BAStuds!!!

[scotty73]

If it wasn't for the dent I would actually consider a rattle can now.

For the sake of £12 you could get the paint matched by the guy up on Pant industrial and give it a go?

BASturds indeed.

[DaiRees]

No mate, the dent needs doing so it's got to go in.

I've been to a bodyshop that I've used before, he wants £130 for the rear corner. I know his work is excellent but he's really busy and probably won't be able to do it for ages (he gets insurance work that takes priority and keeps pushing the private customers back, last time I waited 4 months). I've also met with the Smart Repairer bloke, he wants £120 and won't make us wait, but he's a bit of an unknown quantity. Decisions decisions eh? Also still need to sort out the mirror.

Still waiting for the photos, I'm going to try to find the van myself and take a look. We think he's renovating a house in that street so shouldn't be too hard to track down...

[trufflehunt]

Now this is strange. One of the wife's colleagues phoned today to tell us that she's seen a van that's regularly parked in that street that now has corresponding scuffing on one side complete with blue paint, she's recorded the number plate and has taken photographs of the damage which she's going to email to us later. Of course this is entirely circumstantial and, without proof, we can't act on it, but it's a hell of a coincidence!

My father in law (who's a retired ex-copper) says we should inform the police of the incident and of our suspicions about this other vehicle because they'll investigate it. I argue that the police wouldn't give half a flying poo about it. What do you guys reckon?

Your father in law's advice on this would seem to be good.
Your suspicions would give the police something to go on.

[DaiRees]

OK, It's not exactly a smoking gun but here are the pics:




I dunno, it's certainly plausible, the light scratching looks very similar and that black trim would correspond to the dent in the wheelarch and the colour of the material that I T-cutted from that area. I'd like a look at it myself, in the dry, but if he's got any sense he too will have had a T-cut session by now...


I've been applying myself to the mirror repair. The housing was cracked, I glued it back together but there's a notch missing out of it at the edge.
Ignore the selotape, without the cover on the indicator is loose at the front edge.

For about £30 I can get a new, aftermarket mirror cover (painted in the correct colour) but I've also found a 2nd hand genuine Ford complete mirror assembly, the right spec (the model with the indicator and the electric mirror) and the right colour, for £50. A little bit more work to fit but I think it's worth it?

[Welly]

Not sure about that Van, it looks a bit low on his bodywork to have been in contact with the Focus?

I dunno, I guess as time goes on you'd think more about getting it fixed yourself, less about the other van, but then more about what a load of arse holes we share our communities with

[DaiRees]

Not sure about that Van, it looks a bit low on his bodywork to have been in contact with the Focus?

I dunno, I guess as time goes on you'd think more about getting it fixed yourself, less about the other van, but then more about what a load of arse holes we share our communities with

It only looks low on the van 'cos it's higher off the road. Look at the wheel arch heights on the 2 pics. And the black markings on the sill of the van are from the car's mudflap. I'm convinced it's him, but what can you do eh? No witnesses so unless he admits it....

I've ordered the 2nd hand complete mirror assembly I mentioned earlier so that'll be sorted this week. The dent / paintwork I'm waiting for 'er in doors to make a decision on, I assume it's going to go to the bodyshop we've used before rather than the bloke we don't know.

There are some right pricks in this world mate. I'd hate to add up the cost of other people's negligence / malice towards us over the years, and we have a pretty quiet existence really. I'm sure many people get this kinda stuff much worse. It really pisses me off that we work so hard for what we've got then some cnut thinks it's OK to take or damage your possessions. But hey, the world's not a fair place, is it?

Fek me, that was a bit depressing!

[dirtydirtydiesel]

You can get you revenge in the dead of night (3am) , I have

p.s I witnessed the culprick !!!!!!!

[DaiRees]

Changed the mirror today.



Anyone want to have a chuckle at my first ever attempt at a "how to" video? I searched the interwebs looking for one but they were all for the American version of the Focus, so they were a, quite a bit different and b, filmed by Americans So I decided to do one myself and put in on TalkFord. Here it is...

irh2HQ_ALm4

[steve_earwig]

That'll do you. No chuckling at all really, apart from you not knowing the difference between a bolt and a screw

[DaiRees]

That'll do you. No chuckling at all really, apart from you not knowing the difference between a bolt and a screw

Haha yeah, it's funny how your brain freezes up when you're trying to talk sense

[steve_earwig]

Hell yeah, I'd probably spend hours adding text because I trip over my tongue talking in front of more than a few people (no matter how little respect I have for them, a free gift from school that is) and I hate the sound of my own voice anyway.

[Welly]

"now I just need to lift the old mirror off".........urrghh.....eeeee......hnnnnggggg

That's a nice little how-to, well done, oh and I didn't know you had a French accent