Discussion
I have been a lurker on here for years. I thought it was about time I started a reader's car thread as I love reading other peoples!
Wish I started one years ago, so every car had all the photo's and information rather than the brief pictures/explanation below.
My story...
2007 age 17:
1993 1.2 Corsa B 1.2 8v - My great Aunt had it from brand new, I did a great job in trashing it!
Before:
After:
2008:
1999 1.6 16v Corsa B Sport - At the end of 2007 I had started an Engineering apprenticeship which resulted in 60 miles a day commuting. The slowness of the 1.2 8v was tiring and being unable to overtake was painful. I purchased this from a dealer not long after my 18th birthday in February. Resulting in the insurance being a bargain at £2400!
I had this car until 2010 and took it from 56000 miles to 94000 without a single thing going wrong with it. I had the cambelt and water pump changed as soon as I got it and serviced it my self every 12000 miles.
I fitted a GSi kit , Speedline Alessio 2's, V6 brakes, Sportex exhaust and lowered it on FK coilovers.
Someone crashed into me in 2009 which wrote it off, bought it back and someone wrote it off again in 2010 so scrapped it.
Before:
After:
Land Rover Series 3 1982 - I wanted a project car as I had finished doing the Corsa up and couldn't play with it to much as I needed it for my daily commute. I wanted a Defender but picked this Series 3 up cheap, plus the insurance was cheaper being 18 years old.
I fitted a Defender windscreen, 200TDI engine out of a Discovery 1 I bought, parabolic leaf springs, extended shackles, defender seats, power steering, soft top, defender wings, front and rear winch, defender doors and probably more.
I ended up splitting the chassis doing a jump whilst at a pay and play day. Could of repaired it but I really wanted a Defender with the coil springs so split it up for spares.
Before:
After:
2011:
MK4 Astra 1.7TD - The Corsa was written off for the 2nd time. I was coming up to my 21st birthday so the cars boy racer image was becoming a bit embarrassing! Plus 40k+ miles on a rock hard suspension was tiring! I was coming up to the end of my apprenticeship and had decided to go to uni for the final year to top my HND up to a degree. Purchased this MK4 Astra for £400 with rotten front brake lines (failed its MOT). Replaced them myself with copper, put some SXI alloys on it and run it on vegetable oil for the 6 months I was at uni for. Got bored of the slowness and age of the car so sold it on for £900. It had served its purpose.
Ford Escort XR3i - Saw this on e-bay for £300 so bought it. My Mum had one and I liked the thought of owning one myself. Ended up scrapping it after a few months as I had just bought a Land Rover Defender so couldn't realistically insure three cars at 20 whist at uni! Shame really.
Land Rover Defender - Purchased this whilst at uni to replace my split/snapped Series 3. The rear crank seal had gone so picked it up cheap, but it had just been fitted with a 200TDI engine from a discovery. Whilst driving it home the flywheel came loose. I fitted my 200TDI from my Series 3, painted it black, fitted the rear axle from the discovery that I originally bought for the Series 3 (to convert this from rear drums to disk), hard top, winch e.t.c. did it all in 10 days! (had so much time on my hands when at uni
). Sold it because I made about £3k on it!
Before:
After:
2012
Mk3 Mondeo Titanium X - Wanted something cheap, with lots of toys (this had bluetooth, heated and cooled seats, auto wipers/lights e.t.c). I wasn't sure how local I would find a new job so bought the TDCi version. Had it for around 8 months. The water pump went leaving me stranded but replaced it my self. Cleaned the EGR and inlet manifold, fitted a decat, factory OEM Xenon's, and resprayed the wheels (photos are before the respraying). Sold and replaced by an ST220 after a few months.
MK3 Mondeo ST220 - Loved the Mondeo but hate diesels. I had found a job 4 miles from home so the ST220 made perfect sense. Heated leather recaro's, factory fit Xenon's plus the normal ST spec. All I did to this was have it serviced (to keep the FFSH), fitted an OEM Desnso satnav and resprayed the wheels graphite grey. It was perfect for my house renovation as I bought my first place in 2013.
So on to my current 'garage':
MK1 Audi TT 225 - In 2013 I started looking at buying my own house. Come February I had viewed loads but liked nothing. Decided to give it another year so bought a MK1 TT for my girlfriend in February 2013. Its the facelift 225 version on an 04 plate with Bose, heated leather and Xenon's. It came with 12 months MOT and FASH. It had 108k miles on the clock but I know these things can go on forever. Straight away I sprayed the wheels Ford Graphite Grey as the wheels were terribly curbed. She was 19 at the time and managed to insure it for £800!
Got it home:
I had an oil change at Audi (£159) to keep up the FASH in November 2013. I mentioned that there was rust between the side skirts and wings. They replaced both side skirts, scuff plates and various fittings and had them sprayed at a total cost of £1500 under the 10 year corrosion warranty. I was well impressed.
It is now nearly on 130k miles. The service indicator came on again last month but this time round I did the plugs, pollen filter, oil, oil filter e.t.c myself. The value of the car isn't really worth taking it to main dealer and I have kept all the receipts and photos of me doing the work. I also took the sump off and cleaned the oil pick up pipe. I had 4 new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's fitted February last year at MOT time, meaning that the MOT is due again in the next few weeks!
Jonway 125 Chinese Scooter - The day I bought the TT, I had a call from an estate agent saying that a property had come on the market, do I want to have a look? (the plan was to leave it a year and get some nice cars -The TT to replace her Corsa C and I wanted to replace my ST with an M3!). In the end the M3 obviously didn't happen as I now have a mortgage to pay (she's going to get a buy to let this year). The ST was shocking on fuel and I would spend most of my 4 mile commute stuck in traffic. I bought this Scooter for £400 in December 12. It was 1 previous owner, however it had sat in a garage for 3 years and had covered just 100 miles. I picked it up after the owner had got it through its 1st MOT. I still have it now and it has done 6000 miles. Iv'e had to rebuild the gearbox, few wheel bearings, couple of accelerator cables but it doesn't owe me much more than £600 (including original purchase price). It does 100 MPG and guarantees me to get to work on time, whilst being loads of fun! + it was the exact same colour as my ST!
