My first car - 1996 VR Ltd 1.8 Combination A
Discussion
I'm not having much luck recently with my Roadster...
Turned the key this morning to start her up - whir, clunk, nothing. She made maybe 3 revolutions then stopped dead. And I mean everything was dead, even the immobiliser.
I'm assuming it's an electrical fault. I've tested the battery, and it's fine, and all the fuses are good.... and that is where I run out of ideas.
She seems to be getting the hang of failing to proceed - first the air filter, then the clutch, now this.
Turned the key this morning to start her up - whir, clunk, nothing. She made maybe 3 revolutions then stopped dead. And I mean everything was dead, even the immobiliser.
I'm assuming it's an electrical fault. I've tested the battery, and it's fine, and all the fuses are good.... and that is where I run out of ideas.
She seems to be getting the hang of failing to proceed - first the air filter, then the clutch, now this.
Been a little while since I've updated this.. 
The breakdown in the above post was caused by a broken battery cable - to my shame when looking for the obvious causes I looked right at it but didn't see it.. :where's that get me coat smiley:
My current project is one of those things that are working, but not quite well enough.
It's the stereo system. It's rubbish. It has the full-on Japanese-syndrome tiny button thing going on, which I can't stand, the CD skips and jumps at every available opportunity, and the speakers are rubbish.
To cure this, a new head unit is going in, which will play radio, SD card, memory stick or AUX in, so no jumping. New speakers will replace the (I assume originals), and there'll be an amp to power them. There's also a bunch of Dynamat ordered for the doors, which I think will make the biggest difference.
So, what's going in?
The speakers are Alpine SPG-17C2 6 1/2" coaxial jobbies
They should fit the original space nicely, but be a massive improvement on the standard fit speakers..
The amp is again Alpine, a PMX-T320, at £80 seems a huge amount of bang for your buck..
Now to the head unit...
I really really do not like your typical Japanese-style loads-of-feckin'-tiny-buttons head units, for a car that's a homage to the English sports car I think it needs something that looks more old fashioned, so I went for this...
It's an American design, looks nice and simple, but has lots of tech going on underneath the plain facia. I'm hoping it will be a nice unobtrusive addition to the dash.
It has a remote unit for plugging in SD cards, pen drives or an AUX feed
I've not mentioned the headrest speakers, and that's because for the moment I'm ignoring them - I want to get the basics right with the system. I will have the opportunity to upgrade them later as I will have the head unit amps free to power them, which is one of the reasons I got the Alpine Amp.
The main trouble is, I've never fitted a car stereo before, or messed with a car's electrics, so this is going to be a whole new learning curve!
The breakdown in the above post was caused by a broken battery cable - to my shame when looking for the obvious causes I looked right at it but didn't see it.. :where's that get me coat smiley:
My current project is one of those things that are working, but not quite well enough.
It's the stereo system. It's rubbish. It has the full-on Japanese-syndrome tiny button thing going on, which I can't stand, the CD skips and jumps at every available opportunity, and the speakers are rubbish.
To cure this, a new head unit is going in, which will play radio, SD card, memory stick or AUX in, so no jumping. New speakers will replace the (I assume originals), and there'll be an amp to power them. There's also a bunch of Dynamat ordered for the doors, which I think will make the biggest difference.
So, what's going in?
The speakers are Alpine SPG-17C2 6 1/2" coaxial jobbies
They should fit the original space nicely, but be a massive improvement on the standard fit speakers..
The amp is again Alpine, a PMX-T320, at £80 seems a huge amount of bang for your buck..
Now to the head unit...
I really really do not like your typical Japanese-style loads-of-feckin'-tiny-buttons head units, for a car that's a homage to the English sports car I think it needs something that looks more old fashioned, so I went for this...
It's an American design, looks nice and simple, but has lots of tech going on underneath the plain facia. I'm hoping it will be a nice unobtrusive addition to the dash.
