What have you done to your car today?
- Thread starter mattyprice4004
- Start date
I've cleaned ours inside and out today, even washed all the sills where all the mud and crud gathers. Looks as good as the day we bought it, wonder if that will effect what they'll give us for part exchange if not I might be putting it up on autotrader. How do kids manage to cram so much food in between the seats!?!
Discovered a broken spring on the front of the ST yesterday, along with noticing how bad the rear bushes on the control arms are looking.
Would just be a bit of an annoyance other than the fact it needs an MOT in 2 weeks
...must pay more attention
Would just be a bit of an annoyance other than the fact it needs an MOT in 2 weeks
...must pay more attention
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Dec 2009
- Posts
- 5,337
- Location
- Bristol
Did a pre mot on gf's car (astra h) today:
Nail in tyre
Rust on the bottom of rear springs
Small leak from rockerbox
Took the wheel to kwikfit for a puncture repair, the springs will probably get an advisory and I'll wipe away the small rockerbox leak the morning it goes into the garage for the mot test.
Nail in tyre
Rust on the bottom of rear springs
Small leak from rockerbox
Took the wheel to kwikfit for a puncture repair, the springs will probably get an advisory and I'll wipe away the small rockerbox leak the morning it goes into the garage for the mot test.
Repaired 3 scratches someone kindly gave me in the Halfords carpark a few days ago then drove off 
Tomorrow is the big test when I apply the lacquer & see if it will blend the metallic finish or not! If not then I am looking at another £250-300 for the entire panel to be resprayed
Tomorrow is the big test when I apply the lacquer & see if it will blend the metallic finish or not! If not then I am looking at another £250-300 for the entire panel to be resprayed
Afew electrical glitches lately , immobilizer was coming on when the car interior was hot (leaving me going nowhere) ,pretty sure dash solder connection needed reflowing but due to the age I had the immobilizer deleted.( The light will still occasionally come on but will drive and obviously I can use blank keys)
Lost all brake lights with just a brief flicker from top one ,this was the switch but took afew attempts to work correctly (think I bought the old type that's fitted in peddle down position but fitted in peddle up position)
Also yesterday did a gearbox level check using ramps on my sloping driveway to level up and I bought a big plastic syringe thingy on eBay afew years back ,anyway needed a little and gives peace of mind
Lost all brake lights with just a brief flicker from top one ,this was the switch but took afew attempts to work correctly (think I bought the old type that's fitted in peddle down position but fitted in peddle up position)
Also yesterday did a gearbox level check using ramps on my sloping driveway to level up and I bought a big plastic syringe thingy on eBay afew years back ,anyway needed a little and gives peace of mind
For the truth - give both of ours a good clean in the sunshine yesterday, and likewise can't believe the amount of crud the kids manage to generate.
Locked? Locked how?Fitted locked tyre valve capsjust incase someone wants to jam a matchstick in there at sometime
They arent also going to "lock" to the threads are they?
Caporegime
- Joined
- 22 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 28,383
- Location
- Boston, Lincolnshire
Finished up the suspension refresh on the Saab. Front arms now polybushed and also gave them a lick of paint. Cleaned up the rear bush housings with a bit of sand paper. Car is still smooth but so much more precise now.
They will throw the wheel balance off as they are were 10g each when I tried them
I can imagine the thread now. Or the Facebook post from a mechanic.
"Customer said their car shakes to pieces at speed, they had fitted tyre valve caps made of adamantium and they weighed half a kilo each"
Copper grease ALL the things!
Associate
- Joined
- 17 Apr 2018
- Posts
- 999
Changed all the shock absorbers with Bilstein B4s with new top mounts + bump stops and H&R lowering springs fitted on the MPS last week. Car certainly feels bit better now but the car now needs new Drop links as the front is knocking and has been for awhile.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 8,253
- Location
- The Land of Roundabouts
4 new tyres and new battery. Noticed the tie rods and drop links looking worse for wear (though no play) so there next. It's due a cambelt soon as well, coupled with the coilovers/alignment last month and a gearbox/clutch sourced ready to swap over, it's getting expensive this car melarky...
Since I got my cheap Audi TT MK1 a month ago, I've done...a few bits to it.
It's been great working on it and I've really enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had been doing this through the summer and not getting rained on every 10mins but, hey-ho. There are some things on Audis'/VWs which are really good and make it a pleasure to work on, then there are a couple of others which drive you mad. The TT has a great online following with TT forums busy and jam packed with information and part numbers.
I came to this £1300 wonder after I sold my E92 M3 which was just about perfect in every way. The steering was wonky when I bought it, the tyres are all mismatched budgets, it needed a service, the interior needed a clean, it had some vac leaks, but felt solid, the engine pulled well, the gearbox feels good, the dash pod more or less works well and it had a solid service history with a ton of receipts going back to 2006 or so. In other words, it just needed a bit of TLC, and after the M3 where everything is very expensive to replace, the TT was a breath of fresh air when it comes to part prices! For the average person, bringing this car up to scratch by taking it to a garage probably would have cost more than the car is worth, but since I've done all the work myself, the cost has been very reasonable.
