Bar stewards

[Cornholio]

[rant]



Went out to take the Volvo for its MOT and service this morning. Saw something on the floor and thought "my, that's a thick piece of cable". Looked a bit closer and saw that it was my gutter trim.

Some item of pondlife has bent my two nearside doors and the bodywork in a bid to gain entry to the car. They've evidently tried to hotwire the poor old boy, but failed.

I popped around to the garage to explain what had happened and to say that I wouldn't be able to bring the car in. They told me that I'm the second one today to cancel for the same reason.

[/rant]

[Chris_C]

Dude, I'm sorry. You've really not been having luck with the redline lately. If I've got any bits that can help you just shout, I've not got any panels, but have most other bits buddy.

[germ]

omfg wtf is going on here, my car too this morning has been tamperd

nothing much seems damaged but my door was open my rear view mirror off and plastic trim gone...



words cant explain my anger!

this has got to stop! i hope the little @###'@# get caught!

iam ment to be at college right now!! not dealing with this.

cornholio i hope its ok / fixable this is taking the p'##

[Cornholio]

Hi guys,

Thank you for your kind words.

germ; I'm so sorry that you've had problems today too.

Chris; thank you for your offer of help. I think I'm going to give up with the Redline. It was going to cost a lot to get it through the MOT, now it would need the bent doors and panel sorting too. Who knows, I may buy another 300 if I see a nice one. For now though, it's the bicycle. Not that I can carry my bass rig in my panniers. G!ts.

I've heard it said before, but both the policeman and mechanic told me that the old cars are most often targeted as they tend not to have the fancy alarms / immobilsers / etc.

[Chris_C]

If you do feel you have to give up with her, and no one is willing to take on a project, give me a shout. Fake's MOT is up early Feb, and she needs a lot of 1.7 specific underbonnet parts.

Thing is, you know I hate stripping one car for another (Fake was only ever supposed to keep Kar going ), so last resort if you can get someone to do her up. When is the MOT up, this week?

[MJ]

Blimin' hooligans, something needs to be done about them Preferably utilising pain

I live in fear of something like this happening to our 340

Hopefully they can be fixed, or otherwise useful parts gleaned...

[Cornholio]

If you do feel you have to give up with her, and no one is willing to take on a project, give me a shout.

James had recently expressed an interest in having the car for parts. I sent him a PM earlier, so if he doesn't want it I'll let you know.

I believe the car is in quite good nick under the bonnet, with the exception of the carb.

I've just been out to have another look. Why oh why did they have to bend the two good doors???

They'd tried to pull off the panel under the steering wheel but had presumably been disturbed as they'd only managed to remove one of the fasteners. They'd also pulled off the thing in the middle of the steering wheel that operates the horn, but I've put everything back and it all seems to work. Trouble is I have two doors that let the rain in through a one inch gap at the top.

So, Chris or James. Let me know if you want it. You can drive it away until 29th December, after which it'll need an MOT. Tax is until the end of January. I'm afraid you'd need to collect it though.

Oh, and I'm not all that far from Buxton...

[Ronnie]

This really sucks. Doing one door is bad enough, but why the f**k did they feel the need to do two?

I had someone do this on an old 440 - no matter how often I tried I could never get that door back into its proper shape. But by winding down the window (if it will wind down), standing up in the open doorway and pulling the top of the door back in towards the car, bracing the door with my body, I managed to get another couple of months use out of it. Unlike your car, mine wasn't worth fixing properly. You probably need new doors...

To quote Pulp Fiction:

Vincent: What's more chickenshit than f**king with a man's automobile? I mean, don't f*ck with another man's vehicle.
Lance: You don't do it.
Vincent: It's just against the rules.

[Chris_C]

You definately sure it's not worth putting back together Gavin? I'll ring Foggy tonight, and sort something out, I'm more than sure the bits I want are bits he won't if you are going to get rid.

[Cornholio]

Hi Chris,

In addition to needing both nearside doors sorting out (they were levered from the top), I know of the following:

Exhaust blowing
Carb worn
Losing coolant (I think it needs a new expansion tank)
Vibes above 60mph (garage said they'd balanced my wheels but it is still shaking)
Both gutter trims now damaged
Rear bumper mount bent
Corrosion on:

• Crossmembers
• Front panel
• Offside rear arch
• Offside A pillar

On the plus side, it had new shocks and spring plates in the summer. I wouldn't have bothered with those, only I'd just spent £100 on new cam and alternator belts. Plus the brake lines were all replaced less than two years ago.

I don't have the money or the inclination to sort it, but if you guys can make use of it that would be good.

[germ]

this is real......(think of bad word)

so i chucked 250 odd quid at mine today and most is fixed. still need to fix the rear view mirror and some inside trim.

gonna get a good alarm now but i dont like to say but iam really scared...


Will

[Chris_C]

What you need buddy? Same as I said to Gavin, where I can help out with bits I will, I've had a car broken into and know how sh*t it feels.

[redline]

It always gets worse leading up to christmas ,

the scrotes are just after whatever they can find in the car and if they can drive it away they get more "fun " out of it ,

Chris's GTi was done the other day , rear quarter window put in , couldent start it so they had the head unit and bassbox plus amps out of the boot and that was on his driveway and directly under a street lamp so all the old advice of parking in well lit areas dosent apply anymore.

Only yesterday a friends 2 year old Zafira was done drivers door handle ripped out ,

Its not only what they steal thats a major pita its the damage they do getting to the stuff and the hassle of getting it fixed.

yes an alarm or steering wheel lock will probably disuade the car thieves but not the smash and grab boys because they are gone before anyone can react.

unless the alarm has motion detectors that cover the interior you are ,frankly ,wasting your time.

the little shits are so brazen these days and a lot of car crime is drug related i.e. stealing stuff to sell in order to buy drugs.

these are the worst kind because they are so desperate to fund there next fix that if you go out to them ,they are just as likely to stab you as not.

I know parts of Nottingham ( where Gavin lives ) are pretty bad but this is a nationwide problem and not restricted to the poorer / rougher areas anymore.

[redline]

I suppose you could always get one of these

http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/africa/9812/11 ... rower.car/





or a pit bull, but that would probably do mors damage to the interior than the car thieves

[Ricatron]

i hate anything like this dude i feel sorry for you.

my mates pride and joy legacy turbo was left outside (normally garaged) for 1 night and that night we woke up at 4am randomly to see the car pushed round to the allyway out the back with the doors open and ignition on.
think my mate scared them when he switch the kitchen light on for a drink of water.

i have never felt so bad ever! he still has the car but that was the worst feeling ever and it was not my car. i have a strong connection to the car though.



dont let the little Sh!ts distroy the car though, it would be wrong to let them win.