thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611 
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 13:05:14 GMT
|
Two and a half years after I bought this I'm finally getting around to a thread on it. It is 20 years old this year which has given me a little nudge to get on with the story. After I disposed of the Biturbo in 2019 I eventually ended up with this at the end of August 2019.  . Long story short, I had been offered this car in 2017 when it had passed though the garage of a friend of mine. I was deep into the Maserati at that point and passed. Once it came up again I jumped on it. It was the cheapest available here in Switzerland and although it was high mileage (147,000 km) and not without faults (all cosmetic) I knew it was mechanically solid. I was on holiday in Italy at the time and bought it over text when the same friend who had offered it to me in 2017 gave it the once over. It needed the rear light lenses which led me to the great resource of vx220.org and I thought a hardtop would be useful so I picked up one of those as well which was in situ before I arrived back from holidays. What to do with a new sports car that you have not tested ..... drive it to the Nurburgring of course! |
| |
Last Edit: Dec 6, 2023 13:12:30 GMT by thebaron
|
|
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 13:17:13 GMT
|
The Ring is a 6 hour trip from my house.  I have always wanted to go but had put it off. What finally made me decide to do it was a U.S. based podcast that I listen to who had organized a group to make the trip from all over the States to come and experience the Ring and Spa. I contacted them and asked to tag along for the Ring portion and they graciously obliged.   Here are a couple of pics outside the hotel at the Ring having just arrived. You can see I had debadged the front and fitted the hardtop at this point in proceedings. |
| |
Last Edit: Dec 1, 2023 13:51:34 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 13:33:20 GMT
|
|
|
| |
Last Edit: Jan 11, 2022 13:35:02 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 13:41:46 GMT
|
After I completed the allocated 16 laps I chanced my arm and asked if I could take the Speedster on track. The guys at the event were super accommodating and after a quick relocation of the track stickers I got to take the Speedster out on the Ring for 2 laps. It was glorious! Although I was a lot slower than the Type R, I laughed a lot more.   Unfortunately I did not manage to get picked up by the session photographer for pictorial evidence so you will have to take my word  A night of waay too much beer and schnapps followed (it was also my birthday) and a return trip where I maxxed out at an indicated 210 kph on the Autobahn rounded up the baptism trip nicely. |
| |
Last Edit: Jan 12, 2022 8:20:23 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 14:52:40 GMT
|
Now that I'd given it a good introduction to my custodianship it was time for a service and a few modifications  Lets start with the plugs. That looks a little too orangey for crows  OK  OK  OK  Not OK |
| |
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 15:03:31 GMT
|
|
|
| |
Last Edit: Jan 11, 2022 15:06:01 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 15:11:21 GMT
|
I ditched the radio, speakers and aerial. More weight savings eeeeh. Then on to other aspects of the interior. Secured the mat mounts as they were flopping about.  Fitted a non ripped gaitor   Next up was the OEM door cards. I hated them so replaced with something much better (and lighter - spot a pattern emerging ;-) )  |
| |
Last Edit: Jan 11, 2022 15:12:18 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 15:17:12 GMT
|
|
|
| |
Last Edit: Feb 2, 2022 15:27:53 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 15:21:43 GMT
|
It was also a little quiet so I fitted a Larini for something a little more mellifluous.   At this point I was pleased with myself and bought a desk buddy  |
| |
Last Edit: Jan 11, 2022 15:23:56 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 16:14:35 GMT
|
 I had my head turned by this and bought it ..... for 2 weeks and then resold it. Looked great but not the driving experience I like.  |
| |
Last Edit: Jan 11, 2022 16:18:40 GMT by thebaron
|
|
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 16:16:24 GMT
|
A mate dropped this out to me for a test. Outrageous, enormous and unusable!   |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 18:15:51 GMT
|
|
I like a VX220 or Speedster as it was over the water, the Z2.2SE engine used to have problems with the head cracking from the spark plugs being over tightened and water seeping into the spark plug well, hope thats not your problem! the fix used to be fit a Saab head as the casting was much better
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 18:34:38 GMT
|
|
Great memories of mine, brand new in 2003.
