The Joy of Running an Old Shed
Discussion
As someone who has 2 of the 185 engines and 5 (?) of the Euro3 163 engines, it has to be said the 185 is noticably more pokey, and noticably more fuel hungry.
Best I can manage with a 185 6 speed manual in a V50 is mid 40's. Best I have managed in the E3 5 speed is mid 70's (and one customer managed 93)
Yes, you read that right, 93 mpg!!
Best I can manage with a 185 6 speed manual in a V50 is mid 40's. Best I have managed in the E3 5 speed is mid 70's (and one customer managed 93)
Yes, you read that right, 93 mpg!!
bearman68 said:
As someone who has 2 of the 185 engines and 5 (?) of the Euro3 163 engines, it has to be said the 185 is noticably more pokey, and noticably more fuel hungry.
Best I can manage with a 185 6 speed manual in a V50 is mid 40's. Best I have managed in the E3 5 speed is mid 70's (and one customer managed 93)
Yes, you read that right, 93 mpg!!
And here I was very impressed with 63 MPG out of my 57 plate auto!Best I can manage with a 185 6 speed manual in a V50 is mid 40's. Best I have managed in the E3 5 speed is mid 70's (and one customer managed 93)
Yes, you read that right, 93 mpg!!
Do you chaps service your sheds?
I've had my 75 a year, and gave it a full service when I got it (oil, filters, plugs (well, front only, rears too tricky to get too and fronts looked okay...)), and have done around 2000 miles since. I'm not concerned with maintaining value etc as in reality it is worth £0 and will be with me until I scrap it. I was thinking its been about 12 months since the oil change so maybe I should do another but given the mileage is there really any point ... ? I can do it myself so would only be £45 or so for oil and filter.
I've had my 75 a year, and gave it a full service when I got it (oil, filters, plugs (well, front only, rears too tricky to get too and fronts looked okay...)), and have done around 2000 miles since. I'm not concerned with maintaining value etc as in reality it is worth £0 and will be with me until I scrap it. I was thinking its been about 12 months since the oil change so maybe I should do another but given the mileage is there really any point ... ? I can do it myself so would only be £45 or so for oil and filter.
Cascade360 said:
Do you chaps service your sheds?
I've had my 75 a year, and gave it a full service when I got it (oil, filters, plugs (well, front only, rears too tricky to get too and fronts looked okay...)), and have done around 2000 miles since. I'm not concerned with maintaining value etc as in reality it is worth £0 and will be with me until I scrap it. I was thinking its been about 12 months since the oil change so maybe I should do another but given the mileage is there really any point ... ? I can do it myself so would only be £45 or so for oil and filter.
Every 12 months or 10,000 miles, when I had my saab i did them 6 months or 5,000 milesI've had my 75 a year, and gave it a full service when I got it (oil, filters, plugs (well, front only, rears too tricky to get too and fronts looked okay...)), and have done around 2000 miles since. I'm not concerned with maintaining value etc as in reality it is worth £0 and will be with me until I scrap it. I was thinking its been about 12 months since the oil change so maybe I should do another but given the mileage is there really any point ... ? I can do it myself so would only be £45 or so for oil and filter.
Arnie Cunningham said:
Yeah. Just serviced the MG actually. I buy the oil in 20L cans to save money/litre - albeit the can lasts a little while.
It might be a shed, but I don't want to accelerate it's demise too quickly.
Me too. Buy in bulk and oil costs peanuts but no matter where you get it from new oil always works out far cheaper than a new engine.It might be a shed, but I don't want to accelerate it's demise too quickly.
Cascade360 said:
Do you chaps service your sheds?
I've had my 75 a year, and gave it a full service when I got it (oil, filters, plugs (well, front only, rears too tricky to get too and fronts looked okay...)), and have done around 2000 miles since. I'm not concerned with maintaining value etc as in reality it is worth £0 and will be with me until I scrap it. I was thinking its been about 12 months since the oil change so maybe I should do another but given the mileage is there really any point ... ? I can do it myself so would only be £45 or so for oil and filter.
