The Joy of Running an Old Shed (Vol 2)
Discussion
Ryyy said:
BenS94 said:
The 1.0 is a turbocharged 3 cylinder, which first appeared in 2012 in the MK3 Focus and claimed to offer the power of a 1.6 but the economy of a 1.0. The 1.6 is a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder, based loosely around a many-times-updated Zetec unit from around 1992, you know exactly what you're getting and what to expect with this engine - yes they can have issues too, but they're smooth, free revving, fun to extract power from, and reasonably good on fuel. The 125 bhp Ti-VCT 1.6 would be my choice in a MK3 Focus. The 1.0T also runs incredibly hot - so hot in some cases, I've heard that the paint has cracked and blistered on the bonnets of some Fiestas with the engine.
Thanks for that its very informative
is the 125 bhp Ti-VCT not ecoboost? There seems to be 2 variants from a quick auto trader search, the ecoboost and the powershift, is the 1.6 ecoboost okay or just as bad as the 1.0? Id rather the ecoboost as you get a lot more power but if the whole ecoboost is problematic no matter ehat size engine then I think I'll give it a miss 
on the engine temp, reminds me of the tg episode where Clarkson was trying to cook on the engine 
stickleback123 said:
Picked up a £900 auction bargain this week
2002 SLK320, 87k odd miles, enthusiast previous owner, extremely clean inside and for an 00s Merc very decent outside with only a couple of rust blisters. Headlights badly need a polish, but aside from that it's tip top. It's not super fast but it goes well and the V6 makes a lovely noise, it's nice to be in a shed again!
That looks tidy for the money - i keep looking at these to replace the MX5 as the wife wants an automatic now, but the MOT historys always look a bit horrible for rust related issues2002 SLK320, 87k odd miles, enthusiast previous owner, extremely clean inside and for an 00s Merc very decent outside with only a couple of rust blisters. Headlights badly need a polish, but aside from that it's tip top. It's not super fast but it goes well and the V6 makes a lovely noise, it's nice to be in a shed again!
Raccaccoonie said:
Think I will keep my 207 hdi. Looking at 2k cars they are all s
te and punted by driveway dealers. I think I can get another two years out so will just wait. Shame the used car market is full of expensive tripe
Gutted but we've had to make a hopefully temporary move out of Shedworld for exactly that reason. te and punted by driveway dealers. I think I can get another two years out so will just wait. Shame the used car market is full of expensive tripe 
On the matter of driveway dealers I wasn't going to flog our knackered ex shed to some poor sap who'd be picking up the humongous bills it was promising so I passed it onto a driveway dealer at a knock down price instead.
Anyone whose had their pants pulled down by one in the past can feel free to enjoy some of my schadenfreude when he rang up a few days later bleating there was so much wrong with it he wanted his money back and when he knew that conversation wasn't going anywhere carried on bleating about having to trade it on and the money he'd loose by doing so.
Oh dear. How sad. Never mind.
Thats a cracking deal I must say!
btw how do people pick up such decent deals,as whenever I was shopping around for bangers I was not so lucky!
Ryyy said:
Well here it is, 2010,1.8 ,85k,mot till September and cost £1350
Slight steering wheel wobble on certain parts of the motorway, hopefully just wants the wheel balancing/tracking.
Needs a rear fog light bulb.
Headlights are condensationy, going to look at drying them out and sealing any cracks.
going to give it a service and cambelt too for good measure.
I really like it,It's a great car to drive and well specced so hopefully serves me well.
Slight steering wheel wobble on certain parts of the motorway, hopefully just wants the wheel balancing/tracking.
Needs a rear fog light bulb.
Headlights are condensationy, going to look at drying them out and sealing any cracks.
going to give it a service and cambelt too for good measure.
I really like it,It's a great car to drive and well specced so hopefully serves me well.
carboy2017 said:
time will tell and I hope it does turn out to be a good car because I really do like it. And as for finding them , I sieved through so much dross for a month before this popped up on gumtree 40 miles away. its a pain looking 24/7 but you have to act fast I also wondered the same as you with other people's car on here but I suppose patience is key Gordon Hill said:
I have a dilemma looming come June. I know that the shed E Class is going to need a bit of money spending on it to get it through an MOT. I have been thinking about a cut off point as to where is just becomes a money pit so at what point do I say that's enough and weigh it in. It owes me nothing as I haven't spent a penny on it so far.
