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What have you found?
ned - 22/5/03 at 09:49 AM

I was on my way home last night and saw a gearbox lying in some mud in a layby. I commented to girlfriend and continued on (thought it best not to stop with her with me) but half a mile on she said 'will that fit your kitcar' so around I turned and seeing it was a ford box stuck it in the boot!

Only problem was getting gearbox oil all down my best levis (which hasn't come out - damn.)

Anyone else found anything useful recently?

I'm assuming the gearbox is an mt75 due to the external webbing and integrated bellhousing.

I'm using a vauxhall which requires a special bellhousing/adapter so it won't actually fit. I'll probably post it in the for sale/wanted section but if anyone wants it I'll happily swap it for a type 9.

Couple of photo's taken with it in my boot last night:



ChrisW - 22/5/03 at 01:46 PM

That's an MT75 all right. Got to wonder why it was dumped there though...?

Chris


timf - 22/5/03 at 01:59 PM

it fell of the back of a sierra


I know it a bad joke but then ...


ned - 22/5/03 at 01:59 PM

I know a mate of mine rolled his 50,000mile p reg escort at the very same spot 2 months ago, not 100% sure it's from his car though.

Haven't had a chance to look at it properly yet or clean it up or see if it's damaged. Don't remember seeing an input shaft though...

Andrew.


ned - 22/5/03 at 02:02 PM

what am i on about, can't be off his escort, that's front wheel drive.

oh well, if i get a chance I'll clean it up at the weeked and check it over.

Ned.


Liam - 22/5/03 at 04:09 PM

No input shaft? That might compromise it's functionality a little =).

Looks like a Transit MT75 to me if that bit on top in the middle is where the gear stick goes. Ones from RWD cars are a bit different. Probably dumped cos it's shagged! But I could be wrong...

Liam


Alan B - 22/5/03 at 04:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Liam
.....Probably dumped cos it's shagged!.....


<begin sarcasm>

No Liam, people dump perfectly good gearboxes in lay-bys all the time....

<end sarcasm>

Sorry mate...couldn't resist....


Liam - 22/5/03 at 04:57 PM

Mock you might - but I was just coming to the wondrous things I've found in ditches...

Only the other weekend me and some mates came upon a lovely 1.8 sierra saphire. Owner had obviously decided to fix it - sourced a load of parts (which were in the boot) then thought f**k it and dumped it. Tool-less we could only help ourselves to the spares in the boot - instrument panel with tacho, radiator, fuel pump, ECUs. Planned to go back and have the rear axle under cover of darkness but the bank on teh other side of teh ditch prevented us from tipping it on it's roof. Probably still on the A421 by Great Barford if anyone wants it.

On the way back we cruised around a local industrial estate cos my mate is looking for some bmx wheels for a recumbant he's building, and i wanted some nice bits of metal out of a scrap bin, and we only find an abandoned 2.9 scorpio. This was amazing cos we needed the fuel pump of this very age scorp to ressurect our 4x4 scorp field car! I got to work on that while my scorp owning/loving mate raped the interior like a pro - had all the electric switches, trip computer, power amp and various bits of trim out in about 10 seconds, and got a brand new spare tyre out the boot.

It's amazing the things people dump - very productive afternoon in the end. No BMX wheels though.

And I still think ned has a shagged transit van gearbox

Liam


Alan B - 22/5/03 at 06:38 PM

Hmmm...I stand corrected.....I should get out more...


MK9R - 23/5/03 at 06:40 AM

So it was you Liam!!!

That was my Grandfathers car!!! It broke down, making is way home by foot made him ill and has been bed ridden since!!! I don't live near him so had to wait till i had a spare evening to go and collect it for him. When i got there "some" scroat had rifled the bits from the car

Not very happy!!!!!! I am actually pulling your leg, nice find.


Rob Lane - 23/5/03 at 07:56 AM

A tip to get oil out of your jeans.

Swarfega. Rub a generous dollop into the oil patch and work around and into the weave for at least 5 minutes with fingers.

Place jeans in wash and they'll be as good as new when they come out. Works on most oils except an odd one or two who actually use coloured dye to achieve their colour.

Rob Lane


kingr - 23/5/03 at 08:43 AM

Liam - Just out of curiosity how do you qualify a car as dumped rather than just parked?

