what have you done to your car today ?

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
1,733
1,123
Oh! The joys of rattle can paint jobs.
I once left the light on admiring what looked to be a perfect success.
Come the morning, every moth in Devon was embedded in the paint.
Oh man, tell me about it. I spent some time sanding and polishing the bonnet last week, but it just doesn't come out right. I've already burnt through a few areas of paint, which really annoys me too.

At first I thought I just needed to sand down more, but the clear coat just seems wrong - like there are specks of shiny clear mixed in with some dull ones. If I run a damp microfiber towel over it, it looks great, but when it dries, it's not nearly as consistent and looks dull.

When I get back from France, I might just hand polish it using the Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and see what that does to it, but it's left me in a bit of a mood. Most people won't even notice, but to me it just isn't right and will bother me for ages.

Sometimes I wish I'd just sprayed the bit that was worst damaged at the top and leave the rest, but oh no, I had to sand back the stone chips and have to spray everything from primer and up.
 

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
1,733
1,123
d36a151a7f09f7e2fcb43fdb41da31e7.jpg


e6ab29d8f667757e906b0722ecf6fefd.jpg


Please tell me I'm not the only one.

It would be fine if I hadn't lost count of the number of times I've done this.

All in all it's been a crap day. Before I hit my head, I managed to kerb my alloys - badly too. Stupid mistakes I shouldn't be making. Driving in France is fine, but I'm so focused on making sure I give way to the left that I forget that you've got to make turns differently here.

Drive down here was fine though. Engine bay smells like a WWII bomber though. Not sure if that's a bad thing or it's just now an old diesel smells.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Nam-uk

Active Member
May 11, 2011
1,105
289
lancashire.
That happened to me last year blood everywhere i did not think it was all that bad at time but a few at tesco shoppers come over, only till i got in shower Jesus, took a right lump out of my head it took a while to heal though, i had a look after and the struts were ok and removed them and there was collected dirt on the ball ends that stopped the boot opening fully i cleaned them and put some copper grease in ball ends just to try out , been not bad since well better as boot rarely sticks 3/4 opening , but i still make bloody sure, did same will bonnet strut also as that oddly stopped at 3/4 opening
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: iammooks

AndyTrack

Active Member
Apr 19, 2022
26
22
Uttoxeter
Admired the new Godspeed disc's, the dodgy rear beam axle bush's and the repair to the front anti roll bar fixing.
Put it on a trailer.
And............
Tomorrow I shall be driving it as if I've stolen it at Mallory Park.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dazzalcr and Rich.T

AndyTrack

Active Member
Apr 19, 2022
26
22
Uttoxeter
Admired the new Godspeed disc's, the dodgy rear beam axle bush's and the repair to the front anti roll bar fixing.
Put it on a trailer.
And............
Tomorrow I shall be driving it as if I've stolen it at Mallory Park.
oh.... and sniffed the very expensive new brake fluid, after boiling the old stuff at Blyton Park
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rich.T

Dazzalcr

Active Member
Aug 10, 2019
235
185
Fitted a darkside solid gear linkage bushe as mine had more wobble than jelly, what a difference such a little mod makes. Also beeped at my cousin don't know who was more embarrassed the horn sounded dire, so hella supertone going on lol.
 

Alexis27

Active Member
Dec 20, 2009
2,095
451
Manchester
Fitted a darkside solid gear linkage bushe as mine had more wobble than jelly, what a difference such a little mod makes. Also beeped at my cousin don't know who was more embarrassed the horn sounded dire, so hella supertone going on lol.
Did you do both linkages? The side one didn't fit for me because they'd machined the hole too small, so £25 down the drain and I had to buy a normal VW replacement.
 

Dazzalcr

Active Member
Aug 10, 2019
235
185
Did you do both linkages? The side one didn't fit for me because they'd machined the hole too small, so £25 down the drain and I had to buy a normal VW replacement.
No bud did not touch that one as it seemed rather solid so left alone, would have done it though as I thought it was a set you got for that price, it did say bushes and not bush grrr lol. Feels alot better
 

Alexis27

Active Member
Dec 20, 2009
2,095
451
Manchester
Yeah it's the lower one that gets a lot of load and wears out.
Need to reset the linkages again because reverse is still a pain to get, unless you're facing up a hill. I think it's because I did it on the drive which has a slight slope.
Can't do anything at the moment though with the kids being off school!
 

