db's vehicles

db · Post by db » Sun Oct 16, 11 10:26 pm

I'm scanning all my old piccies slowly so i'm gonna use this thread to document my bikes n cars over the years...

Some were great.
Some were stinkers.
Comments welcome

I'll try to do them vaguely in order, so we'll start with my very first bike and my very first car--

Yamaha DT100 - This was to be responsible for my first proper crash- broken arm & concussion. Along with several pistons rebores and a crank, all in a fairly short space of time. Steep learning curve!

Escort 1300E - Gearbox died at some point but apart from that it was rot-free and faultless. Fantastic car, probably be worth a mint now!
In the Escort pic, you may recognise The Famous Santa Pod Mud and some of you know my old mate Ivan Sansom, of Eurodragster photography fame.

Adrian Worman · Post by **Adrian Worman** » Sun Oct 16, 11 11:10 pm

Ace stuff Paul, keep em comin mate please

db · Post by db » Tue Oct 18, 11 11:10 pm

Now for my first ill-fated excursion into Yank cars, curtesy of one Tony Froome.
Well known in drag racing apparently but when he quit he got into selling shockingly awful cars out of a yard near Aston.
Even after all these years, i would still love kick him hard in the nuts.

The Javelin was a complete deathtrap that he put 12 months mot on. I couldn't bring myself to inflict it on anyone else so took it back to him and p.exed it for the Monza. That was just awful, a gutless slant 4, 2-point-summat litre motor that after 2 weeks threw a rod on the M6. This started an oil fire directly below the carb which sadly didn't get the hint. I sold it for scrap.

Cannonball · Post by **Cannonball** » Tue Oct 18, 11 11:36 pm

brilliant paul,, i like the amc and what a great plate, also like them monza,s they did a black spyder version. i was a kid of the 70,s and my dad used to buy road and track so i remember all the 70,s pimped bespoilered and stickered muscle cars advertised new loved em,,i never knew they were all gutless machines,

crikey i thought a pinto was the daddy at school mind you it did beat all the other kids dads cars when we went playin football after school and the dads ran the team to various schools,,

mameries

db · Post by db » Wed Oct 19, 11 9:04 am

It's just a shame the one's i had were such sh***ers!
It was a great buzz driving round in the Javelin at 19 when all my mates were in Fiestas an Marinas and tat like that

The Monza was an awful colour, painted terribly, all the panels were wonky and the slant 4 motor (a V8 chopped in half i reckoned) was on death row.
They do look good in black tho, one was a regular at the Pod.
I still have the kingpin bearing somewhere, i'll dig it out an post a pic, you wont believe it!

db · Post by db » Wed Oct 19, 11 9:26 am

Just found another good one of my DT, taken with a starlight filter! Who says you can't polish a t....
Also note my mums Avenger and my Dads Allegro.
His 3rd Allegro.
His 2nd mustard Allegro.

Is it any wonder i ended up like this?

phil442 · Post by **phil442** » Tue Oct 25, 11 3:35 pm

Tony Froome............................a name from the past. Probably as responsible for me wanting a yank as anyone. Took me & a mate from the pub I worked in & he drank in sometimes, for a ride round Fradley Aerodrome in a fastback Barracuda in mid 1977. Think it was about a 1968 fastback, a V8 and a sort of mustardish/orangeish colour from memory. Think he was running funny car then, although he was keeping a rail dragster in one of the disused aircraft hangers there. Also, he had a 60's Fairlane/Galaxy & a huge station wagon thing there at the time. Also, went to his house once (when he lived in Sutton Coldfield) & he had an engine collection in the garage, but at the time I had no idea what any of them were.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Mon Oct 31, 11 5:56 pm

keep em coming mate fantastic

db · Post by db » Mon Oct 31, 11 9:47 pm

First bike after passing my test- the infamous Yam RD350LC, probably responsible for more deaths and injuries than any other single model!
Mine was an ex-proddy racer. No longer tuned, just hammered

I crashed this one more times than i can remember, did in half a dozen pistons and a couple of cranks.
We had a love/ hate relationship...

