ChasR
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Feb 18, 2021 22:28:23 GMT
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Looking forward to following this thread, Should be a nice motor when you've finished, (if they ever are,) Really like the interior, be interesting to see how you go with that, Please show how you get on with the bumper repair, it's a problem many have to deal with, I had a Mk 1 V6 back in the day, (ex Police Armed Response Vehicle,) went well when pushed and a comfortable ride, Nigel Cheers! It's a bit sad calling this a boyhood dream, but me and my friends genuine did fancy owning one when they were new! Being at school and then being uni students soon put that idea to bed, when we had other ideas on our minds . I have an update for the bumper, but it may not be the update you are thinking of. Your Mk1 experience sounds very similar to the 3.0 V6 I had. That truly was a great machine. Is there much of an update? At the moment, no! It's awaiting a clutch change from a friendly mechanic I know. more will come quite soon.
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Bmw E39 Touring ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Feb 18, 2021 22:19:28 GMT
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I have been after a BMW E38 for ages and now I have the money for one the reality of owning an English Bull Terrier and having another puppy en route mean a big saloon isn't ideal. So the next best thing is an E39. I'm after a Touring M Sport model. Looking for a petrol model. Ideally a 530i, probably going to avoid the V8 and wait for my midlife crisis to scratch that itch. Apart from tailgate rust, sill rust, rocker cover leaks, leaking air suspension and sunroof leak, what should I be looking for? I'm a mechanic by trade and I'm planning on keeping this car for years so I'm already planning a full service with all fluids, gearbox flush and filter and suspension arm/bush replacement. Any advise from owners much appreciated. While these are a 'new' car to people on here, the oldest example will be 25 this year, and the youngest probably around 18 years old. As a result, and it being an old Beemer, it ain't going to be fresh . Most of the points have already been covered. Rust will be your biggest enemy. Check the sills as well. They can rot from within, leaving you with alot of the sill to change, despite the outer looking OK. Another one is the mirror bleeding, but this seems to affect only the M5. You can get the replacement glass for £100, and it's worth changing soon. If the liquid bleeds out of the glass, it will eat away the plastics and cloth trim. My friend has an E61 535d touring and is trying to persuade me to go for that. I'm a sucker for the cars I remember from my young. Something about the late 90s BMWs just looks so right. Yes I could get a cheaper better specced car but I've got my heart set on some 90s luxobarge action After being in a few E38s/39s and an E61 535d, I'd say that unless you can get a really straight E39, listen to your friend . As a friend of mine has found out, bringing up a tired E39, even with mates rates on labour and doing things yourself soon mounts up. Christ, I suspect I've saved £3k on the M3 over the years in labour. I won't even say how much I've spent on it. It's alot! But it's alot harder to bring a crappier car up to scratch than a nice one, and the cared for cars always seem to drive nicer. The 535d is a very cool thing. They are comfortable, yet so effortless in how they get up to speed. It's one of the few cars I wish I bought off my dad when I was offered the chance.
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Last Edit: Feb 18, 2021 22:20:44 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
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Feb 18, 2021 22:09:28 GMT
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These are a real hoot, but a 182 is better value all round, and a little more old school. That and the 197s drink fuel like crazy! 24MPG is not unheard of and getting past 30MPG requires one to be following an artic! The gearing of them and some feel the stock mapping are the reasons why. They almost do 4kRPM on the motorway at 70 in 6th! Many convert these to have a Megane 225 powerplant aka the "Meglio" conversion, since the engine block is basically the same. Most get a performance increase as well as a signficant MPG improvement. He adored his, as is the new of it from last week . I think the 172 I had almost just comes into the top 10 years I've had. I found the build quality of these too poor to pay for. For the same money a vag feels much better made. Renaults tend to be cheap inside but I've always found them reliable. I think the unreliability comes from them falling into poor hands, with folks who run them on chip fat and whatever cheap parts you can get. The Facebook group for them will back that claim (Where can I get some bungs to stop my tailgate leaking? They £5 for Goodness sake from the dealer you tight gits! Do I need the timing tools on my engine or will tippex work? This one tends to be followed by "My engine is now tapping"). I've found VAGs of thatage to be bad TBH. Take a look at the B6 Passat. Only the Insignia is cheaper than those secondhand for the same age and mileage. The Mondeo MkIV of the same age and spec holds its value better, and while I'm a fan of those, they are not perfect. I had one as did two other friends. I had pretty much every 'common' problem they come (read shot EPBs, Steering lock fault, various electrical gremlins, including the fan not working (fuse was fine), and the 'exploding 'box edition as the Sanburn Breakers put it). My friends with the B6? They all had the very well renowned steering lock problem, which can cost £1k to fix, depending on the age and spec of the car (the better the spec, the cheaper the repair as a rule of thumb on those). That and a trader friend who is a VAG fan is very funny about touching mid-00s VAGs after a few uncalled for faults.