I had it just 13 months, but did 34,500 miles in that time, including the 'Ring
Show us a pic of the door hinges, IIRC they're a piece of art!
Hope you enjoy it, I do miss mine. The two MR2 Roadsters I have had since have been great, but nowhere near the presence of the VX.
|
| |
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 19:50:10 GMT
|
I like a VX220 or Speedster as it was over the water, the Z2.2SE engine used to have problems with the head cracking from the spark plugs being over tightened and water seeping into the spark plug well, hope thats not your problem! the fix used to be fit a Saab head as the casting was much better I'm watching that carefully. I've completed another 15,000 km since that initial plug change. Head is fine thankfully and it was likely down to being left outside and rain water coming through the engine lid grille and down through the crescent shaped gap above that plug. I do have some interesting head plans which I'll divulge as I get up to date on the build. |
| |
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 19:53:18 GMT
|
Great memories of mine, brand new in 2003. I had it just 13 months, but did 34,500 miles in that time, including the 'Ring Show us a pic of the door hinges, IIRC they're a piece of art! Hope you enjoy it, I do miss mine. The two MR2 Roadsters I have had since have been great, but nowhere near the presence of the VX. Very cool and that's some impressive mileage in a year. Kudos. I'm certainly enjoying it immensely and hands down it is my favourite ever car and that list just ticked on to 40 in 2021. Better than the e39 M5, B7 RS4, 911 SC, Impreza Turbo, NA MX-5 ..... better than them all. I'll get you a shot of the hinges asap |
| |
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 20:00:29 GMT
|
We are now up to Oct 2020 and 14/15 months of ownership. I got the matt black out for around the screen, fuel cap and the front lid so it looked like this.   I was a happy bunny for about 2 days until this happened    I was on the main road , stopped, turning left when the driver of the A-Class pulled straight out into me, while I was stopped looking at her. It does not look too bad but the clam has a crack and the left front wheel you see should not be straight, it should be about 30-40 degrees turned to the left |
| |
Last Edit: Feb 1, 2022 15:38:29 GMT by thebaron
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 20:05:55 GMT
|
|
|
| |
|
|
jonomisfit
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 1,683
Club RR Member Number: 49
|
|
Jan 11, 2022 21:55:23 GMT
|
|
Superb cars, and yours looks really nice.
I had a black on black on black VX220 turbo for a few years, was an epic car until a plug snapped off in the head and a full top end re-build ensued. Was great again once I sorted it. Replacing the suspension joints and fitting what looked like nylon based "bushes" also hugely tightened up the handling.
I cant see from the pics if yours has it, but mine had an extra aluminium deflector plate added inside the rear engine cover to deflect water away from the plugs area. I'm not convinced it worked that well, but if you don't have it may be somethign to look at.
|
| |
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
|
|
I cant see from the pics if yours has it, but mine had an extra aluminium deflector plate added inside the rear engine cover to deflect water away from the plugs area. I'm not convinced it worked that well, but if you don't have it may be somethign to look at. Mine does not have that little plate. I have a potential solution on hand which is the plastic engine cover from the Astra or Zafira with the same engine. I'll be giving that a try soon. |
| |
|
|
thebaron
Europe
Over the river, heading out of town
Posts: 1,611
|
|
|
|
It's now reached early November 2020 and the Speedster is in my friends garage while the insurance is sorting it out. They offer me 2 options - the first to pay me a lump sum and close it off or the second to repair the car through one of their affiliated bodyshops up to a higher sum with the caveat that if the repair cost passed that sum then they would not pay more. I'm sure I could have worked them a bit more regarding option 2 but the lump sum suited me. The car would owe me a lot less and I could have a play with some ideas that I've been kicking around for the guts of 2 decades. Then winter came early  |
| |
Last Edit: Jan 12, 2022 13:28:05 GMT by thebaron
|
|
|
|
