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

That's really not that bad. Wonder how it'll drive after all that work? Surely a fair bit "tighter"

total invoice £3,520.50

That seems mad cheap

As I'm a Hertz Gold member or something they always try to upgrade me when I hire cars in the US. They look at me in total confusion when I explain that I want to stick with the Fiesta or Yaris rather than the massive pickup they've upgraded me to.

And they say the German car industry is on its knees...

On new Mercedes does AMG now = big alloys and a body kit?

Don't forget the nice little stickers on those alloys

Out of curiosity I was trying to search for what the finance costs would be on a new one and struggled to find the modern equivalent on their website.

On new Mercedes does AMG now = big alloys and a body kit?

C63 Estate: https://www.carwow.co.uk/mercedes/amg-c63-estate

Cheers.

Incidentally where is the name Q-car derived from?

A car will have a Q registration if it's substantially rebuilt - big engine etc- when you got to the DVLA to update the details they hold on it.

Derived from Q-ships

AWESOME.

I'm going for Q ship designed to look like an unarmed Merchantman until a U-boat surfaces....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q-ship

Edit too slow....

We drove one of those around the Austrian Alps for a few weeks last year. It was horrendous. Steered like a boat and really struggled for air above 2,500m on really not that steep bits of road. Splutter splutter.

I imagine that if Cycliste is on a road over 2500m she'll be riding not driving.

Obviously it's not 'fast car' quick but it doesn't sound like your partner wants that.

Previous cars were a Minor Traveller and a Smart car. Having more than 50bhp available will be a novelty I imagine!

If you're chasing power, how about aan uprated LSD diff?

I might well do! I've done clutch, intercooler and filters. My understanding is that exhaust is all that's left for the minimum needed for about a 320 hp map... after that we'll see how how much further down that particular rabbit hole I want to fall...

Thanks, that's helpful. I've chatted to a couple of people this morning who've said similar - i.e. to avoid the cheapest, but that you should be able to get enough damping adjustment make it fine to drive everyday (basically something about £900 should be viable).

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/q-registration-numbers

If for e.g. the engine and transmission are from another car you should, technically, submit it for approval via an engineer approved by the Dvla (in the same way that you’d register a kit car), meaning that what looks like for e.g. a standard saloon car might have the motive assembly from something rather pokey, but the only external giveaway is the Q registration.

People doing restomods often try to keep a sufficient % of the original car to be allowed to keep the original plate- going to a Q plate is seen as spoiling the overall aesthetic.

But I do like the heavily armed merchantman thing, as it’s quite cool.

Maybe they used the Q designation for the plate based on the “cannon surprise” ships.

If for e.g. the engine and transmission are from another car you should, technically, submit it for approval

Just an engine and box swap wouldn't make it a radically-altered vehicle as you'd still have more than 8 points from the shell, suspension, axles and steering.

an engineer approved by the Dvla

It's actually the DVSA not the DVLA that do IVA tests.

Anyway, Q plates rock. The emissions test is 'no visible smoke' at MOT time.

Brake pads, will I actually feel any benefit going for say ebc yellow stuff over ebc ultimax?

IME, braking with EBC Yellow pads is something like this

1. Press brake pedal. Nothing happens.
   
2. Press brake pedal harder. Nothing continues to happen.
   
3. Press brake pedal harder. Pads are finally up to temperature and lock up all four wheels.
   
   

Admittedly that was on a very lightweight car, under 600kgs even with me on board, but I thought they were awful.

Not a great recommendation. I want to improve the braking on my mx5. Its feels ropey as. I was going to put some new fluid in, some braided lines and swap the pads in the hope it did something to improve things.

Braided lines are unlikely to have much effect unless your current flexi hoses are completely shot. New fluid is never a bad idea, and as for new pads I've always got along well with Mintex 1144s for fast road use.

I’m assuming that shell and suspension would be modified as part of a driveline swap, if you wanted the engine to stay where you put it and not destroy everything else, but yes- there’s a scoring system in play here.

One of the lines was an advisory on this mot and I suspect they are originals from 93.

Rightly or wrongly, I'd do a search on Autotrader with the distance you are willing to travel for the right car and then just see what is available for <£1k and in an auto. From recent searches, the amount of auto's for sale is really small, especially in the small hatchback market so it maybe a case of taking the best example of a small bunch.

Definitely worth replacing then. I doubt in practice you'd notice the difference between good condition OEM rubber flexies and braided lines. The difference is very marginal.

I want to improve the braking on my mx5

I really liked the Roddisons magical mystery pads for 90% road driving. @NurseHolliday will know better than me these days but they used to be the go-to on the mighty5 forum. Also talking of MX5 mods, one I really rate is the delrin door bushings. I'd previously thought were marketing guff but made such a difference.