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Last Edit: Feb 18, 2021 22:24:54 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 18, 2021 21:55:03 GMT
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BMW E91 (Touring) 335i - a little tune or a race chip and you are knocking on 400hp Same, I like a nice E91 3er, either that or an E60 3.0 (the unloved 5er) and pocket some change. Though, looking online, the way used car prices are at the moment for £6k I might not bother down here in the South East ... ... prices were already nuts, recently they've gone full fat insane. Indeed! One for £6k may be possible if you don't mind one with a boot on it . The Estate have now shot well past the £7k mark for something nice! Pretty bonkers for a non-M 3 Series with a cool engine eh? A 335d may be another alternative to be fair.
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ChasR
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 17, 2021 23:26:45 GMT
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I'll be honest. I put this post on with trepedition and it's a warmer response than I was expecting! Like any old car, it's cool to find out the history about them. As far as I can tell -The Earliest ST220 was in in late 2001, most likely October -According to the Glass' guide book at least from many moons ago, pre-facelift ST220s were special order only. This would explain why many early cars have decent specifications, and lairy colour combinations! -While the Facelifts are more desirable, the 5 speeds in the pre-facelifts like mine did come with some cool things over the later 6 speeds, inclduing dual air ducts for the intake, a tiny bit more power and acceleration, albeit at the expense of top speed, and probably refinement on the motorway. For years I wanted a facelift TBH, purely from them having a 6 speed 'box and later dash, where some of the buttons don't wear as well in all honesty, as my MkIV has proven. But with the above, it's cool to find out about the first of a kind. That said, this will bring about issues. Looks nice that. I don't actually mind those wheels either, they suit it quite well. Cheers! In the photos, they are flattered quite well. Close up, they don't seem to work on the car and now are in poor condition. But I do have a plan . At least those wheels won’t suffer with the lacquer peeling like the standard alloys do What’s the engine like on the oil leak front? I’ve had a real job with mine leaking over the years. Mine does indeed have a leak! The sump gasket is weeping. Not too badly, but no one has cleaned it off for years and years. I guess this is why the slave cylinder wasn't the easiest thing to diagnose. The ST alloys are susceptible to corrosion on the faces. My 2.5T wheels were awful, where like the ST wheels, the faces were diamond cut. Diamond Cutting them back then was also an expensive process, but like now, carrying very little in the way of a warranty. But yes, they could crack and buckle due to less sidewall on the wheel. The green 2.5 V6 above had two dented wheels, and one of them cracked the edge of the rim! This is one reason why the beige 3.0 in the first post of mine was on 16s. They looked curse word, but Michelins were only £75 a corner vs £140 in the 17s, and the diamond cut faces caused corrosion on the bead, so they leaked like crazy. I suspect this is one reason why mine doesn't have the ST wheels on it anymore. Anyway, the Crusher ST! It’s fair to say the car could look better. Someone has obviously customised this with the wind deflectors, colour coded foglights, darkened rear lights with fly eye wrapping, in addition to the wheels! Obviously alot of this will go. However, the car would need one thing to go forwards with ease, quite literally. A clutch Stupidly, when I bought the car, I thought I would be able to get a clutch. However, this foolish mistake would soon become apparent. I suspect this is why the car has seen a number of clutches. This is one case where I wish I checked the Facebook groups a little more. You wouldn’t have thought a Mondeo would have a rare clutch, would you? It seems the MTX-75 gearboxes do! I searched and searched and searched to no avail. This included the following Ringing up Schaeffler UK (Umbrella company of LuK)- They confirmed that they do not list a 5 speed clutch Checked Sachs Catalogue. Only a slave cylinder for a 5 speed Speaking with Helix Motorsport – They knew of the problem, and due to no demand, they would not make one. This issue also affects the ST200 Speaking with ATS Speed. They could get one, which I suspect was a TTV item, but the clutch and flywheel which come as one would be £1.2k. Ouch! Rang up South East Lotus Parts ; They could not believe that I couldn’t get a