The Car Thread

[CurtisRider]

Wallets now £100 lighter after getting raped by Halfords, needed a battery for tomorrow and they are the only people open in the evenings. Car does start bloody well now though, old battery was knackered! 4 year warranty on the battery, shame the cars gonna be broken this summer

[RobinJI]

Looking good Jardo. Coming to SOS Wednesday? (It is this Wednesday yeah?)

Scirocco's now back where it was on Friday before I screwed up, only now it has working lights too. So it's ready for it's re-test, but I still need to sort out the clutch adjustment and re-fit some bits of interior trim before it's 'on the road'. I need to knock up some brackets for things over the next few weeks too, but none of it's urgent, it's just to neaten things up.

Paul, do you not have a trade card then?

Edited December 3, 2012 by RobinJI

[Pashley26]

Yes Robin, I will be. See you then?

[CurtisRider]

Can I get one? Didn't think I would be able to seeing as my job doesn't have anything to do with cars and i'm not qualified in any way

Looking forward to seeing your Scirocco on the road, have been following your thread on RR

[RobinJI]

Ah, I wasn't sure about qualifications and stuff. Did you not do some work on the side that was to do with cars? Wouldn't have to be your main source of income, or even particularly current as long as you can prove you've had money sent your way from someone for working on their car. Kind of depends on the manager though. Plenty of people used to get cards from the branch I worked at with seriously flimsy reasons, but the one in the next town were so touchy they'd question wheather mine was legit because it had no signature (it rubs off) despite it being a staff one, accompanied by a staff discount card with a name that matched my driving licence!

Cheers, it'll be nice to have it on the road finally. It's been weird not having a car for so long. Just over a week doesn't seem like long to be without, but it's rare for me to go even a day without driving somewhere. Living in such a rural area a car really does mean a lot in terms of freedom!

I'm a bit happier with how the dash has turned out second time around. The dials had warning lights in different places, so I had to re-do the carbon facia I'd made, and I'm happier with how I've done it. The trimming could have been neater, but the cars far from show standard, it's just a bit of fun, so I wasn't about to spend hours getting it perfect when I've got other things to worry about at the moment.

Jardo, yeah, I should be there all being well! Scirocco should get an MOT tomorrow afternoon with any luck. Both the fails are sorted now, but I wan't to sort the clutch before driving it anywhere as I don't want to wear it out, plus where's the fun in not being able to use full power!

Edited December 3, 2012 by RobinJI

[Tom Perkins]

I got a halfords trade card and I build jet engines...I couldn't believe it

[Luke Rainbird]

Gah, found an ad for a car in the exact spec I'm after and at a great price but with no pictures on a barely used forum, just a phone number. All well written by a chap who'd owned the car from new with FSH and so on, but the ad was 6 weeks old.

Trawled the 'net for a bit to see if he'd posted it up elsewhere and not a single trace of him/the car to be found, so just in case nobody else had spotted it I gave the number a ring. Cue a conversation with a mentally unstable Portuguese woman who eventually explained that the guy was out of the office, but gave me his email address.

Fired him an email yesterday, only to receive a reply today to say that the car was being sold yesterday, hence being out of the office.

Gutted!

[Pashley26]

That's the way it goes

Keep waiting, the right car WILL turn up and you will love it.

[Prawny Baby]

not that anybody cares that much, but I did a little write up of the complete shifter install I've just finished, so I thought I'd post it here for anybody needing to waste half an hour

Take several bottles of beer:

Add some ebay:

Throw in an auction that's listed in dollars instead of £ to add to the confusion, then wake up in the morning to find you've gone and bid far too much money on something you don't really need.

Wait a week whilst pretending it never happened, then return from work to find this waiting for you in a box:

So, I appear to have bought a VW MotorSport type shifter from a man in Slovenia, whilst bidding against Americans!

I best make it work then!