W220 Mercedes LWB S55K AMG - My baby! My Granddad bought this in 2007, he was 75. I have no idea why he bought it! It was on 37k miles when he got it, in 2010 he put it in his garage where it sat until its yearly MOT and 2 year service. It has FMBSH, has done around 1000 miles in between the last 3 services. When I got my Corsa in 2008 I was with Quinn Direct insurance. They were the only insurance company (that I know of anyway) who would let you drive TPF&T whilst under 25. He would let me drive this aged 18! - yes 500BHP, RWD at 18! I was happy! Every year I have asked to buy it off him and last May, aged 81 he said yes! Mixed emotions really as he has been battling Cancer for the past 5 years and it really has caught up with him over the past year. I wasn't sure if he thought he didn't have long left and wanted me to have it (although ££££ was exchanged for it), the fact that my girlfriend was pregnant and he thought I would have this and she'd sell the TT and have the ST, or the house renovation was complete so I couldn't trash this.
Anyway...the ST was replaced as I couldn't get her to sell the TT (bloody women!!!). So its now on 52000 miles, so I have done 2000 miles in it since May. I have taken out a service plan with Mercedes where they will service it for the next 6 years (3 services) for £75pm over 2 years. As soon as I got it required a service (well it didn't really as it had done about 20 miles since the last one), hence the service plan. I took the wheels off and resprayed them Ford Graphite Grey (same as the TT and ST), as they were corroded and curbed.
It wasn't perfect but I liked the look more than before. I hadn't really used it at all (1500 of the 2000 miles were holidays) until November when my daughter was born. Audi TT's are f
king st for more than two people. The TT has isofix in the back, but the chair only fits if the front seat back is touching the dash board. So the little one goes in the front as you can turn the air bag off, leaving and adult to go in the back - im 6ft 2. Kept fking telling her that we should of kept the ST!!!
Anyway, carrying my daughter now, everything needs to be perfect. The rear tyres were microns away from the illegal limit, fronts were almost new despite doing 10000 miles, because I don't think my Granddad ever got it above 50 miles an hour. He's the slow driver that winds everyone up!
In November after having a flat front tyre that was ruined because I had driven on it, I decided to replace all 4 tyres. Apparently where the tyre seals against the alloy was badly corroded any this time round they needed doing professionally! Plus all 4 of the TPMS's were flat so it made sense to do them as well.
So 4 new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's - £600
4 new Huff (Huff make them for Mercedes now rather than Beru) TPMS's and valves imported from Germany - £290
4 Alloys refurbished - £350
right before Xmas!
The finished result (taken with my Canon):
Interior pics from when I first got it (Iphone 5S):
and there we have it!
So plans:
Audi - Cambelt and water pump need doing. Don't want to do that myself.
/////AMG - Dynamic seats only work for a minuet maximum then stop, need to look into/research that. Rust around the sunroof. Luckily the rear arches were done in 2008 and then again in 2009 under warranty. st really considering its not been used much, has been garaged for 7 years and 50k mileage. (W220's rust for fun!)
Scooter - Replace it with something that has gears and maybe do my bike test this month!
If you've got this far, well done!
Wish I started one years ago, so every car had all the photo's and information rather than the brief pictures/explanation below.
My story...
2007 age 17:
1993 1.2 Corsa B 1.2 8v - My great Aunt had it from brand new, I did a great job in trashing it!
Before:
After:
2008:
1999 1.6 16v Corsa B Sport - At the end of 2007 I had started an Engineering apprenticeship which resulted in 60 miles a day commuting. The slowness of the 1.2 8v was tiring and being unable to overtake was painful. I purchased this from a dealer not long after my 18th birthday in February. Resulting in the insurance being a bargain at £2400!
I had this car until 2010 and took it from 56000 miles to 94000 without a single thing going wrong with it. I had the cambelt and water pump changed as soon as I got it and serviced it my self every 12000 miles.
I fitted a GSi kit , Speedline Alessio 2's, V6 brakes, Sportex exhaust and lowered it on FK coilovers.
Someone crashed into me in 2009 which wrote it off, bought it back and someone wrote it off again in 2010 so scrapped it.
Before:
After:
Land Rover Series 3 1982 - I wanted a project car as I had finished doing the Corsa up and couldn't play with it to much as I needed it for my daily commute. I wanted a Defender but picked this Series 3 up cheap, plus the insurance was cheaper being 18 years old.
I fitted a Defender windscreen, 200TDI engine out of a Discovery 1 I bought, parabolic leaf springs, extended shackles, defender seats, power steering, soft top, defender wings, front and rear winch, defender doors and probably more.
I ended up splitting the chassis doing a jump whilst at a pay and play day. Could of repaired it but I really wanted a Defender with the coil springs so split it up for spares.
Before:
After:
2011:
MK4 Astra 1.7TD - The Corsa was written off for the 2nd time. I was coming up to my 21st birthday so the cars boy racer image was becoming a bit embarrassing! Plus 40k+ miles on a rock hard suspension was tiring! I was coming up to the end of my apprenticeship and had decided to go to uni for the final year to top my HND up to a degree. Purchased this MK4 Astra for £400 with rotten front brake lines (failed its MOT). Replaced them myself with copper, put some SXI alloys on it and run it on vegetable oil for the 6 months I was at uni for. Got bored of the slowness and age of the car so sold it on for £900. It had served its purpose.
Ford Escort XR3i - Saw this on e-bay for £300 so bought it. My Mum had one and I liked the thought of owning one myself. Ended up scrapping it after a few months as I had just bought a Land Rover Defender so couldn't realistically insure three cars at 20 whist at uni! Shame really.
Land Rover Defender - Purchased this whilst at uni to replace my split/snapped Series 3. The rear crank seal had gone so picked it up cheap, but it had just been fitted with a 200TDI engine from a discovery. Whilst driving it home the flywheel came loose. I fitted my 200TDI from my Series 3, painted it black, fitted the rear axle from the discovery that I originally bought for the Series 3 (to convert this from rear drums to disk), hard top, winch e.t.c. did it all in 10 days! (had so much time on my hands when at uni
). Sold it because I made about £3k on it!Before:
After:
2012
Mk3 Mondeo Titanium X - Wanted something cheap, with lots of toys (this had bluetooth, heated and cooled seats, auto wipers/lights e.t.c). I wasn't sure how local I would find a new job so bought the TDCi version. Had it for around 8 months. The water pump went leaving me stranded but replaced it my self. Cleaned the EGR and inlet manifold, fitted a decat, factory OEM Xenon's, and resprayed the wheels (photos are before the respraying). Sold and replaced by an ST220 after a few months.
