Car SOS - how good are their restorations?

[LARK F1 GTR]

I don't usually watch the driving a mint example part, but will do if it really like the car, so I watched last nights through.

Bluevanman said:

Mercdriver said:

Thought the gaps on the sills and wings a bit of a dodgy giveaway.

Still enjoyed the programme though, apart from silly soaking crew with a hose, idiot, that would not have motivated me working in damp clothes.

I think the giveaway was the vin number lol

Yep.

What was it then? as mentioned, was it re-shelled?

[Bluevanman]

LARK F1 GTR said:

Yep.

What was it then? as mentioned, was it re-shelled?

They kept repeating genuine,if you repeat something often enough it's true isn't it
Engine was Alpina as was the wheels ,so we can only guess,but mine is a re-shell at some point

[Red9zero]

Bluevanman said:

LARK F1 GTR said:

Yep.

What was it then? as mentioned, was it re-shelled?

They kept repeating genuine,if you repeat something often enough it's true isn't it
Engine was Alpina as was the wheels ,so we can only guess,but mine is a re-shell at some point

I had a look at the tax / mot check and it showed it as an Alpina, so must have been originally.

[Bluevanman]

Red9zero said:

I had a look at the tax / mot check and it showed it as an Alpina, so must have been originally.

Alpina said the vin number wasn't

[Mercdriver]

Maybe the replacent shell was not an Alpina? That would explain them not recognising the vin number.

May also explain the incorrect gaps at the sill ends.

The purists will no doubt be saying it is not genuine and has been devalued because of the re shelling

[pingu393]

Chassis number not Alpina, yet everything else is Alpina. Unless he knows why it has the wrong VIN, I'd be making sure nobody other than me digs too deep.

I reshelled a Metro and it didn't come with a VIN. I don't know if BMW are the same when they supply new shells. If it was the shell from a different E30, I'd be very worried unless I could prove everything was A-OK.

I wonder what BMW say the VIN relates to. RealOEM would probably have the answer .


It was a fantastic reveal, though.

[LARK F1 GTR]

Cheers guys.

I don't know if they were an option, but I noticed that it didn't have the read out things in the vents, and they didn't show the roof mounted system checker thing, and it seemed to gain a black upright rear spoiler which they barely showed.

[daqinggregg]

In the program, they said it had failed the MOT; interior, front/rear screen out, wonder if he was planning to have it reshelled (again). A warning to all, what looks nice, rarely is once you’ve stripped it down.

None the less, absolutely fantastic car, peak E30 IMO; and a deserving recipient.

[BossHogg]

I enjoyed that, my first car was a Fiesta.

[Mercdriver]

Yup, me too, dread to think what the cloth for the seats cost at least the fiesta owners club will now have a contact for a cloth which was NLA.

Not totally surprised that the “lovely” bodywork turned out to be not so nice, engine too looked good but needed total overhaul.

As usual tactful reveal from Tim.

[Skyedriver]

I assume the original welding and repairs with dodgy panels was done by the owner?
Kind of puts them in their place when they watch the TV prog and criticise their work.

[Red9zero]

Skyedriver said:

I assume the original welding and repairs with dodgy panels was done by the owner?
Kind of puts them in their place when they watch the TV prog and criticise their work.

I often think that, especially when they uncover some of the bodges.

[Bluevanman]

Mercdriver said:

Yup, me too, dread to think what the cloth for the seats cost at least the fiesta owners club will now have a contact for a cloth which was NLA.

Not totally surprised that the “lovely” bodywork turned out to be not so nice, engine too looked good but needed total overhaul.

As usual tactful reveal from Tim.

I seem to remember there was an episode in the last series where they went to a company who could remanufacture any design of vehicle fabric and it wasn't overly expensive

[jumare]

Just watched last nights episode on More4.

I had one of those as a company car, J reg as well, it's not a SAAB 900 Turbo as they continually referred to, it's a 900S with the low pressure turbo. Yes, it had a 'turbo' badge on the grill but nowhere else.

One of the worst cars I've had, gearbox was balkey and the handling wasn't up to much, great motorway car but otherwise couldn't wait to have it replaced.

[Skyedriver]

Honda CRX
Fond memories of one a friend at the time who had one.
(Doug Sharp, Imperial Garage, Jesmond)
He'd sold his Westfield and bought the CRX then fitted a Supercharger (Jackson??) to it. We took it down to Castle Combe. Absolute flying machine.

The guy tonight was extremely polite and thankful of the work, I'll have to dust out house...

[Mercdriver]

Excellent programme last night. 300bhp? Bloody hell my CL500 made that on 5 litres shows how good the Honda engines are, 154k miles and still in good condition, slight wear on the bearings, wow.

Wish I had bought one of these instead of a civic, most boring car I ever have owned, well made comfortable etc but boring, soon sold it.

[BossHogg]

Whereas I've had my 2.2D Civic for 5 years, best car I've ever owned. 17 years old with 171k miles and still pulls away sharply. The handling is brilliant compared to my previous cars.

[LARK F1 GTR]

What a cool little car!! I knew what one was, but rarely ever saw them on the roads.

I was wondering what they do with the aftermarket wheels / bits they've taken off if they're in working order? They must give them back?

Mercdriver said:

Excellent programme last night. 300bhp? Bloody hell my CL500 made that on 5 litres shows how good the Honda engines are, 154k miles and still in good condition, slight wear on the bearings, wow.

Wish I had bought one of these instead of a civic, most boring car I ever have owned, well made comfortable etc but boring, soon sold it.

Yep, they seem to be bullet proof and as you probably know, lots of people put some of the VTEC engines into other cars, some seem to make big power with not much work, if any.

[monthefish]

Mercdriver said:

As usual tactful reveal from Tim.

Absolutely.

Such a great programme with two great presenters.

[paulw123]

Haven't seen a CRX in many years. Great little cars