The Car Thread

[DJEHB]

I did a self conversion on a scabby 16 year old white SWB T5 during the first lockdown. Absolutely loved the process and loved the van. Had some great trips in it around the UK and planned further afield but decided to let it go whilst camper prices were at an all time high.

 

Really miss this thing, but personally I want a MWB hi top next. The lack of head height (I couldn’t justify the 3k pop top cost on top of the rest of the mods). +1 for the sideways bed though. I made the centre of the worktop at the back removable so I could transport my motorbike in the middle. 

[Ali C]

I'm not worried about driving a longer vehicle...after taking the 7.5 meter motorhome down singletrack clifftop roads on the outskirts of Mull I feel I can tackle anything!  I'm just wanting something smaller so I can get access to more places, I know of a couple of riding spots that have height access carparks plus my Dad's house has a low railway bridge and I'm forced to park quite far away if I can't get under it.

[manuel]

dadmobile complete.

I’ve never had a boot liner before, but this seems a great fit and perfect for muddy things after bike ride or walk. 
aero bars were a bit of a faff to fit and the flush rails seem less secure to fit to but we will see! Dave only fits on with the bars turned round it’s so long 

[MadManMike]

Still waiting for a refund from MK Sportscars for wings and headlights they can't supply, but in the meantime I ordered some bits from elsewhere.

I mock fitted one of the headlights today (Right hand side are the new type) - just need to grab some bullet connectors so I can wire them in. I think they look much better than the big old ones.

Once the carbon fibre wings arrive I can get them fitted and then book her in for some work and an MOT at last!

[MadManMike]

Just need the heatshrink tubing to arrive so I can tidy up the wiring, but they're all fitted now. Much better than the old ones, aesthetically and in light output!

[Duncy H]

Been a while T-F.

My LR discovery is in bits on my drive away at the moment. Had the oil light flickering when the oil was real hot, spent a weekend pulling the oil pump out which was pretty involved to find it was cracked in two places. Put it all back together and the problem persists. Tore the sump off and found I’ve got a walked cam bearing. Been sat there since, it’s fixable but I’m sat on the fence about if I actually want to tackle it or move it on. Would be so good to have it as a 4x4 beast ready for out there adventures in BC but it’s been a frustrating ownership.

Before all this and before fuel prices went crazy I was considering a little more eco hatchback or similar anyway. Out in Canada there isn’t a whole lot that excites me that either doesn’t cost the earth or isn’t North American. I’ve kept circling back to a Golf GTi mk7 as one of the best options for price, newness, eco enough, spiceyness, resale value etc. Anyone have experiences with the platform to share? Going to look at one next weekend. It’s been lowered, sign of me age that I think I’d raise it up, it would have to cope with my north shore rack and the occasional dirt road.

[isitafox]

After a cheap motor as the cambelt went on mine the other day and considering going cat c/n as it's not something we'd be planning to move on anytime soon so wondered what people would consider about this? 

Baring in mind this was done when the car had covered 8500 miles and now it is currently at 40k and has a pretty clean MOT history ever since being put back on the road (just tyres really!) 

[AdamR28]

Yup crack on.

Though an old Micra or something sounds just the ticket!

[isitafox]

14 minutes ago, AdamR28 said:

Yup crack on.

Though an old Micra or something sounds just the ticket!

Well was looking C1/107/Aygo as a friend races the Citroëns but seen the Seat above for £800 more and it's just generally a lot nicer 

[AdamR28]

Ah fair enough. "Cheap car" is different in my world 

[isitafox]

More cheap to run/service/not tempt me to mod 

[AdamR28]

I hear you. That's why have a K11 Micra which cost £250!

[isitafox]

Change of plan now anyway, missus says it looks too boy racerish for her to use for work, personally I think it looks tidy

 

[isitafox]

Late update but went to look at above car and it was a nail. Needed a respray and the interior was rank..... 

[Duncy H]

 

Late update but went to look at the car above and it was mint. Barely a mark on it, had a substantial amount of work/service work done to pass inspection too.

It’s been modded a bunch the further I dig deeper, which I feel on the fence about, on one hand I don’t have to do those mods myself, on the other hand it’s not an unmolested example and don’t have the fun of doing them myself. I’ve found it has a cts down pipe which makes me think it’s mapped as they would throw a CEL without a map, h@r springs, maybe a blow off valve spacer due to it being audible (hard to see). 
 

It’s a lot of fun, very quick, yet can put it in ‘Normal’ mode and it is quite docile and subdued. It’s also a chunk better on fuel than expected which is good right now.

Future plans:

-Install tow ‘hitch’

-Kuat Sherpa bike rack

-Potentially lift it back to standard ride height or half low depending on what springs can be found.

[forteh]

Anyone got any recommendations for repairing ECUs?  Looks like the one on our sprinter has failed

[CurtisRider]

I'm after 4X 225-40-18 92Y tyres for my wife's Golf MK6 GT and wondered what you lot were happy with these days? She uses it for commuting 2 days a week so it doesn't cover much mileage, ideally really good wet grip and low noise would be good. Budget wise, hoping for £300 for a set (excluding fitting), happy to spend a bit more if really necessary.

It's been ages since I ordered normal car tyres for myself and I'm not entirely sure whats good anymore! I bought a tyre changer and a balancer thingy a few months back so at least I can save some cost there, they have nearly paid themselves off fitting new tyres to my parents cars and my van!

Currently she has 3 Continental tyres which are pretty old I think, and a 2 year old Nexen Nfera that we had to get fitted in an emergency, it has split massively on the inside so I'd like to avoid them! 

So far the Uniroyal Rainsport 5 hits the sweet spot for several factors as does the Goodyear Eagle F1. It's hard to gauge the value of some of the reviews as most people are happy as long as it's made of rubber and the car drives along.

[AdamR28]

Have used the Rainsports on both road and track and been impressed with them in all conditions. Obviously dry track days are a bit 'limited' but they don't shred apart and are consistent. Wouldn't hesitate to fit to any of my cars.

[Luke Rainbird]

I've only run Rainsports (3/5) on our daily Volvo for years and been very happy. If you were abusing the car often in the dry then they wear faster, but for general UK road use I've been very pleased. People run them at club racing level as an inter/wet tyre, so the performance can't be awful!

The only other thing I'd run on it are Pilot Sports really, which are a little more dry-weather focused. Typically above your budget, though Costco have reasonably frequent deals on them which bring them into the right sort of range from memory.

[CurtisRider]

Brilliant, thanks chaps! I'll go for the Rainsports as they are in budget and my wife doesn't thrash her car about so they should be more than capable! It's only a 2l diesel so it's not like it's a powerhouse 

[MadManMike]

So, after the crash in September (!!!!), I finally got the car back last week. Here's a little story:

At every single point in the process there was problems - my insurer, my underwriter and his insurer all had no idea what was going on - multiple calls and emails, every interaction was like the first call, explaining what happened, what I wanted and how we should proceed. I ended up getting paid twice, one cheque I cashed (from his insurer) and one I tore up (my insurer - who I told, again, I wasn't claiming from... Next months renewal will be fun, as I'm sure they'll have recorded a claim). Suppliers of replacement parts let me down, to the point I had to open a claim on PayPal, which I didn't expect from MK Sportscars, since they're one of the biggest players in the kit car scene.

Rewinding a little, the car had failed its MOT in July, with a few simple fixes required: engine tune, rear brakes sorting and a suspension arm. I sourced and fitted the arm myself, since it was an easy job. With the MOT, I'd also booked new tyres, ordered from Blackcircles and due to be fitted before the MOT since the old tyres looked new, but were fitted in 2003 when the car was built. The garage decided not to bother fitting the tyres and they told me they didn't want to work on the car either: "Come and get the car, we don't know what it is and we don't touch carbs". Fine, no problem. I arrive to find the car sitting out in the rain, on its original tyres. "It's OK, bring it back once it's done and we'll put them on for you". Hmm, not ideal but also not a massive issue, unless it fails the re-test because the tyres are old and cracked.

At this point I'm a bit pissed off because I have a failed car and nobody wants to look at it because it's a bit specialist and old school. This is when I looked around on forums and found a place in Cardiff called Du Croq Slip, who appeared to be the perfect place - their website had kit cars, classic rally cars, hot rods and all sorts of cool stuff. It was all looking good, they agreed to sort what needed sorting, but there was a bit of a waiting list because they're popular. Fine by me, I'm happy to wait for the right place.

Mid-September I was booked in for, two months after the MOT fail. I rushed home from a meeting in London on the day, ready to fire her up and slowly cruise over to Cardiff (After all, the brakes were bad and the tyres similar to the plastic ones found on children's toys). Rolling out of the garage I turned the key, hoping for a roar from the exhaust that's basically firing directly into my ear. Instead, I get the tick of a dead battery and the squelch of a slightly flat tyre. Undeterred, I rolled down the hill, trying to bump start it. I got a few chugs and was hopeful. At the bottom of the hill I got out and pushed it back up half way, jumping in again to try and fire it up a second time. More chugs this time. One more and it'll go I reckon!

The third time was not lucky either. I rolled to the bottom again, more chugs but not enough to get her going. Fourth time, perhaps?

I jumped out to push it up again. As I got out, I saw an Ibiza with its reversing lights on, coming towards me - fast enough that it clearly wasn't going to stop. Crunch. Broken wing, damaged headlight. Nothing else obviously wrong, but it's hard to say without having it all measured and properly inspected. The insurance company refused to inspect it, instead they suggested that I drive it to a garage. I suspected the steering rack was damaged due to a loud squeak when turning the wheel, the brakes definitely weren't great, a tyre was fully flat by this point, one of the wings was smashed, one of the lights was damaged... and they said I should drive it to a garage for inspection.

Anyway, I ended up taking a look myself as best I could. Nothing looked bent, it all seemed OK other than maybe the rack and some of the cosmetic parts. I battled both insurers and the underwriter for months, they wouldn't take my word for it but also wouldn't pay for my car to be inspected. In the end, Du Croq Slip agreed with my assessment and gave me a quote to send to the insurers, which was finally agreed and paid in December. It was a bit of a risk because the chassis could have been bent, but I was fed up with arguing and just went for it.

Between the time of the MOT fail and the insurance payout, I had a call from the original garage who informed me that they were closing their tyre bay and I needed to go and collect the tyres. "We can't fit them, you'll see why when you get here". I arrived that day at lunchtime to find that they were indeed closing the tyre bay. In fact the tyre bay wasn't even there any more. It was rubble. I had to put the car on four axle stands and head over to Newport to get the tyres fitted, which was annoying because I'd already paid for fitment in the price originally, plus the hassle of taking the wheels off and spending three hours of a Saturday getting them swapped over.

Fast forward to March this year and I have all the bits I need. I fitted the carbon wings myself because the fitment is personal preference and I knew where I wanted them. I also fitted the new headlights, because it was a simple job and I was bored one day, awaiting delivery of other bits. Mid-March comes around and I have the car ready for Cardiff - there's a bit of a wait again because they're busy. No problem, I've waited months already so a couple more weeks is not a big deal.

Two weeks later, the garage is ready and I'm waiting for the transport guy to arrive. Lunch time comes, but a truck doesn't. I send a quick message to see when he's coming, since I have meetings in the afternoon. No reply. I contacted the garage to tell them I was being ignored and not to expect the car today, since it was now half four and the guy hadn't showed up or contacted me.

Missing my slot meant waiting a couple more weeks because the garage was packed. At this point I'm wondering if I'll ever get to drive the car. I bought it in June and it's April, so I'm approaching my anniversary with it - at least I haven't added many miles to the clock...

So, congratulations if you've made it this far. Here's the good bit for me: the car is done and I'm enjoying it!

I was hoping to insert photos in the right order, but it seems all I can do is attach them. So, the one on the country lane with the blue sweeping wings is the day I bought it home. The odd looking headlights are to show the difference between the two - the smaller ones are what I fitted to replace the damaged ones. They're far more modern looking and much brighter. The next photo shows the new headlights and the carbon wings fitted. And then finally, the last photo is how the car looks now.

And to prove that it moves, here's a quick video I filmed yesterday - just some fly-by action (And yeah I know, I should rev it harder  )

 

 

[forteh]

Van is needing a new ECU, in addition to clocks, immobiliser, keybox, steering lock and key.....

Hopefully we might get it back this week. Bonus is that the replacement ECU is from a 313 so the power will be going up to 130 from the palty 100 which frankly struggled with a 2.9t van. Saves the cost of getting it remapped and it's obviously going to be a certified good mercedes tune

In other news, the starter motor on the smax appears to have gone up the swanny now so we're currently without vehicles all together

 

[Wrayvon]

@MadManMike those arches look so much better. Really not a fan of those old sweeping style ones (can't remember their official name)

[MadManMike]

17 minutes ago, Wrayvon said:

@MadManMike those arches look so much better. Really not a fan of those old sweeping style ones (can't remember their official name)

I quite like the old style ones, but yeah the carbon ones are much better. Those wings and the smaller lights make it look a bit more modern.

Having the wings turn with the wheels looks cool, that's why I like them I think

[forteh]

Starter motor replaced, 25 quid from eBay and 90 minutes faffing and she starts again