skeeter

The reliability issues are not limited to the Sport - afflicts the FFRR too. Look good, drive well but boy are they a pain to own.

Pics please I love the look of these old buses.

I had it with steak in a posh restaurant, didn't do much for me

I was at the annual Classics Around Dorset run last weekend which attracts an eclectic set of cars for a charity run. I know it isn't a Ford but there was a stunning Jensen with us. Car porn? For sure!

One thing that might be worth asking, have you been over paying on the previous policy given i suspect a Tickford is more expensive to insure? You may be due some money back. Like others I am with A Plan, the only issue i have with them is the barrage of contact attempts by phone and text on the run up to renewal which is pretty annoying, but the policy is good and deals with the fact my car can be at home or at a storage facility. Ken

Correct, 1968, series 1

This is mine, standard as far as I know. Ken

It reminded me of this one... I am so sorry Bob. I've been riddled with guilt and I have to confess. I have been tapping your wife, day and night when you're not around. In fact, more than you. I do not get any at home, but that's no excuse. I can no longer live with the guilt and I hope you will accept my sincerest apology with my promise that it won't happen again. The man, anguished and betrayed, went into his bedroom, grabbed his gun, and without a word, shot his wife and killed her. A few moments later, a second text came in: Damn autocorrect! I meant "wifi", not "wife"

I can't help it, but I quite like that Porsche

And especially to the team that keep this site running.

I believe in Father Christmas, and if I am really good he will be bringing me a new toy to replace the M5 as the daily driver

The number of fee paying members is not that surprising and feels about on a par with other sites experience. You could make the choice (as some forums do) to limit posting to paid up members but in my experience that can kill off the chat. One exception is the Autobahnstormers which makes you join to read etc and that keeps a lively forum, but it is for a pretty specialist niche. One thing you might think about is a banner which shows the monthly hosting fees etc and then a running monthly total of subscriptions to make the point that the site isnt free to maintain. Ken

I used to race (motorbikes) and as people have said it can be expensive, the old adage of "how fast can you afford to go" really is true. Best advice from me is to choose the type of racing you want to do, circuit or drag? Autos testing or hill climbs? A key thing to think about is do you want to race other people directly (circuit) or against yourself, something like a hillclimbs where you are pitting yourself against the hill as much as the other guys. In my experience racing others directly is more expensive than racing yourself (if that makes sense). Ultimately I got fed up of racing for the last few places simply because I couldn't afford to compete at the front. The other consideration if you have a family is that it can take up a lot of time, and weekends, so make sure you are ok with this. Go into it with your eyes wide open and it can be brilliant fun, go in with rose tinted specs and it can be expensive, demoralising and frustrating. Ken

Mine was "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" by Queen. Purchased from the record department in our towns Woolworths.

Given your car was registered in Swindon it is likely it was purchased from the local Ford dealer there. Walker Jackson were the main Ford dealers in Swindon in the 1970's They had a car sales garage at Fleming Way and a repair garage in Old Town about a mile away.

It turns out that I am now officially a mechanical god! Checked th voltage to the coil, looked fine, then I looked at the little thing just in front of the coil in the picture. This has a spade connected wire on the bottom which was hanging off. Plugged it back in and hey presto - instant start!! I feel EPIC! Thanks for all the ideas. Ken

Google appears to be my friend. Suspects now coil or condenser. So going to probe around with my multimeter....

Ok, so wife is home so got her to crank the car with the dizzy cap off. I can't see a spark between the points. This therefore seems to be the reason behind the non starting. Why this is? No idea.....

So, been out this morning, the dizzy cap, rotor arm and points all look pretty much brand new. Battery tests at 12.77v but I don't know how to load test it. I have put it on charge and the charger is showing as "charging" which may or may not be good. Going to give it a while and see what that does. Question, I have a much heavier duty battery in the garage for my Lotus, if I connected this up I suppose I risk melting stuff? Ken

Yes t still on points/condenser set up. Will have a think about that as I quite like the originality, but not at the price of being able to use it. K

Thanks - I will check that tomorrow. I had assumed that since the engine was cranking well the battery was fine.

Hi all, I have been using my 1600e as a daily driver for a few weeks and it has always started on the first or second turn of the key. Yesterday morning it took about two minutes of cranking to get it to start. I put this down to the fact it had sat for a couple of days. But the the same happened in the evening when I finished work. I stopped for fuel on the way home and it was a pig to start when I returned to the car after paying. The odd thing, once started it runs absolutely normally, idles well and pulls the same. As it struggled to start after only a couple of minutes I can't beleive it is fuel as the carb would still have been full. Also, can't beleieve it is an electrical break down as the car runs normally once started. The strength of the cranking seems as it always has been and the battery seems fine. Going to poke around tomorrow, but does anybody have any bright ideas as to what it might be? Ken

As a thought, what adding gold accents ala JPS specials of the 70's? Ken

I did the same with my radio, and then ended up paying an auto electrician to come and put it all back in. When asked who made the mess I went bright red and sort of mumbled something but he saw through me!! I learned a valuable lesson, I am a complete numpty. Ken

I have a trusted chap who does the bodywork on my cars, including paint, he is 100 if he is a day and real old skool bodywork/painter guy. I asked him for a rough idea of cost for a reasonable old classic for a respray. I specifically asked him about a job which wouldn't be a show car but good enough for the man in the street to be proud of it. His thinking was that a ball-park price for a respray would be to a good standard would be; Remove and refit body fittings, bumpers, lamps, mouldings etc…. - £800 Prepare and respray vehicle, including door shuts and inside of doors - £1600 Paint and consumable materials - £850 Plus any additional repairs such as dents or rust plus VAT If you wished to change the colour, £320 plus VAT would allow for the engine and boot compartments to be resprayed. Hope that is of some help. Ken