MK3 Mondeo ST220 - Loved the Mondeo but hate diesels. I had found a job 4 miles from home so the ST220 made perfect sense. Heated leather recaro's, factory fit Xenon's plus the normal ST spec. All I did to this was have it serviced (to keep the FFSH), fitted an OEM Desnso satnav and resprayed the wheels graphite grey. It was perfect for my house renovation as I bought my first place in 2013.
So on to my current 'garage':
MK1 Audi TT 225 - In 2013 I started looking at buying my own house. Come February I had viewed loads but liked nothing. Decided to give it another year so bought a MK1 TT for my girlfriend in February 2013. Its the facelift 225 version on an 04 plate with Bose, heated leather and Xenon's. It came with 12 months MOT and FASH. It had 108k miles on the clock but I know these things can go on forever. Straight away I sprayed the wheels Ford Graphite Grey as the wheels were terribly curbed. She was 19 at the time and managed to insure it for £800!
Got it home:
I had an oil change at Audi (£159) to keep up the FASH in November 2013. I mentioned that there was rust between the side skirts and wings. They replaced both side skirts, scuff plates and various fittings and had them sprayed at a total cost of £1500 under the 10 year corrosion warranty. I was well impressed.
It is now nearly on 130k miles. The service indicator came on again last month but this time round I did the plugs, pollen filter, oil, oil filter e.t.c myself. The value of the car isn't really worth taking it to main dealer and I have kept all the receipts and photos of me doing the work. I also took the sump off and cleaned the oil pick up pipe. I had 4 new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's fitted February last year at MOT time, meaning that the MOT is due again in the next few weeks!
Jonway 125 Chinese Scooter - The day I bought the TT, I had a call from an estate agent saying that a property had come on the market, do I want to have a look? (the plan was to leave it a year and get some nice cars -The TT to replace her Corsa C and I wanted to replace my ST with an M3!). In the end the M3 obviously didn't happen as I now have a mortgage to pay (she's going to get a buy to let this year). The ST was shocking on fuel and I would spend most of my 4 mile commute stuck in traffic. I bought this Scooter for £400 in December 12. It was 1 previous owner, however it had sat in a garage for 3 years and had covered just 100 miles. I picked it up after the owner had got it through its 1st MOT. I still have it now and it has done 6000 miles. Iv'e had to rebuild the gearbox, few wheel bearings, couple of accelerator cables but it doesn't owe me much more than £600 (including original purchase price). It does 100 MPG and guarantees me to get to work on time, whilst being loads of fun! + it was the exact same colour as my ST!
W220 Mercedes LWB S55K AMG - My baby! My Granddad bought this in 2007, he was 75. I have no idea why he bought it! It was on 37k miles when he got it, in 2010 he put it in his garage where it sat until its yearly MOT and 2 year service. It has FMBSH, has done around 1000 miles in between the last 3 services. When I got my Corsa in 2008 I was with Quinn Direct insurance. They were the only insurance company (that I know of anyway) who would let you drive TPF&T whilst under 25. He would let me drive this aged 18! - yes 500BHP, RWD at 18! I was happy! Every year I have asked to buy it off him and last May, aged 81 he said yes! Mixed emotions really as he has been battling Cancer for the past 5 years and it really has caught up with him over the past year. I wasn't sure if he thought he didn't have long left and wanted me to have it (although ££££ was exchanged for it), the fact that my girlfriend was pregnant and he thought I would have this and she'd sell the TT and have the ST, or the house renovation was complete so I couldn't trash this.
Anyway...the ST was replaced as I couldn't get her to sell the TT (bloody women!!!). So its now on 52000 miles, so I have done 2000 miles in it since May. I have taken out a service plan with Mercedes where they will service it for the next 6 years (3 services) for £75pm over 2 years. As soon as I got it required a service (well it didn't really as it had done about 20 miles since the last one), hence the service plan. I took the wheels off and resprayed them Ford Graphite Grey (same as the TT and ST), as they were corroded and curbed.
It wasn't perfect but I liked the look more than before. I hadn't really used it at all (1500 of the 2000 miles were holidays) until November when my daughter was born. Audi TT's are f
king st for more than two people. The TT has isofix in the back, but the chair only fits if the front seat back is touching the dash board. So the little one goes in the front as you can turn the air bag off, leaving and adult to go in the back - im 6ft 2. Kept fking telling her that we should of kept the ST!!!Anyway, carrying my daughter now, everything needs to be perfect. The rear tyres were microns away from the illegal limit, fronts were almost new despite doing 10000 miles, because I don't think my Granddad ever got it above 50 miles an hour. He's the slow driver that winds everyone up!
In November after having a flat front tyre that was ruined because I had driven on it, I decided to replace all 4 tyres. Apparently where the tyre seals against the alloy was badly corroded any this time round they needed doing professionally! Plus all 4 of the TPMS's were flat so it made sense to do them as well.
So 4 new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2's - £600
4 new Huff (Huff make them for Mercedes now rather than Beru) TPMS's and valves imported from Germany - £290
4 Alloys refurbished - £350
right before Xmas!
The finished result (taken with my Canon):
Interior pics from when I first got it (Iphone 5S):
and there we have it!
So plans:
Audi - Cambelt and water pump need doing. Don't want to do that myself.
/////AMG - Dynamic seats only work for a minuet maximum then stop, need to look into/research that. Rust around the sunroof. Luckily the rear arches were done in 2008 and then again in 2009 under warranty. s
t really considering its not been used much, has been garaged for 7 years and 50k mileage. (W220's rust for fun!)Scooter - Replace it with something that has gears and maybe do my bike test this month!
If you've got this far, well done!
Audi:
Bought it exactly two years ago today! Gave it a wash a few weeks back but it's now rotten again due to the Mrs going back and forth from Uni.
