Head in Hands Motoring - 944 and E34
Discussion
You know you sometimes just think 'christ what have I just done'. Well my car ownership is essentially this x10. I usually take the not really caring what anyone else thinks approach to modifying/owning cars and I think it works awfully well 
I'm 20 so you can imagine that this is pretty much where my money and time goes... this and motorbikes.
Anyway, i'll explain my current pair,
First one is my 944. I've owned this since July. Its a 1986 Lux with 173,000 miles and the fullest of full service histories. Literally its like the bible of histories. It is also spotless in terms of rust, excellent! This hasn't meant it has been smooth sailing, as it has since had a clutch, cambelt (and all trimmings), oil cooler housing seals, engine mounts, 2 full services, front dics and pads, coolant flush and chipped. Amongst other things. Everything done to the car I have done myself bar the clutch and cambelt. I simply dont have the time and location to be doing such big jobs (on the drive, in Scotland). Basically this means I need to keep it to get my moneys worth, and seeing as my track record is that cars usually last 6 months or so, I will need to keep myself amused! The car itself its bloomin' clean. The black leather interior is very very nice and it has had a respray in the past so it is a quality looking car indeed!
I drove it home from Birmingham, via Glasgow to pick up the cookie cutters its currently on, all the way to Aberdeen. It then went from doing the occasional weekend jaunt to being a crap weather daily (I ride a motorbike to work) and general every day car. I dont think it enjoyed the change too much hence why I have done so much to keep up with the miles its now doing. I had planned on just driving it through the winter, but due to the next car i'm about to write about things are about to change. I figured the new car means that I can take the Porsche off the road for the winter and fiddle with it in my own time, instead of rushing to get things done so I can drive it. It does need a fair bit of fettling so at least this way there are no time restraints! Anyway, I dont think I have too much more to say so I'll just post photos of how its progressed...
The E34 then!
Long story short, me and my mate did rust2rome last year in this ropey Carlton and it was incredible. The rally, not the carlton, by the way. Although we both loved that big bus and it never let us down even after 5000 miles of thrashing and 120 on the autobahn.
From the day we got back I knew I was going to do it again but this time the girlfriend has said she wants to go! Well she wasn't having any of the Carlton haha. We've also decided that next year we'll be doing rust2Romania, so that should be equally interesting!
The budget is £500 and I had originally bought a 206 GTI from a woman at my dads work. It needed welding for its MOT and she couldnt afford it so was away to scrap it. The thing was mint with an fsh so I saved it for £230, spent about £170 welding it and putting it for its mot, then selling it for £900 after I realised how boring and bland it'd be to drive to romania in that. The profit meant that my next car would be free! and the dosh was burning a hole in my pocket so I was looking for anything retro and cool. We both love old BMWs by the way.
I phoned a garage in East Lothian about a 523, which had sold. He told me he had an E34 518i SE as PX and I collected it for 500 squids sight unseen on saturday. Few wee niggles but i've gone and fallen in love with it. I know the 518 is a bit of a wet dishcloth but I just cant stop driving it. its done 137,000 and mechanically is perfect. Literally perfect. Its been clearly so well maintained. I mean the mot history is practically clinically clean, and it only needed bulbs for its recent MOT (did I mention that it came with 12 months
).
I already had oil in the garage so a filter kit was £2.99 from euro so I just gave it the cheapest service i've ever done. Away to sell the metric wheels and stick a set of style 60s from Andrew's 7 series (the bloke driving the carlton in that top photo) as they have new tyres and hes switching wheels. Then its about to become a daily to give me time to fettle with the porsche!
The 518 really isnt as bad as everyone makes out. Yeah its not quick, but I never expected it to be. Its very well geared for town and got nearly 40mpg on the way home from Edinburgh. So we'll be hitting Romania with style pretty much. It's granda spec with arm rests, sport steering wheel and 3 rainforests worth of the finest bavarian dodgy wood trim. I just love it. So smooth. No rattles of clunks. Absolute bliss. and its all original!
