What Have You Done To Your Car Today? Volume 2

[TriggerFish]

Smashed it several times with a breaker bar. Poked/levered it with a large allen key.

Became glad I scrapped it. Wondered how many others are this rotten without the owners realising.

Passenger's side before exploration

Passenger's side after exploration

Driver's side before exploration

Driver's side after exploration

This is roughly how it looked before being parked up. It's not great, obviously, but really not that bad on the face of it. (Ignore the light, I drove into a barrier in my excitement at the Atlantic Coast road.

 

[Tim-Ci]

Woo that rust was taking hold there Triggerfish.

On mine, today I finished cleaning and buffing the interior trim and leather with Poorboys Natural Look. It's not wearing the 145,000 miles so badly, and the Plasti-Dip on the soft touch painted mouldings is holding up well enough after 6 months. The carbon cube trims look a lot better too now I've dyed them with Forever Black.

Excuse the dirty mats, I am going to shampoo them tomorrow hopefully.

Edited March 12, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Tim-Ci]

[MWagon]

Washed it! 

Discovered the heater fan doesn't work..... Hoping it's the relay...!

Found that the drivers side tyre and arch make contact when 3 or more up and under full throttle.

Another centre section of exhaust arrived today, it should be possible to fit 2 inline silencers near the middle to try to quieten it down a bit.

[DaveNE]

Took delivery Of some Metal Number Plates. New Headlight cover's & ccfl rings. 

To Do list 

Wheel refurb or a new set of alloys quite fancy some Apex ACR-8's

Also need to tackle the rust spot on rear of boot 

[TriggerFish]

Refitted the dash cluster (after polishing the front glass and replacing the front fog light warning bulb), refitted the central switch gear/ashtrays, refitted the panel above the pedals, removed the fuel pressure test gauge that I fitted after trying to troubleshoot why the E30 wouldn't start (turned out I'd unplugged the 12v feed to the fuel pump - d'oh!) which made me realise how much nicer it is to work with petrol than stinking diesel! 

Next steps; wire up the 12v to the AFR gauge now that fuse holder has arrived, and replace the diff. cover once the replacement arrives from Latvia.

[Tim-Ci]

It was a fine day here in the North East, so I gave the 'vert a long overdue wash, and waxed with Clearkote Carnauba Moose Wax. It was so nice I almost had my T-shirt off at one point. It will get dirty again soon as I have some job interviews next week in far flung places, but when it comes up so well it's actually quite nice giving it a scrub.

Also impressed a bloke walking past with the auto roof closing using the fob (it's good when it works, but the cockpit switch is a lot more reliable and faster).

Pics:

Edited March 24, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Daz 330 Cs]

Very nice, but my OCD is going mad, why is only half of that fence painted ?

[Tim-Ci]

Thanks, LOL the part on the left is the nextdoor neighbour's.

The Clearkote CMW wax seems to change appearence as it cures, I'm sure is seems more slick and richer today, very nice. It's a very good wax for dark cars, it darkens the shade slightly compared to some more shiny/blingy products and it looks like I could dip my hand in and scoop up a handful of Sapphire Black.

[Tim-Ci]

I suppose I should try and get another snap for my sig. if that's going to drive you mad....

[Baz2435]

Purchased two new front tyres.

The only issue that came up during the MOT.

[mjn]

Bought a s**t load of suspension parts. Suspension refresh here we go!!!

[MICK 330]

Demolished a 12x6 shed. Smashed it up then used my poor old Touring to get rid of it down the tip which took 5 journeys! God knows what lives in the old girl now????

[Tim-Ci]

Finished driving 800 miles over two days, to job interviews and back.

The 'vert did brilliantly, comfortable, solid and with power to spare. I got an average of 37mpg cruising at 68mph in 6th (with a calibrated onboard computer), using Tesco and Esso Super Unleaded.

Only two slight hiccups were a sllight bucking just once as I got on the throttle on the motorway, and also later on the engine management light came on for catalyst efficiency. I was planning on replacing the O2 sensors soon and hope this cures the catalyst error codes - I think if ageing O2s are making the engine run too rich then it stops the cats working properly, but does no damage if the O2s are replaced fairly quickly. If it is the catalyst then hopefully I can get a decent aftermarket 'main cat' and splice it into the exhaust, and cure the problem.

For the bucking, I heard the fuel pump being slightly noisier than normal when idling, so think it might need replacing soon, it might be struggling to provide the fuel required when the throttle is opened suddenly. I will keep an eye on it. Considering the car has almost 150,000 miles on it I'm not too unhappy about those minor problems.

