Gromit Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Well what a weekend this has turned out to be. Up early on Saturday morning to take the car down for its first MOT after the complete rebuild. Guy in the MOT station was impressed with the car and it passed with flying colours to my relief. Next stop the post office to stick 12 months tax on it then round to my mates for a quick cuppa. After that things went a bit off. About a mile from where I live theres quite a steep twisty road. Driving down this road nearing the bottom of the hill a car pulled out of a side road straight in front of me, how he didn`t see me I dont know because I had my headlights on and was only doing about 30mph. Anyway, as I braked and swerved to miss him the back wheels skidded and let go, next thing I know i`m going backwards into a rather large, thick hedge at the side of the road. Neadless to say the nice chap in the other car b*******s off before I realise whats happened. Fortunatly the two cars that where behind me stopped and help me and the car out of the hedge (car was grounded out). The upshot of this is, after just 8 miles of driving my car now has a big hole in the side of the tub, broken off cycle wing, very bent air filter assy, broken off indicator stalk, loads of scratches across the bodywork and what looks like half a feild stuck under the car. I put the skid down to a combination of, 1) ME. Not being used to the car. 2) Old tyres. 3) Tracking out 4) Slippy road surface under the trees. 5) The other idiot. I think myself lucky that the car was still drivable and doesn`t appear to have suffered any mechanical damage. Compared to what other people have had happen to thier cars this winter I think I got off with it rather lightly. I`ve made a start on repairs today and hope to be able to graft the bit of the tub that was broken out back into the body. When its fixed the first thing i`m going to do is go and buy 4 new tyres and have the tracking set up (properly) front and rear. Speaking of which ,i`m thinking of using Yokahama 048`s (195/50x15 and 205/50x15) anyone got any opinions of these tyres, good or bad, and also what should I get the front and rear tracking set to (camber is set to, Front 1.5 degrees, Rear 0.5 degrees.) One very embaressed westy owner, Phil. Quote
ROC Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Phil, Am gutted for you, hope you get it back on the road asap. Rich. Quote
Cam Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Phil Hope you have stopped screaming by now, I would have been so so annoyed. All the best to you Quote
Leon B Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Thats bad news mate, and I thought I had all the bad luck! The roads are very slippy at the moment, Ive been struggling to get any grip upto 3rd gear. Quote
GWatson Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Hi Phil, Sorry to hear about your bad luck. Hope you get it back on the road soon. Graeme Quote
pistonbroke Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Sorry to hear this I know how you must be feeling. It's the pits when you have any accident but even worse when you know it was down to someone else. Might have been better if you had T boned the other guy he would'nt have done a runner then ! Hope you get it sorted soon Quote
Mark Stanton Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Bad Luck phil - gutted for ya Just rememebr that you're o.k - fibreglass and ali can be repaired much easier Quote
Rob Navin Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 Phil As has been said at least you are ok. As an alternative for the big hole in the front end Playscool can now supply new front ends for the tub, You can step them out at the bulkhead end and they look great. They may be an easier option for you. Hope you get it back to original soon Quote
scott beeland Posted January 16, 2005 Posted January 16, 2005 I TOLD him to take it easy Is that car Jinxed??? Quote
Boxy Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 Glad your ok! Some idiots on the roads today.... Quote
taffy Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 Hi, Glad your OK. Yup roads are very slippy at the moment. Rob Quote
Man On The Clapham Omnibus Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 The idiots are always around on weekends. Sorry to hear about the car. Have a nice cup of tea and some Wensleydale, Gromit lad. Quote
Mike dB Posted January 17, 2005 Posted January 17, 2005 Whoops! Glad to hear you are ok though matey I told you not to get lessons from Scott before you took it out Hope you get it mended ASAP!!!! Mike dB Quote
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