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Corsa, Modified Combo, Volvo 240, Suzuki Jimny

24K views 493 replies 14 participants last post by  Peps 
#1 · (Edited)
2002 Vauxhall Corsa Club 1.0

I've been on this site for a long time but only just got round to posting. I've been driving for 4 & 1/2 years, and my first car was a 2002 Vauxhall Corsa with the lowly Z10XE. It had already been in the family for about 6 years, having been driven by my parents. It had rarely gone wrong in that time, so I was very happy to have been given it as my first car. The earliest photo I have of it, though, is from 2016.



The exhaust was blowing slightly when I started driving the car, so I took it to Demand Engineering (google them, they're good) to have a new stainless steel cat-back system fabricated and fitted.




I also fitted some halo-ring headlights. The black rear lights in the first photo were also fitted by me. It used to have red lights.




Until the end of 2016, these were the only modifications I made to the car. Being my first car, I was pretty much going on the assumption that I'd crash it. Somehow, I didn't! So, I went wheel-shopping. The 14 inch steel wheels were looking pretty tired and the rear tyres (the size was 175/65/14) needed replacing anyway. I found some heavily curbed SXi 7-spoke alloy wheels off a scrapped learner car for ÂŁ50, and got some new tyres. The original tyres on the alloys were 185/55/15. I decided on 195/50/15, as the diameter is much the same as the old steel wheels+tyres, and the extra 10mm width was a bonus or (20mm extra per corner compared to the old steel wheels). Plus this size was actually cheaper!

I found some Toyo Proxes T1-R high-grip road tyres for ÂŁ30 each new. I was very pleased with the result!




For anyone considering these tyres, I would wholeheartedly recommend them. The difference over the old tyres was instantly noticeable. I'm not the sort to thrash my cars, I care too much about my safety and the cars themselves to be too brave on public roads, but you really can throw the car into a corner with these tyres. The most impressive part, though, is wet-weather performance. It feels no different in torrential rain that on a dry day. Compared to the old 175mm tyres on the steel wheels, I had slightly lost grip at the rear once or twice on colder days (not icy, mind) around bumpy corners. But these Toyo tyres, for ÂŁ30 each, are truly brilliant. It turned a 'nippy' car into a truly chuckable car on B-roads.

Now at this point, I needed a van more than I needed a car as I was ferrying car parts backwards and forwards for a different project. So, to make room, I removed all the rear plastic trim and back seats. And then the stereo stopped working, so I removed that too!





I imagine that shed somewhere in the region of about 50kg in weight, which made quite a few differences. For a start, the already harsh ride became utterly terrible (oh well). The upshot is the brakes are noticeable sharper, the steering is more direct, the car can actually climb hills and it feels overall faster. It's also noisier. Much noisier. And it gained about 5 miles to the gallon as well. So, after my stint transporting car parts was over, I left the seats out. But, coupled with those new tyres, this slow little 1 litre is fantastic in the corners. It's no racing car, but its handling makes up for its lack of power. Backroads are a must!

More recently in 2017 I fitted a K&N Panel Air Filter. It made a very small difference to power, and I mean very small, but it did make the car sound a little bit better as well. I also experimented with drilling holes in the bottom of a spare airbox for more noise, but it made little difference, so I put the untampered box back in.



I have done more since then, but I shall go over that in future posts here. Onto the next car.

2010 Vauxhall Combo 1.3CDTi

From late 2015 to early 2017, I worked at a local Peugeot dealership as an aftersales advisor. It was the worst year and a half of my life for reasons I'll explain at some later point. The long and the short of it was that I was treated like a dog. Still, from working 52 hours a week, I earned some decent money, and decided I needed a change. Having always enjoyed valeting, I went self-employed as a mobile car valeter in April 2017. I needed a van, and being a lover of the Corsa C, here's what I settled on.




