RichardKs wanderings: PT Cruiser or SLK? The MOTs are passed, so... dilemma!

[RichardK]

[RichardK]

I have another bite at getting a hardtop for this - I should do the wheelbearing first, but it'll look great with a solid roof.

[RichardK]

Well, nowt is selling on FB or eBay lately, must be some sort of cost of living crisis, so I have not acquired a hardtop.

What's worrying me more is that I have two cars on my driveway that I can drive currently. One is a beautiful* very new Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4 that whirrs about on electrickery, and the other is a shambolic mess of a PT Cruiser with wonky alignment and troublesome brakes that sometimes sounds quite unhappy when idling and is definitely on timing belt roulette time.

And I keep choosing the PT Cruiser.

I think I should sell the MX-5 after all, enjoy the RX-8 as my manual, fast, very appreciated sporty car, and accept that for convertible driving I prefer. No. LIKE that PT Cruiser.

OTOH there's a cost of living crisis and I won't drop below £3K for the MX-5, it's too solid and too good and a much better spec than the cheap & rusty 1.8is that are bringing 'the price of a Mk 3 MX-5' down. So... meh.

But I can't wait to get my stitches out, take the MX-5 to the office and get my RX-8 back. Rather than say, taking my horrible PT Cruiser to the office and having the RX-8 and MX-5 at home 😕

I guess I'd better start liking Coldplay, James Last and magnolia.

[RichardK]

Went to bring RX-8 back yesterday.

Clutch pedal started sticking on the return, with a lot of free play at the top.

Google says that these suffer in high temperatures so fingers crossed it'll be okay to drive home on a cooler day, but I wish I'd left a different car at the office - it is probably very fixable but if it's a problem to bring it 40 miles home then that's /a problem/ because there are too many roundabouts and idiots and HGVs for me to feel comfortable with clutchless changes, particularly as I've never done that with a rotary engine.

May have solved the getting Tavria to MOT place riddle though.

[RichardK]

Office day today - I've been pootling about in a DS 9, which I started from the position of hating (DS marque 'equity', it's a 508 in a silly outfit, it's a saloon) and ended up not wanting to give it back because it's like a halfway point between a C6 and a C5 II on steel (which is better than a C6 to drive, but less good than an HP C5 II), but modernised as well. Fantastic driving position, good - not flawless - ride and just very smooth, feels big yet nimble. I can also feel the familiar C6/C5 II/508 movements in the front suspension, that little, subtle higher-frequency coaxial shift that makes no difference to the steering but is present through the rim, very weird that it's still not been dialled out.

Anyway, weather was cooler so I tried the RX-8.

And it drove home just fine. So there's one for the books - 2004 RX-8s get weird clutch/pedals when it's very hot. It is documented, but I am still surprised that it got that warm /here/.

Now it's home and getting a wash and a new dashcam setup. Very, very glad to be back in it, and I'm now debating which I take back to the office to get the DS-9 or 3008 back - MX-5 or Cruiser?

[RichardK]

RX-8 gets a Thinkware Q1000 - front and rear camera, cable easily routed along sill, excess cable foam-wrapped and hidden, total trim removal = passenger rear seat and quarter, partial removal of seal on A-pillar, sill plastic cover, fuse/kick panel and dash infill, power and rear cam cables up A-pillar, reassemble. Would take about an hour if it wasn't ridiculously warm.

Also the software setup still takes time - I have a 12V socket power cable accessory to make that easier as the cams usually have a hardwiring kit in the box.

End result is very subtle inside the car, quite obvious on the windscreen but neat enough.

But for the errands I had to run this weekend I took advantage of this:

So the RX-8 now has two small jobs that need the upper inlet manifold removing - SSV solenoid and upgrading the clutch slave cylinder to avoid the heat issue.

However, I'm more focused on finding a KwikFit that can try recharging the A/C. I bet they're booked up for weeks now!

[RichardK]

Catching up times - several people have been kind enough to ask and I've not always replied because... I am not sure. Probably still a hangover from 'not being allowed to talk to people' for a long time. So first - LEG! Apologies if some of this is repeating elsewhere, spewing words is just what happens...

From 2020-on to start of the year pain from my injury/metalwork was so unbearable my mood was crushed. Autoshite and 'old cars' went a long way to helping me keep shit together during that time, even though I'm not very sociable or good at being friends, it's one of the few forums/networks where I feel safe talking and being myself.

