CurtisRider

To be fair anything will be more fun than a standard caddy engine? 1.8t makes most sense as it's in the middle of performance and economy

I need an engine support bar so that I can get the sub frame off and gearbox out on the Astra. I made this in just over an hour, it has sliding and adjustable feet and hangers so you can adjust it to where you want it. Just needs some protective feet (i'm thinking wood?) and it's ready for action. I love free stuff.

Loads of eBay folk do them without makers names, although they are technically illegal. There are a few sellers who also do them with teeny little makers names which is a legal alternative

Refitted the dyed carpets until next week when we get the A3 and I can use that to go to work then my car can be stripped out and left apaprt until its all dry and ready to be refitted The difference is rather large, although still not quite as good as I had hoped. A second coat should make quite a bit of difference Glove box is out whilst I fix the resistor for the interior fan. I really need to finish sewing my 3 spoke steering wheel and get rid of that ghastly black 4 spoke 911 one...

Did the owner show a slight inkling of desperation to get rid? That is really unlucky dude

Ah fair enough, didn't know that one! More dye as I had another pack and I was bored :$ 1.5l of water this time so a far more saturated mix. I decided to try some smaller parts and the car mats that came with the car Second coat on the arched part of the boot cover, noticeable difference Hopefully it'll of dried off a fair bit overnight and we have sunny weather forecast tomorrow I will then give them all a rinse and see what comes off them before proceeding any further

To my knowledge, somebody will correct me if i'm wrong i'm sure... Mayo=headgasket Blue smoke=valve stem seals or piston rings

Well I got some dye, figured i'd try it on the worst of all the carpets/easiest to remove :$ I mixed it up with 3 litres of water instead of 6 as per recommendation (supposed to leave the item you want dyed to soak in there but obviously I can't do that), only just managed to cover the lot, you can see on the n/s where it isn't quite as well covered as the rest. Next time i'll use 2 sachets instead of one with 3 litres of water, should be a perfect brown then but this should be a nice starting point. Before: After: As you can see from the last photo, the dye starts to even out as it dries off, dark patches are just where its saturated. I used a sponge and brush to apply, I may try a trigger bottle next time and see what difference that makes to application although it's not really that messy a job . I will hose this down once its dry and see what colour run off I get before using it in the cabin

Great set of photos Robin, really enjoyed peeking at those cars. Auto Karna tomorrow at Wollaton hall in Nottingham, anybody else going? I live a 10min walk from there Got my alternator charging at 14v now, turned out one of my earth leads had a fault, swapped it out and the cars all good again, woop! Shame I've nearly spent my monthly allocation of money this month, really want to get on with making the car look prettier Has anybody attempted dying their carpets? I have brown carpets that have faded to a creamy green colour and it looks pretty manky and i'd like to give a new lease of life into my interior. I have researched Dylon stuff, and it seems as though that works fine for automotive use, only troubles I've noted are when people don't use the correct amount of salt in the dye mix. I was thinking of trying woodland brown, a darker shade than stock I believe but hopefully it'll cover up a few of the horrid marks in the carpet and make the interior look a whole load neater. Any advice or alternative dye suggestions appreciated! EDIT: My current carpet colour...

Remind me to never eat at yours Ed, that hot chocolate was a bit funny. Standing up is the way to go, I've tried sitting down and it's more of a faff. My gf walked in on me wiping when we were on holiday, she thought it was the weirdest thing ever and proceeded to ask all our friends what they did (they all sat)

They don't really go for much due to people thinking that parts will be super hard to get hold of as Saab are no more. It is worth checking whether parts availability will be an issue or not, I know there was a shortage of keys for instance on the 9-3, no idea on the 9-5 though.

Whats the mileage? Sounds reasonable if the mileage isn't too horrific, those cars don't really go for much even though they are pretty sound. Has the sump been off? Apparently they are pretty bad for sludging up, so if you do buy it that would be one of the first things to do as well as a basic service of course. A cheap Saab estate is on my list to be my daily when the Porsche engine swap happens

RTV I used a few days ago went to 240c, it's good stuff! Had my alternator and starter rebuilt, but i'm still not getting sufficient charge. Looks like tomorrow is going to be a fun time of figuring out what the issue is

Finally started stripping down that Astra... I now hate Vauxhalls, such a fiddly b*****d to work on! Also not very nice doing it in the rain Dropped my alternator and starter off this morning for a refurb, all genuine Bosch parts being used and cost is between £40-65 each so that's not too bad. I have built a new loom for them that won't get as easily destroyed by heat as the stock one (relocated lots of it) and I also have a new ignition switch just so that everything that typically fails is decent in that area. It is frustrating spending this much money when I want to do an engine swap but i'd rather have a reliable car for work than scrimp and make do, i'm not in a massive rush for the conversion and I have a house to renovate anyway :$ Oh and also we ended up buying a 2009 A3 1.8T S line 3 door. Looks to be tidy enough although not my first choice of car but its mainly for my girlfriend to drive to uni and to replace that ghastly MK5 Golf we have.... looking forward to seeing that go! Apparently i'm not allowed to change anything on the A3 :'(

I'm having my alternator and starter rebuilt tomorrow. I also want to replace the loom going to my alternator as the stock route makes it get pretty toasted and creates issues usually. My current loom has 10AWG cable and I was wondering if I could use some speaker amp wire that I have knocking about, presumably if I use the 10AWG or larger stuff it'll be perfectly fine?

My alternators not pumping out the proper voltage and I can't really afford a new one currently. I have a brand new random alternator (not sure what it is for, can't seem to find a reference for the part number on there) sitting in my shed, it measures up as being the same size and it seems as though it'll mount on fine. Is there any reason why I can't use it? It has the same 2 connections as my current one, I don't know the current output but seeing as it's the same physical size I can't imagine the difference is significant? I know the belt line has to be perfect but obviously I'll check that before running it. I also have a faulty starter (won't start after a decent run, heat from the manifold is causing the issue no doubt) presumably the solenoid. I have found another starter in my spares bin and that appears to have an identical solenoid on it, winner! I just need to make a heat shield to prevent the damage occurring again

Luke just sand it back, treat it then vinyl wrap it. What happened to it!?

The seal kinda peels back, I used a few screwdrivers to gently prise them out

They just pop out

Well if I don't buy an 80s turbo then the 1.8t is on the cards either way I'll be happy Had a great weekend, sunroof was removed and I got to enjoy the burble and pops from my exhaust, sounds so good! Ignoring the tattyness I am really happy with my car right now, just keeps feeling better and better Turbo 35 at Donington was great, over 60 924s. Some chaps in a racing 924 drove over from Sweden, I'm not sure how they could walk after that journey as I could onlt get the suspension to budge about 3mm...

Sorry if I wasn't clear enough Danny. I need a turbo.

Played in a 924 turbo today, sooooooooo much fun! Came back totally buzzing from it and I wasn't even able to really push it. Either I need to sell my car and get a turbo, or I need to fit a turbo, either way I need a turbo. Turbo.

Got some new Rockrider bars, think they are 1.5" rise, OS fitment, in black. Felt good when they were on the bike they came with but I wanted to fit my Sunline bar+stem combo. £12 posted if you are interested?

Yeah I have that floating about too, I just put it in a bulb holder looking area on the left side of my heater control fascia and it illuminates the spaces and looks nice... nobody I've spoken to seems to know what it is for (my guess was the original radio or something?)

£150 seems very good, I've been struggling to get more than £80 for a car recently