CurtisRider

George, let me know on a price, I need basically everything you are taking out of that TT. I'm not in a position where I can buy this month but hopefully next month won't be an issue I have shoved in the refurbished warm up regulator and fresh injector seals (the previous ones have been replaced since I owned it but I figured it wouldn't hurt to put on a new spare set). The car initially ran a bit lumpy (as per usual and with quite a lot of hesitance) but once it had an Italian tune up it felt a little bit better than usual and ran a touch smoother, hopefully the refreshed distributor will help until new engine time

Wicked cheers Adam. I think over fuelling is likely as it does smell rather a lot out back. I am waiting for some seals to arrive so I can finish rebuilding a spare fuel distributor and warm up regulator in the hope that they solve my cars running issues! Once fitted I will get the car setup on the gas tester, and have the fuelling tweaked to suit the new parts.

I just went to swap the plugs, rotor and distributor cap in the Porsche as they were due and I was rather concerned by what appears to be fresh oil covering the plugs(mainly where it seals). The ceramic sections are not oily so the oil must be coming from internally rather than a duff rocker seal. I have not noticed blue smoke from the car, but I do have to top up the oil fairly regularly (front crank seal needs replacing and would certainly be a large contribution to this). The engine is running rich judging by the electrode, but not so severely that it would cause an oil like sludge judging by the spark plug diagnostic photos I have looked at. The plugs haven't looked like this before when I have checked. Am I looking at dead piston rings? Or duff valve stem seals? Should I just keep it going until the engine goes bang? The engine has been running lumpy for pretty much all the time I have owned it and after all the new parts I've bought i'm wondering if the actual engine itself is the thing that has been shit all along

Seems a lot for a 9 year old petrol regardless of mileage, obviously it's a high spec car but there are others on Autotrader with slightly higher mileage for significantly less. Mine has been a good car to me, not the best looking things but a dependable machine which is cheap to replace parts on so far as well as being easy to work on.

I really want another 9-3 and yours ticks all the boxes... just not in a position to buy it until I get shot of the Astra

Might be the elastic band holding the bumper on? Car looks good Dann I'm fed up with the lack of decent tyre availability for my Porsche (14-75-185), it limits me to budgets that don't grip much. I'm trying to find some 15" steels in 4x108 fitment, probably french ones as they seem to have the same (ish) offset on stock wheels and wheel spacers are cheaper and available in far more widths (I can just use spigot rings to take my Porsche centre bore up to french size). I'm also pondering on making some rear wheel arches, they won't actually widen the car body, just fill out the lower parts of the car where the bottom tucks in. I'm thinking along the lines of slimmed down 924 Carrera GT arches: I don't want to cut my car about for the full on wide body look like that, but I do like the look of how the arches bulk the car out a bit so If i made them super thin at the top and then flare out at the bottom like the GTs then I think that could look quite cool...

Make sure there are no air locks, have you bled the system correctly? Check the temp gauge sensor for corroded connections to make sure it is reading correctly. Also check the fan switch isn't kicking in too early, that'll keep your temperatures abnormally low.

I literally just chucked a decent mk4 spring away today, sods law!

Well the welder I bought lasted about 10 minutes before the handle melted itself to pieces. The welder does an ok job but the wire feed is automatic and runs off the main transformer so speed varies depending on how hard it is working causing an inconsistent wire feed speed. A new SIP torch wasn't cheap, the welder isn't quite pants enough to chuck away and I also wanted the option of running gas later on so i got modifying. It now has a relay were the original wire feed is that triggers a PWM controller with a digital readout, this gives me adjustable wire speed that isn't affected by how hard the welder is working. It also has a new torch (not euro as it costs too much for such a basic welder) which has a gas valve in it so I can run disposable bottles if I want to. I now need to make it easier to change the polarity of the welder so that I can switch from gasless to gas quickly and painlessly. Pretty chuffed that I sorted it, less chuffed that it owes me £60 in total now... thats a nice chunk towards something better!

Not quite car news but car related....dad gave me a 'broken' arc welder the other day, I cleaned it all up and now it works nicely, it even welds thin metal surprisingly well for such a huge machine! It'll be perfect for my tear drop caravan build that I want to do next year. I also got a brand new SIP MIG welder for £35 a few hours ago, unfortunately it is gasless only but for that price I can't really lose, the welds from it are actually pretty good considering how much negativity there is about gasless welding.

The guy had a grumpy face in general it seems, the car passed advisory on 2 rear bushes which i'll get ordered and replaced over Christmas. Decided to keep the car for a bit longer, it's mechanically sound it seems as i've replaced so much of it, so better the devil you know and all that.

Ahh the tension of watching your car having its MOT, can't tell if the guy is miserable or just not impressed with the state of my Astra...

