_Chris_

Well I'm older and I was out in Ezzy in Kent for the hottest week, not only is the aircon missing but the heater is stuck on To be fair though, aircon would have been nice. I've been driving my WRC quite a bit which does haveaircon.

As for whether this is the new norm ? I doubt it. In '76 the reservoirs ran so low they cut off the water and installed standpipes. Population is 30% up since then with very few new reservoies. Back round the turn of the century when I was buying new cars every 3 years I was paying the extra for aircon as we had a spate of hot summers. My last one was 2005 and I haven't made a point of buying cars with aircon since as summers have been cold and wet. Weather trends go in cycles with some individual years being exceptions. There is apparently an upward trend but it's fractions of a deree per year.

It would probably be cheaper, easier and better to aquire the missing parts and refit. OR buy and use a compete aftermarket system rather than trying to use parts of the original which are likely incompatible.. There are plenty of cheap ineffective aircons available and it actually requires quite a powerful system to keep a vehicle cool as thermal insulation isn't good.

Last time I visited the area - The MOT expired on this one May 2014, and it lost the riser blocks in a car wash a year or 2 before that. Still sat in my workshop waiting for headgasket, clutch and welding, and probably a lot more by now.

cross head screws will inherantly centre any drill making this a good option. One the head has been drilled away the rubber should lift off leaving a short piece exposed you can get moles on.

I collect pictures od funnt road signs but most are me rather than the car. The famous Ham Sandwich one and my old lpg gen 6 came up on facebook memories the other day. Someone elses turn though.

Tailgate is much harder to paint than a bumper.

If insurance get involved then there's a reasonable chance it will end up with a cat c or d write off flagged which would make it unsaleable or at least reduce its value. If it's written off, the value offered minus the buy back may not cover a proper repair so you'd be worse off. If it were me, I would get a couple of quotes as a starting point. If it's a few hundred you would both be better off keeping it out of insurance.

Memory tells me this was Ulswater.

Just stumbled on some old photos so I'll post them over the next few days.

I have an old 3 post ramp which lifts on the central area of the car and is great for work on engine, suspention or fuel tank but useless for bodywork on sills or undersealing the middle. I ws toying with getting proper 2 post ramp but even those are not great for sill access and need good solid floor concrete which I don't have. I'm seriously thinking of getting a set of these as they're perfect for sill work (one of the most common rust points on ll cars) and ccess to the floorpan. I see no reason why they can't be used as trolley jacks under subframes or sills for wheel off work

Just found the post.

I did see a place mentioned for a lift on here recently and when I googled it looked like good kit, not cheap though. Not worth risking life to save a few quid. I should think being squashed isn't a nice way to go either.

From many decades of experience Ferodo pads are the best for fade resistance and also lifespan. These would 99% have been fakes, not uncommon from ebay swellers. (The 1% covers the unlikely scenario where the compant has gone to pot recently)