I bought it with a 3 month warranty, a year's MOT and a full service, but having worked in the motor industry, I don't trust car dealerships one bit. So I had my trusted mechanic perform a safety check, only to find it needed a new rear coil spring. At a cost of ÂŁ30 I just decided to have him replace it, instead of driving 30 miles back to the place I bought it from. Beyond that, it needed a bloody good clean inside and some interior bulbs, because for whatever reason, they were missing. So, I found some LED bulbs.





Those white panels behind the seats were black when I started. How, I'll never know. After that, I clay-detailed the exterior and cleaned the engine.





I have also done a little more to this Combo since as well, but I'll leave this post here.
 
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19
#2 ·
Hi again.

Corsa

So, not long after I stripped the interior and replaced the wheels, a muntjac deer ran out in front of me when I was doing about 45mph. Luckily it only hit the corner, instead of straight on.



As the rear bumper wasn't looking particularly good either, I had been looking for some new bumpers for a while. Thankfully, a complete dope a few years younger than me was selling his Corsa Exclusiv, as he had been banned from driving.




I'm sure most of you know the Exclusiv is a limited edition with only 500 made in the UK. A friend took the car for stock car racing, I took the bumpers and wheels for ÂŁ190. So, in January 2018, I finally got around to replacing the bumpers.







It was a fairly quick job with no real hiccups. Once the bumpers were on, it looked a lot better, despite the colour difference.




I do also have the side skirts to go on, but I'm not fitting them until me and my mechanic figure out a way to secure them without drilling holes in the sills, because that's bloody stupid. No idea why Vauxhall riveted them straight into the sills because they all then rusted.

Anyway, eventually, I'm going to have the bumpers colour-matched to the rest of the car, but the lacquer has peeled off the roof, and the car is dented and scratched on almost every panel, so it will eventually have a full respray. But it will have to wait. Money is an issue, thanks to this car...



This 1992 Volvo 240 is my pride and joy. I've had it restored. Worth every penny. But now I haven't got many pennies left!

In the meantime, I've just done very basic things to my Corsa, such as cleaning it, and the engine.







I'd love to do more to my cars myself but we have no driveway at home. Most of these pictures are either taken at my mechanic's garage or on the road about 500 metres from the house.

Underneath all the dents and scrapes is a good little car. Eventually it'll look as good as it runs. At 60,000 miles it's fairly low mileage, there's no rust and everything works well. It'd be a shame to see this car not get the TLC it deserves. More on the van next time.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Combo

I haven't done a great deal to the Combo since I bought it in March 2017, mainly because of its use for my mobile valeting business. Basically I don't want to spend too much money on it.

So, among the little things I have done to it, I have bought some cheapo Amazon mats for a Corsa...





I also replaced the sidelight bulbs with LED alternatives. I've used these before in my Corsa and for the interior light on this van.

The old...


Old vs. new...


And with the new bulbs in...



For some reason my camera hates photos of lights, but you get the idea. Also, from the Corsa Exclusiv I mentioned in my previous post, I have the wheels.




So far I have only removed the old bald tyres (along with the utterly stupid metal tyre valves) and cleaned them up.






I could have done a much better job cleaning them, but these will eventually be sent off to a local company to be sandblasted and powder coated in gloss black (much like the alloys on the Corsa), and they'll be put onto the van. This is of course, when money permits, because 195/45/17 size tyres are ridiculously expensive (ÂŁ45 and upwards without fitting) and there's very little choice. For the old 14" steel wheels on the Corsa, I could get tyres for ÂŁ20 each. Oh well.

This is the last of the updates I have made to my Vauxhalls since I've owned them, so any future posts will be as I make changes. I may or may not do an overview of the story on my Volvo 240 if any of you are interested. It's certainly a more interesting story than my Vauxhalls are so far, but then after an almost full restoration, you'd hope so. There's a lot more to tell with the old Volvo, that's for sure!
 
#8 ·
The company that did it is called Aerocoat, they're in Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk, not far from Lowestoft in Suffolk. Within reason, they pick up the wheels (as long as the tyres are off), take them away, sandblast and powder coat them for ÂŁ48 per wheel. I wish I'd have taken a before photo because they really were bad to begin with. I do have some before and after pictures of the 14 inch alloys on my Volvo, though...