A few more pictures:

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. this will need cables. stock ones won't be long enough. D'OH

back to ebay, random scanning for gear shifter cables, volvo ones look pretty long, I'll try some of them!

The ends were wrong, so I bought some of these:

M8 ball joints, and m6-M8 thread adapters.

I set about threading the ends of the volvo cables, by running an M6 dye down the end of the rod:

Then screwed on the M6-M8 adapter:

To which a ball joint fits nicely:

Sorted.

Next up, cable stops:

Bit of 3mm plate cut to shape:

And the volvo cable ends fit very nicely:

repeat:

I didn't like the lack of self centering on the shifter, so decided to add some using a massey fergusson tractor brake pedal return spring:

Which would sit in here:

Drilled the base plate to locate the spring:

Then fitted it in, and forgot to take pics. works well though

Moving onto the tower, I wasn't so keen on the look of the welds on it, so decided to grind them back:

Then sanded it down and applied some primer:

it came out fairly good. Not perfect, but i'm not a paint man on the whole!

I finished adding threads to all the cable ends:

Then found that the ball joint ends on an 2000 02J linkage were the same size as the ones I've bought. result!

Onto the cable stop bracket at the box end, I cut slots into it to allow the volvo outer ends to fit:

And that's the box end sorted:

Moving inside the car, here's the old shifter, mounted internally:

Removed, and the new tower placed into position:

An idea of how it might look:

The tunnel was a bit thin at the leading edge of the new tower where the hole used to be for the old shifter, so I made up a sandwich plate to bolt down through the tunnel and clamp the new shifter into place:

Started removing the old box linkages under the bonnet to allow me to hook the cables up and position the inner stops:

First volvo cable in place:

Measured up positions for the first cable stop, and welded it to a base plate. my welding isn't pretty, so don't be nasty

Cleaned up and in place:

First cable test fitted:

Second cable stop clamped up ready to tack:

Decided to add a little gusset on this one as it'll take more abuse on the fore / aft movement

Nasty welding, but it's strong enough! Cleaned up a bit:

All the parts sanded down and primed:

Then 3 coats of Porsche 8C6 orange:

And laquered:

Time to start installing

Gaping hole needed filling:

Painted black, and all bolted up and finished

Sorry the last pics are dark, it got dark!

shifter feels really awesome to use, to precise with ball joints on all ends now, really accurate from gear to gear, and a nice short shift too which I can adjust to suit my needs.

Aside from feeling a bit more positive, there isn't really a great deal more to it, but I've seen these in the past and ALWAYS wanted one, so when one popped up on ebay, I just had to have it!

[george_seamons]

I guy I know has just offered to buy the spare wheel from my LCR for £80. Now, bearing in mind, I never use the spare (and I have an old 16" alloy from my a3 I could use instead if needs be), and I am SKINT...what should I do?

I don't really intend to ever sell the car, I've spent too much on it (both financially, and time wise!), so dont consider the lack of a 5th alloy to be an issue.

Should I do it?

[Luke Rainbird]

I am SKINT

I don't really intend to ever sell the car

I don't consider the lack of a 5th alloy to be an issue.

[Greetings]

Onboard from last comp, very quick special stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtjju8NbPw

Also comparison between one of my runs and my friends who frequently wins our class. Mine was done on a slightly more moist track, earlier in the comp.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb5_kj0YOfg

Got a lot of clips from around the track, going to edit them together later on.

edit:

Prawn, that shell in the picture isn't my old one, it's very similar though. You've got a good memory!

Edited December 4, 2012 by Greetings

[Oak T]

I'm looking for a new car my current car is S14a but it is not very suitable for a newly born baby.

I am looking at a Subaru Impreza 06, Mitubishi Evo 7/8 may be 9 if it's in my budget and also a Lexus GS300 2001 (for it's 2JZ)

Or if you could give me reccomendations for any other cars. I would like to stick with the JDM's though.

These cars will my modifed for hellaflush spec as like my S14a.

