batterypowered's Car Journey: The Limited Tale (so far)

[batterypowered]

Starting right at the beginning!

My "first" car, in my ownership since 2019 - a 2008 Ford Ka Studio!



^ This was my brothers first car back in 2014, which was handed down to me at 15 after developing an ABS fault (my parents believed it had limited time left after pouring alot of money into solving the ABS issue to no avail, and the general rot of a early 2000s Ford.)

^ March 2020 - as lockdown hits I got bored and started to do the typical "teenager on a budget" eBay mods - tinted lights, dechromed badges, black hubcaps and of course a Halfords exhaust trim

^ Skipping ahead to March 2021 after various iterations, I splashed out on some alloys and a tidy spoiler (very posh!)

^ May 2021 - I go and view a Honda Logo to replace the Ka after winning a £500 bid! Unfortunately the thing is very rotten and ended up being scrapped after I walked away from it..

^ Impulse purchase time.. after seeing the state of the Logo, I panicked and realised I wanted something sporty and modern, hence the purchase of my current 2006 Mini Hatch One!

...and 8 months later, I've got the car looking how I want it to! But I'm at a stage where I'm lusting for something retro... so lets see what the future brings

 

[batterypowered]

Probably the biggest project I've done to any car so far was replace the exhaust (I know, I've got alot to learn yet 😵)
After its 95k life, holes were appearing and the backbox mount was shot to pieces, so here's some photos of the experience.

^ Jacked up and ready to go.

^ The very crusty and rusted over exhaust bolts. Not budging at all - ended up taking a reciprocating saw to them...

...as seen here!

^ ..Aand the new exhaust all on!

[MJK 24]

I like your Mini.  They look great on the pepper pot wheels.  I have a set on my old VW.

[Mudster]

Mini looks really good now 👍

Good job on the exhaust, they can be a real pain in the ass with rusty bolts.

[AnnoyingPentium]

Looking forward to seeing where you and your motors go, in both a literal sense and a metaphorical one, of course.

[batterypowered]

Chodtastic £35 eBay roof bars fitted today.

Just keeping my eye out for a cheap and cheerful roof box now..

[2cvspecial]

welcome to AS @batterypowered

[batterypowered]

Todays job was doing the brakes on the Mini! But with very little luck...



After being unsuccessful dealing with rusted on disc retention bolts, a little deer then decided to help me test out my current brakes!

 

 

All in all, a very eventful day which I thought I'd share with everyone for a little chuckle

[AnnoyingPentium]

56 minutes ago, batterypowered said:

a little deer then decided to help me test out my current brakes!

At least you know they work!

[batterypowered]

NEW CAR ALERT!

In a strange turn of events, yesterday evening I ended up collecting my new car for 700 Great British Pounds - a 1996 Toyota Paseo Si!

After seeing it come up on Facebook Marketplace, it was almost inevitible that I'd end up picking it up, much to the reluctancy of my parents.. (we now have to fit 4 cars on our driveway... somehow)

It was a two hour drive up to Sutton-in-Ashfield, made comfortable thanks to a friend giving me a lift in his 1991 Volvo 940

The Paseo was perfect the whole way back and didn't skip a beat. Started on the button. It has a slipping clutch, only noticable under heavy acceleration between 3-5th gear, but hopefully with the help of @EightMegs I can get that replaced.

Bit of radio bodgery as it didn't come with one. My phone substituted as entertainment for the drive home

I'm not sure what I've got planned for it yet (bar the clutch) but it is meant to be more of a project car. The Mini will probably remain a daily driver for me, as I have 6 months worth of insurance left to go to build up my first NCD (new driver problems amirite?)

[AnnoyingPentium]

Now that is nice! Good buy IMO.

43 minutes ago, batterypowered said:

(new driver problems amirite?)

Yes. Very. 🤣

[Dick Cheeseburger]

1 hour ago, batterypowered said:

NEW CAR ALERT!

In a strange turn of events, yesterday evening I ended up collecting my new car for 700 Great British Pounds - a 1996 Toyota Paseo Si!

After seeing it come up on Facebook Marketplace, it was almost inevitible that I'd end up picking it up, much to the reluctancy of my parents.. (we now have to fit 4 cars on our driveway... somehow)

It was a two hour drive up to Sutton-in-Ashfield, made comfortable thanks to a friend giving me a lift in his 1991 Volvo 940

The Paseo was perfect the whole way back and didn't skip a beat. Started on the button. It has a slipping clutch, only noticable under heavy acceleration between 3-5th gear, but hopefully with the help of @EightMegs I can get that replaced.

Bit of radio bodgery as it didn't come with one. My phone substituted as entertainment for the drive home

I'm not sure what I've got planned for it yet (bar the clutch) but it is meant to be more of a project car. The Mini will probably remain a daily driver for me, as I have 6 months worth of insurance left to go to build up my first NCD (new driver problems amirite?)

That Paseo is lovely. They've become rare overnight too. A quick look on evilbay only shows a couple and theyre significantly more than the bargain price you paid for yours. Nice!

[EightMegs]

That's an odd shaped Starlet you've bought.

[batterypowered]

On 2/19/2022 at 6:51 PM, Dick Longbridge said:

That Paseo is lovely. They've become rare overnight too. A quick look on evilbay only shows a couple and theyre significantly more than the bargain price you paid for yours. Nice!

Upwards of 3-5 grand these days for a nice example eh? Mine does have a few rough bits around the edges, but all in all for a car I drove 2 hours back without any issues, I'm well impressed
Thought I'd get on the bandwagon before they're all gone - a bit like my Mini, as the earlier 2001 press release cars are now a collectors item.. who woulda known?

[Liggle]

Love the Paseo. Had one myself back in 2006-2008, was a great motor and really rare even then. 

