"It'll cost more than the car's worth"- THE FUN HAS STARTED!

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

When the time comes do you know how to remove and palletise and engine?

 

Obviously I don't, but if someone is prepared to pay 300+ quid for it, I guess I could offer them a bit of a discount for doing it themselves!

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

£250 for a cambelt change and radiator on your Accord buys a lot of piece of mind, in my book.

 

Yeah, I'm probably going to go for that option and hope to find a way to break the car when I'm done with it.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

it needs a new tyre (£70 incl. swapping the spare to one of the alloys)

 

Jayzus, is it on nineteens or something? Old cars = £15 part worns in my book.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

it needs a new tyre (£70 incl. swapping the spare to one of the alloys)

 

Jayzus, is it on nineteens or something? Old cars = £15 part worns in my book.

 

Both fronts need changing, but the Tombstone spare is mint and I can find an identical new one for £57 inc. postage on ebay, so for the sake of £20 extra I'd have a pair of brand new, matching premium-brand tyres.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

You've heard of Ebay?

 

Two 225/60x15 Goodyears with 6mm of tread each, £12.

 

In other words, £70 worth of premium brand tyres on a £300 shitter isn't the way to go.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

RBJ is right, buying old shitters is a load of misery unless you're prepared to be resourceful, its no good buying them if you are just gonna bosh them in the garage to get everything sorted. Do without the aircon and find some cheap part worns are two good starters for ten.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

RBJ is right, buying old shitters is a load of misery unless you're prepared to be resourceful, its no good buying them if you are just gonna bosh them in the garage to get everything sorted. Do without the aircon and find some cheap part worns are two good starters for ten.

 

On reflection, that's great advice! Clearly, after hearing that it needs more than a regas, I had no plans to touch the aircon, but even a 30 quid saving on the tyres would pay for a bit of the other work that's needed. BTW, would putting radweld goo or anything help prolong the life of the rad (it's working ok at the moment)?

[warren t claim]

No.

[r.welfare]

How about this radiator for half the price you've quoted? It's for a non-a/c model but given yours doesn't work...

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-Accord-2-0-2-2-2-3-Rover-623-RADIATOR-NEW-10166-/270726294681

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

How about this radiator for half the price you've quoted? It's for a non-a/c model but given yours doesn't work...

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Honda-Accord-2-0-2-2-2-3-Rover-623-RADIATOR-NEW-10166-/270726294681

 

Unfortunately, the other half of the price was the cost of the labour (actually, I've came across radiators on parts sites that were a bit cheaper than that and were the proper fitment for a/c models...but it's still going to be 1.5 hours' worth of labour or so, isn't it?).

[CIH]

My wife drives an S reg Mitsubishi Galant, a 2.0 auto. It is in excellent condition with a genuine 70k on the clock and everything still works. However, due to it's low value, it is always in the back of my mind that it is never any further than being one large bill away from the scrappy. The same goes for my mother in laws F reg granada which she has owned from being two years old. Having said that, I would sooner have my motoring the autoshite way than singing my life away to a young man who is all big hair and winklepickers.

 

That's exactly how treated my bluey. It was awesome running a cheap old car with basically zero financial commitment.

As for Carcraft, my parents made me go there a few years ago. I had assumed it was all nealy new/2-3 years old given the money they would ask but it was all just random old runners with like 70k and showing every mile.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yo Luxo, you oughta try swapping the rad yourself. Theres no mega complexity to that, ts just unbolt and bolt and fill up with coolant. you'll need a few small sockets and screwdrivers and what have you, nowt spesh. Plus if you do it you'll feel like TEH WINN4R! Maybe if you're not confident there will be a local shiter who would pop round and keep an eye on proceedings.

 

If you dont have those tools, buy them, they will pay for themselves with the first bit of fettling that you do.

[gtd2000]

If you do require the AC - why not take a trip to Kiwk Fit - not a place I'd ordinarily recommend but they do often have good deals on AC services.

 

I had my Hyundai Coupe done last year for £25 all in - I think the normal price is £50? Make sure you go before the weather gets too hot

 

They also have a policy that if there is a problem with the AC service there is no charge to the customer - i.e. if it's leaking there's no cost to you.

 

I advised my German mate to take his Toyota Supra in (due to non-working AC) and it turned out there was a leak at the condensor. He paid the service fees at the time but as the coolant leaked out, they did a dye or UV test and refunded his original monies and he now knows exactly where the problem lies

[warren t claim]

If you do require the AC - why not take a trip to Kiwk Fit - not a place I'd ordinarily recommend but they do often have good deals on AC services.

