Hedgehog Motors - The ̶L̶e̶x̶ Rex Files

[Floatylight]

She fired into life fine and drove without issue.

 

She was most cheap.

I had one of those in 2004 when they were proper money..Was excellent at being a car... Nothing else to say..

 

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[320touring]

I had one of those in 2004 when they were proper money..Was excellent at being a car... Nothing else to say..

 

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

High praise indeed!

[Shep Shepherd]

That Saab is a bit of an animal.. like an Architect that's also into BDSM

 

BOOST WAS ADDICTIVE!

 

 

Best summary of a 9-5 Aero ever! 

[jumpingjehovahs]

It's the one on the left...

Is it also a candidate for some Late Registration Madness?

 

I’ve always had a very secret thing for these. Perhaps because, as mentioned, they’re very good at being a car or maybe because they were in The Bill when I was a kid.

 

Which engine do you have?

 

 

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[davehedgehog31]

Is it also a candidate for some Late Registration Madness?

 

I’ve always had a very secret thing for these. Perhaps because, as mentioned, they’re very good at being a car or maybe because they were in The Bill when I was a kid.

 

Which engine do you have?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's the 80bhp 1.7 Cdti.

 

I'm just working up the courage to go out in the daylight and see what I've bought.

[davehedgehog31]

[an car] that is all [/an car]

[mrbenn]

Looks alright, that.

 

Hope you ENJOY.

[davehedgehog31]

Just completed 50 miles at a steady 60 in the Astra. I nearly slipped into a coma it was that uneventful.

 

I'm happy with it for what I paid. MOTd til September, so basically £20 a month in capital outlay. Its a 15 footer but drives nicely and doesn't feel baggy. My first foray into Voxall ownership is dull, but probably dependable.

 

Either this or the C1 will have to be moved on, I do like the C1, but this is comfier and may well be better on the Dino juice. I'll give it a few weeks and decide after new year.

 

Have some exciting* video action, what is this starting on the first heat malarkey all about?

 

https://youtu.be/WeRXUNUokR8

 

Interior:

 

Crusty:

 

 

The engine is sweet. Enough grunt to roll it along at low revs, making it a pretty relaxed drive. It suits the beige neutrality of all other aspects of the driving experience.

[davehedgehog31]

Back on the subject of veg.

 

I've been running the 405 on a pretty weak mix of circa 25%. I had no issues, it was a little reluctant to start in the serious cold (-4c), but I think it would have been on diesel anyway, the glow plugs probably aren't in their first flush of youth.

 

On the way to work yesterday it conked out after about 2 miles. After some swearing, a heat and some cranking it came back to life. I decided to just return home and ditch it for one of my other quality* vehicles. It completed the return leg with no sign of any issues.

 

Best theory is the veg has dredged up some crud from the tank or lines and plugged the fuel filter. Of course it is French and old, so it may well be entirely unrelated. It was very cold and I was driving at 50 into the cold air in top gear, so the cold air passing over fuel lines could also be suspected, but wouldn't think that would be an issue at such low concentrations.

 

It will be getting a service and checked out tomorrow. I'm going to replace the glow plugs too.

 

Still got half this tank to get through so will make an assessment on how best to proceed regards concentration based on how it goes on this weak mix.

 

Indian supermarket also the best source I've found so far. 69p, so same as Farmfoods promotion with voucher, but you look less mental buying in bulk.

 

[davehedgehog31]

A fox admiring the Astra.

[davehedgehog31]

Today the 405 got a service, oil, filters and plugs. 

 

Paid attention to the fuel filter seeing as I've been veg running, it had only done 4000 miles, there was a wee bit of grubbiness but nothing visibly drastic.

 

Have found it strangely starts better on just one heat of the plugs, I'm not sure if they perhaps continue to heat even after the light goes out, turned over and into life first time. 

 

This enthusiasm was soon tempered when I noticed my back box is blowing and the back light clusters looked like fish bowls. Bother.

[Ghosty]

My primary school headteacher had one of those Astras.

 

Fish lipped twat.

[davehedgehog31]

Decided to dip my toe in the water of YouTube. 

 

My first attempt, so apologies for the stiff voice-over, lack of continuity and shit camera work.

 

[dollywobbler]

 

My first attempt, so apologies for the stiff voice-over, lack of continuity and shit camera work.

 

 

It never held me back...

[tooSavvy]

South Main Auto Channel gunna fit a wheel bearrinn on thait?

 

GR9 m8

[davehedgehog31]

It never held me back...

I was wearing my HubNut hat whilst filming, channeling your energy.

[320touring]

Good wee vidya:)

[davehedgehog31]

Got a daring plan in the works to film a video of the Saab with dual aspects, one of which being my shitey little action camera mounted outside.

 

I did film a driving section for the 405 video, but the audio was so bad it was unusable.

[davehedgehog31]

 

Note the wee camera on the roof - video soon.

[davehedgehog31]

Yet more exiting* YouTube content. Apologies for the wind noise.

 

The two camera thing came out OK!

 

[davehedgehog31]

The video turned out ok, considering the in car part was filmed with my phone jimmied in under the passenger headrest...

[SierraMikeHotel]

Excellent work Mr Hedgehog. If I'm being super critical the sound was a bit off: it was sometimes hard to hear your voice over the ambient noise. That is intended as constructive criticism and I'm sure Dollywobbler will be along with advice/hardware recommendations.

