Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 couple of years ago i picked this dog up from manchester...for nowt, it was a dog. First of all when i got it back to Wiltshire...where i was living at the time....i thought id give it a wash and a clean, i mean, even dogs need a wash....interestingly, i managed to get water into the plugs, so it ran like ****, so much so the cat overheated ( i mean proper overheated, like, the front and mid cat were glowing red hot......)and as a result set fire to some underbody plastic. not bad for the first day of ownership, ...... Then, i started to look at what needed sorting on the car.... the things that need doing......erm.... get it running on 6 cylinders sort the blowing from the exhaust, i think its the front section front bumper needs replacing headlight washers dont work the steering wheel doesnt come out to greet me, tilts up and down though radio....hmm its saying SEC on the display, but i cant seem to get it to do anything... thats was basically it...at first, it has pretty much a full service history, after a wash then...it had its MOT well its had its MOT and its interesting, i have a little bit of work to do.... Exhaust emissions high, ..................well i expected that, the cat is knackered, ive found a new one for 200 quid Exhaust front joint leak....................erm, obviously will be sorted with the cat Rear tyres need replacing.................i will be replacing all 4 anyway so those jobs i was expecting..... these i was not both front lower ball joints excessive wear... offside front brake binding.......................... front wheel brake imbalance, .....................well thats pretty obvious if a caliper is binding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 after a long....long time i got round to sorting the car out, (about 18 months) it has sat, unloved in a compound somewhere in wiltshire since June 08. before returning to ze fatherland i fitted a new exhaust and main cat, front bumper...all thanks to Austin on Lexus Owners Club. and a new battery.....rad cap and numberplate then fitted 2 new tyres, and got the ball joints done, flew through the MOT, its was insured and taxed and i drove away in my old and abused armchair all the way back to Germany.......it never missed a beat, shortly afterwards i made a trip to the south of France in it...and again, never missed a beat however on returning to Germany, started having a funny issue......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 i wasnt going to do anything to this car other than drive it.....but i couldnt let it fall apart, so i traced the coolant leak.... ...i had a constant drip which, i eventually traced to the waterpump-block seal. so as the water pump had to come off, and i had no history on what was done and when. i changed the: Fan and Viscous fan hub Water pump Cambelt Cambelt tensioner Aux belt tensioner New Radiator Bypass pipe and seals, and most of the coolant pipes, as many had hardened with rust deposits on the insides. i then found some cheap coilovers...$73 so had to get em... and i dug out a new set of wheels i had set aside for the Monster i ordered some spacers for the rear... and new ARB drop links....i found a company in Australia that makes limited runs of Bars for the GS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 ok so i chucked the Tein coilovers on today whic took it from this to this... it was a piece of wee to do, in fact it took me just under 90 mins...to have it all done and dusted, ...alot easier than doing the IS200 i still need to get the geo sorted but im giving it a while to settle, but god, it drove like **** and as for the TEINs...dog****, dont like them, they knock like hell, and the c spanners and locking rings should have been made so they actually work together.... but....the cars lowered, so thats all that matters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 so which , brings me uptodate as it is now..... anyhoos, got the wheels on today, to see what work would need doing regards any work on the arches.... i had 2 spare 225 tyres so popped them on the rim and stuck em on the car. front wheel clearance is ...... well they dont rub. rear looks a little better.....bigger tyres will be going on the back, what.....not yet decided, and i still have to fit the 25mm spacers overall at the moment, the general stance of the car, is spot on......however, it scrapes, on the speed hump into/out off work im thinking of sticking with the blue and white wheels for the time being... so far the total cost, including the car...has been around £750 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Nice blog so far Mat I like those rims, really suit the car Those coilovers were cheap! Is that US Dollars, so around 40 quid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Nice blog so far Mat I like those rims, really suit the car Those coilovers were cheap! Is that US Dollars, so around 40 quid? actually it was Australian Dollars, so around £36.77p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 looking at throwing away the factory headunit...as its crap, well its not its ok, but the cd player is goosed. so been looking at a few of the kenwood double din units....the most expensive im prepared to get is this one which is £598reason i like the Kenwood ones are that it will match the dash better than some of the more flashy ones with chrome knobs and buttons, plus the backlight colour can be adjusted to match the factory dash orange it has Nav, DVD, Bluetooth..Tv, radio.....bla blah blah but they get cheaper, if i dont have NAV, or BlueTooth, so we shall see, and ive been informed it will power the factory speakers, but not the rear sub, so will have to swap that out aswel. managed to get a quote to get the glass tinted...£195 so lets see what happens next with this old Dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Nice blog so far Mat I like those rims, really suit the car Those coilovers were cheap! Is that US Dollars, so around 40 quid? actually it was Australian Dollars, so around £36.77p Even better then! Tints will look good, I love mine, don't think I could have a car without them now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Nice blog mat.... Just goes to show how with some thrifty buying you really can convert a dog into respectable drive..... what you paid for the coilovers was rude ... I agree with ER the wheels look well smart, i thinks she's a bit low to get a decent Geometry setup but if you don't mind the tyre wear the handling will be superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 well tha handling is crap at the mo...in the wet, its coming up about .5 inch at the front Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 well tha handling is crap at the mo...in the wet, its coming up about .5 inch at the front That should be safe then.... will you be over my way to get it done.... It'll be great to catch up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 well tha handling is crap at the mo...in the wet, its coming up about .5 inch at the front That should be safe then.... will you be over my way to get it done.... It'll be great to catch up i would have to get it done here first, i think the 600mile journey may have some detrimental effect on tyre wear... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 well tha handling is crap at the mo...in the wet, its coming up about .5 inch at the front That should be safe then.... will you be over my way to get it done.... It'll be great to catch up i would have to get it done here first, i think the 600mile journey may have some detrimental effect on tyre wear... Blimey it's any excuse nowadays.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 well tha handling is crap at the mo...in the wet, its coming up about .5 inch at the front That should be safe then.... will you be over my way to get it done.... It'll be great to catch up i would have to get it done here first, i think the 600mile journey may have some detrimental effect on tyre wear... I'm sure you get less in the monster!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mat Posted August 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 well tha handling is crap at the mo...in the wet, its coming up about .5 inch at the front That should be safe then.... will you be over my way to get it done.... It'll be great to catch up i would have to get it done here first, i think the 600mile journey may have some detrimental effect on tyre wear... Blimey it's any excuse nowadays.... fo Sure ill pop in when im next over, i ended up settling with 225/40-18 on the front ...£80 each and 255/35-18 on the rear....£97 each Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 Your not in full uniform when you get these prices are you!!..... you seem to keep getting a M16A2 discount Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammy Posted August 11, 2009 Report Share Posted August 11, 2009 that looks pretty sweet now dude...love the rims Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aztecbandit1 Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 Looking good Mat, those rims do work very well with the rest of the motor now its been lowered Bargain cruiser that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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