I'd be up for it, hopefully in my van engined car

I've got the Smorgasbord Trail Extreme 2.2s (dual compound) they are freaking awesome and only cost me £13 each a month or so ago! I run them tubeless and they sealed up super quickly, far better than my Rubber Queens

I'm looking at selling my Astra but finding it hard to put a price on it. Its a 2005 1.9 SRI (16v 120bhp model) 3 door in black metallic. It has done 145k and has a partial service history. The car has had all this in the past year: SH but as good as new genuine back box Sachs DMF+clutch+slave Fresh box oil All suspension components upfront replaced apart from springs and dampers Rear springs and dampers replaced All pads and discs replaced New front caliper Water pump+cam belt replaced AC radiator replaced+gas refill Thermostat replaced 4 new glow plugs 2 new front tyres (premium) and 2 decent rears Recent service (I have done the last 2) with all filters replaced A fresh MOT on it ready for the sale and to assure that the work I have done on it is up to standard. I have done all this work myself with photographic evidence and receipts to back it up, does that count as a service history of some sort? The paintwork is fairly good, polishes up very nicely but lots of pitting in the front bumper from road rash. It pulls perfectly, changes gear slickly and feels very responsive. The car feels like it has done many miles less than the current milage suggests as everything is so fresh feeling, it's also very good on fuel and doesn't smoke much like other 1.9s seem to, just when cold but it soon stops when up to temperature. Downsides are, the headlights needs polishing as they are starting to look faded at the tops (I will try and do that), stone chips, alloys could do with a refurb, small dent at front of bonnet (not that noticeable) seams of drivers seat and part of rear seat have split slightly but otherwise good. There is a minor crank seal leak but it is so minor that the oil lever doesn't ever seem to change, I have never needed to top it up. With all that in mind, what would you guys value it at? I've looked on Autotrader but can't seem to find much to compare it to but the feeling i'm getting is £1800-£2000 but I don't know if the partial service history and the fact I've done the work makes a significant negative difference to value or not? I'm not sure how much difference it makes with all the new parts, the typical wear and tear bits for the high mileage are sorted/not an issue now, all expensive jobs are done really!

Could you not just let her go on your Standard and teach her a few basics and see if she latches onto the sport? At 10 she can't surely do THAT much damage to it? Or do you think she will attach herself onto your expensive bike?

I was jacking it up and noticed one side was moving but not really lifting, fortunately I wasn't underneath! Already had a car fall and my arm squashed so I'd rather not have a repeat of that...

Oh and in car progress news... New shocks and springs for the Astra as they were dead (leaky shocks+snapped spring) Metal drop links as the standard plastic ones keep popping open The car now doesn't rattle like hell on bumpy roads, and (unrelated) is achieving over 50 mpg since running some Forte through it and cleaning the map sensor One very snapped hydraulic ramp, hopefully they will replace it as that is VERY poor!

No idea on turbo yet, whatever is small and cheap really as I can't run too much boost, I guess another 30 odd bhp would be realistic without introducing lots of issues. I've been reading about ramming a turbo on the 924 na engine and it seems within my abilities and still allows me to use the current mechanical fuel injection but i'm not sure if it is worth the hassle against fitting another engine (VAG 1.8T or Saab 2.3T) which in the long run would be more sensible just more expensive initially. I fear I may just be wasting my time thinking about it, but it's good to learn these things! I had noticed that Subarus use an unequal length manifold stock, contributing to their odd sound.

For a ghetto turbo build, just how important is it to have totally equal length tubes for the manifold? Space is minimal to say the least as the inner wing and steering link are very close

Where can I get slim arch extensions? I can see plenty of wide ones but not had much luck on slim ones!

Nice one Robin, I am tempted to do mine too, also seen some modern VAG gearbox mounts that look adaptable to fit our boxes too. Which rear box have you got on there? Looks like a stainless Dansk, mine is cracked all over the place so I want to swap it with something less pants but still sounds just as good...

Extended gearstick will feel weird surely? They are already pretty high up (assuming you have taken out your seat spacers?). I have a short shift kit for mine but haven't got round to fitting it yet. How are you getting on with the filled mounts? Is it much noisier?

The codeine comes in 650b as well now!

Not much to update on with the Porsche, the clutch has performed perfectly and apart from getting some bits ready for MOT, I haven't done a great deal to it Brakes on both of my cars needed attention, my Porsche discs were tired out but I had a set of nearly new ones that had sat in a damp garage for a while, a quick wire brush and they are fine, they have gone nice and shiny now that they have been used. I also replaced the backing plate and repacked the bearings. Before and after of brushing down 'New' vs old It just passed its MOT, so I'm happy about that! And the daily Astra discs were replaced with brand new all round, bargain at £88 posted the lot! I didn't realise my front discs were 300mm, pretty large for a small car I thought. One of my front ARB links had popped its joint so I pressed it back in, probably need to order a new one though. Two new rear shocks and springs will be required for the MOT in December, hopefully that is it though. This means more money and time for the 924 :cool: