What have I done lol 31/05 Changes and found a friend!

[RST-Steve]

Good work Jon, get those multi spokes on it mate, they are a nice wheel imo............... until then, rip off the wheel trims and run it on steelies

Nice reflection shot btw

[massivewangers]

Maybe I should paint the steels white 

Actually, here's a pic of the car I won on ebay that turned out to be a rusty bugger. With white 205 GTI 1.9 wheels, random choice!

[Daz-cos]

wot did you use to polish it mate as looks awesome. just needs wheels and lowering and will the dogs dangles

[massivewangers]

Used good ol' T-Cut mate, nothing too glam, just lots of elbow grease, working it in and letting it break down a lot. Doing it in small sections (a door was probably broken into about 10 areas for example  ) and going over it with two 'lots' of T-Cut, but working it in for a few minutes each time. It's bloody time consuming, but seems to work quite well 

[cozmeister]

Used good ol' T-Cut mate, nothing too glam, just lots of elbow grease, working it in and letting it break down a lot. Doing it in small sections (a door was probably broken into about 10 areas for example  ) and going over it with two 'lots' of T-Cut, but working it in for a few minutes each time. It's bloody time consuming, but seems to work quite well 

Take note Steve

[RST-Steve]

Aye!

[massivewangers]

Yeah, get to it Steve. Could get it done in a day if you tried, I just spread it out 

I'm currently debating whether to fit Cossie four pots, as been offered some for a good price, and the brakes are a bit crap. But means changing hubs and TCAs as well 

[massivewangers]

Though I type this in the early hours of the 31st, my Saturday was spent at my friend's unit taking a few bits off my Escort to be sold, and I had planned to bring my multispoke alloys home with me, but, they wouldn't fit in the boot! So, to remedy this, I fitted them instead 

Also, we whipped the machine polisher out and went over the bonnet, and it now looks much much better!



On top of all this excitment, my car found a friend, in the shape of my friend Mat's 2WD Saph Cos rally car. I love this thing, got to go out in it for the first time today, after a long wait, and it's awesome. The usual rush and that lovely turbo stall flutter of a Cossie, all with much more noise and theatre, due to a total lack of an interior, just epic. If anyone wants a few more pictures, I'll start another thread with a few I took. Just a couple of snaps with my car in the pictures, sitting very very high as it hadn't settled back down after the wheels were put on, and was sitting on a funny angle!





Here's a couple of other shots of my car too, looking rather red I must say!







The wheels have made it drive a lot better, but new TCA/ARB bushes will be fitted during the week and it should be well on the way then. BUT, here in lies a problem...

It is a lovely car, it now looks great in my opinion, is in really quite tidy condition for it's age, barring the couple of rust spots, but I don't really feel like I'm warming to it at the moment. It's a nice example, and I do like it, but I miss my old car already, and the RS badge is tempting me. I know it's ridiculous after a week of ownership, but it doesn't feel 'me' somehow. Anyway, new bushes will be done, and I'll continue to use it for the moment, but if anyone is looking for a reasonable twink Sierra, let me know, as for the right offer, I might well part with it. Idle thought for now, but if anyone is seriously looking for a car, drop me a PM, as I think this is quite a nice little motor really, I'm just more an Escort man   

On another note, my Cosworth grill arrive today too, along with a Hayne's manual 

[RST-Steve]

Those wheels look so much better Jon, nice one.............. and yep, Mat's Rally car is a total beast, and i've only seen it in his pictures!! lol

........... stick with the Sierra for a wee while mate, see how it goes

[massivewangers]

It is awesome mate, really cool. Should be at Ford Fair hopefully!

I'm thinking on it. I'm struggling with the seating position a bit, I just don't seem to be able to get comfortable in it, which may partly be down to the seats, but it is an issue, and the transmission tunnel seems right in the way of where I want to rest my left foot. It sounds daft, but it does really take the edge off, as I just don't feel comfortable in it

[cozmeister]

The later ones had a slightly different position - I noticed that between my 90 spec and 92 spec ones.

