Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Noccy_Mondy

Does that make it go faster :P

joujoujou

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Thanks. Not really much job TBH, just a cleanup and a bit of plastic restorer. This one is taken off a celica, so red by default.

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Does that make it go faster :P

Didn't test it yet, but I expect at least 25% gain. :cool:

JohnBoy26

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Does that make it go faster :P

They are fast enough as it is

Top Dog

Take one shiny downpipe ...



Combine with a bit of heat wrap, water, metal ties ...



Leave to dry and pray the boss doesn't stray into the main bathroom :eek:;):D

Now I just need to find someone to fit it for me since I don't have a lift

toastedpickles

I'm sure this is a stupid question but, why wet it?

Top Dog

toastedpickles wrote: »

I'm sure this is a stupid question but, why wet it?

No such thing as a stupid question

Before fitting it I did a little looking on youtube and websites for tips when it came to fitting.

Basically when you wet it it becomes a little easier to work with, stretch, and manipulate. Then as it dries it'll actually tighten up more on the exhaust which should increase its effectiveness.

toastedpickles

Top Dog wrote: »

No such thing as a stupid question

Before fitting it I did a little looking on youtube and websites for tips when it came to fitting.

Basically when you wet it it becomes a little easier to work with, stretch, and manipulate. Then as it dries it'll actually tighten up more on the exhaust which should increase its effectiveness.

Ahhh! Well if i ever do that I'll know now!

YbFocus

Top Dog wrote: »

Leave to dry and pray the boss doesn't stray into the main bathroom :eek:;):D

On that note I once washed engine casings from a motocross bike in the dish washer, people were not happy but my god the results were fantastic

Noccy_Mondy

YbFocus wrote:

On that note I once washed engine casings from a motocross bike in the dish washer, people were not happy but my god the results were fantastic 

Funniest was the uncle a few years back. Can't remember exactly what it was, but something to do with the heater broke in his jeep, a spring/coil type thing. If heated it opens up, so que him putting two of them into the kettle and boil them.... aunt went ape at him. New kettle was needed.

CianRyan

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Funniest was the uncle a few years back. Can't remember exactly what it was, but something to do with the heater broke in his jeep, a spring/coil type thing. If heated it opens up, so que him putting two of them into the kettle and boil them.... aunt went ape at him. New kettle was needed.

That's the thermostat, a pot of water is usually the method.

Noccy_Mondy

CianRyan wrote:

That's the thermostat, a pot of water is usually the method. 

That's what it was, blonde minute there.

*Casually goes back and edits post :P

Top Dog

Got woken by the postman at 8.30am, though I couldn't really complain when these were left at the door for me



No excuse anymore now not to fit the upgraded STI intercooler

So went from this -



Half-way through -



And the finished article -



Yeah, there's quite a few bent fins on the newer one alright. If I'm bored some day I might do something about it. I'm just going to see how it goes. Not overly happy with the fitment of the 90 degree bend from the turbo to the Y-pipe so might have to trim it slightly so its a little less squished looking. :rolleyes:

For now I think its another thing I can tick off the list :cool:

Top Dog

Christmas/January Sales motors style



Handy saving of €88 compared to usual prices - thats a full tank of fuel and then some! :cool:

Special Circumstances

Top Dog - where did you get the pipes? Bought to replace aged oem pipes or specifically for adding the sti ic?

Top Dog

Got them off eBay along with another set of coolant pipes to be fitted in due course. Also have a heap of vacuum & water hoses which I'll eventually fit too (have to get mechanic to sort my boost vacuum pipes first as they're a bit of a mess and going in wrong directions).

Reasons for getting them were 3-fold really.

1 - necessary. The STI ic has a different pipe set-up underneath so I would have had to get a straight connector and a 90 pipe for it to fit. If you look at the middle photo above you can see an alloy Y-pipe - standard is just a chunk of plastic from the turbo. You could re-use it, but a lot of the reason for changing is that y-pipe has a better flow.

2 - upgrade. All the pipes are probably approaching 15 years old now so the rubber is beginning to dry out and they're becoming a bit more brittle. I've a small coolant leak somewhere near the reservoir so I'll be replacing those hoses with silicone in the hope that they'll age a lot better.

3 - cosmetic. Could have gone black but I fancied a splash of colour under the bonnet. If you're going to upgrade something then why not show it off a little

Special Circumstances

Had my eye on green intercooler pipes myself, no real need for them but the time I needed rad pipes there was a serious lead time 6-8 weeks on samco silicone pipes. Basically made to order. Were you able to get your ic pipes off the shelf?

