The Car Thread

[Tom Booth]

Is that Flux Fabrications on Boughton camp dude? I've heard good stuff about them if so.

Should've called in too! I'm like 15 mins from there..

[Luke Rainbird]

Not a particularly productive Saturday this week, which is a bit of a shame. Here's a Rainbird update full of excitement: Totally standard, boring cars and a pile of parts 

Picked up Soph’s hub from the garage where the new bearing was being pressed in. Bolted it all up, but as I was finishing off I noticed that the ABS sensor was cracked. Bollocks.

Down the road to Plymouth to pick up a new sensor, home again to fit it. As anyone who’s changed these will know, they can be a pig to remove cleanly, and this one was no exception. Properly stuck in there, so I went with an assortment of punches and drifted it out in a couple of pieces…

Some pretty nasty wear on the rear side of the disc, presumably not helped by the bearing failing. New ones ordered.

Hub/sensor sorted, I reset codes via VCDS and went for a quick drive. All nice again but noticed a headlight bulb was out. On checking, a rear bulb had also gone. Swapped the rear, wandered to the front of the car and the bonnet refused to open. Lots of faffing later, bonnet open, broken latch mechanism repaired and everything good again.

By the time the Golf was sorted I’d lost a couple of hours I’d hoped to spend on the Leon(s). The grey car has an EML for bank 1 lambda, so I wanted to get a good one in place and began pulling off the charge pipe to make access a little easier. On removal, it’s clear that there’s some oil getting through to the charge route, but until I get my catch can plumbed in I’m not too sure whether this is from the breathers or some iffy seals.

With the charge pipe (and bracket) removed, I had reasonable access to the back of the engine. It was immediately obvious where the lambda sensor issue was coming from…

I was aware that the cats had been replaced by the previous owner, and that they weren’t an OEM part, neither of which concerned me at the time. With a proper view of the top of the exhaust, however, it was clear that the downpipe had also been replaced, and with neither an OEM part or a decent quality replacement. The tubing isn’t particularly well-sized, which I’m not too worried about at this stage (standard power etc shouldn’t really need much more than this, as much as it’d be nice) however the welds aren’t particularly good and the lambda boss isn’t in the stock location, resulting in the sensor clashing with the exhaust manifold and bending. Not ideal…

I could have gone ahead and replaced the sensor regardless, but to physically get it to fit the DP I’d have had to bend it much like the existing one, which would likely kill it again. May as well wait for an upgrade to sort that issue then

After bolting the charge pipe back on, I quickly popped the front engine trim back in place. When I got the car this was well and truly seized, so I had to be a little mechanically unsympathetic to remove it. I’d tidied up the metal bracket to defeat the worst of the rust, and replaced the plastic bolts/washers with some M6 cap head bolts and nylon washers. Much better (and yes, the EGT sensor was plugged in before fitting the plastic)

I’m trying to chip away at the old car by stripping a bit more each week. By now the interior has been pretty well looted of the parts worth having as spares or selling, so I’ve been chipping away at the exterior. As you’ve seen, I’ve now disconnected a load of the engine and box to a point it’s almost ready to drop out, which I plan on getting done next weekend all being well.

Without much time , I opted to pull off the nearside front corner parts - coilover, hub, Brembo etc. I had originally planned on replacing with the stock suspension to keep things rolling, but with scrap prices low at the mo I can probably sell a set of hubs for almost as much as a shell, so that idea is long gone now. I’ll pull the lot off, then just need to figure out a way to keep it mobile enough to get on a flat bed to weigh in…

No cars tomorrow, might get lucky one evening next week if the weather plays ball.

[Tom Booth]

Imma bowt to get lucky boiiii.

 

Earlier on I may or may not have ripped a little burnout in the fairlane that threw a stone that chipped the windscreen on my brother in laws 6 month old Jag XF...

 

Whoops....

[MadManMike]

Not to mention the multiple chips in the paintwork too 

I did similar in the 5, enthusiastic exit from a gravel covered lay-by, with a mate behind me. He wasn't impressed.

[Pete.M]

I could've bought something a little nicer, but I just picked up another ratty £500 Volvo. Can't help myself. 

Think I might do something silly with it, got a two-tone backyard paint job in mind. 

[SamKidney]

Not touched the civic since the mishap at Cadwell until today. 

Collected the new bumper and wing from the body shop today. Got them fitted and went for a spin. Think the kerb I went up has torn the flexi pipe on the manifold as it continues to blow no matter what I do to seal the exhaust joins. I’ve had enough of fixing it with cheap flexis from the factors now so I’m going to buy a new K Tuned manifold with a view to having a new exhaust made too before it’s mapped. 

