sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46 
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Jan 21, 2020 19:05:53 GMT
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Thought I'd best start a thread.. even if nobody wants to read it but in case I ever want to reflect on why my daughter wants to get anointed, why the bank is chasing me or why the stairs are for sale to fund parts that I don't necessarily need.. but if non of that happens at least I can stare at some pictures like a moron.  Jump back to July 2016 when I purchased what was unbeknown to me - one sh*t box! If I'd have known what I know now I'd have set fire to the thing and hired 37 turtles to smash into it like on Mario Kart but unfortunately my crystal ball was being used as a door stop that day and I blindly bought a f*cking donkey. Pics and Story to follow..  |
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Jan 21, 2020 19:46:39 GMT
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I'm in, love a curse word box....... Erm...
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Jan 21, 2020 20:19:34 GMT
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Do tell. Please.
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Jan 21, 2020 21:30:44 GMT
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Ready & Waiting !
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 21, 2020 21:45:33 GMT
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 THIS! Is the sh*t box in question.. It cost me a fortune! To the tune of around £300 which could possibly make it one of the cheapest cars I've ever owned.. The idea being that the 6 month preggers acquaintance would have somewhere to put the smaller acquaintance she decided to grow all of a sudden... most people tend to get potted plants.. maybe call it Steve.. I don't know. From the get go when braking it lurched strongly to the left, it stank of fuel, the engine light came on whenever I turned left and it honestly was just a BAD idea but this HAD to be the car... I was on a limited budged as the 2nd acquaintance turned out to have some requirements unlike a normal lodger and these cost rather a lot. Also it had to have 4 doors, bla bla bla... I zoned out after that... BUT at the time this was the best that the internet had to offer and.. I was there so.. EH, whats the worst that could happen. |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 21, 2020 21:57:48 GMT
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Decided to call round and fill it up with fuel to see where the smell was coming from ( In hindsight, this probably wasn't the best idea ) , £70 later I walked out of the petrol station and it was pretty much all over the floor.. turns out if you put more than £20 in.. It all just leake... no.. no.. Leaked is not the correct word here.. FELL! It Fell out.. There was a hole in the fuel tank that looked a bit like someone had dropped an anvil on a kebab.  A trip to Birmingham and One new tank from my favourite breakers yard later.. Back in business.. Also, Whilst changing the tank at the side of the road.. somebody walked past smoking a cigarette.. Its a free country, nothing wrong here.. But.. Its the fumes of petrol that actually ignite first and while I'm laid under a car covered in petrol and he's having a chat flicking his hot ashes everywhere.. I dunno... started to fear for my life slightly.. so I asked him to put it out and he just calmly went.. 'no'.. which started the most terrifying conversation I've ever had with a guys feet in my life. |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 21, 2020 22:05:44 GMT
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After that complete and utter nightmare and a few complaints from the misuse but rather called for use of the word 'bomb', I decided I'd give it its first yearly service, the previous owner said he serviced it regular but seeing as the front calipers looked like house bricks and the fuel tank looked like a burnt chicken nugget I decided to disregard any and all information I had about the thing and crack on.  After that I bought some of eBay's finest MaxSpeedRod Coilovers and If you're thinking of getting some for your car.. don't.. Just don't.. ( Skip forward a year for the story on why don't,.. seriously.. don't )   |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 21, 2020 22:17:54 GMT
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The acquaintance at this point had started referring to me as daddy which turns out also brings forth a lot of extra work on top of the before spoken lodging agreement I'd dreamt up in my head which meant the poor car didn't get much interest for a while BUT, because all this is in the past, much like we can do on Sky and PornHub - we can skip through the boring bits where we learn about broad band speeds and faulty kitchen appliances that never get fixed. I decided that if the 2nd acquaintance was going to stay then she was going to be made use of, also that after a year she should probably have a name. So eventually me and Super-Laser-Child-9,000 got to work!  |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 21, 2020 22:33:02 GMT
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Turns out by the way, making children work for minimal pay.. or tea.. is illegal.. who knew.   So, a quick trip to the bank and a nice 400 mile journey to fetch some milk ( Honestly, I can't believe everyone believed me that I was stuck in traffic for that long.. ) THIS HAPPENED! Not sure If I have issues or if there genuinely is something oddly satisfying about having many - many wheels.  On that note, I'm going to sign off for the night. I'll update as much as possible and will stack pictures in as I find them.  If you're still reading at this point then.. sorry.  |
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Jan 21, 2020 23:50:28 GMT
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Bookmarked.
