new clutch has arrived -

fitting in early January. I ended up buying a stock replacement item from Exedy as I'm unlikely to be exceeding the torque limits of the std style unit.

Still to fit induction kit, replacement oil pan, fix the bumper strips maybe even do the undertrays. Who knows lol

clutch gone :( -

now to pick a replacement. Ho hum

funny old world -

so two films I wanted to see this week that were listed in the TV guide turned out not to be on. Was something else. I was a bit hacked off and shouted at the crappy tv guide. Then I read the date - 12th December. Turns out last Saturday I bought next weeks TV guide. What a dumbass

4 hrs and 100 miles later -

a very pleasant Saturday afternoon drive. Took me 30 minutes to check the wheel nuts and blow up the tyres <- really need to do that more often :(

4th gear + 17psi + WOT = wheel spin. Er yes it's a bit lacking in grip out there but hey ho it was a nice slow drive after that. Either that or it was clutch slip :((( I tried again in 2nd and defo wheel spin that time.

Washed the car, only a shampoo and rinse but at least most of the grime is off of it.

sunny day -

think I might go for a drive, just to top up the battery you understand......

Internet up and running, seemless changeover most unexpected. Nice though ;-)

not a lot happening -

weather is rubbish, car is manky and has almost no grip on the roads. Must be winter eh?

Changing internet provider so that should be an interesting experience....

MOT -

passed!! woo hoo Mucho happiness. Suppose I'd better wash it this weekend again. Bought some polish to get it cleaned when I was at the caravan, never stayed dry enough to even think about doing it.

a wee trip away -

indeedy I decided a trip oop North to the parents caravan was in order just to clean the cobwebs out of me hair. It rained pretty much non stop but I just chilled and had a very relaxing time. I've included some pics below, don't be fooled it was cold and wet lol. Click on any of the pics to be taken to the main pic page.

boost pipes -

tightened previously and now I'm getting 15psi a whole 1krpm sooner. Car feels a wee bitty quicker lol. Shame I never thought of checking that before. Weather is the usual rubbish so no real driving fun to be had. More's the pity.

I am however very happy the car is behaving as it should. Roll on next summer....

boost pipes -

I have tightened up a couple that tbh were not tight enough but it's always a worry when tightening around an ali pipe. Too much pressure and er cracko! Can't be bothered to drive the car today but will check it weekend. Back to back testing with another car being done then too.

aww balls -

most of Monday spent at the garage trying to discover what's up with the car. No joy, tried a few things but nothing really made any changes. No error codes, ignition timing and cam timing spot on. Next stop, compression check (though no mayo on recent oil change) and check the plugs <- could it be that simple?

Also noticed the boost is taking a bit to come on song so going to check all pipework tomorrow if the weather stays good.

Some thieving pikey tried to steal the car last week, lucky they didn't damage too much but it does make me wonder whether I'd be happy if it got nicked. I guess only if I get to kill the fecker that tries it, yeah that would do it.

Sump pan, well specifically the No2 Oil Pan Assembly is leaking quite bad, it's also er flexing so that's needing changed ASAP. That and oil stains under the car look bad. Hopefully be sourcing a 2ndhand one from the MR2 site as Toyota want silly money for it.

oh boy -

car got serviced yesterday and most things are ok. Porus sump which is a pain but a common fault. Seized alternator adjustment bolt, nice one. A few other minor things but nothing serious.

Did a rolling road after it, er pish! Really bad power figures but they do back up what I was feeling on the road. Things to do, check the compression on the engine, check cam timing then check ignition timing. Then pray :(

sad, sadder and the man is just amazing -

sad news - I'm getting fussy about the jet wash I use - I now recommend the BP on Maryhill Road just at Canniesburn Roundabout........ Where's me coat....

sadder - er Just washed the windows of the flat and the car with some Vinegar and Water mix - so clean you'd swear there wasn't a window there