 
#12 ·
The Volvo 240

Text-heavy post incoming! The shortened version; I bought a Volvo.

As I previously mentioned, I do have three vehicles. My two Vauxhalls, and my pride and joy, the Volvo 240 Estate. I decided I'll put its story on here, since it's had a much more interesting life than the Vauxhalls have, so here we go. I'll warn you now, there will be ranting. People seemed to want this car to die at every turn.

August 2015

I had recently started a full-time job in the motor industry, working as an aftersales advisor for an ex-Peugeot main dealer (the franchise had other branches for Peugeot, Suzuki and Volvo). At the time, I only had my beloved little Corsa, but I wanted something else. Something unique and fun - a summer/weekend car. My Grandad, rest his soul, used to own Volvos as far back as I could remember, his last being a grey 740, before he moved to an automatic Astra as his last car. Coupled with a 240 featuring in Gran Turismo 4 on the Playstation 2, I grew more fond of Volvos over time, so I figured I would look for a boxy old rear-wheel-drive Volvo as my second car.

My employer had a silver 740 saloon sitting at the back of their forecourt, covered in moss, battery flat, tyres flat, but it looked more than salvageable. I found out it was a one-owner-since-new car that had since sat in this yard for 4 years. I asked my boss what he wanted for it. Being the coy, dishonest, cards-close-to-his-chest, waste-of-space, borderline-thief that he is, he asked "Well, what do you want to pay for it?"

I reserve a deep hatred for salesmen like him, so I slept on it. I found out he was looking for about ÂŁ2000, which was utter crap for a Volvo 740 in 2015. It was a ÂŁ250 car, TOPS, in its current state. I found out much later that he only gave the previous owner ÂŁ150 for it anyway, the pirate. However, something else came up.

Next door to my place of work was a smaller, local workshop. You know the kind, a couple of honest mechanics doing honest work at honest prices out of a small unit. Well, there was a silver Volvo 240 Estate sitting outside. As someone who likes Volvo estates, I had a closer look at it, only to find that it was for sale. See, these two mechanics had serviced the car for the last few years for an affluent couple that lived in London. Whenever they came up here to Suffolk, this old 240 was the car they used. I was told there was a bit of rust and the offside front caliper was seizing occasionally. They then told me that a local tyre-fitter wanted it... for banger racing. I asked how much the owners wanted for it. ÂŁ250 was the reply. I walked in first thing the next day with ÂŁ250 cash and bought it. I quite literally saved this car.

I brought the old barge next door, to the valet bay where I work, and gave it a wash to get rid of the bird droppings, and here is how the old girl looked.





So, what I had bought was a 1992 Volvo 240 SE Estate, with an electronically fuel-injected 2 litre petrol engine, mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Power? About 111BHP when new. Feels more like 70BHP with those aerodynamics. The MOT was until the next February, so I had 6 months, and the car had no service history whatsoever. Honestly, the car was a mess.

At nearly 188,000 miles, she'd had a difficult life. My plan was to reverse that. The rust in the rear wheel arches (as well as floor, rear valance and sills) was going to cost SEVERAL times more than what the car was (and is) worth. The exhaust as you can see was bent, some of the side trims on the doors were missing, the bodywork was truly awful. The bonnet had even been washed with a scouring pad.

Once I got her taxed, I took her out properly for the first time. What an experience. Within half an hour of the first outing, I was in love. The old, dirty, raspy, mechanical roar from the rickety old engine was something I'd never heard before, having been used to modern cars. Don't get me wrong, though, the car is crap to drive. It's slow (not compared to a 1 litre Corsa, mind), wallows and leans through corners, and is nearly 5 metres long, so parking can be an issue. But, I've never driven a more fun car. For a start, it's rear-wheel-drive, which even if you're not on the limit of grip, feels different than a front-wheel-drive, it feels much better. The steering is fairly heavy, just how I like it. It's supremely comfortable. The seats have no support and the suspension is noisy over bumps, but it still irons them out brilliantly, and the seats are so nice to sit in. Thanks to thin pillars, visibility is also fantastic! It's easier to judge this car's size than it is in a Corsa C.

