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First collecshun thread - Now Tom's little Star(let)


TomW86

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So at a sensible-ish time in the morning I'll be off on my first cross-country collection thread 😁 

It's going to take a bus , three trains and a tube to get from here to there. I'm picking up a car I've not actually seen in the metal yet (just photos) and it's only got two weeks MOT left WCPGW?!?

I'll make sure to take the required photos and upload once I make it back home......

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Okay here we go then, breakfast shot:

IMG_20200927_092220.thumb.jpg.1e8ac9a441a5bdf6b9a5a41bf6f6c9c1.jpg

 

Tea and porridge, sensible and reliable - a bit like the car I hope to be driving home this afternoon. Backpack is packed with the essentials - flask of tea, road atlas, phone charger and the first bus of the day beckons. Oh better not forget the facemask!

 

Poo count = 1

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And we're home! 3 hours and twenty minutes after picking up the key and that included taxing and filling up with petrol, oh and a pee stop because I couldn't hold it any longer 😂

So what did I buy?........

 

The pez shot should tell you:

 

IMG_20200927_162051.thumb.jpg.5eabb704cce92088b0d9ede8801e7572.jpg

 

Yep a 98/99 Toyota Starlet 1.3i Solida for £260 😁😁

Not too shabby, a quick bit of man math gives mpg in the 47 to 56 range! (£30 of fuel in at £1.15 a litre, 124.5 miles home and roughly a third of a tank used if the gauge is to be believed)

The drive home was uneventful but genuinely fun, after 6 months with the ultra smooth, over damped and boring modern the Starlet feels raw and engaging. I could actually feel what the front wheels were doing, the gearshift is snappy and direct and the engine revs willingly.

Only two weeks MOT left but previous history is pretty good and nothing feels broken so I'm hopeful that it'll get another years ticket without much bother.

Will do more photos in the morning when the sun comes back up, now it's time for a whopping great curry and a beer and to watch the F1.

 

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2 hours ago, stuboy said:

great thread, where did you collect it from?

Thanks 👍 I picked it up from Ashurst in Kent. Looking at the history folder I was given (about the last 10 years so not bad really) it's lived around there for much of its life.

Crazy really that I got it for so little, the previous owners spent nearly £700 on it in the last 18 months! New cat, 4 new tyres and a battery, both belts changed in 2018 and its done less than 20k miles since they were done. At 133k on the clock it's just about run in for a 90's Toyota 😁

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1 hour ago, timolloyd said:

These are great little things. I briefly looked after one for a friend while passing it on to @GrumpyCat
 

Enjoy!

We plan to ☺️ frankly this is just meant to be something fun for me to spanner on but my wife is concerned about taking the modern to work when her maternity leave ends next March. She works in a school that's down a narrow country lane and has had previous run ins with the buses so the Starlet will probably be put into service then as it's so dinky she shouldn't have any problems getting through. But till then it's my toy 😁

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21 hours ago, TomW86 said:

And we're home! 3 hours and twenty minutes after picking up the key and that included taxing and filling up with petrol, oh and a pee stop because I couldn't hold it any longer 😂

So what did I buy?........

 

The pez shot should tell you:

 

IMG_20200927_162051.thumb.jpg.5eabb704cce92088b0d9ede8801e7572.jpg

 

Yep a 98/99 Toyota Starlet 1.3i Solida for £260 😁😁

Not too shabby, a quick bit of man math gives mpg in the 47 to 56 range! (£30 of fuel in at £1.15 a litre, 124.5 miles home and roughly a third of a tank used if the gauge is to be believed)

The drive home was uneventful but genuinely fun, after 6 months with the ultra smooth, over damped and boring modern the Starlet feels raw and engaging. I could actually feel what the front wheels were doing, the gearshift is snappy and direct and the engine revs willingly.

Only two weeks MOT left but previous history is pretty good and nothing feels broken so I'm hopeful that it'll get another years ticket without much bother.

