Vimmy

Hi guys, I'm after a bit of advice on a painting issue on some work I've been doing for a last week or so. I made a radiator shroud for the top of the radiator and after (almost) finishing it the aluminium surface was a sorry state. I wanted to keep it nice and shiny, but that soon went out the window and ended up with loads of dents and bangs and swirl marks everywhere. I happened to find a can of 65C paint lying around, as you do, that was doing nothing so after priming the shroud i set about it with the paint. The first piccy is the shroud temporarily in place. I know it may seem daft to tart up the engine bay, but its in need of some tlc at the moment. Looking at the second piccy the colour matches i think? (im not a painter as you can tell ) but i havent laquered it yet and wanted to know if I would get any deeper a colour with another coat or just laquering with make the colour a little deeper and then shinier? I built the shroud for a fiver or so, far cheaper than the 40quid plus from the shops, but somehow doesnt have the pazaz that shop/professionally ones have. At the end of the day tho' if it works its doing the same job. Took me bloody well ages buggering about with a card template getting all the dimensions right too Any paint/laquer advice welcomed Cheers, Col.

Lo Ed welcome to the forums, my wee wagon is about to hit 189,000 and still goin pretty well for a 98 The cars just keep on rollin along Cheers, Colin

Yeah Happy Birthday Iain, I remember 30 like it was yesterday, hmm nope that was 40, see old age brings along memory erm problems

Aye that was fun, sufferin with some whiplash today tho as for the quince, its all over my pedals and carpets too Need to beef up on the Carterton Classic Massive too, kinda felt overwhelmed with those inferior bugs

I managed to get a begrudged evening pass, should be there for 7.45ish

What a brill idea, just had a chinwag with Iain, so much easier to ask questions and have replies that may take lots of posts to sort out Nicely done Col

Yeah seconded, congratulations to the both of you

Thanks Iain, is that for the short term or longer. From the mileage I do weekly, the engine bay is gonna get really grubby, and with winter coming up and the salt on the roads i reckon the extra corrision may cause problems. Cheers, Col

Hi Guys, I've been having a major issue with the exhaut manifold that was put on the car few months ago. Only recently its started making a sound like it was blowing and I put this down to water ingress via the bonnet vent covers and onto the wrap which inturn caused the manifold to rust and break. I checked this evening after removing the bottom engine bay cover that the graphite wrap, that I put on with tender loving car and alot of stainless wraps, had subsequently rotted and that the noise i was getting wasnt a cracked set of pipes but the rattle of many of the wraps vibrating on the pipes as the whole lot of graphite wrap had rotted away. As I touched it the lot came off in my hands exposing the bare metal. Has anyone else used the graphite wrap to cover the manifolds and come across this problem, i went for that as the fabric based wrap was prone to this and i kept clear, alas it made no difference in this case. I will be running the car without a bottom tray til the rest of the wrap is removed by hand or by the air going past as i drive, is it safe to run the car without the cover on. I expect some steaming from engine bays on wet days but look to replace the wrap very soon with the fabric based wrap. Does anyone run manifolds without wrapping? Thanks in advance for reading this, but at least i wont have to fork out for repair work to the pipes

Hi Ben, i was wondering if you had the time to do me a cover as per the template, I looked at trying to do it, but my skills at this kind of thing are poor indeed. I know you mentioned that you havent an idea about prices, would you take some form of alcoholic beverage instead perhaps Cheers, Col

Aye weird isn't it, I'm drawn t the place, I was on my way to the cente to pick up some special fuel additives, looks like my secret is out now

Hi Mark, yeah very good thanks, I've not been active on here for a while but hope to resolve that. The wee car is still trundleing along and every noise, squeak and dink I hear deepens my paranoia I have been adding things to my list for future work, its not exhaustive either (no pun intended ) driving to work i think about whats next and all the endless possibilites that come with it, way way too much stuff to ponder about.

Little buggers, makes you wonder who's watching you and where you go, sad thing is you have a go at them for breaking in and you land in the klink Did you stop them ?

Hi Myles, Carterton crime central oh no but it is the centre of the universe tho' You cant miss the fossie, its like Iains in colour but has no mods(yet) and driven by a crazy woman (i hope she doesnt read this post) just dont get in her way I have had my lil blue classic wagon for about 4 years now, has a few mods, nothin mad (so far) but a good few planned and a few in the works. Its a but poorly but gets me to and from work in a spritely fashion I'll have to try and get to the meet on sunday, I'll try and convince the missus too. Col

Thanks for the replies guys, I think i'll perhaps stick with my original plan...but when you get an idea in your head all common sense kind of goes out the window.