These are the bits I've done:
- Full service with oil/filter/spark plugs replaced
- Haldex oil and filter changed
- Two new track rod ends
- Two new ball joints
- Two new ARB links
- Full Hunter alignment
- CV boot replaced
- New battery
- Inlet manifold removed and most of the lower PCV vac hoses changed with new ones or silicon ones
- Valve cover gasket and cam chain tensioner gaskets replaced
- New Pioneer head unit
- New 3 bar facelift front grill to replace the old 5 bar one. In the process, got rid of the black badges on the front and replaced them with the original ones.
- Got rid of the stupid Audi decals someone had put all over it.
To do:
- New PCV valve and a couple of other hoses
- New tyres to replace the 3 different types of budget tyres currently fitted
- Fit the upgraded Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs I've got
- Polish the headlight lenses
- Possibly get a remap?
After all this work, the car drives really well. It's actually pretty quick and as it has a Ramair induction kit already fitted, it makes plenty of turbo noises to keep my inner child happy. It's feels quick enough that I'm not even sure if it already has a remap. If not, post remap will be a lot of fun.
It's been great working on it and I've really enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had been doing this through the summer and not getting rained on every 10mins but, hey-ho. There are some things on Audis'/VWs which are really good and make it a pleasure to work on, then there are a couple of others which drive you mad. The TT has a great online following with TT forums busy and jam packed with information and part numbers.
I came to this £1300 wonder after I sold my E92 M3 which was just about perfect in every way. The steering was wonky when I bought it, the tyres are all mismatched budgets, it needed a service, the interior needed a clean, it had some vac leaks, but felt solid, the engine pulled well, the gearbox feels good, the dash pod more or less works well and it had a solid service history with a ton of receipts going back to 2006 or so. In other words, it just needed a bit of TLC, and after the M3 where everything is very expensive to replace, the TT was a breath of fresh air when it comes to part prices! For the average person, bringing this car up to scratch by taking it to a garage probably would have cost more than the car is worth, but since I've done all the work myself, the cost has been very reasonable.
These are the bits I've done:
- Full service with oil/filter/spark plugs replaced
- Haldex oil and filter changed
- Two new track rod ends
- Two new ball joints
- Two new ARB links
- Full Hunter alignment
- CV boot replaced
- New battery
- Inlet manifold removed and most of the lower PCV vac hoses changed with new ones or silicon ones
- Valve cover gasket and cam chain tensioner gaskets replaced
- New Pioneer head unit
- New 3 bar facelift front grill to replace the old 5 bar one. In the process, got rid of the black badges on the front and replaced them with the original ones.
- Got rid of the stupid Audi decals someone had put all over it.
To do:
- New PCV valve and a couple of other hoses
- New tyres to replace the 3 different types of budget tyres currently fitted
- Fit the upgraded Philips Xtreme Vision bulbs I've got
- Polish the headlight lenses
- Possibly get a remap?
After all this work, the car drives really well. It's actually pretty quick and as it has a Ramair induction kit already fitted, it makes plenty of turbo noises to keep my inner child happy. It's feels quick enough that I'm not even sure if it already has a remap. If not, post remap will be a lot of fun.
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The money pit continues! Spent about £700 this week alone
Ordered replacement passenger side door mirror to fix collision dent damage (whole assembly including electrics cannot just buy the plastic cover even from a breakers its 1 unit!).
Ordered bonnet strut to replace the existing one as the gas has drained so it no longer holds the bonnet up (common fault it seems).
Ordered interior rear view mirror as the existing heated one has discolouration on it which happens over time as the heating element discolours the mirror eventually.
Got the front bumper corner repaired again for the 2nd time in a week after yet another bus swiped it & drove away this cost me twice as much as last week due to it needing some filler this time to repair minor dents!
I am STILL philosophical about the rising parts & repairs costs (almost £4k in 3 weeks!) as its still way cheaper than buying a newer car I do not really want vs an older petrol turbo engine manual gearbox I really enjoy driving
Ordered replacement passenger side door mirror to fix collision dent damage (whole assembly including electrics cannot just buy the plastic cover even from a breakers its 1 unit!).
Ordered bonnet strut to replace the existing one as the gas has drained so it no longer holds the bonnet up (common fault it seems).
Ordered interior rear view mirror as the existing heated one has discolouration on it which happens over time as the heating element discolours the mirror eventually.
Got the front bumper corner repaired again for the 2nd time in a week after yet another bus swiped it & drove away
this cost me twice as much as last week due to it needing some filler this time to repair minor dents!I am STILL philosophical about the rising parts & repairs costs (almost £4k in 3 weeks!) as its still way cheaper than buying a newer car I do not really want vs an older petrol turbo engine manual gearbox I really enjoy driving
I am STILL philosophical about the rising parts & repairs costs (almost £4k in 3 weeks!) as its still way cheaper than buying a newer car I do not really want vs an older petrol turbo engine manual gearbox I really enjoy driving
Cripes, someone/something doesn't want you to have that car it seems!