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
1,733
1,123
Having a bit of a weird time with the car lately. I haven't driven it in anger for a while because of the fuel prices, but after doing 400 miles on French autoroutes, I'm starting to wonder how long I'm going to keep it on the road. More and more places have ULEZs and the cost of tax and my parking permit is going up what feels like every year because of the emissions. The jobs that need doing on it are the expensive ones too (clutch especially, if I don't do it myself) and it's getting harder to justify keeping it if I can buy something else for what it would cost me to put the clutch in.

I love the stupid thing to bits and the amount of work I've put in, I find it hard to let go, but it's not like it's a Cupra R that's going to at least keep its value - it's a diesel after all.

Starting to wonder if I should get rid of it before the market disappears completely...
 

MoToJoJo

Active Member
Mar 25, 2014
784
600
Northants
Noooooooo! Diesel buddy! Say it ain't so!

To be fair, I understand where you're coming from. If I'm going into a ULEZ area I'm either taking public transport or the motorbike.
 
  • Like
Reactions: iammooks

smutts

Active Member
Apr 12, 2020
372
188
Cooked a half eaten pack of lidl kabanos on the dashboard in the sun yesterday.
Grease everywhere.
But delicious eating on the way home.
 

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
1,733
1,123
Noooooooo! Diesel buddy! Say it ain't so!

To be fair, I understand where you're coming from. If I'm going into a ULEZ area I'm either taking public transport or the motorbike.

The emissions are the only thing that really make me want to get rid at the moment. There's no demand for retrofitting a nearly twenty year old car with a DPF, which would solve most of my problems in one, but even if I managed to do that, there's no certification for something like that, so the government would just treat the car as though it polluted the same and so tax and everything would be the same.

Part of me thinks an engine swap could be really interesting. Structurally the car is spot on, so it seems a shame to get rid as I know it would probably be scrapped.

Should just be called anti-diesel zones. The petrol R is exempt from everything but still chucks out loads of CO2.

I know it's more complicated, what with the diesels putting out NOx, but it does frustrate me when I look at a petrol Suzuki Swift on Auto Trader and the CO2 emissions are broadly similar for a car that's less powerful and with a smaller engine. It's like the engines aren't any more efficient, but the exhausts are just better at catching the particles on their way out. If that's the case, why not allow us to retrofit our cars with maybe a cartridge system for the DPF that can be either replaced or cleaned?

Overall it just sucks because there are things I need to do on the car - getting the paint on the bonnet sorted, cleaning the intake manifold and changing the clutch - but all three take time or money and I just don't know if they're worth doing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: Alexis27

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
1,733
1,123
It's staying.

When I've got the balls to do it, I'm going to clean the intake manifold and fit new glow plugs etc. When I do the clutch I might put a tune on it that might make it more efficient too.

I didn't realise it was Euro 3 emissions - I thought it was Euro 4 - so not much point doing much more than maybe a new cat and just keeping the engine as clean as I can. Once the new glow plugs are in and the manifold is clean, it'll be much cleaner then too.

Then when I can afford it, I'll trade it in for a GTR and laugh heartily at the fact it's ULEZ compliant.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

MoToJoJo

Active Member
Mar 25, 2014
784
600
Northants
Unfortunately it's the standard that decides everything, as long as your engine conforms to it that's all you can do (TL;DR don't worry about the new cat and inlet manifold)
 

Dazzalcr

Active Member
Aug 10, 2019
235
185
Well fitted hella supertone horns , cleaned out washer bottle as had crap in. Few other little jobs(why do these take the longest) washed drove it while weather is nice, now it's filthy again, wash rinse drive repeat, feels like all you do with darker cars 😆
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sparkie and Rich.T
Nimbus hosting - Based solely in the UK.