Austin J40... NEW INFORMATION!

[marcus]

Many thanks to all for comments and input about this (including Goggo who I have spoken to privately).

We have now heard from the owner. He thought he had ordered £1,064 worth of parts and had them delivered to us, but when my friend said we had not received them he checked his records and found that he had forgotten to place the order.

This suggests that he has done a good check of what he has, and now will order and pay for all the parts that are needed as soon as I or someone else agrees to take on the shot-blasting, repairs, shot-blasting, preparation and spraying, for perhaps around £800-£1,000.

Would welcome any more comments, as it is still a close call!

[Big Al]

Not worth it from where I am. Sounds like you will be working for less than the minimum wage and then give the thing away to be sold to the profit of someone else. Better off buying a couple of tatty running Mopeds and spending the same time on them. You get to play with them and when board sell them and you make the profit! Worlds full of OBEs and middlemen. Skilled work is a valuable commodity in a world full of numbties and needs to be traded for something worth having.
It strikes me you would be better off obtaining one of the tatty Tuk Tuks floating around. Adapting it so that your drum kit fits into the passenger space and you can then either go places 'set up' or have a driver and cruise round irritating the thump crash idiots with power base units in their boots. The Tonk tonk? You could become more than a One Man Band, One Man Banned!

[Bob Purton]

I agree, you could spend the 800 on blasting and painting alone.

[marcus]

Cheers lads. We have a tenant here who has a spray gun and compressor and we can easily rig up an outdoor spray booth with wood and poly sheet. Good local firm does blasting (approx £60 for a bike) and stove enamel (approx £60 for bike) so we << MIGHT >> get a good quote from them, and enamel might be good for axles, pedals etc.. If, IF this can all be done for say £300 then there just might be a little profit at a quiet time of year. Being self-employed means that "Minimum Wage" and "Fair Pay for Fair Skill" can sometimes be totally absurd concepts!

It is almost certainly going to be more trouble than it is worth, but there is Christmas to be paid for, and a Trade Show soon. We are having another meeting soon to have a detailed look at what the owner will be buying and making a final estimate of what will be involved; I am about 95% inclined to pass on it.

Al I have thought of a Tuk Tuk or preferably even a modified Sammell Scarab, Reliant Ant, or Tempo Van but there is no room for it in our yard, and anything "different" parked on streets is at risk of unwarranted Chavvy attentions.

[Big Al]

Sadly true. People look with their hands anyway but with the lack of respect for property and, I suspect, a growing jealiousy in any desplay in assumed wealth in a recession you have to think defensive. How about a Krupps half track?

[marcus]

Better still, neatly parked in an empty plot on Mandella Way, just off the edge of the Monopoly board's Old Kent Road and near the southern end of the Bricklayers Arms fly-over there is a Vera Lynn War Soviet T34 Tank! Just the thing to let Mayor of NORTH London Boris Johnson know what I think of him and his 2012 NORTH London Olympic Games, half-paid for by us in South London who get virtually nothing!

[Jonathan Poll]

When I first saw the pic, I recognised the pedl car, but didnt really think much about it. This morning, I went to the loo, turned my head to the right, and saw a giant pic of one...

I have an incredible life...

[marcus]

Funny story! My neighbour had one of those old rectangular enameled metal signs, with a picture of a Triumph TR 3A on it. He had owned and loved it most of his life but never realised it was a REAL car! One day he hung it up in his garage and I said that they are lovely cars, and a friend of mine has the earlier TR 2 version. He was amazed to learn it was a REAL car, and also realised that old gits like me DO know a little of use! I told him a bit about them, and 2 years later he had his own!

[Stuart Cyphus]

This morning, I went to the loo, turned my head to the right, and saw a giant pic of one...

I have an incredible life...

 One's inclined to agree....   

[Rob Dobie]

That's what the Queen says!

Are you sure you weren't looking in a mirror? 

[Oceanix]

Al I have thought of a Tuk Tuk or preferably even a modified Sammell Scarab, Reliant Ant, or Tempo Van but there is no room for it in our yard, and anything "different" parked on streets is at risk of unwarranted Chavvy attentions.

Where to find...? Are there any in the UK? The market here is more than empty...

[marcus]

Not easy! One forumite here did show me his Tempo pick up, but I had to turn it down for lack of space and preference for a Trojan

[Oceanix]

Okay, that is what I thought... There are plenty of pickup-Tempos here (LHD), however, busses or closed delivery vans of all modells are quite rare...

[Big Al]

Better still, neatly parked in an empty plot on Mandella Way, just off the edge of the Monopoly board's Old Kent Road and near the southern end of the Bricklayers Arms fly-over there is a Vera Lynn War Soviet T34 Tank! Just the thing to let Mayor of NORTH London Boris Johnson know what I think of him and his 2012 NORTH London Olympic Games, half-paid for by us in South London who get virtually nothing!

Steady I am still paying £50 council tax a year for London which is 70 miles away!