[massivewangers]

I may have to take a seat in yours at a meet perhaps Chris, to see the difference. I do think changing the seats would improve it perhaps, but at the moment it just spoils the whole experience, which I'm just gutted about (especially when the girlfriend and I really wanted to look into Saph Cos ownership once I'd finished uni and we'd got settled!).

Anyway, I feel I should explain myself further, as you probably all think I'm bonkers at this point;

The obvious seating/foot related issues noted above are a big thing, but there is something more to it as well. I had been looking at making some braking changes, having been offered some 2WD Saph four pots. Great I thought, until I asked about fitting, which revealed the need for Cosworth TCAs, and hubs and a few other bits. I was on the verge of buying them, not to mention a whole host of other stuff, when I had to slam on the brakes (in my mind, not literally) and stop myself. The thing is, as you all know, I'm a student, and with this car, I just seem to have this massive desire to spunk cash on it, on big brakes, engine swaps, suspension upgrades, the works. And to be honest, that just isn't smart, I need to try and kerb my spending, and I'm really not sure that this car is the way to do that.

So, couple that with the seating issues, and the curiousity as to whether it's worth more than I paid for it, I have to wonder about moving it on. I'm tempted to put it on ebay with a £1k reserve just to see what it bids up to, and then sell it if it goes to a satisfactory level.

Outside of that, I am seriously considering a MK6 RS2000 to replace it, as I quite like them, and it's a good balance of something reasonably nippy, yet not too expensive. It carries the badge and is a car I enjoy driving, yet wouldn't want to spend vast quantities on modifying it.

I have found a silver example, but it's a case of whether I can afford it at this point. Anyway, I'm trying to don some vaguely sensible trousers, without going all out and buying a diesel that I would undoubtedly despise beyond all belief!

[RST-Steve]

Yeah i get what your saying mate, afterall, the interior is where you spend all your time, so if your not comfortable, it doesn't matter if the car is a Ferrari, its not going to work! Shame tho, as you were defo turning a corner with it............ making money on it tho sounds good

The RS2000 is such a good idea tho (.... we've been here before tho haven't we ), i mean i loved mine and still wish i hadn't sold it. It was never bad at all on petrol and the exhaust, suspension and filter was all it needed imo to get it just as i wanted......... i had no desire to do anything else, just as your saying you would be the same!

[massivewangers]

It is really disappointing, as it was starting to look quite smart, with barely any changes, but like you say, the interior is where you spend the time. It does look nice from the outside, I love the look every time I see it, but that's not the point, I want to drive it, not look at it!

We have been here before, but I think it's the best all round step, they're a nice, reasonable car for a bit of fun on a budget, and I do like my Escorts obviously. Like you say, they need very little changing to make them into a smart car, so it would be kept virtually standard, and enjoyed for what it was.

I think the Sierra will be listed on ebay tomorrow with a very high reserve, just to see how much interest it generates, and I will attempt to view the silver RS and see if a deal can be done that is more to my liking financially, after I've been to the bank tomorrow at least. So my foray into Sierra ownership could be shortlived, but I may visit a Cosworth or two later, when uni is done and I'm (hopefully) working away, and see if the different seating etc is more to my liking.

What a trial 

[Fireball]

If you're not feeling the car, then i can understand not wanting to keep it.

Word to the wise though - did you buy it on ebay, and if so, i'd list it under a different account as clever people will check your recent purchase history and see it in there. Might put them off before they've given it a proper chance.

[massivewangers]

The car wasn't purchased through ebay. I heard about it through a friend, as it belonged to his dad's neighbour, so it's not been on ebay recently that I'm aware of.

I listed it last night, at around 7.45pm, with a £1000 reserve and a 99p starting bid, by 1am this morning, it was up to £620.99. That covers the purchase price of the car, and all the price I had marked on the alloys, and there is six days left on the auction, so it will be interesting to see how it goes!

[RST-Steve]

Good luck buddy, sounds promising so far! bet you were surprised!! 

Have you got the link? 

[massivewangers]

Here we go;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140324839059&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

I was very surprised it went up so quickly. Will be interesting to see what the next few days brings!