Will do more photos in the morning when the sun comes back up, now it's time for a whopping great curry and a beer and to watch the F1.

 

JESUS H. CHRIST! That's my sister's car!

I had just left to go back to college before the handover began. From the second she gave me the new owner's description and want for a car to work on I knew it would go on here. This place etc. etc.

I am so happy it's gone to someone in the fold. I was convinced they'd run it into the ground as I was told (rather pessimistically) it wouldn't pass another MoT. To see it not bridged is a definite lift because this car deserves some much needed TLC!

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2 hours ago, Fumbler said:

 

JESUS H. CHRIST! That's my sister's car!

I had just left to go back to college before the handover began. From the second she gave me the new owner's description and want for a car to work on I knew it would go on here. This place etc. etc.

I am so happy it's gone to someone in the fold. I was convinced they'd run it into the ground as I was told (rather pessimistically) it wouldn't pass another MoT. To see it not bridged is a definite lift because this car deserves some much needed TLC!

That is incredible!! What did they think was going to fail it on the next test? I can't find any corrosion on first inspection in nasty areas and I've already fixed the exhaust knock/vibration - manifold heat shield had cracked around all three bolts, whipped it off in 5 minutes and no more nasty metal on metal sound 😊

It's running a bit rich when cold but the idle is stable and a top up on the oil has quietened things a lot, I spotted the low coolant in the reservoir but the gauge was rock solid all the way home yesterday so maybe a little leak somewhere to investigate. 

The body scuffs and scrapes are just cosmetic and don't bother me 😁

Like I said this is going to be a project for me, it's not going into daily service till March at the earliest so it'll get a winter in the garage getting fettled and I think it's got many years left to run.

Any idea when / if the timing belt was changed at all? Non-interference engine so not crucial but nice to know if I need to factor in a replacement earlier rather than later.

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On 9/27/2020 at 9:29 AM, TomW86 said:

Okay here we go then, breakfast shot:

IMG_20200927_092220.thumb.jpg.1e8ac9a441a5bdf6b9a5a41bf6f6c9c1.jpg

 

Tea and porridge, sensible and reliable - a bit like the car I hope to be driving home this afternoon. Backpack is packed with the essentials - flask of tea, road atlas, phone charger and the first bus of the day beckons. Oh better not forget the facemask!

 

Poo count = 1

Jesus wept man thats not porridge. Thats not even ready brek. Admit it you had a bowl of gone off milk for your breakfast didnt you 😆

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30 minutes ago, TomW86 said:

That is incredible!! What did they think was going to fail it on the next test? I can't find any corrosion on first inspection in nasty areas and I've already fixed the exhaust knock/vibration - manifold heat shield had cracked around all three bolts, whipped it off in 5 minutes and no more nasty metal on metal sound 😊

It's running a bit rich when cold but the idle is stable and a top up on the oil has quietened things a lot, I spotted the low coolant in the reservoir but the gauge was rock solid all the way home yesterday so maybe a little leak somewhere to investigate. 

The body scuffs and scrapes are just cosmetic and don't bother me 😁

Like I said this is going to be a project for me, it's not going into daily service till March at the earliest so it'll get a winter in the garage getting fettled and I think it's got many years left to run.

Any idea when / if the timing belt was changed at all? Non-interference engine so not crucial but nice to know if I need to factor in a replacement earlier rather than later.

Timing belt is an unknown- I believe that it may have been changed by the previous owner to my sister and her fiancee, but that's speculation I'm afraid. Best to get it replaced I think.

With regards to the MoT, that was also speculation but it was beginning to look rather scruffy and bits were beginning to fall off. The mega detail* they gave before the handover made it look miles better than it did before! It was in a minor bump, hence all the scuffs, but the panels were put to rights and it's still structurally sound, so all is well. Incidentally, there was some oil in the boot for topping it up, but most of it had leaked into the spare wheel well! Accidental rustproofing to the spare and the well itself, I think you'll agree.

