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

Agreed, only spanners should be kept in a garage year round!

I've seen that Diablo in dalston, must be the same one as there can't be that many around

How long has it been around? Only been in the area for 6 or so years and I think this is the first time I've seen it.

love your work dude

Spoke with the upholsterers earlier, they’ve found (a frankly astonishing) 2” of height which they have removed from the drivers seat base- which is extremely promising.

They’ve had to send the car off to have the roof frame looked at though, which is a bit of a worry. We’ll see what the implications of that are.

are you back?

Nope, New Zealand tomorrow, back in London late Tuesday

Yes plus the cams and carbs were different to give torque lower down for the vans

Are you sure the crabbing is not just optical illusion? The rear is a fair bit wider than the front and the flanks are a little concave?
Otherwise, maybe it is a replica.

Mercedes W124 is a much better car than a W123. The pre-facelift W114/5 looks and feels much more special than both (I have owned all three).

I like the design purity of the 986 2.5. Objectively the later 2.7 and S are better cars though.

I was shopping for Boxsters a few weeks back. Ended up with...

Individual throttle bodies, Megasquirt, LSD, semi-slick tyres, Lotus Elise seats etc.

Is fun.

How’s the automatic, incremental weight loss system which Mazda fitted to the chassis of these doing?

Not bad. Hasn't seen a welder yet at least.

yyyeaaahhhh ITB buddies

Nice.

Think you made the right choice, when you were looking at boxsters did you go and look at the cheaper ones and the more expensive. What feeling did you get?

PS You want a nice Mr2 mk3 with the lotus engine ;)

But what has that gotto do with taking the piss out of the porsche van owners ;)

Have you seen the prices recently?

Can i join the ITB club?

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I concur. The MX5 is going to be way more fun than a dull-as-hell Boxster.

Are they comparable bhp per tonne wise?

The mk3 mr2 block, pistons and head were dropped off at serdi and caused some humour.
Now some of the bits have been scanned, x ray'd and crystalline structure of the materials investigated, cracked tested, video'd and photographed. I can now say the engine is proper fucked.

How much is a 97 boxster sub 100k worth? service history for about half of that. Then one that has been off road for a few years? 5k if you are lucky?

Mk3 Mr2 with the 190bhp celica / corolla /elise engine should be a bit more fun...

I had a look at a couple of Boxsters in the £3-5.5k bracket. In many cases variations in price did not reflect condition. Poor histories. Worn interiors. Nexen tyres a plenty...

The only car I looked at that felt 'right' was an early 2.5 (black with red interior) but it had sold by the time I got to Portiacraft to view it. Also missed out on a nice and very well priced privately advertised 3.2S. I think there are some good cars out there in the sub £5k bracket but decent examples don't hang around for long.

Talking of MR2s, I really like the idea of something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IphqU9x7Ow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxjPBqYl3II

I was only interested in the flat six howl. Membership of ITB club goes some way to compensate.

Flat six on ITB’s is something I’m resisting.

Should have bought Bq's one ;)

Does anyone care about the del boy boxster? First is cleaning, the car even had moss in the doors. So first was a moss remover that wouldn't damage the paint or the hood. So far I have visited two porker dealers (Porsche Beckton sorry Porsche centre East) to collect details of how to check if the shell is straight on a certain brand of jig. Just messing about, on level ground and bits of string and tape measures the shell is out of shape. So waste time on putting car on the jig and seeing how bent it is. Then to see it the car can be straightened and then if it can't what panels are needed to straighten it. How much they are new or if they can be bought second hand. Then do I want to go to essex every day to do actual work to the car.

Even then how much will the car be worth and will I make anything on selling it to cover my time costs?

Should I spend more time sourcing a decent 190bhp vvti toyota engine. Drop it in to the MR2 and have a cheap quick impractical two seater.

Weigh the Boxster shell in, its scrap that will never be economical to repair.

There’s some money in the engine and transmission, probably the most cash is in the interior.

I’d expect to realise around £1,500 for a quick sale, £2,000 if you hold out for higher prices, plus whatever you get for the shell.

Should I spend more time sourcing a decent 190bhp vvti toyota engine. Drop it in to the MR2 and have a cheap quick impractical two seater.

F20C or don't bother.

Interior not great, needs to be cleaned at the very least. Engine and box not been started for at least 3 years. Car has sat outside for 3-5 years. I've not started the car. Wanted to look down the bores to see the condition if the bores have gone rusty....