What have you done to your car today?

I have always loved the Alfa GTV.....was seriously tempted to by one at one point, and even went to look at a couple, but the ones I saw all seemed like they needed a lot of work doing. I'm somewhat limited in my ability as a mechanic, so the prospect of constant upkeep or replacement of aged Italian parts scared me off a bit. If I had access to another car as a runabout and could learn to dismantle the Alfa at me leisure, I'd love to have one. A tidy GTV V6 (ideall a Cup) is a surefire future classic IMO :)
 
Plain plate is also on the cards at some point. I'm debating whether to keep the carbon fiber lettering or not, so will get some ordered once I make the decision...

I kept looking at ST220 Mondeos before picking up the GTV. I just wanted one of these more though... The big jobs can be expensive (they eat rear suspension), and mine will be going into Autolusso for a Quaife diff this summer at a cost of £650, but I bought the car for £1,500 as a bit of a rolling project. I'm only at uni 3 days a week, and get 4 months off over summer, so plenty of time to get stuck in!

I did consider a red GTV, but after seeing one in the flesh, I do prefer the grey. It's much rarer too, so has exclusivity going for it. I'm not keen on the Cup kit or the spoiler, so specifically looked for one without them, although my friend's silver one is nice...

As far as reliability goes, I've had it 6 weeks and it hasn't put a foot wrong. Averaging 25 mpg too, and it's not like I'm trying to be economical, although I'm resisting "Oooh, straight!" moments more often now, so I might see a few more... :D
 
Plain plate is also on the cards at some point. I'm debating whether to keep the carbon fiber lettering or not, so will get some ordered once I make the decision...

Just consider if you dont keep the carbon fibre letters you might need to use some extra screws to hold the new plate on due to the extra weight...
 
Fitted a new VW Bluetooth module to the RNS 510 today, car originally had 'premium' Bluetooth fitted which includes stuff like roof mounted assistance buttons, handset cradle and external antenna.

Problem is the premium module only allows for rsap handsets to be connected, which is pants.

Changed the module out for a standard VW part and my phone now connects with the RNS and MFD plus all the steering and roof buttons still work.

Means I can now remove the Parrot 3200LS too!
 
More weight saving from the rear (Just the speakers and roof lining remaining now), lowered the exhaust a fraction as it was banging against the valance and remove the spring cups since they are already wound right down but raised up again due to the weight loss :p
 
Removed and cleaned my EGR on my Mondeo 2.0 TDCI.

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Horrendous!
 
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Today I changed my wiper blades. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be worth posting about, but if you have an XJ, changing the wiper blades is not as easy as you'd think.

The washer jets are riveted into the wiper blade itself, so you can either cut off the washer tube and splice it onto a complete blade with a pre-riveted jet assembly, or buy some standard new blades and take them apart, removing the rubber part of the blade and then modifying it to fit into the old blade assembly.

I chose the second option and it actually worked perfectly - looking at them you'd never know they were any different, and the jets function just as they did before.

Great success :D
 
SOLD IT!

Well, the older one in the background anyway. Thanks to WBAC for your £2k!

Sorry the boot is up on the new one, this was the only chance I had to take a picture.

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Went on a wild goose chase to get some darn silicone hose, still didn't get exactly what I wanted and it was £lol too :/ So annoying, I found out there is a large hose place just around the corner from my workplace but they are shut today.
 
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Replaced the coolant pipes for the GF's Fiesta that go around the back of the engine. The existing ones had been chafing on the air inlet pipe, and had worn through just enough that when the cooling system was up to temperature/pressure, it was seeping coolant out.

£88 just for a bit of bendy plastic pipe!!!
 
Today I took the door cards off to fix a buzzing/rattling speaker. The active Bose system on the Mk3 MX5 sounds really quite good and pretty bassy, but it makes the door panels buzz and hum a bit at higher volumes - it was more noticeable on the left hand woofer. I decided a fairly liberal application of dynamat would do the trick. I fitted some leather door pull covers as well, these give much classier look and a more premium feel than the standard plastic which had a few visible scratches on my car.

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No more buzz from the left hand door speaker, and bass sounds a bit clearer and less distorted at higher volumes.
 
I still think you would have had an easier and more profitable time selling it with an ebay box fitted mate, after you had swapped all the good new bits onto your new one ofc.

Oh well, looks like fun :p
 
SOLD IT!

Well, the older one in the background anyway. Thanks to WBAC for your £2k!

Sorry the boot is up on the new one, this was the only chance I had to take a picture.

You sold an A3 8P TDI DSG (sport as well?) for £2k? :confused:
 
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