Thankyou for all the nice responses. It sort of makes it all a bit more worthwhile. My wife tolerates such behaviour but thinks I'm 'out to lunch' with such endeavours. Occasionally it's good to do such things, shake up the routine..
Anyway, I have been 'negotiating' to buy this car for months. It's was in the same family since new. I have needed a complete Mk.1 interior for my Break for years and all trips to the French scrappers have produced nothing. Then gradually the list of things I need has been growing. Then I got wind of this.
I had been offered a better Mk.1 TRD last year but, not only did it not run or lift, the condition was too good and it went to another enthusiast to be repaired. I needed a spares car that could run/lift and was average condition so I wouldn't have a problem breaking it.
Unfortunately when I clapped eyes on this yesterday it was worse than it had been represented - the seller had been a bit 'imaginative'. He was also an amateur electrican so the wiring has been re-designed -badly. But the price was quickly reduced ( a little bit more than scrap value) and in the boot are some new parts so it was alright really. The interior is not as good as I hoped but it's salvageable . It will also be giving up a lot of its 'front end' to my Break which is still in deep surgery.
The trailer weighed 540kg ( it was hard to find such a 'light' one) and the BX almost 1000kg which was on the line of the maximum towing weight for the old bus, but it coped. When I got home I thought - never again. ( Til I need another 'adventure'!) Going through the high ski fields of The Black Forest ( 10% climbs and descents) was definately hair-raising with such a rig.
Mat asked
Is the Devil's Tail the road that loops back over itself? I remember vaguely a road like that near Freiburg...
Sounds like the one.
Re my 'garage' - it's a barn which unfortunately is riddled with woodworm! I've already had to replace the floor and I've gradually collected used beams to rebuild the frame. It just seems like an impossible job for one bloke and I do everything DIY. Old house, old cars, old barn = too many building sites!