Kingr


stephen_gusterson - 23/5/03 at 10:19 AM

on radio five live yesterday, liverpool city council defined dumped as having no road fund tax.

its taken away after 48 hrs and 70% end up crushed if it doesnt!

atb

steve


James - 23/5/03 at 12:01 PM

quote:
Originally posted by kingr
Liam - Just out of curiosity how do you qualify a car as dumped rather than just parked?

Kingr


I can't believe the number of abandoned cars there are around me these days.

I do worry sometimes that it's someone's car that broken down so always leave it ages. By the time a council aware sticker has been on it for two weeks and the local youths have had the battery, wheels, stereo, smashed the windows and lights and slashed the seats I generally feel that whoever owned this 'A' reg Sierra isn't gonna be too bothered!
Then it's time to move in with the spanners and have the diff!

I actually phoned the council and the Police about it to ask what the legal situation was. Police didn't really have much to say except that they'd tell me to b'gger off if they came along and the council told me that legally they're not allowed to sell them and they *have* to be destroyed.
Frankly if they're gonna crush them anyway you're being environmentally responsible if you're recycling the bits!

Cheers,

James


kingr - 23/5/03 at 12:12 PM

Typical council stuff then - can't make any money out of them to reduce our tax, just have to pay some ridiculous ammount to get them crushed, pretty much par for the course then.

Kingr


kingr - 23/5/03 at 12:14 PM

Hmmm, haven't seen many abandoned vehicle round my way, but maybe I haven't been looking or maybe they're nicked before they get a chance to be abandoned!

Kingr


Mark H - 23/5/03 at 01:24 PM

Not that related to car parts, but i remember in our old house, we put a new bathroom suit in.

We dumped this old (20 years i reckon) beige carpet, from the smallest of bathrooms, with visible mould, stank, and half the rubber backing had disappeared.

It had only disappeared in the morning. That is indeed skanky. it wasn't one of you lot, was it?!

I've done a bit of skip diving myself in my time.

Once found two fantastic 70's leatherette armchairs when i was at uni - sat outside a nearby furniture shop - i think they knew they'd be nicked & therefore saved them disposal charges!

My second was less salubrius. Found a double matress. Me and my mate (both drunk) almost got it home, had fallen into it a couple of times, then realised it was wet with piss! Nice.

I have a lack of car related stories, hope these were ok instead
Enjoy,

Mark


Liam - 23/5/03 at 01:45 PM

quote:
Originally posted by kingr
Liam - Just out of curiosity how do you qualify a car as dumped rather than just parked?

Kingr


Well...

Sierra was pretty obvious - in a ditch by a layby, police aware sticker, already discovered by local yoof and therefore had no battery or windows. Was strange the boot wasn't opened and still contained a load of nice spares.

Scorp was a bit different. Could well have been parked if it weren't for the police "oi, owner, we're gonna have this away" sticker. We considered the possibility of it still having a loving owner for about...5 seconds, then we raped it. Would have been there for a while to have the police sticker so it was surprising the yoof hadn't found it and wrecked it. Perhaps that's something to do with the fact the police headquarters is just across the road from the industrial estate.

I asked my ex-copper uncle about the legal side of things and he said that technically it's theft - no two words about it. He reckons a keen young PC or someone in a bad mood may be tempted by the easy arrest, but you'll more than likely be told to get lost.

Seems stupid you could be done for getting a few bits of an abandoned car to keep another car away from the scrapper (or indeed a ditch), but that's the law. They ought to make abandoned cars public property until they are removed and scrapped by the council - that'd be well handy. Then we'd have had that 2.9 scorp in our field to live the rest of it's days free in pleasant pastures green...being continually rammed by a daimler and another scorp =)

Liam

[Edited on 23/5/03 by Liam]


James - 23/5/03 at 02:46 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mark H

I've done a bit of skip diving myself in my time.

Once found two fantastic 70's leatherette armchairs when i was at uni - sat outside a nearby furniture shop - i think they knew they'd be nicked & therefore saved them disposal charges!



When at college I used to part time runa newsagents which meant being there at 5am to get the papers ready.
There was a electrical repairs/TV shop next door that used to do part exchange on old TV's and video players.
All the exchange stuff used to go straight in the skip outside along with the 'not economical to repair' stuff.