Passed its MOT last month, went straight through! Also taxed it on the 31st
/////AMG:
Taxed this also last month, rotten ATM due to it now being the family car! I want to give it a decent clean in and out ASAP, hopefully have a weekend free soon!
Scooter:
Replaced the air filter and fuel filter last week as its now done 10000 kilometers (all done by moi!), so thought I would treat it!
Replaced the front and rear pads today and took it for it's MOT straight after which it passed! Taxed for £17 which covers me for a year!
Thanks for the comments so far! Hopefully the next update will be a nice clean /////AMG!
Bought it exactly two years ago today! Gave it a wash a few weeks back but it's now rotten again due to the Mrs going back and forth from Uni.
Passed its MOT last month, went straight through! Also taxed it on the 31st
/////AMG:
Taxed this also last month, rotten ATM due to it now being the family car! I want to give it a decent clean in and out ASAP, hopefully have a weekend free soon!
Scooter:
Replaced the air filter and fuel filter last week as its now done 10000 kilometers (all done by moi!), so thought I would treat it!
Replaced the front and rear pads today and took it for it's MOT straight after which it passed! Taxed for £17 which covers me for a year!
Thanks for the comments so far! Hopefully the next update will be a nice clean /////AMG!
Edited by Chris x on Saturday 14th February 22:29
Edited by Chris x on Saturday 14th February 22:31
/////AMG
Gave it a good polish last weekend, very overdue...
Took some photos with my Canon EOS M when I got home...
Few interior pictures...
and the all important S Class W220 rust...
It's really fked me off, but I have been waiting for it given their reputation. That's rust on both rear quarter panels where the bumper joins the panel, two spots of rust around the sunroof and rust starting underneath the bonnet emblem. I think i'm going to take it off the road in a few months to strip it back to bare metal to see what's what then to get a body shop to paint it.
It continues to do its Dad duties well and I thought i'd start teaching my 3 month old daughter to wash it the other day
Parent & Child parking
![]()
Treated it to some new windscreen wipers:
Genuine delivered for £30 off eBay, not bad and a great improvement!
Bit of beading!:
TT
Gave that a quick once over and got a few shots with the Canon. Need to refurb the wheels again when it warms up!
Not bad for and old car with 130k miles on.
Also have some new genuine wipers from my local Audi main dealer, £40. Bit more than the Merc but I couldn't find any genuine ones on eBay. That's the mothers day present sorted!
S320 CDI
I'll be running in this whilst the /////AMG gets renovated. My Grandad had two of these, this one he's had for a few years and the other one we picked up from a BCA auction about 6 months ago. It was a facelift with heated front and rear seats, xenons, satnav and parking sensors so the luxury of the /////AMG that I bought off him but with the engine he wanted. This one however is poverty spec hence the upgrade last year. Unfortunately he lost his battle with cancer a few weeks ago , so i'm reluctant to get rid of it, plus the fact he spent £2k+ on suspension wishbones, track rod ends etc on this in 2013. This is rusty rusty and needs a good clean up! Think i'll start with this one first for a bit of practicing!
Thanks for making it this far! Hopefully some updates soon other than washing cars!
Gave it a good polish last weekend, very overdue...
Took some photos with my Canon EOS M when I got home...
Few interior pictures...
and the all important S Class W220 rust...
It's really f
ked me off, but I have been waiting for it given their reputation. That's rust on both rear quarter panels where the bumper joins the panel, two spots of rust around the sunroof and rust starting underneath the bonnet emblem. I think i'm going to take it off the road in a few months to strip it back to bare metal to see what's what then to get a body shop to paint it. It continues to do its Dad duties well and I thought i'd start teaching my 3 month old daughter to wash it the other day
Parent & Child parking
Treated it to some new windscreen wipers:
Genuine delivered for £30 off eBay, not bad and a great improvement!
Bit of beading!:
TT
Gave that a quick once over and got a few shots with the Canon. Need to refurb the wheels again when it warms up!
Not bad for and old car with 130k miles on.
Also have some new genuine wipers from my local Audi main dealer, £40. Bit more than the Merc but I couldn't find any genuine ones on eBay. That's the mothers day present sorted!
S320 CDI
I'll be running in this whilst the /////AMG gets renovated. My Grandad had two of these, this one he's had for a few years and the other one we picked up from a BCA auction about 6 months ago. It was a facelift with heated front and rear seats, xenons, satnav and parking sensors so the luxury of the /////AMG that I bought off him but with the engine he wanted. This one however is poverty spec hence the upgrade last year. Unfortunately he lost his battle with cancer a few weeks ago
, so i'm reluctant to get rid of it, plus the fact he spent £2k+ on suspension wishbones, track rod ends etc on this in 2013. This is rusty rusty and needs a good clean up! Think i'll start with this one first for a bit of practicing! Thanks for making it this far! Hopefully some updates soon other than washing cars!
Edited by Chris x on Saturday 14th March 23:25
Edited by Chris x on Saturday 14th March 23:29
Edited by Chris x on Saturday 14th March 23:30
Decided the other week that the /////AMG isn't really big enough as the family wagon so have decided to buy one (a family wagon)!
Had a think and kept coming back to a Discovery 2, 7 seats, great towing capacity and old school enough to fix yourself!
So last week I picked this up, with a V8 engine of course! It's extremely clean!
It's the 1st release of the Discovery 2 being on an S (98) plate, but it doesn't have the hideous (IMO) face-lift headlights and has the cheaper tax. It's an ES model so has heated leather, dual digital climate control, ACE, SLS, heated front windscreen etc so has a few toys. Still drives like an old Land Rover however which I was a bit disappointing and really is night and day compared to the /////AMG! But I've learnt to love it already!
I paid £2451 for it. It's had the rear air bags replaced, head gaskets, brake lines, hoses, disks e.t.c over the years. The previous owner bought it in 2001 so I don't think I'm going to loose much on it if I maintain it. It's also only on 75k miles!
I have a few plans for it:
Face-lift rear lights and guards
Modular wheels with big tyres or bigger face-lift alloys
Re seal the twin electric sunroofs as they leak
Passenger central locking doesn't work
Wet vac carpet and condition the leather
Replace the bonnet as that's been very badly repainted before (where the previous owner removed the Land Rover decal )
Drivers side headlight is stone chipped which has left water inside it
Air-con doesn't work - just a re gas?