So I guess since this is my first pistonheads thread i'll be using it as a hub to update either car, whichever one is on the road or whichever one is getting work done to it :P
Heres a bit of a taster of what i've had over the past 2 years...
I'm 20 so you can imagine that this is pretty much where my money and time goes... this and motorbikes.Anyway, i'll explain my current pair,
First one is my 944. I've owned this since July. Its a 1986 Lux with 173,000 miles and the fullest of full service histories. Literally its like the bible of histories. It is also spotless in terms of rust, excellent! This hasn't meant it has been smooth sailing, as it has since had a clutch, cambelt (and all trimmings), oil cooler housing seals, engine mounts, 2 full services, front dics and pads, coolant flush and chipped. Amongst other things. Everything done to the car I have done myself bar the clutch and cambelt. I simply dont have the time and location to be doing such big jobs (on the drive, in Scotland). Basically this means I need to keep it to get my moneys worth, and seeing as my track record is that cars usually last 6 months or so, I will need to keep myself amused! The car itself its bloomin' clean. The black leather interior is very very nice and it has had a respray in the past so it is a quality looking car indeed!
I drove it home from Birmingham, via Glasgow to pick up the cookie cutters its currently on, all the way to Aberdeen. It then went from doing the occasional weekend jaunt to being a crap weather daily (I ride a motorbike to work) and general every day car. I dont think it enjoyed the change too much hence why I have done so much to keep up with the miles its now doing. I had planned on just driving it through the winter, but due to the next car i'm about to write about things are about to change. I figured the new car means that I can take the Porsche off the road for the winter and fiddle with it in my own time, instead of rushing to get things done so I can drive it. It does need a fair bit of fettling so at least this way there are no time restraints! Anyway, I dont think I have too much more to say so I'll just post photos of how its progressed...
The E34 then!
Long story short, me and my mate did rust2rome last year in this ropey Carlton and it was incredible. The rally, not the carlton, by the way. Although we both loved that big bus and it never let us down even after 5000 miles of thrashing and 120 on the autobahn.
From the day we got back I knew I was going to do it again but this time the girlfriend has said she wants to go! Well she wasn't having any of the Carlton haha. We've also decided that next year we'll be doing rust2Romania, so that should be equally interesting!
The budget is £500 and I had originally bought a 206 GTI from a woman at my dads work. It needed welding for its MOT and she couldnt afford it so was away to scrap it. The thing was mint with an fsh so I saved it for £230, spent about £170 welding it and putting it for its mot, then selling it for £900 after I realised how boring and bland it'd be to drive to romania in that. The profit meant that my next car would be free!
and the dosh was burning a hole in my pocket so I was looking for anything retro and cool. We both love old BMWs by the way.I phoned a garage in East Lothian about a 523, which had sold. He told me he had an E34 518i SE as PX and I collected it for 500 squids sight unseen on saturday. Few wee niggles but i've gone and fallen in love with it. I know the 518 is a bit of a wet dishcloth but I just cant stop driving it. its done 137,000 and mechanically is perfect. Literally perfect. Its been clearly so well maintained. I mean the mot history is practically clinically clean, and it only needed bulbs for its recent MOT (did I mention that it came with 12 months
).I already had oil in the garage so a filter kit was £2.99 from euro so I just gave it the cheapest service i've ever done. Away to sell the metric wheels and stick a set of style 60s from Andrew's 7 series (the bloke driving the carlton in that top photo) as they have new tyres and hes switching wheels. Then its about to become a daily to give me time to fettle with the porsche!
The 518 really isnt as bad as everyone makes out. Yeah its not quick, but I never expected it to be. Its very well geared for town and got nearly 40mpg on the way home from Edinburgh. So we'll be hitting Romania with style pretty much. It's granda spec with arm rests, sport steering wheel and 3 rainforests worth of the finest bavarian dodgy wood trim. I just love it. So smooth. No rattles of clunks. Absolute bliss. and its all original!
