The Doctor's travels through time - The End - of chapter 1

[DoctorRetro]

4 hours ago, barefoot said:

If the Proton has a Bader box and air conditioning, the Almera should go. I can't imagine that either of them are that exciting to drive.

Manual, no air con. 

[barefoot]

8 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

Manual, no air con. 

Fuck it right off then, hateful cars Protons. Glad to have been of assistance.

[gm]

mother gm says keep the almera 

[DoctorRetro]

1 hour ago, gm said:

mother gm says keep the almera 

Mother gm is probably right. Although I've looked at the exhaust for the first time and wished I hadn't. It's going to require some ingenious bodgery...

[gm]

10 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

Mother gm is probably right. Although I've looked at the exhaust for the first time and wished I hadn't. It's going to require MORE ingenious bodgery...

[AnthonyG]

Just keep the Almera. Protons might be good Autoshite material but what’s the point of changing to something else when you’ll (by your own admission) get bored with it and try and sell it in 3 months time.

That’s when you’ll discover that, outside of this forum, no one wants an 18 year old Proton. 

 

[bramz7]

I think you'd end up bored as there can't be much difference between them, dynamically and driving? Both East Asian hatchbacks, from the same era and both petrol. There can't be much in it, surely?! 

 

 

[Wingz123]

Almera is utterly reliable. Yeh they rot but if you can keep on top of that you really wont have any problems even if you never service it for the next 10 years

[New POD]

16 hours ago, TheDoctor said:

Absolutely. 

I think to be fair, I need a break from scrabbling with funds, trying to sell one car to get another, thinking the grass is greener etc and just run the current car until it dies, mot fails etc. Then maybe, just maybe start the process again... 

I bought my omega in 2016. I assumed that if it lasted 1 month, I'd keep it 6 months. 

It had 163k on the clock and now has 218k on the clock. 

[New POD]

These are questions I ask myself weekly.

Does my car work?

Do I need a car right now? 

Is there any reason I should get rid of my current car? 

Does it have cruise control? 

Is it faster? 

Do I trust the new one more than the one I have? 

If I spent the money on my current car would it be better? 

I have 1st refusal on my son's mk4 Astra but I don't know if I could use it daily. Manual, no cruise, not very fast. 

I would sell the mx5 to fit it in the garage. 

[loserone]

9 hours ago, Wingz123 said:

Almera is utterly reliable. Yeh they rot but if you can keep on top of that you really wont have any problems even if you never service it for the next 10 years

Is it? Mine wasn't.

 

But I agree, keep it while it's running well.  You will tire of it, but you can at least save some money for the next loony car you buy.

[BorniteIdentity]

32 minutes ago, New POD said:

These are questions I ask myself weekly.

Does my car work?

Do I need a car right now? 

Is there any reason I should get rid of my current car? 

Does it have cruise control? 

Is it faster? 

Do I trust the new one more than the one I have? 

If I spent the money on my current car would it be better? 

Either you're on the wrong forum, or AS isn't what it was.

 

?

[New POD]

3 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Either you're on the wrong forum, or AS isn't what it was.

 

?

There are some people who change cars at a whim and others who spend good money to keep the same car on the road. More than the car is worth. It's all AS to me. 

[MorrisItalSLX]

I think the best solution here is for another AS member to buy the Proton to remove the temptation.

[Wingz123]

16 hours ago, loserone said:

Is it? Mine wasn't.

 

But I agree, keep it while it's running well.  You will tire of it, but you can at least save some money for the next loony car you buy.

I've had several and they've all been pretty much maintenance free. They run and run and run. Chain driven engines so no cambelt to have to worry about. What was your experience? Typical 90's/early 2000's jap car. They all drive the same. 

[Kiltox]

13 minutes ago, Wingz123 said:

I've had several and they've all been pretty much maintenance free. They run and run and run. Chain driven engines so no cambelt to have to worry about. What was your experience? Typical 90's/early 2000's jap car. They all drive the same. 

The QG15 and 18 engines have weak timing chains. 15 has a weak gearbox. Apart from that they are robust and those problems definitely don’t happen to everyone. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

keep almaz- just check slam panel behind grill/bumper for grot cos the rad can fall out if buggered too much. lol

[loserone]

2 hours ago, Wingz123 said:

I've had several and they've all been pretty much maintenance free. They run and run and run. Chain driven engines so no cambelt to have to worry about. What was your experience? Typical 90's/early 2000's jap car. They all drive the same. 

Snapping genuine springs, cracking genuine discs, stretched timing chain, £5k in 50k and two years.

 

Oh, and of course the front cross member, done by Nissan at half price because it should have still been under warranty.

 

I replaced it with a high mileage MX5 which was much better built.

[Sir Snipes]

That proton looks fantastic. 

[DoctorRetro]

Some of the Nissan's exciting* features... 

[DoctorRetro]

I now don't have a working car. 

I cannot get the piston compressed to get the pads in. 

And you know when you have the bright idea to press the brakes slightly to push it further one way, hoping it will loosen and you can force it back? 

Well... Now I can't get the old pads back in either. 

Fucking hell I'm shit at this. 

 

Oh, and the new discs are too big. 

[DoctorRetro]

Having never had a car with rear discs before.... 

 

D'oh. Onward we go.. 

[DoctorRetro]

All done. Well, at least the pads are... 

Found the excellent* bodges on the exhaust... 

 

Not that I'd had done anything different... 

It's surprisingly quiet for having no back box at all.. 

 

[somewhatfoolish]

1 hour ago, TheDoctor said:

Having never had a car with rear discs before.... 

 

D'oh. Onward we go.. 

What a load of cobblers; if the brake pedal isn't being pressed fluid just flows back into the master cylinder reservoir, brakes wouldn't be much use if they locked up and stopped you every time the fluid heated up and expanded. Certified Tech? Certified bullshitter more like.

[DoctorRetro]

1 minute ago, somewhatfoolish said:

What a load of cobblers; if the brake pedal isn't being pressed fluid just flows back into the master cylinder reservoir, brakes wouldn't be much use if they locked up and stopped you every time the fluid heated up and expanded. Certified Tech? Certified bullshitter more like.

I didn't read that far, just got the info I needed. I always just take the lid off the reservoir when I compress the pistons. That's what my dad taught me. 

I didn't use a special tool either, just some mole grips. 

[GrumpyCat]

15 hours ago, Snipes said:

That proton looks fantastic. 

...and it made it to the Festival of the Unexceptional.

 

[DoctorRetro]

On 7/18/2019 at 9:48 PM, Wingz123 said:

Almera is utterly reliable. Yeh they rot but if you can keep on top of that you really wont have any problems even if you never service it for the next 10 years

I've looked underneath. I'm not 100 % sure this will make it past another MOT. 

Also it drives like crap anywhere outside the 2000-3000 rev range. No idea where to start with that though. Vacuum hoses collapsing under high acceleration? Air filter clogged? Exhaust flow? 

[BorniteIdentity]

4 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

I've looked underneath. I'm not 100 % sure this will make it past another MOT. 

Also it drives like crap anywhere outside the 2000-3000 rev range. No idea where to start with that though. Vacuum hoses collapsing under high acceleration? Air filter clogged? Exhaust flow? 

Sell it now then whilst it’s worth something? Just a suggestion. It’s always roulette at the ‘dog end’ of the market, but I always like to cash in my chips before the scrap man cometh. 

[DoctorRetro]

1 minute ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Sell it now then whilst it’s worth something? Just a suggestion. It’s always roulette at the ‘dog end’ of the market, but I always like to cash in my chips before the scrap man cometh. 

Yeah, but what am I likely to get for it, and what is available for that kind of money that isn't going to be the same or worse? Probably better to run it until November, scrap it for 140ish, and save up in the meantime... 

That's the plan anyway... 

[loserone]

2 minutes ago, TheDoctor said:

 run it until November

?