The "Today I did something to my car" thread

Gary ITR

Hal1

Tracking the car?

Gary ITR

Hal1 wrote: »

Tracking the car?

Indeed I am, going all out too, going to seam weld the shell and remove all the manufacturer glue in the coming weeks. The glass will be replaced too and a lot of other weight saving will be done

Going to go for the Time Attack but I'll have to enter the Pro Class due to the standard the car will be built to. Although if I get the car to a high enough standard and my driving greatly improves I may enter the ITCC

MetzgerMeister

IS that your own car Gary or UP's track car?

Gary ITR

einheisserschre wrote: »

IS that your own car Gary or UP's track car?

That's my own car, the red Teg. It'll obviously be carrying the Urban logo when it's on the track though

Do-more

Fitted a bluetooth car kit to the wife's 2010 VW Polo today.

I'd been considering a Nokia CK-100 when I came across a new VW Touch bluetooth car kit on ebay.co.uk and sniped one for £75 inc. postage. At the time there were more available from a couple of sellers for around £95 but there doesn't seem to be any on at the moment. It came complete with all the cables (inc. a SOT cable) needed for the install. It's a re-badged version of the Bury CC9060 and is offered as a VW dealer fit option on most of the range.

I googled for a "how to" for the install but came up blank so took a few photos when doing the install to throw up here and hopefully help anyone else installing the kit in the future.

First off was to remove the radio, I believe that VW do a very good trim removal tool which is not expensive but I used one of the kids old Ikea plastic knives which was otherwise redundant.



With the trim removed four T20 torx are exposed which are all that needs to be removed to take out the radio.



Then unclip the loom and antenna connections to remove the radio.



The next step is to remove the end cap of the dash so that cables for the head unit and mic can be threaded from the A-pillar to the radio. The end cap just unclips after a bit of coaxing with the trim tool.



I then threaded the mic cable up the A-pillar to the top, the A-pillar trim does not need to be removed as it is flexible enough to tuck the cable behind while still in place once the door rubber is pushed aside.

The kit comes with two different mic mounts one is a pretty large clip which can clip over the top of the A-pillar trim, but I used the much neater mount that has a small double sided sticky pad. The car kit comes complete with an alcohol wipe for de-greasing all surfaces before applying the double sided tape.





For the Polo there is a blue cable on the unit which needs to be connected to a ignition feed so that the unit switches on with ignition only and doesn't drain the battery.

I'm not great with car electrics so elected to connect this to the 12v power socket (cigarette lighter) in the centre console. However if you are up to it then it would be much less time consuming to take a feed from the back of the fuse panel.

To remove the centre console to get ar the power socket wiring you first need to remove the trim around the AC control dials (you don't need to remove the torx screws holding the dials just prize off the trim with the trim tool)



This exposes two torx that need to be removed at the top of the console, the console comes out in a couple of pieces and is quite time consuming, it's all pretty obvious what to remove, but unfortunately I forgot to take photos of this part. The blue wire from the control unit is spliced to the orange cable to the 12v power socket and the console re-installed.

The head unit is supplied with a small stand which sits on the dash and attaches with a double sided pad, but I elected to get a Brodit pro clip for a nicer install, they have a variety of options for a huge range of vehicles which normally includes mounts for the A-pillar, centre console and over the air vents.

I choose an A-pillar mount but bear in mind that this would be the most exposed option should you leave the head unit in place and a thief mistakes it for a GPS and breaks the side window to get it. The touch screen does unclip easily to throw in the glove box or your pocket.

A centre console mount would be more secure but this A-pillar mount is the easiest to cast a glance to while driving.



I used a bit of wire coat hanger to fish the wires behind the dash, running them under the steering column and securing in place along the way with some black insulating tape.

The various wires are then connected to the head unit as per the instructions, the only option is in regard to the yellow mute wire for which there are two possible connections. I powered up the unit before putting the radio back in the dash and found by trial and error that I needed to connect the yellow wire to the yellow and blue cable to get the unit to function correctly.



