car mods /upgrades that actually worked?

[155V6]

This is the best thing ever.  Missed that since having it on my 96 Pasttit and was annoyed others didn't fit it - but as it happens, it is fitted to my Puma.  It's the best system - why doesn't everyone fit it instead of silly little wheels etc?

Been meaning to do this for ages.

[AMC Rebel]

I was driving a base....

 

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Then l was driving a Ghia....

 

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I did that to my ALDI A3 - if I'm honest, I am a bit ashamed to admit it now.

[cros]

Putting 7 quid Chinese fuel pumps on a couple of old cars that previously had mechanical lift pumps makes starting much quicker after a few weeks of not being run. I keep a spare pump with me but so far they've proved as reliable as more expensive ones.

[forddeliveryboy]

Free fuel always makes a car go better, and if it's waste veg then it expands the torque curve down the rev range compared with that thin stuff they insist is diesel - for example I can storm up a hill at 1600rpm in 4th on veg whereas diesel needs unnecessary revultions in 3rd. Buy the right car and all you need to do is puncture the screen on the pick-up unit and install a decent size inline mesh filter before the main engine filter under the bonnet to catch any tank life which has been trapped for years in the dark.

 

'Chipping' a car has never been necessary since I'm usually going faster than most others even if in a 2cv, but it does seem a very easy way of impressing the easily-impressed. Best spend spondoolis on the brakes and suspension damping first, mind.

[nisfan]

Chopping a coil off the stanzas springs, yes really.

Improved the handling no end, no more mental oversteer

[sierraman]

When I had the mk2 Mondeo I put leather in from the Ghia X, the interior courtesy spot lamps as egg has done, the walnut dash, spot lamps on the front which on the Mondeo require just a switch and the units themselves, ST24 wider wheels, polybushed the suspension.

 

Thought fuck that the second time round just bought the Zetec which has nearly everything in it anyway.

[steveo3002]

heated seat kit ...£40 ish on ebay and makes old cars that bit nicer on shitty winter days 

[ShiteRider]

Polyurethane void bushs on cortina back axles. Transforms the handling and don't need changing every six months like rubber.

[Supernaut]

Remaps for diesels. Yours for a £20 ebay wire and a bit of research. Very effective.

 

How could I forget this? That was probably the first thing I did to my Xantia!

[burraston2006]

'Flash to pass' diode/capacitor thingy for the pop up head lights on my Ford Probe. Only cost 20p and you could then send all day  watching them. Pop up head lights are cooooooooooooooooooooool!

[DaveDorson]

Subaru engine into the rear end of one of the wrong engine ended VW's works well, but you need to add water and all the other stuff.. if you're clever and use a Rover/Lotus K Series remote stat, and mess around with a polo heater matrix, you can have working heaters as well. .

 

Also on a rear engine VW tip, a lot of folks used to comment that a bag of sand over the front end helps with steering.. I found a lowered front end with skinnier tyres (I don't know why...) a'la Cal' Look beetles from 1970's Orange Country US of A works a treat.. the bonus being that at stock rear height you could fit 195 60 15 "Road Terrain" 4x4 tyres on the cheap and they'd have the comedy effect of allowing a 1300 twin port engine able to spool up the rear tyres and hold a decent slide...

 

Twin downdraft 36 Dellorto carbs from an Alfa 33 work well on a VW flat 4 with the right manifolds, add a good exhaust and some high ratio rockers and the little old VW engine really does pick up better.. they also get a lot noiser when you do that... the folley of youth eh.. and if you don't do anything to the inside of the engine, the ability to rev well past the 4800rpm that the old single carb and choked up exhaust would allow mean they soon shit a rod out the side of the engine.. .

[dugong]

Cheap Bluetooth head units with adjustable lighting.

[Sheefag]

HiD lamps in Mrs S's Crossfire, I'll need to swap them out for the MOT mind.

[vulgalour]

I was going to mention the mechanical pump designed for SD1 and Marina application I fitted to my Princess to replace the electric pump a previous owner had fitted to replace the in-tank pump Princesses had when new.  While the mechanical pump does deliver enough fuel at lane 3 overtaking motorway speeds I've never managed to get it full oil tight when the engine is cold so maybe it's not really a fix after all, even though it resolves the problem it was chosen to overcome.

[Sheefag]

No, the Crossfire has projector headlamps and the Hid's work nicely with no dazzle.

It doesn't however have headlamp washers or auto levelling, an MOT failure with Hid lamps so I'm told.

[Station]

New shock absorbers - they're cheap enough if you have a common car (£9 each on my mk3 Astra) but there's really nothing else to improve the handling and ride but theyre often overlooked.

[oldcars]

I emptied 100 tons* of silicone sealant into the boot of the 75 and it seems* to have fixed the leak.

[twosmoke300]

Hid needs a headlight wash system to pass mot

[Richard]

At the end of the 90s they stopped making headlamp lenses out of transparent material and reflectors out of reflective material. It seems that the solution to the resulting shit headlights is not to start making them properly again, but to use HiD technology to scatter even more light out randomly.

[forddeliveryboy]

I once drilled a small hole in the dampers, removed the old oil and mixed with LHM and gear oil to make a slightly heavier grade, then refilled, welding the hole closed. After a couple of attempts to get the damping where I wanted it, I landed on the perfect mix. The car sold a couple of years later with the dampers still working spot on - I'd wondered if the seals would hold or if the oil mix would degrade, but all was well.

 

Obviously not to be tried with gas-pressured units

[Asimo]

^^^ Hmm, I tried EP 90 in Morris Minor lever arm dampers. They still didn't damp, but the bolts that held them to the bulkhead started to break.

[Sheefag]

Thanks a lot Ben, that's really interesting reading.

When I phoned the MOT place that I've used for years, (they're smashing people by the way) they were adamant that HiD equipped cars HAD to be fitted with wash and auto self leveling.

[Bren]

Replaced a 2300 engine for a 3500 engine in one of my SD1's (I paid to have it done). It should have worked but did'nt becuase it was fucked.

[castros_bro]

HiD lamps in Mrs S's Crossfire, I'll need to swap them out for the MOT mind.

 

That's not very clever is it now !!   How about they are illegal to use unless an original fitment as in  " aftermarket HID kits have yet to be approved by the EU regulations so are sold for off road and display purposes only"  as the 4000000000000000% brighter areas include the  penumbra outside the main illumination as the headlight is not designed for a discharge HID lamp ?? 

[Sheefag]

Oh dear. The bit I read prior to installation was how Hids were ok in a projector headlight but beam scatter would be an issue in a reflector headlight.

I have to say, I haven't noticed any light outside of the pattern and she hasn't been flashed at all by anyone.

[castros_bro]

As my line manager will quote, and I am sure you know ... Ignorance is no defence.  What proof do you have that  " was not flashed by anyone" rather than could not see anyone flashing due to the brightup pattern caused by the illegal lamps fitted to the headlights?

 

" aftermarket HID kits have yet to be approved by the EU regulations so are sold for off road and display purposes only"

 

unless you know better than the designers of the headlamps fitted to a Crossfire.

[Sheefag]

I'll test it at the weekend and report back.

[castros_bro]

I'll test it at the weekend and report back.

 

The EU await with baited breath in case we need to change our regulation before you leave us and make up your own regulations about aftermarket HIDs

 

aftermarket HID kits have yet to be approved by the EU regulations so are sold for off road and display purposes only

[Sheefag]

It's 'Bated', and thanks for your concern.

[castros_bro]

It's 'Bated', and thanks for your concern.

 No it's "baited" as you obviously do not comprehend the context.