So I guess since this is my first pistonheads thread i'll be using it as a hub to update either car, whichever one is on the road or whichever one is getting work done to it :P
Heres a bit of a taster of what i've had over the past 2 years...
Love the 944 and the RusttoRomania sounds fun, are you doing the Transfagarasan Highway?
Awesome bit of road slightly plagued by mad gypsies driving new Ferraris and locals with horse n carts.
If you see the sign below pull over and buy a bottle of the yellow liquid.
Or even better if you see an old lady sat by the road with a few bottles for sale pull over the old ladies have the best stuff.
Awesome bit of road slightly plagued by mad gypsies driving new Ferraris and locals with horse n carts.
If you see the sign below pull over and buy a bottle of the yellow liquid.
Or even better if you see an old lady sat by the road with a few bottles for sale pull over the old ladies have the best stuff.
Love the Carlton
I did 3x banger rallies (staples2naples, CzechWrecks and Home2Rome) in a Carlton estate much like that before the rust ate it away too much to bother saving. But the budget for car value on those was only £100 (rising to £250 once the scrappage scheme started ridding the world of decent bangers)
£500 doesn't sound like much of a challenge to find a decent car though that will do that...
Nice Porsche
I did 3x banger rallies (staples2naples, CzechWrecks and Home2Rome) in a Carlton estate much like that before the rust ate it away too much to bother saving. But the budget for car value on those was only £100 (rising to £250 once the scrappage scheme started ridding the world of decent bangers)
£500 doesn't sound like much of a challenge to find a decent car though that will do that...
Nice Porsche
Vandenberg said:
Love the 944 and the RusttoRomania sounds fun, are you doing the Transfagarasan Highway?
Awesome bit of road slightly plagued by mad gypsies driving new Ferraris and locals with horse n carts.
If you see the sign below pull over and buy a bottle of the yellow liquid.
Or even better if you see an old lady sat by the road with a few bottles for sale pull over the old ladies have the best stuff.
Cheers! I took it out for its last drive today before I take it off the road and loved it. Can't wait til it goes back on the road in March.Awesome bit of road slightly plagued by mad gypsies driving new Ferraris and locals with horse n carts.
If you see the sign below pull over and buy a bottle of the yellow liquid.
Or even better if you see an old lady sat by the road with a few bottles for sale pull over the old ladies have the best stuff.
I'm pretty sure the Transfagarasan is on the route! As much as I loved France and Italy I think i'll enjoy Romania just as much. Seeing a totally different culture really. I'll be sure to remember about that!
Shakermaker said:
Love the Carlton
I did 3x banger rallies (staples2naples, CzechWrecks and Home2Rome) in a Carlton estate much like that before the rust ate it away too much to bother saving. But the budget for car value on those was only £100 (rising to £250 once the scrappage scheme started ridding the world of decent bangers)
£500 doesn't sound like much of a challenge to find a decent car though that will do that...
Nice Porsche
Thanks I did 3x banger rallies (staples2naples, CzechWrecks and Home2Rome) in a Carlton estate much like that before the rust ate it away too much to bother saving. But the budget for car value on those was only £100 (rising to £250 once the scrappage scheme started ridding the world of decent bangers)
£500 doesn't sound like much of a challenge to find a decent car though that will do that...
Nice Porsche
The Carlton was a bit of an impulse buy to be honest. Neither of us like Vauxhalls, but it just seemed too cool to miss. We paid £300 for it. It was really the ideal car apart from the lack of air conditioning but you cant have it all I suppose. It was an absolute tank, never let us down once. I wish it was possible to get a useable car for £100 now. Even £250 is pushing it to be honest. Especially as far north as Aberdeen. Everything old or needing work is still far too expensive. Its incredibly difficult to buy something cheap if you aren't in the know, or arent on a forum, and even then its hard!I probably could have easily bought a Corsa or a Ka for less than £500 but I guess the challenge is to try and get the most interesting, coolest, biggest bang for the buck car. I'd say the 518 fills that criteria pretty much so im chuffed!
Spent the weekend tackling a fuel leak.. right after i'd sorted the insurance too!
Basically I took my dad out for a run in it and I filled the tank a little over half beforehand. I've never had more than a half in it by the way. We got to one of his friends houses and it was stinking of petrol. Quick look underneath revealed a puddle with fuel dribbling off the tank. Hooray. Thankfully the tank is plastic so it was only the front breather/vent pipe leaking. Apparently these only have fuel in the when the tank is over half fuel so it makes sense. You can see where it was leaking here..
I managed to move the rubber hose further down the fuel pipe and hose clip it there, but it was still leaking. Turns out the 3 clips on the front of the tank that hold the line had obviously trapped crap over the years and rotted the lines. Bought some hose from halfords and chopped the pipe again but all the way back passed the clips. New hose back on and sorted. Plan now is to buy some copper pipe and when I get a chance drop the tank and redo both front and rear lines with that. For now i'll keep it below half a tank to remove the chance of any more leaks occurring!
In other news however I got the E38 style 60's on. I got them cheap from my mate as he'd changed the wheels on his 735. They have new tyres too, which was my main reason for buying them. The metric tyres on my standard wheels were worn and well cracked, and its far cheaper to buy a whole set of alloys with new tyres than buying a set of 4 of dunlops finest metric selection, which you need to sell kidneys to afford.
The new wheels have a much larger rolling diameter than the previous wheels, so they are a bit big. To be honest I really wasn't sure about the size of them to begin with but they've grown on me a bit and I have a plan...
The original plan for a banger car was to do it up a bit like a dakar car or something. I.e. take a completely unsuitable car like a 518 and make it look relatively off road-esque. The big wheels are doing that for me. Before I even bought any car i'd bought Spotlamps. I've always wanted to put spotlamps on something. One of my mates also gave me a spotlamp mount that sits behind the front number plate as it was headed for the bin. The spotlamps cost me £5 from an auto jumble and could tan even the pastiest. Proper glass ones with a plastic mesh cover.
Well.... enjoy the hilarity
Should look good once its got spots and its a bit muddy. The fundo metric wheels are also for sale for much cheapness if anyone is interested.
I do need a bit of advice though. Have a bit of a vibration problem. Between 50 and 60 there is a lot of vibration through the steering wheel, after this its still there but not as violent. If I lightly brake from 70 the steering wheel sometimes vibrates very violently, but if I stomp on the brakes it doesnt do that. Seeing as the wheels are not to blame, I take it I can assume control arms would be the next thing? Seems like I have the symptoms of worn control arm bushes. Obviously when I get the chance i'll get underneath the thing and have a proper look but I just aint had the time!
Basically I took my dad out for a run in it and I filled the tank a little over half beforehand. I've never had more than a half in it by the way. We got to one of his friends houses and it was stinking of petrol. Quick look underneath revealed a puddle with fuel dribbling off the tank. Hooray. Thankfully the tank is plastic so it was only the front breather/vent pipe leaking. Apparently these only have fuel in the when the tank is over half fuel so it makes sense. You can see where it was leaking here..
I managed to move the rubber hose further down the fuel pipe and hose clip it there, but it was still leaking. Turns out the 3 clips on the front of the tank that hold the line had obviously trapped crap over the years and rotted the lines. Bought some hose from halfords and chopped the pipe again but all the way back passed the clips. New hose back on and sorted. Plan now is to buy some copper pipe and when I get a chance drop the tank and redo both front and rear lines with that. For now i'll keep it below half a tank to remove the chance of any more leaks occurring!
In other news however I got the E38 style 60's on. I got them cheap from my mate as he'd changed the wheels on his 735. They have new tyres too, which was my main reason for buying them. The metric tyres on my standard wheels were worn and well cracked, and its far cheaper to buy a whole set of alloys with new tyres than buying a set of 4 of dunlops finest metric selection, which you need to sell kidneys to afford.
The new wheels have a much larger rolling diameter than the previous wheels, so they are a bit big. To be honest I really wasn't sure about the size of them to begin with but they've grown on me a bit and I have a plan...