Rossi - what can you say about the man that hasn't been already said - 6 times Motogp World Champion, 1 x two stroke WC, 5 x 4 stroke WC's on 2 different makes, 2 different engine capacities. Stunning. Now imagine if we'd have 16 Laguna Seca's or 16 Assens from last year or 16 Malaysia's from a few years back. That's what we all want to watch. Rossi win, that's nice but we want a battle for it - actually I'm not really bothered who wins just the battle and plenty of tyre smoking

IMOC Skye drive Sept 08 -

awesome awesome fun. Left Glasgow at 7am - taking the longest / slowest route out, dunno why I did that and headed up to Aviemore via Tarbet, Tyndrum, Fort William then Spean Bridge -> Newtonmore, Aviemore. Hop up to Inverness then along to Drumnadrochit for lunch. Head to Skye via Invermoriston then into Portree for camping.

Weather up on the Friday was stunning, utterly sublime I took my t-bars out at 10am ish at Spean Bridge and only put them in for lunch briefly then back on at 6pm in Skye after a days driving. Some pics of the run up

Tarbet at sunrise



The run across Rannoch Moor







Loch Laggan on route to Newtonmore



A terrible day in Skye..............





A well earned drink by my fellow camper, was soo warm on Skye that we were sweating putting up each of the tents! Unheard of and most unexpected by very welcome, as was the beer. Torvaig Camp Site, stunning views



The road to the pub from the campsite





The view from Cafe Arriba that was our breakfast stop Saturday and Sunday, well recommended



Atmospheric hills on route to Uig



All in all a great weekend, I haven't got many pics of other days simply because they were mostly crap! Bad use of camera lol

another day another set of scratches [sigh] -

yup drivers door scratched on lower panel like someone has dragged a sharp edge bag between my car and the one next to it. I swear if I ever catch someone damaging my car they'd better be bigger than me or have plenty of friends with them.

Have a wee run this weekend coming so hopefully the weather will be good enough to get some driving done, I have me doubts though :(

been a while -

since i updated this here place or did something that could be put up here lol. So, some car news and some pc news.

Car
Did a wee away run but yet again it rained, drizzled for most of it. It was still fun but would have been better if we had been able to push the cars a bit. It was still a great time away though a coach decided to overtake where he couldn't see and nearly killed myself and Lee. I kinda decided there and then, brake upgrade time over the winter. Likely change Master Cylinder too. Might go 4 pot calipers and 300+ mm discs. Need somewhere to make up caliper brackets for me. Watch this space

Also going to get another tent, this single skin business in Scotland just does not make sense. I'm going to get a double skinned jobbie but torn between getting a 2 - ie one man, tent or just going nuts and getting a 4 - ie 2, man tent. In some cases the same price or near enough. Just depends on the space they afford, certainly they don't alter much in overall packed size.

PC
yup, killed it with some hooky software. Tried Hijack This, Adware and something else but it was no use. PC was well infected and nothing was going to sort it short of rebuild. So I have pretty much spent the weekend rebuilding the pc and it's now up and running but with a whole lot less software. Will add as required.

First problem, XP pre SP1 only recognises 130MB drives, not the 250GB puppy I have internally the now. How I got round this first build I just don't remember however I managed to sort it with a great wee freebie from Easeus called Partition Magic and er yup it's magic lol. Sorted it out great so now XP see's the full 250GB drive.

SP3 requires Zone Alarm 7+ something to work, real pain in the butt but hey ho. Typical errors are limited Network Connection or just plain none. Certainly no Internet connections which has been reported by others.

Files and Settings Wizard is soo not perfect but lucky I kinda didn't trust it and had copied my entire My Documents folder to my spare machine before the wipe process.

So now I'm just building the software back as I need it

AV wise, using Avast! on recommendation from a mate so we'll see how it goes. I would have used the new Nod32 but the last 'upgrade' I did caused machine reboot faults which were a tad annoying. This is also reported on the net so hopefully Esnet will fix it cause Nod32 is a great program when it's working fine.

first inspection of repair -

and it looks good. I mean I checked it before I left the body shop but the guy had done a good enough job for me not to look too closely. Well I looked more closely today between rain showers and yup it's looking good.





