Passing the driving test, getting insurance and going to university put the idea of getting a 305 on the shelf for a while, but when i got a job in may after leaving university i decided to get one again.
The 305 is getting rare now so it did take a bit of looking on ebay to see one, the one i seen was advertised as a light restoration project with a few MOT failure points, the seller was looking £395 for the car but as i live in Northern Ireland and the car was outside Manchester I needed it to be driving in order to get it home myself. Thankfully the seller (Karl at 909 cars) was very helpful and was willing to fix the car up to go through the test which included welding to the sills, fixing the horn, windscreen washer, headlight, fitting a replacement radiator, and adjusting the carburettor to get through the emissions test. I paid for these repairs as part of the deposit, the time taken for the car to get repaired also gave me time to get flights, ferry, and insurance organised.
The car passed its MOT, and I also paid for 6 months tax which Karl was able to get for it, I flew over to Manchester airport on the 7th of June, and was picked up in the 305 and brought back to Burnley to check over the car and conclude the deal for the car, I was happy with the car, did the deal and started to drive it back home in the direction of the Holyhead ferry.
The first 10 miles of driving took a bit of time to get used to driving a 305 on the road, the rear suspension was a bit bumpy and the engine wasnt running perfectly thanks to a slightly worn camshaft but it soldered on, the traffic on the motorway near manchester had some bad traffic jams which caused a few tense moments with the temperature needle rising, thankfully the electric fan kicked in and kept the car cool. The car after the first 50 miles was running fine and got into the 70mph cruise ok, some hills did require a change down into 4th but the clattery camshaft didnt cause any other problems, i arrived at holyhead 2 hours earlier than the boat departure time:
The boat over was quite good, and i arrived into Dublin within a couple of hours. When the boat had docked the car started up fine and made the journey from Dublin to Dungannon without any problems, on the Irish motorway I gave the car the beans and kept it at 70mph, it did get some odd looks when overtaking newer cars in such an old boxy one, but the 305 maintained a constant water temperature and crusied effortlessly at motorway speeds. I arrived home at 9:30 in the evening, this was the car parked at home:
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac289/406executiveHDI/305/IMG_9081_zps5f257665.jpg
I got the car insured on a classic insurance policy with Performance direct, as the weather was good I drove it about for a couple of weeks to get a feel for how it was driving and try and decided what to do with it, I took it to my cousin Joeseph who liked the car, and told me to put a diesel into it, i said that it would be a good idea, he said that he might be able to get hold of a diesel.
A few days later while in work I got a text from Joe to say call round to the yard, this is what i was met with:
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac289/406executiveHDI/305/IMG_9144_zpscd017dad.jpg
It was a 1988 van with the diesel engine and other bits that were needed for a diesel conversion:
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac289/406executiveHDI/305/IMG_9141_zps03b18518.jpg
The engine and subframe were swiftly removed:
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac289/406executiveHDI/305/DSC04446_zps00ce8137.jpg
It was obvious that my 305 needed quite a bit of bodywork to get it into a presentable condition, it had advisories for rust in the front and rear bumpers, and other bits of rust in visible places that did not look great, nonetheless it did tidy up with a bit of polish:
http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac289/406executiveHDI/305/IMG_9170_zps48b1aba7.jpg
I initially put a bit of work into the Diesel engine, getting it a new timing belt kit, auxiliary belt kit, and most of the suspension parts needed, although i quickly realised that in order to sort out the bodywork the best thing to do it right would be to fully strip the car and do a full restoration and respray.
