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

Well RUM is up for sale on eBay now.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112236191905

I reckon it's a very good thing spending money on a car to get it just right.It's disgusting how most peoples attitude towards cars is "they're disposable"

As soon as I have a permanent job, and got the house sorted the 2011 A3 I bought is getting new brakes, tyres, new fluids, new timing belt and a tiny paint repair and then it'll be perfect and look new. That'll be the family car sorted. Then I can get a project.... anything from an old Volvo wagon to Renault Clio cup. Or something alfa-esque.

What is the viscous fan like?

When was the cambelt last changed?

@IR from my experience don't flush anything, just change the fluids. Often there's some crap holding everything together in an aged gearbox or diff and flushing it will just kill it rather than saving it.

See my Avant is the opposite.

It has the running gear and maintenance record of a swiss watch.

But it looks like a beat up demolition special.

Must be my driving style.

Strong purchase.

Please do it up like Jesse's car from F&F1 in time for the F&F8 release.

Have I missed something, is this beauty known to the forum?

I had a similar experience, bought a Polo 6n that had lived under a tree and rarely been washed, decided i would wash it, washed all the corrosion out of the radiator which then spewed the entire coolant system onto my drive.

Not really, it was there when I bought my defender and I posted a pic of it.

Update:

Switch arrived, I installed it and it worked once, then the O/S indicators sped up. Then stopped working. I removed the switch and reinstalled and now none of them work...

Pull out the dash to take a look at the wiring and I nearly fainted. I need to find whoever the fuck wired this up... has 20+ connectors not hooked up to anything.

3 Attachments

In the top picture you're mostly holding the stereo connectors.

Woo, let's do a rewire.

i was going to say that looks like a generic stereo harness

It is, just found it worrying that there were bare wires that weren't connected to the stereo!

It's got a stereo, LOL

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/222345536027?_trkparms=aid=222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=20150313114020&meid=8634af92ece04c7db91eead360460d51&pid=100338&rk=10&rkt=30&mehot=pp&sd=112236191905&_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_mwBanner=1

Rum looks decent! This yellow empty rotten she'll looks ace, but looks like 2 years of work, empty bay should take a Cummins 6bt though

I think you mean it'll take a small block Chevy.

My 1998 volvo is a bit like that. Stack of paperwork 20" high from dealers and decent independent plus everything I've thrown at it. But everywhere it gets parked it gets rammed "cos it's just an old car mate, didn't even hit it that hard" etc.
My mate did the opposite, bought a 3 year old civic petrol almost poverty spec, assumed new ish Japan petrol would be most reliable thing in the world, it has not been, added to the crippling depreciation I'm at least 8k up on him over a 3 year period.

Chevy make diesel?
Where I lived in the lakes there was a farm guy who had a 109" drop side diy job with a 6bt and a straight pipe out side of back of cab, was in horrific condition, not quick by any standard, but at least it sounded decent and kept the skies dark and oily

Have you done one before? I'm so lost.

I've got dreams of dropping a Cummins turbo diesel v8 into an old landy at some point.

I did a half re-wire on my classic Mini. I'm no specialist. No, really, I'm barely an enthusiast when it comes to wiring, but I can help if you want.

By flushing do you mean adding some sort of cleaning additive, sort of flush chemicals? I agree but it dirt is holding the part together, I just change the fluid in the diffs and gearbox a couple of times and do it after a long run so the oil has been circulating. Also leaving the oil to drain as long as possible.

Rewires are a pain in the arse, I would just by a new loom. That way you have all the right connectors too. If I was to keep the vehicle I would make my own loom and solder all the connectors.

Looms seem to be around £600 and a lot of work. I'm pretty tempted to just strip this one out of everything it doesn't need to pass an MOT and then just add things slowly and neatly.

Is it is there are far more wires than vehicle functions, looking further it seems people have wires up auxiliary lights a fair different times and then either removed or relocated them. Many earths are disconnected as are all the lights in the dash.