So I sold my rally starlet (see link in my sig) in March as I had moved into a new apartment and reckoned that I needed the proceeds to pay the rent for a few months. I ended up not having to dip into this fund so had some ready cash. Now the sensible thing would have been to leave in there and use it for the KP30 Build (link below) but it has taken a turn for the longer term and I needed to get back to enjoying driving. I’ve spent too much time in a new Suzuki Swift in the past year!!
I love all things Porsche and was gutted when I had to sell my 911 to fund my return to education so I thought why not get hold of an early “unloved model” 996 Carrera 2. That went out the window immediately when I looked and realized that no matter what year or version of 911 they just don’t drop below 10K for a decent one. (I already knew this but thought things may have changed).
After this initial rush of blood I set myself a 4K limit and was dead set on getting an e36 M3. Now I love e30 series BM’s and I ran a 325i 2 door for a few years when I worked in Poland and came back to Ireland 1st. In fact it was a tossup between an e30 M3 and the 911 and I went for the Porker as I couldn’t stomach the VRT duty on the M3. However the point of all this is that I have never liked the e36. I don’t know why, I’d never driven one; no drug dealer had leapt out of one and stolen my jacket. I just didn’t like them. The thoughts of 300hp were luring me in and I could handle Macau (or its e36 equivalent technoviolet??) with original motorsport alloys.
I lined up a few to go and view over in the UK and was about to book the ferry when I had a massive change of heart and decided that I should just wait a while, buy the Porsche I really wanted when I can afford it and get a runaround that I’ll enjoy now.
So, cheap, fun, rwd – It had to be an MX5 – Bonus is that the gf loves them so a gift for her would go down a storm and crucially stop me from modifying too much and spunking cash that is now needed to accumulate for 2 fecking cars. A month ago I picked up this one for a little over €1000. Now, that’s not bargain basement for one in the UK but you would find it hard to get cheaper over this side of the pond.
It was cheap because it had a knackered roof/ a dent in the wing/ smashed centre console where some travellers had attempted to rob it and had managed to gain entry and get it going only to crash into the pillar on the way out. It also had no nct or tax which helped me in knocking the seller down from his 2K starting price.
I’d already removed the 2 rubbish aerials by this pic
This was a temp repair I did with some vinyl as I had planned on getting a hard top asap.
There was a number of things wrong with the car but crucially the engine was sweet, not a spot of rust on it and 4 brand new toyo proxos sitting underneath so I cracked on with it. Also, it qualifies for classic insurance being 20 years old!!
I then found out that a guy in the motor club had bought a 1.8 to
race and had a good softtop and some minty seats that I could have for a few scheckles.
New softtop fitted
New seats sitting in the car
Still a lot to do and I needed quick turnaround as the gf still didn’t know about it and I didn’t want the surprise to come out early.
Aaargh, list is stupidly long
So the hole it the roof had obviously let a lot of water in. I ripped out the carpets and seats and removed all of the soggy underlay and pools of water (1st car I owned with no rust – odd not poking holes in stuff)
The window’s didn’t work either but that turned out to be another moisture related issue and we’re back in action after the rockers contact points were cleaned off.
I missed a few photos of the wiring removal, wing dent removal (not all of it but with a hammer and a block of wood I’ll take it) and the new speakers and seat install.
While I had the wheel off to fix the wing I tried on some 13” boots I have for the Volvo
I like them but I promised myself not to take this car any lower (this will be explained shortly) so I thought I’d allow myself one thing and that was a change of wheel but it had to be the same size as the standard ones.
I got these locally, 14” Turbines off a 21 – I love them and the toyos will swap right over but I’m changing them to the gold that the multispokes are painted.
I then zaino’d the car with a full cut, swirl remove, wash, bond, wax, spray kit that I bought years ago for the BM. After all this I just couldn’t get a decent shine and it was really streaky (does car wax go off?)
Anyway, my time was up so I had to deal with the streaks and give it to the gf (she was beginning to suspect I was up to something!!)
So here’s pic of her first drive over the sally gap. If I had a camera or the ability to take a photo this was an amazing shot, the sun was bright red. You’ll have to take my word for it though. Another scenic shot – it’s a fantastic route but part of the reason I won’t be lowering the car as it’s where I like to go for a spirited drive, bumpy as hell and a real sump breaker.
I’ve also removed the rear mudguards and have a good bit of the underside waxoyled. I still have a load I want to do with it including tracing an odd coolant leak that keeps emptying the reservoir but not affecting the temperature and fitting a stereo but it’s off for the NCT on Monday so I’ll have to find and sort that leak and hopefully crack on with the other stuff once it gets the green light.
I’ve tcutted it in the interim which has come up well. I’ve also done a little bit of patching on the exhaust and painted the manifolds, rocker cover and rear section of the exhaust in vht black paint.
I’ve a new drivers wing mirror to fit along with some boot carpet and a replacement for the cracked section of the dash.
If it passes the nct I’ll have it on the road including insurance, original price, new parts, and 3 mths tax for €2000 which I’ll be delighted with.
While all this was going on I was offered a BMW E36 316i Coupe (see the irony) for peanuts that I bought and decided to turn into an autotest car. It aint cool and it aint old so I won’t do a thread on it but I started with this
Removed this
Looked like this last weekend
And I found this - Remember my Drug Dealer Comment above - Proven
I then got out the angle grinder (pics to follow)
And I’ll be competing in it this weekend (I need to sort the handbrake and weld the diff if I get the chance)
I’ll post up a few videos if someone has the video camera out on Sunday.