Funny thing I noticed was the inner brake light coming on instead of the indicator on the drivers side. Took the rear cluster out looked at the wiring and thought that aint right? The indicator holder was in the inner brake position so a quick change round and the lights all work fine. I will need to check all 4 brake / tail lights as I have me doubts.

Found another ding in the passenger side rear wing. Ho hum

car back from bodyshop -

yup it's back. First inspection, in the rain was very good. Looks the same as the passenger side. Sweet. Paintwork looks very nice and overall I'm pleased. I will however need to check it out properly in the dry and see how it looks. Will need to jet wash the car as there is sanding residue on the wheels / hub. Guess he had to use filler after all then :-(

Also collected the trim for the front wings / bonnet and er they look the right colour. Of course they didn't come with the mounting nuts required to hold them in place but lo a std metric nut I had lying around fits perfectly. First time for everything.

Going to organise a wee trip soon and get some good time miles on the car. Likely bin it on route.........

car in bodyshop -

will be a strange moment to get it back. Will the paintwork match, will the dent still be there so many questions so many possibilities. Find out 28th.

Still no sign of the parts I ordered...

parts delay and confirmation -

indeed the parts are on back order so should be here next friday BUT it's been confirmed they are the UK style trim parts so no stupid indicator lens in the middle. no idea on the mounting nuts - hopefully be std and I can buy them anywhere

another day another quote -

indeed I have a quote for 170GBPounds to fix the damage which is a fair old bit different. The garage is recommended by a mate in work so that's always a nice place to start from. I just need to buy the corner lens for the rear but that's a clip in part so no problems there.

I've also purchased some new front wing trim tabs using the licence plate details instead of giving the parts guys the numbers. Yup, I'm nervous as I know it's going to go pete tong. On the bright side, these trims should be fully painted so just bolt on. Providing their the right colour and come with the mounting nuts. You just know it's going to go wrong somewhere.

repair cost - est 500notes :(

yeah, thanks for the nice bill ya twat. Cheers for wrecking my summer plans

another bashed panel -

indeed some arsehole of a driver has stoved in the rear bodywork just at the bumper / rear wheel. No note left of course so I'll have to pick up the tab myself. What pisses me off the most is that it was either a local, ie neighbour or it was someone visiting a local. They've just reversed out of the space and smacked my car on the other side of the road. That's what mirrors are for you fcukhead. Next time leave a note / contact the police with your details. Just when I thought I was going to have some money to get stuff for the flat I've got to spend money fixing someone else's mistake.

Thanks for that

t bars oot!

indeed the sun was splitting the heavens today so I went out for a wee drive with the t-bars out. Drove to Loch Lomond, Rowendennan and it was fab. Shades on windows down no stereo. Sadly the usual Sunday drivers were out in force so I never had the opportunity to blast the car through the gears but it was still an immense day out. The exhaust seems louder but then I guess it would be with the t-bars off. A grand day out though no pics as the car is manky. I'll wash it later in the week.

car runs just fine -

nice and smooth through the revs though I'll need to change the EBC slightly. It slightly overboosts then settles at a level. Shame that level on max is 1psi lower than I want to run. Must..have..that...extra...1psi lol But hey for all the difference it makes to my driving.

Was good driving the car with the window down and shades on. Was a bit cold hence I left the t-bars on but I had fun.

dizzy problems -

so I decide the distributor cap and rotor arm need inspecting as they are at least 60k miles old and in need of an overhaul - i know i know ancient technology but it does work. The units I have are Copper modified in a group buy from IMOC by the previous owner but they still need checking and cleaned up regularly.

So first issue is a flat ridge across the cap right beside the lower bolt but eventually I find a socket combination to fit it. However, some spanner monkey decided this dizzy cap needed a torque more suited to the Queen Mary not a service item and lo the bolt sheared after 2 clicks on the ratchet. Great, so now the whole distributor has to come out and get the bolt drilled.

I remove the two bolts holding the distributor but because they hadn't been moved in well a lifetime I managed to break the Oil Pressure sensor when the nut finally cracked from the dizzy cap. That trebled the service cost lol. Clearly the timing had never been altered on my car cause the dizzy was stuck fast so after smacking it with a rubber headed mallet via a block of wood I managed to get the dizzy off.

