Yup, I recognise that. The other day my van got within inches of getting forklifted into the metal skip.....

Amen brother!

I took on the stash of stuff that the Scottish club members collected
one man single handedly collected every scrap"Ive got one of those in the garden" 2cv/dyane that was going stripped it and stuck the best bits in a lock up and gave away loads to keep Scottish cars on the road.

He offered me the lockup and the stash for a very reasonable price, with the contents ive built a car given away stuff that there is loads of and tried to sell other stuff to cover the rent and my time and postage.

engine fettled & tested ready to just plug in and go( even with new oil and filter etc) must be worth £200 certainly in time? bring the car round ill put it in and keep the old engine "na! can get one for 30 notes off ebay"
good luck! hope the drive down to Portsmouth( or wherever) is an easy one

a D*lly got nearly a grands worth of stuff( at current new prices) last straw was when the owner phoned in a bank holiday weekend to say it had broken down in a city centre and i had to come and fix it.
gave em the phone no for a garage near by and wiped my hands of it.

then there is the "Guilt trippers" - tho its rarer now that even a shit heap of a charleston basket case is "worth" 4K - you turn up to take a scrapper away-

"what you doin with it?"

breaking it for parts for racer and club members

"oh ...id rather it went to someone for restoration...its a good one"

ok it needs new floor new sills new bulkhead and windscreen surround, new seat box new boot floor new inner arches A,Band C pillars new chassis the engine has been stood with the head in the boot and i cant turn the wheels they have blown the rims."

"but we had such good times in Molly the D*lly the kids loved it it only came off the road 10 yrs ago because of a stripped sparkplug thread I think you should think about saving it or i wont let you have it"

ok it was saveable 10 yrs ago but YOU neglected it YOU let it rot in to the ground, dont try to lay YOUR guilt on me.

even had one guy phone as his had been clamped and towed ,he didnt have £300 for the recovery fee or the £1.20 parking im guessing( or road fund licence as you cant get clamped or towed in Scotland otherwise) if I went and paid the fine and recovered the car he would let me have it for a very reasonable price after the mot ran out in a few months time and he and his burd had had their holiday in it!
erm NO!
"how could you! its one of the best it handles really well the engine is brilliant its got a chassis-its £600 to replace that you know! fine ill let them crush it "

ill get the bits from the scrap man for £50 in 2 weeks time they all go to daltons in the end!

confessional booth now free, NEXT

right on cue!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1988-CITROEN-2-CV6-SPECIAL-PINK-/180664161216?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2a106c53c0
read the description- its a "bullshit bingo" full house right down to "the kids love it!"

Not far out on the 4k either
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1982-CITROEN-2-CV ... 500wt_1156

I got one of those, a couple bought it new and as as couples are wont to do had kids. Once the second kid arrived the car was declared "impractical" and got driven onto grass and covered with a tarpaulin. The genius plan being that kid #1 can have it as his first car.

Fast forward 14 years or so and muggins arrives to have a look at a low mileage immaculate 2CV which needs to be started and MOTd after years in "storage".

Before I arrived they'd not yet pulled the cover off it, so that was the first job. It looked pretty good, no green muck but the interior was rather mouldy. I noticed however that the shell seemed to move as we pulled the tarp off it. Every single welded seam was rotted out where it had sweated along the spot welds under the tarp. It was so weak you could pull the body apart with your bare hands. The engine was seized solid, the chassis had sagged. All that was useable on it was the glass and door handles.

Apparently it was valuable because it had only done 16K miles; but I was too stupid to see it or perhaps I wanted to steal their car off them.....

People won't pay 40-50 quid for an engine If i wanted to replace the complete engine in my lambretta i would have to fork out a few hundred quid , if anyone wants shot of a working 2cv engine for 40-50 quid i would happily oblige, i haven't got a spare

Oh and that bloke who didnt pay you for the screen, you should have pooed outside his tent door

<considers posts in thread>
<considers contents of lockups>
Indeed...

I'm fortunate that I've never really dealt with the time-wasters so far but I've heard enough very similar stories from enough different people that I can't help thinking I'm bloody lucky in that.

Unless, of course, it means I'm one of 'em?

Yes you will, to support your fellow I2f-er who will be gunning for editor in August



When I bought my car I said to my dad "I want a cheap, fun car - not a social scene"

Humble pie eaten.

haha