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lightyearman
Part of things
GYJDM - Grimsby based Japanese car club - Find us on Facebook
Posts: 639
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Also bookmarked, I like the way you string a sentence together pal!
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'89 Honda CRX siR Glassroof Flint black fully restored track beasty
'90 Nissan S13 Pignose - pass the mig wire
'86 Mini - matt orange, 13" Wellers, Project 2018
'97 LDV Convoy home built camper/tramper van
'04 Saab 9-5 Aero HOT. Anyone want it?
'91 Honda VFR400 NC30 17,000 km from new
'87 Honda XR80 4 stroke baby crosser
'03 Mini Cooper S - honestly, they are fun...
'15 VW T5.1 LWB daily brick
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ovimor
North East
...It'll be ME!
Posts: 934
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Also bookmarked, I like the way you string a sentence together pal! ..... Yeah, sort of Scatman style OVIMOR |
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Knowledge is to know a Tomato is a 'fruit' - Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowing not to put it in a 'fruit salad'!
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 22, 2020 22:38:23 GMT
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As promised, One Update ! ... Unless Update means something like Up to Date.. in which case its more of a Pastdate.. ... Anyway.. I test fit the skinny wheels on the rear and they already had enough poke to p*ss off a farm animal so something needed to be done - Logically speaking the idea would be to roll the inner arch lip in and stretch the tires.. unfortunately my brain works in fun and mysterious ways and I decided a much better idea would be to whip out the grinder to make way for some wide arches! ( Honestly .. I have a un-used arch roller, sometimes I'm baffled by my own thought process.. )  SO! I started to search the internets to see's what's I could's find's.. ..and I found THIS !  A Barely used Gazeebo! ... .. . And then I found these..  £150, Bargain! A bit shabby and they didn't fit very well but with all things shabby - I've found the best way to solve it is with a grinder and some bravery! |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 22, 2020 23:06:51 GMT
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At some point during all this ( I think before lowering it on the Death-Coilovers ) I slapped a new exhaust on it as the old one was blowing... and by that I mean there was a series of holes down it which would suggest you could play it like a recorder.. It sounded like a recorder too.. played badly.. by a dolphin. Anyways.. Check out my new lights!   I did a rear fog light mod which seems to be popular with the IS200 folk! I bought the kit from CrestMotorsport which came with plenty of instructions which is handy due to wires and stuff not being my strong point.. .. And I know what you're all thinking, "Stop being lazy, practice makes perfect". I Agree, practice does make perfect - but what I like many others failed to realise until I was in my early adult years is that I was totally - and utterly - colour blind!  As such wiring cars is not my strong suit which honestly goes to show how damn amazing these instructions were! The last time I wired up a loom on a car I turned the key and it just set on fire but that car can be a story for a different day if anyone is interested. Now.. sometimes we all make mistakes, mine was in the form of a guard rail on a slippy roundabout, in a built up area, near dominos pizza - Riiiiiiight next to a Police station... Sideways, Caught it, Just nipped the railing on the outside of the roundabout.. To the delivery drivers stood outside pizza hut it probably looked amaze-balls but for me.. not so much.  Having to drive around the roundabout to fetch your cars bum genuinely made me reminisce of kicking my ball over next doors fence for the 24th time in a day and having to ask for it back. Had better days.. Fortunately the police had better things to do than stare out the window and I never heard a thing! Very Lucky Sam.  A bit of ( I Assume ) colour coded gaffa tape and I decided it'd be nice to go for a drive to take my mind off the whole ordeal.. many jokes were had from friends and many lies were told to family about how it happened. Usual Jazz.. A Big Badger came and was all like " I'm taking your bumper " and I was like naah pal and the badger took it and that's how my bumper is now held on with tape! |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 22, 2020 23:18:01 GMT
