GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk3 => Golf mk3 gallery => Topic started by: Edwh0re on 03 January 2012, 04:32
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Definately an ongoing work in progress this one, here is my mk3 Golf Gti 8v... "Kermit the Gonto", that I bought in November 2008 for the princely sum of £600...
Changing faces:
As I first bought it (lowered and otherwise completely standard) - Midlands Festival of Transport pic:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Ze%20Germans/2776_156843025514_730545514_6476625.jpg)
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Ze%20Germans/SNV32520.jpg)
Swapped the headlights for quads to get it through the 2009 MOT (adjusters on original lights had broken leaving the bowls loose...) Started that long slippery slope of modifying...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/May%20Photoshoot/SNV32755.jpg)
Smooth grille purchased at Dubmania/Retromania 2009, VR6 splitter fitted:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Dubmania/SNV33234.jpg)
Finally, September 2009 and I get the wheels I really wanted in the first place, Audi Pepperpots:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/More%20Golf%20photos/SNV35845.jpg)
Wearing some Hella All Green Lights, which are not to everyones taste (now gone for Hella All Blacks) :P
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/More%20Golf%20photos/SNV36121.jpg)
Jan 2010 we started off with a bit of fun on the car - I had a spare knackered bonnet knocking about, and while I was recovering from an operation last December, me and my mechanic Steve at SB Autos in Stoke on Trent decided to have a bit of fun with it and Rat it out.
Bonnet + Fire (lots) + Battery Acid (lots) + Winter in a bush (Purists look away now) =
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/SNV36248.jpg)
Yes, we did set that bonnet on fire. Repeatedly, until we had burned off all the paint and seriously affected the galvanise on it, by holding the bonnet upside down over an incinerator barrel, and pouring water on the underside to try and prevent it warping (too much). The next day Steve poured six dead batteries worth of battery acid over it for good measure, and then it was just tucked up under a bush behind his unit for the winter. He persuaded me to dare to put it on in February and I added my bonnet bra as an ironic statement. Very marmite, but got lots of mad attention (I got filmed by some random person hanging out of their car window as I drove up the M11 one day...)
But then, I got the front end I had wanted from day one...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/SNV36420.jpg)
It needed to go green, and that grille needed to go...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Golf%20Modifications/SNV36988.jpg)
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Golf%20Modifications/SNV36992.jpg)
But I still wasn't keen on the Grille, so Early Vento Grille, Anni fogs/indicators, and Joey modded headlights (just the outers of the bowls)
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/255156_10150644135910221_615200220_19016182_8344091_n.jpg)
Current rear end set up, but now all de-stickered...
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262109_2095984715013_1107205472_32666034_3645925_n.jpg)
Gratuitous moving shot:
(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/380323_2420989616949_1617696155_2488413_2117461100_n.jpg)
So that's pretty much how it sits right now. Its not perfect, it does a LOT of miles (minimum 20k a year, currently on 177k), and there are a few bits on it that are a bit tired that I am meaning to get around to this year... But I love it to bits, and struggle to find any car that does what it does (keeps plodding on, and gives me 42-45mpg on the motorway - which is where it spends most of its time)....
Big thanks to...
Steve at SB Auto's in Stoke on Trent, for keeping it moving somehow, getting it through the MOT yearly, and suprising me with that painted front end whilst I was in Hospital.
My fiancee Tanya, for having the patience of a saint, buying me the Vento front, and enduring the "sell your Corsa and get a dub" chat she always gets off other people...
Alan and Mark at Volksmine for finding me the bits I need.
The guys and gals on my local (Staffordshire) forum (Automotive Connection), and the PeakVAG crew, for all the help and encouragement.
Ebay, for several bargains of the century (Hella all Blacks for £12. Sound).
:wink:
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i like that mate :cool:
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Nice headlights Buddy :wink:
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Haha, yes, joey mod courtesy of the skills of Mr Andy-H here, as will be the eventual modification of the mattig eyebrow I have tucked away in the garage....
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Very clean and tidy :smiley: I really like what you have done.
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Yeah, we need to get that eyebrow thingamybob done soon Mate, you've had it ages :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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I really like it :cool:
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Yeah, we need to get that eyebrow thingamybob done soon Mate, you've had it ages :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
I got me ALL next week off, and the car is up SB Auto's next tuesday for my fast road brake set up all round... Just gotta find someone who can actually track the damn thing up that day too, and I am free! :wink:
Thanks for the comments folks, the camera is a bit too kind to it though :rolleyes:
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Nice!!!!
