The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[Eyersey1234]

BrewsterBear said:

Eyersey1234 said:

Nice looking Focus, what reg is it? The later 1.8tdci engines have a lower wet timing belt instead of a chain.

It's an 07 plate. Not sure about the belt/chain situation.

An 07 should be one of the last lower timing chain ones, I believe it was mid 2007 they changed.

[Kolbenkopp]

Davie said:

On my last V70 I used several grades of emery paper, getting finer as I went then moved to a heavy cutting compound with a rotary buff, then a finishing compound then put some wax on them. Took about an hour per side.

This

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-prod...

is also supposed to do the job well. Not super cheap (~€40 IIRC) but convenient.

[anonymous-user]

aaron_2000 said:

rich12 said:

Superchickenn said:

Im fully with you on this... my pet hate is "best price" or "final price" ... im not going to barter with myself ..... but i usually refrain from retaliation and just say im looking for ££££ and will consider sensible offers.

If i'm selling something for say £2k and I get a 'best price', I just reply with something like "My best price is £5k, please let me know if you can pay that much as i'd love to get the best possible price for it".

Proper winds them up.

I'm stealing that.

Me too! Excellent.

[Davie]

Kolbenkopp said:

This

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-prod...

is also supposed to do the job well. Not super cheap (~€40 IIRC) but convenient.

To be honest, you can buy a drill based backing plate and pads off eBay and a bottle of generic cutting compound for next to nothing. If the lights are really bad, sheets of 2000 grit are about 10p each and she'll have Fairy Liquid under the sink. ~£40 seems like a bit of a rip off to me and totally against the shed ethos!

[matt21]

Had to do a 400 mile round trip to see a client in Exeter yesterday. Was going to take the nice car, but heard parking was tight so took the Passat.

So glad I did. Weather was horrendous and it took 6hrs to get home due to multiple road closures. Cars were stranded and abandoned, but the 223k Passat on winter tyres ploughed on, through water and up verges whilst still returning 50mpg. Heated seats and Bluetooth head unit made the long journey bearable (just need better headlights)

Had to do 300 miles today to York, gave the Passat a well deserved day off

[Jaguar steve]

Davie said:

Kolbenkopp said:

This

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-prod...

is also supposed to do the job well. Not super cheap (~€40 IIRC) but convenient.

To be honest, you can buy a drill based backing plate and pads off eBay and a bottle of generic cutting compound for next to nothing. If the lights are really bad, sheets of 2000 grit are about 10p each and she'll have Fairy Liquid under the sink. ~£40 seems like a bit of a rip off to me and totally against the shed ethos!

That's way too much hassle and expense. A big squidge of toothpaste and a polishing pad on a drill is all you need.

[magpie215]

Jaguar steve said:

That's way too much hassle and expense. A big squidge of toothpaste and a polishing pad on a drill is all you need.

[Kolbenkopp]

Jaguar steve said:

Davie said:

Kolbenkopp said:

This

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-prod...

is also supposed to do the job well. Not super cheap (~€40 IIRC) but convenient.

To be honest, you can buy a drill based backing plate and pads off eBay and a bottle of generic cutting compound for next to nothing. If the lights are really bad, sheets of 2000 grit are about 10p each and she'll have Fairy Liquid under the sink. ~£40 seems like a bit of a rip off to me and totally against the shed ethos!

That's way too much hassle and expense. A big squidge of toothpaste and a polishing pad on a drill is all you need.

Was half expecting this sort of response, but nice to see this thread keeps delivering

[Digby]

Davie said:

This may be a fine line between unnecessary polishing and actually being able to see more then 20ft in front of the car...





Either way, shockingly bad headlights now less shockingly bad and needless to say, to reward me for my efforts the car is now happily telling me I have a dipped bulb failure when I don't...

Edited by Davie on Thursday 14th November 15:47

Did a set of mine not long ago. Wet and dry method.

[LukeyP_]

I am 3 weeks into 'shed' ownership and wondering why the hell I hadn't done it sooner, best £400 I have spent.

[Mr-B]

magpie215 said:

Maintain the one space clearance please :-)

Well, did they? Maintain the spaces? I'm guessing they did.

Do you ever get the urge when driving past bus stops to lean out of the window and hurl abuse at the queue of people stood there inbetweeners style? I know I would.

[Otispunkmeyer]

magpie215 said:

Maintain the one space clearance please :-)

That is actually a shed. With wheels.

[Salmonofdoubt]

greenarrow said:

Salmonofdoubt said:

My Kia ceed shed has just passed 30,000 miles in my hands, had it 14 months so it's done well. Still has some niggles and probably needs top mount bushes to sort a knocking front end.

