Richie_k83 Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Odd title I guess, but does anyone else have another Car / Vehicle / Project they love & hate at the same time? Me and the Wife decided a few months back that we were going to break our Camper Van cherry and leapt in feet first. We bought a 1987 Talbot Express Camper Van. It still had a little MOT at the time and only covered about 76,000 miles. It needed a little TLC, but now every time I touch it, something else goes wrong almost straight away..... I hate it, I hate working on it and has even come to dub the thing "Ugly Betty" as its the ugliest car on the Driveway lol However, I absolutely cant wait to go out on long weekends in it, just to get away from the daily grind.... Anyone else have a similar experience...? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitbox Junkie Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 just the supra for me. as the daily is a work van and my Audi a3 1999 model which touch wood has been find just the occasional thing need changing, recently had to get under it and replace the exhaust sleeve as it had become rusted out and was blowing. sounded better with out the exhaust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastcar Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 For me it was my old RX7! Love the car to be fair and had it along side my supra, great handling car and so different to drive. Just a complete pain in the ass to look after, was a very needy relationship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nodalmighty Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Lancia Beta. Loved it when it ran, not so much when it didn't start. Same with the Silvia S12 and the Mazda 323 GTX. Pontiac Fierro, loved the look, hated the way it drove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnk Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Any Range Rover I've owned and i'm looking at buying another Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G9RGE Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 For me it was my tvr cerbera, I used to get a slight nervous feeling everything I took it out of the garage (probably not know if I was going to make it to my destination without breaking ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Audi S2. The looks alone were a love/hate thing. Under normal driving it was horrendous on fuel, had a heavy clutch, no steering feel, and sounded like a wheezy diesel. However, on the occasions when you could put your foot down, it totally transformed. Acceleration and grip were just brutal, the steering weighed up at speed, and the sound of the 5 cylinder 20v turbo engine on full song was just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie_k83 Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 I wish I had gotten to the point where i could drive the Talbot to know if i was going to make it to my destination.... lol It had gear crunching problems, so we changed the Clutch, Clutch Cable, Gearbox Oil etc etc and still no joy. Ended up costing £1k in a Gearbox rebuild...! Put the box back in all ok. No I cant get 5th or Reverse becuase of a worn linkage that now needs attention. I then Stalled it when running through the gears on the drive the other week, turned the key and "Click" thought the gearbox had locked up as it was stuck in gear, turned out to be a stupid earth strap problem. Fixed that and then manage to snap off what was left of a rotten metal coolant pipe that goes into the head... Its discontinued now so I had to modify the coolant system slightly in order to make it work. I also changed the headlamps as they were full of water and deteriorated inside. Guess what? the lights wont work properly.... See why i am begining to hate it so much? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieP Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Motorbikes have always been my true love, gave up when I had kids but I'm back with a vengeance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie_k83 Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Motorbikes have always been my true love, gave up when I had kids but I'm back with a vengeance Would love a bike, but i doubt my other half would be impressed! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axl Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 For me it was my old RX7! Love the car to be fair and had it along side my supra, great handling car and so different to drive. Just a complete pain in the ass to look after, was a very needy relationship Yep it needed a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robtup Posted August 27, 2016 Share Posted August 27, 2016 My old Ducati 996 love it but it's sat in garage under a cover for a year now because I'm fed up with it breaking down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 I wish I had gotten to the point where i could drive the Talbot to know if i was going to make it to my destination.... lol It had gear crunching problems, so we changed the Clutch, Clutch Cable, Gearbox Oil etc etc and still no joy. Ended up costing £1k in a Gearbox rebuild...! Put the box back in all ok. No I cant get 5th or Reverse becuase of a worn linkage that now needs attention. I then Stalled it when running through the gears on the drive the other week, turned the key and "Click" thought the gearbox had locked up as it was stuck in gear, turned out to be a stupid earth strap problem. Fixed that and then manage to snap off what was left of a rotten metal coolant pipe that goes into the head... Its discontinued now so I had to modify the coolant system slightly in order to make it work. I also changed the headlamps as they were full of water and deteriorated inside. Guess what? the lights wont work properly.... See why i am begining to hate it so much? lol Hey Ritchie, Only just seen this as been away. You might remember when I collected the autobox from you I saw it on your drive and said I had some experience with them. They were a strange motor and I went through various shapes and models of them before I eventually gave up. I do feel your pain, you didn't mention drive shaft problems, you will As I recall the gear linkage issues were really common and there where a couple of knuckle joints that had to be changed and also in changing them it was very possible to get them the wrong way round resulting in missing gears. Cant remember if yours was is a petrol or diesel but one of mine was a petrol and I had a head problem, replaced the head and it kept cooking under load conditions, but otherwise ran fine, spent hours and hours on it only to discover when I had put it together at the roadside in the dark like you do, that I had managed to put the head gasket on the wrong way round and blocked a couple of waterways. Who would design an engine that would let that happen, a single locating dowel would have prevented it. They were marketed as Talbot Express, Citroen C25, Peugeot J5 and Fiat Ducato, all pretty much the same but with market variations. Now here is an incredible but useless fact, did you know that you could remove the badly designed sliding door on the side and replace it with a pair of opening doors from the rear? OK you had the runner recess showing but that was easy to cover up. I discovered it when travelling somewhere and noticed that the J5 models sold elsewhere had variants with either a single or double opening doors at the side and the doors had the very unique look about them that the back doors had. At the time I was having nightmares with the sliding door on the LWB hitop I had and went for it, found a couple of back doors and their hinges, drilled a few holes and job done. I moved on to Mercedes vans after this and would like to say I never looked back..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Jackson Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 My MX5 believe it or not... Bought the thing for £1.5k a year ago. I have since then had to spend the same again on just keeping the little #!?t running. Alternator, rear brake calipers + brakes all round, new mohair hood (I knew about that one when I bought it), new water pump and rad, new battery, new catalyst. List goes on. I had promised the wife that after the initial outlay, it was going to run sweet (as has been said all over the internet about these amazing, reliable MX5s that just keep going with very little work) and it has been in and out of the garage every couple of months. I dont mind waving a toolbox about, and getting to work, but I have had very little time to work on cars over the past year due to my PhD. So it has just been a right pain. BUT. Every time I drive it, I get this beaming smile across my face. I drive it gently at first to let it warm up and get to temperature, and then drive it like I stole it. Love the responsive steering and poised feeling of the body. Just feels incredible. Worth every penny to me (albeit delaying my Supra fund) but the wife doesn't seem to see it in the same way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianhid Posted September 7, 2016 Share Posted September 7, 2016 My Alfa. When it's running right, it's great. When it isn't, it's a complete sod (It currently isn't). It eats front wishbones for breakfast, not helped in the slightest by being great fun to drive flat out everywhere... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie_k83 Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 Shane, ours is a petrol engine lol. Think i'm getting to a point now where its fixed, just gear linkage, lights and welding to get sorted lol. Interesting about the doors though lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie_k83 Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 My MX5 believe it or not... Loved my old NA MX5's had 2 of them now lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie_k83 Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 My Alfa. When it's running right, it's great. When it isn't, it's a complete sod (It currently isn't). It eats front wishbones for breakfast, not helped in the slightest by being great fun to drive flat out everywhere... Never had an alfa, apparently you aren't a true petrolhead unless you have owned one lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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