It has a remote unit for plugging in SD cards, pen drives or an AUX feed
I've not mentioned the headrest speakers, and that's because for the moment I'm ignoring them - I want to get the basics right with the system. I will have the opportunity to upgrade them later as I will have the head unit amps free to power them, which is one of the reasons I got the Alpine Amp.
The main trouble is, I've never fitted a car stereo before, or messed with a car's electrics, so this is going to be a whole new learning curve!
Cheers Alex! Comments like this make it all worthwhile! 
There's some good news now, and some not so good news....
But good news first - I have a pile of boxes!
Apart from a little forked trim remover tool which :should: arrive v. soon, and a little hard roller to force the dynamat into place, this is everything I need for the install (I think!). I'm dead chuffed with how quickly it all got here, modern logistics are brilliant!
I'm a little apprehensive as I've never worked on car electrics before - natch, as I've never had a car before! - but am looking forward to the project and learning more about cars, and my car in particular.
I'll not be rushing this, I want to get everything just right, so I'll do it stage by stage. Get the dynamat in there first, and mount the speakers. Then I'll need to plan where to put the amp. I'm thinking tucked up in the passenger footwell would work, which would mean shorter cable runs compared to mounting it in the boot, but we'll see - none of the components have gone anywhere near the car so far! Good news is, my boss used to be really into the car hi-fi thing and has offered to help out with the install - bad news is his missus is delivering twins probably as I type this, so he'll not be available to help for months if not years! :where'sthattoungeincheeksmilie?:
At the start of this post I said there was some not so good news as well, and that is that my engine is officially poorly...
For a little while the idle speed has been erratic; it would sit at 1000rpm then go up to maybe 2000rpm and sit there, and sometimes drop a couple of hundred rpm. In the last few days it's begun to do this while actually in motion as well, there'd be a sharp drop in power, not huge, but enough to be unsettling. In the last couple of days there's also been a tick-tick-tick-tick sound that comes and goes.
Today coming home from work the ticking was there and I stopped to pop the bonnet, and there was a little smoke coming from the ignition leads! It felt like there was a lot of heat build-up in the area round the rear of the cylinder head.
When I got home I had a better look, and there was rusty-looking fluids around that area.. Good thing is, when the idle was being erratic, I'd booked in at my local garage for them to have a good look, and that booking is tomorrow first thing. I think there's a sensor back there that often causes problems and is an easy fix, I'm just hoping it's that - after spending all my hard-earned on stereo equipment I don't want to be landed with a huge bill to fix the motor!
Good thing is, the guys at my local Indy garage are great, bad thing is I've had quite a few reasons to call on their services in the past months...
Anyway, to sum up this post - I don't mind that things go wrong with this car, she's given me that much pleasure over the last (nearly a) year that it's totally worth it. Previously in the good weather I've been out on the bike in full leathers, so have remained a pasty white - this year I've loads of people saying 'You're looking well!', just because I've been out roaming around having fun with the hood down!
There's some good news now, and some not so good news....
But good news first - I have a pile of boxes!
Apart from a little forked trim remover tool which :should: arrive v. soon, and a little hard roller to force the dynamat into place, this is everything I need for the install (I think!). I'm dead chuffed with how quickly it all got here, modern logistics are brilliant!
I'm a little apprehensive as I've never worked on car electrics before - natch, as I've never had a car before! - but am looking forward to the project and learning more about cars, and my car in particular.
I'll not be rushing this, I want to get everything just right, so I'll do it stage by stage. Get the dynamat in there first, and mount the speakers. Then I'll need to plan where to put the amp. I'm thinking tucked up in the passenger footwell would work, which would mean shorter cable runs compared to mounting it in the boot, but we'll see - none of the components have gone anywhere near the car so far! Good news is, my boss used to be really into the car hi-fi thing and has offered to help out with the install - bad news is his missus is delivering twins probably as I type this, so he'll not be available to help for months if not years! :where'sthattoungeincheeksmilie?:
At the start of this post I said there was some not so good news as well, and that is that my engine is officially poorly...
