The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[LukeyP_]

I put my shed up for sale on eBay, new car had arrived and was ready to let go, when I thought I'm quite attached to it - so removed it! God knows why but there is something that I love about my old Octavia!

[Jaguar steve]

LukeyP_ said:

I put my shed up for sale on eBay, new car had arrived and was ready to let go, when I thought I'm quite attached to it - so removed it! God knows why but there is something that I love about my old Octavia!

There's everything to love about old sheds and I keep mine for as long as possible.

All you have to do to enter shedworld and luxuriate in the freedom and liberation from grief sheds bring is dismiss any aspirations for status or wishes to impress others then you can honestly and genuinely stop caring about what anybody else thinks of your choices.

Once you've achieved that your whole quality of life will improve.

[STIfree]

Ups and downs for the 1k Lexus.

Had it up on a friends lift at the weekend to check out a blow from the exhaust. Turned out to be lots of holes hiding under the heat shields, patched them with some putty stuff in true shedists form.

Had a look at the ABS sensor as the ABS has been activating when coming to a stop. Couldnt see anything immediately obvious so put it back for the time being. Drove home and all the ABS lights have sprung on, I didnt even unplug anything. Great!

Then the next day noticed that the rear passenger air bag was sat very low. Itd been leaking slowly for a while but maybe the full stretch on the lifts the other day has increased the leaky hole.

Bonus side is, a quick ebay has returned results for brand new coilovers as cheap as £150 delivered. Now I'm sure the quality is going to be pretty crap, but when the next option is £800+ and the car only cost a few hundred more than that, they might have to do.

For £150 its worth a punt right?


Oh and I need a new tyre. Approx £80 fitted. Picking up a set of 4 Lexus GS300 sport wheels with decent tyres this evening for £60. Bangernomics!

[giblet]

Part of me wants to see just how bad those coilovers are but the other part of me is horrified by the idea of ruining the waft

[STIfree]

giblet said:

Part of me wants to see just how bad those coilovers are but the other part of me is horrified by the idea of ruining the waft

I don't understand how they can create something for so cheap. They must be terrible, but what's the ratio of terrible/cost saving? That's what I might have to find out.

I looove the air suspension on the car, it's mega comfy. But I'm averaging about 100 miles a week in it, soon to be even less after a new house move (hence being tight on the pennies) so with such low milage I'm not sure if it'll bother me too much. Hey, with my record, I'll be due to sell it for something else in a couple of months anyway

Here's the wheels I got tonight for £60. GS300 Sport wheels. 18 inch OZ racing, with 3 Toyo's and 1 Evergreen, all pretty good tread. For the price I'm very happy as I've just saved a tenner over buying 1 new tyre for the current wheels.

[S8QUATTRO]

Very cheap for the set!

STIfree said:

giblet said:

Part of me wants to see just how bad those coilovers are but the other part of me is horrified by the idea of ruining the waft

I don't understand how they can create something for so cheap. They must be terrible, but what's the ratio of terrible/cost saving? That's what I might have to find out.

I looove the air suspension on the car, it's mega comfy. But I'm averaging about 100 miles a week in it, soon to be even less after a new house move (hence being tight on the pennies) so with such low milage I'm not sure if it'll bother me too much. Hey, with my record, I'll be due to sell it for something else in a couple of months anyway

Here's the wheels I got tonight for £60. GS300 Sport wheels. 18 inch OZ racing, with 3 Toyo's and 1 Evergreen, all pretty good tread. For the price I'm very happy as I've just saved a tenner over buying 1 new tyre for the current wheels.

[Dadoc2001]

Jimmy Recard said:

Do you think that the problem on all of them is a bad screen replacement? It's a known problem which is recognised by Honda so I'm surprised at your conclusion

I know this is a month back and someone may well have answered by now but the Civic rusting on the roof/screen was caused by a 'harsh' rubber strip which stripped the paint under the rubber and allowed water to get at the metal. Honda acknowledged some warranty claims fitting a newer rubber strip and repainting the roof.

[Digby]

Went to do a single job on the Passat snotter at the weekend and managed to create several other jobs! (more on that later)

One thing that did go well was bringing another set of dead headlights back to life...

Before...



After...

[VR99]

Recently changed all the tyres and had the tracking done on my focus. Whilst it was being done asked them to check subframe over due to recent surface rust advisory on the MOT and it doesn't seem too bad for now so on we go...

Edited by VR99 on Monday 19th October 23:47

[ajprice]

Digby said:

Went to do a single job on the Passat snotter at the weekend and managed to create several other jobs! (more on that later)

One thing that did go well was bringing another set of dead headlights back to life...