I bought the RD400 in boxes from a mate. I spend weeks rebuilding it, scouring scrappys for bits (never mind ebay, this was pre internet, hell this was pre-mobile phone! How did we manage?)
I made a grand total of about £1.50 profit.

db · Post by db » Mon Oct 31, 11 10:09 pm

And now the first chapter in the ongoing story of my beloved RD350 Aircooled.
Bought when i was 19, we've had more adventures than i'll ever be able to remember but i'll tell some of the story here.
Buying it was the 1st adventure, I bunked on the train to Bolton with my mate Andy, we managed to get almost to the last stop before we got asked for tickets, so we said we'd just got on at the previous stop- ah, the good old days

The bike was owned by a guy in the RAF, as he was away his Dad did the deal- £250 and it was immaculate.
We set off and didn't get 10 miles before it holed a piston. Found out later his Dad was cleaning it and noticed a lose screw on the carb...

I stripped it at the roadside with the Yamaha toolkit that was under the seat and found a holed piston, caused by that screwed-in-tight mixture screw.
We pushed it to a nearby pub and went inside to ask if i could leave the bike round the back.
We were warmly greeted with 'Sorry we don't serve bikers'.
I explained my predecament and she relented so long as we hid our gear. 'Two pints of snakebite please' 'Sorry, we don't serve snakebite'.
We settled for two ciders and went to sit down, 'Sorry that area is for diners only' Oh fer f....s sake!
In all fairness she did let me leave the bike there and we hitched back home with one barrel tucked under me arm. I can't remember why i didn't ring and demand my money back, i think in those 10 miles i was already smitten with the thing. I felt sorry for the old boy too, he was just helping his son and made a genuine mistake.
Once i'd got the rebore and piston sorted, my dad gave me a lift back to the pub, i cobbled it together and rode it home.
I'd had it a couple of years and alreaad crashed twice when these pics were taken. I stripped it to replace the second knackered crank and while i was at it, have the frame powder coated.
The first crash on this one was caused by a frayed throttle cable stuck-wide-open. As i'm swiftly accelerating towards the impending corner, i panicked and grabbed a handful of front brake, locking the wheel. Lots of sliding and tumbling and pain later i was lying in the road listening to the damn thing screaming away so i had to crawl over and hit the kill switch.

db · Post by db » Tue Nov 08, 11 11:07 pm

More...

db · Post by db » Wed Nov 09, 11 1:11 pm

My Chrysler Valiant Charger 770, if all the badges were to be believed!
318 auto, fantastic car. My Daily driver for about 5 years.
You can spot the point where i had the rear springs remade and it stopped being a low-rider.
The drivers door hinge started to rip out of the frame at my wedding (pic 7) so i had to climb in & out of her side- that went down well

db · Post by db » Wed Nov 09, 11 2:22 pm

Oh, and in one of the pics the front calipers were seizing on. Can you spot the tell-tale sign?

db · Post by db » Wed Nov 09, 11 4:38 pm

My MkIV Cortina 2.3 Ghia. I sold this to a mate, then bought it back a year later, then swapped it with another mate for a GS650.
One of the most reliable cars i've ever owned, was fairly quick and handled ok too.
Then there was Spot, my lovely Anglia being seductively modelled by Kai (who later took up skiing, moved to the Pyrenees and cut off his dreads. Strange boy)
Spot became matt black shortly after i got him and was perked up with a 1600 crossflow. Terrifying handling tho due to badly set-up Capri struts.
Finally for today, my Lancia Beta Spider. Bought from an old boy in Buxton i had never seen rain or a single winter but still needed over 70 patches welding in.
I also killed the motor driving it home over the snake pass a bit enthusiastically- i don't think it had never seen over about 3000rpm and the rings were all gummed up. A chunk of piston broke off above the ring, luckily it left the scene without too much damage. While i had the engine apart, it i had the head flowed,, lumpy cam, hi-comp pistons, twin 40 Webers, fully polybushed, stiffer suspension, new hood, recovered seats, etc,etc.
Gorgeous car, fabulous handling, loads of fun

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Wed Nov 09, 11 4:57 pm

I bought Rosie a Lancia Spyder identical to that (in the original silver) it was a superb motor...apart from electrics and the fact the end kept snapping off the clutch pedal!

You need to talk to Blue about Anglias though.