Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Yep, all mine.

Saw that the alloys it has go for £300-400 on forums, meaning that changing them for AMGs or replicas should be possible without too much outlay.

So my nice new car didn't start first time this morning, despite it having done so all the other times I've tried it. This does not bode well - the evil mouth of the money pit has been opened, never to be closed again.

Long landrover is long.

when i bought my old volvo it worked flawlessly until i showed it to my dad, when it wouldn't start! did eventually though, it was just damp, and has been pretty good since. Probably going to fail the MOT next week mind, so I might sell/scrap it and buy something else.

Have you started it every other time? Or was it the seller? There might be a trick that you don't know about that he's neglected to mention. Due to the bodies, mine needs positive throttle to start or it will just crank all day.

Or as @diable says, wait and see if it happens again, it could just be a complete coincidence.

WRT alloys, if it was me I'd leave that standard, it looks great as is, it's a proper retro cruiser. I'd worry that if you started modding it, it would end up looking a bit 90s Essex.

If you are going to lower it and change the wheels, you definitely need to go smaller and wider or lower offset, and change the shock absorbers if you put lowering springs on. There's nothing worse than a lowered 25 year old car on knackered shock absorbers that pogos about the place.

Also I'm hardly one to talk about not modifying cars.

That looks amazing.

Mine needs a new mohair hood, but there's not many coming up for sale at the moment. It's also the wrong time to be trying to buy a working hood as everyone with a faulty hood now wants one to be able to put it down in the sun.

My first project on the new car, other than having to get a wing fixed already (too much lock for the ride height!):

This is the setup somebody else has done that I'm copying.

This is how it works:

On the far right is a 12V to 5V step down with a component 5V out and 4xUSB ports
That step down feeds the powered USB hub via the 5V out and the 4xUSB ports can power

1. Nexus 7 (to connect to Mega Squirt)
   
2. iPod
   
3. 2 x phones
   
   

The big bit in the middle is a "bare bones" 4 channel amplifier with 2 x RCA inputs powered by 12V input

So how does it all work together?

Essentially the Nexus 7 is connected to the step down and USB hub via a OTG Y cable. The step down provides power, the USB hub allows multiple USB connections to the Nexus 7. The Mega Squirt and a USB soundcard plug into the USB hub allowing me 2 spare ports on the hub for connecting a hard drive or USB pens. The USB soundcard outputs sound to the amplifier which connects to the speakers so the Nexus 7 outputs it's sound through the car speakers. A rom called USB rom allows me to charge and USB host on the Nexus 7 at the same time, and there's an option called fast charging which I can enable on that rom to ensure it doesn't use more power than it gets (a problem with the cheaper chinese tablets).

What does that mean in the car?

The Nexus 7 can talk to the Mega Squirt - that's no big deal, I can do that now.
However, it can now also play music, be a sat nav, and play videos, importantly through the car speakers, use the internet via phone tethering, and also do lap timing using Harry's lap timer or something similar.
I can also charge two phones and have my iPod charging at the same time, and if required I can switch from listening to sound from the Nexus 7 and plug a separate aux cable into a phone or the iPod.

All of this is important because as well as being a car for being abused, me and my gf drive about the country to see friends and family in it quite often and I'm intending to go to Germany more often too. If I'm by myself I don't mind wearing headphones, but with my gf it'll be a pain to both have to wear headphones on a 3+ hour journey

The guy who did that also wired in 2 x Mobius dash cams, one on the front for trackdays and one on the back as a reversing camera that pops up on the tablet via the Mobius app, and an expensive 10Hz bluetooth GPS receiver to increase GPS accuracy massively. Which makes a huge difference when doing lap timing.

I'm not too bothered about the dash cams but will probably upgrade to the bluetooth GPS receiver at some point. I want to test out to see how good or bad the internal GPS is first.

@NurseHolliday - that set-up looks amazing. Are you wiring it all up yourself? Can you add a Wi-Fi module to have an in-car network?

Yes, buy a CX.

I have a couple of spare GLIs if you want one, nursey...