It's good to hear that it'll be worked on during the winter. It's good that it's getting a second life as Starlets are getting few and far between in these parts now. For how many miles it's done under their ownership, it's been a real workhorse and I'm glad it's gone into the right person.

Curious about  it running rich, might it be an enthusiatic cold start injector or something like that?

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9 minutes ago, Matty said:

Jesus wept man thats not porridge. Thats not even ready brek. Admit it you had a bowl of gone off milk for your breakfast didnt you 😆

Yeah I like a lot of milk in my porridge 🤭 and a bit of golden syrup but always proper whole oats, none of that quick oatmeal rubbish 😆

Tasted a lot better than it looked......honest 😉

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3 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Timing belt is an unknown- I believe that it may have been changed by the previous owner to my sister and her fiancee, but that's speculation I'm afraid.

With regards to the MoT, that was also speculation but it was beginning to look rather scruffy and bits were beginning to fall off. The mega detail* they gave before the handover made it look miles better than it did before! It was in a minor bump, hence all the scuffs, but the panels were put to rights and it's still structurally sound, so all is well. Incidentally, there was some oil in the boot for topping it up, but most of it had leaked into the spare wheel well! Accidental rustproofing to the spare and the well itself, I think you'll agree.

It's good to hear that it'll be worked on during the winter. It's good that it's getting a second life as Starlets are getting few and far between in these parts now. For how many miles it's done under their ownership, it's been a real workhorse and I'm glad it's gone into the right person.

Curious about  it running rich, might it be an enthusiatic cold start injector or something like that?

I think it's down to the lack of recent running to be honest, like I said it settles down to a nice steady idle pretty quickly.

Looking at the oil mist/gunk buildup around the filler cap and number 1 injector/ inlet manifold area I'd say the cam cover gasket is a bit tired so that's going on the list of little jobs to do.

I think it'll walk through its test in a few weeks to be honest, feels a very straight, eager little thing thats just a bit tired. I honestly had more fun driving home in it than I've had with my Octavia in 6 months. Felt like it could run at a steady 55/60 for ever.

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2 minutes ago, TomW86 said:

I think it's down to the lack of recent running to be honest, like I said it settles down to a nice steady idle pretty quickly.

Looking at the oil mist/gunk buildup around the filler cap and number 1 injector/ inlet manifold area I'd say the cam cover gasket is a bit tired so that's going on the list of little jobs to do.

I think it'll walk through its test in a few weeks to be honest, feels a very straight, eager little thing thats just a bit tired. I honestly had more fun driving home in it than I've had with my Octavia in 6 months. Felt like it could run at a steady 55/60 for ever.

AFAIK it was in regular use until they bought their replacement 2003 Bini a couple of weeks ago, so that makes sense. Mechanically, I can't remember if anything was done on it to be honest- it just ran and ran and ran, perfect for a couple who wanted a cheap, reliable car. It truly looks like a fun car to drive. I was hoping I'd be able to do a head-to head between my Micra and the Starlet one day, might still be able to do it! Looking forward to your progress on it in future- in fact, I believe my sister has signed up to check on progress herself!

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3 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

AFAIK it was in regular use until they bought their replacement 2003 Bini a couple of weeks ago, so that makes sense. Mechanically, I can't remember if anything was done on it to be honest- it just ran and ran and ran, perfect for a couple who wanted a cheap, reliable car. It truly looks like a fun car to drive. I was hoping I'd be able to do a head-to head between my Micra and the Starlet one day, might still be able to do it! Looking forward to your progress on it in future- in fact, I believe my sister has signed up to check on progress herself!

I shall do my best not to disappoint 👍 and am really looking forward to getting stuck in - as and when my 4 month old son allows me to!

