Workin' at the car wash

Step one, clean the crap off the car so we can see what we are working with.   Lets get some before and after pics up shall we...

That's the inside sorted, off to Adams place to fire up the pressure washer to blast outside...

SOOO much crud came out of the wheel arches, its unreal, but now its all shiny.

Its not perfect and there's some rust around the edges but it should do the job.  More updates on the various mods and repairs to come, stay tuned.

The big reveal

Finally managed to snap a few pics of the wagon, check out our ride...

As you can see, its in reasonable nick, but needs a good clean.   We have a list of things to sort on her, so we will be documenting that over the coming weeks.

Doin' it for charridy....

For those of you not paying attention (is anyone actually even reading this?  leave a comment below :D)  we have now added a link to our charity donation page to the side bar over there  --->>

ScumRun 2015 is raising money for JDRF: The world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research.

Go to their website for more info about the charity:

www.jdrf.org.uk

We need to raise at least £500, but we are aiming to get well over £1000.  If we can get a few thousand we stand a chance of winning the prize for "most money raised" but its all for a good cause so please give generously.

Toy-mota time... again.....

Well we did it.. we have a car.. its.......another...

Toyota Previa 
A "GL" Automatic this time

Is it a luxurious beast... no, not really.
Does it drive and not have bits fall of it... YES!

Its big enough for what we need, reasonably grunty and seems in ok nick.  We need to get under the bonnet and have a good poke around but a quick blast down the A27 seemed ok without any major dramas.

For reference we also looked at another Galaxy that was a total heap, a Volvo estate that, despite being massive, wasn't anywhere near big enough for our needs. a very brief look at a Mitsubishi space wagon that may have been an option but the seller didn't get back to us, and we put an offer on a VW Sharan that might be available, however the Previa is here now, so at least we have something.

Pics and more info to come (but don't hold your breath... it may be a few days).

Houston, we have a problem...

The shuttle is venting steam and we cant find the source... !!

Yup, That's another possible wagon off the list.  A Honda Shuttle 2.3L Automatic.  It drives well, has plenty of space but there was a oddity with the temp gauge, and a strange bit of steam coming from under the bonnet.  A bit of poking around and we were still none the wiser, so rather than risk a costly repair,we decided to add it to the scrap pile.

Those of you paying attention will realise that time is rapidly running out so if anyone has a car that would suit our needs, for the duration, that you are willing to part with for around 500 notes, give us a shout.

Toy-mota time...

Today's excursion took us out to, what could conservatively be called, the boonies.  Given a postcode that was literally 2 miles adrift of the actual location meant the seller had to come and find us and escort us back to his place.

We finally found the car, and it wasn't too bad.  Its a 2.5L Manual Previa GS,  but as usual in this price range it needed a little bit of love.

Unfortunately the seller was being a bit unaccommodating and wouldn't budge below £700 so that's another one off the list.

Pics below:

As it happens, on our way out we noticed that the guy selling this car also has had dealings with the scum-runners.

Didn't seem to sway him at all regards to price though.  Oh well.

A long time ago...

...in a galaxy far far away... or at least on the other side of Southampton!

Option #3 on the quest for the 2015 car was a Ford Galaxy.  This is essentially the same car as the Alhambra but with a ford badge on the bonnet.  This was the petrol 2.5L, seems to have plenty of poke in it, although the air-con and a few other bits left a little to be desired.  I am also not sure there was a single un-dented panel, and it had some serious rust under the door sill both sides.

Asking price was a little higher than we were hoping for at around 600 quid, although we could have probably knocked him down a bit, but by the time we decided to go back it was already sold.

Probably for the best, the guy seemed a bit dodgy anyway, oh well onward to glory, or something.