A colleague (who reckoned he was a bit of an electronics whiz) and I used to collect some of these up and cannibalise them to get working ones and then flog them to friends/relatives.
You'd be surprised how many different manufacturers kit is identical once you get the lid off.

We reckoned there was only actually about three manufacturers of internals for video players so we'd just combine what we could till they worked.
Made what seemed at the time like a fortune!

James


stephen_gusterson - 23/5/03 at 03:26 PM

most petty nick I ever saw happened to me.

When I was 19 I had a bad car accident. Fractured pelvis and walking sticks for 3 months.

Was walking along the road with 2 sticks with the GF (now wife) when we had a big argument. I threw a walking stick into the road in anger. Now, this was one of those cheap nhs wooden ones with a crook handle and rubber knob on - I was heavily into fashion in 1978. A car stopped, driver got out, picked up the walking stick, and drove off.

Thats Londoners for ya

atb

steve



PS

When I was 17, I stopped with some mates at a police aware car.

Cops drew up and told us to bugger off. Gave me a 'producer'.


Guess who didnt have tax or insurance.


stephen_gusterson - 23/5/03 at 03:31 PM

This was one that made us chuckle at work tother day.

We have a kid in production, not yet 18, who recently spent 500 quid on a yam dt50 trials bike.

He was ripped off - it wasnt too good at all.

During the first 3 days he had it, he was followed by another biker from work. This kid was riding like a wassock - cutting up cars at roundabouts, taking big risks.

Day 4, he didnt bring bike in.

Day five we found out why.

His mates and him were egging each other on, and he decided it would be cool to jump the grand union canal with it.

Needless to say, a dt50 aint built for that.

Kid and bike both in canal.

They got him and the bike out, which, stranglely, wouldnt start.

They pusehd it to his mates house where he could dry out and.....you guess....


it got nicked.

bike to canal to nicked in 5 days.


atb

steve

A notice went on our company board

"Lost - yamaha DT50 jet bike - reward given"



James - 23/5/03 at 03:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
Cops drew up and told us to bugger off. Gave me a 'producer'.
Guess who didnt have tax or insurance.


Had you told them it was your car?


stephen_gusterson - 23/5/03 at 04:00 PM

the dumped car wasnt mine

the tatty old mini I was in was, and it wasnt legal.....


James - 23/5/03 at 04:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by stephen_gusterson
the dumped car wasnt mine

the tatty old mini I was in was, and it wasnt legal.....


Ah, ok- that explains it!

I always park mine round the corner.

And just in case wear latex gloves too...


Peteff - 23/5/03 at 05:17 PM

Rub a generous dollop into the oil patch and work around and into the weave for at least 5 minutes with fingers.

How does covering my head with swarfega get my jeans clean.. .It works on grass stains as well and if you want some of those trendy frayed holes in your jeans and denim jacket just blow into the top of a battery to clear what you thought was a bubble.

yours, Pete.


theconrodkid - 23/5/03 at 05:41 PM

my dog found a £50 note in a ditch,he had a tin of pilchards for a reward(tight git)


dutchsuperseven - 25/5/03 at 09:19 PM

Hmmmm, Dutch beer, good taste!!!!!!


Cousin Cleotis - 25/5/03 at 11:15 PM

i found an abandoned cortina, i had the uprights off it.

Paul


robinbastd - 26/5/03 at 09:22 PM

2p


ned - 27/5/03 at 09:44 AM

update! it does have an input shaft (i get blind in the dark!) and as someone suggested could well be from a tranny as the hole in the top goes to a selector thingy, so gearsticj must have been on top of gearbox hence probably tranny.

is this of any use to anyone? i've now got a better idea for my gearbox....


Peteff - 27/5/03 at 06:55 PM

I went out to get the milk in and found a pound coin this morning. made my day.

yours, Pete.


jollygreengiant - 27/5/03 at 09:05 PM

My avatar was profetic.


jollygreengiant - 27/5/03 at 09:06 PM

..................................................................
The wifes pregers!



Enjoy.


chrisg - 27/5/03 at 09:10 PM

Congrats Mate!

Oh to be blessed with children, Mine are teenagers now and, on balance, I wish we'd got a hamster, but there you go.

Hope all goes well.

Cheers

Chris


jollygreengiant - 27/5/03 at 10:01 PM

Cheers M8. Already got 1 aged 13 & 1 aged 11 !


Enjoy.