Bin it off and stop being a fag

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Seat Leon Cupra FR / 306 GTI6 / Breaking 205 GTI6 / Caterham 7 / Mercedes Sprinter 311CDI LWB

Sold: Fisher Fury - Laguna DCI Estate - P1 306 XSI - E30 BMW 325i Baur Convertible - Daihatsu Fourtack - Suzuki GSXR600 - 205 Rallye

S'funny, i can't remember an inlet manifold looking like that?

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Bye bye Sundance Kid

Quickie anyone?

Booked a day off work today to try and get some more of this done, and it's not going too badly at all. As ever what started out as a matrix replacement has somehow turned into an entire interior revamp, but then why the hell not.

After some advice from Rikky I managed to get the steering bracket thing off, turns out what I thought were captive nuts were actually weird bolt/nut combo things, some of which were a left-hand thread. Obvious really. Anyway, that out the way I completed my lifelong ambition to be completely soundproofing-free.

Gave everything a rough once-over with some 240 grit, then spent about an hour (and a roll of masking tape) covering up everything I might not want painted. That was tedious. Can't be arsed with removing doors, plus it's a blowing a hurricane outside so could really do with keeping them on.

A ton of decorators sheet, a lot of masking tape and a can of acid etch later...



The priority is to get behind the dash done so I can make sure everything still works, hence I haven't removed the rest of the floor tar yet. Hmm, grey:



Normally, I rush these jobs and at this point would crack on with getting the paint on over the top. But not this time, I'm determined to do this once, and do it right. So instead, I found myself another task to do in the meantime - tidy out the garage, so I can get the (other) car in there and the missus doesn't have to do a 40-point turn to get out of the drive.

Wooden baton + flooring chipboard + cut off the tongue and groove + stain the edges =



Dag nam it, that's a manly-looking garage. I hadn't realised quite how many half-used bottles of old oil and brake fluid I had, should probably use those up. Nice bit of pipe lagging on the edges in anticipation of me smacking my face on them, job done. Tidy it all up, and it's never been tidier. The other half will be pleased. Although, I suspect, not as excited about garage shelving as I am.

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Heh, awesome. So you're using her injury to force her to love the 6?

That's what we like.

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Excellent stuff!

What are your plans with the pedals?

Presumably they'll end up being sprayed whatever colour the rest of the interior goes, but won't that make them a little slippy underfoot?

Dave

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Team: Moonstone GTI-6™
Team: Working air-con™

Well quite clearly no, I didn't know



I've put as much planning into this as I have done every other aspect of the car.

I.e.

They've pretty much worn down to shiny anyway, so I'll probably get some matt paint or something, that'll be an improvement.

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dash looks good

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230 hp 2.1 16v XU 205 rallye on jenveys Project thread here
309 3dr K20 Type R

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Membership expiring soon, get in contact on our new little forum project.

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230 hp 2.1 16v XU 205 rallye on jenveys Project thread here
309 3dr K20 Type R

Right, paint's dry - time to scrape it all off again getting the dash back in. But aha - not just any old dash. It's one that Ollie (Pugheaven) got flocked up ages ago but never fitted, it must've been six months since I bought it from him and it's sat in the garage ever since.

I'd already moved the dash loom across the other day, only took about half an hour in all. Can I get a reeeee-fit:



Gets easier the more things you remove. Everything I can find plugged back in, not really a chance in hell this car is ever going to start again. Still, what the hell. I then had a play tidying up some of the looms with some PVC spiral binding stuff, but of a faff but should help protect the wires a little. Tidy:



Overexposed Sir?



Now I'm *sure* there's another bag of nuts and bolts somewhere, as I cannot find *anything* I need. Luckily have spares, so nothing really matches any more. Oh well. Only slight annoyance is on the wipers, where I'm pretty sure I've used the nuts for the steering column. Only nuts I have are BZP and the caps don't fit over them, so they look a bit like I'm trying to be pimp.



Ripspeed would be proud.

Okay next up I've a got a nice new Nissens rad which I bought from Ratty Ash. First is to remove the lower rad hose. Be careful to be environmentally friendly and take the old coolant to your local recycling centre.



Aw shucks, it happened again. Oh well, moving on. Dirty old bugger removed, taking great care not to snap the clips off:



The Nissens didn't have a thermostat in it, just a blanking plate. Still, my old rad had one so might as well move it across; set of mole grips later that's moved across. Incidentally the Nissens is much lighter than standard, hadn't considered that added bonus. I pulled out as much of the arch liner as I could be arsed, and set about shearing off the bolts for the washer bottle. Top notch.

Big hole:



Now. I'd researched this a lot, and there are two types of lower hose connector - the push-fit one, and the one with two plastic clips. Well, ladies and gentlemen, my car had a third type. It looked similar to the kind with the two clips, but only had one clip, a snapped off bit of plastic and three cable ties. I can only imagine this was an earlier design.

Because Ash is a massive conman, he "forgot" to send me the lower rad hose for the Nissens. It was at this point I remembered this. However, something in the back of my mind told me I'd bought one previously in anticipation, some months ago. Look in the garage and sure enough, lower rad hose for a Nissens! Bonus.

Oh good, the clip is missing. Brilliant.

Ah sod it, we'll figure something out. Got the new rad in with a bit of fuss, it got much easier after the right-hand clip snapped in half and pinged off somewhere. Again, brilliant. Connect everything back up, spent ten minutes trying to get the lower hose in. Nothing. Nada.

It's getting pretty dark now, so better think quick. Right, got some grease on the inside of the connector, pow! Straight in. Nice. Ah, and straight back out again. And in. Hmm. Could really do with that metal clip. Well, Ash reckons he's going to send it (AS IF, LIAR) so for now I shall definitely not be bodging it together with cable ties.



All back together, fire her up, re-fill with coolant. Words cannot describe my joy at seeing coolant not p*ss out over my driveway for once, but to simply gurgle away until it's all bled though.

Obviously dropped the matrix bleed screw and had to bodge it with a tyre valve cap, but that goes without saying.

Right, had enough. In for the night. Sample the golden nectar.



Incidentally I did have a few parts left over that came in the parcel from Ash - there's a pen that goes on your keys, a reflective cyclists band and a keyring with a picture of a cat on it. I'm obviously concerned that I couldn't find a place for these in the cooling system, so if anyone's got any ideas where they go I'd be most appreciative. Perhaps I'll ask a mechanic.

So just to clarify - my washer bottle, radiator and rad hose are definitely not now held on with cable ties.

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Its a breakdown kit mate.

The pen is to write your last will and testament to loved ones on a beer coaster after hearing its a 3 hour wait for the AA/RAC to come and laugh at you.

The wristband is to keep you safe and sound and to alert other motorists that a twat in a french hatch has broken down again.

And the keyring is because i you and the fact you work with 'poters for a living.

Already got a boss and wheel thanks matey, that one's just the test-fit job

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