Desperation about pain meant taking a drastic measure (probably the best of the drastic measures running through my head at these times). Decided to pay for the health benefit work offered through Aviva and wonderfully, they cover this. The consultant takes one look at my ankle/leg, a long glance at the original X-ray I brought in (from 2012 original op) and just says 'we'll take that out'. Panic stations - consultants have told me that there are so many risks, the nature of the break means removing metalwork could be a HUGE deal. At this stage I'm happy if the damn foot is amputated the pain is so great and debilitating, so I don't care, but that's where all the car changes come in (and why I'm broke and stressed now because not all of that followed through to conclusion).

So in June, went in, and had the operation. Amazing hospital at Tollerton, lovely staff, really great experience. But that's not the best bit. The best bit is - 24 hours after the surgery - I /walk/ out of the hospital fully weight bearing and despite a massive scar on my ankle, blood and bandages and all that jazz, I am already in less pain than before (and no, it's not the hangover of the morphine pump - the canula fell out and I didn't need it).

A few weeks later and the soft tissue damage etc. is settling down. I haven't tried running yet, but EVERYTHING is better - I can flex my foot almost as much as before, I can balance, I can bend down to grab things, crawl on the floor, get in footwells without thinking, walk on rough ground, it's incredible. How many small adjustments I'd made to compensate, how many simple things you do that became a big deal (like, for example, if I needed a tool from the back of the garage and the pressure washer was in the way - I'd not bother, I'd find it difficult. If I needed a different tool midway through a job, it would be a huge deal to go fetch it. Extrapolate that to everything you do in life).

So to answer anyone who asked, the surgery, the operation has been life changing. Truly. I can't believe how long I've been affected by this and how easily it was fixed. That bit, I am still processing, and trying to remember how to be more normal. Worst bit now is I've hit the buffers on credit cards and overdraft with three cars needing attention and selling things on eBay and the like being an absolute ballache. OTOH ADHD meds mean that while this is very annoying, I'm not having  meltdown and breaking everything in an anxious stressed panic.

So some car content:

RX-8 - finished installing the Q1000 and got to test it, the car's still got EML on and still feels twitchy but has to sit on the back burner for a bit. Crucially it is still very enjoyable to drive, and I'm mostly sad that being on a fast road in a farming community with hard water means cleaning it and keeping it clean without a garage is Sisyphean, albeit with the rock dissolved and dried all over my car. The warm weather/cluch weirdness is still there so I'm going to get a new slave cylinder, new flexi hose and so forth; the brake fluid is clean and I can't find leaks. It's accessible from above, but on hold for now.

PT Cruiser - lurking at the office because of car logistics, I considered roffling it but realised I'd massively cocked up the sums and effectively asked £750 for it, which isn't going to happen - sorry to the couple of people that asked for numbers, but thinking that I'd lost £1250 in three months for the sake of a 'I can't drive manuals' brainfart was not going to do my mood any favours, plus I actually really like that car and it's the MX-5 I want to shift.

Speaking of - the MX-5 looks great as always, and aside from the noisy wheelbearing is behaving well. The wheelbearing is proving amusing - because I can't DIY it (needs more lift and access than I can achieve, needs press, etc) I feel very out of control and I'm having trouble reconciling the doomsayers going on about needing to cut control arms and stuff with the condition of the car, but I don't /trust/ the potential approaches being suggested. It is a pig of a job though, because the knuckle appears to have five or six chunky things to detach before it'll come out of the car.

I think I will try the Northampton MX-5 specialist next as the local RX-8 one had doubts about having the right press adaptors; if nothing else they will have seen more NCs (the NA/NB seems to be the one with the brutal/rusting control arm design mentioned for cutting arms off etc. - NCs are like RX-8s but less heavy duty). Even so, asking £3K for one when anything similar is £4.5K (the cheap ones aren't Sports), and not getting interest, is disappointing.  Suspect that particularly around here there's just not the cash for two-seater, relatively thirsty petrol cars that are very much a luxury and I understand that, similarly, won't 'drop the price until it sells' on that basis. I would if it were showing rust signs or other structural issues which is probably why the competing adverts might get results.

Tuesday my 5008 goes back and I get something electric, which living 40 miles from civlisation (unless Atlantis is in the wash) and actual useful infrastructure means a big hit on the range before actually 'going anywhere' in my head. But I could be wrong. It'll be a learning experience for sure.

No progress on the Tavria, it's so far from any of my priorities at the moment and I really don't need it. I might just advertise it more widely but it really does make more sense to get it registered if I can, it'll be so much more appealing then.