But if I do weigh it in what do I get that's equally as good for the money that I need to spend on it? This is the balancing act of shedding, a dilemma I've faced on numerous occasions. I've been thinking £500 as a cut off point, any more and it's time fir it to go. I'm not a fan of German metal as a shed and wouldn't have entertained one had it not been virtually given to me when I was in need of a car quickly.
My rust heap of an E-class has averaged that amount for the last few years. Some years more, some years less. Bearing in mind that I have owned it 11 years, it does 5k miles/year and is a fantastic load lugger for bikes, garden waste, kids etc etc then I view that as cheap motoring. I think I only have 1 or 2 more years before the tin worm finally gets it - and I will be very sad because I can't think of anything to replace it that does what it does so well.But if I do weigh it in what do I get that's equally as good for the money that I need to spend on it? This is the balancing act of shedding, a dilemma I've faced on numerous occasions. I've been thinking £500 as a cut off point, any more and it's time fir it to go. I'm not a fan of German metal as a shed and wouldn't have entertained one had it not been virtually given to me when I was in need of a car quickly.
Edited by Gordon Hill on Thursday 30th March 09:13
mattman said:
stickleback123 said:
Picked up a £900 auction bargain this week
2002 SLK320, 87k odd miles, enthusiast previous owner, extremely clean inside and for an 00s Merc very decent outside with only a couple of rust blisters. Headlights badly need a polish, but aside from that it's tip top. It's not super fast but it goes well and the V6 makes a lovely noise, it's nice to be in a shed again!
That looks tidy for the money - i keep looking at these to replace the MX5 as the wife wants an automatic now, but the MOT historys always look a bit horrible for rust related issues2002 SLK320, 87k odd miles, enthusiast previous owner, extremely clean inside and for an 00s Merc very decent outside with only a couple of rust blisters. Headlights badly need a polish, but aside from that it's tip top. It's not super fast but it goes well and the V6 makes a lovely noise, it's nice to be in a shed again!
Another issue is old leaking hydraulic cylinders!
Another 500 miles on the Vecshed (over past two days) - Scottish borders and here there and everywhere, its in for service on Monday.
Going to treat it, and its leaking cam-cover is getting sorted too - averaged 45/46mpg, I opened her up a little bit on the way back, so couldn't get 50+ this time ha
The original un-loved repmobile is still pounding the network, there is something so satisfying sticking silly mileage on a car literally worth scrap!
Going to treat it, and its leaking cam-cover is getting sorted too - averaged 45/46mpg, I opened her up a little bit on the way back, so couldn't get 50+ this time ha
The original un-loved repmobile is still pounding the network, there is something so satisfying sticking silly mileage on a car literally worth scrap!
Looks like the Shedvic has been getting tips off the BMW it shares a drive with and has started using / losing oil. I had it changed about 3000 miles ago and it looks to have used about half a litre - it's a 1.8 VTEC that only really does short trips. Should I be worried?
Good thing is it uses the same oil as the BMW so I have plenty hanging around
Good thing is it uses the same oil as the BMW so I have plenty hanging around
GlenMH said:
Gordon Hill said:
I have a dilemma looming come June. I know that the shed E Class is going to need a bit of money spending on it to get it through an MOT. I have been thinking about a cut off point as to where is just becomes a money pit so at what point do I say that's enough and weigh it in. It owes me nothing as I haven't spent a penny on it so far.
But if I do weigh it in what do I get that's equally as good for the money that I need to spend on it? This is the balancing act of shedding, a dilemma I've faced on numerous occasions. I've been thinking £500 as a cut off point, any more and it's time fir it to go. I'm not a fan of German metal as a shed and wouldn't have entertained one had it not been virtually given to me when I was in need of a car quickly.