Couldn't get the sheared bolt off so eventually I had to drill it out. Luckily I managed to keep most of the thread intact so I save the distributor. I cleaned up the copper points and once the new bolts had arrived I went back to the car with all the bits and some copper slip.

Everything re-assembled real nice and was torqued with a more appropriate level. Changed the spark plugs at the same time since they are copper units having done 10k miles. The old ones didn't look too bad but they have run their course so replacements please.

Timing was set by a mate with the ole timing gun so I'm just waiting on the weather being nice before I go for a wee drive. Hopefully the judder / miss under acceleration should be gone....

Thanks as ever to the crowd on IMOC for their invaluable help and advice in getting my car up and running again. CHeers Paul for your help in removing connections and setting the timing for me.

15GBPounds in parts required for dizzy overhaul and spark plug replacement
22GBPounds in parts for replacing the oil sensor I broke trying to do the above.

111k miles and topless motoring -

ah bliss. Indeed the car has clocked now over 111,000 miles and tonight I took the roof out for the 20 minute to my parents. Bloody amazing, reminds me why I bother with the leaks (now fixed), the wind noise (still to do) and the rattles (adds character ;-) )

The exhaust was also making some nice barking noises with the occasional pop on changes and over run. Sweet

Happy sunny motoring folks

rear arches rolled -

so hopefully no more tyre rubbing from there. I haven't had a chance yet to push the car and get it tested but going from some of the potholes I've hit it would appear everything is fine.

I've also tidied up the wiring for the bullet cam setup and now it's a fixed setup into the car electrics. The mic has been relocated into the space behind the centre bin sandwiched between bulkhead and carpet. With the engine running it should drown out cabin noise without overwhelming the mic. A short test this Tuesday on route to badminton should confirm or trash that theory. Just the proper connector for the DVR and we're rocking.

first run of the year - mmmm

yup the tyres rub sob! The rear drivers is currently trying to destroy itself against the wheel arch, the passenger side is not rubbing at all. likely due to sagging springs - they have done some miles lol. Fronts scrub on the arch liners but that's no biggy. No marks on the tyres so no hassles. So the rear arches are getting rolled and pulled to create as much clearance as possible. 255's will fit if I still have the car of course ;-)

Handling wise, well the weather was not the greatest but aye the car handles nicely. New springs and poly bush kit are defo on the cards next. Still have a hankering for brakes too....

110,000 miles on the clock

I'm wondering how much more the turbo can take? Polybushes are next on the list of mods

alarm issues -

been a while since the ole alarm in the car played up and lo is started last night. Kept going off as I armed it and I couldn't get it to reset. Now I had noticed the bonnet seemed to be sitting a little high and I coouldn't get it lowered enough even winding the bumpstops down. So I had a wee look tonight and found the issue and yup it was one I had created!! The bonnet catch had a range of vertical movement to allow it to raise or lower the closed position - I had it sitting too high. A quick tweak with the rachet and it's all nice and flush now. Job done

wheels fitted, radiator fitted, oil and filter changed

bit of a busy weekend but it's all done by the shouting. First off, the wheels are fitted with just the slightest of rubbing on the rear drivers side. That would be the lard ass in the seat causing that then lol. Pics as below







New radiator fitted, haven't got pics of it but its er black and broad. Fitted it mostly myself just needed the odd extra pair of hands to help move things into place.

Oil change and filter completed. No need to worry about it for another 5k miles

Even managed to run a power and audio cable into the engine bay in prep for the upcoming drive. Just need to get the power adaptors wired up into the car so it's more of a plug and play setup. Woo hoo

front wheels fitted - no pics yet

should be getting the rears fitted tomorrow and there will be plenty of pics. Car is looking, well I think it's looking good with the fronts on. Hopefully rears will fit nae bother and then it's run them in for the coming spring dry weather !