For a little while the idle speed has been erratic; it would sit at 1000rpm then go up to maybe 2000rpm and sit there, and sometimes drop a couple of hundred rpm. In the last few days it's begun to do this while actually in motion as well, there'd be a sharp drop in power, not huge, but enough to be unsettling. In the last couple of days there's also been a tick-tick-tick-tick sound that comes and goes.
Today coming home from work the ticking was there and I stopped to pop the bonnet, and there was a little smoke coming from the ignition leads! It felt like there was a lot of heat build-up in the area round the rear of the cylinder head.
When I got home I had a better look, and there was rusty-looking fluids around that area.. Good thing is, when the idle was being erratic, I'd booked in at my local garage for them to have a good look, and that booking is tomorrow first thing. I think there's a sensor back there that often causes problems and is an easy fix, I'm just hoping it's that - after spending all my hard-earned on stereo equipment I don't want to be landed with a huge bill to fix the motor!
Good thing is, the guys at my local Indy garage are great, bad thing is I've had quite a few reasons to call on their services in the past months...
Anyway, to sum up this post - I don't mind that things go wrong with this car, she's given me that much pleasure over the last (nearly a) year that it's totally worth it. Previously in the good weather I've been out on the bike in full leathers, so have remained a pasty white - this year I've loads of people saying 'You're looking well!', just because I've been out roaming around having fun with the hood down!
As I've got the day off work today, I decided to start familiarising myself with the audio system, working out exactly what else I'd need in the way of connectors and the like, but straight away got sidetracked into assembling the head unit! 
Because the unit is designed to be able to fit any classic american car with their knobs in a huge variety of positions the brackets have way too much adjustability, and getting everything lined up correctly was a proper ball-ache...
..the pots were on the wonk, then the fascia had a small curve in it, then one pot was too far out, I could go on and on... Every adjustment affected everything else, I really could have used 3 pairs of hands!
I eventually got it pretty much right - pots perpendicular to the fascia plate and aligned just so, but I think they still stick out a bit too far, but I'm right at the end off the adjustability in that direction. I'm hoping that from the driver's seat it won't be apparent.
( ^^ Though from this angle they look perfectly flush against the fascia!)
Overall I'm dead chuffed with it, seeing it together for the first time I think I made the right choice of fascia and knobs, and I think it'll suit the interior of the car.
Because the unit is designed to be able to fit any classic american car with their knobs in a huge variety of positions the brackets have way too much adjustability, and getting everything lined up correctly was a proper ball-ache...
..the pots were on the wonk, then the fascia had a small curve in it, then one pot was too far out, I could go on and on... Every adjustment affected everything else, I really could have used 3 pairs of hands!
I eventually got it pretty much right - pots perpendicular to the fascia plate and aligned just so, but I think they still stick out a bit too far, but I'm right at the end off the adjustability in that direction. I'm hoping that from the driver's seat it won't be apparent.
( ^^ Though from this angle they look perfectly flush against the fascia!)
Overall I'm dead chuffed with it, seeing it together for the first time I think I made the right choice of fascia and knobs, and I think it'll suit the interior of the car.
dxg said:
That's a damn fine bit of work, it looks great! Damn you for giving me ideas! Alex, this is the place I got it from - ClassicCarStereo
Have just re-read this entire blog, and realised I didn't mention what had caused the recent malaise with the engine.
A coolant pipe at the back of the cylinder head had perished, and a whole bunch of coolant had made its bid for freedom, resulting in the higher engine bay temps - what I mistook for smoke was actually steam from the escaped coolant on hot engine parts. My guy at the garage made up a new pipe and everything's sweet again!
When I started this blog, I seemed to be pretty hot on lists of stuff that needed to be done, and I've not done that for ages...
