adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 28, 2024 22:47:42 GMT
|
Hahaha yeah they're too old for me to run, as soon as I can get them off they can go on marketplace as free drift tyres or planters, usually gets them gone Thank you for that, I've actually managed to bag a couple of reasonably new Bridgestone part worns locally, I'll get another two and I'll have a matching set by the time I've messed around with getting the wheels powdercoated
|
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 27, 2024 17:19:49 GMT
|
Haha what are the chances Mine look OK-ish from a distance but are certainly in need of a refurb still, previous owner had them powdercoated but it's failed in quite a few areas Gave them a wash and a proper going over in the daylight today, think a CV boot had let go on the Volvo they were fitted to as one was coated in grease.. But overall not terrible really One is almost more of an ice blue than silver which is odd. Sadly the tyres aren't quite as usable as I was hoping for, all matching and they've got good tread but they're old (2010 date codes) and showing signs of cracking, typical low miles, but old winter tyres I suppose. Will see what I can replace them with, get the old tyres off and probably have them powdercoated again
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 26, 2024 23:02:43 GMT
|
Next piece of the puzzle, wheels have been acquired Volvo Crater's, otherwise known as BBS RX. I've been on the lookout for a set of these for a little while as they're a good quality wheel usually available for not a lot of money. They're 16s so are a subtle upsize on the standard 15" steels which should suit the subtle lowering of the 30mm springs. They do need a bit of attention, but shouldn't take much to smarten them up with some silver wheel paint
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 26, 2024 22:18:35 GMT
|
This week.... I'm astounded how much trolling a mate is getting for trying to sell a car. He's a driveway dealer but hes a decent sort. His is that Mercury "Bluesmobile" I'm sure many of you have seen up for sale, and I don't recall any car he's had causing him to be on the recieving end of so much BS and outright bullying, including people taking his pics from his Facebook and ridiculing them on a selling page. Crazy world. I spent a bit of time musing over that Mercury ad, blues brothers isn't really my thing but it seemed reasonably priced for a big American barge as far as I could tell... I've started my week by collecting some wheels for the Almera, had a nice chat with the seller as he had a Saab OG9-3 Aero convertible on the drive. Been a good few years since I sold my 9-3 but getting chatting with like minded individuals is part of what I really like about parts collection adventures Foolishly opened facebook marketplace when I got home and saw another temptingly cheap set of wheels sold a couple sets last year, so have got a bit of room in theory...
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 25, 2024 22:40:45 GMT
|
Not long after getting it, I noticed that it was scraping over speed bumps.. Not because of sick lows, but because the exhaust was hanging off.. So I had my local garage sort that out as it was March or so and I wasn't in the mood for rolling about on the driveway A bit later, I gave the car a bit more of a "detail" including a freshening up of the engine bay, came up nicely I had a bit of a knocking from the car around this time, as well as a wheel bearing noise. Took it to the garage, the identified and changed one of the front wheel bearings that was making noise. The knocking turned out to be one of the rear shock absorber upper mounts which despite the good condition of the car, had rotten badly July 2023 I gave the car a service, the oil came out looking great as expected with it's service history, although the cabin filter hadn't been done in a while... Hung on a 17" wheel I had around at the time because it's what you do right.. Resisted doing any mods though as this wasn't supposed to be the car for that sort of thing All going nicely still, then I get this No change in the drive at all but it had logged the code. Bit of googling suggested the MAF may be the culprit, sprayed some cleaner through it, and cleared the codes. This worked for a while but the light came back, so I changed the MAF out for a new Bosch replacement and it's been good since. Some of the fixes on the car have been silly little things. The book wallet for the car had split and was being held together with electrical tape so I got a good replacement off ebay. Both keys were in poor condition and barely worked remotely, got some new ones via a seller on ebay and after coding I have good working remote keys. The bulb for the backlighting for the trip computer failed which required the binnacle removing to change. One other thing was that the cup holder didn't work, it was stuck like this Assuming it was broken, I got a used replacement and went to switch it out, only to find that this was the cause 10 euro cent jamming the mech I persevered with the original radio and a cassette aux in adapter until November 2023 when I got a cheap bluetooth head unit off a mate and a fascia kit to fit it A bit fiddly but it works aside from the steering wheel controls.. I probably need another harness for those, but I've not been bothered enough to take it all apart again! It was around that time that the other front wheel bearing started making itself known and got replaced too. Now after all that waffle, the reason I've started a thread While I've not been aiming to mod it, I've been keeping an eye out for springs as the OEM springs are very soft and wallowy in corners which is a shame as it's very easy heel and toe in, and despite being the base engine, it's quite willing. These lowering springs came up for a very reasonable price so I couldn't say no. I've also just tonight agreed a deal for some wheels, so soon I'll be applying the classic formula
