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The Car Thread


MadManMike

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Must wax my car sometime.

Well the unthinkable's happened, for the first time since buying the thing over 5 years ago I just waxed my car. I figured it'd help keep it safe through all the salt over winter, and this is probably one of the last weekends without frost, so I've been dashing out whenever it's dry enough and chucking some more wax on.

Now for the in depth detailing explanation:

I used Meguires Mirror Glaze #8 mould release wax. The scientific reasoning behind this choice being: I already had some, it's £13 a tin, it's bloody tough and I'm familiar with using it from waxing up moulds. I applied it using an old white cloth I found in the shed, and buffed it off using an old brown towel I also found in the shed. Before applying it I cleaned the car, for this I used tap water, a bucket and a sponge. Job done*, it's shiny**. Total cost ~£3.

* The jobs not that done, it started raining before I finished so I've not done the bumpers, valances or some of the glass yet, but it's mostly done.

** Well, not that shiny, it's white, 25 years old and has covered 190k+

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You need to get a photo of a hazy reflection of you with your thumb up surely?

My car now has one less oil leak and an electric drivers window to match the passenger one finally! The trouble is I now have a large hole in my door card where the winder went although I guess it matches the delightful cracks in the dash

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You need to get a photo of a hazy reflection of you with your thumb up surely?

Haha, this is the trouble with a white car, not sure you'd be able to see anything, I might try it sometime though. I'll probably grab a photo of the beading next time I wash it/it's raining heavily. Forgot I also didn't get a chance to do the bonnet either. I was mostly bothered about the sides of the car where the grime gets thrown by the wheels. I'll be interested to see how the wax lasts over winter, from my experience of it on moulds, it's bloody tough. There's also the added bonus that if I ever accidentally cover the car in fibreglass resin somehow, it'll just come right off. :lol:

Alan, I'll get some photos up sometime. I haven't taken any in months because nothing about it's changed. I'll take some just for the hell of it sometime soon though. As for your 'rocco, it's looking nice! wish mine was that straight. I'm not a fan of the lifted back edge of the bonnet, but the colour doesn't bother me.

Edited by RobinJI
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lan, I'll get some photos up sometime. I haven't taken any in months because nothing about it's changed. I'll take some just for the hell of it sometime soon though. As for your 'rocco, it's looking nice! wish mine was that straight. I'm not a fan of the lifted back edge of the bonnet, but the colour doesn't bother me.

Its the lift that I'm not settled on too. The bonnet has been metalflaked so that'll be staying as im quite chuffed with the finish, I just cant get a good photo of it.

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That looks bad ass, not sure about the bonnet raisers though! I'll get some fresh photos of mine once I have corrected a few more issues, got a club member helping me tune it soon which should make it less shit and worthy of a wash!

Three of my cam tips have score marks on them (nothing on the tappets though) how concerned should I be? Presumably these are responsible for my metallic oil, not sure if it's really worth the hassle of swapping the engine now, I'd rather put money into the 20VT conversion

2013-11-17083753_zps6ed90bed.jpg

Edited by CurtisRider
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Yeah that looks pretty ok really Paul, nothing I'd get overly worried about.

I've never liked raised rear edges on bonnets, mostly just because it's a flawed concept, and they only tend to look good when surrounded by other aggressive modifications.

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Oh really? I'm totally special needs when it comes to anything to do with engines so I really don't know what's fine or not!

Robin, where do you recommend getting weld on coilover sleeves and suitable springs from? I have some spare suspension legs that I want to build coilovers out of as I fancy getting the car slightly lower

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Only place I can think of's Rally Design really. Although a phone-call to pro-tec might turn up some cheap springs. They usually add up to a fair bit though, Might be cheaper to get hold of a pair of 2nd hand coilovers from anything with about the right spring rate and butcher them.

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on the subject of coilover spring rates, can anyone explain how they relate to that of a standard set up?

eg, on Capris, a 190lb spring on a standard set up is considered pretty stiff with an Essex, yet people are fitting like 300lb springs to coilovers when they're running Pintos?

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Assuming the strut mounts in the same place there's no difference in the spring rate whether it's a 'coilover' or a normal spring/shock combination. The only real difference tends to be the target market, coilovers tend to be bought/made by people who are either wanting to venture onto track, or want their car sat on the floor, both of which favor stiffer springs. 300lb isn't really all that stiff.

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That looks bad ass, not sure about the bonnet raisers though! I'll get some fresh photos of mine once I have corrected a few more issues, got a club member helping me tune it soon which should make it less shit and worthy of a wash!

Three of my cam tips have score marks on them (nothing on the tappets though) how concerned should I be? Presumably these are responsible for my metallic oil, not sure if it's really worth the hassle of swapping the engine now, I'd rather put money into the 20VT conversion

2013-11-17083753_zps6ed90bed.jpg

Heres my 20vt i bought a few months ago might be putting it up for sale shortly due to wanting another v8 / v10 of some sort if anyones interested message me not advertising it just yet.

fiat-coupe-turbo-coupe-20v-S676710-10_zp

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Any advice on reverse bay parking? Got my test in a few weeks and cant see too get them nailed!

Assuming this is what a parallel reverse park is called these days, my instructor taught me like this: -

Pull up along side the car you're parking behind, you want to be about 18" away from it, stop when you get wing mirrors about level with each other.

Reverse and immediately put on lock to swing the car at an angle of about 30-45° from the curb as soon as you can, once at the right angle straighten the wheels up so youre reversing straight.

When your wing mirror passes the rear corner of the other car start putting the other lock on (slowly at first so you don't knock the bumpers but once clear wind it on) and you should end up with the car nicely parallel with the curb and with a little practise only a few inches away.

Fine tuning of the speed on which you put the final lock on will come with practise, find a quite carpark, use a couple of big traffic cones (that can simulate the wing mirror and rear corner of the other car) and fill your boots :D

edit: the steeper the initial entry angle, the smaller space you can get into, takes more juggling with the wheel though and probably best to be safe than cocky on the test.

Edited by forteh
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