Shot of the Volvo looking sad as I had a quick check of the BMW's ability to go sideways
I love all things Porsche and was gutted when I had to sell my 911 to fund my return to education so I thought why not get hold of an early “unloved model” 996 Carrera 2. That went out the window immediately when I looked and realized that no matter what year or version of 911 they just don’t drop below 10K for a decent one. (I already knew this but thought things may have changed).
After this initial rush of blood I set myself a 4K limit and was dead set on getting an e36 M3. Now I love e30 series BM’s and I ran a 325i 2 door for a few years when I worked in Poland and came back to Ireland 1st. In fact it was a tossup between an e30 M3 and the 911 and I went for the Porker as I couldn’t stomach the VRT duty on the M3. However the point of all this is that I have never liked the e36. I don’t know why, I’d never driven one; no drug dealer had leapt out of one and stolen my jacket. I just didn’t like them. The thoughts of 300hp were luring me in and I could handle Macau (or its e36 equivalent technoviolet??) with original motorsport alloys.
I lined up a few to go and view over in the UK and was about to book the ferry when I had a massive change of heart and decided that I should just wait a while, buy the Porsche I really wanted when I can afford it and get a runaround that I’ll enjoy now.
So, cheap, fun, rwd – It had to be an MX5 – Bonus is that the gf loves them so a gift for her would go down a storm and crucially stop me from modifying too much and spunking cash that is now needed to accumulate for 2 fecking cars. A month ago I picked up this one for a little over €1000. Now, that’s not bargain basement for one in the UK but you would find it hard to get cheaper over this side of the pond.
It was cheap because it had a knackered roof/ a dent in the wing/ smashed centre console where some travellers had attempted to rob it and had managed to gain entry and get it going only to crash into the pillar on the way out. It also had no nct or tax which helped me in knocking the seller down from his 2K starting price.
I’d already removed the 2 rubbish aerials by this pic
This was a temp repair I did with some vinyl as I had planned on getting a hard top asap.
There was a number of things wrong with the car but crucially the engine was sweet, not a spot of rust on it and 4 brand new toyo proxos sitting underneath so I cracked on with it. Also, it qualifies for classic insurance being 20 years old!!
I then found out that a guy in the motor club had bought a 1.8 to
race and had a good softtop and some minty seats that I could have for a few scheckles.
New softtop fitted
New seats sitting in the car
Still a lot to do and I needed quick turnaround as the gf still didn’t know about it and I didn’t want the surprise to come out early.
Aaargh, list is stupidly long
So the hole it the roof had obviously let a lot of water in. I ripped out the carpets and seats and removed all of the soggy underlay and pools of water (1st car I owned with no rust – odd not poking holes in stuff)
The window’s didn’t work either but that turned out to be another moisture related issue and we’re back in action after the rockers contact points were cleaned off.
I missed a few photos of the wiring removal, wing dent removal (not all of it but with a hammer and a block of wood I’ll take it) and the new speakers and seat install.
While I had the wheel off to fix the wing I tried on some 13” boots I have for the Volvo
I like them but I promised myself not to take this car any lower (this will be explained shortly) so I thought I’d allow myself one thing and that was a change of wheel but it had to be the same size as the standard ones.
I got these locally, 14” Turbines off a 21 – I love them and the toyos will swap right over but I’m changing them to the gold that the multispokes are painted.
I then zaino’d the car with a full cut, swirl remove, wash, bond, wax, spray kit that I bought years ago for the BM. After all this I just couldn’t get a decent shine and it was really streaky (does car wax go off?)
Anyway, my time was up so I had to deal with the streaks and give it to the gf (she was beginning to suspect I was up to something!!)
So here’s pic of her first drive over the sally gap. If I had a camera or the ability to take a photo this was an amazing shot, the sun was bright red. You’ll have to take my word for it though. Another scenic shot – it’s a fantastic route but part of the reason I won’t be lowering the car as it’s where I like to go for a spirited drive, bumpy as hell and a real sump breaker.
I’ve also removed the rear mudguards and have a good bit of the underside waxoyled. I still have a load I want to do with it including tracing an odd coolant leak that keeps emptying the reservoir but not affecting the temperature and fitting a stereo but it’s off for the NCT on Monday so I’ll have to find and sort that leak and hopefully crack on with the other stuff once it gets the green light.
I’ve tcutted it in the interim which has come up well. I’ve also done a little bit of patching on the exhaust and painted the manifolds, rocker cover and rear section of the exhaust in vht black paint.
I’ve a new drivers wing mirror to fit along with some boot carpet and a replacement for the cracked section of the dash.
If it passes the nct I’ll have it on the road including insurance, original price, new parts, and 3 mths tax for €2000 which I’ll be delighted with.
While all this was going on I was offered a BMW E36 316i Coupe (see the irony) for peanuts that I bought and decided to turn into an autotest car. It aint cool and it aint old so I won’t do a thread on it but I started with this
Removed this
Looked like this last weekend
And I found this - Remember my Drug Dealer Comment above - Proven
I then got out the angle grinder (pics to follow)
And I’ll be competing in it this weekend (I need to sort the handbrake and weld the diff if I get the chance)
I’ll post up a few videos if someone has the video camera out on Sunday.
Shot of the Volvo looking sad as I had a quick check of the BMW's ability to go sideways
it's certainly come up nicely anyway.
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