Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Interesting little project Voodoo. I'm interested to hear what those tyres are like.

Also that is one wild looking intake plenum/manifold on that S-Type

That sausage isn't going to come back to life anyway!!!!

So I got a new car car the other week. It's an 05 Colt Czt that I posted about considering buying.




Cosmetically it's a bit rough and seems to have had a hard life but mechanically sound. Got a full service last week so figured I'd try tackle some of the cosmetics. The wheels are really badly painted in a matte black and look pretty feral at the moment. Hadn't painted anything before and want to do it on a budget so picked up some rattle cans and did a practice run on the spare wheel and to decide the colour. I want to do them in a gunmetal/dark grey.

First of all gave it a good wash, Sanded it down and applied a couple of coats of primer.



And finally a few coats of lacquer.



Reasonably happy with how they turned out for a first time. Some imperfections that could be sorted with more prep so I'll keep that in mind when I do the wheels. Just need to get some axle stands next week and do the rest of the wheels.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Went for a spin on the motorway and had some horrible noise start whenever I got about 100km/h, it was a buffeting noise, and stopped when you slowed, got home and noticed that the undertray for the engine wasn't on correctly, I'm hoping that was all it was! Made some noise!

Yeah it would have been flapping and causing mad buffeting due to the turbulence! I'm sure all is grand

Took off the chrome kidney grills, cleaned then up and gave them 3 coats of matt black. Looks well! Will be drying fully over night and I'll put them back on in the morning and get a few pictures.

YbFocus wrote: »

Yeah it would have been flapping and causing mad buffeting due to the turbulence! I'm sure all is grand

What kind of pigeon was that :eek:

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

Interesting little project Voodoo. I'm interested to hear what those tyres are like.

Also that is one wild looking intake plenum/manifold on that S-Type

They're all a bit mental-looking. They split in two, three one side and three the other, via automatic valves known as IMT, inlet manifold tuning. There's seals around them that perish occasionally and cause lean-outs.

Just in the door from work and said I'd throw them back on before I go to sleep. Dried up well,nice even coats did the trick. The car needs a good wash but overall happy with how they came out!

blade1 wrote: »

Some stuff arrived today!
I'm trying to resist the urge to go at the car in the afternoon as I'm just finished work and wouldn't mind taking it easy for the day.

Price of fuel filter was saucy enough at €52 so the 15% micks garage discount and free postage came in handy!

Stuck into this today.
Had old disc and pads out and as i was fitting the new ones, realised they were different sizes to the old ones.:mad:
New discs were too small and the pads were too big.
Luckily it's free to return them so they are gone back and should have the right ones in the morning.

Got to change the fuel filter anyway.
A bit of a pain with the car on the ground but not much to it.

Remove a panel to reveal filter


Unbolt bracket for handbrake cable and swap one line at a time.
Half way there!


And that's the new one in with just a few drops of petrol spilled!!:D

Decided to under take the massive task of installing a sticker on the car :pac:

The petrol pump arrived for my E30 but it was some weird type, would fit but without the plastic housing and the bottom opening was too wide for the cradle. Sent it back and waiting for Bosch one from ebay, 120 euro. ouch.

Anyway, bought a windscreen polishing kit today on ebay. There is a lot of small scratches on the winscreen (about 2-3mm long). Some on the side window as well. So at least I will sort this out before the pump arrives. I will try to use it on the clocks as well. It's plastic but it should work I think.



Bad picture (just a phone) but it's there.



This was doing nothing before and I discovered two pieces of wire that supposed to be connected, there was foil on each end. Fixed it. I don't know why somebody couldn't do it properly. Do it properly or don't do it at all. Simple. All that is required to do it properly is a knife and a small piece of el. tape. This light is on now when the alarm is on.



I am suspecting that the temp sensor (to ECU) isn't working, because the car is thirsty and hard to start when warm. Wanted to see if it's working and measure the continuity. Put the positive probe on the temp sensor, negative to the body of a car and I got no reading (nothing happens). What am I doing wrong? I tested the multimeter and it's working.



also bought this last week on ebay for 6 euro (from Hong Kong) to erase the Inspection and Oil change light. I know there is a trick but I don't have a piece of strong wire.

20 euro, free postage

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/140766771238?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

yeah, I suppose that compound for plastic is smoother. But I don't want to spend 20 euro just to buy a bottle and use it once. Shame there isn't a small bottle for like 7 euro available somewhere.

Took my car to the Air Con man today (AutoAircon, Parkwest)

I've had the car for a couple of years and the air-con never worked. I'ts kind of superfluous on a convertible (MR2), but it's also kind of annoying having something that doesn't work.

Anyway, the man vacuumed the system out, leak tested it and recharged it with oil and gas. He had the proper gear. He also sterilised the ducts with ozone - not sure about that bit.

It's working perfectly now and hopefully will keep going for a while.

€45 well spent.