That extra shite touch...

[mattblack]

Been thinking about the things that lift a car out of the realms of ordinary shite and add that little something...extra.1. Underseal 'tidemark' 1/3 of the way up the doors (not seen much now, more's the pity)2. Secondhand panels in a different colour (again, not so much now, but I did see a Fiat Bravo/Brava tonight in metallic blue with a bright red wing)3. New replacement wing that's been on so long unpainted it's gone rusty.4. S/H mirror/bumper/light unit ect. with the make and model still written on in breaker's yard yellow paint marker.5. Plastic sheet gaffer taped over broken side window, OR the marks left on the paint by said gaffer tape after the window has been replaced.Anyone got any more?

[Guest]

When I first got my Amazon the nearside passenger door was off another car that was blue. When I had some work done it was the only door that survived and stayed on the car. The other original doors were so rusty they were only useful for bailing.The blue and grey pastels on the 120s were pretty similar but I think the then colour blind owner thought they were the same.The fuel tank also had RECON: 120 written on it, and the inside OS corner of the front bumper has 'not crap' scratched into it underneath :)It is indeed much better than the rest of the chrome on the car.

[Pete-M]

I find Vauxhall badges to be a reliably definitive sign of shite.

[dollywobbler]

Coat hanger aerial?The Bedford is displaying Point 5 rather beautifully at the moment. Gaffer tape and plastic. All you need! (though I do remove it when driving...)I reckon extra shite points can be scored for having side marker lamps fitted. Used to see them bodged onto pretty much anything and everything in the Eighties.

[Justin Case]

1. Rattle can metallic paint sprayed over minor repair but without lacquer.Often seen with: 1A overspray on tyre2. Non-matching wheel trims (bonus points if from another make rather than generic Poundland )

[j-j]

1. When a rear light has been replaced with the same shaped but differing colour type from a later version of the same model. Seen often on Xantias.2. permanent roof racks that will not come off now

[pogweasel]

Gaffer-taped wheelarches or other bodywork to get past the 'sharp edges' element of the MOT!

[dollywobbler]

1. When a rear light has been replaced with the same shaped but differing colour type from a later version of the same model. Seen often on Xantias.2. permanent roof racks that will not come off now

Not just rear lights. Saw a Mk3 facelift Fiesta the other day with orange indicators. Wronger than a big bag of wrong things.What about wiper arms that definitely are not for that car? Or something I see increasingly, the driver and passenger wiper arms fitted the wrong way around, presumably by clueless numpty windscreen fitters. Mondeos and Berlingos often suffer this issue.

[Albert Ross]

Odd coloured/different trim driver's seat.Tax disc held on with insulating tape in a cross shape.

[seth]

Coat hanger aerial?

The closest thing I have to a "boss" (the source of most of my work) has just had a huge extension built on his already large home. He drives a P plat Astra with a coat hanger aerial To add to the list: "Static" strips hanging off the back bumper.

[Albert Ross]

Ex Private hire evidence.Large holes in the dash.Screw holes in the bumpers where the plates were.Grazed paint on the doors and roof, where the signs were, plus bunged up aerial holes too.Shonky interiors with rock hard seats.Overwhelmingly fetid and sweaty smelling interiors.Milometers at 670,000 and climbing.Shiny steering wheel and pedals.Etc....

[KruJoe]

Non-standard bumper/bonnet fastenings, eg:

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

Very specific, but I used to like how some people would occasionally mix early and late Montego grilles/bonnets, leaving them with either two badges or none at all Same syndrome affecting '91-'01 Transits.

[Guest]

Gaffer-taped wheelarches or other bodywork to get past the 'sharp edges' element of the MOT!

Did that one with the Amazon as well.......

[pompei]

Lock sized hole in the door where some robbin scrtote bastard has tried to screwdiver the lock out.

[pompei]

Black plastic trim now a lightershade of grey. Goes fetchingly well with red paintwork which has faded to pink at different rates on different panels.

[KruJoe]

...red faded to matt pink...

...known around here as "Pogweasel Pink".