After that I wrapped the control unit in bubble wrap and there was enough space to stuff it down behind the heater control dials and get the radio back in place.

Now when the phone rings the radio mutes and Phone is displayed on the radio's screen.

EPM

That's a high spec Polo you got there! Well compared to the ones in this country anyway.

-Corkie-

Gary ITR wrote: »

That's my own car, the red Teg. It'll obviously be carrying the Urban logo when it's on the track though

What are you going to drive now to work and places like that????

-Corkie-

EPM wrote: »

That's a high spec Polo you got there! Well compared to the ones in this country anyway.

Indeed it is. They are about 24 K here..

I started looking at the pics from the bottom up and I thought he had put the mic on the wrong side of the car...:o

Gary ITR

-Corkie- wrote: »

What are you going to drive now to work and places like that????

That's just a technicality that can be ironed out at a later date :pac:


The reality is I've just agreed a deal on a Ford Focus.... 1.4.... lol

Mar4ix

Do-more wrote: »

Fitted a bluetooth car kit to the wife's 2010 VW Polo today.

I'd been considering a Nokia CK-100 when I came across a new VW Touch bluetooth car kit on ebay.co.uk and sniped one for £75 inc. postage. At the time there were more available from a couple of sellers for around £95 but there doesn't seem to be any on at the moment. It came complete with all the cables (inc. a SOT cable) needed for the install. It's a re-badged version of the Bury CC9060 and is offered as a VW dealer fit option on most of the range.

Would you pm me ebay link with that bluetooth thing ....
thanks

Do-more

Mar4ix wrote: »

Would you pm me ebay link with that bluetooth thing ....
thanks

Here's the link for the same one I got, can't find any live at the mo, but a Bury CC9060 is virtually the same thing (and has better firmware update support).

Plug

Gary ITR wrote: »

The reality is I've just agreed a deal on a Ford Focus.... 1.4.... lol

Go take a break, banned for one week.

Gary ITR

Plug wrote: »

Go take a break, banned for one week.

Feck off you try build a race car and run a decent car at the same time and see how you get on!

EPM

Gary ITR wrote: »

Feck off you try build a race car and run a decent car at the same time and see how you get on!

You could've bought a 1.6 at least:p

Ah fair play though, I know it was the plan but it's gotta be hard to take your pride and joy off the road as an everyday driver.

-Corkie-

Yesterday I got four new Vredstrein Ultracs on the Passat, I also got one for the spare wheel. Great way to spend 700 euros and I got the four wheel alingment done also. It feels like a totally different car to drive now..:)

Do-more

EPM wrote: »

That's a high spec Polo you got there! Well compared to the ones in this country anyway.

-Corkie- wrote: »

Indeed it is. They are about 24 K here..

It's a 1.4 85ps got it in April last year, it was pre-registered and in dealers stock and cost approx. €14,700 at today's exchange rate.

The mother in law just took delivery of a new one on dealer special for the same price and her's has cruise control and rear parking sensors as well.

They're a bit underpowered for passing out and steeper hills but it's a grand car to drive, might go for the 122ps TSi whenever we change it.

Gary ITR

EPM wrote: »

You could've bought a 1.6 at least:p

Ah fair play though, I know it was the plan but it's gotta be hard to take your pride and joy off the road as an everyday driver.

It wasn't as tough a decision as I thought it would be. Sitting in the back of it on Saturday with all the seats out of it was a bit surreal and for a brief moment I changed my mind!

I think I'm going to have to buy another DC2, honestly nothing else I've driven comes close when it comes to Smiles Per Gallon. I've been driving what is quite possibly the best DC5 in the country and I still pined after my own car

vectra

Gary ITR wrote: »

Feck off you and run a decent car

FYP

TestTransmission

Had new rear discs,pads,calipers rebuilt and clutch master cylinder replaced yesterday.Car feels fantastic


Please note,I didn't do any of this work*

Yesterday I took off the driver side lock, and put in a new lock.