My rust heap of an E-class has averaged that amount for the last few years. Some years more, some years less. Bearing in mind that I have owned it 11 years, it does 5k miles/year and is a fantastic load lugger for bikes, garden waste, kids etc etc then I view that as cheap motoring. I think I only have 1 or 2 more years before the tin worm finally gets it - and I will be very sad because I can't think of anything to replace it that does what it does so well.But if I do weigh it in what do I get that's equally as good for the money that I need to spend on it? This is the balancing act of shedding, a dilemma I've faced on numerous occasions. I've been thinking £500 as a cut off point, any more and it's time fir it to go. I'm not a fan of German metal as a shed and wouldn't have entertained one had it not been virtually given to me when I was in need of a car quickly.
Edited by Gordon Hill on Thursday 30th March 09:13
Downside it's German, it's complicated and it's German. But if it costs £500 to test what else could I buy that would give me all that? Time to break out the spanners and get dirty I think.
Davie said:
That's pretty much exactly where I'm at with the sheddy V50 diesel I have... I've tried to convince myself to part with it for the past few years and even now, with very limited use, it's just too good at doing what I need it to do to actually get rid of it. Plus, advertising it... sod that. I'm not sure what would be worse, the "It's done 250k m8 so can you do £150 cash, 2nyte" or the utterly soul destroying drips who want to know if there's a Volvo invoice to confirm the slightly pale indicator bulb that was advised back in 2013 has been replaced.
I'd sooner drop kick it on to the back of a Car Take Back lorry in exchange for £375 (their current bid, not that I check before it's MOT last week) and save myself the hassle, however for what it's worth, ie such a low amount... it's worth way more to me as a thing. Like you, I've debated selling it and getting something newer, faster, shinier but I keep talking myself out of it with tragic thought processes like "Yes but do you really need to go any faster" or "You'd just be annoyed if a new car got scratched... when you were using the bonnet as a makeshift workbench to cut kitchen work tops on"
Occasionally I have rash thought processes including a nice set of OEM 18" alloys... which it had back in the day, but it's now on much more shed acceptable spec 16" versions, kerbed to buggery and flaking nicely, obviously. I even had a mad plan to put the facelift front end on it, whilst thinking "Yeah, that'd freshen it up..." before having visions of my wife ramming the gate in the field open with it. You laugh, but that's how she opens it using the "decent" XC70 and to be honest, any car that has survived my care free usage for more than a year is doing something right... but the V50 has managed that for 6 years but has also shrugged off 6 years of utter abused courtesy of my wife and kids too so to be honest, when it does finally go, it better be to the Volvo museum in Gothenburg as it deserves it.
Mine is my daily so it does get regular use, so I can definitely justify keeping it, I just sometimes find myself wanting something more exciting as a daily as my total mileage isn't that high.I'd sooner drop kick it on to the back of a Car Take Back lorry in exchange for £375 (their current bid, not that I check before it's MOT last week) and save myself the hassle, however for what it's worth, ie such a low amount... it's worth way more to me as a thing. Like you, I've debated selling it and getting something newer, faster, shinier but I keep talking myself out of it with tragic thought processes like "Yes but do you really need to go any faster" or "You'd just be annoyed if a new car got scratched... when you were using the bonnet as a makeshift workbench to cut kitchen work tops on"
Occasionally I have rash thought processes including a nice set of OEM 18" alloys... which it had back in the day, but it's now on much more shed acceptable spec 16" versions, kerbed to buggery and flaking nicely, obviously. I even had a mad plan to put the facelift front end on it, whilst thinking "Yeah, that'd freshen it up..." before having visions of my wife ramming the gate in the field open with it. You laugh, but that's how she opens it using the "decent" XC70 and to be honest, any car that has survived my care free usage for more than a year is doing something right... but the V50 has managed that for 6 years but has also shrugged off 6 years of utter abused courtesy of my wife and kids too so to be honest, when it does finally go, it better be to the Volvo museum in Gothenburg as it deserves it.
It showed a low pad warning coming back from Yorkshire at the weekend, checked through the wheels and one side was lower than the other. Upon putting it on a lift yesterday the inner pad on that side is almost gone!
