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

It will send your OCD into overdrive. Otherwise no reason not to.

Ok, next question is does oil go off?

The made on date for my Mobil 1 0w40 is 2007 (1 litre) or 2010 (5 litre, of which 4.5 remaining).

I thought Mobil One was fully synthetic,
whereby you need 'Edge' or 'Magnatech Stop Start' from Castrol;
http://www.castrol.com/en_gb/united-kingdom/car-engine-oil/engine-oil-type/fully-synthetic-oils.html

(The engine is apparently on 5w40 at the moment, so I think 0w40 is ok to mix in. I may be hilariously wrong)

I would expect the fully synthetic base of Mobil One
to prevent oxidation/polymerisation on storage in a sealed container,
let alone the additive package.

Check with your most sensitive sense; smell.

Remove cap, waft any vapours towards your olfactory system.
No big lungfull of sniff from open top.
You will know any off-condition odours.

I'd say that there is. Mobil 1 is a top-end fully-synethetic oil. Castrol GTX is a run-of-the-mill semi-synthetic - i.e. not really synthetic at all, just boggo mineral oil with an extra helping of additives. It'd be like topping up your Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982 with a touch of Casillero del Diablo Merlot.

They all smell fine, but then I'm not sure what smell indicates not fine- an offensive smell?

I might put the 2007 in, it's been sealed all this time and smells fine

Provided the bottles are well sealed (i.e. not left open) they should be fine.

Nowt wrong with a bit of a cuvée.

I buy 20/50 mineral oil then use petrol to thin it out so it's more like Mobil 1.

I kept it all Mobil 1 you will be relieved to hear.

Ah, the old 'red wine + white wine = rosé' technique? Nice.

This should now tell a different story:

Finally some sense.

What an adorable tiny clock it has Neil.

Indeed! It's for ants, I believe.

On the other side of the rev counter there is another push/pull/turn thing which re-sets the odometer, on one car I went to view it'd been torn out - I asked the salesman if this was going to be replaced (the car was £16,500), he said no. I asked if the rest of the stuff that was wrong was going to be fixed - also no.

Is there no way of resetting the computer to miles?

That's an enduring feature

I don't have an external mic for my GoPro, so here's an engine bay vid

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

Some pics of the car since picking it up:

Norths Birthday...

LED Headlights

Who can recommend a (being pretty specific here!) garage that specialises in 90's performance cars, in the South East?

Also, I think I should make my car sound like these ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wpYUSXTn-k

Too cool for school.

Love it mate.

Have to say a Porsche engine does not sound the best. Always sounds a bit underpowered? Imo.