Are those journeys really short ones? If you are doing more short journeys, even if doing less distance, the oil is also loosing properties (is it because more condensation is getting in, kind of?)I've had my 75 a year, and gave it a full service when I got it (oil, filters, plugs (well, front only, rears too tricky to get too and fronts looked okay...)), and have done around 2000 miles since. I'm not concerned with maintaining value etc as in reality it is worth £0 and will be with me until I scrap it. I was thinking its been about 12 months since the oil change so maybe I should do another but given the mileage is there really any point ... ? I can do it myself so would only be £45 or so for oil and filter.
Anyway, if a "keeper shed": I would stick to once a year more or less (weather and motivation dependent)
As aaron, if it is dying, then don't bother
Or could we simply say "if you bother cleaning it, you care for it, so change the oil too" ?
Servicing it on the street/drive while your neighbors look at you is also a pleasure of shed ownership
Cascade360 said:
Do you chaps service your sheds?
I didn't bother servicing either of the Galaxys I'm running.The newer 03 mk2 has just recently waved the white flag and given up......waterpump failure.
Been running it for 4 years on a full maintenance retreat policy bar tyres and brakes.
The Mk1 has been with me 5 years but it had to have an oil change about 3 years ago to get it through mot emissions...other than that I think I might have had the air filter out and banged it clean. :-)
Seems to be a common thing that people thing servicing a car will fix all ills.
How does servicing (meaning in many people's since an oil change, maybe an oil filter, and an air filter) stop a knackered water pump for example? Can't really, can it?
False economy not to check oil, topup and completely change it out every couple of years at least even on a shed. And brakes and tyres should be obvious. Not sure why you wouldn't stay on top of these things.
But for many other things you need to get it up, and inspect, and that's what most shed owners find it hard to get done unless they have a trusted & cheap garage to take a look who will gladly hand it back with an honest assessment.
How does servicing (meaning in many people's since an oil change, maybe an oil filter, and an air filter) stop a knackered water pump for example? Can't really, can it?
False economy not to check oil, topup and completely change it out every couple of years at least even on a shed. And brakes and tyres should be obvious. Not sure why you wouldn't stay on top of these things.
But for many other things you need to get it up, and inspect, and that's what most shed owners find it hard to get done unless they have a trusted & cheap garage to take a look who will gladly hand it back with an honest assessment.
Why not treat a car that cost 500 quid the same as one that cost 10 times as much? It's doing the same job. If it needs a water pump change it, if the timing belt needs doing do it. No wonder people are chopping and changing every 6 months, must cost them a fortune. Never understood the attitude of it was cheap so I'll neglect it.
Just because I buy them for shed money doesn't mean I don't want them to last. I don't care that they are low value vehicles vs high - my goal is not months, it's usually to get between 2 and 4 years out of them. So yeah, I certainly could just run them until they break, and it's likely it wouldn't be the engine/oil that is the failure.
But I also acknowledge that the engineer in me does like to try and keep things in decent order. I do all the work on my cars myself, so it's not like I'm paying garage rates.
Right now, the landrover needs an oil change. The oil colour is fine, but I know that the tappets will quieten right down if I change the oil (3.9 Rover V8 - hydraulic flat tappets & pushrods). Bought for shed money but now increasing in value....
But I also acknowledge that the engineer in me does like to try and keep things in decent order. I do all the work on my cars myself, so it's not like I'm paying garage rates.
Right now, the landrover needs an oil change. The oil colour is fine, but I know that the tappets will quieten right down if I change the oil (3.9 Rover V8 - hydraulic flat tappets & pushrods). Bought for shed money but now increasing in value....
Edited by Arnie Cunningham on Tuesday 22 June 22:45
Lord Cunnington Smythe said:
Why not treat a car that cost 500 quid the same as one that cost 10 times as much? It's doing the same job. If it needs a water pump change it, if the timing belt needs doing do it. No wonder people are chopping and changing every 6 months, must cost them a fortune. Never understood the attitude of it was cheap so I'll neglect it.
