July 2004
I am thinking of buying a nissan skyline gtr-32 and was wondering what I had to make sure had been done to the car in terms of making it completely legal to drive on UK roads. The one I am looking at has been in the UK for some time but is there anything I should look out for? All I have really considered are km/h speedos and headlights being of the correct wattage! When did SVA certificates become necessary on imported cars?
teabelly Read more
My Passat 2.0 i having it's 40,000 mile service today and I have been given a courtesy car. It's not the Golf that it should have been as it hadn't been returned in time, so in its place I have been given a Polo 1.2 Twist, and it is like driving a rollerskate.
I only had a 7 mile journey to make in it (and have 7 to take it back) but what an experience it was.
Firstly where were the heated seats? I couldn't believe that I had to manually switch the wipers on when the rain started. The reverse gear is on the left of the box, and not the right I am used to, and you have to push the lever down to get it in reverse; you don't on the passat.
I haven't seen dials with numbers on them on the A/C system for 6 years. Don't all cars have digital climatronic readouts these days?
And I had to actually put the key in the door to open it! I also had to push the petrol filler flap to open it, which exherted much more energy than pulling the electric lock on the passat. Honestly.
The plasticy steering wheel was a lot harder on the hands than my leather one, and the seats were really common and made from fabric!
On the motorway I only dared pull out into lane 2 if the vehicle approaching from behind was at least 1/2 mile away. I'd forgotten how underpowered smaller engines are.
I can not believe that they still make cars like this!
Joking aside, I had a 96 model Polo from new, and I thought that the interior was much better to the new model.
What was more embarassing than looking like a woman was the fact that I couldn't park it easily. I'm so used to a wider longer car that I couldn't judge! Oh the shame.
On a more serious note, I think that people should be required to drive at least 2 cars other than their usual ride each year. One with a smaller cc and the other with a larger one. Driving a 1.2 on the motorway certainly reminded me that other vehicles on there are not as capable as mine, and I'm sure that if I was to drive something with an engine larger than 2.0 that I would appreciate that I am a slow coach to others. Read more
The only thing I have to do for a courtesy car when my car is being worked on is find where my wife has hidden the keys to her car.....
Then I realise it's faster than mine, and remember why I never get a look in!
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
Afnoon all :-)
Last December the cambelt snapped on my 306GTI6. Bit of a bummer, but once head was 'repaired', the engine was put back together by the local garage dealing with it, and a complete new cambelt kit fitted, amongst other things.
However, in an effort to cure a residual tapping noise (suspected to be a remaining dodgy valve), the garage had the head off a few weeks ago and guides redone. Still no cure...
Last weekend they put in another inlet camshaft & a set of hydraulic lifters/tappets (2nd hand, supplied by me) - still to no effect (nor cost to me).
Unfortunately the cambelt's gone again - it's shredded & looks like spaghetti! Plus it made a horrible grating sound when trying to turn-over :-O
My question is this;
Where do you think I stand legally and what am I now entitled to ask for?
Obviously the belt can't have been dodgy when they refitted it or they'd have replaced it.
The belt may well have been rubbing on something once reassembled, as there was a whirring noise that hadn't been there the previous week.
I'm going to push for a new engine rather than a new cyl. head as I was giving it some beans at the time and I would suspect all the valves will be knackered - maybe pistons as well...
Any thoughts on the matter??
All appreciated :-) Read more
Aye,
it's not great is it! :o(
I pulled off the cambelt cover last night & took some photos, looks like the belt was rubbing against the plastic cover - perhaps suggesting why it's been shredded.
The garage will take it back soon, I'm trusting them to not 'engineer' a different fault to try & get out of it. A couple of local garages suggested going back there first before any independant inspection!
Hi,
Someone has keyed the side of my car and it will need filling (in places) and respraying. I want to get this done properly so it looks like new (like the rest of the car does).
My old runabout had the bonnet and wing resprayed some years before I bought it, and over the years the resprayed pannels have faded, matted and discoloured. I don't care about this on the runabout, but I do care on my nice car.
My question is - what made that happen, and how can I ensure it won't happen when I get the key mark resprayed? If the runabout is anything to go by, it will be well out of the repair's guarantee period before any noticeable deterioration occurs.
(Yes, I do plan to keep the car that long.)
Thanks,
Mark Read more
if your planning to keep the car, insist that all moldings,handles,weather strips etc are removed before spraying
good quality places would do that anyway...if theyre masked up it increases the chance of the paint lifting/peeling because they couldnt rub down around the gaps...plus its always a dead give away
Hi
Local Toyota dealer want £70 to replace my lost (non-remote) Yaris key - 35 for the key plus 35 for half-hour labour to reprogram the chip or something. Don\'t suppose anyone knows of a cheaper option?
John Read more
PLEASE everybody interested in being able to continue to engine swap, tube frame or significantly visually alter motor vehicles in the UK go to the DVLA web site and go through the nausea of completing thier online submission - also please request a copy of the consultation paper. Doesn\'t matter if you don\'t read it - they judge strength of public feeling on the number of them that the send out.
Basically they are trying to screw anyone moddifying a car, and particularly those of us moddifying older cars (not allowing fitting of more modern components without having to re-register on a Q plate, having to go the SVA for your mods every time, etc.)
