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

No point, you'll only ever sell the engine as spares, couple of hundred quid complete - slightly more if you split it into parts. The majority of the cash is in the gearbox rather than the engine I would think.

It's never going to repay the effort to break it, unless you value your own time very lightly.

How much work to make the f20c then the electrics to make the magic happen?

190bhp and the engine fits straight in the car, all the electrics are there and just ecu swap. Enough people have done this, seem that the engine doesn't have a battled sump so suffers from oil starvation on track days. If the car is over reved by gear change the oil pump grenades itself and scraps the engine. Same engine is fitted to the Elise....

Finding an engine that is checkable and not more than buying a cheap celica or corolla.

And that is the reality.

You are right, I know you are right... so why does it feel like a fucking defeat?

Admittedly the cheap and cheerful option but F20c is the undeniably more excellent option.

genuine regamasters?

Seems to get stuck in mini's and other hondas.

There was a glut of engines as people didn't seem to be able to drive the s2000 and trashed them.

Always wanted an s800 coupe.

10K....

I've done tonnes of trackdays in the past with Elises and Exige using the 2ZZ-GE engine and I never noticed any problems with the lack of a baffled sump. Is it just a problem when you downshift and jump over the limiter? If so then it's understandable that something is going to let go.

Congratulations. This looks like a great example and way more fun than a standard Boxter. I really feel that everyone into cars should own a Mk1 MX5 at least once.

@OldSpeed looks great, nice to see those original spot welds in the arches. Pretty sure all dipstick handles came broken from new

Nice! What sort of filter setup are you going for?

Even in the dry, vaguely warm weather we had yesterday, traction is a pipe dream in the Volvo.

RS3 vs 640d vs Volvo had the Volvo losing a good car length on launch but once into boost in 2nd gear reeled them in easily. It is quite fast.

Next step was going to be a meth tank in the spare wheel well and an injection system in the intake, the reduction in temps along with the increase in fuelling should allow more boost and more timing/resist reducing timing for longer. We thought around 30bhp from that.

That’s not going to help traction, of course.

The Aston came back from it's annual service & MoT yesterday. £1215 including VAT.

The rear subframe had a bit of rust on it (pretty much the only steel section in the whole chassis), so the whole car is now going to have to be repainted I had a mere £240 bill to treat and repaint that. The perils of buying a car from Aberdeen I guess.

There was £110 for a wheel refurb, cos I scraped it on the concrete kerb of a French péage but otherwise a lovely clean bill of health, and ready for more continental adventures this weekend.

Aston Martin, being cheeky sods, only put 8 spaces for service stamps in the handbook, and then have the temerity to charge £15 for an extension service record. This is despite the handbook being loose leaf, and it being trivial to insert extra pages.

genuine regamasters?

Unfortunately not. Replicas. Not my cuppa. I also have a set of daisies to try.

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

The seed has been sown.

@OldSpeed looks great, nice to see those original spot welds in the arches. Pretty sure all dipstick handles came broken from new

Ha!

Yes, the body is solid thankfully but needs some preventative treatment if it's going to stay that way. The paint is pretty terrible but i'm not worried about that.

@bq

The Aston came back from it's annual service & MoT yesterday. £1215 including VAT.

Could be a lot worse. So from this thread we can conclude that it is more cost effective to run an Aston than a Volvo, or a 911, or pretty much anything else?

Except for my RRC that is. Ruinous to run by reputation but treated to a service with good quality oil and filters for less than £50 last weekend as a reward for faithful service in the snow a few weeks back.

It currently wants for two new electric window switches but those will have to wait a little while at £6 a pop.

They’ve got to make money somehow!

It being an old Range Rover, you can probably take apart the window switches and clean the contacts up. And if it has a rear window cutout switch that often needs the same treatment.
My SD1 needed this periodically. Watch for pinging springs when you open them up.

Electrical contact cleaner spray was essentially a cure all for the 1992 Vogue we had when I was a kid. Still haven't forgiven my old man for selling it before I got my driving license.

It had a Mazda 35slt engine swap with a big turbo and limited slip diff on the rear. Absolute beast.

I took the MG out for a spin last night and only got as far as Honor Oak before I lost all power and got some backfiring.

As I opened the bonnet and started nosing unknowledgeably inside a chap called Ian wandered over and asked if I was OK. He then spent half an hour helping me out, went to his house for tools, got me running again and chucked me a can of classic car oil he had no further use for.

I learned two things: I probably need a new fuel line filter and that people are lovely.

Thanks Ian of Honor Oak.

Awesome! People are indeed lovely.

Something like this

I think I've just bought another Peugeot 306... This is a worry!
Couldn't turn it down. It's a 2001 xsi and it's in great condition. Engine has 250,000 kilometers on it but should be fine. Certainly runs well.
As a bonus the paint is 95% perfect and a good polish is all it needs.
The only negative is that now i can't get the Citroen xantia I wanted. Oh well, it wasn't a Activa so nothing special.

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I'd have gone xantia. Pug cheaper ;)