Agree, it will only bite you in the backside at some stage. Wet cold night, on the M6, in the dark, and the belt that's been OK for the last 10 years will let go. No thank you, that's not for me.
I don't usually read Pistonheads... too many Billy Big b
ks bragging about their PCP'd-up M4 or whatever. However this topic caught my eye a few months ago and I've read every post from the OP's first on page 1 through to now. Do I get a medal or any kind of prize?
I tend to find sheds to be far more interesting than the latest whiz-bang M-series/AMG/RS whatever. And anything that plays sports exhaust noises from speakers under the car is beneath contempt in my book
. I'd take a 10 yr old Aygo with 100k on the clock over a sporty 'prestige' German anony-box any day of the week. I'm not into track-days and drive/ride only on the public roads. I've frittered £1000+ per month away on expensive cars in the past and very quickly realised that for me personally, I have more fun hustling an old shed along a country road than any overly complicated, under-engineered & over-priced status symbol. There's a lot to be said for a car in which you need to be able to plan your overtakes carefully, to build and keep momentum going, to reach the limits of grip without going over them on some worn budget tyres, to learn some basic mechanical skills, to be able to park anywhere without worrying that some neerdowell will damage your finance company's property, to not be a worrier about breakdowns and being 'stranded', and to not give two sts about what your neighbours in the 'Who's got the newest, highest-specced Range Rover club' think 
(Yep, that's my street... lots of anonymous identikit new-build houses, with heavily financed identikit new 'prestige' cars parked outside).
Magpie, I saw a competitor to your Grot-box Galaxy near the Queensferry Crossing near Edinburgh about a month ago. Various coloured panels (and wheel-trims), but then I realised the owner had deliberately gone to the time and effort (& minor expense) of painting it in various bright (non-Ford) colours to create the look. Nil points from me..... a shed should be an organic evolvement, not an imposter. Maybe he just wants to annoy his neighbours?
Anyway, I'm driving a 5 year old bottom spec Civic, so currently WAAAAY off shed territory and not worthy of inclusion on this thread, but it's a keeper will one day achieve shed greatness!... maybe even with mis-matched panels. Had to check myself a few weeks ago when some lacquer was peeling off one of the alloys and corrosion had set in. I was contemplating blowing £800 on some new wheels 
. Soon put that idea to rest though. Overall living a fairly frugal life with some pretty cheap cars (bar the occasional stupid, but usually short-lived, splurge) has put me in the position whereby I'm able to retire when I turn 48 in a few months time. I'll likely still do plenty of work but it'll be 0-hours or contracting, entirely on my terms, and I won't be a wage-slave or answerable to 'the man'. I would never have been able to achieve that if I'd lived the life most of my neighbours seem to live and that buys me some serious peace-of-mind which no flash car could ever come close to.
Look forward to reading more of this thread and seeing pics of your various sheds.
ks bragging about their PCP'd-up M4 or whatever. However this topic caught my eye a few months ago and I've read every post from the OP's first on page 1 through to now. Do I get a medal or any kind of prize? I tend to find sheds to be far more interesting than the latest whiz-bang M-series/AMG/RS whatever. And anything that plays sports exhaust noises from speakers under the car is beneath contempt in my book
. I'd take a 10 yr old Aygo with 100k on the clock over a sporty 'prestige' German anony-box any day of the week. I'm not into track-days and drive/ride only on the public roads. I've frittered £1000+ per month away on expensive cars in the past and very quickly realised that for me personally, I have more fun hustling an old shed along a country road than any overly complicated, under-engineered & over-priced status symbol. There's a lot to be said for a car in which you need to be able to plan your overtakes carefully, to build and keep momentum going, to reach the limits of grip without going over them on some worn budget tyres, to learn some basic mechanical skills, to be able to park anywhere without worrying that some neerdowell will damage your finance company's property, to not be a worrier about breakdowns and being 'stranded', and to not give two sts about what your neighbours in the 'Who's got the newest, highest-specced Range Rover club' think (Yep, that's my street... lots of anonymous identikit new-build houses, with heavily financed identikit new 'prestige' cars parked outside). Magpie, I saw a competitor to your Grot-box Galaxy near the Queensferry Crossing near Edinburgh about a month ago. Various coloured panels (and wheel-trims), but then I realised the owner had deliberately gone to the time and effort (& minor expense) of painting it in various bright (non-Ford) colours to create the look. Nil points from me..... a shed should be an organic evolvement, not an imposter. Maybe he just wants to annoy his neighbours?
