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

We bought a civic direct from a Honda main dealer. It's first MOT and service was nearly £500!!!

Never been back.

new or 2nd hand?

I know it's something to buy a used car with full dealer service history but I've concluded it's something I'll never do, just like buying a brand new car. Speaking personally ofcourse.

It begins, machining a fixture to hold the heads to the flow bench:

Ports, as Porsche provided them:

Mike's going to test flow with a bore of 96mm and then 100mm (3.4l to 3.7l) in order to see the impact of de-shrouding the valves by moving the cylinder walls outward by 3mm.

You've pulled the engine??

Nope, they're spare heads.

A owl?

Indubitably

Mmm. Jap Wagons.

@Dammit not that you need your expenditure validating but my dad's Hartech bill is 12.5k inc VAT. That's just for the engine rebuild, nothing else.

What do you get for the 12.5k? Is that fully reconditioned, new nicasil, new pistons and valves and all that jazz or just to strip and replace the damaged bits?

That's quite a cool Mitsubishi wagon. Makes me want a JDM car off some kind. Have been having a look at ek Civic type r but that wagon ticks a few practical boxes, hmmm

Got 2 flats in Wales last week and changed them all by myself. I'm a big boy now.

In other news - brake pedal is vibrating. Am I going to die? (And will it be related to the brake pedal vibrating). Had a quick read and seems to be something needs truing - much $$$ ?

Sounds like wobbly discs. I think you can sometimes fix them but replacement shouldn't be too pricey. Depends on the car though. What make / model?

Yeah Could be a warped disc(s)

You can "skim" discs but it depends how bad they are, and you normally have to put new pads in at the same time anyway

Ta both - Kia Cee'd 2008 - I did some stopping tests at various speeds and it still does the job. Don't have any more long journeys coming up so presuming it'll be safe to use around Brighton where it's a 20mph limit for the most?

It's not the ABS triggering is it?

No warning lights :/ but tbh wouldn't know (assuming it's supposed to light up) if it was.

More noticeable down hill than up. Seems worse at around 50mph reducing to 20/30 coming into towns/villages. 70/80 down to 50 on motorway slip roads not too bad, lower speeds i.e. 20/30 to stop/give way not too bad.

You probably didn't do the wheels up properly after changing the flats.

Could be warped discs, could be worn suspension bushes. Discs are more likely. I can't imagine skimming the discs on a Kia would be cost-effective. The cost of the work would be more than the cost of replacement discs.

Everything on here plus more https://www.hartech.org/rebuild-prices

So yeah a full rebuild, not just part replacement. Apparently his engine was fuuuuucked

Nah, it was there before. And I only changed to the emergency wheels and got them done properly at a place out there.

I have noticed a bit of extra bounce if that's worth noting? I'll book it in with the mechanic to take a look in a couple of weeks - need to recover from new boiler first : )

Everything on here plus more https://www.hartech.org/rebuild-prices

So yeah a full rebuild, not just part replacement. Apparently his engine was fuuuuucked

Scored bores+borked IMS bearing?

I take it he decided against the capacity increase?

eek... i might be the owner of a mini. sleepless and bored on paternity leave, i appear to have had a late night offer for a sweet little car in howard racing brown accepted. same colour as my 1275gt.

the mrs is going to kill me, but i might just belt aroud in it for a while then shift it on. it is a bargain after all...