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

Yeah, that does look to be the extent of the fixtures. Any tips on where to source the part? There’s some on eBay, but could wait indefinitely for the exact right one in the right colour to crop up.

Owners forums are good for "anyone got one of these", but faster might be speciality breakers - find out what your paint code is before calling and saying "sort of brown".

Postage will be steep, but you might have more luck at a swedish breakers as there's heaps of volvos over here. This is a national database, let me know if you need a hand with the language :)

https://www.bildelsbasen.se/

edit: they have an english version: https://en.bildelsbasen.se/

So, interestingly the MX5 is ULEZ compliant... Must be something to do with a fuck up when it was imported, but I'll take it!

Sorry I forgot mk1 or mk2? 1.8 or 1.6?

MK1 1.8

That's handy.

I’ve got some new shocks and springs to fit to my Scooby. Can anyone recomend a decent place in N London/ herts area to do this?

Been on a couple of Subaru forums asking, not having much joy finding someone good local.

Aren't imports usually exempt from things like this as they don't have the same testing standards in the country of origin.

I’ve got some new shocks and springs to fit to my Scooby.

You still selling? Has been on my mind for a while now...

Thanks for the bumper help. Unsurpised to not have heard back from Volvo. Am homing in on a colour-match breaker spare for about £130 delivered. Owner’s club Facebook group advising me it’s a ten minute job max, and that I should find it easy to get any old colour part and ‘just get is sprayed’. Not sure about that.

Actually really looking forward to sorting this out by myself.

Decent bumper spray is ~£300. I'd get a good condition bumper in the right colour, personally.

Then repaint the whole car and rebuild the engine. And change the seats for carbon buckets.

One does not simply replace one component.

I lol but, in the parts search, I’ve found a slightly nicer, newer, lower mileage and larger engine-sized V50 in the same colour. No one would even have the slightest fucking clue that it’s a different car (unless they noticed that the roof rails are contrast. Which no-one I know ever would, even if you showed them pictures).

I’m now mentally planning doing the fix, getting a detail and PX’ing against it. It’s like a disease.

Actually, I’ll just buy it, garage it, and gradually make it perfect but never use it, then not give a shit about the current one and spend the bare minimum on it. That’s the dream.

As a bare minimum.

I’m going to harass Volvo for the quote when I have time. Pretty sure that, if they can (be arsed to) do it, it will be some NoS part, shipped from some warehouse in Belgium, via a re-spray, resulting in a write-off.

My Golf is in with a local dude down here for a new wing, two door skins and two repairs after a run in with a hedgerow.

£920 (+ VAT). He said it would definitely be a write off through insurance. A WRITE OFF! A £6,500 written off by a bit over a grand’s worth of damage. Bonkers.

Know what you mean, I sometimes feel my insurance is pointless... Well not to the insurance companies obviously. Having a 23yr old car that cost me £3,000 and hasn't appreciated yet means I fear the day anything happens. My affection for the car unfortunately isn't of any currency so expect to be told it's a write off if the wing mirror gets scratched.

The reason you pay for it is to indemnify against huge care and compensation costs for you or a third party in the event of a collision.

The material cost of the actual car is, well, immaterial.

The material cost of the actual car is, well, immaterial.

It's not to me :(

I wonder if you can get a seperate policy that just covers repair work?

I wonder if you can get a seperate policy that just covers repair work?

Open an ISA.

True dat. But it takes time to fill it up and the crash might happen soon.

Long overdue update on the classic trial that me, my dad and his pal took part in at the end of May. After the first trial my dad did 2 weeks before (The Yorkshire Dales Classic Trial) it was decided that modifications would be required to make the BM even slightly more capable. We fitted 330D shocks and remounted the dampers on the front which gave a couple of inches of extra clearence. The back was much harder to lift so we ended up with a reverse drag rake. We then had a friend make a sump/bash guard for us to protect the sump and rad. Aside from that we didn't do much more.

What followed was the swift destruction of the poor car but it got us a lot further than we or anyone else thought and more importantly got us home. Sans side skirts (with fairly agressive dents in the sills) and the space saver that was ripped off of the bottom of the car on one particularly punishing section. Honestly, most of the stuff in the trial I wouldn't have taken a 4x4 up. One of the sections that defeated us had a new RR Sport to pull us out and that couldn't do it!

Plans are afoot to really go to town on the car now and see if we can make it complete a trial now!

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