Anyway, I'm driving a 5 year old bottom spec Civic, so currently WAAAAY off shed territory and not worthy of inclusion on this thread, but it's a keeper will one day achieve shed greatness!... maybe even with mis-matched panels
. Had to check myself a few weeks ago when some lacquer was peeling off one of the alloys and corrosion had set in. I was contemplating blowing £800 on some new wheels . Soon put that idea to rest though. Overall living a fairly frugal life with some pretty cheap cars (bar the occasional stupid, but usually short-lived, splurge) has put me in the position whereby I'm able to retire when I turn 48 in a few months time. I'll likely still do plenty of work but it'll be 0-hours or contracting, entirely on my terms, and I won't be a wage-slave or answerable to 'the man'. I would never have been able to achieve that if I'd lived the life most of my neighbours seem to live and that buys me some serious peace-of-mind which no flash car could ever come close to.Look forward to reading more of this thread and seeing pics of your various sheds.
Romford4 said:
Anyway, I'm driving a 5 year old bottom spec Civic, so currently WAAAAY off shed territory and not worthy of inclusion on this thread, but it's a keeper will one day achieve shed greatness!... maybe even with mis-matched panels . Had to check myself a few weeks ago when some lacquer was peeling off one of the alloys and corrosion had set in. I was contemplating blowing £800 on some new wheels .
Honda warranty will cover the wheels - I remember a lot of 5-8 year old Jazz' coming in to Honda when I was there a short while for corroded wheels. . Had to check myself a few weeks ago when some lacquer was peeling off one of the alloys and corrosion had set in. I was contemplating blowing £800 on some new wheels .Honda warranty not been great for me so far. Had a loose driver's window regulator. Honda said (correctly) that the glass had been replaced at some point, so not covered by warranty. The fact that it was replaced by the main dealer and hadn't been installed correctly (didn't tighten properly), and that I'd bought the car from the main dealer with warranty and that fault existed at the time was lost on them.
The Edinburgh dealer also gave me a free Honda 'vehicle health check' which stated that my rear pads were 90% worn and needed replacing immediately, and they badgered me for months afterwards with texts and emails looking for more business. My rear pads were about 35% worn... it was the front pads (which they didn't mention at all) that were 90% worn.
Honda might make decent cars, but their dealers in Scotland are in my experience a total waste of space (motorcycle dealers included). I'm self servicing now, and anything more complicated will be handled by my trusted local mechanic. Last time I deal with a Honda main dealer
Anyway, this isn't the forum for me to rant about a non-shed Honda, and I doubt many readers will give a hoot about main dealer experiences other than mine confirming one of the benefits of shedding being that you don't need to frequent them for servicing or warranty issues
The Edinburgh dealer also gave me a free Honda 'vehicle health check' which stated that my rear pads were 90% worn and needed replacing immediately, and they badgered me for months afterwards with texts and emails looking for more business. My rear pads were about 35% worn... it was the front pads (which they didn't mention at all) that were 90% worn.
Honda might make decent cars, but their dealers in Scotland are in my experience a total waste of space (motorcycle dealers included). I'm self servicing now, and anything more complicated will be handled by my trusted local mechanic. Last time I deal with a Honda main dealer
Anyway, this isn't the forum for me to rant about a non-shed Honda, and I doubt many readers will give a hoot about main dealer experiences other than mine confirming one of the benefits of shedding being that you don't need to frequent them for servicing or warranty issues
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 23 June 00:30
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