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 25, 2024 22:15:37 GMT
|
It's just ocurred to me that I've had this car for just over a year now, I never intended to do a thread for it because there wasn't going to be anything to say. It's about as dull as a car can be, but it might also be one of my best automotive buys.. In late 2022 I had been using my Chrysler Crossfire as a daily until I realised the rear subframe was trying to part ways from the car.. In replacing the bushes for that, I ended up doing a full suspension overhaul, found some rust and long story short, I've not driven it since I live within walking/cycling distance of work with a fairly regular bus route also so that combo kept me going for a bit, and anything that needed a car, I was borrowing my gf's 207. This was sort of working, but by late January 2023 the Crossfire wasn't close to being back on the road and after a particularly cold evening trying to get back from work with buses that didn't turn up, I decided I needed a working car of my own again. Cheap was the name of the game, ever since the pandemic, it seems nearly impossible to buy a decent cheap car but I didn't want to spend more than a grand. I spent a while looking and discounting various options, usually I would look for something a bit oddball but the idea was that my gf might be able to use the car sometimes as well (the 207 hasn't been a particular bastion of reliability in our ownership) so that meant I was looking at fairly normal hatchbacks. Eventually this Almera popped up on ebay, within budget, low owners, full service history, located not too far away in the midlands. I ummed and ahhed about it, then decided to put a bid on without having seen the car. I ended up winning and this would be the first time I've ever bought a car blind Previous owner was a retired former Nissan mechanic who had had the car since 2002, sure enough there were stamps for services for pretty much every year since 2001. I think there was one missing for 2020 or 2021 but the miles done in that time were low. The car itself is a pre-facelift 1.5 petrol S, which I think is pretty much the base model. Does have electric windows and air con that works though so can't complain. The best bit was that it only cost me £820. Now in 2019 I got my Honda Legend coupe for 800 and in 2015 I managed to get my BMW 750i for 700 but post pandemic, I'll say it was a good deal! Not long after getting it home I gave it a good clean It's in very good condition really. There is a scratch down one side, and both bumpers seem to have had little bumps in the past as the lines aren't perfect and there's been a bit of touch up paint, but no rust that I could see which for a 20+ year old Japanese car was impressive!
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 25, 2024 21:37:08 GMT
|
tbh most of the rust looks non structural to me i would indeed patch the worst spots like the rockers and drive it. if you want to fix everything the car is going to end on jackstands for a (few)year(s) Yeah I hear what you're saying, I've had a bit of a poke around some of the bits particularly behind the rear arches and they weren't as bad as I previously thought. It's never going to be a concours car so strong and functional repairs will be the name of the game. I want the thing on the road for spring really as there's not much reason for it to be taking longer than that! Quick update, as mentioned did a little poking of the rust behind the Drivers side rear wheel. It's a similar story to what I've found elsewhere on the car in that the underseal has failed and allowed rust to creep under it, I was able to peel back the underseal by hand until I reached where it was stuck to actual metal still Now somewhat miraculously, I gave this a bit of a prod with a screwdriver and it didn't just go straight through, sure the lower lip is a bit crispy but it's not as bad as it first appeared. When the weather allows, I'll look taking the rust back, using some hydrate 80 and decent paint to tidy this up. In the meantime I've been making progress on the front wings. Cutting the metal plate to fit the recess was taking too long and just wasn't going to sit how I wanted. So I ended up cutting up the original fake vents and sticking those in place as a base for filler over the top, unconventional but it should do the job. I cut and filed the plastic bits down till they were the rough height needed. They were then JB welded in place, with self tappers to hold them until it went off. I'm new to bodywork and filling so I'm just learning/making it up as I go along The design of the fake vents left gaps, so I've started off by going over with some P40 filler I've started to knock this back down flat and will then go over with P38 to smooth it out. It's going to take a fair bit of sanding to make sure I've got a shape I'm happy with but I think it should work. Depending on how successful I am, I may have a go at smoothing off the side reflectors from the rear bumper as a future project...
