Two more 2.5 estates

[xmexclusive]

Been collecting life expired, high mileage 2.5 estates this week.
Yesterdays needed trailering as it had been stood SORN for quite a while.
Towing was outside my experience so the PO was kind enough to use his V6 C5 and a hired trailer to shift the XM.
95M blue VSX estate that needs some underbody welding if it is to go back on the road.
Quite a few other items needed as well so most likely a spares donor.
Thursday car was a silver 2.5 estate, a runner with just 7 days MOT left.
At a bit above 260k miles it is the highest mileage one I have taken on.
Generally well looked after, lots spent on it over the years, with loads of service history.
It has a temporary refixed front bumper following an arguement with a gate post.
The high estimates for the permanent repair had made the PO decide to part with the car.
He needed it gone before the MOT ran out and had obtained a few scrapyard prices.
Then he realised he was too attached to the XM to send it to scrap.
He made a few phone calls to try to find a new owner and ended up talking to me.
As it was a legal runner I collected the car from Milton Keynes drove it across to Sawtry to see Malcolm at Pliaedes then back home.
Apart from no syncro on third gear it seems to do all that you would expect of a 2.5TD so it will go for MOT on Monday.

John

[Peter.N.]

How are you doing for storage space John?

[xmexclusive]

Getting rather difficult just at the moment.
One over the top at the unit and one on a neighbours drive for now.
Expect a phone call.

John

[Dieselman]

It's good to see you are going to put that one through MOT. Presumably you can find a front bumper for it too.

[xmexclusive]

Bumper itself looks reuseable.
It is the metal work behind it that is rusted out and the support tube broken.
Fortunately the blue one has had all that part replaced.

John

[xmexclusive]

Well with a bit of effort the silver estate got its MOT.
Looks like it will need a fair bit of work underneath before next year though.
Lots of recent thick sealant on the inner seals.
Nothing poked through this time but not happy with the repair workmanship.
Nearly went down on a defective NS front wheel bearing until we realised the cause was actually a slightly loose hub nut.
Now need to find the time to make a proper examination of the Blue one.

John

[robert_e_smart]

Good news on the silver car John. I hate rusty estates!!

[Dieselman]

Good news on the silver car John. I hate rusty estates!!

I hate the rusty saloon sitting on my drive.

Not sure what to do with it yet.

[robert_e_smart]

Get the welder fired up

[Dieselman]

Get the welder fired up

I might have a poke around in the next few days, see how bad the sills really are.