With no central locking/remote locking this meant I now have a new key for the driver door and a separate one for the ignition/passenger door. Reason this was needed was that I broke the lock on the driver side breaking into the car a few weeks ago, having accidentally left the keys (& dog) in there. Whoops.

Still, live and learn. Always good to know how to break into your own car I guess.

EPM

Gary ITR wrote: »

It wasn't as tough a decision as I thought it would be. Sitting in the back of it on Saturday with all the seats out of it was a bit surreal and for a brief moment I changed my mind!

I think I'm going to have to buy another DC2, honestly nothing else I've driven comes close when it comes to Smiles Per Gallon. I've been driving what is quite possibly the best DC5 in the country and I still pined after my own car

The bits you get off your own would be handy...but I could see that being a viscous circle that will set you off again:p

Mr Benevolent

Today I noticed the airbox was loose, so out came the Gorilla Tape. Oh yeah, and both coolant and oil are disappearing down some unseen plughole.

Gary ITR

vectra wrote: »

FYP

That's exactly what I was implying lol!

TestTransmission wrote: »

Had new rear discs,pads,calipers rebuilt and clutch master cylinder replaced yesterday.Car feels fantastic


Please note,I didn't do any of this work*

And a savage dyno run I was thinking 205 myself tbh so I was surprised at the end result

EPM wrote: »

The bits you get off your own would be handy...but I could see that being a viscous circle that will set you off again:p

Well a lot of the bits off my own will be staying in place. The exhaust/airbox/suspension stuff will be staying put. Handy thing is though I can save maps on my laptop so I can share my Demon ECU(1200 quids worth of kit) between the two cars. I'm under no illusions this time though, I know as soon as I buy it (if I buy it) it'll be ripped apart and tuned to within an inch of it's life lol

Gary ITR

Confab wrote: »

Today I noticed the airbox was loose, so out came the Gorilla Tape. Oh yeah, and both coolant and oil are disappearing down some unseen plughole.

Oh dear, what's the car? Any mayo on the dipstick or oil cap?

MetzgerMeister

Confab wrote: »

Today I noticed the airbox was loose, so out came the Gorilla Tape. Oh yeah, and both coolant and oil are disappearing down some unseen plughole.

Check your rad and sump??

Voodoomelon

BMW plastic strikes again.
Window regulator wheel chewed up.

Mr Benevolent

einheisserschre wrote: »

Check your rad and sump??

Nah I found the source of the oil leak a few minutes ago - the oil pressure switch is leaking. Took ten minutes to find the leak with a flashlight in the twilight after a month of halfhearted searching in the day! Filled her back up to max with 15W40.

The coolant overhead tank has little bits of white in it and a bit of oil but the oil dipstick seems free of mayo some bubbles when I rev it and the coolant level is dropping slowly. There was 'steam' coming out of the oil filler cap for a bit - not sure what that means?

dr.fuzzenstein

Noticed my CMax (Diesel) was a bit sluggish to start the last few days.
Then thought I felt a power flatspot every now and then.
Then, when dropping car into third and flooring it, lost almost all power for a second.
So dropped by motorfactors and bought new fuel filter and, lo and behold, the old unit was black, brown, manky, clogged, etc...
Just wish I wouldn't have to noodle over the engine so much after changing it over, even opening the bleed valve and attaching a suction pump to pull the diesel through, I still had to attach booster pack or the battery would have died.
But she spluttered back to life, and on a good, hard test drive power was plentiful and signs of bogging down and bucking where gone.
Only put about 50000 km on that fuel filter, is that too much or too little?

Voodoomelon

Voodoomelon wrote: »

BMW plastic strikes again.
...........

Was reading on a Rover forum some time back how many manufacturers invested heavily in plastic components in the late 90s early 00s. Obviously as a cost saving exercise, all of the designs worked perfectly but the car manufacturers had to rely heavily on the plastic manufacturers claims on how the material would age.

'twas in relation to a plastic thermostat housing on the Rover KV6 he was referring to specifically but he was speaking in general terms too.