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 25, 2024 21:18:56 GMT
|
I had a free weekend so I've done a bit more on the bike, made some good progress. First off I got the multimeter out and poked around the original ignition coil and regulator rectifier, the readings I was getting were suggesting that trying to cheap out by using the original items would be a false economy so I got on Wemoto and ordered a few bits. In addition to the coil and regulator rectifier, I got a new bleed screw for the front caliper as everytime I went to the bike, there seemed to be some fluid around the screw, as well as a new clutch cable as although the original did move freely, the outer was very crispy and the adjuster locked solid. Getting the coil and reg/rec fitted up was straightforward, got the HT leads all connected up to the plugs too The clutch cable was a bit of a headscratcher as I just couldn't seem to be able to get the right adjustment length set up. I then remembered that I'd printed out a section from the Kawasaki workshop manual on setting up the cable, followed the steps and got it set up with just the right amount of freeplay at the lever. The new bleed screw seems to have stopped any leaking, so I went ahead and bled the front brake, which is another thing off the list. I did also make some progress with routing and connecting up the wiring loom, it's fairly self-explanatory really but I have been referring to old photos to help with getting the routing right etc. I did find one wire that goes to the ignition switch that has a bit of damage As it's quite near the plug, I'm going to try and de-pin it and repair it before re-installing into the plug. I've also just received some loom tape as the original PVC sleeving has gone brittle where the UV has baked it, particularly in the looms that go to the handlebar controls. So I'll tidy that up before everything is in it's final routing. I've also ordered some bits for the carbs which should mean I can connect up the throttle cables. At that point it'll just be connect up the battery and make sure all the wiring is happy, set the static ignition timing, put something flammable in the carbs and see what happens... Also only a week or two away from when the painted bits should be done so it's all coming together
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 23, 2024 20:32:10 GMT
|
Excellent, that's pretty much what I've ended up doing in the end, used JB Weld to stick in some filler pieces (parts of the original plastic trim cut down) then will fill over the top
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 22, 2024 10:01:49 GMT
|
Managed to pick up some cheap lowering springs for the Almera, looking forward to fitting them if the rain ever stops 😅 Would like to find some decent 4x114.3 alloys to go on it as well, but there's hardly anything around at the cheap end of the market, or when they do appear they seem to be miles away..
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 21, 2024 13:38:20 GMT
|
Nice eclectic mix there! The lines of that Impala look so good
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 20, 2024 21:47:07 GMT
|
I've had Landsails on a few cars and.. well you get what you pay for they function as a tyre but I've not found them anything to write home about. Easy to make them squeal on roundabouts in the dry or provoke silly understeer in the wet though haha. Had some Nankang eco tyres on a Yaris T Sport. Decent in the dry, OK in the wet, bit sketchy in below zero temps. I had some Barum Bravuris 3HM's on my E34 when I had it, was pretty happy with those as a mid range tyre. A quick glance on tyrereviews.com suggests the 5HM's that replaced it don't get as good a review though. I also ran a Maxxis tyre (forget the model) on that car for a bit and that did fine also from what I can recall. Accelera seem to be doing a bit of a PR drive lately, I've got some of their budget track tyres on my Crossfire and they've been reasonable. Might be worth checking out their more road orientated models tirestreets.co.uk/collections/road
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 16, 2024 17:06:47 GMT
|
Congrats on the 20 years! Rare anything lasts that long on the internet First time I became aware of RR was when a mate was showing me something on here, while we were sat at the back of a lecture in our first year of uni in 2010 Joined up a couple years later when I got my MGB and haven't looked back
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 15, 2024 20:44:24 GMT
|
Brave man...my cojones aren't so large, I would probably have just binned it by now Still, keep on keeping on! If I'd known about the rust before I spent a load of time and money on refreshing the suspension, I'd have probably binned it off too 😂 I did also consider re-shelling my new suspension into a convertible shell, but would likely end up with something just as rusty again anyway..
