CurtisRider

Unfortunately you bought it and it isn't his problem anymore, why should he have to pay for it? A hand with the occasional job as a mate would be kind of him, but he doesn't really have to? As Robin said, get onto RetroRides, it's a great place for help and you may meet some really helpful people who will keep your costs down. Unfortunately many older cars are absolute money pits to keep in really good order, that's why the good ones cost plenty as they have had all the work done! I have made this mistake (kind of intentional as I enjoy the work) many times and it can be very disheartening at times to find you have to spend rather more than you planned to fix the buggers. Post up the photos of the rotten areas/list the mechanical problems again, we may be able to point you in the direction of doing it slightly cheaper

I guess my plastic box will be just as effective for heat dissipation?

Won't those forks be a bit long for that frame?

Oh sorry, yes I get you, I thought that may be the case but didn't know how warm it would really get. I think i'll just try it out and hope for the best with it sealed and check regularly to see how it is Just waiting on some conduit for the +12v and ground, then I can get it all installed

I can put ventilation into the box, it was more to prevent water ingress to keep them safe and neat. I will have them at the highest point in the bay and really any water ingress will be minimal so I can add a few holes if they are required. Why should only the low relay get hot? This is for an H4 set up so the lows turn off when the highs come on

Can relays be mounted inside a sealed box? I have 2 30A relays (1 for high, 1 for low) for my headlights as i'm doing a wiring upgrade and I have found a sealed box to keep them protected in my engine bay. I've never noticed my relays getting hot, but i'm concerned that without some cool air around them they may fail?

Those look yummy, nice touch on the gold Audi logo too! I was thinking about gold centres on my wheels with matching decals on the body as it would work nicely with the gold on the Porsche logo

I've seen Full leather GTI setups for 100-150 on Gumtree in tidy condition, no carpets though but i'm sure if they are selling at that price then the carpets won't be much more... I guess there's so many being broken now that parts are silly cheap!

Has anybody had any luck with those stop leak oil additives? My rear crank seal is leaking and I really don't want to spend any more money on this stupid engine if I can help it. I wouldn't usually consider those quick fix kinda things but seeing as I intend to replace the engine and will scrap the bloody thing then I don't mind trying something out if they do work

Looks good JD Well some good news on my car.... When I swapped the warm up regulator I noticed the face where the banjo fit have recesses. The new copper washers I used had too large an OD and therefore I was not getting a good seal. I reused the old copper washers and it has been tons better, I shall order some new ones in the right size just so its all fresh there. The starting has been so much better since reverting to the old washers, less embarrassing when I pop to the shops.... Today I fitted a few bits and bobs. I bought all the bits and pieces I needed to make a new crank breather hose and assembled that Old hose was fairly tired! Whilst I was there I noticed that my throttle body had some play in the linkage due to the nylon bushes falling apart. I have been having issues with an erratic idle and this explains it as the throttle would have some free play. Luckily I had a spare throttle body in my box of goodies and it had no play, looked far newer and was in tons better condition. I chucked it on, adjusted the idle to the same setting as before, adjusted the cable stop and smiled as i started the car... no erratic idle, and seemingly smoother revving! I have also made a start on a upgraded headlight loom due to the output of my lights being terrible (even with decent bulbs), I have all the wiring cut to length and I now just need to solder/crimp it all together. It should be just plug and play so to speak, I'm hoping to fit it next weekend (waiting on some ceramic H4 sockets as the previous ones I bought have teeny wires going to them)

Hello strip club?

Well you have a 10mm nutted axle and suspension forks will need a 9mm axle. I've not had any issues removing the material, it's basically just where the threads are as you only lose 0.5mm each side.