Mind you, you'll feel a bit suicidal when you leave knowing that you need 4x tyres, 4x shocks and new pads and discs (f+r). Be prepared for them to tell you they might get done for manslaughter if you don't get the problems sorted there and then.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

I changed the radiator on my Rover 623, it was piss easy.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Yo Luxo, you oughta try swapping the rad yourself. Theres no mega complexity to that, ts just unbolt and bolt and fill up with coolant. you'll need a few small sockets and screwdrivers and what have you, nowt spesh. Plus if you do it you'll feel like TEH WINN4R! Maybe if you're not confident there will be a local shiter who would pop round and keep an eye on proceedings.

 

If you dont have those tools, buy them, they will pay for themselves with the first bit of fettling that you do.

 

Y'know, I was sort of contemplating having a go myself...The great thing is that, as CIH said, there's no real downside to all this- if it all goes pear-shaped, I can always get it cubed, get a bit of a tax refund and I 'd still have only lost the equivalent of a bottle of half-decent champagne (of course, debt-burdened Carshaft customers don't tend to think in such terms, as they seem to prefer Lambrini). I've also read somewhere on teh interwebz (hence it undoubtedly is true) that the engine is non-interference outside of VTEC mode, and VTEC only kicks in at 5200rpm (which is not a level that my cars tend to see often, if ever). I've actually sent an e-mail to Honda UK Manufacturing and asked them about it, let's see how hard they laugh at me!

 

I'm thinking I should order a Haynes manual (though it'll probably just say "refitting is a reversal of removal which is a reversal of fitting, which requires expert tools and an assembly line") and try to get to grips with all the little issues- the funny thing is that I would do all this precisely because I don't really care much about this car and it seems like an excellent opportunity to hone my DIY skillz, innit?

 

Bloody hell, it is very unusual for me to keep changing my mind like this...Guess that's the beauty of AS!

[dollywobbler]

First thing I do with a new car is buy the Haynes manual. You can get them for most shite cars for absolute peanuts (ie a few quid delivered). The Landy was a bit of a shock as everyone wanted about £15, so I didn't bother.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

There is a Rover 600 Haynes manual, but none for the similar Accord.

[Bren]

A work colleague of mine owned an accord that required a new rad, the garage told him that they had kept the price of the repair down by obtaining a rover item, as opposed to asking for a honda one.

 

I replaced the rad on a 600 I had years ago, it was a really simple job, even removing the cooling fans and swapping them over was no bother.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

There is a Rover 600 Haynes manual, but none for the similar Accord.

 

There seems to be an American manual for it

http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stor ... &langId=-1

 

Can't see it being much different from the UK spec, or is it?

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

It's pretty different aye, the European version is based on an older platform and isn't known as an Accord anywhere else - it was marketed as the Ascot Innova in Japan. The engines will be similar though.

[gtd2000]

As an observation, I don't find Haynes manuals to be of much use these days, you can get much better information on the internet - that actually shows you what you really need to do...just join the appropriate car forum on the web.

 

As a result, I gave up on Haynes sometime in the late 1990's....

 

They do look good on your bookshelf of course - I have several sitting there unused...

[r.welfare]

Don't get a Haynes. Why bother when the Honda genuine factory manuals are available for free?

 

http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/media/manuals/Accord93/

 

(I'm guessing the 1996 supplement will cover yours)

 

I've got a genuine copy* of one of these for my later generation car, it knocks Haynes into a cocked hat. Even tells you the size of all the nuts and bolts, plus torque settings, and illustrations for everything.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Cheers for that Mr. Welfare...I owe you a pint!

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

That's a great service, almost worth buying a Honda for.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

R. Welfare, your advice is indeed excellent, but I regret to inform you that you are not as strong in the predictions department.

 

The clutch's just gone. Second time ever I've been in a tiny bit of a traffic jam, it couldn't take the heat and the pedal ended up falling to the carpet. No slipping or other warning signs apart from the short pedal travel mentioned earlier, it just went from "working alright" to "dead as a dodo". The only good thing was that it was in a residential area a bit outside the city centre, so parking was relatively easy to find and without charges/restrictions (watch this space for an update tomorrow by which time a NIMBY living where I've parked will have smashed all the windows!). Unfortunately, since I'm still staying in a hotel and haven't got the option of going carfree for a while, it will have to be done to keep me mobile. There's a Mr Clutch place about 400 metres from where I parked, but the online quote for that was 245 notes, so I think a bit of ringing round will be done tomorrow before I call out the RAC to recover me to somewhere where it can be done more cheaply.

 

 

Of course, it being the clutch, as opposed to something that would have definitely consigned the thing to the bridge, only serves to further my financial commitment to the car so I will be feeling more urgency to get the 'belts done and have a go at the radiator, after which I'll probably get a borked exhaust/ECU/you name it, and so on. The sums involved aren't that big, but it's a rather stressful situation nonetheless...

[warren t claim]

Unusual for a clutch to go that quickly. Is it cable or hydraulic?

[revolting peasant]

[revolting peasant]

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I don't really know, but I think it must be hydraulic.