The original plan for a banger car was to do it up a bit like a dakar car or something. I.e. take a completely unsuitable car like a 518 and make it look relatively off road-esque. The big wheels are doing that for me. Before I even bought any car i'd bought Spotlamps. I've always wanted to put spotlamps on something. One of my mates also gave me a spotlamp mount that sits behind the front number plate as it was headed for the bin. The spotlamps cost me £5 from an auto jumble and could tan even the pastiest. Proper glass ones with a plastic mesh cover.
Well.... enjoy the hilarity
Should look good once its got spots and its a bit muddy. The fundo metric wheels are also for sale for much cheapness if anyone is interested.
I do need a bit of advice though. Have a bit of a vibration problem. Between 50 and 60 there is a lot of vibration through the steering wheel, after this its still there but not as violent. If I lightly brake from 70 the steering wheel sometimes vibrates very violently, but if I stomp on the brakes it doesnt do that. Seeing as the wheels are not to blame, I take it I can assume control arms would be the next thing? Seems like I have the symptoms of worn control arm bushes. Obviously when I get the chance i'll get underneath the thing and have a proper look but I just aint had the time!
I am 99% sure I owned/bought to sell on that 5 series around 2004/2005, its a North Wales plate would of originally come from Premier BMW now Halliwell Jones the number plate rings a bell N63FCC (And there cant be many late dark blue met 518I SE E34's with N..FCC). I bought it at a local car auction if I remember it was around £1100 and had 70,000 on it and a full history it was a one or two owner car (If I remember correctly it had been registered to the dealer 1st but I might be getting it confused with another) and was a main dealer part exchange and was in mint condition inside and out and drove really well. I ran it for a few months then sold it on for around £1800 in the Autotrader. I had a few of the 6 cylinder (525/530/535) ones before and remember thinking when I was paying for it at the auction it was going to be underpowered but it wasn't that bad once it got going.
mx5ian said:
I am 99% sure I owned/bought to sell on that 5 series around 2004/2005, its a North Wales plate would of originally come from Premier BMW now Halliwell Jones the number plate rings a bell N63FCC (And there cant be many late dark blue met 518I SE E34's with N..FCC). I bought it at a local car auction if I remember it was around £1100 and had 70,000 on it and a full history it was a one or two owner car (If I remember correctly it had been registered to the dealer 1st but I might be getting it confused with another) and was a main dealer part exchange and was in mint condition inside and out and drove really well. I ran it for a few months then sold it on for around £1800 in the Autotrader. I had a few of the 6 cylinder (525/530/535) ones before and remember thinking when I was paying for it at the auction it was going to be underpowered but it wasn't that bad once it got going.
That would make 100% sense. I am the cars 4th owner, and the previous owner had owned the car since 2004. Assuming you were the second owner then that all ties in! I'm guessing the service history got lost in the previous owners hands which is such a shame as it appears to be very well looked after. By the sound and look of things the previous owner had it very well looked after. You're right about the 518. Its not really THAT bad. It would be horrendous coming from a 525/530/535 etc. But when you come into it knowing what to expect its perfectly fine!Small world I suppose eh?
GarthAlgar said:
mx5ian said:
I am 99% sure I owned/bought to sell on that 5 series around 2004/2005, its a North Wales plate would of originally come from Premier BMW now Halliwell Jones the number plate rings a bell N63FCC (And there cant be many late dark blue met 518I SE E34's with N..FCC). I bought it at a local car auction if I remember it was around £1100 and had 70,000 on it and a full history it was a one or two owner car (If I remember correctly it had been registered to the dealer 1st but I might be getting it confused with another) and was a main dealer part exchange and was in mint condition inside and out and drove really well. I ran it for a few months then sold it on for around £1800 in the Autotrader. I had a few of the 6 cylinder (525/530/535) ones before and remember thinking when I was paying for it at the auction it was going to be underpowered but it wasn't that bad once it got going.