Like this alot, good work mate... :smiley:
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Thank you Junior, I presume that is your one in your sig? Gorgeous! I love the corvette wheels.
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Cheers!!! I've got a vento front end sitting in the garage (but it's bright red :sad: )
Can't wait to get it on once it's painted...
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Funny, my front was originally burgandy, we simply matt blacked it to get it on because I am an impatient fool :grin:
Get it done! I keep reading a lot of anti-vento front sentiments on various forums, but I personally feel that its the preferable front end between it and the golf. I much prefer the squarer look of it.
Its all about the early grille's too, I was lucky and dropped on mine for £15 (I then got even luckier by selling my facelift grille minus the bottom flash for £25 on Edition). Thank god the bottom flashes are interchangeable too!
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Thought I would post up a couple of things that I have been doing recently with the old golf..
Back in late 2009 I bought a brand new sportex back box and had it put on the car to rid it of the pea shooter dieseler stylee tail pipes. But come the late part of 2011 it didn't look so new :
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2011-08-19150528.jpg)
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2011-08-19150536.jpg)
Its not even been 2 years and its rotted through. Yet the rest of the exhaust up to the cat that has been on the car for around 4-5 years was still solid and working ok. Note to self - never bother with Mild Steel exhausts again, and never buy Sportex... ANYWAY! I had to get my hands on an exhaust to sort that little problem out, and a mate from "Moorlands VW" based in Leek came to my rescue with a Stainless cat back system that he was taking off his 8v Mk3 that he was breaking. Picked it up and it was a little grubby, so first thing I did was take it down to my mates garage - SB Autos in Burslem, Stoke, where I broke out the solvol autosol....
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2011-08-19110435.jpg)
We think that to the best of our knowledge its actually a Magnex, so win all round. Getting the old centre section off was a bit of a pig as it was jammed solid in the cat, but with a bit of coaxing from Steve and Punko (SB Autos mechanics), it came out in the end, and then with new clamps (and eventually new centre rubbers when I discovered it knocked on the chassis brace) I stuck it on.
Next the seats:
Christmas week and what better way to avoid the family spend a few hours than in the old man cave.
The bolster on my drivers seat has been badly knackered for a long time (which is a very common fault with this style of seat as I am sure you folks know) and I was actually on my third drivers seat with this car, so I took the opportunity to deal with it. First of all, big thanks to my friends Amy and Gaz for sourcing a pair of seats in the right cloth for me. They came out of a three door, and obviously Kermit is a 5 door. But I had a plan (I didn't know if it would work, but it was my plan and I was sticking to it).
Here is my original drivers seat:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24101903.jpg)
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24101853.jpg)
As you can see, its had it. This was unsightly, and uncomfortable for me to sit on as the metal bar was digging into my leg.
So first things first, lets get rid of the back rest for now - that is the one bit of the seat I will reuse...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24112158.jpg)
This turned out to be suprisingly easy - you carefully remove the covers either side, remove a clip, and undo one T30 screw either side, and then the back simply lifts away.
Next you have to remove the seat fabric, this is where it starts to get harder...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24112239.jpg)
The fabric is held down with an assortment of clips, spikes (that are folded down and you have to lever up) on the seat frame, and a wire that attaches at the rear on either side and runs all the away around the base of the fabric. Finally the fabric is secured to a number of rods running through the seat foam, and its a bugger to disengage these...
Now the fabric is out the way and we can see the root of the problem...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24112250.jpg)
So we will sling that foam in the bin.
Its actually very difficult to completely remove the fabric from the seat base (you can see in the photo the staples that go through the metal base holding the fabric in place), so at this point I elected to use the drivers side seat base of the three door seats Amy sorted me, and the foam from the passenger seat base. Here we can see the base itself, with the fabric still firmly attached at the back:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24112315.jpg)
The passenger seat foam was perfect, so i placed that on the base, reconnected the fabric to it, and reattached the fabric to the seat frame. Even thought the base I am now using is from a 3 door, it is actually identical to a 5 door one, so I now mounted the backrest on the seat and reattached all the trim plastics and handles (and picked out the most intact/unmarked/undamaged plastics from the three seats during build up). Leaving us with this:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/2011-12-24104515.jpg)
So to recap, that is the foam from the 3 door passenger seat base, the base and cloth from the 3 door drivers seat, and the backrest from my five door drivers seat! Aka - Frankenseat. :grin:
One perfect drivers seat with no sagging of the bolsters and no damaged fabric. Its so much more comfortable!