The wheel is draggy, but it isn't too bad. I have cleaned that caliper in the past but didn't remove the slide pins. I'm picking up some pads from a motor factors later- they're slightly more than online but I would rather support a local business and if they end up being incorrect (gsf lists about 5 for my car!) then I can easily take them back. At some point next week I'll pull the pins out and hope that that they are what is sticking a bit. If not, I will probably go for a recon caliper but in many cases it is the sliders which can be revived.
I also noticed that a front droplink bush was looking a bit worse for wear when it was on the lift, so I'll get a pair of those from the factors as they're £14each.
bodhi said:
Looks like the Shedvic has been getting tips off the BMW it shares a drive with and has started using / losing oil. I had it changed about 3000 miles ago and it looks to have used about half a litre - it's a 1.8 VTEC that only really does short trips. Should I be worried?
Good thing is it uses the same oil as the BMW so I have plenty hanging around
Thats well within tolerance. The Type R was known for it to be "normal" to use 500ml oil in 1,000 miles.Good thing is it uses the same oil as the BMW so I have plenty hanging around
Gordon Hill said:
Well on the plus side the ride quality is incredible, auto gearbox and engine smooth as silk and I don't do many miles so fuel cost us negligible. Only rust is a little bit on each wheel arch the rest is spotless. Heated leather seats, all the toys avantgarde spec, someone paid 30+ grand for it in 2005! Remapped to 230bhp so goes like a stabbed rat.
Downside it's German, it's complicated and it's German. But if it costs £500 to test what else could I buy that would give me all that? Time to break out the spanners and get dirty I think.
Ahh - mine is also an Avantgarde but far more of a shed than that: last year was some botchit welding to rebuild behind the rear bumper on both sides. Lots of bubbling on all the wheel arches and front wings too. Aircon is fubar but the heated seats are ace. Just make sure the MOT tester doesn't sit in the passenger seat as the SRS lights up on and off when someone is sat there. 7 kids from different families have knackered the interior plastics and a scaffolding lorry has just tDownside it's German, it's complicated and it's German. But if it costs £500 to test what else could I buy that would give me all that? Time to break out the spanners and get dirty I think.
tted the drivers side door mirror knackering the auto-dim function. The ride quality at the back is horrible because Merc took 3 attempts to supply the correct rear dampers and still couldn't get it right!BUT I can park it anywhere in the city and no-one will touch it. In fact my wife left it parked, unlocked with the keys in the ignition for 4 days and it still didn't go anywhere! Needed a new battery after that escapade... The engine is smooth, it will do 45mpg on a run, 30 or so round town, turning circle is tiny and it is narrow so goes down Victorian streets very well.
I love the old school wait for it.... wait for it.... thump turbo lag and I like the idea of a map as it more than keeps up with modern traffic as it is.
BenS94 said:
Thats well within tolerance. The Type R was known for it to be "normal" to use 500ml oil in 1,000 miles.
Mixed experience with mine, K20a2 seemed to drink high(ish) amounts in first year of ownership but even with a good blast nowadays I've not had to top it up between services which was about 10,000 miles. Even kept checking it barely dropped. Think it might be a wake up call to drive it in the typical ASBO manner they are all driven these days.GlenMH said:
Gordon Hill said:
Well on the plus side the ride quality is incredible, auto gearbox and engine smooth as silk and I don't do many miles so fuel cost us negligible. Only rust is a little bit on each wheel arch the rest is spotless. Heated leather seats, all the toys avantgarde spec, someone paid 30+ grand for it in 2005! Remapped to 230bhp so goes like a stabbed rat.
Downside it's German, it's complicated and it's German. But if it costs £500 to test what else could I buy that would give me all that? Time to break out the spanners and get dirty I think.