That would make 100% sense. I am the cars 4th owner, and the previous owner had owned the car since 2004. Assuming you were the second owner then that all ties in! I'm guessing the service history got lost in the previous owners hands which is such a shame as it appears to be very well looked after. By the sound and look of things the previous owner had it very well looked after. You're right about the 518. Its not really THAT bad. It would be horrendous coming from a 525/530/535 etc. But when you come into it knowing what to expect its perfectly fine!Small world I suppose eh?
mx5ian said:
Its got to be it, I think the BMW dealer would have registered it to make it cheaper for the 1st guy who bought it as the E39 5 series was on it way! It had been really well looked after it was one of those cars that was so clean they hadn't done anything to it just entered it in the auction no tarting up to make it look better it didn't need it! And everything was with it full tool kit all the books and the BMW torch in the glove box Those were the days when Quentin Wilson on Top Gear would tell you to look out for these as signs it had been well cared for!
Well it does still have the full tool kit, first aid kit and the torch! Really peeved about the service history not being there though because I bet its quite extensive and i'd just like to know.In other news...
Got the bracket for free from a mate and the lights were £5 from an autojumble. Literally had to drill two holes in the bracket and everything lined up with bolts I had in the garage! They bracket is incredibly solid. I was out jumping on it to try and move it but its there to stay. Thankfully on bmws the bumper bar runs right behind the plate, so it is physically bolted to the bar. They aren't wired in yet as the weather has been horrid, but I think they look pretty ace. Need to now decide whether to have a separate switch, or wire them to the fogs/main beam. Thats it for now anyway, next thing will be control arms.
TR4man said:
How does a 20 year old get insurance on a 944?
With a lot of hassle. It would take me ages to explain but it's through Elephant and is like trying to decrypt the davinci code to do. But in reality it was only a bit more than my mk3 mx5 was. Also I lived in America from 13-17, so I actually started driving at 15. Essentially 5 years no claims at 20, although I dont think elephant took that into account.Edited by GarthAlgar on Monday 28th December 20:38
Yadizzle1 said:
I'm 19 and can't even get insured on an MX5 :'(
The 5 series looks pretty awesome though! Does look full rally spec, time to pull out the interior
Really? I've never found it difficult to get insurance on anything apart from the 944 to be honest, and that wasn't 'difficult' as such, just awkward! I mean I did a quote on my mums 3.2 Boxster S as she is selling it and it was only £600 a year fully comp? Maybe my area is low theft... who knows? I mean Andrew between the age of 17 and 21 has had an ibiza fr, R32, TT, Corrado VR6, E46 330 and has now got an M135 as well as an E38 735. None of which have cost over £1500 to insure. Might be worth doing quotes and just fiddling with all the different options The 5 series looks pretty awesome though! Does look full rally spec, time to pull out the interior
Yes! In due time. Actually enjoying having a car with usable rear seats at the moment haha. But the interior will be getting chucked before we go!
Highway Star said:
Was the Bluebird hiding anything interesting under the bonnet? We had an identical one when I was a youngster (minus the rims)
The 1.6 carb was pretty interesting... haha. It was very slow but still exceptionally fun. Unfortunately I created problems for myself and it was off the road more time than it was on!Finally started work on the porsche the other week. I've actually been relatively organised and written up a list of crap that needs done. First two on the list were pull the gauges out to sort my odo not working, as well as freshen up the connections a bit, and replace the ARB bushes. As I suspected the odometer gear had stripped all of its inner teeth due to age so I managed to get a new one from Germany.
Also, the main light ducts for the gauges are basically clear pieces of plastic painted chrome. Over time the paint wear away and the dash is just dim. Used some clear glue to stick some tin foil shiny side in. Did the 'stand in a dark cupboard and shine a torch in the hole' test and it does appear pretty bright. Its got 3 new LED bulbs going into it too which will make things a lot nicer, and hopefully not so tanning-studio-esque. I suppose I'll know once I can bung it back into the car! Also before I can fit the new steering wheel, I wanted to get a new set of stalks as I have narrowed my washer motor low power mishap down to the stalks themselves not giving a good connection. I've bought a new stalk module thing from a bloke on here (who I have incidentally bought quite a lot of parts from actually and is a very nice bloke called Pete) but his stalks decals are pretty worn. The units are rivet sealed so using my new fancy dremel I drilled out the rivets and took everything apart. It is VERY fiddly but it'll be worth it to have a clear set of decals right?