clutch for an ST220. I explained that the gearbox was not used for long. I went with the Noble Angle here. Searched eBay ; A Ford clutch was £300 without the slave cylinder. Upon calling Ford with my discount, that was £240, albeit with an £80 slave cylinder. Great! With this, I admitted defeat and went to Ford. A shame as I wanted to keep the budget reasonable with this car. But I guess relatively rare cars will always have parts issues. I’d imagine there are less than 400 5 speed ST220s left, given that 50% of ST220s appear to be no more. Further searching since then has revealed that Schaeffler have never sold a 5 speed ST220 clutch in the aftermarket Today, I have learned that one chap has fitted 2 5 speed ST220s with 6 speed DMFs and clutches with no ill effects. This does open up a potentially pricey but a good avenue. The message no one wants to see. Thanks to the clutch, the spend of the car would now stand me in at around £1k. This however would not stop me finding other parts. There is some information I found out about the 5 and 6 speed clutches, but I'll share this at another time. The short story is it seems a 6 speed clutch can work, with a 6 speed DMF. The centre plates differ, but the covers are very similar, and possibly the same. Bumpers now appear to be very hard to find in good condition. I’ve seen repaired ones offered for £150, which are not much better than mine! Decent bumpers appear to be held on by folks who break the cars. I did debate buying a tired ST TDCI for parts, but it seemed I’d be spending decent money to buy one with good bodywork. As a result, I’ll be repairing this using a plastic weld kit of sorts. A first for me, but I have done bodywork before with good results, so this will cost me time, and probably alot of it! Some money would be saved however. The broken mirror baseplate? £40 would secure me a set of Stardust Silver powerfolding mirror in great condition. I would also see some wheels locally too! £160 would secure these with the all-important centre caps, and them being straight. Sure, they need a refurb, but £80 at City Powdercoaters in Bright Sparkle Silver will have them looking great in no time. With some Goodyear Eagle F1s, it should be spot on! Now to look out for a deal occuring on Goodyear tyres. Obviously these parts being fitted on will not finish things on this car. Not by quite a way. But at least it is getting there. While rummaging through the boot, I found the old clutch. This with further investigation turned out to be a 6 speed clutch, albeit a very worn one . However, I did find some floor mats for the car, which are always welcome. Oh another thing. The LuK box in the car? That’s for a 6 speed clutch. I thought initially this is the reason for why the clutch failed, but it appears not ; the covers are near identical it would appear ; I'll share this in a later post. Cars. They can be fun and games eh?
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 17, 2021 23:17:50 GMT
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Are we talking daily or fun car? I'd be trying to find a 205 with a Mi-16 swap, have seen a couple in your budget in the last year. Might not be stupid fast in a straight line but would be a great overall package and 205's don't feel that relaxed at 120 don't know if there's something wrong with me or I'm getting sensible, but my daily is only fun in about 5 second bursts, after that you are into banned territory. Which kind of makes it less fun in my mind as driving at 2/10's all the time gets boring. For this reason, I've kept my M3. It's more than fast enough. It can quite easily get into licence breaking speeds without thinking about it when pushing on. Yes, I know every car in my ownership can, but I think I've found my limit. Being lent a mate's C6 RS6 gave me perspective. It's incredibly fast with 630BHP. It's addictive, lustful and superb in how you can see gaps that aren't there. I walked away thinking I needed that power! But it is a bit much! Jesus, I must be getting old! Enjoying cars for driving at higher speeds but not silly ones. Now, where's that supercharger conversion for the M3?
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ChasR
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Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 17, 2021 23:14:45 GMT
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The issue is alot of the stuff which was very quick relatively speaking has now become quite expensive.
Years ago, I bought my E46 M3 for not much more than your budget. Bargains are still out there but they are very few and far between.
If I wanted something for that budget, I'd possibly be looking at lightness or speed. So, here come cars that probably aren't either!