Top Dog

Yup - no hanging around waiting.

Couldn't justify the price or time it would take to get Samco (and I'm not convinced they're 400% better in most situations) so I just got an unbranded kit. Samco's are something like €200 for just the top & bottom radiator hoses - I got the 7 coolant hose kit for €80 to the door I think.

I want to do some small bits and pieces to slightly upgrade things on the car. I've done the whole hog practically having a mortgage in a car in the past and I really do sometimes question if it was worth it paying the premium for top shelf parts. With this I'll get some bits and pieces but I won't be sinking a fortune into it. At the end of the day its still a 1998 car with limited value. And if I don't spend a fortune then it keeps my wife happier too so its win-win

Time will tell as to whether or not it was a mistake, though I won't throw out the originals for a few weeks just as insurance.

At the end of the day its all about personal taste - what you're willing to spend and not necessarily what you can afford to spend.

Special Circumstances

I'd be paranoid about coolant pipes myself. Got oem ones there but for other stuff it's always tempting to bling :-)

Top Dog

Well I'm under the bonnet so frequently that it won't be difficult to keep a close eye on how they're holding up and if I've any leaks/breakages or fluids disappearing.

And today I filled the tank and gave her a wash - ready for the 2015 work commute to kick off tomorrow!

Handy one this morning. Volvo S60 boot strut replacement.

New ones:



Old broken one:



Both old ones out:




New ones in and job done!



Turns out both of the old ones were wrecked:



The mallet wasn't even needed. The struts just pop on and off easy enough. Took all of 2 mins. Been meaning to do this since last year!

jenno54321

I'd say its of a Massey Ferguson tractor. Would I be right me owl friend.

Ded_Zebra

Snotaul tidy up your boot ya messy fecker!!!:P


It would kill me to have the car that messy

Ded_Zebra

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Snotaul tidy up your boot ya messy fecker!!!:P


It would kill me to have the car that messy

It is tidy! :P

To be honest, all that crap lived in one of these for a while but I needed it for something else. Must pick up another one. You should have seen it (well, not this car) when I was working on the sites! :eek:

Must remove that yellow writing on the left light too. Couldn't be anymore obvious that I replaced it

Ded_Zebra

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

It is tidy! :P

advertsfox

Avensis, replaced a 7.5A fuse that killed my interior lights, flood lights, door beep / bong door noise, reset my time / MPG on ignition and messed with the central locking!

Pretty sure if that happened in the C5, I would have to be calling upon the help of DGT to take the engine out to sort it :P

joujoujou

Winter tyres finally fitted yesterday (had to wait unil I get €€€).



Next on to-do list: summer wheels cleanup.

Top Dog

One of the simplest and cheapest mods I've done so far to the car, but sorts one of the small things that probably bugged me more than it should have - namely the lack of adjustability on the intermittent setting for the front wipers.

£10 stalk from eBay and less than 10 mins to do (including getting screwdriver from toolbox and returning it after)

Before -



After -



Still confuses me as to why such a thing wasn't standard on a highly specced car in 1998

But its there now :cool:

wotzgoingon

Top Dog wrote: »

One of the simplest and cheapest mods I've done so far to the car, but sorts one of the small things that probably bugged me more than it should have - namely the lack of adjustability on the intermittent setting for the front wipers.

Sure I had two Asti's 1998 and 1999. The 98 1.5 model had the adjustable setting on the intermittent front wipers and also digital heater and air con settings and external temperature reading. While the better MIVEC 1.6 engine had none of them. All manual heater and air con control and no intermittent wiper control either. Both Jap imports. While I had the cars i was thinking would it not have cost them extra to manufacture different parts for different cars while they fitted in the exact same place.

Top Dog

Just wish they made a version with an intermittent rear. Thats even more annoying where its going constantly with only a little road spray being sucked up onto the glass, or its off. No in-between. Its like the nervous drivers who have wipers on full speed when its barely misting. No blummin sense to it. :rolleyes:

Top Dog

So its actually been on since Wednesday, but I'm only getting round to posting it up now. Its stupidly loud, so much so that I've had to give in and re-fit the bung to quieten it down a bit. Sounded epic on full chat, but just too boomy when trundling along at 100km/h. The fact that its a Wagon probably isn't helping things as there's no isolation in the boot like there would be in a saloon so I may have to look into some sound-deadening for the boot.

Downloaded a sound-meter app just to satisfy my curiosity, and while its not going to be particularly accurate using the phone mic, I got the following readings -

84db for cold idle
80db warm idle
70db warm idle + bung