shag.e

Thanks to you all, guys. I think we're all fed up of having everything we enjoy hijacked by the profiteers of this world. If everything continues to be quantified by it's financial value, I'm being farmed off to Dignitas.

I totally agree with an awful lot of what's been said. I've just bought what appears in my eyes to be a ropey Vit 6, and it came quite cheap really. I now need lots of bits, but the car itself is only a small corner of the deal; I've bought myself several years of playing with outsized meccano, meeting new people, learning and honing skills, enjoying days out for a drive somewhere nice, understanding and appreciating the people, circumstances and market forces which created the car, the parallel societal history, music, culture and fashions that prevailed at the time.... There's SO much more to doing it yourself than paying thousands over the odds for a car. It's expensive to do it properly, and you'd rarely get your money back for what you put into it, but Tarquin p***ing '47 Lafitte up the wall in celebration of having made a few grand on his hermetically-sealed Flying Spur or DB4 Zagato is his problem. As long as we can meet, chat, laugh, enjoy each other's company, pick bits up off the road that fell off the car in front on the way to the nationals and just generally enjoy ourselves, then our cars are a beautiful, enigmatic and much-loved accessory to the community that we are and the friends that we can become. For my money, THAT'S what it's about.

Have you had the computer reset? Serves anyone right for buying one of these Gallic travesties. I know that with certain stuff, the fault has to be cleared from the memory before it stops playing up. Have a look on the net, you can buy a diagnostics package for VERY little money which is downloaded to the 'phone, and they ship a lead out too. Best of luck.

Me again- didn't see the post that said the knattery was backered. I came back though to add that Haggis' post about the engine earth strap has a lot of validity, just in case it helps someone else. Best wishes buddy.

Hello matey, just spotted that you're having problems with the starter circuit and, correct me if I'm wrong, but it appears that the starter, the solenoid and the battery are all satisfactory when off the car. I wouldn't like to profess to expertise here, but there are a few other things that come immediately to mind. The first is the more obvious of the two, which is to suggest that there is a fault in the wiring or switch from the battery end through the ignition switch to the solenoid, though it strikes me that my second thought on the subject might be more likely; during your rebuild, were you quite liberal with the paintbrush? Especially around earth points? And I refer particularly here to whether you painted the starter, or the block, though any earth point that's been painted might not have full integrity, no matter how tight the connections are. I had this some time ago, and only found the fault when I took a direct load from the live side of the battery direct to the starter with a high-current cable. If there's anybody reading who isn't absolutely au-fait with motor electrics, leave it to an expert, but it sounds to me like an earth that hasn't fully 'made', which would also explain the slowly-climbing meter as the current tries to flow. It might also be an idea to feel carefully about for warm connections as, if this is the case, the resistance presented by the poor connection may well generate heat at the point where the fault lies. It's also possible that there's a fault in the reg box (or, indeed, a poor connection here, too) if you still have a dynamo on the car, or in the alternator regulator if the car has this fitment. Failing all else,....bigger hammer. I hope that this is helpful to you.

Eugh. I take it that the six grand was spent on beer, varifocals and tramadol.... have you also seen the Stag estate advert that comes up with it? Doesn't look or sound like a Weston-Super-Mud car to me.

Hi everybody! I'm completely new to this, so please let me know if I've transgressed any rule, or offended some protocol or another..... Aaaaanyhow, I've just acquired a Vitesse, which you may or may not have seen floating about in one of the many classifieds, and I thought I'd stick it up here that I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who remembers anything about this car, as I think it used to be a Sports Six club member's car. It's been off the road for almost a decade by all accounts, before which it belonged to Chas Bland of CB Cycles fame. It was registered in the Exeter area on February 7th, 1967, and appears to have lived near Newton Abbot for quite some time, before ending up in the Bristol area by the start of the 1980's. I'm fairly certain that by the 1990's it was in the club, and I shall be joining over the next few weeks myself. I've yet to contact Mr. Bland, but shall also be doing that this week. As I say, any information would be gratefully received. It's a dark blue Vitesse 6 saloon reg JTA 713E, if that jogs any memories. Thanks for any help whatsoever! Pete.