-Porsche Boxster 986 S ; Again, getting one of these for £6k would be tricky now; they have been slowly rising -Mercedes W210 E55 AMG ; You'd have that glorious engine note -Nissan 350Zs ; are they still around this money? -Focus ST225 ; A bit of a pudding up front, but quite a quick car with some key mods and stripping isnide -Renault Clio 182 ; Trophies are now long gone from this price range unfortunately. An FF or Cup (even in 172 flavour) should still be possible however. Possibly one of the slower cars here but quicker on track thanks to a superb chassis. Bini MCS R53 may be worth considering. Alot of folks find these fun. -BMW E61 535d Touring. I know, but bear with me. These are effortless in their pace, and very undiesel like. They have such a grace in getting down the road. A remap on one of these will trouble alot of things on the road. They are not necessarily the best things around corners thanks to their kerbweight, but decent tyres help massively. I almost bought my dad's off him (but the timing was completely wrong) and I'm aware Darragh Doyle from Everything M3s adores his. Most guys I know have. £6k should get a very nice example. A friend of mine whose owned some quick cars has said he felt they were silly quick with just a remap. For me, the pace is enough for a daily. They may lack the special feeling however. The majesty in how that pace comes up is something else however.
Like you, there are cars I still want, but the budget, especially now is saying otherwise. Those cars include an S1 Elise, an Elan 2+2, and a BMW E61 M5 Touring. An R8 V10 would be a better bet and probably more reliable and enjoyable than the latter, but there is soemthing about subtlety.
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 17, 2021 23:00:05 GMT
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That's quite an achievement Paul, I wonder how many other people can say the same? I'll get me coat - I still have the some of the same cars You've done better than me! I've not got any of them! Currently, my M3 is the longest I've owned any of my current cars. The record for the longest car owned stands with my MGB GT Sebring, but it was off the road for around 8 of those! Now, where's that coat rack? Waiter! Like others, I joined this place in around 2006. At the time, I was in quite a bit of stuff, or so I thought. By that point -I had owned around 3 or 4 cars, most of which made it onto here -Desperately wanted a Fast Ford of sorts (MkII Escorts or an S2 RST) and oddly an E36/46 M3 back then. I was more of a 36 man back then. -Liked modified cars and was very much new to the scene. I'd like to think I'd started seeing past some BS, in in truth, I reckon I've moved onto new BS! -There were not many forums I did go on back then. From memory, it would have been the KaKlub, Talk Audio (Car Hi-fi forum for those wondering), TurboSport, and a couple of smaller Ford forums. Then this place came along. Originally, a chap called sleeky showed me this place as somewhere with a different vibe and quite cool. For the first couple of years I was on and off this place. I blame the uni lifestyle at this point! However, as time went on, I started using this place more and more than any other. Maybe it was down to my clueless questions, or the welcoming atmosphere. Joining this place when attempting a major rework of a car with almost zero experience bar reading an RPM magazine (precursor of PPC for those wondering) really wasn't the right way to go about a resto. Seeing others trying what I was trying to achieve and asking others for help really did help evolve the little knowledge that I had. While Uni was a kind of teaching, this place served as another sanctuary for becoming a disciple in the retro/modded world. I may have learned alot, but there is still so so much to learn. Everyday is a school day, and I stand by that. At least this place still provides that, in addition to a healthy vibe of keeping forums, and goodwill amongst us RRs going. That has never been needed more than this current time. So, thanks RR, and for putting up with folks like myself!
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:59:23 GMT
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I have a few MX-5 Spares I need to clear out. Firstly a Spare AFM. £40 will take this Secondly, an airbox removed for an NA. £10 Finally? A manually adjustable NA mirror in red. £30. Images for the last two will arrive soon
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:53:19 GMT
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I am selling some B-Pillar trims for a Ford Escort Mk3. A tab has broken off the bottom of one of them, but this is not visible once they are fitted. It could be repaired if you wish. These can be delivered at the buyer's cost and are already packaged, ready for delivery.
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:49:29 GMT
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ight, I am selling a reg on a car I have recently bought. It's Y111 DTS. Great if your initials are that, which is what it was for the previous owner, where his name was D**** T**** Southam. I'm after £300. That figures does include the fees and/or posting out the certificate via recorded delivery/transferring it onto the car via Zoom etc. The plates will also be sent over. Whether you want the retention certificate in your name, or it transferred onto a car, that can all be done. A pic of it on the car. Yup, it's a sight for sore eyes but hopefully, it will be back fighting fit .