Auto dimming mirror has leaked
Fit an exhaust (it fell off on Monday )
Probably more but that's all I can think of for now. The insurance finishes on the /////AMG in May so that will be coming off the road for some rust treatment!
Thanks
Edit:
Just remembered, I fitted a new Land Rover decal to the bonnet this morning, that the previous owner removed
Had a think and kept coming back to a Discovery 2, 7 seats, great towing capacity and old school enough to fix yourself!
So last week I picked this up, with a V8 engine of course! It's extremely clean!
It's the 1st release of the Discovery 2 being on an S (98) plate, but it doesn't have the hideous (IMO) face-lift headlights and has the cheaper tax. It's an ES model so has heated leather, dual digital climate control, ACE, SLS, heated front windscreen etc so has a few toys. Still drives like an old Land Rover however which I was a bit disappointing and really is night and day compared to the /////AMG! But I've learnt to love it already!
I paid £2451 for it. It's had the rear air bags replaced, head gaskets, brake lines, hoses, disks e.t.c over the years. The previous owner bought it in 2001 so I don't think I'm going to loose much on it if I maintain it. It's also only on 75k miles!
I have a few plans for it:
Face-lift rear lights and guards
Modular wheels with big tyres or bigger face-lift alloys
Re seal the twin electric sunroofs as they leak
Passenger central locking doesn't work
Wet vac carpet and condition the leather
Replace the bonnet as that's been very badly repainted before (where the previous owner removed the Land Rover decal
)Drivers side headlight is stone chipped which has left water inside it
Air-con doesn't work - just a re gas?
Auto dimming mirror has leaked
Fit an exhaust (it fell off on Monday
)Probably more but that's all I can think of for now. The insurance finishes on the /////AMG in May so that will be coming off the road for some rust treatment!
Thanks
Edit:
Just remembered, I fitted a new Land Rover decal to the bonnet this morning, that the previous owner removed
Edited by Chris x on Friday 10th April 22:43
Edited by Chris x on Friday 10th April 22:52
mattman said:
How did you repair the kerb marks on the wheels before painting? I have some black wheels that i fancy changing to gunmetal but not sure best way of tidying up the edges.
Just some liquid metal that I bought from Halfords. Your suppose to be able to tap threads in it once set! I think any filler will do though!Remagel2507 said:
Sorry to hear about your Grandad, seems like he was a real fan of the S Class though. Not seen an S Class with that low spec in a long time don't know what Merc were thinking having such a basic looking radio in their flagship car.
Oh and your S55 still looks
Thanks mate! Oh and your S55 still looks
Yeh, shocking spec for an S Class! However I wont be using it now due to my recent purchase! It can live on the drive as a spare!
Managed to pick up a very clean second hand exhaust for £30 delivered on eBay.
The old one was very rusted on (to be explected), so the angle grinder was out.
I had to drill the old studs out as this exhaust had studs also. Run an M10 die down to clean it up.
Bit of a bodge but for £30 i'm happy! Exspecially as they seem so hard to source?!
Some pictures...
Jacked up:
Arghh...
Old exhaust vs new:
Studs ground down and drilled out on the centre box:
Bolted back on and complete!
The old one was very rusted on (to be explected), so the angle grinder was out.
I had to drill the old studs out as this exhaust had studs also. Run an M10 die down to clean it up.
Bit of a bodge but for £30 i'm happy! Exspecially as they seem so hard to source?!
Some pictures...
Jacked up:
Arghh...
Old exhaust vs new:
Studs ground down and drilled out on the centre box:
Bolted back on and complete!
Took the rear bumper off the /////AMG today to start fixing the rust.
Does anyone have an tips or advice, ideally on what products to use to stop the rust coming back?
Going to pick up some paint from Mercedes and give blowing it over ago myself. If it looks s
t i'll chuck it in a body shop.100% want to do the rust treating/priming myself. It's been in for warranty before in 2008 and 2010 for the rear arches, so you can see why i'd rather do the prep my self. It's done 15000 miles since 2007/ 2000 miles since 2010 so it's not exactly lasted long, especially as it was garaged all it's life.
Thanks.
Edit:
I will polish the exhausts up whilst the bumpers off!
Long overdue update!
I'll start with the /////AMG and will try and catch up with the other cars...
Ground all the rust back to bare metal:
Every bare bit of metal was coated in Kurust, wiped off, ground back again and then covered in Bilt Hamber deox gel and covered in cling film for a day. Once wiped down it was then decreased and coated in Bilt Hamber electrox high zinc primer:
Flatted back and ready for some colour:
and lacquered:
I then coated the rear in underseal
Rear TPMS brackets blasted, painted in zinc primer and re attached:
Inner wheel arch rust prevention...(same methods as before but I used brush on Zinc 180 primer)
and then undersealed the same as the rear end:
Inner plastic arches back in. I masked the plastic and gave the inner arches a light dusting of underseal:
Back down on all fours after months in the air...low!!!
All the boot carpet came out so this was re fitted:
Bought a car cover as it gets quite dusty even when sitting in the garage:
Completed the paint work mid November, but didn't want to really use it over the Winter, so got the calipers refurbished and painted:
New disks and pads for the rear (fronts were new at Merc only a few thousand miles ago):
Off:
Decided to paint the disks to stop the outer edge and hub area from going rusty:
Baked in my Grans oven :
Old vs New rears:
Going black so same as fronts...:
After some oven treatment:
Bit of copper grease and back on the car:
New genuine hoses, retaining clips and screws:
Callipers back, decided on going Renault liquid yellow:
So a summary...
The paintwork: You can tell I've done it (when up close), wouldn't surprise me though if the majority of people would miss it. I should of painted more of an area to give it a blend, but as I hadn't done any DIY paintwork before, I was worried about fking it up, and more of an area would have meant a more noticeable fk up! Turns out I didn't do too bad a job, so ended up wishing I had done more of an area. I could of got a body shop to do it, but it's had that route twice before under warranty as I've explained in a previous post and you can quite clearly see they've not done a very good job with the rust prevention. I'm going to leave it as is and use the car this year, then inspect it next year and see if any rust has come back. If it's still OK, i'll get a body shop to do the rear quarters and if it's come back i'll probably cut it out and weld new stuff in. I would be tempted to spray it again as I think I can do a better job than this time round, although I know a body shop is the right route to go (for the painting).