Kind of pleased with myself for having done all this. In total it took about 2.5 hours, which involved the full strip down of 3 seat bases, and the rebuild of one seat. Now all I need to do is get my hands on some form of wet vac so I can shampoo the seats properly.
Next up... Bought fast road brakes all round yesterday off of a gentleman on edition who lived close by, and I have a new head unit to go in, once I pull my finger out and do so.
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Loving your golf mate! Gotta love the early Vento grills :)
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Definately!!!!! I need to find one (that is'nt a rediculous price...) :undecided:
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They do surface from time to time, I was extremely lucky to drop on mine pretty much as soon as I decided I had to have one (right place, right time eh?)....
Just keep checking the forums regularly, or get a debadged early grille for now?
One thing is for sure, the late grilles are heinous - if its not early, its got to be the first revision....
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In the grand tradition of my car being a bugger whenever anything needs repairing on it....
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/381371_10150457597721781_506506780_9103893_873048936_n.jpg)
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/381201_10150457596926781_506506780_9103885_1635911924_n.jpg)
New brakes all round today - I dropped on a brand new set of crossdrilled/grooved front and rear discs, fast road front and rear pads, and rear bearings for £100 off an advert on edition 38....
Front and rear discs and pads replaced. Rear bearings replaced. One good used thanks Volksmine), and one brand new rear caliper (thanks for pulling my pants down GSF) replaced (that will teach me to leave the rear pads for so bloody long). Front calipers have had to have been shaved to clear theAudi pepper pots as for some reason with the new discs and fast road pads they were catching the wheels (a problem I have never had with them before :undecided: ). My mechanic Steve = sick of the sight of my car after it tied up a ramp all day whilst waiting for the caliper to be delivered.
Still, it goes and stops nicely now, and no groaning rumbling rear bearings. Track rod ends free'd off as the people who do my tracking are too limp wristed to undo them, tracking being done tomorrow.
Next: 4 new tyres after payday. Old VW's - the spending never ever stops....
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I love a pic heavy thread :kiss:
Looking good I have seen this car before, can't recall where from tho :sad:
Good work with the seat, my drivers seat is in dire need of being repaired.
Brakes look nice, shame you can't see them hidden behind the pepper pots :huh: :grin:
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Funnily enough, that is exactly what my missus said... "you will have to change those wheels now so that you stop hiding those brakes". My reply was "fine love, off you go and buy me some Azev A's then". At which point she went quiet :grin:
My golf has been around, its nothing special I know, but I have had it on outdoor stands at Ultimate Dubs for 2 years running (2010 with Defined Ridez, 2011 with Peak VAG club). I go to Dubmania/Retromania with it every year (Weston Park in Shropshire). Otherwise I have been to a Renegade dubs meet in Chelmsford, and I have been to Prept at Brands Hatch in it - maybe you have seen it at one of them? I see you are down as being in London - I am a bit north of you, I live in the week near Stansted Airport....
Go for it, have a crack at your drivers seat - as long as you get to it before the base gets holey you are onto a winner.
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Renegade...thats the one...don't think I've seen you at any of the meets, but did you do a thread on there forum?
I don't go to many events, last year I went to Elemental up your way, Battlesbridge and Players @ North Weald that was about it.
I might get round to doing my seat, it will have to go on the ever so long list of things to do :grin:
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Ive been to one or two of their meets, not many though. I did also do a thread on the Renegade forum ages ago, haven't updated it in a while...big club but it seems not many use the forum...
Im always working every time Battlesbridge is on, same with Players at North Wield. Shame as both are pretty much on my doorstep... :sad:
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Yeah both are on my door step too, I'm only a short trip down the M11 from you...
The renegade forum is like a ghost town... :grin:
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Shaved calipers....
(http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/409226_10150461213551781_506506780_9114503_1231253857_n.jpg)
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/395400_10150461215691781_506506780_9114507_757216764_n.jpg)
Yup with the new brakes its a bit tight under there...quite literally a knats testicle between caliper and wheel :wtf:
I best get them calipers painted...
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TIGHT :shocked:
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Better not put that caliper paint on too thick then! :grin:
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Yeah, I think I will wear the pads down a little first. :grin:
They did look nice when first shaved, maybe I will sand them down and (if I can find some high temperature lacquer) lacquer them.... :undecided:
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Unfortunately I lost a centre cap last Sunday, so I have been hunting around urgently for a replacement (as the wheels just look gash without them and I wont run with one missing so I took them all off)...
Only 2 sellers on ebay with second hand ones available, both wanted at least £20 for them...