Radiator to be fitted tomorrow too. Might even tidy up the wiring for the bullet cam too

rear tyres are gone -

yup they are spinning up coming out of junctions so that's the end for them. So I've got a new pair of 245 40 17's on order, hopefully they'll arrive soon. Wheel nuts have been purchased for the black OZ wheels, including the mandatory locking set. I have some choices on the fronts but 215 40 17's will be ordered this week to hopefully for fitting at the weekend, yup Easter. That's twice in 3 years I've had issues with tyres around Easter time. Must plan things better.

New radiator should have been fitted today but due to PayPal taking 7 to 9 days to clear funds that's been put back somewhat. I've spoken to the Ebay company and sorted this out with a Switch payment over the phone. Job done. What I am doing is trying to source why PayPal is now taking so long for bank transfers. Used to be instant.

On a completely different topic I had some issues signing in to https sites and Live Messenger. https sites had certificate errors and messenger just never logged in. After a wee bit of searching I found an article relating to update KB944533. Now I checked the system and sure as KB944533 was loaded 03 Mar 08 and that's when the issues started. Since I was away for 4 days after that it wasn't immediately obvious. So I removed the KB944533 and rebooted - hey presto everything works as normal though I had to reset the computer date which had changed. Also had to reload some updates but made darned sure KB944533 wasn't one of them. Everything working ok now

mmm -

coolant topped up and top radiator pipe is getting nice and hot. Temperature is staying stable on motorway driving, also stable in standing traffic. Needle sitting in middle of gauge as per normal. New radiator will however be ordered as there aint no point messing esp with the big drive coming up next month.

Good news re wheels - have no got some spigots rings and just need to er modify them to fit flush in the wheel hub. Ho hum.

top radiator pipe - empty

yup just checked in the dark and it's too easy to squeeze the pipe so the rad is at least partially empty. Oddly enough there is plenty coolant in the pressure cap area so fingers crossed. Either way I'm going to see if I can source and get fitted a radiator this fine early morning. Chances.... well 50/50 lol

ah bugger

so I fix the dump pipework so it's nice and quiet and now a shop keeper leaves a note on the car saying it's leaking fuel!! There is defo fuild behind the car but coolant level is ok and fuel gauge still showing full after todays fill up ( in fact it rose slightly when I turned the ignition on i guess because it hadn't had time to move completely) Ah bugger

another leak another problem -

front radiator is steaming (makes a change from the owner eh?) and thus will need replacing at some point in the near future.

Also, turns out the rear tyres are a little worn. They are almost down to the wear strip so looks like serious decision time. Fit the new wheels with the big wide tyres and be darned or play safe and just fit skinny ones onto existing wheels. Mmmm

battery works fine but -

coolant is leaking from the front radiator area. Aw pish! Hopefully id the fault area next saturday and either fix or order parts for fixing. All I want to do is drive the fecker!!!!!!!

new battery fitted -

indeedy a new car battery has been fitted and it's a heavy duty puppy too. A wee drive this weekend is in order I reckon. If the weather's decent then it's t-bars off and 17psi please!

one leak stopped -

indeedy the t-bar leak on the drivers has been stopped. That would be a result. Moral of story - when a bodge works, keep it.

The boot however is still leaking so I have dried it out and now an trying to identify the source of the leak. A bit of newspaper across the top of the boot should at least help me narrow down where the leak is coming from. I'll just have to move it around after every rain storm. With the current climate that's not going to be a long process.

Also had it pretty much confirmed my newly purchased wheels are
a: 5mm out in offset to fit cleanly under the rear wheel arch without rolling it. 245x40 will rub slightly and 255 will really bounce it
b: a half inch too wide to fit ^^ see tyre sizes above.

aw pish!

new grommet collected -

collected that earlier today and hopefully fitting it all tomorrow if it's dry. Going to move the cable and run it through the main engine loom grommet where it should have gone through originally. Then it's check the boot seals to see if they are leaking too :(

Hopefully move the exhaust clamp and thus stop the infernal banging against the subframe that soo irritates me! Stay tuned as they say.