[batterypowered]

3 hours ago, Liggle said:

Love the Paseo. Had one myself back in 2006-2008, was a great motor and really rare even then. 

Thanks
Very few numbers sold in the UK from what I've heard - and only about 170ish on the road now? (judging by what it says on howmanyleft.co.uk!)

[Liggle]

19 hours ago, batterypowered said:

Thanks
Very few numbers sold in the UK from what I've heard - and only about 170ish on the road now? (judging by what it says on howmanyleft.co.uk!)

I believe around 2500 were sold here, the Puma and Tigra (remember those?!) were a lot more popular. I used to help run the Paseo Club forum back then too, I've just found this old forum banner pic from Wayback Machine

I had the red Si with lowering springs, uprated shocks and a custom exhaust. To say I loved it was an understatement! 

[Jamie]

I had a paseo the same colour as yours as my second car, 17 years ago I feel my age now! 

[batterypowered]

Some glamour shots. Those 3 weeks of ownership have flown by with ease so far.

The clutch is definitely needing attention  - which means it'll probably be parked up in the meantime while I await @EightMegs' assistance with the tools I'm missing in April.

Drivers Side (Rear) Passengers Side (Rear)

^ Also took a very brief look at the rear suspension today when passing by. I did a 300 mile round trip down south, and on the way back could definitely hear some sort of knocking or metallic "tapping" from the rear passenger side.. visual checks passed though (albeit with some spring corrosion and shock absorber weepage)
I believe it could be a top mount issue? Only way to tell is to remove the rear bench and interior plastics.. the joys of it not being a hatchback.

Full service scheduled for this weekend. I'll jack it up and have a look at the suspension in better detail at that point.

[noseypoke]

On 2/15/2022 at 9:52 PM, AnnoyingPentium said:

At least you know they work!

Great bit of driving mate, the Deers made up aswell.

[batterypowered]

A successful 10+ hours working on the Paseo this week (2 hour intervals, slowly chipping away after a day of work before the sunset)

Gearbox removal brick strategy.

1x gearbox dropped, 1x clutch and flywheel removed!

Now all the hard work is done, I must sleep, before attempting to reassemble.. I am tired and achey

[Matty]

On 2/28/2022 at 5:49 PM, Jamie said:

I had a paseo the same colour as yours as my second car, 17 years ago I feel my age now! 

Bloody hell pal, you never told me you did a bit of modelling 😁

[Jamie]

12 minutes ago, Matty said:

Bloody hell pal, you never told me you did a bit of modelling 😁

😂😂😂

[batterypowered]

The clutch job is finally complete as of Sunday. Glad to walk away with a smirk after many hours of troubleshooting, pain, agony and swearing.

^ Gearbox cleaned up and ready to go in

^ Gearbox finally lined up, with a little bit trial and error!

^ Filling the gearbox without putting the driveshafts in... rookie error. Garden smells rechid now!

^ Great success!!!

^ Clutch slave cylinder is buggered though. Leaking out the seal... oh well, nothing a zip tie and some topping up on clutch fluid cant fix! (for now...)
((New one is on order of course))

^ Back on all 4 wheels on the ground

Hell, still in disbelief that I overcame this task all by myself. With some moral support from the father, of course

Looking forward to daily driving once again. The Mini insurance is due in August, so I don't know what the fate of that is. But the Paseo is definitely a new love, and I'm enjoying every moment I'm behind the wheel of it. 90's japbox's are definitely my style.

[batterypowered]

Agh its been a while, the internet is a confusing series of tubes. My fax machine alerted me that @EightMegs tagged me in a post, so here is my triumphant return.

Here is a catch up of the last... 3 YEARS???

Yikes. Sorry about that:

2006 Volvo V50 SE Sport 2.0D

Purchased in July 2022 to replace my Mini. I loved this thing, it held its head high at 198,000 miles when I bought it for £1,200. What a trooper.

I let it go after 3 months because I was an indecisive idiot and enjoyed the thrill of buying new cars a bit too much at this point in my life, but it got to see a facelift conversion which helped its looks for sure. The guy who bought it from me recently broke the news that at 216,000 miles the fuel pump.. well.. pumped shards of metal into the engine. Poor thing

2006 Ford Fiesta Zetec-S 1.6 TDCi

We don't speak about this one. I was 18 in a full yobbo era with a friend who insisted that it was "well looked after" and "always serviced" and all that other crap.

TL;DR, the turbo started spewing oil out and the 0-60 became 22 seconds.  This one lasted me 2 months!

2001 Toyota Celica VVT-i 190



I bought a car from Birmingham. Shock horror when the headgasket went 3 months later and found it to be gummed up with that quick seal crap.

It was fast though, I miss that aspect.

2007 Volkswagen Golf Match 1.9 TDI



The Golf. The 1.9 TDI. Perfect for the man who just wants trouble-free commuting to work and home where he can come back to a cottage pie made by the wife.

I really love this car. I really love it, I'm going to keep it until it dies!

...
...
...



Oh ok. A young driver that doesn't know how a give way works decided to change that.

Admiral's insurance assessors deemed it a CAT B 🥴 did me very well though throughout a 1 year and 6 month ownership, and has solidified my opinion on these PD engines.

PRESENT DAY

2009 Volkswagen Tiguan SE 2.0 TDI



I am a family man, in spirit.

It seemed like a logical upgrade - it's a Golf on stilts! I can't fault it, coming onto my 3rd month of ownership, so its lasting longer than some of the others lol.

I'm currently experiencing that transition of trying to move out with my partner (ugh, responsibilities)  but you may see me in a retro Jap car again one day. At least that's what I hope - for the moment, I must be a sensible man.

Hope to check in again soon, maybe not leave it as long as this.