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Last Edit: Apr 6, 2021 10:53:09 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
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Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:39:12 GMT
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Anyway, back to the ST. As I said, this car was at my local garage for some time. It went in as the clutch pedal kept on dropping to the floor. The owner was hopeful that it was the clutch master cylinder that was gone. With this changed, the pedal was no different. It was obvious that it was the concentric slave that had gone. In that time, the chap got taken into hospital with a brain aneurysm, and sadly passed away. This is why this car was moored up at my local garage for quite some time. In the end, the family got in contact and basically gave the car to Mick (my MOT tester/garage owner), who then kept it for some time before selling it on to another garage locally. Fast forward 5 months ago. In that time, Gaz, the second garage who bought this car would have fun and games with the car. Firstly, the interior was cleaned out by a valeter. Unfortunately in that time, the bumper took a knock while being parked up too. He would then proceed to change the clutch. This is where the problems would start. With the first clutch in along with the new concentric, or as far as he told me, the clutch was slipping badly. This apparently came with the car, but at the time I didn't notice it being in the car, along with a couple of other parts. Obviously, this acheived nothing. After this, another clutch was put it, but without the concentric being renewed. After all, that concentric was only 3 weeks old! After this, the pedal was fine for a week, but then, it started going bad again. It was mad! After two clutch changes, the car was no different! This is where I would enter the equation. The car was advertised on Facebook Marketplace as I said for £1k, with a basic description around it, and with the offer of it being broken up for spares. Maybe that line and me knowing the car vaguely made me want to rescue the poor thing. After speaking with Gaz, he mentioned that the bumper had one crack, and that the clutch pedal was poor, but that he saw a puddle form on the driver's side With this, I cycled down to the garage and took a look at the car. It was a bit of a dissapointment. The interior despite being cleaned did not look great, the exterior was quite flat on the paint, and the car looked a little unkempt, especially with that cracked bumper. That's before I get to the hideous wheels! To top this off, the bellhousing and sump were damp in that area, with an occasional drip. Great, the concentric looked to be gone! But then again, it's an 18 year old ST220! The car however, did have a number of good points beneath the rubbish. I had to remember. This was not the 5 year old cars I drove with mega miles. It was an old car now! -It wasn’t too rusty at all underneath, after briefly looking it. This is surprising, given that the car originally lived in Devon! -The interior had no rips in it at all, and it all looked to be working. There is a chalky surface on the leather which comes off by hand. I'll deal with when I clean out the interior and nourish the leather -The engine sounded very sweet! -The car had 97k on the clock, with a FFSH up until 60k, and servicing until 88k. -It was on a private plate. I do not intend to keep this, as you’ll find out later With this in mind, I went away to think about it, and what to do. I wasn't going to give over £1k. If it was tidier, I would done. With this in mind, I called the seller back, stating that I'd have to assume the worst case scenario; it would need another clutch. With me lowballing him hard, and us two agreeing on a price quickly, a deal was done. All I had to do now was collect it. With it being Covid times, and the hassle of driving a car back with no clutch, I decided to have Mick, the MOT tester, trailer the car back to my unit on a low loader. With this, I could borrow a 4 poster and really check the car out. It became apparent that this car really is very solid underneath! It's also apparent it's a little tarted up too with rubbish! But anyway, let's not muck around, let's show some shots.