Before...



After...

Did you use the proper headlight restorer stuff, or toothpaste?

[LukeyP_]

Digby said:

Went to do a single job on the Passat snotter at the weekend and managed to create several other jobs! (more on that later)

One thing that did go well was bringing another set of dead headlights back to life...

Before...



After...

Awesome result. What did you use?

My Fiesta ST has the same issue.

[Digby]

LukeyP_ said:

Digby said:

Went to do a single job on the Passat snotter at the weekend and managed to create several other jobs! (more on that later)

One thing that did go well was bringing another set of dead headlights back to life...

Before...



After...

Awesome result. What did you use?

My Fiesta ST has the same issue.

1000, 1500 & 2500 wet and dry and then sealed it with a headlight spray thingy; although the last set I did I didn’t seal and 10 months on they still look the same.

I spend about ten minutes on each lamp.

Edited by Digby on Tuesday 20th October 13:29

[OMITN]

That’s a lovely job on those headlights. After I took the weird old codger headlamp covers off the 307 they have now started to go hazy. Will get the Holts kit I think.

The one thing I’ve just realised today is that my MOT runs out in 10 days so I need to get it done pronto. Hopefully the local place will be free if he isn’t too busy servicing Ferraris (if his Instagram is anything to go by).

Only question is whether I also have it serviced at the same time (convenience) or use this as the opportunity to buy some kit (all of it..!) and teach myself some basic car maintenance....

[v15ben]

Just been reading the 'How much does your car cost you?' thread.
Another reason to find joy in an old shed.

Depreciation: £35/month (lost maybe £500 in 21K miles/15 months).
Tax: £17/month
Insurance: £25/month
Consumables/Repairs: £30/month
Petrol: £150/month @ 45MPG.

Total Cost: £107/month excluding fuel.

[TeamBigfoot]

After a massive change of heart, having viewed some L322 range rovers which were dogs, I've decided to save the money and get into another shed.

I'm now back in the market and to be honest, its starting to look like slim pickings. I'm excited by the possibility of finding a good shed and getting back into bargain basement motoring.

Is it just me, or have cars in shed budget gone up recently?

[Captain Answer]

TeamBigfoot said:

L322 range rovers

You've got to have some serious brave pills on hand to get one of these

Car market on the whole is out of whack as discussed on here a few pages back

[vikingaero]

v15ben said:

Just been reading the 'How much does your car cost you?' thread.
Another reason to find joy in an old shed.

Depreciation: £35/month (lost maybe £500 in 21K miles/15 months).
Tax: £17/month
Insurance: £25/month
Consumables/Repairs: £30/month
Petrol: £150/month @ 45MPG.

Total Cost: £107/month excluding fuel.

It's a very Britisher thing to obsess in that thread about costs. Sure you need an element of budgeting to ensure you can afford the mumflies and running costs but most people forget the benefits - that £30k, £60k or £100k job you use it for to earn money and rent or own a house, shopping, visiting friends and families, going out or maybe just enjoying a hoon....

Anyway, back to Sheds:
Purchase price: £495 in 2013.
Depreciation: Really? Let's assume £100 scrap value
Tax: £30 per annum
Insurance: £88 per annum
Consumable/repairs: Hard to gauge - MOT £50, one service this year for £60, not serviced last year as only covered 3k and my mechanic refused to do it saying it was pointless and he was right for a shed.
Total cost: Not a lot for the benefits of a worry free car that doubles as an off roader.

[TeamBigfoot]

Captain Answer said:

You've got to have some serious brave pills on hand to get one of these

Yes - I thought I did, and its a bucket list car for me but upon actually seeing how rough some of the ones in my budget (c£8k) were, I'm not brave enough to take on that headache. Totting up a contingency fund which outweighed buying a shed each year made me feed poor, so here I am

I loved the worry free parking and low running costs my most recent shed offered.

[A.J.M]

Ive been looking at L322s as well.

I miss having a 4x4, my back misses a car with comfy seats, the Corsa’s ones are destroying my lower back and it’s not fun.

But an L322 is a serious Brave Pill.

[Captain Answer]

TeamBigfoot said:

Yes - I thought I did, and its a bucket list car for me but upon actually seeing how rough some of the ones in my budget (c£8k) were, I'm not brave enough to take on that headache. Totting up a contingency fund which outweighed buying a shed each year made me feed poor, so here I am

I loved the worry free parking and low running costs my most recent shed offered.

Supercharged V8 L322 def a bucket lister, but ruinous on bills if it goes wrong

They attract strong money as well, even absolute nails