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[dave the builder]

Just popped in my head 
.....
Terry is keeping busy and active
best of luck to him 
when I reach 80  I hope i can still fix "old scrappers"

Terry's 80?     So almost as young as Lord Opti and Uncle STEMO!                 

they are past it *
Terry still gets the spanners out and has a go

*fixing cars

I'm not sure of Terry's exact age ,80 ish
don't think he can remember himself   

anyway, what's the alternative  finding a garage that will look after his family's cars without ripping them off

I hear a lot more about garages getting it wrong  , over-charging, miss diagnosing than garages that do a decent job for a fair price .

PLUS
Family is important , if you have the time and skill to help them then why not 

[biggriffin]

 I don't mind fixing, the cars that the family own, as they are all quite new and re++++, but Terry seems to go from one bad buy to another,  I hope when I'm his age I can still tinker about, and do routine service work, as well as Lord ooti style service.  It just seems every week one of Terrys eBay fleet breaks, or has a problem. 

[terry paget]

Just popped in my head 
is this the Astra that had a crash and needs a bumper swap ?
in which case, check the radiator for leaks etc

 I'm going to say this, I will be the nasty man, Terry stop buying old scrappers, that you bodge up and send your family out in, because they keep going wrong on a regular basis, the amount you've wasted in the past 12months could have bought your daughter and son a decent low mileage car each,, Alternatively let them buy there own cars, and you could have a rest......

any car, be it £500 or £50,000 will overheat if the rad cap is not tight 

and if this is the one that needs a bumper , I bet Terry is glad it's a "old scrapper" he can put a bumper on from his stock 
Terry is keeping busy and active
best of luck to him 
when I reach 80  I hope i can still fix "old scrappers"

No. This is the first Astra I bought, and the best! 171,000 miles, given no trouble at all in 10,000 miles. I had it in for a service and MOT in May. I have been offered £2000 to write off the Astra needing a new bumper.

[biggriffin]

Just popped in my head 
is this the Astra that had a crash and needs a bumper swap ?
in which case, check the radiator for leaks etc

 I'm going to say this, I will be the nasty man, Terry stop buying old scrappers, that you bodge up and send your family out in, because they keep going wrong on a regular basis, the amount you've wasted in the past 12months could have bought your daughter and son a decent low mileage car each,, Alternatively let them buy there own cars, and you could have a rest......

any car, be it £500 or £50,000 will overheat if the rad cap is not tight 

and if this is the one that needs a bumper , I bet Terry is glad it's a "old scrapper" he can put a bumper on from his stock 
Terry is keeping busy and active
best of luck to him 
when I reach 80  I hope i can still fix "old scrappers"

No. This is the first Astra I bought, and the best! 171,000 miles, given no trouble at all in 10,000 miles. I had it in for a service and MOT in May. I have been offered £2000 to write off the Astra needing a new bumper.

Accept the money put little more in and buy something a bit newer with less miles and some decent history,,,   But then £2k would buy 4 Astra's and you could make 1 good one out of all 4.   

[Doctor Gollum]

Take the cash, buy back the salvage and fix it. You'll still be about £1,500 up

[biggriffin]

Take the cash, buy back the salvage and fix it. You'll still be about £1,500 up

Buy 3 Astra's with £1500.

[terry paget]

Changing the thermostat, I have run into a connector with a blue insert. Before I have struggled with these; how do I release it?

[dave the builder]

It's just a wedge to stop the plug coming off
push the blue tabs inwards and pull it out ,then another tab retains the plug

[terry paget]

It's just a wedge to stop the plug coming off
push the blue tabs inwards and pull it out ,then another tab retains the plug

Thanks. That's more or less what I concluded; I pushed it in and and through to the other end. It still seems superfluous, and a hindrance to later repairs.
New thermostat now installed, in a short road test all seemed fine. In the morning I shall give it a longer test, and, if all well, return car to my son. Looks like the AA were wrong saying water pump or head gasket.
Thanks to all for help.

[dave the builder]

Glad it was a simple fix for you Terry
ask your son to keep a close eye on the coolant level for the foreseeable 

[Nick W]

Take the cash, buy back the salvage and fix it. You'll still be about £1,500 up

Buy 3 Astra's with £1500.

he did. But Terry's talent is to buy crap examples of ordinary cars. We should consider it as a community service, as it removes them from the market so we don't end up with them.

[Marks DTM Calib]

I do observe a level of petty and inappropriate comments and sniping in this thread from a few, its uncalled for and not needed.

There are over 7 billion variants of human on this plant and growing, no two the same.

I personally applaud Terry for running a good number of cheap cars, cheaply.

[dave the builder]

I do observe a level of petty and inappropriate comments and sniping in this thread from a few, its uncalled for and not needed.

There are over 7 billion variants of human on this plant and growing, no two the same.

I personally applaud Terry for running a good number of cheap cars, cheaply.

Well Said 

I think some people don't realize Terry Looks after many cars 
and all cars ,even new ones have an issue from time to time.
this miss-diagnosed (by AA) issue probably cost £50 to resolve including coolant 

I wish I had a pound for every car that's over-heated this week , or a pound for every car  that the AA (or other breakdown provider) miss-diagnosed 

Hopefully for Terry it's  "OK, that's fixed , on to the next one " Andrew Camarata style 

[terry paget]

Early morning test satisfactory, car returned to son Jonny. Another job jobbed.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I do observe a level of petty and inappropriate comments and sniping in this thread from a few, its uncalled for and not needed.

There are over 7 billion variants of human on this plant and growing, no two the same.

I personally applaud Terry for running a good number of cheap cars, cheaply.

Completely agree. If any of us are ever pushing 80, and still working on all kinds of cars we can criticise others who do the same. 
Terry is my hero. Would love to have half his energy and motivation.