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After the bumper incident I decided to go for a drive to advertise an additional use for gorilla tape. Always nice to clear your head after a mild accident followed by realising something the same width as the car won't fit in the car. ( You'd be amazed how long it took me to realise it wasn't going to fit ). Nice and peaceful!  Unfortunately thanks to Tesco's oddly good phone reception ( This is not a paid advertisement for Tesco Mobile ), I was still able to get memes sent from "Friends"..  Also found these in the IS's favourite place.  Was turning out to be an alright day! |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 22, 2020 23:31:55 GMT
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After that, the car didn't get much love for a while due to boring life stuff BUT - again we can fast forward through the boring stuff!! Having the wide wheels in the shed, the grinder looked ever so tempting. So I went over to see a friend who has dabbled in bodywork before and before I could open a can of Pepsi he'd already formulated a plan and had at one of my wings which sort of puts us into the realm of no return.  I was excited, there was also - if I'm honest a bit of a "Ooooh-err" feeling about the whole thing but either way, progress is progress. A few riv-nuts later and..  ... It looks like my car has skipped leg day at the GYM.  After that, said friend gained some restraint and said we will only do the rear if you fix your rear bumper properly as it would be dumb to attach a bodykit to something held on with ApeTape... ..Sooo another trip to Birmingham to my favourite IS200 breakers.     |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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Jan 22, 2020 23:49:13 GMT
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After that I decided a holiday was in order. Every so often a group of friends go on an adventure in the UK for a sort of road trip - usually in cars that are not very reliable and often there are many break downs and such folly. On the odd occasion I tag along.. which went well..  THIS, In the middle of Bloody Scotland, Hundreds of miles from home on some of the most pot hole filled roads imaginable, was where the MaxSpeedRod-DeathCoilovers struck.. ALL of the oil and seals on all four corners had fallen out, so having to keep up with some old fast cars and some new fancy cars was almost impossible. The car felt like that Springy fella from the magic roundabout.. zebadi.. Zebodiee..Basically funny coloured SuperMario who was a double amputee with a coil spring for a tail... getting off topic. The car bounced, on some occasions it even skipped lanes. It was un-driveable! Thus started the longest couple days driving of my life. Luckily Scotland is beautiful so there were many many stops which I was more than happy to oblige to. |
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sambow
Part of things
Posts: 46
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After the holiday, the car came home unscathed - it felt like nothing short of a miracle! So I immediately decided to finish installing my head unit as the cassette player had broken and the vicious b*stered had eaten my Bon Jovi tape!  A bit of wiring was required but luckily a chap on the Lexus forum was there to help! I've forgotten the chaps name but.. If you helped a colour blind person to do wiring on a IS200.. thanks!  Ta Daaa! So then I decided to stop mucking about and decided to fix that main issue.  Getting rid of the horrid red lights on the dials! Bit of a before and after of the interior from when I bought the car to now!   I always feel like the interior is a important part as Its the bit you see the most .. Then I decided to stop dicking about and a big box came from a company called HSD!  I quick swap over with zero hard feelings towards the MaxSpeedRod Death-overs, and the car was transformed from expensive ornament to a daily again! Happy days. On that note, time for a cup of tea and some kip!  |
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Last Edit: Jan 23, 2020 0:08:12 GMT by sambow
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Brilliant read mate,
Nice looking car as well,
Looking forward to reading more updates,
Nigel
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BMW E39 525i Sport
BMW E46 320d Sport Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 325 Touring (now sold on.)
BMW E30 320 Cabriolet (Project car - currently for sale.)
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If you're still reading at this point then.. sorry. 
As such wiring cars is not my strong suit which honestly goes to show how damn amazing these instructions were! The last time I wired up a loom on a car I turned the key and it just set on fire but that car can be a story for a different day if anyone is interested. 