The brakes: It was sitting in the garage waiting for spring and the calipers were in shocking condition, so thought I'd have them refurbished. Went for Renault liquid yellow, although they only look yellow when the sun is on them, and more green when in shade which I'm not fond on. Unfortunately the fronts need doing again as I got some brake fluid on them when bleeding, so may just have all four done again in a normal yellow. I know the colour wont be to everyone's taste, but it livens the car up a bit and really shows off the 8/4pots well!
I went for Pagid rear disks and pads which I got for around £170 from memory at ECP. Calipers were an eye watering £860, but that included spark eroding the 4 bleed nipples at the front as they were seized and heli coiling, two stage paint, new dust covers and seals in every piston and ceramic coating which is supposed to make them easier to clean.
Took it two North Wales with me a few weeks ago for a little family holiday which was great.
Cleaned up before I left:
Wales:
Planned on doing the EVO triangle and exploring a few roads, but Dad duties meant none of that happened. In fact the required Dad driving style meant this happened!
Did 1000 miles in it without a single issue.
It will probably come off the road again in a few weeks to get the calipers re done.
That's the AMG pretty much up to date!... more updates to come!
Well done if you made it this far! I need to get into the habit of updating this real time!
I'll start with the /////AMG and will try and catch up with the other cars...
Ground all the rust back to bare metal:
Every bare bit of metal was coated in Kurust, wiped off, ground back again and then covered in Bilt Hamber deox gel and covered in cling film for a day. Once wiped down it was then decreased and coated in Bilt Hamber electrox high zinc primer:
Flatted back and ready for some colour:
and lacquered:
I then coated the rear in underseal
Rear TPMS brackets blasted, painted in zinc primer and re attached:
Inner wheel arch rust prevention...(same methods as before but I used brush on Zinc 180 primer)
and then undersealed the same as the rear end:
Inner plastic arches back in. I masked the plastic and gave the inner arches a light dusting of underseal:
Back down on all fours after months in the air...low!!!
All the boot carpet came out so this was re fitted:
Bought a car cover as it gets quite dusty even when sitting in the garage:
Completed the paint work mid November, but didn't want to really use it over the Winter, so got the calipers refurbished and painted:
New disks and pads for the rear (fronts were new at Merc only a few thousand miles ago):
Off:
Decided to paint the disks to stop the outer edge and hub area from going rusty:
Baked in my Grans oven
:Old vs New rears:
Going black so same as fronts...:
After some oven treatment:
Bit of copper grease and back on the car:
New genuine hoses, retaining clips and screws:
Callipers back, decided on going Renault liquid yellow:
So a summary...
The paintwork: You can tell I've done it (when up close), wouldn't surprise me though if the majority of people would miss it. I should of painted more of an area to give it a blend, but as I hadn't done any DIY paintwork before, I was worried about f
king it up, and more of an area would have meant a more noticeable fk up! Turns out I didn't do too bad a job, so ended up wishing I had done more of an area. I could of got a body shop to do it, but it's had that route twice before under warranty as I've explained in a previous post and you can quite clearly see they've not done a very good job with the rust prevention. I'm going to leave it as is and use the car this year, then inspect it next year and see if any rust has come back. If it's still OK, i'll get a body shop to do the rear quarters and if it's come back i'll probably cut it out and weld new stuff in. I would be tempted to spray it again as I think I can do a better job than this time round, although I know a body shop is the right route to go (for the painting).The brakes: It was sitting in the garage waiting for spring and the calipers were in shocking condition, so thought I'd have them refurbished. Went for Renault liquid yellow, although they only look yellow when the sun is on them, and more green when in shade which I'm not fond on. Unfortunately the fronts need doing again as I got some brake fluid on them when bleeding, so may just have all four done again in a normal yellow. I know the colour wont be to everyone's taste, but it livens the car up a bit and really shows off the 8/4pots well!
I went for Pagid rear disks and pads which I got for around £170 from memory at ECP. Calipers were an eye watering £860, but that included spark eroding the 4 bleed nipples at the front as they were seized and heli coiling, two stage paint, new dust covers and seals in every piston and ceramic coating which is supposed to make them easier to clean.
Took it two North Wales with me a few weeks ago for a little family holiday which was great.
Cleaned up before I left:
Wales:
Planned on doing the EVO triangle and exploring a few roads, but Dad duties meant none of that happened. In fact the required Dad driving style meant this happened!
Did 1000 miles in it without a single issue.
It will probably come off the road again in a few weeks to get the calipers re done.
That's the AMG pretty much up to date!... more updates to come!
Well done if you made it this far! I need to get into the habit of updating this real time!
Updates...
AMG:
Calipers redone in Porsche Speed yellow:
Used now and again, bit of snow foam action:
V8 Discovery went around a year ago. As I've mentioned in a previous post, it was purchased to save using the AMG. When I was at work, the other half used her Audi TT with my youngest in the front, so it worked well. However when my youngest (now eldest) was 3 months old, we found out we were having another. So the V8 was sold and made space for an Espace (head over heart!!!), as the TT wouldnt work with 2!
Espace:
The espace was a pile of st. It was battered and needed front lower arm wishbone joints, inner rack joints and 4 new tyres. It was rank inside, but it was only £580. It was the biggest, safest car I could find for the money. However after just a few months, coming to a junction, with 6 people in my car I look to the right seeing a car already on its side flying towards me. I pulled forwards as much as I could without approaching the main road to much, but she still hit me. Car owed me £900 all in, insurance paid out £3100, which just about made driving around in an Espace worth while! Eldest was 9 months old at the time (wouldn't stop screaming) and the other half was 6 months pregnant - not fun at all!
Doing it up:
Never to be seen again!:
Vectra C:
I then bought a Vectra C nav for £1600. Needed a gear linkage repair (common fault), but other than that it was perfect. Had that from September 2015 til February 2016. Someone from work wanted it, so a deal was done which made it worth while to sell and move on. It had the Z19DTH engine (1.9 CDTI), I put a DTUK box on it, should of been around 200BHP. It certainly went well!
