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My History


stevmo3691

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Thought I'd do a new one as this spans more than 2 years and other ones full of crap posts.

 

anyhoo

 

up first:

1991 J reg pug 106 1.4 XT 3 door (carb version). Could not get it to idle properly unless you held revs or had choke out (manual choke) despite large amount of work carried out with my dads help (first attempts at DIY mechanics) and when brother broke the clutch on his running AX I just took good bits from here, sold the engine and scrapped it (after having fun with a big hammer) - no pics though

 

then 1993 L reg Citroen AX 1.1i echo 3 door. Got off brother with a mashed clutch but it needed other work doing to. Got it when I was 15 so I had plenty of time to work on it before I could use it (ironically my brother replaced this with a 95 n reg escort 1.6 lx mk6 in pepper red but engine was thrashed we worked out so that got swapped for a Rover :D). So I changed all the shocks, front springs were lowered (cheaper than standard springs and it was 20mm lower on one side following an apparent shunt to o/side front corner resulting in new strut), new brakes all round, fully cleaned up and under sealed underneath, front inner wheel arches welded where they had rusted, slight bit of engine tuning (somewhat redundant on a 1124cc 8v SOHC engine but hey ho), retro fitted central locking, front speakers, pug front seats as bro broke drivers seat, GT steering wheel, GT alloys, GT spoiler and a whole heap load of other plans including at some stage a full VTS/GTI conversion (1.6 16v 120bhp engine, 4 stud hubs, bigger brakes etc) but things got screwed up due to a friend (see next car)

http://i2.tagstat.com/image02/8/520f/0004001O58f.jpg

 

then 1991 J reg Toyota Corolla 1.6 GL executive with the 4AF twin cam 16v carb engine and not even 60k on the clock when I got it. This came about from helping a mate get his first car with my dad, we put non refundable deposit down and then his parents said it was too old and unsafe so I bailed him out (ironically a 89 F reg micra wasnt too old and unsafe for him though - my grandpas car). So I enjoyed this and as it was legal to go I did extra lessons with my dad in it and was effectively my first car. This got a top end re-build when I blew the HG (3 days after I passed my test I booted it in 2nd and forgot to change up, when I then pulled away again at traffic lights big cloud of smoke out the back :( ) but while we were there had a fiddle with that too to get some more ponies as it needed head skimmed got it ported and replaced the carb just cant remember what I fitted. Also put new brakes, toyota 14" alloys from japan, remote locking with a flip key, new speakers, new radio etc. Met with a sad end when front wishbone gave way loosing the front end and starting a fish tail which I did the wrong thing to correct (should have accelerated) and ended up smashing in to the side of a 07 reg mini :(

 

when I got it

http://i5.tagstat.com/image03/8/520f/000w001O58f.jpg

 

how it ended :(

http://i3.tagstat.com/image02/8/520f/0003001O58f.jpg

 

loved that car but as I still had the AX I used that for a bit then missing the size of corolla went and got another corolla, this time a 2001 Y reg VVTi GLS which was a fantastic car but sooooooooooooooo boring

http://i7.tagstat.com/image03/8/520f/000Y001O58f.jpg

 

this remained as it came from toyota in time I had it, just service, new tyres, brakes etc. Dont miss it and made a £400 profit and ended up sharing my next car with my bro as I couldnt afford to insure my own car when renewal came through whilst only working PT.

So we got a Poxhaull Vectra 1.8 16v (125PS) CD hatch. Lovely smooth engine and only 58K on the clock, FSH, new clutch, Sony stereo with a 6 MD and 6 MP3 CD changer in the boot and thatcham cat 1 alarm upgrade using factory remote. Was a reverend who owned it prior who only had stereo fitted to listen to his opera music on MD.

http://i6.tagstat.com/image04/8/520f/000Z001O58f.jpg

 

But I disliked sharing and the vectra was uncomfortable, under steered and notchy gear change. Had planned when we got it to buy it off my brother but after only liking the Air con in it I decided to get my own car when I got a FT job so que the 1995 Rover 214SEi

completely standard when I got it and i did a fair few choice upgrades (alloys, M3 mirrors, black lexus lights, 216 gti twin exit back box with stainless sleeves, tomcat front bumper [after this pic], tomcat centre arm rest, lockwood dials, option tuning leather steering wheel with rover badge, carbon wrapped wood trim, etc but decided to get rid when I was missing aircon and synchro went on 1st and 2nd and ride was overly harsh thanks to gmax shocks and springs so this had most mods removed and was sold on ebay for £300

 

http://i3.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/002M001O58f.jpg

 

http://i0.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/002T001O58f.jpg

http://i4.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/002P001O58f.jpg

 