Volksmine to the rescue! £14 with the VAT for a brand new replacement. That'll do....
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2012-01-13164610.jpg)
New one is on the left...
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2012-01-13164627.jpg)
I don't know if the difference is so obvious in the pictures, but I reckon I am going to end up ordering another 3....
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looks like the one on the left has got an extra lip :huh:
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Yeah the outer lip on the new one looks flatter.
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It looks like that in the pics, but not in real life - the crap lighting in my missus's bedroom and the fact that the new one is about a million times shinier/cleaner than the used one is very deceiving.
Gonna do my level best to get the 3 used ones I have as cleaned up as much as possible before going back on the car, but I have a feeling I am going to be spending a good part of my day in McGuinesses Scrapyard in Stoke on Trent trying to get a bumper off of a Corsa B and swearing a lot :rolleyes:
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Once again not the best of weekends for my car. I took it to Ears Motorsport in Macclesfield for a set of four Uniroyal Rainsport 2's and to get them to get it tracked up. Unfortunately the Drivers side track rod end was seized, and when they heated it up it "popped" (can think of no other word to describe it), leaving loads of play in the joint but a still seized track rod end.
Being as getting parts on a Saturday afternoon is next to impossible, its now stuck there for the weekend and I am driving a loaned Mondeo :lipsrsealed:
New track rod arm and end on Monday (the passenger side is fine and tracked up with no issue apparently), I am justifying the extra expense in my head with the fact that when its done it WILL drive in an arrow straight line on decent new tyres and with the new brakes and bearings should be spot on.
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that sucks mate :sad:
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Yeah it does, but I have to be realistic here and say to myself that it was seized and therefore needed doing...
Anyway, picked up the car from Ear's Motorsport today and it drives straight as an arrow, and the Uniroyal Rainsports are fantastic. They piss all over the set of budget Accelera's that I had to fit last January (or it might have been November 2010 even) due to £££ constraints.
Plus I figure one of the old tyres must have got a little misshapen perhaps - or the tracking might have been a factor - but a steering wheel vibration I had noticed recently at higher speeds was gone. Drove my car from Staffordshire to Essex yesterday evening and REALLY enjoyed the drive for the first time in a few months.
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Yeah it does, but I have to be realistic here and say to myself that it was seized and therefore needed doing...
Anyway, picked up the car from Ear's Motorsport today and it drives straight as an arrow, and the Uniroyal Rainsports are fantastic. They piss all over the set of budget Accelera's that I had to fit last January (or it might have been November 2010 even) due to £££ constraints.
Plus I figure one of the old tyres must have got a little misshapen perhaps - or the tracking might have been a factor - but a steering wheel vibration I had noticed recently at higher speeds was gone. Drove my car from Staffordshire to Essex yesterday evening and REALLY enjoyed the drive for the first time in a few months.
I've got Uniroyals on mine, I think they are a really good tyre...
do you ever get the feeling when the cars not working 100% you want to crush it, but as soon as it works a treat again you realise why you kept it? or is it just me.. :grin:
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It is not just you Stow, I very much have a love hate relationship with Kermit.
I have put him up for sale a couple of times before, been on the brink of swapping him for an MX5 just back in October last year (but pulled out as he needed a few bits and I felt it wrong to trade him to someone who is in that grey area between acquaintance and friend with known faults).
But when you do a load of rectification work (or even when you do a big mod like new wheels or a vento front in my case) and the car drives beautifully, it does rekindle things between you and the car IMO.
I have put up with a tracking issue for a couple of months, plus shot rear bearings (having spent the money I had to do the rears on the front bearings) which has made me HATE driving the thing long distance (I do Essex to Staffordshire and back once a week), and I really was considering weighing him in at the start of this month and buying a friends 16v. But now I think he has won a reprieve.....for now....
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It is not just you Stow, I very much have a love hate relationship with Kermit.
I have put him up for sale a couple of times before, been on the brink of swapping him for an MX5 just back in October last year (but pulled out as he needed a few bits and I felt it wrong to trade him to someone who is in that grey area between acquaintance and friend with known faults).
But when you do a load of rectification work (or even when you do a big mod like new wheels or a vento front in my case) and the car drives beautifully, it does rekindle things between you and the car IMO.
I have put up with a tracking issue for a couple of months, plus shot rear bearings (having spent the money I had to do the rears on the front bearings) which has made me HATE driving the thing long distance (I do Essex to Staffordshire and back once a week), and I really was considering weighing him in at the start of this month and buying a friends 16v. But now I think he has won a reprieve.....for now....