Stereo system - needs to be installed
Off side indicator/driving light - needs clip to secure it
Near side indicator/driving light - is cracked, needs replacing
Trim on base of D/S mirror still lose
Section of carpet in D/S footwell still adrift
Wheels could do with a refurbish
There are a couple of lumps in the bootlid where a previous owner had shut it with something big inside that has hit the lid
Poor areas of paint round the front and rear bumpers
Seats are looking worn in places, namely the D/S bolster on the seat back.
TBH, quite a few of these aren't priority items, it'd just be nice if I had the ££ to get them sorted...
A coolant pipe at the back of the cylinder head had perished, and a whole bunch of coolant had made its bid for freedom, resulting in the higher engine bay temps - what I mistook for smoke was actually steam from the escaped coolant on hot engine parts. My guy at the garage made up a new pipe and everything's sweet again!
When I started this blog, I seemed to be pretty hot on lists of stuff that needed to be done, and I've not done that for ages...
Stereo system - needs to be installed
Off side indicator/driving light - needs clip to secure it
Near side indicator/driving light - is cracked, needs replacing
Trim on base of D/S mirror still lose
Section of carpet in D/S footwell still adrift
Wheels could do with a refurbish
There are a couple of lumps in the bootlid where a previous owner had shut it with something big inside that has hit the lid
Poor areas of paint round the front and rear bumpers
Seats are looking worn in places, namely the D/S bolster on the seat back.
TBH, quite a few of these aren't priority items, it'd just be nice if I had the ££ to get them sorted...
So do I mate!
The space underneath already has a cubby, but it ain't fixed in too well - that another of the things I'm looking to fix.
This is pretty much what she looks like atm. Apart from the trim round the radio has fallen off, and the little panel between radio and cubby had also gone south...
The space underneath already has a cubby, but it ain't fixed in too well - that another of the things I'm looking to fix.
This is pretty much what she looks like atm. Apart from the trim round the radio has fallen off, and the little panel between radio and cubby had also gone south...
Aye! I've made a start on getting the new audio stuff in, to the point where I can now play the new radio.
I started on the doors...
The trim came off very easily with the help of a trim removal tool, revealing a mess of horrible tacky adhesive stuff..
...which took a while to remove
The Dynamat came in 4 sheets, enough to do 2 doors of a normal sized car - but the perfect size for a pint-sized car like the Roadster.
Putting it on was straightforward; the hardest part was all the prep work.
I'm pretty happy with it, esp. as it's my first go at Dynamatting.
and as she looks now.
Next stage - the head unit! It's in, sort of. Its unusual design is causing quite a few problems with regards to fixing it in securely. It's fixed at the back by a metal strap and at the front just by the position of the face plate - there's no way to support it along the sides like most head units. Trouble is, the face plate needs to sit in front of the dash panel, but the dash panel needs to be removed to access the wiring.
So as things stand I've bodged it!
I do have a few ideas as to how to get it in properly, just needs a bit of time and patience!
Main thing is, it sounds bloody good! The Dynamat has made a huge difference, and together with decent speakers and a good source, music is now dynamic, tuneful and clear! It's also got a decent bit of volume. Looks wise and ergonomically, it's in a different league to the old head unit, having proper knobs to play with instead of stupid tiny little buttons!
I started on the doors...
The trim came off very easily with the help of a trim removal tool, revealing a mess of horrible tacky adhesive stuff..
...which took a while to remove
The Dynamat came in 4 sheets, enough to do 2 doors of a normal sized car - but the perfect size for a pint-sized car like the Roadster.
Putting it on was straightforward; the hardest part was all the prep work.
I'm pretty happy with it, esp. as it's my first go at Dynamatting.
and as she looks now.