Ahh - mine is also an Avantgarde but far more of a shed than that: last year was some botchit welding to rebuild behind the rear bumper on both sides. Lots of bubbling on all the wheel arches and front wings too. Aircon is fubar but the heated seats are ace. Just make sure the MOT tester doesn't sit in the passenger seat as the SRS lights up on and off when someone is sat there. 7 kids from different families have knackered the interior plastics and a scaffolding lorry has just tDownside it's German, it's complicated and it's German. But if it costs £500 to test what else could I buy that would give me all that? Time to break out the spanners and get dirty I think.
tted the drivers side door mirror knackering the auto-dim function. The ride quality at the back is horrible because Merc took 3 attempts to supply the correct rear dampers and still couldn't get it right!BUT I can park it anywhere in the city and no-one will touch it. In fact my wife left it parked, unlocked with the keys in the ignition for 4 days and it still didn't go anywhere! Needed a new battery after that escapade... The engine is smooth, it will do 45mpg on a run, 30 or so round town, turning circle is tiny and it is narrow so goes down Victorian streets very well.
I love the old school wait for it.... wait for it.... thump turbo lag and I like the idea of a map as it more than keeps up with modern traffic as it is.
BenS94 said:
bodhi said:
Looks like the Shedvic has been getting tips off the BMW it shares a drive with and has started using / losing oil. I had it changed about 3000 miles ago and it looks to have used about half a litre - it's a 1.8 VTEC that only really does short trips. Should I be worried?
Good thing is it uses the same oil as the BMW so I have plenty hanging around
Thats well within tolerance. The Type R was known for it to be "normal" to use 500ml oil in 1,000 miles.Good thing is it uses the same oil as the BMW so I have plenty hanging around
Shedding has taken an odd turn for me...bought something completely out of my usual and the complete opposite of my P38 Range Rover
IMG_20230331_174727 by Steve, on Flickr
So before anyone gets in with the hairdresser jokes or anything
It cost £200 with a boot full of spares.
Basically a friend bought this car with a broken timing belt to do a charity rally thing around all the UKs race tracks, swapped in the 1.8 that came out of my coupe when I did the B204 conversion...ran it for a few hundred miles after the rally and the clutch went, and it's been parked up since with half the job done. So seeing as I've known the engine since it had 6k on it, and I've never owned a convertible I decided it'd make a great summer shed and if I hate it I can move it on with the leather interior swapped with the cloth out of my coupe
Pardon the mess of the workshop and the mud all over the front from trailering it home
IMG_20230331_174727 by Steve, on FlickrSo before anyone gets in with the hairdresser jokes or anything
It cost £200 with a boot full of spares. Basically a friend bought this car with a broken timing belt to do a charity rally thing around all the UKs race tracks, swapped in the 1.8 that came out of my coupe when I did the B204 conversion...ran it for a few hundred miles after the rally and the clutch went, and it's been parked up since with half the job done. So seeing as I've known the engine since it had 6k on it, and I've never owned a convertible I decided it'd make a great summer shed and if I hate it I can move it on with the leather interior swapped with the cloth out of my coupe
Pardon the mess of the workshop and the mud all over the front from trailering it home
carinaman said:
Does anyone have any experience of Ridex branded brake and suspension parts from Autodoc?
Seems there's more expensive Ridex Plus branded suspension parts too.
Not but I buckled and ordered rear shock absorbers from AutoDoc last week and they arrived 48hrs later much to my admiration. Which faded rapidly as I opened the box to find the very specific KYB items I wanted and thought I was getting were actually Sachs. "So what?" you cry, but the KYB are the OEM 515mm and the Sachs... aren't. "No no no, they're correct" insisted AutoDoc. So I pointed out that even Sachs don't list them for my car, only the standard V70 whereas mine is the outdoorsy tSeems there's more expensive Ridex Plus branded suspension parts too.
t spec XC. Th quickly dropped their defence and said "Sure, just send them back... at your cost" at which stag I decided I'd had enough and went full blown male Karen. So, they sent me a return label and said they'll only refund once they have received and inspected the parts. maybe my payment terms should have been the same. So they're still sat here and I'm now debating just chucking them on, but I fear my OCD wouldn't cope knowing I'd lost 4m0mm of potential axle articulation and that's important for trips to Tesco and the odd rampage into the hills. So frankly, AutoDoc can f**k right off...
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