Here's my luck with Cargo's (this will turn into a small essay... lol)
Going back about 7 year's i ran/owned a scrapyard, back then i ran a crewcab tranny, but realisticly needed a 7.5t for collecting van's ect, when a gypo walk's in wanting to sell a crewcab Cargo (ex AA) the truck needed a fair amount of work, but for the £1000 he was asking, i thought i'd take the chance. 1st trip out was to the tyre shop, whilst en-route a police motorbike spotted me, blues n two's running he chased upto me, right as i turned into the tyre shop forcourt. He question'd as to where i collected the vehical, and who from he informs me the truck had been used for stealing cars from car parks up and down the country, a quick VOSA inspection took place and she got PG9 issued (heres where i get hated by all on this site) i promtly returned to the scrapyard and cut her up
.
Still needing a bigger truck i ran to ebay, found a very nice looking Cargo (i dont know why i love them so much, but i do) it was reg'd as a recovery (no M.O.T needed) and it showed, again, she needed a fair amount of work, but was in useable condition (no 6 week checks seemed to have been done for a long time) so, i was useing her whilst bringing her back to spec, whilst on a job collecting a 2004plate hightop transit back from scotland i ran through some roadworks where i got a blowout (both rear n/s tyres) which, i dont know how, but managed to take out my brakelines sending me straight towards the central reservation, stopping about 6inch from the crash barrier. since i only carry 1 spare wheel and the amount of police interest i gain'd, i replaced the 1 tyre and clamp'd the brake line (tricky when the police are watching, and
NOT recomended to try) and slowly made my way to the next service area to await for help, once i got her back home, she was parked up till parts arrived / fitted, i then 'loaned' her to a friend who managed to get her stollen, no insurance payout, no truck.. total loss
Now running a car/van repair center i need to replace my current transit beavertail with something again, that can carry van's safly and legaly, i found a part converted 0813, she was a box van type that came from a airport (low milage ect) now wearing a beavertail, with a hiab placed on the chassis (although not bolted down as yet) after speaking the the seller, ensureing that the engine / brakes was in good order i yesterday went to Dumfries to veiw / collect her (on trade plates), everything the seller said seem'd true, she started fine, held presure on the brakes, and seem'd to move freely (no snapping sound's, and visualy the handbrake let off ok), so i wired up a trailor board to act as rear lights and made my move.... 2nd and 3rd gear she pull'd like a train, dropped her into 4th and she struggled to gain RPM (foot to the floor only just made the bottom of the 'green' area of the tachometer) so i u-turn and head back to ask if im ok to leave her there till i get back with some tools. whilst pulling up into his car park area a few ppl came running over shouting my rear brakes was glowing.... sure enough a nice shade of orange was to be seen, right at that point a large pop followed by a hiss came, then up in flames she went
. knowing how hot they was, i didnt investigate further, just returned home in car although i suspect it was the airline as the tyre still held air at presure. the seller did offer a refund, but i refused it, as i fell in love with her in that short 4mile? drive, she's a 1990 6.2L that drives better (even with the brake issue) then most other 7.5t's that iv driven (and iv drove a few).
Not the best start to a new relationship but 1 that im stubburnly going to work on!
Unless i can find someone close to dumfries that could free the brakes/ replace the bust pipe at a reasonable price, i will find myself heading back to scotland on thursday to repair unknown damage in order to get her home and start the restoration.
as of yet, i dont have any pic's of her, other than the ones i grab'd from the ebay listing, for your veiwing plesure i will post these below.
Known work for 1st glance:
Hiab to be fitted / piped propperly
4 small patches to wheel arch on both sides of cab
full sand down / treatment to chassis (nothing more than surface rust and i feel prevention is better than cure)
and now a brakeline thanks to me!
i will start a restoration thread once i get her home (i just hope i can get her back) it seems when it comes to Cargo's i'd have no luck if not for bad luck.... but im determined to have her, and to have a good working Cargo for myself. 'Watch this space' LOL
Pic's:
img689.imageshack.us/img689/7946/94042518.jpgimg5.imageshack.us/img5/6023/94042981.jpgimg831.imageshack.us/img831/1583/94042749.jpgimg197.imageshack.us/img197/1522/94043246.jpgOn a side note, although im more than able to work on vehicals (all aspects, electrical, body, mechanical) i have only realy work'd with 3.5t, so any advice or help would be greatly received, good and bad, if you see my doing something in a bad way please feel free to screem/shout at me