It's not for jumps really, just wanted something cheap and sturdy with enough travel for my frame. The Rebas flex everywhere but are incredible forks apart from that and I know the Pikes will be a massive downgrade but at least I won't keep clipping my pedals due to a low bb. Air assist would be great, is it literally as easy as shoving on a top cap with these? I did it to some Z3s back in the day and that worked well

Just file 2 flat surfaces on the front axle so it fits into a 9mm dropout, done it a few times

I didn't do too well at my A levels due to not knowing what I wanted to do and having very poor support at school which ruined my enthusiasm and willingness to work. I worked on my dads farm for a bit, then for a cycle distributor, and as a builder after that until the recession kicked in. During that time I always thought it would be nice to share my enthusiasm for designing and making things with others. The recession was probably the best thing that happened to me, as I lost my building job which wasn't going to lead to much and had the opportunity to go to college to do an Art and Design foundation course to get me some extra UCAS points. It was at this point I decided I wanted to be a teacher. I went to Uni to study photography/graphic design with the idea of doing a PGCE afterwards, but hated the course and the art fags around me which meant I didn't really go that often and played with cars instead, again this was a good thing as it was obvious I needed to focus on doing something I really loved. I found a degree course which suited me perfectly, I got to do product design, make stuff and learn about teaching along with getting to do a PGCE as my third year. I worked really hard, loved it all and got a first, even after having a year of horrific back pain and having part of one of my discs removed. I am now an NQT teaching Design and Technology (and I can teach all of the subjects under the DT umbrella which makes me pretty valuable). I don't earn much yet (22K) but my pay will gradually increase (32K) and i'm aiming to become a head of department (40K). To do all this I needed a focus and to stop being a lazy chump which I think I have achieved!

Yeah I only want them on 140mm so it's no trouble! I guess for the money I can try them and if I don't like them I can sell them on. Ideally i'd have twin airs and lockout but i'm not that fussed

I have been after some 140mm forks for my Trance for a while and some Pikes have come up for a tempting price (£100) to replace my current Rebas (which I can sell for the same/more). All I wanted to know was are these good for the money? Is there anything I should look out for with them? I guess I may need a new spring, i'm not sure what they have currently. They have a 195mm steerer and I know I will need a 20mm hub to go with them.

She has been fairly understanding, and the camper purchase is actually her fault as she found it for me! I think it's the lack of saving for a house/funding a wedding that bothers her (not that I have proposed yet...)

Well this is the first full time job I have had in 5 years...so my bank account ain't so fruitful although my overdraft is almost paid off so apart from my student loan i'm debt free! I think the main issue is that I own too many cars (my daily Porsche, 2 Saabs, mini, camper and pickup), I should probably sell a few. I guess she is used to owning a car that requires nothing spent on it apart from tyres, servicing, MOT and tax. George I am talking overall average, otherwise i'd be similar to you currently due to several expensive bits. I'm hoping the cost of maintaining my car will reduce quite significantly soon as I have nearly replaced everything that typically goes wrong on these/a 30 year old car in general. Craig can't I do both options?

Reading all this keeps reminding me that I need to buy upgraded ARBs....stop making me want to spend my money! Talking of money, what do you guys spend on your cars per month in repairs/upgrades? I have been spending an average of £250 per month (mainly repairs/refurbishing), this is too much according to my girlfriend but I don't see the issue.

Does a broken dp/manifold affect mpg that much? I've just done my manifold gaskets after a leak but haven't really done enough miles to find out if it's made a difference apart from noise

I've always thought my cabin was rather noisy and figured it was just a trait of the car. Today for some reason I pushed down on my gear gaitor and noticed the cabin noise reduced hugely! Turns out there a a rubber gaitor under the leather one and it wasn't sitting in its proper location and was also falling apart. Some duct tape later and it's far better I have also fitted some fresh top mounts as mine were pretty tired, unfortunately this means my front end has raised a little bit as my old ones were rather compressed. I'm rather tempted to chop a coil from some spare springs to see what it's like, might buy some lowering springs/coil overs if I like it

Just test drove a B8 A4 for my parents, pretty nice machine! The 2l tdi engines are so boring though, really disappointed that they aren't lively in the slightest, seems to be the general consensus with others I have spoken to aswell.

All USB ports offer 5V, so you need something to reduce the voltage of the car otherwise your cam will be a bit broken. Just use one of those cigarette lighter adaptors with the usb socket and hardwire that in? They have an inbuilt voltage regulator, although you need to be careful with cheapo ones as they get fairly hot. That's what I am going to do for my phone charger/Aux port when I get round to it.

I've got an arc so I can always weld it up if needs be, cheers of the help! So far so good, so I'm happy.