Next stage - the head unit! It's in, sort of. Its unusual design is causing quite a few problems with regards to fixing it in securely. It's fixed at the back by a metal strap and at the front just by the position of the face plate - there's no way to support it along the sides like most head units. Trouble is, the face plate needs to sit in front of the dash panel, but the dash panel needs to be removed to access the wiring.
So as things stand I've bodged it!
I do have a few ideas as to how to get it in properly, just needs a bit of time and patience!
Main thing is, it sounds bloody good! The Dynamat has made a huge difference, and together with decent speakers and a good source, music is now dynamic, tuneful and clear! It's also got a decent bit of volume. Looks wise and ergonomically, it's in a different league to the old head unit, having proper knobs to play with instead of stupid tiny little buttons!
Schmeeky said:
When I started this blog, I seemed to be pretty hot on lists of stuff that needed to be done, and I've not done that for ages...
Stereo system - needs to be installed sort of is.. but I know now how to to it - I think!
Off side indicator/driving light - needs clip to secure it has finally been procured, and is secured! Yay!
..After chasing about all over the shop online, trying all sorts, I went to my local Mazda dealer to see if they on the off chance did parts for a 17 year old car.
And they did!!
£2.90 got my the part to secure the sidelight, and I'm now a very happy Schmeeky!
In other news, I bought a radiator grill from MX5parts.com to protect my radiator* and smarten up the appearance a bit. It was 2 bolts to remove to fit it - one came out sweet as a nut - but the other was seized solid, gallons of WD40 did nowt. Stereo system - needs to be installed sort of is.. but I know now how to to it - I think!
Off side indicator/driving light - needs clip to secure it has finally been procured, and is secured! Yay!
..After chasing about all over the shop online, trying all sorts, I went to my local Mazda dealer to see if they on the off chance did parts for a 17 year old car.
And they did!!
£2.90 got my the part to secure the sidelight, and I'm now a very happy Schmeeky!
I'm going to have to go to the garage to get them to work their magic on the stuck bolt.. On the plus side, when I was in there I could see that my rad has taken some damage with not having protection, and that a new rad might be a good idea. £70 from MX5parts.com ain't too bad. The current rad is damaged, but it's still sealed - a new 'un seems like a damn fine idea though.. A little update - after having the interior look like this for far too long,
...it now looks like this!
My old boss from work finally got a pass out from his missus and came along to help with the wiring and amp install, while I worked on the head unit. Being a non-standard size and shape it was a real pig to get in, but it's in and I'm happy with the end result.
...it now looks like this!
My old boss from work finally got a pass out from his missus and came along to help with the wiring and amp install, while I worked on the head unit. Being a non-standard size and shape it was a real pig to get in, but it's in and I'm happy with the end result.
Just had a cracking drive oot round the Solway Firth, it's a lovely mild day up here - still got some funny looks though!
Caught a nice photo, then found that flikr has a built in editor, so have messed around with it a tad. For a photo taken with a phone I don't think it's half bad!
Car's absolutely filthy though, which doesn't help!
Caught a nice photo, then found that flikr has a built in editor, so have messed around with it a tad. For a photo taken with a phone I don't think it's half bad!
Car's absolutely filthy though, which doesn't help!
It's been a while since I've updated my blog here, and quite a few things have been going on!
My road tax was due to run out at the end of December, so I went on the web site to renew, had ticked all the boxes and thought it was all good, when it popped up and said we can't renew as you don't have a valid MOT.
I dove into my car history file, pulled out the previous MOT and discovered that it had run out in July!
After I'd kicked myself in the arse and finished swearing at myself I phoned my local garage guys and begged for an MOT ASAP - being the brilliant guys they are they said to bring it in tomorrow and they'd sort it out....
..and she passed with only a couple of advisories!
The advisories were that one headlamp was almost out of adjustment, but was legal; t'other was that there were cracks on the inner edges of the rear tyres. The tread depth on them was good though.
Tread depth is one thing, actual quality of the tyre is another, and I had one unknown brand on the front and another unknown brand on the back, not really ideal.