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:17:40 GMT
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So, let's get some guidelines out. What's the plan with this project? -Save it from the scrapyard. I've kind of done that but of course, even man has his limit -Try to be thrifty on this. The parts may be there, but I should try and shop that bit smarter. Yes, the risks go up with not going genuine, and on this in some cases, I can't even do that! -Get it back to some former glory. OK, it may sound a little Wheeler Dealery, but I want an honest resto from this car, not what my M3 is, which is slowly becoming a desirable build for me. So with this, no remaps and no big budgets. This is about self-control. Anyway, let's give the backstory. Memories can be a funny thing really, The same can be said for circumstance. Many years ago now, I had a Mondeo 3.0 V6 Ghia X Estate. This was not the car to have for if you were doing 5,000 miles a year. However, with diesels back then seeming to have a plethora of issues from dying injectors, fuel pumps, and EGR issues, especially in the Mk3, the V6 was chosen and it converted to LPG when my dad and I used to carry out such conversions. It was great. OK, it wasn’t the most economical and certainly not the most powerful 3.0 out there with a wopping 201BHP, but it was creamy smooth, made a decent engine note and had a great response about it. The fact that it was an estate meant it was super practical, especially with the high(ish) roofline continuing to the back. It had a lovely gearchange that could shame many Germans, and it went down the road well. A good memory of mine was thrashing it down from Warwick to St. David’s in around 2.5 Hours I am told. I personally cannot believe that, but I did really enjoy the drive down there, especially once I got past Newport. It also did a few LeMans trips too, before finally doing a trip to Lille for NYE shennanegans, before it got written off at 262,000 miles. On the flipside, my dad had a green 2.5 Ghia X 5 speed Auto Estate. That was a great car when it was working, but he made a mistake in buying one that had been cooked hard before, but disguised with K Seal and being sold during spring. I did learn alot about how well these V6s can go however, and what can kill a Ford V6. After all, this one had almost everything go wrong on it! It meant that my 3.0 would be kept in good condition and not suffer the usual issues these Duratec V6s are associated with. Fast forward 5 years on, and it seems many cars I now want are very expensive. A £3k Mini is now an £8k one, Z3s seem to be firm on price, even for a 1.9 139BHP narrow body, and alot of hot hatches from the 80s are no longer £2k for something reasonable. I won’t even go into W124s! My S124 E320 5 speed Estate went for £5k 2 years ago, and it seems those days are gone. OK, I may be tight and like a moan, but who doesn’t. But there is something getting a cheap car, and making something of it. Not financing yourself to the eyeballs to get something cool and investorworthy. After all, you still have to maintain it That’s what appealed about classic cars before the investors entered the game. However, it seemed my chance would appear. Without even really looking for a car, a familiar car popped up on Facebook Marketplace. An ST220 estate that sat for a year at my local garage. I recalled this car being in quite good condition. I even took a shot it next to my 2.5T a couple of years ago. http://instagram.com/p/B-pT9IrDC93 I didn’t know much about the car, other than the owner died who owned it, and from there it was moved on to another garage. How much was this thing up for? £1,000. Would I resist buying this, or would I go and take a look? I think we all know the answer to this one!
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Last Edit: Feb 15, 2021 23:19:54 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Club RR Member Number: 170
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Is Lpg still viable? ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:10:54 GMT
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I restrained in saying what HARDCORE did, as I'm aware it wasn't the question in hand but he is right.
Another thing to bear in mind is most of the conversion will now be old, and most won't be safety checked. Now, I think the checks are semi worthless but they can unpick some things with the right person to check them. Alot of the hoses will now be old. I've had to bin unused LPG coolant and fuel hoses as they were cracked in my box, despite never seeing daylight or a car! That will be far worse on a car which has had an LPG setup for some time.
This was proven to us when a friend and I took in an X300(ish) Daimler Double Six that was on LPG. One hose got too old and caught fire under the car. It melted a few things on the car under the bonnet. Doesn't sound too bad, until you realise those parts it melted were made of unobtainium. They included
-header tank (XJ12 Specific and NLA; an XJ6 item was adapted) -Cruise Control Cables and module (you can guess what I'm going to say) -PCV pipes (These were available from JLR but look to be old stock they've kept)
Most garages will charge more for working on them or break it and thus will refuse to touch a car. The latter is inexcusable, and the former would have folks saying they are being ripped off. However, when a cambelt change becomes longer as you have to navigate around pipes and wires that the OEM never put in, and that the installer never considered when he/she fitted the setup, you can't blame them really.
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Last Edit: Feb 15, 2021 23:11:59 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 23:02:08 GMT
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So, it seems I can't ditch my roots from years ago! This would have been the case - '75 Midget 1500 Bought in 2005 (£350 ; Yes it was plop for that money!)- '91 740 SE bought in 2006 (£260)- '89 740 GLE Estate bought in 2007 (£220)-'89 XR3i Cab bought in 2007 (£350 with a year's ticket; yes it wasn't right out of the box) In most of those, we did some great trips around Europe and in the UK with them! Sure we were concerned but we weren't too precious about them! They were good times! That said, i do recall this place loving old shonky things back then. Maybe not on the autoshite level, but certainly to some degree. I figured it was time to go back to my roots. You know, the good ol' days, where cash wasn't quite as plentiful, and neither was the knowledge. Hopefully, I have more of the latter, but another thread on this car will reveal that I don't. Christ, this thread may finish emerging that I don't know anything! But sometimes, you mull over buying a car. A True classic, or something in between. But then, an opportunity will present itself. This is exactly what happened with me, and I think the name of the project will hint at how I came about this car. I do have a plan for this, a resto, but with a few caveats which I'll reveal in time. I doubt this will be a Teenage Dirtbag rebuild as Mystery Machine did all those years ago, but I will be trying to go with a similar vibe. But first, I needed a decent coffee to perk me up. After all, nothing would prepare me for the brightness of the interior. I hope you lot are wearing your Ray Bans!
