What was your first car? & what was the best diy job you did on it?

booforty · 04-08-2008, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by needforspeed

Why don't they make them like that today? Fine piece of engineering. Makes me want to wear my cordroys for some reason...

E92-Mark · 04-08-2008, 03:33 PM

F reg 1.3 Astra, with 60K miles on the clock, but only because the speedo was limited to 5 digits

The only car I've ever sold for more than I bought it for!

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NFS · 04-08-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beauforty

Why don't they make them like that today? Fine piece of engineering. Makes me want to wear my cordroys for some reason...

There nothing like getting home in the evening, locking the door, pouring a great big glass of wine and slipping on some brown cords, white socks and some tasselled loafers.

Cortina's were one of the few cars that really brought out the pipe smoker in you.

booforty · 04-08-2008, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by needforspeed

There nothing like getting home in the evening, locking the door, pouring a great big glass of wine and slipping on some brown cords, white socks and some tasselled loafers.

Cortina's were one of the few cars that really brought out the pipe smoker in you.

Why you remembered what I was wearing at UK3... that's impressive! I wear my cordroys everywhere, I'm wearing them now. Coupled with white sports socks and tasselled loafers I find this provides a comfortable yet confident "Man at C&A" look that the ladies just can't resist...

NFS · 04-08-2008, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beauforty

Why you remembered what I was wearing at UK3... that's impressive! I wear my cordroys everywhere, I'm wearing them now. Coupled with white sports socks and tasselled loafers I find this provides a comfortable yet confident "Man at C&A" look that the ladies just can't resist...

Coupled with a bushy moustache and a gold cygnet ring it's an unbeatable look.

beemerbird · 04-08-2008, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beauforty

Why you remembered what I was wearing at UK3... that's impressive! I wear my cordroys everywhere, I'm wearing them now. Coupled with white sports socks and tasselled loafers I find this provides a comfortable yet confident "Man at C&A" look that the ladies just can't resist...

No, no....should have been a Capri with big F/O rear spoiler, fluffy dice and the MEDALLION with chest wig if required.

booforty · 04-08-2008, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beemerbird

No, no....should have been a Capri with big F/O rear spoiler, fluffy dice and the MEDALLION with chest wig if required.

I grow my own chest wig. I'm pretty much a walking Chewbacca

beemerbird · 04-08-2008, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beauforty

I grow my own chest wig. I'm pretty much a walking Chewbacca

Too much!

roofer · 04-08-2008, 05:18 PM

I used to work in a scrapyard evenings/weekends (and most schooldays) proper srappie, smothered in shit, taking MK2 jags apart in the main.

An old MK1 Cortina came in with the 1600 pre crossflow in it, which was blown up hammering round the yard, and after much arseing about had a crossflow dropped in, with a set of chrome rostyles

14 at the time, and must confess to taking it for the odd night time trip around Walthamstows back doubles in 77. It led eventually to an Anglia with a big valve in it that took 3 years to assemble, and was promptly wrecked when getting airborne on the hump back bridge down Lea Bridge Rd

Them was the days when the old bill just had pale blue 1.1 escorts, or Triumph P.I's that always broke down in a chase.

sheps · 04-09-2008, 04:13 AM

The first car I owned was in 1993, aged 18

The car was an immaculate 1988 MG Metro turbo - owned by an MG owners club 40-something who still lived at home with his mum - the car was his life. Honestly, if he could have driven the thing into his bedroom and slipped his p*nis into the exhaust pipe, he would have.

The first modification I made was to install an Alpine and Rockford Fosgate stereo system (which cost me as much as the car!)

The second modification was to buy an alarm after I caught someone trying to break into said car for said stereo system.

The third modification was to buy a bleed valve and wind the boost up to almost constant detonation levels.

The fourth modification was to sell said car (with a melted engine) after a total of 8 weeks ownership, for a 1984 Mk1 Astra GTE (which, at the time, was awesome)

sheps · 04-09-2008, 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer

The day after I passed my test, I took it out, came out of a bend and when I flicked to main beam, the lights went out and I ended up taking an excursion through someone's garden.

This just made me spit tea all over the monitor, thanks for that!
Good story

PhilR · 04-09-2008, 05:19 AM

Good Thread!