I'm currently ignoring the number plate light that's needs soldering (it passed the MOT), Blocked or dead rear washer, non working passengers window and the fact the AC needs a regas. I'd like to chop it for something with cruise control but while the only impending bills are front pads and then rear discs and pads I'm going to keep enjoying 50mpg and my ISA being fed with what a PCP would cost me.

That's interesting feedback as my local indie garage recommended the Kia C'eed as a potential choice for cheap second hand car. Assume your car is a diesel? If not, the economy is very good indeed. I recommended a ten year Hyundai i30 to a friend and he is enjoying it very much.

It’s a 1.6 diesel, pre dpf and chain driven so changing the oil regularly doesn’t hurt. There’s very little to go wrong. They’re very prone to rust around tops of rear doors and around subframes but the body and chassis are actually very clear of rot. It’s the bits you can replace that wear out.

There’s very little to go wrong but it’s modern enough to keep pace with traffic. The cee’d and i30 share most bits and both definitely fit the shed mould at 10+

[egor110]

Salmonofdoubt said:

greenarrow said:

Salmonofdoubt said:

My Kia ceed shed has just passed 30,000 miles in my hands, had it 14 months so it's done well. Still has some niggles and probably needs top mount bushes to sort a knocking front end.

I'm currently ignoring the number plate light that's needs soldering (it passed the MOT), Blocked or dead rear washer, non working passengers window and the fact the AC needs a regas. I'd like to chop it for something with cruise control but while the only impending bills are front pads and then rear discs and pads I'm going to keep enjoying 50mpg and my ISA being fed with what a PCP would cost me.

That's interesting feedback as my local indie garage recommended the Kia C'eed as a potential choice for cheap second hand car. Assume your car is a diesel? If not, the economy is very good indeed. I recommended a ten year Hyundai i30 to a friend and he is enjoying it very much.

It’s a 1.6 diesel, pre dpf and chain driven so changing the oil regularly doesn’t hurt. There’s very little to go wrong. They’re very prone to rust around tops of rear doors and around subframes but the body and chassis are actually very clear of rot. It’s the bits you can replace that wear out.

There’s very little to go wrong but it’s modern enough to keep pace with traffic. The cee’d and i30 share most bits and both definitely fit the shed mould at 10+

What's sort of age do you think cars can't keep pace with traffic ?

A 1998 ford puma would have no trouble .

[Salmonofdoubt]

egor110 said:

What's sort of age do you think cars can't keep pace with traffic ?

A 1998 ford puma would have no trouble .

No idea, it was more just pointing out that a 12 year doesn’t feel that old. I’m pretty sure my first car that was an 82 mini would have no bother with the majority of people’s daily use.

[Lemming Train]

After much deliberation and umming & arghing, I have decided that the alloys I bought to put on my C1 are too much hassle and money to bother with so am going to sell them. I did 24 miles in the car last week and only 34 the week before, so as it sits unused a lot, what is the point? Only 1 of them is decent, the other 3 would need a refurb to make it 'worthwhile' and I would need to buy 4 tyres for them as well. That would be approx £200 for the wheels then another £140? for new tyres, plus spacers and longer bolts so another £20-30 there probably. The alloys currently have nearly new winter tyres on them so I have decided to pay a tyre fitter to remove them, then sell the tyres and alloys separately. I only paid £42 for them so I reckon I should easily make a profit and I'll just stick with the standard steelies and plastic trims like a proper shedder.

[magpie215]

Lemming Train said:

steelies and plastic trims like a proper shedder.

Steelies...yes

Plastic trims....not so much i think tatty rusty steelies add to the 'look'

I think trims suggest you still care a little bit :-)

[Lemming Train]

magpie215 said:

Lemming Train said:

steelies and plastic trims like a proper shedder.

Steelies...yes

Plastic trims....not so much i think tatty rusty steelies add to the 'look'

I think trims suggest you still care a little bit :-)

They're quite mangled (by the previous owner, naturally) but look 'ok' from a distance. Not sure that I would replace them if they happened to fall off.

[Challo]

The Volvo failed the MOT this morning on a faulty fuel cap as the rubber seal had perished. Ordered a new one from Volvo across the road for £14 and will get a free retest next week.

A few advisories on suspension, and exhaust but should be another good 12 months motoring for someone. I have purchased a newer C30, but something nice about jumping in the shed this morning and carefree motoring.

[OMITN]

Mr-B said:

For the shedder with broken/no heated seats check out the middle of Lidl (even cheaper than ebay!)

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/car-accessories/ultima...

Bought one from Aldi today for the early morning and evening trip to/from the station - the unheated leather seats in the 307 are rather chilly at the moment..!

(I suspect it will be st but at £9.99 what the hell.)