Spitfire gets a little bit of WD-40 on the windscreen bolts and occasional poking while I work out what makes the most sense to poke first - I want to check the chassis out I think now I have more flexibility, but at the moment I'm just calmly keeping an eye on eBay and so forth waiting for the obvious 'well that needs replacing/fixing' items like windscreen frame and bootlid, and a bonnet with more inherent structural rigidity. The passenger floor is probably fixable without the rather messy extent of a whole (not lined up right, but almost certainly better than a novice first attempt would be) floor as on the driver's side, and the first welding job I'll attempt (after practice) will be the battery box as that's easy to get to and easily sourced. That's some time away, but with mobility comes more motivation,

[Jim Bell]

Great to hear that the pain is in the past man. Or most of it anyway. 

Selling a PT Cruiser is a bed decision at the best of times. Giving one away is not recommended at all!

[gadgetgricey]

Really pleased that surgery went well and things have improved greatly. Now just take it steady and don't assume you can do everything.

Quick story from when I was about 10, so many many years ago. Sprained ankle on right foot, few outpatients visits at hospital in Brum, and all was fine discharged. So happy that ran to Dad when I saw him pulling up in the car. (Cortina 1.3 2 dr for the win)  cobbled stones and went over on left ankle. Back in an hour later and saw nurse who'd just discharged me.

 

[RichardK]

Ouch! Weirdly despite living in Brum for 5 out of the past 14 years, I don't think I ever visited a hospital there! Maybe pickup/drop off at No Good Hope...

But who wouldn't run to a two-door Cortina?

[RichardK]

All still chaos, of course, but the plan is quite clear I think...

First, I was offered a 13,000 mile PT Cruiser Convertible, and I actually really like my PT Cruiser apart from all the things that made it a £2,000 dealer car in the middle of bangergeddon prices at the start of summer. I could spend thousands getting Boris up to the standard I want, or pennies keeping him mobile but deteriorating, and it makes sense to me to spend money on a low mileage clean car in the first place.

So in addition to the MX-5 going to reduce the inevitable overdraft and credit cards, Boris is going, but with the aim of being left with two complementary cars that have great history, low miles and one previous owner.

That's the RX-8 and the next Cruiser.

Even so the MX-5 refuses to depart! It's so sunny I've been cleaning the roof and checking drain holes etc.

Numbnuts here wasn't paying enough attention, and decided to hose through the drain holes "to check they were running clear".

They are but not enough for a badly aimed hose. So bonus, the back half of the carpets has had an excellent wash and vaxing.

While I had trim off to clean up my mess, I peered in the sill.

That's the inside of:

(I am going to get some jenolite in there as well. Or ACF50. Anything really that will help preserve it longer than other MX-5s).

And this is the inside since I changed the gaiters:

And inside the bonnet? I haven't done anything here bar a little clear jenolite stuff ages ago. Would look nicer cleaned...

But I had to nip to the post office, and it was already running, so...

It's a shame the four seats, automatic and laziness of the PT Cruiser is what I actually want from a convertible because if I didn't have to choose... I wouldn't sell the MX-5. Anyone need any freelance articles doing? *looks hopeful*

[RichardK]

Just spoke to an actual MX-5 specialist, because the wheelbearing thing was really annoying me - being able to see how it fits, etc. and having two different sources say it was insanely complex/problematic to do and often involved cutting control arms and so forth just didn't add up with what I was looking at, where the sticking points for me are "I don't have a driveshaft puller or a bearing press". I'd happily try removing the knuckle if it weren't for the driveshaft-detaching part being an unknown.

Anyway...
To paraphrase:

"NC rear wheelbearing? £100."
"Um, is that £100 with a really long list of caveats?"
"No, they're usually straightforward. Annoying, faffy, but straightforward".
"I'll take two..."

Since I wanted £3000, and dropped to £2500, I'm employing man-maths and it's booked in for 12th September (the earliest they can do!) to have both rear wheel bearings replaced and a full service (oil, filters, plugs, gearbox oil, diff oil, coolant), all of which should be under or around that £500 difference. And then if it's still advertised, it'll be £3500 and I'll have absolute confidence in it being right

[RichardK]

This car is so pleasing to drive on a sunny day.

Even if it looks a bit grumpy. And there's heat haze on the OSF caliper.

I would like a modern electric one that was basically the same but an EV motor up front (better steering please!) and a flat-floor skate battery (column shift please!) but no other spurious modernities - same style of wheel and dashboard and instruments, just the basics for ESP/ABS/AEB so EuroNcrap don't have a cow, same pace, same ride, same roof... Even the same sort of range the e-Berlingo has. Just don't change the driving position, rear space or practicality beyond raising the floor slightly and using modern techniques for nicer lights and so forth.