Also, my front offside tyre had recently lost a bit of pressure. I'd pumped it back up and it seemed to be holding the pressure, but it had me worried.
Soooooo.... new boots required!
Then I started thinking (always a dangerous pastime with me!) if the tyres are coming off, it might be a good time to refurb the wheels
I knew this was something that needed to be done, and I'd previously spoken to a guy out of town who could do it for £80 a wheel, but that seemed a tad expensive.. Then I saw an advert in town for another business that refurbed wheels, and made a mental note of the name.
The story digresses a tad here, but shortly after that, on trying to unlock the door the key just flops round in the lock, and the door doesn't open. Arse. I need to get to work on time, so I dive in the passenger side and do what are probably pretty advanced yoga moves to get into the driver's seat... Back home I take what I can of the door card off, thinking a clamping screw has slipped on the door pull mechanism and it's an easy fix, but that is all good... Humph. My guys at garage sorted it out, but had to wait 5 days on getting the new latch unit in. A broken spring in the latch (maybe 50p?) meant a £175 bill for a new latch and labour.. But at least my door works again, which is quite usefull..
On those 5 days without my baby I was mostly able to borrow my folks Jazz to get to work - which made me realise just how good a car the Roadster actually is! The Jazz felt huge, wallowy, underpowered, and far too quiet and comfortable! I was really missing my Eunos....
But on one of the days where I walked to work I spotted a business I'd driven past a thousand times and never seen - the guys who do the wheel refurbs whoose advert I'd previously spotted in town. Wandered in, had a crack; yes, they can do wheels without removing the tyres.
Get new tyres first, then refurb the wheels - don't want to possibly chip anything changing tyres on newly sorted wheels!
So, new shoes go on..
Almost exactly £61 per tyre, Pirelli Cinturato P1s. Grippy and responsive in the wet, no idea what they're like in the dry as I don't think England does dry any more... But a huge step up in everything from the rubber that was on before!
Then today, took the car in to get the wheels refurbed at 9am, bloke calls me at 2.30 to say come and collect it!
The wheels as they were..
..and as they are now!
Am soooo happy with the result, they look better than new!
The only trouble is the locking wheelnuts and the callipers are now letting the side down....
Anyhows, I've been wittering on for far too long - if you got this far then thank you!
My road tax was due to run out at the end of December, so I went on the web site to renew, had ticked all the boxes and thought it was all good, when it popped up and said we can't renew as you don't have a valid MOT.
I dove into my car history file, pulled out the previous MOT and discovered that it had run out in July!
After I'd kicked myself in the arse and finished swearing at myself I phoned my local garage guys and begged for an MOT ASAP - being the brilliant guys they are they said to bring it in tomorrow and they'd sort it out....
..and she passed with only a couple of advisories!
The advisories were that one headlamp was almost out of adjustment, but was legal; t'other was that there were cracks on the inner edges of the rear tyres. The tread depth on them was good though.
Tread depth is one thing, actual quality of the tyre is another, and I had one unknown brand on the front and another unknown brand on the back, not really ideal.
Also, my front offside tyre had recently lost a bit of pressure. I'd pumped it back up and it seemed to be holding the pressure, but it had me worried.
Soooooo.... new boots required!
Then I started thinking (always a dangerous pastime with me!) if the tyres are coming off, it might be a good time to refurb the wheels
I knew this was something that needed to be done, and I'd previously spoken to a guy out of town who could do it for £80 a wheel, but that seemed a tad expensive.. Then I saw an advert in town for another business that refurbed wheels, and made a mental note of the name.The story digresses a tad here, but shortly after that, on trying to unlock the door the key just flops round in the lock, and the door doesn't open. Arse. I need to get to work on time, so I dive in the passenger side and do what are probably pretty advanced yoga moves to get into the driver's seat... Back home I take what I can of the door card off, thinking a clamping screw has slipped on the door pull mechanism and it's an easy fix, but that is all good... Humph. My guys at garage sorted it out, but had to wait 5 days on getting the new latch unit in. A broken spring in the latch (maybe 50p?) meant a £175 bill for a new latch and labour..