Anyway, there were a few mechanical things to tick off the list before the welding was to be done. Service, Cambelt, tensioner, ball joint and a fuel pump relay (which was preventing the car starting).

March 2016

Next up was the welding. Despite the corrosion, it did pass its MOT in February on account of it not having rear seats at the time (cheeky me...). So, it was now time for the welding. Since the franchise I worked for included a Volvo branch, I figured; Who better to do the welding than a Volvo main dealer? Well it turns out literally anyone could have done a better job. Here's where I get ranty.

So, I'll tell you the full story from the start. During a lunch break, I drove the 240 from my place of work to the Volvo branch belonging to the same employers for a quote on the work. What needed doing was;

-Both sills
-Inner and outer rear wheel arches
-Rear valance under the bootlid
-Two small patches under the floor

They said the car's not worth it to begin with, and I simply replied that I've fallen in love with the car, and I'm looking to get it restored back to former glory. They said fair enough, gave me a quote, and that was that. I booked it in, brought it to them with moulded repair panels for the sills and arches from a classic Volvo parts specialist and left it with them.

After THREE MONTHS with these idiots, here's what came back.







It's worth noting that the top picture taken from the outside was the better side. The driver's side had heat damage which had warped the panel from where they'd rushed the job, not to mention both panels were tacked over the top, instead of being tucked underneath. The bottom picture is a small patch they had stuck on top of the rear valance, completely ignoring the minefield of rot underneath.

To add insult to injury, the underseal (rustproofing in other words) they'd put on the inner wheel arches peeled off after FIFTEEN miles.

What you've just seen in the pictures above took three months, so it was June 2016 by the time it was done. Literally the day after my birthday. So, what had they quoted and charged me for this hack-job?

One thousand, five hundred pounds. ÂŁ1500.

Once my trusted mechanic pointed out just how pathetic a job they'd done, I was livid. Beyond livid. By this point, I had truly come to hate my job. I was treated like dirt by these people. That they gave my car the same treatment was the cross-channel ferry that broke the camel's back.

June 2016

So, I took it back. Had a good moan with steam coming out of my ears. Their service manager pleaded ignorance and the man who did the welding claimed he was told it was a patch to get it through its MOT. Only, it already had its MOT.

Anyway, the agreement that we came to is that they would rub it down, filler it smooth and prep it for the eventual respray that someone else would do (this smoothing was included in the dog-turd ÂŁ1500 price). I'm still not happy to this day that the welding has been done wrong, but it looks original and the weld is if nothing else functional. Here's how it came back.





Looked a lot better I must admit. Still felt like I'd been ripped off. Hell, I had been. The weld is still wrong, but I couldn't very well buy another set of new weld panels and get it done again. So, it would have to do.

That these people could call themselves a main dealer for Volvo is damning to say the least. It's a shame for the reputation of Volvo Cars in general and it's a shame for the local Volvo owners that don't realise the cars they're buying from them are not that well maintained. Most of all, it's a shame for the cars themselves (I truly adore the cars Volvo has made over the years). At the time, I didn't like telling people where I worked. I was truly ashamed to work for these pirates.

Anyway, this is where I'll leave it for this post. I always hate thinking about this part of the Volvo's story, or even the year 2016 in general. It was the worst year of my life. Things got better later, but I wanted to separate that from this hateful time. I shall continue this story soon.
 
#14 ·
It gets better, too, @sevenfourate! But for now, here's a small update on the Combo.

Combo

One minor modification I forgot to add to this thread was a shameful exhaust add-on.

Before...


After...



Personally I think it suits it! Considering how badly some of them fit (and how shameless modern cars are with fake exhausts) this one works fairly well. Eventually it'll have a stainless steel silencer if I have my way.

