I got another shed.
Discussion
DonaldTrump said:
So this mornings weather allowed me to crack on with the clean up. Gave it a quick wash and dry then attacked it with the DA.
Meguiars ultimate compound, 1st pass with the course pad, followed by a 2nd pass with the finer pad. A quick wipe off and I could see a shine in the paint. Next was Autoglym SRP, this was applied with the fine pad and removed with the buffer. Finally Autoglym HD wax, applied by had and buffed off the a lambswool pad on the DA. I'm really please with the results, the old girl is really starting to look presentable. The paint now has a decent shine along with a bit of wax protection.
So now she was all clean it was time to load the dog, then me and the wife took a trip to Wellington monument whereupon a photo opportunity presented itself. You can't really see in the pictures but believe me the difference in the paintwork is incredible.
Looking ace. Use anything special on the exterior plastics? Mine are greyer than yours. Tried AutoGlym bumper gel after a thorough clean. Didn’t appreciably darken, and disappeared all together after 24hrs. I know it gets mixed reviews but I’ve always had good results until now. Apparently AG have a new version out, but I’m going to try Koch Chemie Nano Magic Plastic Care. Not brave enough to try the heat gun method.Meguiars ultimate compound, 1st pass with the course pad, followed by a 2nd pass with the finer pad. A quick wipe off and I could see a shine in the paint. Next was Autoglym SRP, this was applied with the fine pad and removed with the buffer. Finally Autoglym HD wax, applied by had and buffed off the a lambswool pad on the DA. I'm really please with the results, the old girl is really starting to look presentable. The paint now has a decent shine along with a bit of wax protection.
So now she was all clean it was time to load the dog, then me and the wife took a trip to Wellington monument whereupon a photo opportunity presented itself. You can't really see in the pictures but believe me the difference in the paintwork is incredible.
Excellent cars. My brother has had his almost 3 years and it's been an utter soldier with whatever we've put it through. Marched right through the snow last year where our other cars (I'm looking at you E46 325i) completely failed. This year was easy too.
He's quite attached to it now as he doesn't know what to replace it with if he sells it.
He's quite attached to it now as he doesn't know what to replace it with if he sells it.
DonaldTrump said:
For the plastics I use CarPlan auto finish bumper shine. Always gives good results but I'm not sure it's still available. 
I always used to use tyre blackener gel, always comes up a treat! Not sure if it's suitable but worked!Op- get a lift kit and some chunky tyres!
I had one the same as the OP's, I'm regretting selling it, last year!
It had, had a very hard life, previous to me owning it, it was battered and bruised, a total eyesore, had been used off road daily.
I had new suspension bushes fitted, which cured a few clanking noises and I bypassed the, squealing, A/C compressor with a shorter belt, you could barely hear the engine idling then.
For the three years I had it, it never let me down once, despite having done 198K miles, always started first time, even after not being used for over a month.
They love these in Cyprus, there's a whole mini industry refurbishing them and keeping them on the road.
I sold mine within 2 hours of the ad going online, for way more than the OP paid!
For one the same age and condition as the OP's you could expect to pay between 3.5 and 4k Euros,!
It had, had a very hard life, previous to me owning it, it was battered and bruised, a total eyesore, had been used off road daily.
I had new suspension bushes fitted, which cured a few clanking noises and I bypassed the, squealing, A/C compressor with a shorter belt, you could barely hear the engine idling then.
For the three years I had it, it never let me down once, despite having done 198K miles, always started first time, even after not being used for over a month.
They love these in Cyprus, there's a whole mini industry refurbishing them and keeping them on the road.
I sold mine within 2 hours of the ad going online, for way more than the OP paid!
For one the same age and condition as the OP's you could expect to pay between 3.5 and 4k Euros,!
So MOT day arrived. Here's the Rav4 at 8.15am this morning.
8.45am resulted in this.
As you can see, failed on 1 broken rear coil spring. Not to disappointing with that, especially as the mechanic in the local garage is a good friend of mine so 2 hours later I had this.
I am one happy £200 Rav4 shed owner. These apparently suffer from terminal rust mine however is solid with nothing more then a little surface corrosion, my mate commented on how solid it actually was.
The shocks have been uprated to Monroe 4x4, not sure where these rate in the world of aftermarket shocks but I'm sure they are an improvement over the originals. Whilst it was up in the air I used the opportunity to take a few pictures.