Yeah its such a quiet and comfy car compared to mine, with the Fossie its jump, in chuck into drive and away you go. Mine on the other hand is the total opposite, a bone shaking ride, hard seats and too damn noisy.....but then I wouldnt have it any other way I can't get her out of the car either, any excuse to go for a drive

Hi Guys, I havent been around as much as I would like, but work has had me a tad busy over the last year, so leaving me little time to surf the forums or come to meets. Things have freed up a bit so hopefully I will participate more now and get out a bit more as time allows. If it wasnt for the criminals and the judiciary system my work would be less hectic. Anyhoo we have gone and sold the Ford POS Ghia we had and gone and bought a 04 Forester XT as a replacement so now the wife can enjoy the fun of Subaru ownership. So if you see a crazy woman driving around in a dark reddish 04 Fossie give her a wave, shes the shy type Cheers for now, Col

Hi guys, my old scoob was recently tested to get an idea on how it is fairing after now clocking over 186,000 miles, the results that came back were that although the oil pressures were fine all 4 of the cylinder compressions were down by a similar ammount. I guess this has happened over a period of time and to be expected. The car itself is running fine, for an old girl, and hasn't let me down so far, but it would be nice to get back the lost power. I have looked at the route of getting a new short block, fitting that and keeping the car going, but that gives me the original power back from day 1 plus the mods currently fitted. I was pondering on another route of having the engine rebuilt, keeping the same block but replacing all the internals but to get some sort of stroker kit? to give me more power but wasnt too sure if that was a lengthier route. My missus has offered a 3rd route of another car, but i can't get rid of this motor, too much fun has been had to get rid, not to mention the time and money to move the current mods and upgrades over. Would i be better going for the new short block and get some mapping done to get the extra torque and horses or keep the block and replace the internals?? Cheers, Col.

Ah cool thanks matey, yeah I think you probably did explain it, but the drink and painkillers (not at the same time mind you) may have kerfuddled my head and possibly too much sun too and made me forget that bit. If I could borrow the spacers to sort this out that would be fab, it is bit annoying when all you here is fsssss all the time, mind you being deafened by my exhaust doesnt help much either. I'll write to them explaining the leak, as you say, they may sent out a repair kit, its worth a try. They do say that the standard spring it ships with matches the default spring tension in the recirc valves, but mine never leaked like this one did. I'll have to arrange with you to pop round when you have some spare time. Cheers again, Col.

It's been a long and fun ownership of the beastie, but I have had to let it go, damn shame too 'cos I'm go to miss not having it anymore. The recirc bov has been put out to pasture and after a long think and many months pondering and against all my better (not many i can add) judegements I went and bought a Forge DV4010 twin piston vta bov. I'm not, or wasn't at least, a fan of the mighty whoosh of the atmospheric bov, but it's growing on me daily now, although the wife will take some convincing. The good side is that I now get more pops and bangs on over run I'm after some advice on the setup of the device as it appears to be leaking some precious boost whilst running down the motorway at around 70mph. I have read that the device comes with a blue 'standard' spring and there is a softer yellow spring and a harder red spring to buy to adjust things but im not too sure whaich one to get, has anyone come across this issue with the Forge devices? Cheers, Col

Yeah flared wasn't the word, the car was twice as wide as normal with those wheels on, no loss of grip either Sure thing gc8-r, if Iain hasn't a need for them they're yours matey. Iain pop round when you have a free second or three, I'm in all week after 6pm and should be loitering in me garden tomorrow. Cheers, Col

Yeah I tried fitting all 8 on at the same time, it looked a bit funny so took em off again

Hello peeps, I have a set of wheels taken off my car a good while ago, when I got some slightly bigger ones and was saving them for a rainy day. They have been garaged since then and I wont be needing them and wondered if anyone wanted them for free. The wheels are the standard 16inch from a MY98 a lil bit grubby for work just fine, the tyres are ok, with a bit of tread left. Anyone fancy givin some old wheels a good home ? Cheers, Col

I found some 4pots from a Norwich breakers this week, in good nick from the description, just needs a lick paint. Now time to source some bigger front discs, pads and some braided lines....just gotta find the cash for it all. Expensive hobby this

NIce scoop there Iain, very sexy (if you can call a scoop that). Where did you get it from as I want one for when I get round to fitting my fmic. Have you noticed any difference with the engine bay temps with the scoop now inverted? Cheers, Col