dropped a brake calliper bolt, lunched the calliper and bracket and re-doing it all "properly" has somehow kicked my ass repeatedly since then. The current state of play is getting a set of Wolf rims banded to clear the callipers and hopefully make the whole setup much less of a bodge than previously.
  • The Ambulance got pulled out of the barn in September, despite having a fairly long list of "I really must get round to it" jobs, it went straight through an MOT, we did the NC500 in it, and then it got thrown unceremoniously back into the barn. The immobilised 109 is blocking any serious attempt at doing anything to it.
  • The RRC is still just sat in the shed gathering spiders... and the shed itself is in desperate need of a clear out too.
  • My micro-CNC mill sh*t itself earlier in the year and I still haven't re-assembled it
  • My MIG welder also sh*t itself, enthusiasm got the better of me and I've dismantled it and reverse-engineered it, but have so far failed to work out the solution or source any parts.

 

@miketomcat and @Escape may well prove me somewhat wrong on the daily driver front - I got fed up maintaining the Freelander (even though it did me really well) so switched to a Jaaag X-Type in December 2016, which cost me £3k and was definitely lower cost to maintain and far lovelier on the motorway. This year it cut out mysteriously on the motorway and refused to be diagnosed, and I realised that I have zero interest or knowledge in sorting it out. It turned out to be a corroded wire hidden in the depths of the engine bay, but by the time that's done it's now failed the MOT on rear shocks and a wheel bearing, which would be easy to fix if there wasn't a huge muddy immobilised 109 right in the way of getting it into the garage :(

In the meantime I needed a commuter so I bought a cheap Mini Cooper which is hilarious even if it is less sensible. Not sure if it counts as a sensible daily or not, it's cheap and it's not what I'd ideally be driving but it's very silly and does make me smile.

The Jaag I am taking a bath on, I can't do the work myself, I'm not paying the garage hundreds to fix up a car I'm not using, I can't store it, and it's worth almost nothing with no MOT. Over the time I've owned it it has probably paid for itself even selling it as scrap, but with this turn of events it's not been anywhere near as cheap as it could/should've been and it's really disappointing that I'm forced to ditch what's still quite a nice car.

Unfortunately my commute now being ~3 miles, the Jag wouldn't even have warmed up by the time I get to the office so keeping the Mini is far more practical on a cold morning, and if I need to go to B&Q in theory I've got the 109 or the ambulance to carry big things.

What I will say is that having a slightly more sensible daily, that doesn't / can't go off-road, almost certainly saves you money and breakdowns. The Freelander was absolutely terrible for this, when the 109 was out of action I'd be commuting in the Freelander all week, marshalling off-road on a weekend and the temptation to have a little drive round was too much... then you end up damaging things or filling things with mud etc. and it takes its toll. I probably spent £500+ extra per year in maintenance on the FL because I couldn't keep it on the tarmac, either through damage or just accelerated wear on things.

I totally understand Mike's argument, but I personally can't be doing with the hassle of *having* to fix my daily on a cold wet Sunday night because I took it off-roading.

@Escape I wouldn't call you lucky for having the big workshop as I know you've worked hard to get it, but certainly you're in a position that others (myself included) would be envious of, and that makes certain things far easier. Just having a space to store tools, parts, or entire vehicles makes life so much easier.

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3 hours ago, miketomcat said:

I actually disagree with fridge on this and he knows it. Whilst I have a reasonable collection of cars I have zero cash. If I had a normal car (I tried it once and hated every minute) I simply could not afford to run a toy. I would far rather justify a daft car as a daily and live with the fact that I'll be under it in the rain or stuck at the side of the road, than give in to the monotony of a normal car. Hell even my wife's car is a 38 year old 110 and yes she complains when it's broken but see how much of a beating you get if you suggest selling it.

Mike

But threads like this just tell me it bites you back one day::SVAgoaway:

😀Daan

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Daan, your not wrong it does bite from time to time but. Like I say I have no choice and I wouldn't have it any other way. My mind set and lifestyle doesn't suit most but I do know a few like escape that completely get it, I'm just greatful I'm not the only one.

Mike

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On 1/1/2021 at 6:57 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

@Escape I wouldn't call you lucky for having the big workshop as I know you've worked hard to get it, but certainly you're in a position that others (myself included) would be envious of, and that makes certain things far easier. Just having a space to store tools, parts, or entire vehicles makes life so much easier.

It definitely makes things much easier! But it was also a life choice: I don't own a house, I only have about 20m² of office space converted to living quarters in the Workshop. Just the bare necessities, like the small student flats Leuven has in abundance. Pretty much like this, only with a smaller kitchen:garage.jpg.e05c6bf8d49b86efab2da1be9c5a3875.jpg

I don't have a family of my own and no other hobbies worth mentioning, so this suits my way of life. And I'm very lucky to spend most if not all evenings and nights at my girlfriends. 🙂 Even if that wasn't the case, I don't think I would be willing so sacrifice the Esprit to get a bigger flat or something.

I do agree completely that offroading your daily can get expensive. Wear and tear does go a lot faster and sooner or later something breaks and will need replacing. It also gets tiring having to clean the LR on Sunday evening so you can take it to work on Monday. Or just leave muddy puddles on the company parking lot. Been there, done that, and  still do. But it's a whole lot easier with a back-up. On the other hand, you might be bit more responsible taking your daily out to play. Be it offroad or on track, if you know you have to drive it home you'll try harder to avoid breaking stuff, so it could tung out to be less expensive in the long run. I don't think that automatically means it's less fun. It's not just about getting to the end of the stage, you want to make it back to camp, preferably without a trailer or tow 😉.

In the end it all boils down to what gives you the most smiles per gallon I think. Be it cruising without worries in something that doesn't require attention and reserving your spare time and potential savings for other projects, or trying to get the most of your driving every day and accepting that wont come for free (money, time, blood & sweat in varying combinations).

Filip

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