Soldato
I can't expect to move out for a few years anyway. I don't think sticking a couple of months wages into a car will significantly worsen my prospects.
** Acme [Akagi] bought a pink estate car - E30 325i project log! **
- Thread starter Akagi
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 29 Jul 2013
- Posts
- 8,598
Hardly!
I have a job with a half decent wage for the first time, but I still probably earn less than either of you two lol.
I work for the leading insurance quoting software provider, giving 2nd line support to insurance brokers etc. Some 50% more pay than my last role.
I think I must have found all of it now though, so I know what needs doing. I've had the whole interior out including front and rear carpets, dashboard, boot side trims etc (whole inside of the car just bare metal and wiring), as well as taking off all the plastic covers, and even having taken the exhaust, heat-shields, prop, and fuel tank out and had a good look at that whole area as well.
I have a job with a half decent wage for the first time, but I still probably earn less than either of you two lol.
I work for the leading insurance quoting software provider, giving 2nd line support to insurance brokers etc. Some 50% more pay than my last role.
I think I must have found all of it now though, so I know what needs doing. I've had the whole interior out including front and rear carpets, dashboard, boot side trims etc (whole inside of the car just bare metal and wiring), as well as taking off all the plastic covers, and even having taken the exhaust, heat-shields, prop, and fuel tank out and had a good look at that whole area as well.
Last edited:
Soldato
"A good few years", but you'll have spent £5k on this before you know it - probably £6-7k in total on all the sheds you've had over the last year. That's 5% down on a mortgage.
This car, with its mileage, will not be worth what a 'clean' lesser mileage Touring would be worth (which isn't a lot all told anyway) even if you do sort out all the issues with it. If you stopped shoveling money into it you could save for one that isn;t in such dire straits in the first place, and is more likely to hold its value.
I'm all for project cars, all for having ones dream cars - especially lower budget ones - as my dream car list is predominately clapped out Jap sheds from the late 80s early 90s, almost all of which can be had for <£4k, and I have no problems investing into such cars and taking losses on them, but there has to be a cut off point. I love the passion you have for it though, that's excellent.
This car, with its mileage, will not be worth what a 'clean' lesser mileage Touring would be worth (which isn't a lot all told anyway) even if you do sort out all the issues with it. If you stopped shoveling money into it you could save for one that isn;t in such dire straits in the first place, and is more likely to hold its value.
I'm all for project cars, all for having ones dream cars - especially lower budget ones - as my dream car list is predominately clapped out Jap sheds from the late 80s early 90s, almost all of which can be had for <£4k, and I have no problems investing into such cars and taking losses on them, but there has to be a cut off point. I love the passion you have for it though, that's excellent.
Actually my losses on cars isn't that massive at all. I worked it out and its something like £1000 a year. If I come to sell the E30 though, that figure will rise substantially
I'm weighing up my options.
Also fairly productive evening in the dark, fitted the rest of the exhaust, re-fitted a seat, seatbelt, steering wheel, all that lovely stuff, and went for a drive.
My god, the noise from the fuel pump/diff/wheels etc when the car has no back seats, no carpet, no passenger seat or interior side trims, no lower dash, and no fuel pump opening cover was astronomical! I had no idea fuel pumps were so loud!
New exhaust is alright. Mid section makes a weird echoey noise unless you apply a small amount of pressure to the underside which is strange... I guess I'll put a metal strap around it or something??
I'm weighing up my options.
Also fairly productive evening in the dark, fitted the rest of the exhaust, re-fitted a seat, seatbelt, steering wheel, all that lovely stuff, and went for a drive.
My god, the noise from the fuel pump/diff/wheels etc when the car has no back seats, no carpet, no passenger seat or interior side trims, no lower dash, and no fuel pump opening cover was astronomical! I had no idea fuel pumps were so loud!
New exhaust is alright. Mid section makes a weird echoey noise unless you apply a small amount of pressure to the underside which is strange... I guess I'll put a metal strap around it or something??
Soldato
Sell up, buy a trusty boring Ford Focus and save to move out
We can't all be normal / boringSell up, buy a trusty boring Ford Focus and save to move out
Soldato
I say sell up, save up and get a 2 door saloon, which iirc is what he actually wanted in the first place.
Soldato
One day you're going to look back on this, and say 'wtf was I thinking!'
Soldato
Hold tyt acmeeeeee
Soldato
Id never chuck that amount of effort into welding an estate E30... Just patch it and run it, its never ever ever going to be worth chucking thousands on welding and paint! As long as it looks good from the outside, dont worry about the underside! Or as above, sell and buy a two door..
Soldato
Mods, can we have a vote acme keeps the e30 or gets rid.
acme keeps the e30 or gets rid.
plz no
Man of Honour
Tbh if you've "burnt" roughly £1000 a year on cars then you in the realm of what I've spent on the MX5 since I've owned it, and at the end of the day that's still nothing special or valuable.
Soldato
Cars are money pits, don't matter which it is, new or old. It will still cost you money. Enjoy and move on.
Unfortunately that burning hasn't really been fun burning though. Its made up entirely of massive losses on two trades of good cars for **** cars which I then had to sell on/break, and losing a bit on the Skoda because I piled quite a few miles onto it and reversed it into things and nobody wanted to buy it.
Right so it turns out that the noise from the fuel pump wasn't entirely because of the lack of interior. Put the back seats and fuel pump cover back in, and it was still loud... Thought "thats odd... I hope disturbing the fuel pump hasn't killed it" - Went for a quick drive, 15 miles or so... Part way into the journey I put my foot down a little (not flat) and it spluttered and wouldn't pull. By the time I made it back home it was spluttering on idle, half the time it wouldn't do anything when I gave it some throttle, and there were occasional sucking/whooshing noises coming from the fuel pump area in addition to the now slightly inconsistent whirring/buzzing... Could hear the fuel pump slowing struggling a bit at the same time the engine spluttered, and for some reason adding electrical load (lighting, using windows, etc) made the noise worse. 
Odo on 199,997, so if its the original it hasn't done badly... But it picked a **** poor time to die because tomorrow was meant to be the day it goes for its first rot inspection... Which I've now had to cancel.
Odo on 199,997, so if its the original it hasn't done badly... But it picked a **** poor time to die because tomorrow was meant to be the day it goes for its first rot inspection... Which I've now had to cancel.
Soldato
This thing is almost as much of a lemon as Diagros MPS...