But at least my door works again, which is quite usefull..On those 5 days without my baby I was mostly able to borrow my folks Jazz to get to work - which made me realise just how good a car the Roadster actually is! The Jazz felt huge, wallowy, underpowered, and far too quiet and comfortable!
I was really missing my Eunos....But on one of the days where I walked to work I spotted a business I'd driven past a thousand times and never seen - the guys who do the wheel refurbs whoose advert I'd previously spotted in town. Wandered in, had a crack; yes, they can do wheels without removing the tyres.
Get new tyres first, then refurb the wheels - don't want to possibly chip anything changing tyres on newly sorted wheels!
So, new shoes go on..
Almost exactly £61 per tyre, Pirelli Cinturato P1s. Grippy and responsive in the wet, no idea what they're like in the dry as I don't think England does dry any more... But a huge step up in everything from the rubber that was on before!
Then today, took the car in to get the wheels refurbed at 9am, bloke calls me at 2.30 to say come and collect it!
The wheels as they were..
..and as they are now!
Am soooo happy with the result, they look better than new!
The only trouble is the locking wheelnuts and the callipers are now letting the side down....
Anyhows, I've been wittering on for far too long - if you got this far then thank you!
Cheers Toby! And top lurking - 31 months on the site and only your 2nd post!
I've only owned this wonderful little machine for 15 months, but from the start I was thinking that this is one of those cars that you have to care for your whole life - she's my baby..
Since I had the new tyres fitted, I've only had the chance of one good drive out in the (nearly) dry, but f
k me sideways, the difference in performance is incredible, so much more grip, so much more braking performance..
I'm so looking forward to summer....
I've only owned this wonderful little machine for 15 months, but from the start I was thinking that this is one of those cars that you have to care for your whole life - she's my baby..
Since I had the new tyres fitted, I've only had the chance of one good drive out in the (nearly) dry, but f
k me sideways, the difference in performance is incredible, so much more grip, so much more braking performance..I'm so looking forward to summer....
I've been quiet on here for a while, but that's only because it's been pretty much business as usual, my lovely little Eunos running me up to work and back, and taking me for regular top-down spins out to the country.
My last 'mod' was to get rid of the dodgy ditchfinders, and fit Pirellis. They are brilliant tyres, maybe too brilliant, as with the standard power I've got there seems to be no way short of suicidal manoeuvres to get any movement out of them... So I'm starting to think of ways to get more power. There's also the overtaking thing - I'm used to overtakes on a 1 Litre motorbike, where if there's pretty much any gap available you can get past. With my Eunos overtakes need to be planned calender months in advance, and only feel safe if there's a loooong straight available..
Anyhows, more power is in the future, what's happening now is that she's booked in for a complete respray! She's what I call a 3-meter car. From anything more than 3 meters away she looks fine, but get up close and there's all sorts of nasties going on. Little sections of pitting, lots of glazing and cracks on the bumpers, paint flaking off the rear mudflaps showing the original red paint that was on them, and the biggest one, a hand-sized area on the bonnet where a whole bunch of lacquer has come away.
I've also ordered new side glass for the windows, as tired weatherstrips haven't done their job and grit has got in and scratched buggery out of the windows as they've gone down. The passenger window has also just stopped working, and the good news is that the paintshop folk can sort all that out, they have some tame electricians available.
You might be asking yourself what colour am I going for? As a special edition of only 700 my main aim is to keep her looking pretty much stock. But. But.... The original Vin Rouge looks so flat in dull light, almost brown. A final colour hasn't been decided yet, but if there's something that will give it a little lift while keeping the same basic colour then I'll probably go with it. Duncan the paint guy mentioned adding a little opal; we'll see when I get to see some examples...
