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

It was all a bit too effortless, at least for my 23 year old self.

I prefer noisy raw little cars that need to be worked hard and need driver skill to go fast.

I love e46 m3's but i think I'd buy a lotus before I bought another m3, as soon as I can find a way to fit a fussy girlfriend and greyhound in at the same time.

I'd buy a lotus

Supercharged k20 MK1 Exige.

cars that need to be worked hard and need driver skill to go fast

I really get this, but I also question is this something I cling to as a substitute for not being able to afford a fast car (like the M3). Good to know you still feel this way after experiencing both sides of the coin.

@chak that video was great by the way, love the understatedness of the driver

That's a great engine, I don't think it needs a charger to be insane in a lotus.

A mate of mine had a zzw30 mr2 with a 2zz vvtli engine and it was 80% of a lotus elise at <20% of the cost.

Thing i found with the m3 was that the cost of upkeep soured the experience of ragging it around a track. All things considered it just wasn't as fun as an angry little hatch you don't really care about landing in a gravel trap.

Yep that is what i'm trying to do, finding a decent engine is an issue.

I'm pretty sure he just bought a cheap Celica, took the engine, sold a few bits and scrapped the chassis.

He had a lot of space to do that though.

It's a lot of hassle but you could buy a car in Ireland and export it. You get a tax rebate when you unregister it in Ireland. I got €750 back when I exported my e39 520i msport 2 years ago, I'm sure you'd get something back if you exported a Celica that would offset the cost. Lot of hassle and you'd probably spend the savings on driving it back.

Not my normal type of thing but have been enjoying this home garage series of a guy converting an MG Midget to run on leccy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gh5YkkowEE&list=PLOFQS1cPVoDqy89S4IbfWIdfYVKSP_Tey
&v=_Gh5YkkowEE

Festival of the Unexceptional at Stowe School, just by Silverstone circuit today. Probably the nicest car show I’ve ever been to, tickets go fast.

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Nissan Cherry! I had a Nissan Cherry Turbo!

I guess that would be worth a fortune now, with the desirability of anything Japanese and fastback.

It was written off when someone rear ended me :(

That looks like a great car show.

Road tax on an M3 in Ireland would certainly do that to you alright...

Yeah, €2100 a year was fairly grim

It's actually appalling. Apparently commercial road tax is due to more than double before the end of the year too... pure scum.

can anyone recommend a garage in Telford? Near Ironbridge.

This looks great. It's amazing how little you see of some of the more unassuming cars of the 70's-90's, especially when they had a performance variant that was deemed to be worth saving when they weren't.

What's the law regarding towing a broken down car with another car?
Context - my car is broken down and parked (!) safely off the road at the moment, to get it to a garage, or to my dad's drive to have a go at fixing it, do I need to use a recovery firm, or can I get a mate to tow it? I can buy a towing rod so it's all legit.
The more i right this, the more it seems like a bad idea...

Also, 1999 2.0 rav4 , that's a none-interference engine right, so a busted cambelt hasn't necessarily written off the car?

If it's taxed and MOTd it's road legal so you can tow it yourself.

Where is it? Need a hand?

Quick Google suggests 3S-FE and 3S-GE are non-interference, not sure which is in yours.

I'd love a hand but its currently outside the in-laws house in Ironbridge.
I've changed all the belts on my old Volvo so thinking if the engine is OK I can probably do this one if I can tow it to my dads house and his wealth of tools.
I just called a garage for a quote and they said it was a head off job, check all the valves etc, prices start at £1600. I'm not Dammit, the car only cost a grand!

Where's your dad's house?

IF it definitely isn't interference then it's probably more like £250, "hard" bit is finding TDC to put the new belt on correctly. I'd probably replace any consumables while the front end is stripped, eg cam seals and water pump.

even further west - oswestry. I think towing it 40 miles might be a bit much.
The Toyota forums seems to be littered with people saying its an interference engine because of a list from Toyota, but lots of actual experience saying its a non-interference and is a pretty standard job.

The kits online come with tensioners and water pump, so i might do all that at the same time.
How much does a haulage company usually charge?

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