Also the H7 Xenon kit from SSSD motorsport made driving in the dark easy with the projector headlamps, I only had to squint to see what was ahead a couple of times. I think the visibility with the aftermarket Xenon kit is pretty good, not mind blowing, but much better than standard bulbs. To try and put it in perspective, I didn't even want to use main beam on unlit sections very often when there were no cars about, driving at 70mph - the Xenon dipped beams were good enough to make me not really need main beams for 99% of the time.

Edited March 30, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[TriggerFish]

Good luck with the interviews!

[Tim-Ci]

Thanks Triggerfish, I thought they both went well. I've got a one more on the radar too so fingers crossed something comes out of it.

One of the jobs is close to Sheffield, and I can't believe how cheap accommodation is over there, less than 2/3 the price of the Bristol area, which is where the other interview was. Makes a huge difference to the finances even though the jobs pay a similar amount, I could probably pay mortgage off in under 10 years, or about 15 years, depending on which job I got. Plus the one near Sheffield might have a company car, so I might be able to lay up the 'vert for half the year and save a few pounds on insurance, tax, fuel, tyres etc.

The car needs a good wash now as it looks like I've been rallying in it! The roads were a bit mucky on Wednesday.

[TriggerFish]

Well, fingers crossed for you! 

Working in Oxford, I feel the accommodation pain all too well. A friend's buying a nice 2 bed house in a lovely area with decent gardens for £150k up north. You'd get a 1 bed flat for that around me, and I doubt anything at all in Oxford!

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/25/oxford-once-again-tops-list-of-uks-least-affordable-places-to-live

Don't forget company cars have a tax impact (I don't know how much), but something to consider.

[Tim-Ci]

Thanks a lot Triggerfish. Yes there's an amazing difference in prices, within a few miles of Sheffield about £110K can get a half tidy 2 or 3 bedroom semi, unbelievable - I thought prices were cheap here in the North East.

I was looking at a job with Jaguar in Gaydon, and the prices there are sky high too. Bristol is similar. It is a big factor in what salary I would want for each area, I wouldn't want the thought of a huge mortgage commitment for over 15-20 years. That's a lot of grafting to have to do to keep a house.

Yes I'm a bit cautious over the tax implications of a company car, there's a lot of travelling for the job so I might not have a choice. Perhaps the tax burden is a lot less if the car is not used for private mileage, not sure, this might be an option they would allow. I will tread carefully.

The only cars that would tempt me to consider parking the 'vert up for good or selling it would be a decent 2 or 4 series coupe or convertible, say with the 3 litre Diesel or petrol engines, but I've got no idea yet what type of allowance the company would offer and what the tax penalty would be for those cars.

Will see how things go, I've still got another interview with them to go yet, cheers.

[mjn]

Polished the wood.....

 

 

[Tim-Ci]

Very nice, liking the perforated handbrake handle too

[Tim-Ci]

Washed it to clear off 800 miles worth of muck from last week:

It looks a lot better in the flesh. Three people walking by made comments about it. I have recently waxed it with Clearkote Canauba Moose Wax, which looks ace on black, nice and deep dark colour, not too reflective. After washing it I used the Chemical Guys P40 detailer as a drying aid and buffed it off, leaves a great finish as it contains carnauba wax like the car is wearing already, and I think it helps to repel dust too.

(Also changed my signature to irk Das 330 a bit less, no colour clashing fences this time in the background )

Edited April 3, 2017 by Tim-Ci

[Baz2435]

Had the nasty feeling that the Vert is going to be a bit of a money pit for a while.

The power steering pump decided to die yesterday evening.

Assuming it's fine to drive (hard as hell to park) as I'm currently away in Norfolk.

Edited April 9, 2017 by Baz2435

[De Sisti]

In the the last two months:

Two replacement wings (as there was some bubbling on the originals, which indicated rust had started).

Front discs and pads replaced.

New air-con compressor unit.

[Daz 330 Cs]

Good shout, colour clashing fences are overrated

[Benji83]

Fitted a Vanos anti rattle kit after being so sure that it would cure my rattle. Checked the pistons play on the shafts before and after installing the new rings and was certain it would solve it. Also replaced the Vanos seals with upgraded ones and a new rocker cover gasket to replace my old one (the ones around the spark plugs were like plastic).

 

To summarise:

-Engine still rattles (I now believe this to be the exhaust manifold gasket)

-I now have a vacuum leak (hopefully down to the crap sealant, or my placement of it)

At least I have new seals...