KRAZY Argenta loan scheme plan

[Faker]

Fair play to you mr bollox! I've a 15 year old S3 Quattro, a ten year old Clio 172, 2 nova sports a samba rallye. Would I lend one to someone for an entire summer? Would I fuck!!

[DVee8]

What is next for the Argenta Mr B?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Remember this thread??? The Argenta went off to live with Worldofceri last ear and spent a happy few months in his custody. In October it cam back, then sat around all winter gathering rust. Today I decided to get it going and see what needed doing for an MOT.

 

To my astonishment it started straight up with a fresh battery on and the brakes worked perfectly!!!

 

 

 

Its holding up surprisingly well considering its lived outdoors ever since it came back from France 3 years ago. A few blebs developing and the bonnet leading edge could do with a tickle from the mig but it still looks half presentable.

 

In terms of faults I have replaced the broken headlight switch, but theres an oil leak from one of the cam boxes onto the exhaust so that needs looking at. Also the wheels need a lick of paint, the grey trim has gone white (again) although I have some alleged dogs' bo11ox 'Wuerth' anthracite bumper dye on its way from germany to hopefully help with that. and the little blue light for main beam doesn't work (I hate stuff like that).

 

 

 

Looks like it should MOT without a massive war though after which I will bomb round in it a bit winking at the lasses. Really I should put it up for sale but I'm sure once its roadworthy I won't want to. Ace car!!

[Cavcraft]

That's done remarkably well, especially considering their reputation for dissolving. It's ok selling it but I reckon you'd miss it too much and you'd probably struggle to find another one.

[Pillock]

Naturally, you'd miss it.

 

That's why I'm offering you the unbeatable opportunity to keep it in my garage, I'll keep it ticking over nicely and attend to any issues like your faithful servant. I really don't see how you can miss out, really. Honestly. And I'm not suggesting it for my own gain. Nope.

 

(this same offer can be extended to any other shiters with nice cars. Form a queue, guys)

[crapcarcollector]

I love your Argenta. Don't sell it . (To me please)

 

 

Sent from my Nokia 3310 using the force.

[Skizzer]

Naturally, you'd miss it.

 

That's why I'm offering you the unbeatable opportunity to keep it in my garage, I'll keep it ticking over nicely and attend to any issues like your faithful servant. I really don't see how you can miss out, really. Honestly. And I'm not suggesting it for my own gain. Nope.

 

(this same offer can be extended to any other shiters with nice cars. Form a queue, guys)

Wow - do you really mean this? And whereabouts are you?

 

Any rules on what might qualify as a nice car?

[Pillock]

I'm slap-bang in the middle of the country near Leicester. Nice is anything I could drive around pretending it's mine without the long term financial commitment.

[Skizzer]

Hmmmm... Duly noted!

 

Better let Mr B have his thread back now.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Actually a shite-friendly car custodian is a very useful service, I was glad of it last year

[Ratdat]

I never noticed how cool the seats are in the Argenta before.

[dennisthemenace]

I never noticed how cool the seats are in the Argenta before.

And very comfortable, too.

[eddyramrod]

D'you know, I'd clean forgotten about this.  I think maybe next year (too late for 2014 now, I've bought a Toyota) it should have a summer of daily use in the Lake District.  I'm sure it would enjoy that!

[DVee8]

If it ever wants to see the Northeast and any of its coast line,i'd be delighted to show it around.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Been doing a bit on this lately. First I took it for an MOT which it failed, on an insecure battery. I took the battery to see a counsellor who explored a few issues going back to its childhood. After a couple of these sessions Argenta passed its re-test with no hassle whatsoever! Amazing, specially as it had sat doing absolutely rag all since it came back from WorldofCeri's custodianship last September.

 

I am supposed to be selling this thing but it needs a few bits doing first and its taking me so long to get em sorted that the damn thing is gonna have dissolved before its ready to sell. Something that needed attention (AGAIN) was the shitty grey plastic trims which have gone back to a dismal 'White Cliffs of Dover' dirty off-white hue.

 

 

I spent ages on these things with a heat gun a while back, they looked better for a while but it was not a permanent fix!!!! I had been looking into this and found that a product by German company 'Wuerth' seemed to be the ultimate bumper restorer, calls itself a dye which sounded like what I needed. Could only find the black one for sale in the UK (£30!!!!) and contacting Wuerth UK achieved nowt. I neede the dark grey one so a friend in Germany managed to purloin me a tube of it for my favourite price of £0!!!! Seemingly its expensive stuff and cost about 30€ over there fo a small toothpaste tube of it.