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 15, 2024 18:35:27 GMT
|
Sadly no, work has been crazy and leaving me drained of energy in the evenings so I've not been able to get out as much as I'd like. The throttle cable ends are a bit different to what I had on the top of the Mikunis so I need to work out how to make them work with each other. I'm a Mikuni novice so got a bit stuck there! I did however fit a subtly period correct numberplate from the always excellent RetroPlates on Instagram Adn tarted up the old plastic chain guard using JD Weld to fill some of the cracks and a spray over with some gloss black. It'll do for now A semi-free weekend and I will be back on this though!
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 15, 2024 18:20:26 GMT
|
Hadn't caught up on the tail end of this thread. Excellent work, I would 100% recommend getting a Hobby weld bottle. So much better than the disposables and no bottle rental so perfect for hobbyists like us. Also because of this thread and what you've done to this car Crossfires are a constant search for me on Marketplace and eBay! I can't see it being long until I buy one Tom Thank you, things have stalled with it a bit to be honest as the weather has put me off trying to do any welding at the moment as the car is outside. Did try to get a mobile welder in just to get the car sorted but that didn't go anywhere either. I did end up picking up another couple disposable bottles for the time being but will definitely get a hobbyweld one longer term. Hahaha, I do often see quite a few cheap ones come up on the Chrysler Crossfire Owners UK facebook group, for even less than I paid for mine! But given what I know now about their ability to rust I would be wary Just been looking back through my photos to see what I've done on the Crossfire since my last update, I took the rear bumper off to check for rust. This is held on with an inordinate amount of fixings, something like 10 or 12, in the wheel arches, in the boot behind trim, under the car at the rear etc. If you ever need to find your paint code on a Crossfire, Chrysler handily hid it behind said bumper... And sadly I did find a bit more rust, the lower bumper mounts aren't really there anymore. To paraphrase the guys from Juiceboxforyou, the pockets are not mint To distract myself from the rust and depression, I've started looking at the front wings. The paint on these wasn't amazing and they're suffering from a little surface rust starting around the wheel arches. So I'm taking the opportunity to make a bit of a change to the car in an attempt to make the design a little less fussy. Fake side vent things be gone I'm going to keep the scalloped indent in the wing but smooth off where the fake vents mounted. I cut up one of the trims to act as a template for cutting out a metal plate to stick in place The smaller holes are blocked up by metal plates stuck in place from behind, and I'll fill the remainder from the front I would like to have it back on the road for spring, that's a rough aim at the moment. Be nice to drive to the Weekender in it, even if it wouldn't get into the show proper. Oh and I might have to make a separate thread for the daily Almera as I've just picked these up for it
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
weird triumph moggy thing adam73bgt
@adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member 58
|
Feb 13, 2024 13:40:05 GMT
|
I've often thought those triumph rocket 3 engines could be decent for a light car as they're a hefty lump
Could be a base to build something cool in there, needs a lot of imagination currently though..
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
Feb 12, 2024 22:58:04 GMT
|
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
|
I had a 1.0 Aygo for a while, great little runabout but quite small if you do need to carry anything big and I found the seats gave me bad back pain over longer journeys, but fine for local stuff.
My current cheap daily is a second gen Almera 1.5, only cost £700 and has been a great car, it is more to tax but if you're not going to use it for a few months as year, could always pay by direct debit and cancel for the months you don't use it? Good on fuel and is ulez compliant, plus more usable space with or without the seats folded
|
|
|
|
adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,866
Club RR Member Number: 58
|
|
|
Take a yellow jazz, add lows, wheels and some blue vinyl... 👀
|
|
|
|
|