Thank You

[haydon_peter]

Rainbird just offered me £5.37 and a sherbet lemon for my car, what should I do?

[Ben Cox]

Tell him to make it 2 sherbet lemons and then i'd take it.

Ben

[RobinJI]

I'm looking for a new car my current car is S14a but it is not very suitable for a newly born baby.

I am looking at a Subaru Impreza 06, Mitubishi Evo 7/8 may be 9 if it's in my budget and also a Lexus GS300 2001 (for it's 2JZ)

Or if you could give me reccomendations for any other cars. I would like to stick with the JDM's though.

These cars will my modifed for hellaflush spec as like my S14a.

Thank You

Nissan Stagea and Mitsubishi Galant VR4 spring to mind when I think of quick Japanese practical cars, or are you not an Estate fan? Can't help think that a big BMW/Audi/Merc would also suit your needs perfectly, What's the reason for only looking at Japanese stuff?

Scirocco's on the road now, but still suffering from some pretty severe clutch slip unfortunately. When it does bite it pulls bloody well though! More investigation tomorrow I think unless some research throws up something easy I can do tonight.

Edited December 4, 2012 by RobinJI

[AdamR28]

Onboard from last comp, very quick special stage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtjju8NbPw

Awesome stuff!

[Pashley26]

How has this not occurred to me yet.

Tic is used to driving shit cars, and now has a Leon but will be selling it when he leaves the country. (Hopefully for good)

Rainbird currently has a slightly above shit car which does 731 miles to the gallon and will be a piece of piss to sell for the right money, and the money saved on fuel will hopefully give Tic a higher chance of being gone for good.

This strikes me as odd, because it's so obvious I cannot believe I didn't think of it myself.

Bravo whichever genius thought of that; bravo.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Pashley26

[Luke Rainbird]

If we could convince Ticcy to feck off already it'd be a winner, but as you know I like shiny things far too much to wait 6 months

[Pashley26]

Why does your shift tower look so upset?

If we could convince Ticcy to feck off already it'd be a winner, but as you know I like shiny things far too much to wait 6 months

Tic, sell Rainbird the Leon and drive his diesel thing about for a bit.

You'd be a mug to turn down his offer if it is the right price but the wrong time, the first lesson I learnt in selling cars is that the first offer is always the best offer.

x

[Luke Rainbird]

the first offer is always the best offer.

Rainbird just offered me £5.37 and a sherbet lemon for my car

Not looking good for Ticcy then!

[Greetings]

Awesome stuff!

Cheers!

Here's a compilation from various angles (stationary/roof/inside) + prize giving.

Favourite bit must have been 2:37, two absolutely mental corners. It really was a case of full throttle and pray to god that you manage to stay on the track. Seems from the vid the car was in a 3 wheel drift too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSkzRXCKW9E

Edited December 4, 2012 by Greetings

[Luke Rainbird]

I like shiny things far too much to wait 6 months

Er, yeah. Maybe that should have been "6 hours"...

[Oak T]

Nissan Stagea and Mitsubishi Galant VR4 spring to mind when I think of quick Japanese practical cars, or are you not an Estate fan? Can't help think that a big BMW/Audi/Merc would also suit your needs perfectly, What's the reason for only looking at Japanese stuff?

Scirocco's on the road now, but still suffering from some pretty severe clutch slip unfortunately. When it does bite it pulls bloody well though! More investigation tomorrow I think unless some research throws up something easy I can do tonight.

Thank you for you're suggestion I'm not a big fan of the estate's.

Answering you're question about why I prefer JDM's at the moment is because I have a few friend's who work in the JDM industry and it's but a lot cheaper for me to get engine tuning and JDM accessories for the JDM car's. The reason I picked the Subaru, Mitsubishi and the Lexus is because It's just my friend's can easily supply me with anything for these car's but for half the price.

[Prawny Baby]

Er, yeah. Maybe that should have been "6 hours"...

:D:D