Degsy's raison d'etre or at least my reason for having
Degsy was to have a vehicle to do my
horitcultural and
apicultral pastimes. I have an arrangement with a stables to collect horse muck. I keep bees on farmland. I have an allotment. I used to have just a
Vauxhall Zafira which doubled as car, client taxi, Dad's taxi, refuse wagon, delivery van, towing vehicle and all of the above. I suppose the trigger to get a specific vehicle for all the rough stuff was varied:
- Finding that the bloke that cleans the cars at work would not touch it except for an increased charge. No wonder, I found a small potato that had rolled into quiet spot under the seats had starting growing.
- Having Bees on the far side of a farm. It being a half mile off road trip.
- Constantly transferring things to the car to the shed to car to the garage
- The car in regular need of cleaning
- Wear and tear
Now that I have run
Degsy for a few months and discovered what I really use it for together with coming to the understanding that the current government
scrappage scheme means
Degsy is worth twice what I paid for it without doing anything. On the other hand there has been the fun of ownership like re-learning how to maintain the tuning and driving. The bit I over looked is that I really bought another hobby. I did not understand the cult status and following the Land Rover has. I seem to accidental bought an iconic symbol of the British automobile industry. So
Degsy does exactly what I bought it for with some unexpected benefits.
The fact the MOT is due in June 2010 means I will have to some work to
Degsy to get it to pass and creates a deadline. The main issue is the chassis and that leads me to a dilemma. Cash in for the
scrappage or keep
Degsy! I have to come a decision. The resolution of the chassis problem will seal
Degsy's fate. The repairs will be quite expensive but the repairs will make
Degsy last another 30 years. The choice is to repair the rust damage by welding new plates or just get a new chassis. Both cost about the same but there is more work in the re-chassis job but it is a longer lasting solution. However, even a average condition, re-
chassied Series III is worth more than £3000. In nutshell the choices are:
- Take the Chancellor's shilling, well £2000
- Restore a piece of motoring heritage
If the decision is not to scrap then a new chassis is required, will it be:
- welded
- new
A decision has to be made and I think I have nearly made it. It will largely depend on what happens in February 2010. Once committed to the restoration I will have to deal with the unknowns that are certain to arise as soon as the body comes off else the pile of bits will have no value at all. Oh happy day.
