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Ghostly Goings On - over the moon


Ghosty

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On 9/4/2021 at 10:27 PM, Ghosty said:

That was a day that was. SUCCESS. 

20210904_222253.jpg

Wonderful. I remember Michelle Newman reviewed the 3 door on top gear. She didn’t like the flip up rear glass as it might damage her nails 🤣

edit- I may have misremembered as it looks like tiff did the review. (And was worried about his nails?) anyway it was 30 years ago and I’m pretty sure SOMEONE was worried about their finger nails.

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Thought the silver Civic was running a bit flat, throttle response was poor. Occasionally it would crank but not fire when you turned the key. A suspect fuel relay is a good candidate for the latter; for the former the suspect is dizzy cap/arm/HT leads/spark plugs. Plugs were nice clean NGKs, leads were in good condition. However one of the distributor cap bolts had sheared in the body of the distributor so it wasn't held down properly, and inside the cap, the rotor arm was wobbling about on its shaft, and the plastic around it was chewed up. Turning the engine over revealed the screw that holds the arm on to the shaft had vanished. I pulled off the arm (very easily) and found the screw lodged behind it: 

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the arm was fucked - the mating surface for the screw had been worn away presumably from not being sufficiently tightened and the screw working loose, -it seems that the arm was a replacement part that had been lazily fitted as it was Bremi branded (not OEM).

I had a spare arm in my parts stash that came off a 50k mile HRV that I'd raided for D-Series bits a while ago, so stuck that on - much better fit, and reinstated the screw. 
Instant improvement!  

 

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  • Ghosty changed the title to Ghostly Goings On - revolving door
9 minutes ago, Crackers said:

I am now uber confused. What cars do you currently own again?

I'm sure there was a red one and a silver one, but what they are, christ alone knows.

Red Civic saloon. Keeper.
Silver Civic hatch - watch this space. 
Silver Ignis Sport - for sale 
I've agreed to buy the £300 Metro in the for sale section.

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1 hour ago, Ghosty said:

The next two weekends are going to be interesting. 

I have committed a metrocity...

 

45 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

Red Civic saloon. Keeper.
Silver Civic hatch - watch this space. 
Silver Ignis Sport - for sale 
I've agreed to buy the £300 Metro in the for sale section.

not one of these then? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optare_MetroCity

image.thumb.png.e109db6d24865fa1f1a3ba6d759f8480.png

aww LOL

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Dad comes in, his colleague from previous misadventures including the R53 Cooper S I had for a bit, and the L322 TDV8, has been on the phone. There's a Saab in his works car park that needs gone, they want £1k for it but if I can sell it for more I can keep the extra. It's been described as a '900T', apparently it's been sitting for a while. 

I'm not too sure about it tbh, especially considering my dad doesn't know about the Metro. 

900T... what might it be. 

The 't' has me curious... 

the first thing that comes to mind is a pre-94 900 Turbo. If it's one of those, I'm having it.
But I think that's optimistic and unlikely given their value.
I'm more inclined to think it's a 9000 with a B204 or a B234, considering they'd be badged 't'. The problem is, £1k is strong for one that's been sitting IMO, especially if it turns out to have no MOT. 
Or it could be a GM900. If it's one of those it's not worth £1000. 

Of course, it could be something else daft like a 9-3...
 

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On 9/17/2021 at 5:54 PM, Crackers said:

I am now uber confused. What cars do you currently own again?

I'm sure there was a red one and a silver one, but what they are, christ alone knows.

What happened to the Peugeot 205 DTurbo from p1? I don't remember reading about the fate of that one. Lovely little thing and appears not to have seen an MOT since May 🤔.

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  • Ghosty changed the title to Ghostly Goings On - lude behaviour

Writeup time. 

I was offered this Prelude as a swap for the silver Civic before I'd even bought the latter. 

I'd pondered it, and wasn't sure what to do, so I left it a few days so I could get acquainted with the Civic and see how I felt about it - a Prelude VTi was a very fair swap, the only thing was that I'd been planning to buy a hatchback because practical. I was told it was low mileage, had bad paint but a new cambelt. Hmmm.

A couple of weeks with the Civic gave me the following list of observations: 
 

  • cambelt, water pump etc unknown - there was a faded sticker under the bonnet with a date in 2007 and a mileage - this was shortly before it was exported to France so it was plausible it was a cambelt, but there was no evidence to back it up. The Civic Sedan's cambelt is due on age even though it's virtually new in mileage terms, and I don't fancy doing two. 
  • rear trailing arm bushes are perished
  • knocking noise from rear 
  • needs tracking
  • bonnet latch sticks
  • cheap budget tyres - poor grip even in dry
  • speakers knackered, and there are only 2
  • needs undersealing - thanks to 11 years in Bordeaux the underseal has all dried and flaked off
  • occasional hot starting fault - suspect distributor
  • ice blue interior will be difficult to keep clean 
  • no headroom
  • basic seats are uncomfortable and have extremely limited adjustment
  • split tailgate is completely pointless and actually a mild hindrance at times 
  • My knees keep hitting the hard edge of the dash when I'm in a comfortable seating position
  • It's a bit gutless - it only has twin point fuel injection, not the multipoint throttle body I'm used to (it's possible to upgrade for +15bhp but I don't have the time)

Metal sunroof - not to my personal preference (I like glass ones, and I keep the cover open usually). 

I just wasn't getting on with it, and while the gearbox was remarkably strong and the engine ran well, hot start issues aside, it just left me feeling a bit deflated. I messaged the chap who'd offered me the Prelude and provisionally accepted it. It transpires it was a car being stored where he and some friends kept their cars, and it belonged to his mate's other half. The story is that she was originally from Sydney, and while she was there she'd had a silver automatic EG, which she adored, but was stolen and written off. These guys had opted to surprise her with the Civic as she just wasn't using the Prelude (about 1k in the last year) and thought the Civic would suit her better.
Anyway, today rolled up so I took the Civic down to them, and had a nose about the Prelude. Its story is that a gentleman somewhere London-ish bought it new in 1999, then kept it until 2020 when he gave up driving at NINETY NINE YEARS OLD. As such, the car does have some giffer scrapes, most notably the front bumper corners and the rear quarter panels, one of which looks like it's been dragged along a fencepost - only lightly, though. He took it to the same mechanic all that time and it has service history to match - in the end it was the mechanic that sold the car for the owner. 
The Australian lass then had it for a year or so, and in that time it had a new cambelt and ancillaries, which have next to no miles on them. Big winner. 
The Prelude has had some parking sensors fitted at some point, but they're rather ineffective, look daft, and sound ridiculous, so I'll most likely remove them. 
Inside the car is like new, with genuine deep pile Honda floor mats in black with a gold accent to match the black velour interior, and a full host of features: 

  • four wheel steering (!)
  • electric windows
  • electric glass sunroof
  • electric heated mirrors
  • heated seats
  • cruise control 
  • air conditioning
  • eBay special Bluetooth radio (OE radio included)
  • leather steering wheel
  • autobox

Rather nice, really, an ideal long distance cruiser. Everything works, the autobox is in excellent shape, and the aircon is ice cold. 

We agreed on a straight swap, even though the poor Aussie lass was a bit blindsided (I'd been dealing with her other half), and I set off home. 

It's an absolutely cracking car that wants for very little aside a wash and a polish. 
The handling is superb  - turning circle is tiny, and turn-in is eager. The car's planted, and when you put your foot down it just flies away (182bhp). VTEC yo is working as it should. 
The ride is extremely pleasant and compliant, while remaining planted and confident. 

Very happy with it, and it suits me and the driving I do perfectly. 

You probably won't find me sleeping in it at any point though...

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33 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Ace, though I'd prefer an earlier one. 

They're class - had a fourth gen a few years ago. I'm fond of all Preludes. 

My dad had a fifth gen 2.0i when I was 12 - that's where the Honda thing started for me. 

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On 19/09/2021 at 09:32, Dick Longbridge said:

appears not to have seen an MOT since May 🤔.

Aye it needs a couple of bits but it's not mega high on the priority list up here atm.

 

 

Prelude looks ace, I do not understand how that is a straight swap.  I trust you a seeking advice from LJKS

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