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/u8rjQNUq[/url
]
I have now decided I really like this old truck so its a keeper. Next job stereo and speaker upgrade.
8.45am resulted in this.
As you can see, failed on 1 broken rear coil spring. Not to disappointing with that, especially as the mechanic in the local garage is a good friend of mine so 2 hours later I had this.
I am one happy £200 Rav4 shed owner. These apparently suffer from terminal rust mine however is solid with nothing more then a little surface corrosion, my mate commented on how solid it actually was.
The shocks have been uprated to Monroe 4x4, not sure where these rate in the world of aftermarket shocks but I'm sure they are an improvement over the originals. Whilst it was up in the air I used the opportunity to take a few pictures.
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/u8rjQNUq[/url]
I have now decided I really like this old truck so its a keeper. Next job stereo and speaker upgrade.
So as the weather has been really nice today I thought I would crack on with my audio upgrade. New head unit fitted.Pioneer SBH-10BT, this is a great unit, controlled completely by your smart phone, works with both Android Auto and Apple Car Play.
As you can see it even has a built in phone holder. A great improvement over stock but it has only really succeeded in showing how poor the stock speakers are. I have ordered a custom fit rear pair of speakers, they are MTX 6.5" and are a direct replacement. The fronts are proving a little trickier. Google reveals several different sizes for the front so am going to hold off ordering them until i can get the door panels off to confirm sizes.
With the stereo fitted and whilst I was still in the mood I decided on a full engine service. Plugs, leads, oil and filters. Hopefully it will now go on for years to come.
As you can see it even has a built in phone holder. A great improvement over stock but it has only really succeeded in showing how poor the stock speakers are. I have ordered a custom fit rear pair of speakers, they are MTX 6.5" and are a direct replacement. The fronts are proving a little trickier. Google reveals several different sizes for the front so am going to hold off ordering them until i can get the door panels off to confirm sizes.
With the stereo fitted and whilst I was still in the mood I decided on a full engine service. Plugs, leads, oil and filters. Hopefully it will now go on for years to come.
The Rav has been faultless, used daily and has well and truly got under my skin. It's simplicity is a breath of fresh air.
As for fuel economy, that's not so good averaging 26mpg, this is undoubtedly down to the fact it is an auto and permanent 4x4, I would imagine the manual would be a little better.
Cost to me so far.
Purchase £200.
Service parts £76, bought from ECP using one of their sales codes.
New stereo £91, Pioneer SPH-10BT controlled from your smart phone.
4 new speakers, MTX 6.75" fronts £50, Pioneer 5" rears £19 from eBay.
front brake disc, pads, brake hoses and fresh fluid £161 fitted.
Mot £101, this included supplying and fitting the new rear spring which it originally failed on.
Total £698.
The paintwork now looks great, spent last weekend giving it a proper machine polish with my DA polisher. First pass with the cutting pad using Meguiar’s G17216EU Ultimate Compound , second pass with the polishing pad using AG super resin lastly AG high definition wax applied by hand then buffed off with the DA.Result is and nice deep shine and beading rain water.
The Rav will now continue to be my daily driver, nothing else needs to be done so I'm hoping for a couple of years trouble free motoring with it.
As for fuel economy, that's not so good averaging 26mpg, this is undoubtedly down to the fact it is an auto and permanent 4x4, I would imagine the manual would be a little better.
Cost to me so far.
Purchase £200.
Service parts £76, bought from ECP using one of their sales codes.
New stereo £91, Pioneer SPH-10BT controlled from your smart phone.
4 new speakers, MTX 6.75" fronts £50, Pioneer 5" rears £19 from eBay.
front brake disc, pads, brake hoses and fresh fluid £161 fitted.
Mot £101, this included supplying and fitting the new rear spring which it originally failed on.
Total £698.
The paintwork now looks great, spent last weekend giving it a proper machine polish with my DA polisher. First pass with the cutting pad using Meguiar’s G17216EU Ultimate Compound , second pass with the polishing pad using AG super resin lastly AG high definition wax applied by hand then buffed off with the DA.Result is and nice deep shine and beading rain water.
The Rav will now continue to be my daily driver, nothing else needs to be done so I'm hoping for a couple of years trouble free motoring with it.
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