Was lovely to have a drive but I’m just not sold on it as a road car anymore. Diff is too clunky, suspension isn’t compliant enough anymore and the tyres produce loads of road noise, so it’ll be parked up awaiting the next track day for now I think. 

Need to find a road going Honda to enjoy inbetween the track days. 

 

Edited April 19, 2018 by SamKidney

[MadManMike]

What you want is a slammed Eunos with de-cat and stainless exhaust. That's great as a daily 

Mine is definitely a weekend & track car, driving it to Bruges was a terrible idea (Fun, but that 4.5k drone for 6 hours, not so much)

[SamKidney]

1 hour ago, MadManMike said:

What you want is a slammed Eunos with de-cat and stainless exhaust. That's great as a daily 

Mine is definitely a weekend & track car, driving it to Bruges was a terrible idea (Fun, but that 4.5k drone for 6 hours, not so much)

Wouldn’t mind a cheap MX5 as a toy for summer! 

[MadManMike]

In standard form they're actually pretty good as a daily. Before I had my company car I was going everywhere in it.

You can still pick up bargains as well, though the value is slowly creeping up.

[JD™]

I’m going to be trying to get rid of mine in the next couple of weeks. Been sat on the drive for a while so I need to give it a good clean and stick an MOT on it while the weathers good.

[Tony Harrison]

Ok I have a question for the VAG fans in here...

I'm based in Berlin and I'm looking to buy a car mainly so that I can take my bike to some of the bike parks, plus the very occasional drive back to the UK. I was looking at a Golf estate as they seem fairly common here, at least compared to the UK, and since I'll usually have a buddy or two with me makes it easier to ferry the bikes around.

I don't really have a strict budget but as this is going to live on the street and not be used on a daily basis I don't want to be spending a fortune. I was thinking of looking at spending around £4000 on something from 2008 or later. I once had a 2008 1.9TDi hatchback Golf and loved it.

But I was wondering if there's any particular engine that's more reliable or cost effective than the others? Anything in particular that's known to go wrong that I should look out for? Or any other advice?

Much appreciated.

[TROYston]

Lexus LS430 update.

 

Ended up getting this for £1400, 160k 3uz vvti.

Its not bad, but i think it has been in an impact at somepoint of its life, down the O/S, the wings cracked and the rear quarter has been painted, but looks like a rough smart repair, so its getting that sorted within the next few weeks.

All three smart Keys have lost their link to the car, but its £66 to get them all relinked at Lexus, Joys of keyless entry, so its booked in for that, and a service next week(car has full lexus history, kind of dont want to loose it for once).

The front two speakers have torn, but its a common problem for these.

Headlights were foggy, but both have cleaned up well

and thats really it, This car blows my mind, 2002 and it has that many features, im basically finding new stuff each day, today was finding out the rear massaging seats have multiple 'refreshing' settings, last night was voice commands which is very hit or miss, but is there nonetheless.

 

that quarter's paint is.... shite.

Edited April 20, 2018 by TROYston

[dann2707]

On 20/04/2018 at 4:04 PM, Tony Harrison said:

Ok I have a question for the VAG fans in here...

I'm based in Berlin and I'm looking to buy a car mainly so that I can take my bike to some of the bike parks, plus the very occasional drive back to the UK. I was looking at a Golf estate as they seem fairly common here, at least compared to the UK, and since I'll usually have a buddy or two with me makes it easier to ferry the bikes around.

I don't really have a strict budget but as this is going to live on the street and not be used on a daily basis I don't want to be spending a fortune. I was thinking of looking at spending around £4000 on something from 2008 or later. I once had a 2008 1.9TDi hatchback Golf and loved it.

But I was wondering if there's any particular engine that's more reliable or cost effective than the others? Anything in particular that's known to go wrong that I should look out for? Or any other advice?

Much appreciated.

Off topic but I'm going to Berlin on Monday until Wednesday as a random trip and I would really appreciate good food places and places to drink suggestions! Please drop me a pm if you have any good ones! Or if you want to meet up for a beer? 

[isitafox]

Looking at selling my mk4 golf and going for something slightly bigger but not sure what to look for. Not got a huge budget (I reckon £2k tops) and my original idea was a van of some sort but need at least 5 seats for the family just in case. 

Basically I have a boot full of gym equipment (kettlebells, freestanding pull up bar, 3 sets of parallettes, etc....) and want room for all that and sticking my bike (trials and mountain) in. 

Current idea is Scooby Forester but wondered if anyone had any other suggestions? 