[RichardK]

On 8/11/2022 at 4:15 PM, RichardK said:

 And inside the bonnet? I haven't done anything here bar a little clear jenolite stuff ages ago. Would look nicer cleaned...

There. Not overboard, just "tidier".

[RichardK]

When I got the MX-5 it was a: planned to be a keeper, and b: my mission that in defiance of the shitty MX5 group I joined on Facebook, I would indeed find a hardtop for £500.

Having decided to sell the car, had one person back out after agreeing to take it, one swap derailed by mechanic talking crap about Mk 3 hubs (90% sure they think same as Mk 2) and one swap that just wasn't what I need, I'm very much in need of money and had dropped the price to "rusty shed" levels and still had minimal interest.

So of course I still bid on a hardtop.

It came with a stand,  but I collected in the MX-5 so...

That'll be fine, right?

Made it back to the office. Stand fits in back of e-Bearlingo just fine.

How does the top fit/look?

I'm really happy with it. In great condition, needs small adjustments to fit really snugly but straight on without tweaks worked fine.

Actually happier with black than if I'd got a red one. And definitely happier than if it were "the wrong red".

Windscreen hoop to black roof is very neat. Like that.

And it looks very complete with the boot rack as well.

Refinement is very good - fits windows well, and should avoid clogged drain holes over winter by directing water down the side instead of via the roof edge under the deck.

Now I just need the wheelbearing done...

It's obviously still for sale - if it goes before the wheelbearing I'd take £3K  which is a bit of a loss still, but once the bearing and service is done I'll pretty much hang onto it until I get £3750 or decide I'd rather keep this and sell other things/earn more money somehow.

[RichardK]

Cosy!

[RichardK]

This is Boris. Boris has 82,000 miles, some scuffed pain bits, needs rusty sticking brakes sorting, wheel alignment, and has MOT until November.

Boris cost me £2K when most Cruiser cabs were £2600ish and for all the wear and tear, has won me over to the way of the Cruiser as an open-topped car of extreme joy. Not sporty, not luxurious, just lazy, roomy and very open-air feeling without much buffeting even at 60-70mph.

I would like to make Boris perfect rather than a cheap "run/fix/dispose" car but justifying that is difficult.

His sticky caliper has meant that doing longer trips worries me, and with the MX-5 wheelbearing and RX-8 SSV also needing attention I've been without a working car other than work ones - fine when it's a 400 mile range car with a fuel tank, less fine when that's 160 miles (best) and a battery.

Hmmm...

I wonder.

Now let's let some Lincolnshire soil and centuries of agricultural knowledge in the earth itself get to work...

*time passes*

Perfect!

No, really...

Perfect.

No rust!

It drives really nicely too.

And I really, really like the body-colour dashboard instead of silver.

13,000 miles, no rust or accident damage I can find, drives like a low mileage car should, even the A/C works. Quirks - the speakers (PT stock units being shit paper ones of the cheapest nastiest material) have degraded, and at low fan speeds the heater makes a slightly odd rattlyrumble like the fan is slightly out of alignment. Roof perfect bar the elastics I knew would stretch because age not use, and the windows are rattle and scratch free. Two keys, books but no paper history as the former owner serviced it entirely themselves (sounds like a real collector owner before the people I got it from).

The plate lies, it's not a CRD - I'm retaining that number but might stick it on the black one if it helps it find a home.

Now I need the Tavria, black Cruiser and the MX-5 to go and life will feel much simpler. Sorning the RX-8 and I'll just cover it and leave on battery conditioner/fix SSV over winter/get wheels refurbed if I can afford to.

 

 

[gadgetgricey]

Cars look great. Going to try the same with my Mini Thirty model.

[RichardK]

Some more scenes:

Jobs to do - replace 3M tape on passenger door spear (trim), replace speakers (grim) and get lots of polish onto it (prim).

Under here, I'll change the plugs for Iridium and maybe nice red magnecor leads, plot timing belt change, and ACF-50 or similar seams and bolts.

And things like this make me think the timing belt will not be horrid, just very tedious.

Does anyone have initials CRD and a mysterious connection to the letter P and number 7?

[RichardK]

I think the name has been revealed:

Stuck the plates on - though I still need that V5 to show up. Rear plate position is compromised by accessory reversing camera...

It's a bit foggy. Can't stand living somewhere so flat and damp, I hadn't realised what it was like when I moved here.

But it makes Lilith look pretty spooky at night...

[RichardK]

Got four replacement speakers - ex Jeep Commander, Boston rather than Infinity so I hope they work.