So, I've already replaced the sidelights with white LED alternatives, so I've replaced the others, too!

The high-beam bulbs are new blue-tint...


Frankly they're not the best. White light simply doesn't work, especially in the fog.

The dip-beam bulbs on the other hand have been replaced with some Valeo selective yellow tint bulbs (like old French cars had).


These are properly good. They cut through the fog brilliantly WITHOUT dazzling other road users (I'm looking at you, Range Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW...). Yellow lights are simply better than white.

Meanwhile, I haven't cleaned the van since the snow we had at the end of February. So, she was a state. Also, the driver's side hub-caps fell off. No, really. I was driving, and they fell off. One fell off, then the next day, the other one fell off, too. So for symmetry I removed the other two as well.



A thorough clean later...


 
#15 ·
The Volvo 240 Part 2

We left off on the Volvo's story just after I had taken it back to the complete buffoons that had 'welded' it to smoothen, filler and prime the bodywork. I next got it booked in with a self-employed bodyshop man who I'd heard very good things about.

July 2016

I dropped it off, hopeful and yet anxious. After the welding fiasco, how could I not be? Anyway, I left it with him, and gave my faithful old Corsa a good few runs for the time being. A little over a week after I'd left the car with this local bodywork man, I dropped by to see how it was coming along. Well it turns out, it was coming along very well indeed.





I was so happy to finally see someone treating this old barge with some respect. Thanks to the minefield of rust that my then-employers ignored when the welding was 'carried out', I did have to pick up another repair panel for the rear valance (basically the entire panel that joins the bottom of the bootlid and the rear bumper). I dropped it off a few days later, and left him to it, while I set about finding some new parts for the Volvo. Here's the list;

-Rear bumper cover (old one was dented)
-Rear no. plate lights (old ones were taped on)
-Plastic trim fixing clips
-Bumper cover fixing clips
-Front grille
-Side repeaters (I found some chrome alternatives to my old black plastic originals)
-Hockey trims and fixing clips
-Alloy wheels. Most 240 owners go for 15 inch 5-spoke Virgo alloys. I'm not a fan so I had something else in mind...

In case you're wondering, hockey trims are well-known among Volvo 240 owners. They're these bits...


They were either missing or bent on my car when I bought it, so I found some better ones.

With such a good list of parts, this is where I removed the rear seats and trim from my Corsa, effectively turning it into a tiny little 3-cylinder van. I found everything on my parts list at a local classic Volvo breaker's yard. I took the bald tyres off the alloys and put the alloys in my shed for later. The other parts, I brought to the bodywork man, 3 weeks into the job. Here's what I found...




I didn't recognise the old girl at first. Naturally, I had a big smile on my face. Thanks to my job, it was the first I had for a long time.

August 2016

It was nearly exactly a year since I had bought this rusty old barge, and I finally got the call to say that it was finished. My Dad kindly gave me a lift to pick it up. I brought her home. Where the Volvo main dealer had taken 3 months to do "40 hours" of welding (it looked like 10), this entire respray had taken 4 weeks. And here is the end result.




Things were finally coming around for this 24-year-old motor, but the list of things to do was still long. More on that later!
 
#17 ·
The Volvo 240 Part 3

August 2016 Continued

With the car back I set about cleaning the interior, which had been stripped for the welding.



Next was to remove that heavy, rusty towbar.



I then sent the car back to the bodyshop for a few more touches...

September 2016





I had the chin spoiler painted silver to match the body and the new valance panel painted black (it was heavily faded). In the meantime, I had rented a garage to hide her away in for the winter. It was a tight fit...







October 2016

A few weeks later, I decided to have a quick tinker. The barge came with a lot of spare parts, headlight units included. Now, thanks to the beautiful simplicity of an old Volvo, the entire headlight unit can be easily disassembled. So, I removed the cleaner parts of the spare units, and cleaned them more to go on my car. Starting with the indicator lens. At the garage, I first removed the grille.