[AdamAllen]

Some people really over value their cars on the internet! (mainly swapz) 

[JD™]

Surely by thinking that you’re potentially overvaluing your own?

[MadManMike]

Alternator tensioner bolt fell off while I was blasting down the motorway. Resulted in mad electrics behaviour and a noise that sounded like the engine was eating itself.

Limped it home, suspecting it was that.

Ordered a new one. Just glad it did it on the M32, about 10 mins from home, rather than Bruges or the other long distances I've done recently!

[craigjames]

PIck up my freshly rebuilt engine in the next day or two. Time to wrap it in industrial cling film, garage is currently a wood shop and it think sawdust and engines would not mix. So i'll leave it on the stand wrapped up until I can get up to Somerset and start taking the S3 apart. Lots and lots to do, so little money, even less time. Much fun and scraped knuckles to come.

[Luke Rainbird]

Cliff notes:

With wife heading up the country to see family at the weekend, I wanted to get her brakes serviced as they were a bit lacking. Uneven disc/pad wear and an increasingly poor handbrake not ideal, so full refresh and sorted out a pair of seized sliders on the rear which explain the issues it was having. One particularly crusty rear splash guard could do with replacing at some point too!



Weirdly she wasn't too keen when I offered her a brake upgrade...



Old car is now largely ready to disappear. I have some dollies to get it moved as required, just need to book in a collection with a crane to take it away really.



In the meantime it's doing a fine job as parts storage (both for those being chucked with the shell and for some of those that are being kept. It's also rather convenient having an oversized "safe place" for parcel deliveries rather than having to visit the DO 



Garage is now overflowing, sadly. Prior to the shell going I'll try to get in and have a clearout of stuff so I can look to get things more in order. Could do with selling some bits too, really.



Haven't done much to LCR due to lack of time. It's in for MOT on Thursday and whilst I don't have any major concerns, there are a few little niggles that will likely crop up: knocking top mount,soon to be replaced with solids on coilovers; broken splitter with ankle-slicing edges, replacement inbound; dead lambda previously mentioned, so clocks and electrical tape may come out this evening...

Otherwise it's just been meeting daily duties without batting an eyelid. Even gave it a quick squirt down before @Ash-Kennard's stag do at the weekend.

[AdamAllen]

On 4/26/2018 at 9:38 AM, JD™ said:

Surely by thinking that you’re potentially overvaluing your own?

I'd like to think not  

[AdamAllen]

Back to practicality...ish

 

[forteh]

Emergency car help required!

Just changed my front disks and pads on the smax, all fine, no problems, nothing siezed, everything retorqued.

Torquing up the last wheelnut (the locking one) and it decides to implode.  The f**king thing has obviously been cracked for a while and has just broken its top off
It's been nipped up by hand but didn't get up to torque, there is nothing I can get a grip onto to try to undo it; the other 4 nuts are tight and torqued.

What's my best plan of attack? Am I safe enough to drive it on 4 studs and hope the broken one vibrates loose in which case I replace it with a standard one?  There is a tang stuck out but I don't think it will give enough meat to drift it round with a screwdriver.  Other than that, what the f**k can I do?

I need the car for tuesday and having it over the weekend is pretty important as well!

[Luke Rainbird]

Will be fine driving it on 4/5 for a little while, provided you're not thrashing it around track/similar of course.

Youmention that they're nuts rather than bolts so it'd be with checking how they're fitted: factory studs I'd imagine to be pressed in from the rear rather than threaded in which is a shame as else you'd be able to unscrew the offending item and replace. Still potential to grind the head off and drive it out of the hub though not the easiest location to work, especially with the wheel in situ. 

What shape is the broken nut? Can you hadn't over a sacrificial socket to remove the b*****d?

[forteh]

I drive like an old fart, so no chance of hammer

The factory studs appear to be a press fit through the hub, grinding the back off would be impossible because it sits inside the bell of the disk. The stud could be drilled out from the outside at a push.

The broken nut is circular in section but it's failed almost flush to the rotating taper washer bit. A small socket on an impact gun might rattle it off. But there's nothing to hammer onto. It seems that there's only a few threads holding it on the stud.

It's a mc gard nut and they appear to have pretty good after care for broken nuts and extractors, I'll drop them a mail and see what they say.

[TROYston]

They'll be fine with 4 until its fixed. 

 

My car decided to be a pest. 

Guess I'll be doing the brakes on Monday. And hope for shit it hasn't moved the pads enough it's been hitting the piston. I felt the pin give way on the way home from work today. Funfunfun or something.