Thanks for the offer, but I bought 2 already. They were a fiver each on Amazon and I managed to buy all the other components from Amazon too so I just added them in to the basket. I needed two, one for each input.

Yeah there's not much actual wiring involved. The step down is going to be from the constant live that normally goes to the head unit. I'm going to put an illuminated switch in there to remember to turn it off, but I want to keep it on constant live so I can sit in the car and use the tablet without having to keep the key turned on, you just flick the constant live switch to power it all up.

Then a couple of wires to connect the step down to the powered USB hub, the one I've bought has a DC 5V input so you just cut end of the cable off, strip the cables, and the step down uses screw down terminals so no soldering required.

The amplifier is going to be on the switched live that normally goes to the stereo so that will come on when I turn the key.

The only real soldering will be the switch on the constant live to the step down, and I quite like soldering so I'm up for that, not an issue.

Will have to drill a hole somewhere for the switch, but I've got a couple on the centre console already so that's not a problem, and then try it fit it all in the space where a double din stereo would normally fit but that should be plenty. I will need to make sure the step down's heatsink has plenty of free space around it though. I can then just run extension USB cables to the glove box, or just poking out of the back of the centre tombstone on the passenger side to connect phone cables and iPod to.

There's an extensive thread on the MX5 forum, and the guy who did it first is really responsive and helpful so he's already talked me through the setup, I'm just waiting for the parts to arrive today and tomorrow so I can put it all together on Friday and then test fit in the car next week.

Page 949:

949 Racing's 6UL wheel - the ones I want to replace my BBS reps with

Er are the track day people ok with webcams?

Also I recommend the separate gps module as that is what all the data logging people have.

MX5, their website looks good, much cheaper than other places who want £500 for a mohair with plastic window!!

I started it the other times. After work it protested a little but started first time. Maybe it's the 'cold' of overnight, but if that's the case I'd be fucked come Autumn, let alone winter.

I need to get the throttle cable replaced soon anyway so I'll get the garage to have a general look over/diagnosis as well and hope to fuck it's not the cold start valve that I read costs £400.

If it did nothing when you turned the key, has it got an alarm immobiliser? An old dealer-fit scorpion with a red siren? Rip the fucking thing out if it has and reconnect the starter motor and central locking wires if it has.
Or is it an auto, and you didn't have it in Park?
The other cause of nothing happening, if it's like W124s is the ignition barrel. They fail, but usually it's by never letting you have the key.
If it attempted to turn over but couldn't summon the necessary puff, how old is the battery? get a new one.
If it span healthily but didn't fire then more likely to be one of the fuel/spark/air things - with a car that has been sat, non-metal components degrade, fuel pumps seize, things that should move start to stick.

It started and then spluttered and died, even when I tried to give it revs it juddered and stopped.

Battery and spark plugs are new so I don't think it's them - but that may also suggest it's been a problem that the previous owner also tried to fix. There's a step through guide on the 190 forum I will try when my Haynes arrives - most of the parts named I've never even heard of.

Ah, might be worthwhile to chat to the vendor and get the truth of if the problem was there and what he did to repair it, tell him your happy with the car just want to get it sorted.

Agreed. Ask the previous owner, no point going over old ground.

Because I like taking long shots on car problems I'm going for a clogged fuel filter because it's been sat so long.

I'm going for cold start relay, a temperature sensor or one of the fuel pumps.
But as I couldn't fix mine, you probably want someone else's advice :-)

To be fair BQ there were other priorities going on.

We had a CX Estate in Black when I was kid. It was terrific. My dad loved it. Alas, he bought it for my mum (as he's in the trade she's always had little say in what she drove) and she hated it. Called it a hearse and it lasted 2 weeks before it was back on the forecourt.

He's had a DS19 for the last 5 or 6 years and it's a glorious thing. Its had a few niggling problems but puts a massive smile on your face every time you get in it. Like all classics, they are on the rise but are still reasonably attainable. I suspect a bigger problem with CX's (as well as other similar age citroens like the GS) is finding a decent one. I can't remember the last time I saw one.

I really want a Renault 5 GT Turbo in OG condition.
Like, really bad.....