My car failed it's MOT on rust, I went elsewhere and it failed again. I had always planned to do a full on, 'glass out' respray at Bodymech probably next summer but can't really afford it at the minute. The car is out of MOT and it is here...

 

 

Insurance is up in 2 weeks, I am skinto because I just got the mechanical refresh done (K-Sports, Clutch, Cooling) This was because I could only drive it very gingerly as it was, the brakes were crap and the clutch was slipping. But now, it is knackered. I can afford the insurance I planned for that, but any big repair and we are into tins of beans and "please Mr bank manager..."

 

 

I feel awful, I feel like an idiot, I don't stop telling people how much I love my car blah-blah, but it is now borderline, "spares and repair". The garage it is at could patch it, but it will be an agricultural job, I think were past staples and glue, and into re-constructive surgery with this one.

 

Do I re shell, do I repair, do I retreat :wacko::no::sad:

 

And, If I drive it to bodymech for repairs, am I gonna get nicked. I am not taking the piss, I am taking it for specialist repair without MOT. And I will do it between midnight and 8am.

You could always rent one of those fat bed style transits the gypos use for well lots of things for about £60 and then no worries. Save fuel as well.

A plan is in place.

 

I will collect the car from Forres tomorrow and drive it to my parents place in the North East. Then on Thursday get it to bodymech about mid day. 2 journeys are better than a big 9 hour one, that is common sense and surely a police officer would rather I didn't drive 450 miles in a one-er in efforts to please VOSA.

 

It will then get sorted out by the lads at Bodymech.

 

Alan is going to Email me proof of booked repairs and I have printed out this...

 

Are you making the journey a) with your existing MOT still valid (you got it tested before the expiry date)

or b) no MOT and driving to a booked MOT/repair place. In which case has to be done in one journey.

Personally for the amount it would cost in petrol to drive there and back i'd take a car transporter out for hire, drive it down and drop it off.

 

It would definitely cost less than driving at 22mpg, less stress than thinking you're going to get nicked all the way down and back and also as good as boldy and mantav8 are it's going to take longer than a day to do so you'd be better leaving it with them, let them get it MOT'd then fly down to East Midlands/Nottingham Airport and get a fellow zedder (i'll happily volunteer) to pick you up and drop you off at their's to retrieve the car.

 

Safe, sound and sorted :)

 

EDIT:

 

292 miles @ 22mpg = £292 in petrol alone.

Hotel for a few days = £150+ quid

 

A transporter: 100 quid for a day

Diesel: 180ish

Flight down afterwards: 30 quid?

Edited July 8, 201411 yr by bantambunny

I will be dropping it off for a few weeks and will get trains and planes back to Moray.

 

Andrew G, it is out of MOT so in that case I will drive one 9 hour drive then, quite annoying that the sensible safe stop in the middle option is not permitted. With car transporters, I don't think I can drive one, I am 24 and do not have a trailer license.

You can drive a transporter on your licence as long as the total weight is less than 3500kg. I have the same licence you do and I did this:

 

 

Check out http://transporterhire.co.uk/

I did look at that, and haven't discounted it, looks like Glasgow would be the nearest with that partucular company. :whacko: more research required.

The transit idea really is the best option mate. Even if you are within the law it's not worth the aggro, a lot of coppers will drag you into the police station or court before discussing actual law, the sentence "if you disagree you can always contest and go to court" is a favourite as they know no one wants to do that.

For the peace of mind and saved fuel it's worth spend a few extra beans on the hire van.

I've used a transport guy a few times now & passed his number on to a few club members. He's very reliable & gives a good price. Can pm you his number if you want, might be worth getting a quote.

Yeah please Tom, if you could :)

just seen my name mentioned in this, yes i've got a beavertail but i dont fancy doing 6hours drive to the north of scotland, and i also a plater/welder but i'm unsure how this repair could be done. usually when patching up i'd usually just got the rot out and replace. i have a breaker here if you wish send me some measurements and i'll cut the sections out and post them to yourself, i'm quite sure there will some1 in the north of scotland who can weld the sections back on, give it a clean up put your skirts back on to cover the bodge an jobs a gooding!