Anyhows, I've blethered on for a bit, will leave you with a recent pic that I screwed around with in the Flikr picture-mashing app, which somehow came out looking halfway decent!
My last 'mod' was to get rid of the dodgy ditchfinders, and fit Pirellis. They are brilliant tyres, maybe too brilliant, as with the standard power I've got there seems to be no way short of suicidal manoeuvres to get any movement out of them... So I'm starting to think of ways to get more power. There's also the overtaking thing - I'm used to overtakes on a 1 Litre motorbike, where if there's pretty much any gap available you can get past. With my Eunos overtakes need to be planned calender months in advance, and only feel safe if there's a loooong straight available..
Anyhows, more power is in the future, what's happening now is that she's booked in for a complete respray! She's what I call a 3-meter car. From anything more than 3 meters away she looks fine, but get up close and there's all sorts of nasties going on. Little sections of pitting, lots of glazing and cracks on the bumpers, paint flaking off the rear mudflaps showing the original red paint that was on them, and the biggest one, a hand-sized area on the bonnet where a whole bunch of lacquer has come away.
I've also ordered new side glass for the windows, as tired weatherstrips haven't done their job and grit has got in and scratched buggery out of the windows as they've gone down. The passenger window has also just stopped working, and the good news is that the paintshop folk can sort all that out, they have some tame electricians available.
You might be asking yourself what colour am I going for? As a special edition of only 700 my main aim is to keep her looking pretty much stock. But. But.... The original Vin Rouge looks so flat in dull light, almost brown. A final colour hasn't been decided yet, but if there's something that will give it a little lift while keeping the same basic colour then I'll probably go with it. Duncan the paint guy mentioned adding a little opal; we'll see when I get to see some examples...
Anyhows, I've blethered on for a bit, will leave you with a recent pic that I screwed around with in the Flikr picture-mashing app, which somehow came out looking halfway decent!
Just had the last good drive I'll have for a bit - She's going to the paint shop tomorrow!
I've taken some pics of the bad bits..
Rear bumper - odd cracks in the paint..
Front N/S wing and bumper - horrendous paints drips on the bottom of the wing, and nastiness on the bumper itself..
Rear mudguards - paint chipping away to show the original colour of the flaps..
And the big nasty, a large area on the bonnet where the top layer of paint has peeled away..
There are a few other areas where the paint is dodgy as well, namely the nose section, and the top of the O/S wing - but the camera on my phone doesn't really show anything..
And as for colour, I mentioned previously I might go for something that was the original tone, but had a bit of extra 'something' to it. But... My ethos in this whole process has been to stay original but to upgrade and improve where possible - but the upgrade and improve should only apply to things mechanical. Uprated suspension and a new cat-back exhaust have been good upgrades - but messing with the colour would be a bad thing. So she's going to get a coat of the proper Vin Rouge.
P.S. Can't bloody wait to see how she looks!
I've taken some pics of the bad bits..
Rear bumper - odd cracks in the paint..
Front N/S wing and bumper - horrendous paints drips on the bottom of the wing, and nastiness on the bumper itself..
Rear mudguards - paint chipping away to show the original colour of the flaps..
And the big nasty, a large area on the bonnet where the top layer of paint has peeled away..
There are a few other areas where the paint is dodgy as well, namely the nose section, and the top of the O/S wing - but the camera on my phone doesn't really show anything..
And as for colour, I mentioned previously I might go for something that was the original tone, but had a bit of extra 'something' to it. But... My ethos in this whole process has been to stay original but to upgrade and improve where possible - but the upgrade and improve should only apply to things mechanical. Uprated suspension and a new cat-back exhaust have been good upgrades - but messing with the colour would be a bad thing. So she's going to get a coat of the proper Vin Rouge.
P.S. Can't bloody wait to see how she looks!
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