[Guest]

Two and a half mudflaps.Front corner indicator/side repeater hanging by the wire due to rusted spring.Badges nicked leaving mounting holes/glue residue.Head/fog lamps discoloured to black or yellow.I'm clutching at straws now

[Ratdat]

For a while, the Marina I used to own had a headlight made from a bulb pushed through a hole in the center of a metal lid off a tin of P38 with a bit of perspex over the front. That car was proper shite. Harvest gold with glue all over the roof from where the original vinyl roof was ripped off. The front wings and bonnet were black and ever panel and bumper was in some way battered or dented. The inside was classy too. I accidentally tipped a car battery over in the footwell and the acid had dissolved the carpet making the whole car smell pretty manky in the process.I had an old P reg Mini which I got for £30 because the previous owner managed to shear off the engine steady bolts in the end of the head. I just used a long bit of rope to tie the engine to the front panel and the master cylinders to stop it flapping around. The dynamo was held on with mole grips too. I crashed it into the back of a BMW 5 series one day and amazingly the plod never queried why I was picking up some bent mole grips and a dynamo off the road.

[Cavcraft]

Anything with fucking blatantly obvious 'cam belt/service at (whatever) mileage scrawled in permanent marker pen under the bonnet somewhere. And that mileage being about five thousand less than it's done at the moment and the rest of the engine bay is minging but the marker pen statement has obviously been done half an hour before you went to view it by the seller's four year old son who is also probably a glue head.And when you go and view a car somewhere and the seller's family all come out and tell you how great it is then half the street come out too because you don't wear a trackie tucked into your socks and don't have webbed toes.Anything with a VW badge, anything where the seller does everything he/she can to meet you anywhere but their house and anyone who uses text talk in their adverts.

[Pete-M]

Anything with fucking blatantly obvious 'cam belt/service at (whatever) mileage scrawled in permanent marker pen under the bonnet somewhere. .

I do that if I service a car for a muppet. Oil change / date / miles / next change. I don't do it in massive great marker though...

[shite_meister]

Very specific, but I used to like how some people would occasionally mix early and late Montego grilles/bonnets, leaving them with either two badges or none at all Same syndrome affecting '91-'01 Transits.

Same thing used to happen with mk3 Cavaliers

[mouseflakes]

Underseal 'tidemark' 1/3 of the way up the doors (not seen much now, more's the pity)

One of my old 16s...

 

[trigger]

I used to have a coat hanger aerial on my old Sierra!.What about a gaffer taped up sunroof because it leaks, Knackered vinyl roofs with flapping bits and florescent orange stickers all over the back of a car.

[Negative Creep]

Duck tape on the bumpers (usually Mondeos)3 wheeltrimsBrake lights that flash with the indicatorsSeveral blown bulbsStereo hanging half out the dashLarge exhaust on an otherwise standard carBut as said in the first post, the ultimate pikey touch is a randomly coloured body panel

[VWPowered]

Black plastic trim now a lightershade of grey. Goes fetchingly well with red paintwork which has faded to pink at different rates on different panels.

yay you've seen my car

[Cavcraft]

Anything with fucking blatantly obvious 'cam belt/service at (whatever) mileage scrawled in permanent marker pen under the bonnet somewhere. .

I do that if I service a car for a muppet. Oil change / date / miles / next change. I don't do it in massive great marker though...

Oh aye, I don't mind that as such it's just when the date is about 6 months or longer ago and yet the writing was obviously done just before I got there.

[AnthonyG]

Been thinking about the things that lift a car out of the realms of ordinary shite and add that little something...extra.1. Underseal 'tidemark' 1/3 of the way up the doors (not seen much now, more's the pity)

This used to be more or less obligatory on any Marina over about 7 years old. Last seen commonly on Montego/Maestros/Rover200 Mk1s, where the lower half of the factory two tone was just redone with black Hammerite!Still occasionally seen on old Jap 4x4s in West Wales, particularly 80s Fourtraks and Troopers.

[Guest]

The Stanza looked pretty shite at one point:

 

Not an intentional ratlook, just sorting the doors out.

[FredTransit]

Very specific, but I used to like how some people would occasionally mix early and late Montego grilles/bonnets, leaving them with either two badges or none at all Same syndrome affecting '91-'01 Transits.

.....and the Mk2, with phase1 and phase2 indicators.Also, on cars and vans odd or missing bumper end caps, with or without the gaffer tape dressing. One or two missing wheel trimsBasically this whole thread is the list we keep in mind when trying to dress down a car in a non permanent way. Well we don't change seats or panels or anything.....