Thought I'd put the history of my car up here for people to enjoy
VERY Long thread with lots of pictures (3 years of work) so please bear with me
Waited for 6 months for the right one to come up. I was looking for an auto but when I test drove this after several autos, I was blown away with the performance difference between the autos and manuals!
It was totally unmolested (not for long) and original. As soon as I got it home I slipped on the Omega 16" wheels to modernise it a little, had it lowered with PI springs and fitted a powerflow exhaust. I also polished up the spark plug cover and 3.0 24v lettering on the engine.
The PI springs were a bad choice - the rear PI springs are WAY lower than what they specify. Caused a wild reverse rake to the stance.
Fitted Irmscher rear lights, then polished it all up and took some good pics at a mates house.
Fitted a strut brace, air filter and EBC brakes and redstuff pads.
Also bought some 17" omega alloys which I think look a lot better than the 16's.
Also got 137 out of it one day (on a private road officer) and bottled it! (one hand on the steering wheel and one holding the phone
)
Had a Zavoli sequential LPG system fitted by an approved LPG fitter - saved mesen a fortune in fuel!
Then decided that the rot was too bad for my liking. Took the plunge and did what I always wanted to do - fit senator rear arches in and get rid of the citroen BX-esque flat arches. Took me a while to find someone who would take on the job and finally found a bodyshop in york who specialises in custom bodywork.
Also had a Lotus replica rear spoiler fitted.
Sent it on it's merry way:
And it came back like this:
Refitted the Omega 17" alloys and improved the look no end
Then I decided that 197,000 miles was a little too many, so I started on an engine rebuild
Had some bits powdercoated:
Had a spare block rebored with new pistons, rings and shells.
Ported head went on, all torqued and angle tightened up
New (uprated) chains, tensioners, sprockets and gaskets, new exhaust and inlet manifold studs, even took 1KG off the DMF!
The old engine comes out
Took the gearbox off and found this:
And the new engine goes in
Also fitted Koni adjustable shockers and Eibach springs, along with Yokohama A048Rs on spare 17" omega wheels for the track only
In the meantime I fitted red silicone hoses, a Mocal oil catch tank (as you can see in the finished engine shot above), Pacet fan and a Mocal oil cooler
Then it came to another MOT and I knew it would fail due to body rot.
So I started to strip it down, ready to take it back to York to the same guys who did the arches.
The rot was certainly visable
But it wasn't until the guys from York started to really strip things down when it became clear that it was a total rot box.
I guess it doesn't help working every saturday night in blackpool, with all that salty sea air...
So they gave me the bad news and I decided to go ahead anyway and get everything done.
He went from the front to the back, cutting out every bit of rot he could find and welding new metal back in, treating it with Finnigan's No1, before the Shutz.
Came back all nice and fully resprayed
While this was all being done, I though I'd slightly rebuild the engine again as I had a few oil leaks that I wanted to sort out. So I decided to strip it down again and rebuild it with new gaskets. Didn't bother taking the head off as it had only done 30,000 miles since the first rebuild and they usually last about 100k at least.
Bumpers got fitted
And LC roof aerial too
Interior went in
Next I decided to rebuild this:
Bu unfortunately I don't have any decent build pics of it online. It was all powdercoated and rebuilt using poly bushes and new bolts, brakes, backplates etc etc.
Anyway, The engine was just about ready to go in now
So it went in!
Refitted oil cooler
Front bumper on
And the rest is history
When it was first back on the road after the complete rebuild, taken by another club member:
And from yet another club member:
And from a recent meet at the Ace Cafe
VERY Long thread with lots of pictures (3 years of work) so please bear with me
Waited for 6 months for the right one to come up. I was looking for an auto but when I test drove this after several autos, I was blown away with the performance difference between the autos and manuals!
It was totally unmolested (not for long) and original. As soon as I got it home I slipped on the Omega 16" wheels to modernise it a little, had it lowered with PI springs and fitted a powerflow exhaust. I also polished up the spark plug cover and 3.0 24v lettering on the engine.
The PI springs were a bad choice - the rear PI springs are WAY lower than what they specify. Caused a wild reverse rake to the stance.
Fitted Irmscher rear lights, then polished it all up and took some good pics at a mates house.
Fitted a strut brace, air filter and EBC brakes and redstuff pads.
Also bought some 17" omega alloys which I think look a lot better than the 16's.
Also got 137 out of it one day (on a private road officer) and bottled it! (one hand on the steering wheel and one holding the phone
)Had a Zavoli sequential LPG system fitted by an approved LPG fitter - saved mesen a fortune in fuel!
Then decided that the rot was too bad for my liking. Took the plunge and did what I always wanted to do - fit senator rear arches in and get rid of the citroen BX-esque flat arches. Took me a while to find someone who would take on the job and finally found a bodyshop in york who specialises in custom bodywork.
Also had a Lotus replica rear spoiler fitted.
Sent it on it's merry way:
And it came back like this:
Refitted the Omega 17" alloys and improved the look no end
Then I decided that 197,000 miles was a little too many, so I started on an engine rebuild
Had some bits powdercoated:
Had a spare block rebored with new pistons, rings and shells.
Ported head went on, all torqued and angle tightened up
New (uprated) chains, tensioners, sprockets and gaskets, new exhaust and inlet manifold studs, even took 1KG off the DMF!
The old engine comes out
Took the gearbox off and found this:
And the new engine goes in
Also fitted Koni adjustable shockers and Eibach springs, along with Yokohama A048Rs on spare 17" omega wheels for the track only
In the meantime I fitted red silicone hoses, a Mocal oil catch tank (as you can see in the finished engine shot above), Pacet fan and a Mocal oil cooler
Then it came to another MOT and I knew it would fail due to body rot.
So I started to strip it down, ready to take it back to York to the same guys who did the arches.
The rot was certainly visable
But it wasn't until the guys from York started to really strip things down when it became clear that it was a total rot box.
I guess it doesn't help working every saturday night in blackpool, with all that salty sea air...
So they gave me the bad news and I decided to go ahead anyway and get everything done.
He went from the front to the back, cutting out every bit of rot he could find and welding new metal back in, treating it with Finnigan's No1, before the Shutz.
Came back all nice and fully resprayed
While this was all being done, I though I'd slightly rebuild the engine again as I had a few oil leaks that I wanted to sort out. So I decided to strip it down again and rebuild it with new gaskets. Didn't bother taking the head off as it had only done 30,000 miles since the first rebuild and they usually last about 100k at least.
Bumpers got fitted
And LC roof aerial too
Interior went in
Next I decided to rebuild this:
Bu unfortunately I don't have any decent build pics of it online. It was all powdercoated and rebuilt using poly bushes and new bolts, brakes, backplates etc etc.
Anyway, The engine was just about ready to go in now
So it went in!
Refitted oil cooler
Front bumper on
And the rest is history
When it was first back on the road after the complete rebuild, taken by another club member:
And from yet another club member:
And from a recent meet at the Ace Cafe
).