At this point I got my escort - 1997 P reg Escort 1.8 Ghia X hatch which I then modded (alot of it regrettable) despite having plans to only fit 15" alloys, half leather interior, twin exit back box and nice stereo. Any whoo it ended up like this

http://i6.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00kg001O58f.jpg

http://i4.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00kh001O58f.jpg

http://i4.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00ki001O58f.jpg

 

shortly after I got the escort it failed its MOT and while I fixed all of this I got £250 run around in the form of a 96 P reg 1.8 lx mk1 mondeo

http://i6.tagstat.com/image04/8/520f/005N001O58f.jpg

sold it for £425 a few months later (took me a while to sort the escort as needed alot of work but I sorted it)

 

 

 

so I started really using the escort at this point but I got fed up of the unreliability of the escort and when crankshaft oil seal started leaking and I needed a bigger car to take my parents and brother in I went and following liking my budget mondeo I went and got a younger one. Took alot of driving around but eventually found a 99 zetec 1.8 in panther black with ford optional RS 6 spokes and as it turned out complete ghia x wiring loom (had wiring up to the roof for sunroof etc). This happened to be the only one I found with intact bumpers and then on the way home dad managed to lock it up under braking (despite ABS and TC) and hit the back of the escort that had neither :(

 

http://i5.tagstat.com/image04/8/520f/005G001O58f.jpg

damage was more notable on the escort though

 

http://i2.tagstat.com/image03/8/520f/005F001O58f.jpg

also bent the back end so the boot didnt line up and leaked - ended up being scrapped as a result of damage and engine issue

 

that mondeo had a few little upgrades like ghia x interior, leather steering wheel etc and bluefin and pipercross panel filter.

http://i2.tagstat.com/image03/8/520f/006j001O58f.jpg

http://i5.tagstat.com/image05/8/520f/008v001O58f.jpg

http://i7.tagstat.com/image02/8/520f/008T001O58f.jpg

 

but unfortunately I had a small prang (long story and a law suit is still on going) which ended this cars life :(

 

http://i3.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/0092001O58f.jpg

http://i0.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/0093001O58f.jpg

http://i6.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/0099001O58f.jpg

 

this was then replaced on christmas eve for a 2000 X reg mondeo 1.8 zetec in mediu steel blue

http://i3.tagstat.com/image06/8/520f/009c001O58f.jpg

 

which then looked like this

http://i1.tagstat.com/image05/8/520f/00al001O58f.jpg

 

never got round to doing big brakes, ST body kit, lowered suspension and exhaust which I had got ready for it when one of the piston rings started to go (lost compression on cylinder 1 going from gearbox end) and it was using oil at an alarming rate so I decided to get the mondeo I had wanted - ST24

 

2000 W ST24 in stardust silver (not moondust before people say as I have checked paintcode)

http://i7.tagstat.com/image05/8/520f/00aV001O58f.jpg

had chrome lexus lights on it when I got it so pinched the blue zetecs standard rears before I even took these pics

http://i4.tagstat.com/image05/8/520f/00aW001O58f.jpg

 

then 2 weeks later following transferring some parts from the blue one (wheels, stereo, headlights, dash trim etc) I found that cheap ebay grooved discs plus EBC yellow stuff pads is a s*** combo (I had already ordered EBC ultimax discs and red stuff pads after inspecting the brakes when I put my alloys on)

http://i3.tagstat.com/image05/8/520f/00bn001O58f.jpg

http://i1.tagstat.com/image05/8/520f/00bp001O58f.jpg

 

but with a bit of intelligence and the fact I already had a RSAP kit so just needed the bumper painted right colour I got that done and sorted a few other issues with the car and got the brakes done then did more bits over time and getting it to this state for ford fair

http://i3.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00en001O58f.jpg

 

which hi-lighted a few issues like EBC brakes are pants and my clutch was slipping so I made plans to do a resto on this (still under way) as there were alot of things I wasnt happy with.

 

So I bought another mk1 mondeo, this time a 95 N reg 2.0 GLX saloon with RS body kit that I was told was in great nick and I did know the owner and based on condition of his other cars should be as he said but turned out to be a POS once I got it back from scotland

http://i3.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00eG001O58f.jpg

http://i1.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00eH001O58f.jpg

 

so got sold to someone who was just going to break it but given engine had done 60k and 3 years since last oil change and there was an issue with brakes, rust and so on and I already had 1 project I thought sod it.

 

 

 

now I just need someone to comment so I can put the rest up :)

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Ok i'll comment.

 

That's a lot of cars that have gone to scrap, I thought you said the mk1 was in good condition and would only be sold to an enthusiast? (although many people would be enthusiastic about scrapping a mondeo)

 

the bmw is by far your nicest car, refurb the wheels in silver imo

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Ok i'll comment.

 

That's a lot of cars that have gone to scrap, I thought you said the mk1 was in good condition and would only be sold to an enthusiast? (although many people would be enthusiastic about scrapping a mondeo)

 

the bmw is by far your nicest car, refurb the wheels in silver imo

I've only scrapped 3 of my cars, since selling them the AX & Rover have been scrapped.