Hello all. an update. I would like to say once again that I truly appreciate the help, advice and support offered to me by members of this forum, as if I needed another reason but I would not swap my zed for a F430 if it meant losing this support network. So Thank you all.

 

I didn't announce what I was going to do because too many people had offered more sensible solutions but I drove the car to Bodymech where it will stay for a good few weeks. The drive was probably legal, I had a lot of paperwork printed off and on the passenger seat, rules and regs, emails, and all my license and insurance stuff; but it was about as stressful a drive as if the boot had been full of guns, girls and crack!

 

I was really shaken when I saw the damage/deterioration, after so much time, effort and money to get a slap in the face/wallet like that was hard. But I am too attached to the car, too stubborn to be beaten, and not cold enough to watch my car be broken.

 

The car will be resurrected, given a new lease of life by Allan and Darren, the clock will be reset on the chassis, after a long discussion I couldn't find a new look for the car that I would be happier with. I thought about Kaki-calimari skirts, diffusers, splitters, but in the end came back round to the fact that I love it how it is. For a change I am having the roof bars painted black and of course the rear K sports are going on. I feel relief that the car will live, like a dog saved from euthanasia I expect it to be wagging it's tail with a loud joi-de-vie when we meet again.

 

Awesome choice and balls of steel that man.

Awesome news mate. Nice one!!

You should definitely write novels, Tom...!! :lol:

 

Glad to hear it's going to be sorted and certainly glad to hear that your rather nice Zed won't be getting stripped and scrapped!! :thumbup1:

Good decision mate, glad you got it there ok.

Good lad, sometimes the only way is to do it the right way.

Tom, that is excellent news! Great to read that you are going get her repaired and back on the road rather than giving up. Well done!

Its in good hands Tom :thumbup1:

Hi Tom......... have you spoken to Ruishy1........ He's a welder........ and I think nearer to you than me.......

If you were local to me I could have fabricated you some panels and welded them in......... I'm not a pro...... but did mine last year and they passed MOT scrutiny....... lol

How far forward is the rot going???

If you can borrow a borescope and look inside the sills it will give you an idea how bad it is....... but be prepared for it to look like the pictures of the titanic after 25 years at the bottom of the ocean......

When it is done make sure they use weld through paint and treat inside the sills where you can't get to before closing up the sills after repair.... I cleaned up as much as possible......I used a zinc primer and then painted as much as possible with spry hammerite....

When welded closed I used the interior holes to pump Dinitrol rust killer and then a week or so later a waxoyl type treatment to finish with.........

This will be a yearly top up for me from now on........

 

If I can help in any way just ask mate........

Russ

 

I took so long to type this that you drove to bodymech while i wrote it..............lol

Edited July 11, 201411 yr by veilside01702

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Cheers Russ, again I am humbled by the gestures coming forward. But I tell you what mate, it was a Looooong 2 days! 8 hours from Lossie to the north east (looking at every car and overpass). 3 hours down to Nottingham the next day, then non stop trams and trains from 2pm till 1230. Then a laid on taxi due to delays on the journey to get me to camp. Got to bed at 2am! A proper mission :biggrin:

Good news that your Zed is in the more than capable hands of bodymech mate.

They will do it and you proud I'm sure.

Have to agree with so about the snout being replaced!

While its there mate, might be worth seeing if they can have a go at getting the front bumper to fit a bit better and throw on one of their custom swb/lwb/hybrid rear bumper creations :thumbup:

Good news that your Zed is in the more than capable hands of bodymech mate.

They will do it and you proud I'm sure.

Have to agree with so about the snout being replaced!

While its there mate, might be worth seeing if they can have a go at getting the front bumper to fit a bit better and throw on one of their custom swb/lwb/hybrid rear bumper creations :thumbup:

Lol!-your waaayyyy too slow mate!:ninja:

 

Besides,any Bodyshop that would do a Re-paint and not get the panels fitting aint' worth mentioning!

Lol!-your waaayyyy too slow mate!:ninja:

 

Besides,any Bodyshop that would do a Re-paint and not get the panels fitting aint' worth mentioning!

 

Don't mention panel gaps!!

Don't mention panel gaps!!

 

Eh?