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Last Edit: Aug 21, 2022 11:34:30 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 15, 2021 18:33:51 GMT
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What a great project! I look forward to seeing how this turns out.
Fair play to the dedication and the welding!
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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2007 fiat panda 100hpChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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I've always liked Pandas! This is right from the Pandas back in the 80s, like the Sicily to one of these. I'm sure a few folks looking this will say the same. It's the one car I've fancied buying, but have never bought. The fact that the early '00s actually catered as well for hot hatches since the '80s is probably one big reason ; there are alot of hatches I like from that timeframe. Christ, I almost had a Punto Sporting over the Ka ; for anyone who remembers what a Punto looks like! It must be their simplicity. Regarding the poor ride, apparently the rear bump stops allowed for zero travel. Removing the bump stops or at least cutting them down alot helped massively in this department. Yours looks nice Been trying to convince a colleague of mine to get one as they're as close as you can get to the likes of an XR2i or Mk1/Mk2 golf in a modern package. Another car to consider for your colleague is a Renault Clio 172/182. Some may they are overdone but that is for a very good reason. It's not often you get a car that's great in most ways out of the box. For trackdays, all they tend to need is better brake pads and decent fluid, along with stickier tyres. That's it. There really is little/no need for most folks to modify them on the road for a sorted example. When I had mine, it felt like a more refined 205 GTi, almost like its true successor. The pedals were in a similar position, inside it was around as spacious. The fact that the 1x2s had Climate Control, Cruise Control, Xenons, alot of safety kit, yet something being below the 1200kg mark is impressive even back then. I always preferred the Mini Cooper S over the 172 until I owned mine. They're such a fun back road blast! Like the 205, it would readily lift off oversteer. Unlike a 205 GTi however, they were quick, albeit the 172s really need a remap to make the best of the power they have, and they were frugal. I used to get 33MPG average from mine from mostly town work, and regularly over 40 on the motorways. The issue with the 172 now is to not get a neglected one; many have now been run on for pennies as they cost pennies a couple of years ago to buy. Prices are firm, albeit still cheap(ish), so they do make sense to buy.
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Last Edit: Feb 15, 2021 7:27:23 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Is Lpg still viable? ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Feb 14, 2021 21:10:22 GMT
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Some Calor gas depots have LPG pumps. If they are like the ones at work, they are only for Calor owned vehicles and maybe Employee vehicle at a push. I may be wrong but I used to work at Calor a few years ago now. I can confirm with contacts I have theirs if needby. When I had a Mondeo 1.8 on LPG, I seem to recall it being a faff to try and sign up to the scheme (if I even could!) at their head office. It may be FloGas you are thinking of. A couple of their sites have LPG stations present. One example is the depot on London Road in Coventry. The downside of Flogas is that they are only opening during business hours, meaning it can be a rush to fill up with them after work times.
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Last Edit: Feb 14, 2021 21:12:08 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
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Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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1997 Peugeot 306 GTi 6 - SOLDChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Feb 14, 2021 15:51:13 GMT
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Love these cars! They seem to be one for now which have escaped huge price jumps.
I adored my Phase 3 China Blue car. If the right Phase 1 popped up, I could buy one again.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Feb 14, 2021 15:29:26 GMT
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^ Cool, I’ve done a bit of rooting around, thanks. Mine looks like it’s pretty close to an upside down Jag X-Type. May have a Small change - Bigger effect coming on if I can find someone to make me an upside down Jag plate Try the Number Plate Centre in Sparkhill, Birmingham. They stock alot of plates . If you can get hold of an old school plate machine, and the letters, in theory it could be done if you had the materials
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