 

The second mk1 saloon was in good nick - havent posted it yet ;)

 

I do like my BMW and keeping hold of it

 

EBC are a waste of money :thumb:

I did find that out on my track excursion so AP racing 300mm 4 pots are going on instead :D

 

i quite like the escort on turbines. might give that a go on mine. that black mondeo was the nicest.of the lot.though

thanks, I got a fair bit of stick on here for the turbines but I wanted to be different. my mk2 black one was a nice car and I did have alot of plans for it but unfortunately fate had other ideas :(

 

I'd forgotten about the interesting tale of the Toyota Corolla.... and some of the other 'it wasn't my fault' crashes. That's A LOT of motors to prang :mellow:

I've crashed 3 times - once in the corolla, the black mondeo and the bump I had in the ST. Accidents happen and only one of those I out right say was not my fault which was the black mondeo. ST I should have held back more knowing that the brakes were crap and the corolla was merely in-experience at dealing with a car suddenly going out of control

 

So replaced that with a better mk1 - 1994 M reg 2.0 Si Saloon with ford options list raided - adaptive dampers, elec sunroof, AC, RS body kit, passenger airbag, rear headrests

http://i4.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00eR001O58f.jpg

http://i7.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00eS001O58f.jpg

 

and how it ended up in my care:

http://i4.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00gY001O58f.jpg

 

I do have pic of it cleaned and polished somewhere too. I only did about 2,000 miles in it from october 2011 till when I sold it in August 2012. I couldnt afford to use it when I lost my job and it still needed work to get it running right (top end rebuild, new ct, new sensors and looms all over, irridium plugs, split fire leads, new coil pack from burton etc). I did contemplate re-shelling my ST in to this as I prefer the mk1 saloon style but I couldnt bring myself to kill the ST and would have required alot of new parts I didnt need to start with and would have needed a new roof as sunroof robbed too much headroom.

 

Anyway, I started working PT in march 2012 as dominos delivery driver and shortly after started doing my franchise of the leather repair company and for both of these I needed a economical car I could add alot of miles to so I hit ebay as I only had 3 days to get a car and just bid on all sorts (Rover 620SLDi, Rover 75 2.0 CDTi, Ford fiesta 1.8d etc) and the car I won was a 2001 Y reg mk3 mondeo TDDI zetec which with tax and test came to spot on £500.

 

http://i0.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00hP001O58f.jpg

 

and with a few improvements and alot of fixing (spent more than I intended fixing it with new front suspension, driveshafts, brakes, boost pipe, sensors etc) and a spell with some ST220 recaros in that I got cheap (these are now in my shed waiting re-colouring and then fitting in the ST)

 

http://i3.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00jK001O58f.jpg

http://i2.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00jM001O58f.jpg

http://i5.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00jP001O58f.jpg

http://i4.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00jO001O58f.jpg

 

It had 148K when I got it in march 2012 and had done 8K by time I sold it in july and I had used my dads car quite a bit as well due to it sitting on the drive having bits replaced alot.

 

Anyway, I got fed up with fixing the mk3 and due to a back injury and having quite alot of repair jobs in london the clutch was killing me and found using my dads estate easier than mondeo hatch so decided I wanted a nice comfy diesel auto estate and with a £3,000 gift from my nana (love my nana so much, not just for that but in general, like my second mum) I did research in to potentials and also what I would be happy driving and whittled the list down to one, a E39 BMW 530d Auto tourer. I wanted a facelift and preferably a sport but sports were around 4-5K for ones worth looking at and I figured I should go for a more comfortable version so set my sights on an SE and was hoping to get one with comfort seats, m sport steering wheel (which if I didnt get one with I would add anyway) and a nice set of alloys. And purely by luck I found a 2001 Y reg facelift SE with comfort seats, m sport wheel, optional 17" alloys, xenons and so on with 117K and f/s/h and taxed and tested up at £2500. Went and viewed it, found few faults and got it for £2,000 :) and I also wanted one with a tow bar and this one had had this one fitted a year ago (problem is as I found out later wiring is crap and I need to re-do it)

http://i3.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00jC001O58f.jpg

http://i2.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00jD001O58f.jpg

http://i2.tagstat.com/image07/8/520f/00jE001O58f.jpg

 

I've since done a few bits to it including having the auto box reconditioned (keeping this one for a long time to come me thinks) and only have very minor plans to make it a little smarter.

http://i7.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00kA001O58f.jpg

http://i4.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00kx001O58f.jpg

http://i2.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00kB001O58f.jpg

 

most important jobs done to it are EGR bypass and swirl flap blanks.

 

Anyway, here where i'm up to and still have the ST which currently has no interior, no rad or coolant hoses, no front end, no front brakes and so on. So glad I have a car to use while I do the ST

http://i6.tagstat.com/image08/8/520f/00l1001O58f.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

little update to this then. The BMW has developed a few too many faults and no longer needed so is being sold and I bought a 2003 '53' reg Volvo S60 2.0T SE with a mere 72k and full service history.

 

It is a lovely car and I'm much happier with a petrol manual than diesel auto.

 

http://i5.tagstat.com/image09/8/520f/00ln001O58f.jpg

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

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