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

Matiz maybe

@Dammit I think this guy might want to buy your Volvo for another project :D

https://scontent.flhr3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14354930_1002198539848988_2171109775194160315_n.jpg?oh=e69d50a4c282c960cd225419676c1d80&oe=5AD951DB

Chevrolet Matiz? @Cycliste's father has one. He went to inordinate lengths to find one in the exact spec and colour he wanted. I have no idea why. Other than that, he has fairly good taste in cars - Turner Mk2, Rochdale Olympic, Minor Traveller, Bristol 403, Austin A35 and the rest.

I wondered

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_Mantis

I remember that guys 505 Bozozuku project on retro cars. Looked mean as hell! Didn't he have a super cool Metro on banded steelies too?

Never thought I'd see a bozozuku 505, hilarious. If I get my GTi it won't go down that path. I could imagine a sr20det conversion, but not that!

Yeah it was pretty wild. It started off as a pretty rusty project from memory so he just went to town on it as a bit of fun. These are the best pictures I could find of it on google.

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Yeah that’s him, and the John Deere mini he built.

Yes. He prob still has it

I can see a V70 and a 245, but I'm sure there's more in that mongrel

This is the lifter carrier:

Which is a cast item known to crack if more aggressive cams are used.

Does anyone have experience of getting this sort of item machined from a billet?

If so, could you give me a rough approximation of cost?

Engine light on this morning. I've soon had it with old cars.

I had to get an Uber to the airport when the Volvo didnt start, which was annoying.

How big is the bit of billet you'd need?

Also you'd need this x2?

We live in the sticks, there's not even a local taxi company here.

Even worse, our handed down Renault Megane that I hate with a vengeance just keeps on going. It gets nothing but angry looks, sighs and petrol, and it flies through every MOT and starts every time. When I moan about the Saab, my ms just says 'use the renault' and every time I moan about the renault she says 'well at least it's working, unlike the saab'...

Is it new enough to have ODB2? if so, get a cheap WiFi code reader and a phone app to read and clear it.

On old cars the engine light meant "your engine is going to explode" but on modern stuff it usually means "a £5 exhaust sensor got a bit wet" My Porsche used to flick the light on all the time, but the code was always identical for the same sensor on both banks, which is kind of impossible for them both to fail at exactly the same time, in the same way. Apparently it was a problem in the software and if I had been bothered to take it to a Porsche dealer they would have reflashed it with a bugfixed version.

Nice idea, i'll look into it

I’ll need to get some measurements- not small though, think 3/4’s of a standard four cylinder lifter carrier, then *2

Do you know where they crack? You'll need to add design time, billet stock cost and machining time/process into the mix. I know some places but you'd need a design first

In the valley, typically. It would also be a requirement to optimise the design for a smaller base-circle and (cakism!) if possible move to better lifters.

That’d allow us to grind OEM camshafts to our spec without things going bang.

He had that beige Metro turbo in the first issue of Retro Cars too, right?

Christ, I log out for a couple of months, come back and we're doing full resprays and machining entire custom engine... things. Thanks for not letting me down!

Found a new cunt: Archie Hamilton Racing on insta, some didn't-cut-it-in-motorsport daddy funded turbomeff mugging to camera next to a range of boring 'wrapped' cars. Fuck off.

The GT3 side skirts and lip looks shite

Get an obd thing & Google the code. Is yours a diesel or petrol? The only time ours started flashing the engine light was when the ignition thing on top of the engine failed.