I finally got my 'free' steering wheel too. I had swapped this for the dodgy carbon air filter that came on the car. Its just a standard momo from an MX5 but I love them so figure it'd be perfect for the Pork. Bought a Momo boss, which although expensive, is awfully well made. Plus seeing as it is attaching my steering wheel to the car, which is probably vital in some way, I thought I should probably make sure I get something decent. I bought a plain black horn button too. Bolted it all together for a looky see and it looked too plain so I hacked up one of these 'porsche drivers collection' stickers that I stole from the coffee table in the Porsche Centre when I was waiting for bushes. Looks quite cool but will probably change it later for something a bit more me. And yes, it is leaning up against a big stash of bits for the car.
Then! We move onto the ARB. This was interesting. I unbolted it from the car and took it into the garage. Turns out my front ARB is 23mm, instead of standard 20mm. I also have a rear 14mm anti roll bar which means I have Porsche 'sports' suspension. Sounds naff but it means I dont need to buy thicker stuff which I was going to do before I found out! The bushes didnt look too worn on the car but once I took it off it was clear that they were quite shagged and squished. I then found out that the centre bushes were actually for a 20mm ARB. 3mm smaller than they should be, but just rammed on and used. You can see how splayed out they are in the photo. I bought all new bushes from Porsche (which were cheaper than online by the way) and painted everything with my favourite brush on black paint. They look excellent and I just need to make stiffener brackets before I can bolt it back to the car. I'll show the brackets once I make them.
Also had time the other day to replace the gearbox oil. Wasn't nearly as dirty as I imagined but fresh oil wont do it any harm! Next update will most likely be finishing the interior, ARB on, new belts on and possibly a couple of handy DIY mods!
Also, the main light ducts for the gauges are basically clear pieces of plastic painted chrome. Over time the paint wear away and the dash is just dim. Used some clear glue to stick some tin foil shiny side in. Did the 'stand in a dark cupboard and shine a torch in the hole' test and it does appear pretty bright. Its got 3 new LED bulbs going into it too which will make things a lot nicer, and hopefully not so tanning-studio-esque. I suppose I'll know once I can bung it back into the car! Also before I can fit the new steering wheel, I wanted to get a new set of stalks as I have narrowed my washer motor low power mishap down to the stalks themselves not giving a good connection. I've bought a new stalk module thing from a bloke on here (who I have incidentally bought quite a lot of parts from actually and is a very nice bloke called Pete) but his stalks decals are pretty worn. The units are rivet sealed so using my new fancy dremel I drilled out the rivets and took everything apart. It is VERY fiddly but it'll be worth it to have a clear set of decals right?
I finally got my 'free' steering wheel too. I had swapped this for the dodgy carbon air filter that came on the car. Its just a standard momo from an MX5 but I love them so figure it'd be perfect for the Pork. Bought a Momo boss, which although expensive, is awfully well made. Plus seeing as it is attaching my steering wheel to the car, which is probably vital in some way, I thought I should probably make sure I get something decent. I bought a plain black horn button too. Bolted it all together for a looky see and it looked too plain so I hacked up one of these 'porsche drivers collection' stickers that I stole from the coffee table in the Porsche Centre when I was waiting for bushes. Looks quite cool but will probably change it later for something a bit more me. And yes, it is leaning up against a big stash of bits for the car.
