GR8 PL8 M8's Daewoo Espero - Tea and a catch-up

[GR8 PL8 M8]

When he had it for the thermostat replacement, my mechanic did his due diligence and pointed out a few areas of concern on the car. These were:

Corroded, saturated fuel lines on the return/low pressure side:

A rust hole (okay, I knew about this one):

And that the tyres, despite having (mostly) good tread, were old and starting to crack. I think they were something like 14 years old!

These issues were listed as advisories on the 2021 MOT, though my mechanic reckoned that they were rather generous in not giving it a fail.

Someone I work with recommended someone who could do the welding and fuel line replacement, so I took it to him and he did just that. Upon collection he told me that they was more rot under the plastic cover, but he thought it would be a pain to do so didn't do it.

I then took the car to my local(ish) tyre place to replace all four tyres and put it through an MOT. I went with Alliance tyres, which are a budget brand that I'd never heard of, but owned by Yokohama so presumably not completely shit. The car passed, but did so with a list of advisories that made it look like I hadn't had any of the above work done!

The tester was mostly impressed with the car, but did call me underneath to point out the aforementioned corrosion underneath the plastic cover, which you could just about see the edges off. He'd given it an advisory this time, but suggested that it may not pass next year. Fair enough!

[GR8 PL8 M8]

Behold, the fruits of my labour spending!

To be fair all of the leaves had just blown off the trees on to it, so it was looking particularly unloved, but still...

[GR8 PL8 M8]

Since buying an MOT-less 1997 car located halfway across the country sight unseen from an eBay auction had gone so well for me the first time (genuinely), I decided to do it again. Lightning did not strike twice. I'll try and write up the whole experience in its own thread sometime but for now I'll leave you with this delightfully shite pairing of my 1997 Daewoo Espero and what is thankfully no longer my 1997 Ford Aerostar.

[GR8 PL8 M8]

A little bit of tidying on the Espero - this wiring was hanging down over the pedals and occasionally brushing my foot, so I've zip-tied it up behind the lower dashboard.

I've no idea what's going on with the two badly cut out pieces at the top right.

[GR8 PL8 M8]

I decided to celebrate* the ULEZ expansion by driving the Espero into work on the last shift that I could do so without being charged (I'd only done so a couple of times previously when the ute was being serviced). My colleagues were not impressed!

Annoyingly I've paid £62.50 in charges since then...

[Barry Cade]

Fun facts I have just discovered.. The Espero shares an Ignition control module, ignition pickup coil  and ignition coil with my 4.3l V6 Chevy Astro .. .. I got Espero parts next day off the shelf!

[GR8 PL8 M8]

24 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

Fun facts I have just discovered.. The Espero shares an Ignition control module, ignition pickup coil  and ignition coil with my 4.3l V6 Chevy Astro .. .. I got Espero parts next day off the shelf!

Good to know! Funnily enough I was looking at Astros when I bought the Aerostar...

If you weren't already aware of it, rockauto.com is fantastic for American bits. The shipping can be half the cost, but it'll still work out cheaper than UK sources, and arrives just as quickly. That's been my experience anyway.

[Barry Cade]

34 minutes ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

Good to know! Funnily enough I was looking at Astros when I bought the Aerostar...

If you weren't already aware of it, rockauto.com is fantastic for American bits. The shipping can be half the cost, but it'll still work out cheaper than UK sources, and arrives just as quickly. That's been my experience anyway.

I've used Rockauto, and Summit many times, but when I need 1 thing, usually quickly it can be a pain. I love cross referencing stuff and am always surprised what fits what from a local factors.... I'm having issues with the Astro at the mo, and not getting in to parts darts, which I would if I put in a big order to the 'States! Waiting on a coolant temp sensor now, which is the same as a Vauxhall Combo 1.7D 😆