And did some organising of docs - no receipts but one garage owned it from early 2008 to 2021 - weirdly the first registered address in the book is Motability Ops - but change of keeper after three months. Pre-reg target shenanigans?

I'm guessing you don't lie to yourself when making your own notes in a service record so...

Look at the miles! Yes, the MoTs tally.

But that's not the best bit.

OMFG! I really hope that's true.

[RichardK]

Lilith and a 666 plate?

Every. Single. Fix.

So John Grant should not sound like that.

Why?

My preferred fix? Raid a posh Jeep.

Result? Next post...

 

[RichardK]

Much better - and 13,000 mile defects. Kwality.

[RichardK]

The front squeakers are, of course, the easy ones. Both rear speakers are similarly shot - and the new 6x9s should be epic - but to replace those the whole rear 1/4 panel has to come out.

Which I will save for when I've got more waxoyl for sill-filling.

[RichardK]

Remember this?

Looks smart with a DSLR aimed at it...

[RichardK]

Some tidying. Side spear was loose - reckon a jetwash had encouraged it and someone tried just replacing one bit of tape so...

Carefully removed and sprayed with sticky stuff remover.

It's not easy.

Got there eventually...

New tape on the panel after cleaning sticky stuff and dirt out, then wiping surface with IPA.

Meanwhile - the rust bubbles on the black one's bonnet (it has a spare but it doesn't fit in the car 😕 ) meant I wanted to make sure this one was protected...

It's actually dripping out on the grill so I reckon there's enough in there.

Combo of bluetack datum points from slight difference in paint/very small sticker residues and a bit of measuring...

Done.

Needs a clean:

What are the sills like on this 2007 Cruiser? They were a bit grubby so I washed them...

Now... do I spray some protection on those? Dilemma.. I'm thinking that anti-stonechip clear film maybe...

[RichardK]

Weekend cleaning continues but I ran out of wax. Nice weather for it, need to do the roof properly, and so forth. I forgot how expensive all these cleaning things get 😕

Low miles, but dirt hides.

Too much plain metal to let it get mucky.

That needs sorting - wonder how hard finding NOS will be.

But it does have the potential to look very nice if I can keep on top of the cleaning for a car that lives outside (when the Tavria moves it'll at least have a more sheltered spot).

A spot of lacquer peel, though? I need to fix that, but I'm not sure how. Unless it's something that dried on the bumper like some back to black type coating.

[RichardK]

First proper run. Motorways, roof down in the morning. Cruiser economy?

Better than my 1.6 Beetle Manual was...

But.

Drive home - thunderstorms, flooding, and...

On the M5 in a proper lightning and torrential rain. I was soaked through.

Still, I meant to check the spare to clean it up and waxoil under the boot floor.

Made it to Nottingham at 40mph, then a familiar pull on the steering.

Cat visiting after the AA "moved me from A453 to a place of safety with facilities"

A closed McDonalds with an unlit car park where I was supposed to wait for AA patrol to see if tyres fixable.

It's nearly 4am, I've been soaked through since 8pm, no assistance available until 8am, I need a poo, and I'm basically hoping the tyre will hold air if I buy an air compressor at 6 in the morning when the Esso opens.

McDonalds not until 7:30.

Then  I get four new Goodyears or something put on this because I don't trust these tyres one bit. I've never had two deflations before and it's very suspicious that it's both fronts and they did 170 miles of high speed warm dry motorway but failed during a storm.

WTF even are "Davanti" tyres.

[RichardK]

I live here now:

AA man arrive:

Go to tire place.

"Please use the proper jacking points I'm very tired and just want something to go well"

Sneaky rust checking shot. AA man knows jacking point.

Unlike National. FOR FUCK'S SAKE HOW FUCKING HARD IS IT TO DO THIS PROPERLY.

Before?

Bellends. Going after them for this. I am so fucking sick of unaccountable car services and garages.

How.

Fucking.

Hard:

Is.

It.

When there are arrows on the damn floor.

At least this is a worthwhile upgrade. Economy up 2.2 MPG as well... and the steering is much nicer!

[stripped fred]

Oh, not good. I hope you got it sorted.

I once cam back to my car, an 04 plate Sharan, to find I had two flat tyres on the offside. I was in London on my way back from a training course. I put the spare on and ordered an Uber to take me and the other wheel to a nearby tyre place. I got there just before they closed. I had a no name tyre fitted, back in the taxi and I was on my way back to Leicester. I still don't know what happened. Maybe I had run over the same object?

Definately get those tyres changed. It looks a nice car and hopefully a keeper?