:grin:
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Not *exactly* the weather for it, but I got to grips with a Vax machine today that I surreptitiously stole temporarily from work... Kermit now has fresh clean carpets and seats.
Excuse the quite frankly diabolical pictures, but my camera was flat (so resorted to phone) and my hands were shaking like hell because it was freezing and trying to snow... :huh:
Passenger side after carpet cleaned:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2012-01-31093606.jpg)
Passenger side rear, carpet and seat cleaned.
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2012-01-31093616.jpg)
Drivers side before:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2012-01-31093710.jpg)
Drivers side carpet mat during (to show just how bad it was). White dots are actually snow or hail. By this point I was too cold to care to identify what the weather was doing!
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/2012-01-31094021.jpg)
Ill get some better pics once my camera is charged up and the weather gives off. Right now I just want a brew and a bacon sandwich.
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Looking good mate,
my carpets are mank, but there's just no point in cleaning mine
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Kermit is about to get a new look.
Here is a hint:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/jaigandhi5/IMG_4917.jpg)
:wink:
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eeerrrr... :undecided: he's going to grow a boot?
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The radiator is going to burst?
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He's being put in dry dock?
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Haha, not quite.
I just purchased a set of 7x16 Momo Arrows in 5x100 fitment. :wink: Another ebay bargain for £51, with tyres, and 10 miles from my house.
Dunno how they will sit yet as they are ET45, so might require spacing out. Tyres on them are 205/50/15, so something a bit narrower and lower profile will be on the cards.
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Interesting...
will pass judgement when I see them fitted :wink:
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Interesting indeed, I can't wait to see the 15" tyres on the 16" rims.
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Doh, typo! Should have read 205/50/16.
Come on, it was early in the morning when I made that post!
Wheels should be identical in fitment to the ones on the vento on the previous page.
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So, I picked them up today, and now the task begins to get the Momo Arrows on and get it sitting right.
I get the feeling that the car has settled at the rear somewhat...
When first purchased:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/SNV31981.jpg)
In 2009 on 17s:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c121/Edwh0re/Automotive%20Connection/SNV34539.jpg)
And how it sits now on the pepperpots:
(http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/262109_2095984715013_1107205472_32666034_3645925_n.jpg)
Its not just me is it, that has settled shed loads hasn't it?
Obviously I have to trial fit the Momos to see what is going to be needed to get them sat right. The wheels are 7Jx16, with an offset of ET45. These may require spacing out. The tyres are 205/50/16, and therefore balloons, so I am going to pull them off and sell them. Lower profile/narrower tyres will have to be to be sourced.
But I want the car to sit like Mark Poys does on his 16" Antera 3 spokes at the rear:
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/251054_10150221946404096_8056630_n.jpg)
The front wont be a problem, but it looks like I am going to have to raise the rear? (And space it I reckon). I also might need to have my arches rolled underneath those plastic arches for clearance reasons?
This saturday I am going to be up at my mates garage as my missus is having some work done on her Corsa, so I am to take the opportunity to check the centre bore, and potentially trial fit the wheels to see how the car provisionally sits.....
Watch this space for updates.
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I is watching...
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Still no further progress on the Momo Arrows, due to lack of funds for tyres and spacers or machining out the centre bore - although a local harley davidson specialist is going to do that for me.
So why the update...?
Pretty pleased to say that Kermit passed his MOT yesterday. With 182,243 on the clock he still flew through the emissions with no problems, MOT tester said he has been well looked after. 2 advisories - one for a previous repair on the sill seam where some numpty jacked it up (not me) and split it slightly. And the speed bump at work has taken a bit of the underseal off a 2 inch square patch of the front floorpan, so going to clean that up and sort out.
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Gongrats on the pass :smiley:
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Thanks Stow :smiley:
Took him along to a local bank holiday weekend show yesterday, the Weston Park Midlands Festival of Transport, with our local car club - Automotive Connection (Staffordshire club).
(http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/558889_3677967238583_1557070490_3122016_944885923_n.jpg)
Not much spent on him as we spent nigh on 10 hours on my fiancee's Corsa B, giving it an overhaul and freshen up, but Kermit still polished up well given a rushed job... :smiley: So the above picture is the result, with him parked next to my friend Sutty's Mercury Grand Marquis - which made the golf look tiny :grin:
Despite the weather being....changeable...it was a good show with a nice turnout - a lot of 60s/70s/80s motors in attendance if you like that sort of thing. Which I do :wink: