Your fleet running reports

[Sundayjumper]

Seeing as I never use it, I figured I’d buy a cover for the Vantage. I went for one from Richbrook - a name I still only associate with cheap stick-on tat from Halfords - but there were some good reviews so I went with it. Indoor only. It’s not waterproof.

And it seems pretty good. It’s not fully tailored but it’s a nice thick stretchy material and hugs the car really well. I’m happy with it.

E94E71DE-EC29-4914-AD2D-C66CB5363FC6.jpeg (78.62 KiB) Viewed 1014 times

[Jobbo]

Worried that @Rich B will think you're a NCG if you don't buy a BMW?

He'd say an X3 confirms it.

Not sure what I've got to do with this, but since you asked, I've always quite liked the Yeti for some reason. I don't really get the whole small suv thing though so X3/Tiguan/etc/whatever I don't care! - the exception for me being the macan, which I think is a great looking car!

I too like the Yeti. It's really good to drive, which is a bonus, but it has an honest utility to it. Of course, honest utility is not enough for my wife; she'd like something a bit posher and to be fair, why not?

I'd rather have an X5 than an X3, but the current shape X3 is as big as the original X5 anyway and plenty large enough for a family. Not sure it would quite accommodate 12 cats but hey...

The Macan is a bit tight inside and you're getting a low-spec older, higher mileage car for more money. They're good but they're not worth the premium price. She'd love one, but tough

[Hates_]

Beford Autodrome done. Took a while to understand the layout but had an absolute blast.



I finally managed to find a set of Lotus forged rims. This will get the car back to it's factory sports pack spec. Very happy indeed!

[Jobbo]

Those wheels are gorgeous

[V8Granite]

Maybe it’s just East Anglia but I really don’t understand car companies at the minute.

3 alloy wheel places cannot deal with any corrosion, says that it will never be flat and I say well fill any corrosion as I had done years ago on some MI16 rims. Can’t be done apparently and they must be powder coated, which I don’t want.

Respray costs have gone through the roof, from 12k to 19k and that’s not even back to bare metal and doesn’t include any hardware, seals etc.

One place showed me a job done on a Megane cup, it looked awful, different levels of orange peel and was “around the 6k mark for that kind of finish” at which point I said ok and made my excuses to leave.

At Baston car show last weekend I saw a few cars which had definitely had paint and by and large they all looked bad, either no depth to the colour or just an uneven finish.

I think I’m changing tack with the car now, I’ll do the interior, make some small modifications and then spend the money driving it and seeing places.

Dave!

[Swervin_Mervin]

If Sreten's (M539) vids are anything to go by Dave, you should drive it to Romania for a paint job! Much cheapness for a top quality job.*

*no idea if true

[Mito Man]

I should get a picture of the model 3 wing mirror Tesla painted, it’s amazing, has 2 paint drips and a bit which they missed

[Matty]

Those wheels are gorgeous

This

What's the weight difference?

[integrale_evo]

I can’t remember what I’ve posted on here and what I haven’t

I never liked the M badges on the door strips on the compact. I know they were factory fitted and because it’s a sport, not M3 ones, but still…

So I contacted a company who make a few different style badges, none of which really floated my boat, so asked if they could do me some custom ones using a photo of my seat fabric as the background. They won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I’m very pleased with them.


Also something else I’ve been toying with since finding the old bmw promo photos was colour coding some of my spare throwing star covers, this thought was also why I colour coded the centres of the bare rims when I repainted them.

Did a pair, painted up a set of 9in rims to put them on, bought a new set of badges from bmw, and made some custom caps for the front wheels as I’m not running the full turbine centre cover.

Again, I doubt many here will approve, but I think they look great

[Rich B]

I like the turbines more, but looks like you've done a bloody nice job on the stars.

Overall, I think you should start putting this much skill and attention into getting the e30 back in the road properly though!!!

[integrale_evo]

Nah, this is all practise on the cheap, easy to get bits for cars. The e30 is the big one which HAS to be done right. Golf next.

Speaking of which…

With the metro gone the golf could move over to a position where I could work on it without having to move it again.


I had cut the rear valance off years ago when I last worked on it, I never welded in the replacement because leaving it off gave much better access to various crusty bits. It’s not actually that bad, no major rot, just little odds and sods. I could probably do a reasonable ‘MOT’ standard patch job in a day, but it wouldn’t be right and would come back in a couple of years. I want to butt weld in properly trimmed sections and make it look factory fresh.

Having decided to go all in, the fuel tank had to come out, which revealed some pretty dodgy looking old hoses, and the rear beam came off as it looked like something off the titanic, and I want to replace the bushes and clean up the area around its mounts anyway. It looked awful, but a quick test with a wire death wheel, and it’s amazingly solid so will clean it up and paint it. You can buy new replacements for under £200, but they’re not gti spec so don’t have the extra welded in bar to stiffen it.






Got the next two weeks off so really hoping I can crack on with it. Although I think it’s going to be too hot to do much for a few days

[Jobbo]

I love the throwing stars, Harry. Looks almost factory now the diameter isn’t outrageously big compared to modern stuff. Are you going to do the same to another pair for the fronts?