I also removed the eccentric T-bar guides and put the old ones back in for the drivers side. Resealed the leading edge and hopefully this will stop the sodding leak onto the drivers seat.

grommets and leaks -

so er got a grommet but need to fix the wiring. Looks like I've sorted the water issue from the aerial but tonight the boot was very wet with water. The previously wet area was dry but the main section of the boot was awash with water. It has been chucking it down here recently but even then it sahould not leak at all far less that bad.

Not happy

another hole?

indeed, it would appear the aerial drains through another grommet that is placed underneath the motor and not the gaping hole I thought it was. Anyways, this weekend I'm off to the scrappies to get a grommet or two and jobs a good un. Might even get a fitting kit for the alloys......

pah boot floor and t bar still leaking -

yup, the rubbish clear silicon sealant I bought is proving yet again it's rubbish. So I'll go and get some black stuff and try and seal everything up again on the t-bars.

For the boot, I'll need to redrain the corner and stuff a cloth down the gap to try and get the hole dried out. I've got some rubber piping I can use to pad out the hole then I'll seal round that. Wonder where that grommit went originally and if I can retro fit another - bearing in mind the two cables going through the hole at present :(

well it started -

indeedy. Fired up like a good 'un. I've changed the piping for the washer jets now so it's all good. Took the car for a run and it started snowing! Eek. Anyways car is running ok, just need to get the boot all dried out and we're ready for the new wheels / tyres (if they fit)

new year - new level of stupidity lol

ok so I fitted some new windscreen washers last Saturday as the current ones were a bit rank. Now bear with me on this one and pay attention at the back.

So this afternoon I'm heading out to my parents for a New Year dinner. Get to the car, unlock and climb in. So far so good. Stick the key in the ignition turn and crank the motor. Except nothing happens. Well the power drops from the dash and everything goes dark. So I try again except this time I have a terrible sinking feeling in my stomach. Something new happens. I get this intense clicking noise from the engine bay, somewhere near the gearbox where you might expect to find a starter motor. Aw pish :(

So a quick phone call to a mechanic mate who suggests rocking the car back and forward in gear. Still nothing. So leaving the car in gear I try and crank the motor. Nothing. Absolutely no forward movement. Starter motor is not engaging at all.

Immobiliser is disarmed so there is power for the dash etc. All fans are turned off to conserve what power is left. So I'm parked in a bay with a slight uphill slope to the road which is itself on a hill. Sadly my AA cover does not include the Home Start so no help there. If I can get the car into the road then it's good to go for a bump start. After much swearing, grunting and a bit of wind release in distress, I inform my mechanic friend I can't move the car on my own. He then proceeds to call me a skinny wimp of useless strength and generally mock me. While I'm the first to admit that might be completely accurate and given I was at a low emotional level at the time it wasn't the best pep talk I could have heard.

As luck would have it some random bloke was walking by and after a holler the both of us started to push this frigging dead weight. We got it halfway with much ado but could not keep our feet to get the car all the way. Queue 2nd random person walking by who gets hollered and the three of us push this ungratefull lump of metal into the road. So now I'm facing uphill with about 50 metres of clear road behind me. Check it's clear, no bodies around and no other cars. Hand brake off and pop it into reverse and let the fecker roll back. Let the clutch up and **BOOM** it fires into life! A couple of prods on the gas pedal and it's definitely alive.

After thanking my helpers I pulled over to the side of the road and let the car idle for a bit. Couple of quick calls to tell folks it's alive and I'm on my way. So after a bit of idling I drive round to a big downhill and stop just after the brow. Turn off the engine and then deep breath and crank the motor. Spins like a good 'un and we're off. Drove to parents and the car restarted for the journey home nae bother.

Er right, remember I said about the washer jets??? Well on Saturday the car wasn't parked in an area I liked so several hours later on my way to the pub I decided to check if I could move the car. As I got walked round the car I realised the passenger door was slightly open and the interior light was on. Turned out I hadn't closed that door properly..... stupid boy. However still no spaces so I left the car where it was after closing the door (and checking the other one! ). Sunday I go out and there are spaces so I jump in and crank the motor. It's very slow but does fire up. I drive all of 30 seconds and park the car, shut down and walk away. Yup, the battery didn't get recharged in that extremely short journey hence the story above. Stupid stupid boy....