Intriguing skip find - NOS Lucas DDB106 distributor cap!

[naskeet]

Several days ago, I acquired from a waste skip outside a local high-dependency private medical facility (probably a private nursing home of some sort) which was shutting down, a new unused Lucas distributor cap (with integral Lucas label), for a 4-cylinder engine, in its original cardboard packaging, (marked DDB106 | MADE UK | 0393 | Barcoded 5 - 012665 - 005521). According to the package labelling, it is intended for various Ford, Rover Group & Talbot car models, including the 1972~74 Toledo and 1971~74 Triumph 1500 & 1500TC.

However, this distributor cap is different to that fitted to my 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 (registered mid-November 1974); being dome-shaped with a cut-out at the bottom, which is shaped as a combination of a 23 mm x 4 mm rectangle surmounted by 13 mm x 10 mm half-oval. I suspect that this is intended for a Lucas 25D4 ignition distributor rather than my Toledo’s 45D4 ignition distributor.

I also found a pair of part-worn 215/65 R16C commercial-van tyres (mounted on Vauxhall Movano wheels), which I might use with Mercedes C-Class 7J x 16 inch alloy wheels, on my 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 campervan.

[Galileo]

Never miss the opportunity to peer into a skip! A couple of years back I spotted a full Panasonic KXT telephone system that I then ebayed bit by bit and made around £600 from, and going a bit further back now a load of VW Golf parts from someone who had just bought the house and was clearing it all out.

[xvivalve]

Likewise, I never miss opportunity to cruise a skip, non ferrous metal and cabling all gets weighed in for the local children's home, sizeable timber comes home for the fire and log burner and all sorts of treasures beside. A pair of very accurate scientific brass scales in a glass display case is my best skip trophy!

It always has greatest effect when I pull over in the Aston to look in skips and load up the boot

[trackerjack]

A friend and neighbour of mine drives a skip lorry and you would be amazed at the stuff people throw away.
I have refused a lot of tools and suchlike that he has offered.
I asked him about the best tree pruning time as he is a gifted gardener, and came away with a Bosch chainsaw in perfect working order for a quantity of beer despite him saying he did not want any payment! As he has three of them.
When I was ill 2 years ago a storm brought down one of our trees and about 5 neighbours with trusty chainsaws and willing hearts cleared it for me. I was and am grateful for great neighbours and try to be one myself.

[Karlos]

I fished a Cambridge Audio amplifier from a skip. Took it home connected speakers, turntable and pre amp and it worked perfectly. Sold on for £50.00

[dollyman]

i take it you live in the sticks trackerjack? when we had a tree down neighbours were around in a flash chopping and chainsawing for their fires and log burners as we dont have one
that would not have happend in manchester where we used to live!
only complaints if anyone is ill or needs help its always at hand

[SprintMWU773V]

One man's junk is another's treasure. Never ceases to amaze me what people throw out either at the tip or in a skip. I've never rescued anything of note from a skip but several things have been liberated from the tip including a perfectly good, low saddle trolley jack which served me well for 10 years before it broke a seal and then wouldn't hold up any more. I was going to repair it but left it behind when I moved house last year.

[Karlos]

One man's junk is another's treasure

I was going to repair it but left it behind when I moved house last year.

...and then the next 'custodian' buys a new seal and some hydraulic fluid, repairs it and uses it for another 10 years...

[naskeet]

I found a few other items in that skip, including a pile of carpet tiles, a large rubber foyer mat, two leatherette covered mattresses (of type used on ambulance stretcher bunks) and various items of stationery. If I can borrow a sack barrow, I might be able to salvage three wood-effect filing cabinets; assuming they're still there.

I also found three high-visibility reflective waistcoats, emblazoned on the back with the word AMBULANCE, but it should be relatively easy to remove the stitches from those labels. For decades, I have kept a high-visibility reflective waistcoat in the cars' glove box, in case of a deflated tyre, breakdown or other emergency. In some European countries it is obligatory to have these for the driver and ALL passengers, which must be within easy reach inside the car; not stored in the boot.

[NickMorgan]

A friend of mine had his sister, who lived abroad, come to stay with him for a week. She was very impressed when he said that just about all of his furniture had come out of skips. The next day when he asked her what she wanted to do she said, "Can we go to Skips, it sounds like a great shop"!!

[Karlos]

I just fished a pair of 15kg bar bells from a local skip, perfect for my son to strengthen his arms for his rock climbing activity.

[naskeet]

Yesterday evening, I found a pair of almost new looking axle stands, left at the boundary of a property along with various scrap building materials. The axle stands are virtually identical to these, currently listed on E-bay for nearly £26:

Car Axle Stands Replacement Or Missing Original Unit 2 Ton Wheel Change Compact - £25.99

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Axle-Stan ... SwLQpZulag

Not wishing to be accused of theft, I knocked on the door of the bungalow and enquired about said axle stands. To my surprise and delight, the householder replied that they were no longer wanted and I was free to take them, together with any of the scrap building materials if I so desired.

I can now simultaneously support both the front & rear of my 1974 Triumph Toledo 1300 "HL" for the continuation of its on-going renovation.

[PollyB]

Engine hoist. Nothing wrong with it, thrown away because the company had bought a new one. Just fitted in the back of my Vauxhall Calibra.

[xvivalve]

That's what you call a high calibra find!

[naskeet]

It never ceases to amaze me regarding what one finds in waste skips!

One of the disadvantages of a small motor-caravan like my 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental, is that one has no built-in toilet or bath / shower facilities! A few months ago, I found discarded in a waste-skip, a portable chemical toilet for camping, of La Playa brand name, made by IPV GmbH, whose model and likely manufacturing year I have yet to determine. Although the address for IPV GmbH is given as being in Germany, the La Playa website is Swiss.

IPV GmbH • EZetilstr. 1 • D-35410 Hungen-Inheiden, Germany

www.laplaya.ch • LaPlaya® ist ein Markenzeichen der IPV GmbH

Given that the toilet-lid has a label including an Internet website address, I imagine it is probably less than 20 years old. I hope to obtain an operations handbook & manual for it, if I can discover which model it is!?!

Home > Camping & Outdoor > Portable Toilets > La Playa Portable Toilets

https://manuall.co.uk/camping-outdoor/p ... e-toilets/