Oh yeah, me and my Dad fitted some Italian-style air horns sometime about 6 months prior. Next I undid the 3 bolts holding the unit in...



I then unscrewed the corner lens.





I had previously cleaned the spare lens and brought it with me.



With the clean lens on, the difference was noticeable! Though, note the round stone-chip in the glass lens.





That week, at work alone (on a Saturday I would be expected to open and close the dealership, being the only one there after the mechanic left off at midday), I decided to kill some time. Not by doing any actual work, though. The Volvo beckoned...

I had time for a proper tinker (it's not like this dealership was ever busy - years of ripping off customers left them dead quiet) this afternoon. I took both headlight units off, and disassembled them.



The glass lens was soaking in a large bucket of soapy water to help remove the 20 years of muck. With everything in bits, I cleaned up the chrome trims that top the units using white vinegar.





Wiping off excess residue, I also had the lens ready to go on.



So the old...



And the new...



While the units were out, I also cleaned behind them...



I also managed to get hold of some headlight wiper arms from a kind gentleman on the Volvo Owner's Forums, so with the new glass lens, the clean chrome and the wipers, it was a nice little project to do.



As a reward for myself, I washed the barge.



And then got some selective-yellow French-style headlight bulbs.



The headlight project was truly one of the most enjoyable and satisfying things I've ever done. I'm not in any way a mechanically minded person, and without a driveway or garage near home to work on/in, doing anything to my cars can be difficult. But, Volvo really did put some thought into these cars, and they made a car that most people can at least do small jobs on. Nothing ever proved difficult in this project. Everything was so simple, so self-explanatory. It was very long-winded, but then I wasn't exactly in a rush. This was done bit by bit over the course of a few days.
 
#18 ·
The Volvo 240 Part 4

TL;DR - I didn't do anything with the Volvo for a while. skip to where it says July 2017

The winter of 2016/2017 and the spring of 2017 were uneventful for the Volvo. I was not in a good place, mentally. My former job had become unbearable. While I had been scouring the jobsites for something else for almost a year, I was spending my entire evenings on them now. With hindsight I was being picky. I wanted another job in the motor industry. I didn't want to be on the service desk. I wanted sales or valeting. Sales was realistically never going to happen, thanks to my lack of experience.

But, finally, in January 2017, I found an advert for a full-time valeter at a local Ford dealership. There were many improvements on the face of it - I would be doing less hours, and my job was my job, instead of my current position where I had to fill about 4 pairs of shoes. So I went for the interview. The employer had mentioned he had a few more people to interview, but by the end of mine he offered me the job. I took it, and handed in my notice. A year and a half of hell was going to be over!

So, finally the day came and I started my job as a full-time valeter at Ford. Was it an improvement over my old job? Oh yes. Was it a good job? Well, not really.

See, main dealers, as I learned from my previous job, will cut corners everywhere they can in order to reduce costs. Take for example Ford's lineup of horrible, horrible cars. Between the lowly Ford Ka and the absurdly large Ford Edge, they would expect both to take 3 hours each, start to finish. The pressure-washer was cranked so high that it pushed me backwards like the recoil of a shotgun. Their preferred wheel cleaner was simply not good enough, because it was watered down. They only used one bucket for washing cars, and they used a sponge or a telescopic brush. The bodywork polish was cheap and offered no protection against the rain, let along mud or salt. Silicone dressings were slathered on every single surface, even the plastic wheel arch liners. Wrong, wrong, WRONG!

A funny side-story about that pressure-washer - I asked how to turn the pressure down on my first day. The reply was "you don't need to, these cars will be fine". Literally the next day, my colleague had to wash a 4 year old Astra GTC in red. With the pressure-washer on full, he flaked off some of the lacquer!

Now, one thing you'll notice about 2010-2017 Fords; they're all the same. They look the same inside and out. So, really, I was cleaning the same car, over and over again. It was so boring, especially when you factor in Ford's woeful quality across the board; the paintwork chips ridiculously easily, the interior plastics are scratchy and hard to clean, and the carpets are like velcro, holding in all the dirt. They are such terrible cars.