[John]

Maybe it’s just East Anglia but I really don’t understand car companies at the minute.

3 alloy wheel places cannot deal with any corrosion, says that it will never be flat and I say well fill any corrosion as I had done years ago on some MI16 rims. Can’t be done apparently and they must be powder coated, which I don’t want.

Respray costs have gone through the roof, from 12k to 19k and that’s not even back to bare metal and doesn’t include any hardware, seals etc.

One place showed me a job done on a Megane cup, it looked awful, different levels of orange peel and was “around the 6k mark for that kind of finish” at which point I said ok and made my excuses to leave.

At Baston car show last weekend I saw a few cars which had definitely had paint and by and large they all looked bad, either no depth to the colour or just an uneven finish.

I think I’m changing tack with the car now, I’ll do the interior, make some small modifications and then spend the money driving it and seeing places.

Dave!

My friend had his mk1 Escort painted by a company who paint mainly competition cars. The finish is the best I've seen on any car and that was around 7k although he did send them the bare rolling shell to keep costs down. I think they are in Northamptonshire somewhere, I'll ask him for the details.

Photos really don't do it justice.

[Hates_]

What's the weight difference?

0.85kg per wheel at the front and 2.5kg per wheel at the back. Probably going to be negated by putting Nankang NS2Rs on them, which are known to be heavy

[integrale_evo]

Yes, I’ll do the other pair of stars at some point too. Be nice to chop and change when the mood suits. They’re a heck of a lot easier to clean than the turbines or original bbs that’s for sure

I ‘found’ my perfect condition, never fitted to a car spare set of stars while looking through some bits in my parents garage a few weeks back too

[Matty]

AC isn't working in the Alfa, leading to a very sweaty journey yesterday.

I suspect it just needs recharging, as the AC pump was replaced not too long back; problem is access for this is hidden under the 'bonnet' which is bolted down, and each time it's removed the weather strips need to be replaced (according to Alfa). This leads to pretty expensive fixes as each time a fix is attempted, it's 1-2 hours labour just for removal and refitting of that. Might end up doing the remove/replace myself and get a mobile AC place in to do the initial recharge and test....

It's also not sounding too great on a warm idle. I've been told this may be plugs, which is an easy fix....but as I'm 3 months out before my pilgrimage to Alfaworks for service and MOT, I'll try this one myself too in the meantime to see if it helps....

[dan]

Maybe it’s just East Anglia but I really don’t understand car companies at the minute.

3 alloy wheel places cannot deal with any corrosion, says that it will never be flat and I say well fill any corrosion as I had done years ago on some MI16 rims. Can’t be done apparently and they must be powder coated, which I don’t want.

Respray costs have gone through the roof, from 12k to 19k and that’s not even back to bare metal and doesn’t include any hardware, seals etc.

One place showed me a job done on a Megane cup, it looked awful, different levels of orange peel and was “around the 6k mark for that kind of finish” at which point I said ok and made my excuses to leave.

At Baston car show last weekend I saw a few cars which had definitely had paint and by and large they all looked bad, either no depth to the colour or just an uneven finish.

I think I’m changing tack with the car now, I’ll do the interior, make some small modifications and then spend the money driving it and seeing places.

Dave!

My friend had his mk1 Escort painted by a company who paint mainly competition cars. The finish is the best I've seen on any car and that was around 7k although he did send them the bare rolling shell to keep costs down. I think they are in Northamptonshire somewhere, I'll ask him for the details.

Photos really don't do it justice.

Wasn’t normandales was it?

[Mito Man]

AC isn't working in the Alfa, leading to a very sweaty journey yesterday.

I suspect it just needs recharging, as the AC pump was replaced not too long back; problem is access for this is hidden under the 'bonnet' which is bolted down, and each time it's removed the weather strips need to be replaced (according to Alfa). This leads to pretty expensive fixes as each time a fix is attempted, it's 1-2 hours labour just for removal and refitting of that. Might end up doing the remove/replace myself and get a mobile AC place in to do the initial recharge and test....

It's also not sounding too great on a warm idle. I've been told this may be plugs, which is an easy fix....but as I'm 3 months out before my pilgrimage to Alfaworks for service and MOT, I'll try this one myself too in the meantime to see if it helps....

Just buy a bottle of recharge gas from Halfords, it has some sealant in it which will stop small leaks (the X5 would empty itself of gas after a month but I used this on it last year and its still cold). If it then leaks out again you know something more important is fucked.

[Sundayjumper]

I like the throwing stars, I don't like the turbines. I also don't like the front camber but I suspect it's a necessity for the wheels & the ride height ?

[Sundayjumper]

My wife's MINI started spluttering and going into limp mode yesterday, the fault codes all relate to combustion & ignition. Nothing specific to coil packs but they're my #1 suspect. For now she's reduced to driving the diesel clubman and is a little grumpy about it. She really loves her convertible.

Speaking of convertibles, I had to pop out to buy some emergency Pimm's earlier today so I took the Galaxie. Lovely day for it. As long as the place you're going has a large car park so I went to Sainsbury's rather than the Co-Op around the corner.