Zafira B:
Purchased this to replace the Vectra. Same engine, but with 7 seats, auto lights/wipers, satnav, half leather, bluetooth, front & rear sensors e.t.c. It also has the XP kit which I think finishes it off. Bought for £1600 with 107k miles on the clock. Cambelt/water pump done, clutch replaced, FSH e.t.c It did however have a DPF fault (hence the price). This was mapped out and removed along with the cat and pre cat.
May 2016:
Aircon never worked, new Delphi condenser fitted. Fan had rubbed holes though the read. Luckily the replacement had additional brackets. Fitted, gassed and working!:
August 2016:
Turbo started whistling when accelerating. Used it for a few months/ few K miles, decided to bite the bullet and get it refurbished as I didn't want it going and doing more damage:
Stripping down:
Turbo re furbished, new gaskets, studs, nuts, genuine oil feed pipe e.t.c....:
The existing coolant rad was fked. Didn't leak, but it was battered where the turbo had obviously been off before my time. I also replaced that as it made sense whilst everything was off:
Ready to put back together:
4 new tyres whilst we're at it:
Have given it 3 oil changes in the past year/5000 miles using the Genuine Dexos 2 oil. The car dumped diesel into the sump when it had the DPF fault. I think this is what killed the turbo. Runs OK now. Always paranoid about the M32 gearbox going tits up, but for the money I paid, I cant complain. Used and abused, rarely cleaned. But to me, that's the idea of a family wagon.
Discovery TD5 ES:
This came up for sale locally. £1700 all in (by the time I had collected it, the auction was up to £2100). It had just had the front bearings done (expensive on these). I love these. I miss my Defender/Off roading days and my old V8. I have no need for this, but I like the idea that its there to do whatever job you want. It has 1 previous owner. Every receipt from new, the original bill of sale, EGR delete, e.t.c. I have had to replace the X,Y,Z gearbox switch. Its done 150k miles, but with the history, it means nothing. It does need a few jobs (rust removing from the rear chassis, zinc priming and under sealing, lots of play in the power steering box, air-con doesn't work & the front driver side suspension has dropped), but nothing that it wont pass an MOT for. This will all be done in the spring/summer as a mini project. It has the rear optional climate and DVD too. Which sold it to me as I'm a sucker for a decent spec!
Eldest loves it, although they don't go in it much as they aren't particularly safe in a crash!
ST Mondeo (TDCI )
Browsing on eBay as you do. This was for sale for £450. 99k miles and pretty much every optional extra - Satnav, Xenons, and rear entertainment system, but the engine knackered. As with the Discovery, I have no need for this, but I like a project and a good spec, so it was delivered all in for £600. This was in March 2016. It sat untouched whilst I completely re did my Garden until September 2016. I purchased a 2nd car from Copart (rear ended) for £500 all in delivered. Most bits sold which made the engine virtually free.
All back in and running. Injectors reprogrammed using F Super:
Failed its MOT on front springs snapped, so eibachs fitted:
ST wheels, facelift chrome grill, facelift chrome window trims, facelift chrome fog surrounds, rear lights, chrome boot trim e.t.c fitted to make it look like the final face lift. I do miss old ST220, so this sort of fills that empty gap. Optional extras make up for the 'TDCI'. I don't like diesel clatter, but I must admit the torque, MPG is good.
Clio 182:
I've read about these little things for years on here. November 2016, one turns up on eBay as spares or repairs. Aux belt had split, kindly entering the cam belt housing causing the timing to jump. The week before, the previous owner had replaced various suspension components, new discs and pads all round, 4X Dunlop tyres + a scorpion exhaust. A deal @ £650 was done. I have just sourced a smashed up donor car for £300, so I thought it would be a good time to update this thread so I can update it real time. Towed this back with the Discovery.
Cleaned and in the garage ready to take the engine out. I plan on collecting the donor car next Wednesday. It has the cup pack for the spoiler, but not the cup pack for the suspension, however I will drop it on coil overs and the wheels will get refurbed in anthracite. Other half got me a £100 voucher for fathers day last year for a track day. Think it expires in May/June this year, so I plan on getting this running for April. Watch this space.
Eunos:
This is another car I've read about and wanted to own. January 2017, a family member rang up (knows I love cars) asking if I wanted their Eunos as they were going to scrap it, they had owned since 2007. They said it would require welding, but had MOT til April. I said yes, as I could run around in it until April, where I could scrap/sell/fix it. It has a stainless exhaust and drives brilliantly - i'm hooked. It has new brake hoses, discs and pads all round and the radiator was replaced last year. I took it to my mates MOT centre, and it is solid clean underneath. He checked the brakes, lights, e.t.c. and other than the emissions (weren't checked), he sees no reason why it wouldn't go through. This will be staying. I have the original Eunos wheels on the way (purchased off ebay). It needs a full respray, which I may get done this year, a new roof (will do ASAP) and a good clean up. Ill zinc prime and underseal the underneath. I have already unblocked the sill drain holes so no more sloshing. It's not really moved for 2 years and other than buying a new battery - I've been using it all last month!
So 'My Cars':
S55 AMG - My baby/special/GT car
Audi TT 225 - Her car
TD5 Disco - Off road/towing/go anywhere car
Zafira - Family whip
ST - Backup to the family whip and what I use if shes got the Zafira
182 - Track car
Eunos - RWD/drift/soft top/back up track car.
Lots of man maths required here.
Thanks if you've mad it this far!
AMG:
Calipers redone in Porsche Speed yellow:
Used now and again, bit of snow foam action:
V8 Discovery went around a year ago. As I've mentioned in a previous post, it was purchased to save using the AMG. When I was at work, the other half used her Audi TT with my youngest in the front, so it worked well. However when my youngest (now eldest) was 3 months old, we found out we were having another. So the V8 was sold and made space for an Espace (head over heart!!!), as the TT wouldnt work with 2!
