Now, i'm 29 I have a family, and a family car which i've tinkered with but wish to take no further.
So i've the costs of all that to bear in mind and budgeted no more than a grand, taking into account what I may need to spend in repairs etc. Heh, hardest search of my life.So yeah, turbo's out the window at the pricetag, as are rev4/5's and high quality NA's in general, so while browsing the usual places, a white Rev 3 NA popped up one day.
800 squid, high mileage at 178k, but pictures looked good. So I called and went to view that weekend.It has it's flaws, but nothing horrendous like i'd seen from other ads with less mileage, badly treated ones.
This one game with a sizeable folder of paperwork, and looked like it had a very caring owner about 4+ years ago from the replacement parts, clutch, fluids etc. No big holes of rust, there are some patches and bubbles here and there, but nothing horrendous.I'm no fool, i'm expecting a challenge because of the age and mileage.
After a test drive, she pulls well, lovely noise at 5k, no tapping or knocks or rattles. So, 2 weekends later and MOT pass, I take her home.Extra goodies game with it! There's a decatted exhaust in the boot
(how the fk that fit I do not know), new rear brakes, pads and lines in boxes, fronts are already done, 4 new tires fitted, a brand new amp and 4 sony speakers unfitted. These spares alone are a huge bonus, the audio system and exhaust I could care less about and will probably sell on. The wiring was butchered by a previous owner anway, so audio is right out for a while.So i'm waffling on as I do, i've given her an initial clean, no detailling just yet, just to get the green stuff and leaves off from where she'd been sat for a while.
Mechanically and electrically mostly everything works. Known faults so far are that I can't lock both doors with one key, but I can unlock both, heating doesn't work but fan blows fine, an exhaust leak from where the stock one was refitted probably without a gasket or something, and a small oil leak somewhere, doesn't look major.A few days on, i've jacked the rear end up fully and am bracing myself for the worst.
Doesn't look too bad though, I spot a new-ish rollbar and some poly bushes, the sump looks a bit worse for wear and I think I should take the subframe off as well and get it painted, plus have a REAL good look around. Is this the sort of thing you reckon I can do without a pit or lift? I have some ramps lying about somewhere and may have access to a pit, but i'm not counting on it.I'm only one man with a few jacks and stands, a car enthusiast at heart and an avionic/electrical/mechanical engineer by trade.
I've not done anything in depth on older cars at all, the oldest thing i've done anything to really was my previous hatchback and current family car, both are 2008, very low maintenance and certainly rust free. Cars previous to that were older, and not touched/my dad did the maintenance as I was in the millitary and had little need of a car initially. I've taken this on as a slow-time long project car to get ready for the summer, with the intention of at least getting it to a condition where i'm confident the underside is protected, suspension upgraded etc. A final goal would be to get her on a track, but my concern would be how much she could take with the high mileage and whether It's worth getting a turbo to swap.The burning desire to get balls deep into a of a project has been lingering for a long time, and it's never been feasable to do such work to my daily or to have a second car till now.
I've never been one to name a car, or even refer to it as a 'she', but this one has a special value to me, or a least, any project car I have will inherit the name 'MagZ'. The reason? An unfortunate one, as it is a tribute to my mother, who took her own life a day after I brought the car home. I need not go into details other than it was sudden and unexpected, we had only started speaking again 2 years ago due to the birth of her grandson Zack, it hit me pretty hard in the feels. So this is my way of honoring her memory. The name MagZ comes from her name Margaret, and her nickname to friends and family as 'Mags', the capital 'Z' is from my own nickname MainerZ which i was given when I must have been about 7 or so, and the Z from my son Zack who my mother adored.I know that's all terribly deep, but the events seemed to coincide so I thought it somewhat appropriate.
So, next to her german cousin in winter boots, here she is in all her glory, shitty vinyls, mismatched interior, weathered paint, rust patches and all:
