Paul’s misadventures - OhSoJDMYo

www.msn.com/en-gb/cars/news/unicorns-the-rarest-cars-ever-sold-on-uk-roads/ss-BB1aJJTt?ocid=spartan-ntp-feeds#image=11

Properly rare, being quoted in rare car threads !

James

What's this?


Yup, winging their way overnight within a week from Japan Lithuania are a replacement N/S front indicator lens, a replacement O/S rear lens (mine is cracked and they had one in stock, so whilst I could tolerate it I felt like I may as well...) and wing mirrors (the NS one is held together with glue and screws and doesn't work, the OS one does work and is only held together with glue).

Much excite!

Nice. It’s always satisfying to get some of the detail stuff done. 👍

Has gone from scruffy shed to cared for rare old car in a few simple steps.
Nice work
James

So first up was a treat for myself - I totally overpaid for an original Porsche dealership sign, converted to run on LED lights and off a main plug. It started life at a Porsche dealership in Surrey (where else?) and worked its way to my local collectible/antiques dealer who is always finding trinkets and such...you know the sort, road and shop signs, displays from pubs and restaurants etc. etc. Yeah, yeah it's pretentious but I'm supporting my local businesses through lockdown #2 and I think it's a smart addition to the front of the garage.


Now, the Paseo has rolled over to 140,000 miles this week, so she deserves a bit more love too.

First up, I've never been happy with the battery - the DRIVEMASTER never let me down, but only every coughed into life with the reluctant enthusiasm of my asthmatic granny. It's also not reassuring that it doesn't actually fill the battery tray (even though, by the book, it's providing adequate amps).



So, out with the old, and in with the new(er) reconditioned Exide battery I sourced. She now springs into life with all the vim and vigour of a slightly less asthmatic granny. And fills up the space in the engine bay, which to me looks a little neater. Happy with that, especially with winter on the way.



Speaking of winter, I know I polished up the headlamps the other week but I've still not been happy with the light they've given out, especially on dipped beam. Now, I know there is a grey area around the use of LED lights (basically, they're not legal) but when I'm taking my son to and from nursery down back roads I'd like to be able to make out the reg numbers on the Chelsea tractors trying to shove me off the road. So £20 odd from Amazon sourced a set with good reviews, and the results were immediately obvious.


Dipped beam, with my helper fixing the car with a hammer. Like father, like son.


Full beam. The hammering continues. He tells me it's fixed now.

I doubt this was helping my beam pattern either to be honest



The other concern I had was regarding the cool running of the engine - anywhere but stationary and the temp gauge would always sit about 1/3 of the way up.



Suspected a stuck open thermostat as, when parked, the temp would rise appropriately and fan would kick in at the right point, just above half. £6 on eBay later, and away we go...



2 10mm bolts, easily accessed from under the coilpack which I could have removed if necessary. It wasn't.

Again, I just love the simplicity and thought that's gone into this. It seems so obvious but on many of the VAG cars I've worked on those nuts would be bolts, and made of cheese. I've snapped a bolt in a coolant flange before, which led to a whole world of hurt. Here, with the nuts being on studs in the engine block I had less fear of snapping them clean off, and despite 24 years and 140k they came off with 0 fuss. Love it.

Diagnosis confirmed I'd say - old one at the top looks seized open.




Filled up with the good stuff, tested on a quick drive and the needle sticks at about halfway (ever so slightly over, but not a concern), fan kicks in as it used to and should. Job jobbed.




Drunk on success I moved on to the broken door handle on the Twingo. Note the poor attempt at a repair with plastic adhesive. No, it didn't take.



One torx bolt and a little wiggle later we had the old one removed. I expected a complicated system of bowden cables and rods, but it's a remarkably simple design.



This end of the handle pushes down on a metal lever behind the door, which then pops it open. It's not attached in any way, just pushes against it. No clipping or delicate alignment, it's practically idiotproof. If you fit it in place of the old one you can't go wrong. Love it.

New hotness in place, and I can now get in without having to walk around to the passenger side and unlock from the inside. Another win.






Next up needs to be the cambelt on the Toyota, but that needs to be a job for another day...

Really quick update as I tidied up a few bits, but first we had a new addition to the fleet...

Brand new Mk8 Golf in a fetching shade of lime yellow (as they call it) - surprisingly the dealer was happy to do a deal on this car in this colour as it was a cancelled order...can't think why.



Chopped in the Tiguan (too big, too wallowy, not very efficient and pretty damn slow) for this: 1.5 petrol turbo, 130bhp and pretty much base space. But base spec these days has dual zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, electric everything, and mood lighting. But no CD player - I fear these are now obsolete. Such is progress I guess...

Initial impressions are very positive - it drives really well (just like the Mk7 Golf we had in 2014 because it's basically the same car), returns 50mpg already, and with a myriad of electrical bells and whistles. Key cards, wifi, bluetooth, no gauges of any kind, push button stop-start, all touch-sensitive buttons and sliders...I've never owned a car I needed to log into before I could drive it. It's going to take some getting used to.

Back on planet retro I've finished a few niggling jobs that were outstanding on the Paseo.



New PAS belt, along with the new alternator belt, and nice and tight (at the second attempt)





And a replacement Gates thermostat - splurged on a £15 one to replace the £6 one that didn't leak - it's just a tiny bit wider than the cheapo one and sits snug in the thermostat flange.. Buy cheap, buy twice is the moral of the story here. Didn't need any of the extra gaskets, but this one appears to seal up nicely and a few days later we still have coolant in the system so I think the leak has been banished. So the Paseo is back on the road :-)

Our Octavia didn’t come with a CD player, and that’s a 2016 car. I think, much like cassettes, they’re swiftly going the way of the dodo.

Back to the days of sticking a CD player to the dash? We've gone full circle!

He’s got a brand new car.
Looks like a Jaguar.
It ain’t got no CD player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player player..

Sorry 😂