My colleague (who was very experienced aside from the mishap with that Astra) was treated like dirt, to add. So, I didn't give them the chance to treat me the same way; I left after just 4 weeks, with a plan. After a week or two, it was my mother who suggested the possibility of becoming a mobile car valeter, self employed. I brushed it off at first, but the more I thought about it, and the more I spoke about it with my parents, friends etc, the more sense it made. Becoming my own boss, cleaning all kinds of different cars, meeting new people and seeing new places. So in April 2017 with everything set up, that's exactly what I did. Best thing I ever did. Anyway, back to the Volvo!

July 2017

Since I bought it, the 240 always had a problem: the driver's side front caliper kept seizing, and thus the brake would stick on. It may or may not have nearly caused a fire. So, a good friend of mine finally got his own workshop after nearly 25 years working as a technician. So, finally I could get the brakes replaced. Why him? I don't trust anyone else. So, he got it on the hoist and stripped the brakes.







The contrast between old and new parts was stark...





To prevent some future corrosion, we sprayed the new plates in some alloy wheel spray-paint that had been lying around.



Now, while the car was in the air, I took the time to clean the underside of the engine. Now, older Volvos like this used the trusty 'Redblock' 4-cylinder engine. So, I thought I'd try and make it shine again.



As it turned out the hoses and pipes needed replacing as well.







Now, you may remember I previously mentioned some alloys wheels I pillaged from another old 240 Torslanda edition a while back.





Once cleaned up, it was clear they needed powder coating. Just as well, I wanted them matte black. After being picked up by Aerocoat again, here's what I got back.



I had also ordered 4 new tyres, a set of Maxxis Meteora. 10mm wider each than the old Dunlop tyres on the steel wheels. At about ÂŁ35 each they were reasonable.



And the final result?







She was finally ready for the August motor shows...

August 2017

It needed cleaning before the show, so I started with the engine...



I spent about 3 hours. With no plastic covers, it was fiddly, but satisfying. I also removed the sound insulation.



Another minor job I performed was a spot of metal sanding and polishing...





Here's how it looked after her thorough, day-long clean...



And that evening I brought the old girl home and got a photo taken.



That's not my house, by the way, it's just where I have to park :p

But, it was finally time for the show.







The face says it all...

 
#20 ·
Great work on the Volvo. Nice write-up; and do i presume you're talking about John Gross and being there for just 4 weeks and hating it.........

Where where the show pics taken BTW. Few cars there !
Nope, the other main dealer, in Halesworth :p but good God Fords are so utterly bad. New Fords have zero quality. None. If you're thinking of buying a Ford Kuga, just don't. Either buy a Qashqai that's better, or buy a Suzuki Vitara that's cheaper.

The show was one of two. The first was at Helmingham Hall (first Sunday in August every year) and I'll be there again this year. The second (which I'll add soon) was at Stonham Barns a few weeks later, where I joined the Volvo Enthusiasts club on their stand (yes that club really does exist :D ).

Helmingham is an exercise in looking at cars you can never afford, but Stonham had some really nice, but also cheap, low end cars. For example a mk3 cavalier and a Nova, both stock, both base models. No V6, 4WD or GSi badges in sight. Mind you there was also a Lotus Carlton...
 
#23 ·
Corsa Seats

So the seats in my Corsa are a little... basic. I managed to find some from a higher trim level, but the runners underneath were looking worse for wear...



So, time for a new project! First I used a Dremel rotary tool to sand off the worst of the rust.



And then, two coats of black Hammerite paint later...





At this point the paintbrush fell apart (no joke, it literally did!) so I was left with only one seat finished. Next it was time to clean the seat. My cat did not do much to help.





As I'd already cleaned the seats a few months ago (yep, I've had these seats a while!), it didn't need much.




So with that done it was time to remove the old passenger seat.





Side by side you can see a few subtle differences, like a more retro pattern and better side bolstering.



They also had different plugs so they had to be swapped.