The plan is to put it in for MOT in the next two weeks and see what happens - if it fails then I'll start with the fail points. If it passes then it'll be a basic service and then I'll start investigating / stripping down / sorting to give it a new lease of life.

 

That's the plan, but we all know what happens on AutoShite 😂

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2 minutes ago, TomW86 said:

I shall do my best not to disappoint 👍 and am really looking forward to getting stuck in - as and when my 4 month old son allows me to!

The plan is to put it in for MOT in the next two weeks and see what happens - if it fails then I'll start with the fail points. If it passes then it'll be a basic service and then I'll start investigating / stripping down / sorting to give it a new lease of life.

 

That's the plan, but we all know what happens on AutoShite 😂

Excellent news. Looking forward to what's ahead.

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  • TomW86 changed the title to First collecshun thread - Now Tom's little Star(let)

As today was a rare day off I thought I'd do a bit of MOT prep ready for Thursday (in all this rain, I'm definitely mad 🤣)

I'd noticed on my collection drive home that all was a little off on the lighting front, everything worked just not quite as intended. Touching the brake pedal with the headlights off caused the dash lighting to come on in sympathy. Turning the headlights on got all of the brake lights to come on as well, I'm surprised that no-one was flashing me on the way home.

So into the boot to check the rear light clusters, went through all the bulbs till:

IMG_20201003_170232.thumb.jpg.2fa827c4b2d88f3c44b6e7d7d83c8b79.jpgIMG_20201003_170220.thumb.jpg.d3a447b74e18a25a4b8a9912410da300.jpg

That's not a twin filament in the left side brake/tail light holder 😐. A quick rattle through the spares draw brought up a replacement with right number of wires:

IMG_20201003_170248.thumb.jpg.842d1a26efaa2d705d695f3be4d773dc.jpg

 

Popped it all back together and yay success! No instant MOT fail 😁😁 

Isn't it funny how a little win like this can brighten an otherwise piss poor weekend 😁👍

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So MOT in the morning and I've been looking through the various invoices and paperwork that came with the car.

Two things stood out:

1. This has had two replacement catalytic converters in the last 3 years.

2. The last invoice for any service items is dated 2013 at 52k miles 😳😳 (currently on 134k, the timing belt is much higher up the list of priorities now!)

 

I had been planning to do a basic filters and fluids service post MOT but decided to move the top end stuff up the schedule, especially on discovering these things ( and that the HC and CO counts on the last MOT were higher than I like)

So ordered up a few bits and bobs from CP4L at the weekend and got cracking this morning.

State of the bay when I started:IMG_20201007_105557.thumb.jpg.e54fe84ce6c32372142527a01eb39ad5.jpg

A bit grubby and oily under here:

IMG_20201007_105626.thumb.jpg.bdae9d27b4cbfa1150f4e0aee04e13fc.jpg

 

Gave it all a spray in Gunk degreaser and wiped the worst off before I started with the air filter:

 

IMG_20201007_110404.thumb.jpg.bc2b734298e52c9f9afeb093c03e1606.jpg

 

Yuck! Poor Starlet probably thought it had asthma trying to breath through all that, Crosland replacement went in and closed up tidily.

Next the plugs:

 

IMG_20201007_112446.thumb.jpg.a9f74fa717a93e2a9b2c9c59cd44d448.jpg

 

Double yuck! And that was the best one out of cylinder 1. They were also the wrong heat range and had been put in without any anti-seize 🙄🤬. Replaced with proper Denso ones in the right heat rating.

I had bought a replacement fuel filter too to replace this factory original:

 

IMG_20201007_105616.thumb.jpg.1ebe5574da10c1b6c404cc00255bc8f8.jpg

But the bastard lower 14mm union wouldn't budge and started to round so I decided not to risk an FTP in the morning. I'll have another go after its had a good couple of dousings in WD-40 in a week or so.