 

Really enjoyed the video though: I don't miss the car and the Merc suits me better but it was really fun to see it again and especially hear that engine noise and see all the needles fly upwards when you boot it. It's like magic: you decide you want to be over *there* and suddenly you are. It will pootle but really it wants to go fast.

 

It's great to see it in the Scottish countryside and I feel like it's been set free, I spent a lot of time in it sitting in traffic in London which was plain wrong.

 

The roof camera angle made the bonnet look like a classic 900 which is a definite bonus!

 

Great work, looking forward to more.

 

I really enjoyed 320T's video on his Merc too, I might have to do a soft southerner's estate video to keep up. Mine will be a lot slower though.

[davehedgehog31]

Cheers Sir, appreciate the kind words.

 

I agree on the sound, I'll need to get a little clip on mic if I do more videos. Quite enjoyed editing it together and it's something to look back on in future if I move any of the cars on, so I think I'll keep at it.

 

It's definitely a car for the open road! I've been using it mainly at weekends and days when I'm working nearby, it's a lovely thing to drive.

 

I'd definitely be keen to see your Merc in video, even a comparison between models ten years apart could be a good subject?

[davehedgehog31]

Right lads and lassies. Anyone who watched my 405 video above will have heard me saying I tried to buy another one for 150 knicker but I assumed it was sold. 

 

Well, it was only fucking still there wasn't it! The chap selling got back to me and after a bit of back and forth (and encouragement from the SVM) it was over to the southside of Glasgow furra gander. He told me it wouldn't start and also the handbrake cable had snapped. So I went armed with a can of maintenance fluid and my trusty jump starter. The chap selling was a good guy, we had a quick chat about motors, he has an interesting past history including a Daewoo Nexia(!!!), I told him about the forum so he may pop up. 

 

Popped the jump starter on and she fired up. Idled then started struggling just after I handed over my dosh (they just know). Sounded like it was running on 3, so I shut her off and reseated the leads, one is a bit dodgy so suspect thats our issue. Everything got a liberal dousing of big brand maintenance spray. It fired up and ran fine. Taxed insured and off we went.

 

Blower motor, fucked of course. This lead to a stressful journey to the motorway, wiping the windscreen with my freshly washed jaisket. The brakes are there, but there's a lot of pedal travel to get to them and the handbrake is shagged as mentioned. As I merged onto the M74, the blower motor arose from the dead. I maintain these are self healing motors. From there it was smooth sailing and it got me up the road no bother. It will meet it's brother tomorrow morn.

 

 

 

My wee brother has agreed to a joint ownership scheme. So far there's fuck all joint about it, I go the ropey collection caper to pick the bastard up while he lies in his scratcher. I will seek to make sure this doesn't continue and will take great joy in watching him route the handbrake cables.

 

But anyway, what have we bought? It's a L plate Peugeot 405 with the 1.6 pez lump. It has a mere 109k on the clock and is in good nick. I think it's a GL model. It has the leccy sunroof, I don't know if it works and that's not a game of roulette I'll be playing anytime soon. Nae rear spoiler here. 

 

It seems in good order on the face of it and there's a bit  of paperwork here I'm going to dig into. It's MOT'd until January and probably won't need much to see it's next one. I think it's suffered after being stood for a bit. It doesn't smell damp though, which is good.

 

Good

 

Comfy seats are comfy.

Alloy wheels.

Original stereo.

Speedo isn't too jumpy.

Battery still in warranty - so I'll be getting a new one.

Book pack and some receipts. 

Interior seems clean and tidy

 

Bad

 

Handbrake fucked

OS mirror won't adjust

Comedy rear view mirror

Brakes are shite

Wipers are shite

Fuel gauge has sea legs

I had to pay 25 quid to insure the bastard for 24 hours

 

Other than that, it will be getting a full service and going over tomorrow and some new plugs and HT leads if I can source some same day.

 

ETA: it's Split_pin's fault, he sent me the ad.

[Split_Pin]

Doesn't sound too bad at all chap. At that price, you can't really lose! (Classic statement from someone who has just spent your money!)

[davehedgehog31]

can't really lose!

I'll lose something when her indoors finds out.

[Split_Pin]

Just tell her it's a Christmas present for your brother.

[dollywobbler]

Haven't watched the video yet but an external microphone with wind cover had made a massive difference to sound quality, though I had to download a different camera app as the standard one refuses to accept that an external microphone is plugged in...

[Scruffy Bodger]

The brakes should improve dramatically once the handbrake is sorted and adjusted up properly and a brand new, electric, heated mirror is about 11 quid posted off Ebay. Some very cheap motoring that!

You're correct about the heater plugs too as you've mentioned above, they stay powered up for about 15 seconds after the kight on the dash has gone out iirc.

Plus, if you list the stereo on Ebay and put 205 GTi in the listing you can probably make back at least half the cost of the car.

[davehedgehog31]

The brakes should improve dramatically once the handbrake is sorted and adjusted up properly and a brand new, electric, heated mirror is about 11 quid posted off Ebay. Some very cheap motoring that!

You're correct about the heater plugs too as you've mentioned above, they stay powered up for about 15 seconds after the kight on the dash has gone out iirc.

Plus, if you list the stereo on Ebay and put 205 GTi in the listing you can probably make back at least half the cost of the car.

Good to know Sir, cheers. 

 

Along with the stereo, it has one of the alloy wheel centre caps! Like rocking horse shite.