 

 

 

You're supposed to scuff up the plastic with a scotch pad then apply the dye with a wet sponge, (its water soluble). I did that, and I have to say, the results were shite. Basically there was no result, they placca looked exactly the same afterwards as before except perhaps a little patchier and therefore worse.

 

 

Now these mouldings on the Arg have a smooth surface, not textured like most placca trims so I figured there was no way for the dye to stick to the surface. So, I scrubbed them up with 240 grit paper in a bucket of water. That removed a chalky layer from the plastic and improved the trims a lot before any dye went anywhere. plus it keyed the surface a bit which had to help. Then I tried again with the bumper dye and it worked a lot better.

 

 After a while I reckoned I had a half-decent technique so i cracked on.

 

 

I have still got the other side to do but the trims do look a bit better. I think another application probably wouldnt do any harm and I have bought a roll of 3M aluminium speed tape which I am gonna put on the shiny insets which hopefully will brighten the job up a bit more. I think though that these trims are just a bit knackered and no treatment in a tube is going to fix them properly. i think the only thing that can be done is find some new ones (yeah right) or get these painted by someone who knows what they are doing, in an appropriate dark grey satin finish, which is beyond my modest means at the moment. Anyway it looks better than it did.

 

Nex problem was a blow from the exhaust manifold/downpipe joint and an oil leak from the RH cam box. Obv taking the cam box off is reasonably involved as you have to get the timing belt off and whatnot. I bought a head gasket set off the bay some weeks ago for a tenner so i had all the bits stting about.

 

 

Was a mild war to get it to bits, as most jobs are on this car, such as a coolant pipe being secured on one of the manifold studs. So to get the manifold off you have to drain the coolant. CHEERS FOR THAT.

 

 

Anyway I got it to bits, cleaned the mating faces up, replaced the cam box gasket. For the downpipe joint I decided that it would be better if I got the manifold right off so that I would have good access to clean up the mating faces.

 

 

I spent ages trying to get the manifold surface cleaned up but I think its a bit fooked to be honest. I cleaned up with a rotary wire brush in the angle grinder and it cleaned it up a lot but it was far from smooth. Needs the studs taking out, skimmed on a milling machine and new studs to fix it up properly. Turned out the downpipe gasket in my head set was the wrong one so as a temporary measure I just used gasket paper and lads of exhaust splodge.

 

 

So I got it back together and the oil leak is cured but theres still a leak from the exhaust in the downpipe area. I remember one of the downpipes had separated itself from the flanged joint when i was recommissioning this back in the day, I welded it but I think the weld must have fractured and now needs doing again. I'll get a new pukka gasket and have another look at that.

 

Also noticed that the timing belt tensioner is past its best, anyone know if these are shared with the SOHC engine (fiat X1/9 etc)? It needs changing before I can sell it I think.

 

So, need to take the exhaust off and fix it, new cambelt & tensioner, good clean-up, paint the wheels and THEN hopefully it will be in a fit state to go up for sale.

 

[skattrd]

Dare i ask what sort of monies would you be after for for the Argenta if and when it went for sale?

Needless to say I have no space or need for such a motor, but the Wantage is high.

.

[nacho man]

That just ooooozes class! You expect some londernite to be driving it to portobello market to set up a stall selling odd crap for mega bucks.

[RoadworkUK]

Reg Balls: I may well erect a little shrine to you, a little secret one, in the shed or somewhere my other half fears to tread. Or maybe in my next-door neighbours house. I haven't decided.

 

I doff my cap at you still further for the decision to work on an old Argenta when you have an actual god damn Maserati in the garage. The mush inside my cranium just can't handle that kind of implausibility.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Working on all this other shit is a sort of deliberate distraction from getting on with the Maser unfortunately. However I am working through it and eventually I'll have no option but to get on with it!!! At that point no doubt I'll get diagnosed with some ridiculous disease that puts the kibosh on fixing old cars and I'll give it away for nowt.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Been back on this mutha funka yesterday. Through the week I found a new tensioner for £30 (on Amazon of all places!!!) and a new belt on the bay for £8. So:

 

 

The crank pulley has a 38mm nut holding it on. Luckily I have a 38mm socket and 3/4 drive bar for undoing fat bastards like those. UNluckily, I could not come up with a method of locking the engine well enough to get the nut off. Now i knew I had changed the timing belt on this once before but could not remember how I did it. I read that you could chuck the breaker bar on then crank it on the starter to undo it - that didnt work. Tried putting it in gear with my mate standing on the brakes, but there was too much 'wind-up' in the transmission to be able to get a decent arc on it with anything other than the ratchet, which was too short and weak. Eventuall after a bit of faffing I managed to get the belt off without removing the pulley. I deduced that last time I must have done the same thing because I then had a vague memory of feeling peeved at having spent €60 on a socket and bar for just this job, then doing the job without using them. I can't really remember doing the job but I can remember feeling annoyed about that!!!! Ha ha

 

Old tensioner. It was pretty rough to be fair.

 

Shiny new bits! Pukka French-made SKF bearing too, not some crispy duck bollocks off eBay.

 

Also took the exhaust off. Sure enough it had cracked where the downpipe is welded to the flange. I had welded it once to what looked like a very crap standard. So I welded it again with the power turned up to an awesome LEVEL 5 which made a much neater job.

 

Put it all back together and I must say, its sounding flipping sweet. These old twin cams are a really nice engine, the mechanical noise from the engine seems amazingly subdued and 'soft-sounding', theyre a really nice smooth engine. Obv they can bang out a nice rorty sound from the exhaust too of course.

 

 

Still some cosmetic shiz to do but mechanically this thing is in absolutely great fettle now, its as sweet as its ever been. Think I'll change the oil too, I can't remember it ever being changed!!!! Might be like 20 yrs old! I just know when its all ship shape I shan't want to sell it.

[worldofceri]

This is a great car.  I loved bombing round in it.  Only thing that annoyed me was the knackered gear lever gaiter that just flapped around;  I did clean it up a bit but couldn't figure out a sensible way of attaching it properly.

 

I'd love to have it off you if when/if you do sell it, but regrettably that's not really an option.  I hope it goes to a good home.

 

Here it is visiting the Cotswolds with me and Mrs_WoC last summer:

 

[Mr_Bo11ox]

HOLY THREAD RESURRECTION

 

Just sold this. I've owned it about 13 years!!!! Its been parked outdoors for the last 4 years and has suffered somewhat.

 

 

 

 

 

I just havent got anywhere to store it indoors so I had to let it go, othewise it was just gonna get worse. Put it on FB for £750, fended off someone who wanted to bum it for the engine and sold it for £675 to a Fiat-loving lad (seemingly already had a 131) from Derby who came up tonight. Tried to get it started but some fuel supply problems meant it was having none of it. Briefly started it on easystart though so he could hear it roar.

 

I feel bad for letting it degenerate, but hopefully the new owner will put some time into it and keep it alive a bit longer. Another victim of the cull!!!

[warren t claim]

It must be eight years since I sat in that at Cholmondeleleyey.

[cobblers]

This is a great car.  I loved bombing round in it.  Only thing that annoyed me was the knackered gear lever gaiter that just flapped around;  I did clean it up a bit but couldn't figure out a sensible way of attaching it properly.

 

I'd love to have it off you if when/if you do sell it, but regrettably that's not really an option.  I hope it goes to a good home.

 

Here it is visiting the Cotswolds with me and Mrs_WoC last summer:

 

 

Bloody hell, that street picture brings back memories! I ended up in the pub across the road from there with the grounds manager of the boarding school who mid-afternoon coerced me into drinking 6 pints (by drinking 8 himself to make me look bad, and buying me loads) He went back to work and I went to sleep in my van in his carpark. He made me do the same again at night time. "Great" times (I am still hungover 4 years later)

[Split_Pin]

Hope you directed him to this place. If a thread about a 131 and 132 pops up I'll never need anything again.

[dollywobbler]

Glad you're taking back control of the fleet, getting things down to a more sensible level and showing us how it's done.

 

Oh hold on. You've just bought a rusty Mazda blind from a scrapyard haven't you? MEGAR0FLZCOPTA.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That Mazda is a blip. In the last few months I have shed the Maz 323, fwd Pony, Rover 623, Rover 45, Mk1 Seat Ibiza, Sherpa van and now this!

[loserone]

Hurrah for blips!

[bramz7]

Nothing wrong with blips. Unless your whole car owning career is one....like me.

[Jon]

Wow, didn't know you'd got rid of the Ibiza - did you get it on the road first? I can fully understand the rest of the fleet reduction though, as they're all eminently replaceable, barring the Argenta. Can't believe it's over 5 years since the loan scheme started but it sounds like you got an excellent price for it, in its current condition. Mega Brucey Bonus of it going to a good home.

 

Do you still have the stacker 929, or did that make way ages ago? I'll donate a pair of those virtual 'shades sliding across your face and  "LIKE A BOSS"' scripture, if you're a double generation 929 owner.