All fired up okay (thank god!) and I took it out for an Italian tune-up. About 20 miles of A and B roads and wow what a difference 😁 much quicker throttle response and less vibration both on and off throttle.

Fingers crossed that should help with tomorrow's emissions 🤞

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Great progress! Good to see that it's perked up a bit after you've blown the cobwebs out. Best of luck for the MoT. Would bunging in some Cataclean snake oil stuff and getting everything nice and warm before the test help at all?

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Getting it warmed up pre-test is the plan, luckily I booked for 10am so I have time to go into town with it to do a few odds and sods first. 

I'm also going to take it out this evening for another run (can you tell I'm really enjoying driving the little thing yet?) 😉

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Well............

 

IMG_20201008_150057.thumb.jpg.1e01b435b58bb5d7ad4bc3c198a40f29.jpg

 

Oh bollocks, not the world's worst fail sheet but I am pissed off for missing the rear reg light and the front tyre 🤬

The tester reckons a new lambda sensor would sort the emissions result as the HC was in range. So that plus two new tyres, a pair of bulbs and a pair of new CV boots should see this through a retest.

No rush though, I have 5 months to get it all sorted before the Starlet is needed for second car duties.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Figured I'd make a start on that fail sheet this week so went and ordered a new set of ramps and chocks (as you do) - my reasoning is I'm less happy working under a car on stands and a jack the older I get and especially now that I'm a Dad.

Ordered a new lambda sensor and a pair of 501 bulbs for the reg lamps, all arrived nice and quick so got her up on the ramps:

IMG_20201018_104750.thumb.jpg.e2275ff4fd42c3f1239563946d25fb4d.jpg

 

Lots of working space so I'm happy there, got underneath to see this:

 

IMG_20201018_104807.thumb.jpg.0c2fb0691c65cb4cad5d71c1aab00b60.jpg

 

Gave it a good soaking in WD-40, and then another whilst I had a brew, got my biggest 22m spanner on there and gave it hell........with no bloody luck!! That bastard is in there good and tight, I'd bet anything that the place that replaced the front downpipe and cat 2 years ago bunged the old sensor back in without any anti-seize at all 🤬🤬🤬

So thats an hour's labour I'm gonna have to fork out to my local garage at some point in the near future 🤬🤬

On the plus side I did get to have a good poke around underneath and there is very little to worry about body wise, a little surface corrosion on some suspension components and the lower arms but not much else - wherever the minor oil leak is coming from has done a good job throwing it around the bay over time so that has added a bit of weather protection!

Undaunted I did manage to change both bulbs at the back which just confirmed how much I hate plastic trim clips but that's another little job ticked off.

And then because this is AS and non important jobs are vital I went and changed the pollen filters:

 

IMG_20201021_140020.thumb.jpg.51841641e1f5f4ef1546c9ce85d1aff3.jpg

 

Probably the 21 year old originals by the looks of things 😳 then this fell out the filter housing:

 

IMG_20201021_140152.thumb.jpg.a86fbffa8f8ea0f8afa135a7a6364a60.jpg

 

Add a good hoovering to the next tinkering days list 🙄 I was quite impressed with the ease of access to the filter housing to be honest, pull out three bungs and the cover falls off into the footwell:

 

IMG_20201021_140207.thumb.jpg.3adeea7d48f60ee136923cb9e25715df.jpg

 

And now I have a fan that doesn't feel like being breathed on by an asthmatic mouse and hair filled with bits of old leaf and twigs because someone forgot what happens when you change filters and then whack the fan on full blast! 🤣🤣

 

Next installment should see new tyres on the front to get rid of the dangerous fail and hopefully that lambda sensor replaced.

Edited by TomW86
Edited for autocorrect fails
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50 minutes ago, theshadow said:

get the proper socket remover on it,torque wrench on it,,socket is black with split down one side,for the wires,less than fiver on flea bay. use plusgas its better..

This 

 

Where are you located? I know Northern Monkey has one you can borrow 

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