While the seat was out I took the time to vacuum clean underneath...




With the new seat ready it was simply a case of tightening the 4 retaining bolts and plugging in the pretensioner.





It will look much better when I get the chance to get the other seat done as well!
 
#25 · (Edited)
The Volvo 240 Part 5

August 2017 Continued

Two weeks after Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic Cars; The Stonham Barns Classic Car Show. I had been invited to join the Volvo Enthusiast's Club on their stand.











What a day! One of the Volvos on the stand (a gorgeous black P1800 Coupe not pictured) won best in show.

October 2017

Time for the rear brakes...

Being honest this didn't actually need doing. The brakes worked fine, but since the front brakes had been done, I wanted to get the rears done to match.

The rear left caliper had already been replaced at the same time as the front braking system since it was defective, but the rest was showing its age.





The other side meanwhile, looked a tad less shiny...



With that caliper off, we got a nice comparison against the new one.





Meanwhile, we changed the engine oil and filter (that time of year again!). Better still, I got myself a genuine Volvo filter!



And while we were under the bonnet, I decided the exhaust manifold heat-shield no longer deserved its place, so away it went!



November 2017

So, the 240 had some more work in November! A few minor jobs but oh well.

When it was serviced last month, we (me and my friend/technician) found evidence of an oil leak coming from the rocker cover gasket, so that was to be replaced today. My car also has what's called 'engine shake', where the engine quite literally shakes on idle revs. It's nothing particularly worrying, and is somewhat common, and has quite a few potential causes, so I decided to eliminate one of them today as well; the inlet manifold gasket.



It was immediately obvious whoever had last replaced the rocker cover gasket was a chuffing idiot, slathering RTV sealant everywhere...



So, we undid the bolts and removed (with a pry-bar, some choice words and some careful levering) the rocker cover. It's worth noting that the gasket is paper, not rubber on these...





What we found was no less than THREE old gaskets. Each simply (and lazily) stuffed on top of the last. No wonder there was a leak. So, with a mix of brake cleaner, a small steel wire brush and a scraper, we cleaned up the rocker cover....





Followed by the top of the head...



Before taking the nice new gasket...



And fitting it. The rocker cover was put back on with a very small amount of RTV in some of the corners to seal the gasket properly, before the car was taken for a run to make sure the oil leak was not there.



So much tidier!

Next was the inlet manifold gasket. The old one was in a fair state...



Once the manifold was back on, you couldn't really tell the difference. The engine shake was still there, but for the sake of ÂŁ10.00 of labour and a ÂŁ6.00 part it's one more thing I won't have to worry about.

Now the exhaust...

So, last time I drove this car was to a meet with some fellow Volvo owners (in much newer, more expensive cars than mine...) earlier that November, and during the journey, the exhaust bracket sheared from corrosion, and it became rather loud.. Noise is glorious but rattle is not.

So, here's a broken joint to a rear silencer...



And here's an empty space where the silencer used to be...

 
#29 · (Edited)
The Volvo 240 Part 6

A woman was advertising on facebook recently, having organised a family fun day to raise awareness for Group B Streptococcus, an infection that sadly claimed the life of her 6-week-old son in 2015. She had asked for local classic car owners to come along and be part of the attraction, so naturally I jumped at the chance!

So the old barge had a good clean, followed by a coat of Collinite 845.




I was definitely impressed with the result...





It was only a small event in the end, with around a dozen cars and as many motorcycles (mainly Harley Davidsons), and perhaps not too surprisingly, my car was the newest. It was definitely the shiniest...






I don't like Volkswagens very much, but damn that Scirocco was nice. Naturally, the cream-beige Rover P4 (next to the Rolls Royce) took most of the attention with its unique colour and suicide doors. Being sat between an 80-year-old Morris and a Ford Capri, my Volvo didn't get much attention, I'll admit. I wasn't particularly surprised though. Oh well.

Either way, it was nice to get to drive the car, as it's been a while. It was even nicer to give it a properly good clean as well.
 
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