BTW kit means kit car built to original kit car spec not fitting a body kit.
Deadline is 19th July, they\'re sneaked this pink fluffy dice on us without any anouncement.
Ta.
Please copy the link and post it on any other suitable web sites. The consultation list they have for this excercise includes such bodies as \"The Christian Road Safety League\" and RoSPA and the Vehicle Scrap Dismantlers Association, and not anyone to do with modifying cars or the moddified vehicle industry - need as much support for this as possible.
www.dvla.gov.uk/ Read more
I sense that they are trying to outwit duty dodgers who
claim that the car is pre-1973 when there are plenty of
post-1973 parts on board.
Could be. But there are already rules in place specifying which and how many bits have to be original, with a points system for chassis, engine etc, which has to add up to 8 (I think) to count as original.
But original means original to the car, not just of the right age from another scrap car.
The whole thing is a bit mystifying. Components are not defined, and the vast majority do not have their identification numbers recorded anywhere. So who can tell where the bits came from? Is this door from a 73 or a 74? Was it in 73 that they changed the angle of the heater inlet on the waterpump, or was that the lower locating spigot? Do the DVLA have experts to cover all cars of all ages?
And supposing a 25 year old car had already had a replacement gearbox 15 years ago, or a new bootlid when it was nearly new.
My local car accessory supermarket has a new item, a rear view mirror replacement which has a digital readout reversing sensor in it, i.e. in metres, plus a warning device.
It could be very useful for someone like me who is the world's worst reverser but it is quite expensive and I am wondering whether anyone else has come across such a device and if so what their opinion is.
Read more
I've got factory-fit sensors front and rear on my Galaxy, and wouldn't want to attempt to park an MPV withouyt them! You do need to be able to park properly in the first place though - they won't tell you how close to the kerb you are. Try stick-on hemispherical mirrors on your door mirrors too.
In the spirit of the other thread - 'Biggest car design bloopers'; Are there any really good design pieces in a car that you think '.. Wow that's really good, why can't all cars have that...?'
I nominate the heated front screen as seen on upscale Fords. Why they don't fit these to Volvos (Ford owned of course) - it must get frosty in Sweden?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive? Read more
I really like the TVR idea of putting rear indicators in
the back window.
I like the idea enen better that the DS19 Citroen had them outside the back window at the roof line.
But that was a few decades (4?) ago.
Good to see the basic idea being revived.
Went out ot clean the car today on the inside and the wife showed up with something she got the other day called the "Flash Dustbuster" which is being advertised on the telly at the moment. I normally take the micky, because she buys every new cleaning product under the sun, but this time she has come up with a winner.
Its a duster type thing on a plastic handle, but it attracts and holds onto dust well and is great for getting into the little nooks and crannies. It's nice and soft, lint free and won't scratch dashboards, fascias etc. Highly recommended! ( I should be on commission form Flash!) Read more
There are any number of different brands of these dust-collecting cloths around. I feel guilty now as I've been using them in the car for ages but not told the BR as I assumed it was common knowledge!
In case anyone doesn't know this one - Microfibre cloths are great for your interior glass and can be had for a quid or less each from Poundland, The 99p Shop and similar outlets. They clean the windows without the need for sprays or glass cleaner.
****** Voting over for round four. ******
For the next round, and to see the remaining cars, goto thread:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23858
Right then, and onto round four of Big Brother\'s Garage.
2 cars were evicted from the previous round.
See here for further details:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23629&...e
Here are the remaining cars in no particular order.
1. Seat Leon.
2. Alfa 156.
3. Peugeot 405.
4. TVR Tuscan.
5. Ford Mondeo.
****** EVICTED VW Golf. ******
****** EVICTED Lada Samara. ******
****** EVICTED Vauxhall Vectra. ******
****** EVICTED Renault 5. ******
****** EVICTED Austin Allegro. ******
****** EVICTED Perodua Nippa. ******
****** EVICTED Citroen 2CV. ******
****** EVICTED Toyota Landcruiser. ******
All votes have been reset to zero. Same format as before - nominate two cars for eviction. You don\'t have to give a reason this time - unless of course you nominate something different from the last round of voting.
This Friday, (16th July) is the closing date for nominations. The cars with fewest votes will remain and the voting process will begin again until we?re left with *hopefully* one (or maybe 2) winner(s).
Read more
er.. shouldn't this be read only now?
I left this and all the previous BB garage threads unlocked so people can continue to comment on what people have said, if they so wish. Won't make any difference to the votes though. Voting for this round is over.
DD.
Browse
Yes, in the Legnum, the headlights are H7 and H1, the front park bulbs the mini bayonets. All the indicators, tail and brake seem to be the all-glass 'wedge' bulbs. The ones I've replaced seem to be going dark inside, so they've lasted long enough to oxidise off some of the filament. The ones I got were by Narva, but good suppliers in the UK should have them. There are 4 tail bulbs and 5 brake lights counting the high-stop one, so plenty of warning to those behind.
Incidentally, anyone else have difficulty with the modern style of clear tail covers over sparkly tail/brake bulbs when the sun is behind? I remember in UK, some of the new Vauxhalls had them and it was a bit of a guessing act to see if the brake lights were on or not, especially when the sun was low and behind me. Cue the odd heart-stopping moment...
PM