Espace:
The espace was a pile of s
t. It was battered and needed front lower arm wishbone joints, inner rack joints and 4 new tyres. It was rank inside, but it was only £580. It was the biggest, safest car I could find for the money. However after just a few months, coming to a junction, with 6 people in my car I look to the right seeing a car already on its side flying towards me. I pulled forwards as much as I could without approaching the main road to much, but she still hit me. Car owed me £900 all in, insurance paid out £3100, which just about made driving around in an Espace worth while! Eldest was 9 months old at the time (wouldn't stop screaming) and the other half was 6 months pregnant - not fun at all! Doing it up:
Never to be seen again!:
Vectra C:
I then bought a Vectra C nav for £1600. Needed a gear linkage repair (common fault), but other than that it was perfect. Had that from September 2015 til February 2016. Someone from work wanted it, so a deal was done which made it worth while to sell and move on. It had the Z19DTH engine (1.9 CDTI), I put a DTUK box on it, should of been around 200BHP. It certainly went well!
Zafira B:
Purchased this to replace the Vectra. Same engine, but with 7 seats, auto lights/wipers, satnav, half leather, bluetooth, front & rear sensors e.t.c. It also has the XP kit which I think finishes it off. Bought for £1600 with 107k miles on the clock. Cambelt/water pump done, clutch replaced, FSH e.t.c It did however have a DPF fault (hence the price). This was mapped out and removed along with the cat and pre cat.
May 2016:
Aircon never worked, new Delphi condenser fitted. Fan had rubbed holes though the read. Luckily the replacement had additional brackets. Fitted, gassed and working!:
August 2016:
Turbo started whistling when accelerating. Used it for a few months/ few K miles, decided to bite the bullet and get it refurbished as I didn't want it going and doing more damage:
Stripping down:
Turbo re furbished, new gaskets, studs, nuts, genuine oil feed pipe e.t.c....:
The existing coolant rad was f
ked. Didn't leak, but it was battered where the turbo had obviously been off before my time. I also replaced that as it made sense whilst everything was off:Ready to put back together:
4 new tyres whilst we're at it:
Have given it 3 oil changes in the past year/5000 miles using the Genuine Dexos 2 oil. The car dumped diesel into the sump when it had the DPF fault. I think this is what killed the turbo. Runs OK now. Always paranoid about the M32 gearbox going tits up, but for the money I paid, I cant complain. Used and abused, rarely cleaned. But to me, that's the idea of a family wagon.
Discovery TD5 ES:
This came up for sale locally. £1700 all in (by the time I had collected it, the auction was up to £2100). It had just had the front bearings done (expensive on these). I love these. I miss my Defender/Off roading days and my old V8. I have no need for this, but I like the idea that its there to do whatever job you want. It has 1 previous owner. Every receipt from new, the original bill of sale, EGR delete, e.t.c. I have had to replace the X,Y,Z gearbox switch. Its done 150k miles, but with the history, it means nothing. It does need a few jobs (rust removing from the rear chassis, zinc priming and under sealing, lots of play in the power steering box, air-con doesn't work & the front driver side suspension has dropped), but nothing that it wont pass an MOT for. This will all be done in the spring/summer as a mini project. It has the rear optional climate and DVD too. Which sold it to me as I'm a sucker for a decent spec!
Eldest loves it, although they don't go in it much as they aren't particularly safe in a crash!
ST Mondeo (TDCI
)Browsing on eBay as you do. This was for sale for £450. 99k miles and pretty much every optional extra - Satnav, Xenons, and rear entertainment system, but the engine knackered. As with the Discovery, I have no need for this, but I like a project and a good spec, so it was delivered all in for £600. This was in March 2016. It sat untouched whilst I completely re did my Garden until September 2016. I purchased a 2nd car from Copart (rear ended) for £500 all in delivered. Most bits sold which made the engine virtually free.
All back in and running. Injectors reprogrammed using F Super:
Failed its MOT on front springs snapped, so eibachs fitted:
ST wheels, facelift chrome grill, facelift chrome window trims, facelift chrome fog surrounds, rear lights, chrome boot trim e.t.c fitted to make it look like the final face lift. I do miss old ST220, so this sort of fills that empty gap. Optional extras make up for the 'TDCI'. I don't like diesel clatter, but I must admit the torque, MPG is good.
Clio 182:
I've read about these little things for years on here. November 2016, one turns up on eBay as spares or repairs. Aux belt had split, kindly entering the cam belt housing causing the timing to jump. The week before, the previous owner had replaced various suspension components, new discs and pads all round, 4X Dunlop tyres + a scorpion exhaust. A deal @ £650 was done. I have just sourced a smashed up donor car for £300, so I thought it would be a good time to update this thread so I can update it real time. Towed this back with the Discovery.
Cleaned and in the garage ready to take the engine out. I plan on collecting the donor car next Wednesday. It has the cup pack for the spoiler, but not the cup pack for the suspension, however I will drop it on coil overs and the wheels will get refurbed in anthracite. Other half got me a £100 voucher for fathers day last year for a track day. Think it expires in May/June this year, so I plan on getting this running for April. Watch this space.
Eunos:
This is another car I've read about and wanted to own. January 2017, a family member rang up (knows I love cars) asking if I wanted their Eunos as they were going to scrap it, they had owned since 2007. They said it would require welding, but had MOT til April. I said yes, as I could run around in it until April, where I could scrap/sell/fix it. It has a stainless exhaust and drives brilliantly - i'm hooked. It has new brake hoses, discs and pads all round and the radiator was replaced last year. I took it to my mates MOT centre, and it is solid clean underneath. He checked the brakes, lights, e.t.c. and other than the emissions (weren't checked), he sees no reason why it wouldn't go through. This will be staying. I have the original Eunos wheels on the way (purchased off ebay). It needs a full respray, which I may get done this year, a new roof (will do ASAP) and a good clean up. Ill zinc prime and underseal the underneath. I have already unblocked the sill drain holes so no more sloshing. It's not really moved for 2 years and other than buying a new battery - I've been using it all last month!
So 'My Cars':
S55 AMG - My baby/special/GT car
Audi TT 225 - Her car
TD5 Disco - Off road/towing/go anywhere car
Zafira - Family whip
ST - Backup to the family whip and what I use if shes got the Zafira
182 - Track car
Eunos - RWD/drift/soft top/back up track car.
Lots of man maths required here.
Thanks if you've mad it this far!
Edited by Chris x on Thursday 2nd March 15:00
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