Then! We move onto the ARB. This was interesting. I unbolted it from the car and took it into the garage. Turns out my front ARB is 23mm, instead of standard 20mm. I also have a rear 14mm anti roll bar which means I have Porsche 'sports' suspension. Sounds naff but it means I dont need to buy thicker stuff which I was going to do before I found out! The bushes didnt look too worn on the car but once I took it off it was clear that they were quite shagged and squished. I then found out that the centre bushes were actually for a 20mm ARB. 3mm smaller than they should be, but just rammed on and used. You can see how splayed out they are in the photo. I bought all new bushes from Porsche (which were cheaper than online by the way) and painted everything with my favourite brush on black paint. They look excellent and I just need to make stiffener brackets before I can bolt it back to the car. I'll show the brackets once I make them.
Also had time the other day to replace the gearbox oil. Wasn't nearly as dirty as I imagined but fresh oil wont do it any harm! Next update will most likely be finishing the interior, ARB on, new belts on and possibly a couple of handy DIY mods!
Well the old girl goes back on the road on Sunday, and next Thursday i'll be driving her 700 miles and doing the NC500. So that'll be interesting. I'll update everything thatll bring this thread up to speed...
Cut up a plant pot hanger, made some front ARB braces, then refitted the ARB wish new bushes etc. Did both aux belts while I was underneath. Also changed the gearbox oil seeing as I was in a lie on the floor kind of mood.
Retrimmed my sunroof and centre armrest in tartan. Also while doing so converted the sunroof to manual latches, which are just so much better. I replaced the main bulbs in the gauge cluster with LEDs and replaced the rest of them with new ones. Also fitted my new odometer gear and cleaned everything up with contact cleaner. Seems to be working spot on now and reads much more accurately so very chuffed! The LEDs are also much brighter and being white are much clearer.
Then did the bolt shifter mod with some thrust washers
Then stumbled across a set of Borbet cup ones on ebay. They had to be borbets as opposed to actual porsche ones in order to fit with my early offset (they are et23 and et17). Painted them ford tibetan gold and fitted a pair of 235/45/17 Uniroyal RS3s to the back. The fronts were like new Pirelli PZero rossos so left them on.
Then the last thing was to tackle my spongy brakes. I replaced the rear discs and pads and readjusted my handbrake which was well worth doing. I then bled them but I had a sinking pedal and a fair bit of white smoke, so new master cylinder ordered and fitted then rebled. Used a gunson eezi-bleed and it is bloody ace. After that stuck the new wheels on and now i'm just sitting waiting til Sunday so I can give it a good run to blow the cobwebs out before I do the 500 next week...
I should hopefully get some good photos while im doing this thing... and then I start work on the bmw and get all of its little niggles sorted out!
Cut up a plant pot hanger, made some front ARB braces, then refitted the ARB wish new bushes etc. Did both aux belts while I was underneath. Also changed the gearbox oil seeing as I was in a lie on the floor kind of mood.
Retrimmed my sunroof and centre armrest in tartan. Also while doing so converted the sunroof to manual latches, which are just so much better. I replaced the main bulbs in the gauge cluster with LEDs and replaced the rest of them with new ones. Also fitted my new odometer gear and cleaned everything up with contact cleaner. Seems to be working spot on now and reads much more accurately so very chuffed! The LEDs are also much brighter and being white are much clearer.
Then did the bolt shifter mod with some thrust washers
Then stumbled across a set of Borbet cup ones on ebay. They had to be borbets as opposed to actual porsche ones in order to fit with my early offset (they are et23 and et17). Painted them ford tibetan gold and fitted a pair of 235/45/17 Uniroyal RS3s to the back. The fronts were like new Pirelli PZero rossos so left them on.
Then the last thing was to tackle my spongy brakes. I replaced the rear discs and pads and readjusted my handbrake which was well worth doing. I then bled them but I had a sinking pedal and a fair bit of white smoke, so new master cylinder ordered and fitted then rebled. Used a gunson eezi-bleed and it is bloody ace. After that stuck the new wheels on and now i'm just sitting waiting til Sunday so I can give it a good run to blow the cobwebs out before I do the 500 next week...
I should hopefully get some good photos while im doing this thing... and then I start work on the bmw and get all of its little niggles sorted out!
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