My first car (back in 1989) was a terecotta (spelling?) Ford Escort 3 door WHN 757 Y (1984 I think). My Dad paid around £2000 for it (garage). It was the daddy being the 1.3 GL as it had a 5 speed box, rev counter, fancy wheel trims and tinted windows. That baby was pushing out a mighty 45PS whilst delivering around 33mpg. Even had a go faster stripe on the side.

My fondest memory was replacing a knackered brake caliper on the front passenger side with much reference to a Haines manual. I bought the replacement caliper from a scap yard for £10 and then had to buy a Special Ford allen key - cost me £5. Alternative was to pay a garage £120 for part and fitting. I was a struggling student and chuffed to bits with my endeavours.

2 Years later I sold the Escort and treat myself to a MKII XR2 (£3095)- D reg in Paris Blue. It had been lowered and had the twin webbers with about 90ps and was about £500 less than list (Private). To this day it is still one of the best cars I have ever driven! I have even thought about buying one for fun as recently as last Year and reliving my youth.

Since then I have owned or had the following Co Cars before finally

Volvo 345GL in maroon - don't ask
Corsa 1.2LS - 1st Co Car
Astra 1.7D - Bag of spanners
Astra 1.4LS - Flat as a .......
Laguna 1.8RT - Quite a nice Motor
VW Golf V5 (170ps) - drank heavily
VW Golf GTTDi (150PS) - nice motor
Saab 9-3 Vector Sport (1.9 TiD 150) - comfortable but bland

I've suddenly come over all nostalgic!

Phil

NathanJT · 04-09-2008, 05:27 AM

I was 15 and was bought a 1100 'Special' Mini for my birthday. Then spent the next 2 years rebuilding the thing completely.

Rebuilt the engine and gearbox entirely (new fuel and water pumps etc).
Replaced about 80% of the body panels after a crash course in Mig welding from my dad.
Replaced the rear sub-frame and aligned it so it didn't crab.
Fitted a new fuel tank.
replaced the entire braking system. Slave, master cylinders and pipes.
Ripped out the standard exhaust and replaced i with a straight through center pipe (ooh it was loud).
Stripped and replaced the interior, vinyl roof and wiring loom.
Refurbished a set of 1100S wheels which I found in a scrap yard somewhere in Birmingham.
Sprayed it the original Yellow and sourced all the replacement badges.

THEN fitted twin Webber Carbs (oh it did sound nice), Added a set of Riccaro seats and a "bangin' ICE setup" (ok so it was a head unit and 4 speakers

). Oh and lets not forget the oh so important rear facing spot light ("It's because the reversing lights are so crap officer and I live in the countryside").

It was ACE and so worth the time and money!

Steve A · 04-09-2008, 06:22 AM

1.3 Ford Fiesta Supersport i was 17 and my mum bought it me as she still felt guilty my dad had died ( not that it was here fault)

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...%3Den%26sa%3DN

It handles way better than the XR2.

I put some pepperpot alloys on, trid my hand at ICE but it ended up more like cold

I did used to change the plugs and points etc

I really loved that car until some tw*t stole it as i was doing a Business studies evening class..........wankeeeeerrrrrsssssss

Alex1974 · 04-10-2008, 03:50 PM

My first car was a 1986 Vauxhall Astra 1.3L in Gazelle Beige (a sort of custard yellow!) with a brown interior. It was a solid car, a much nicer drive than Escrotes of the same era. It seems really old school now though - four speed gearbox, wind up windows, manual choke, steel wheels with hubcaps. My only DIY was an 'On A Mission' sticker... oh, the shame!

I bought it in 1994 when I was 20, since then I've had:

Fiat Punto 55S - dog slow but 100% reliable. Rode and handled badly, which takes some doing

Alfa GTV 2.0 Twin Spark - gorgeous car, lovely induction rasp and pointy handling but big bills cause I bought a pup

Porsche 968 x 2 - great cars, a bit old skool now but a real modern classic. Not the best round town or on the motorway but sublime on a fast b-road.

RockIt · 04-10-2008, 04:17 PM

I was fortunate to have regular use of a cracking Datsun 260z and then a Mazda RX7 MK1 when I was younger, both owned by my then girlfriend. Unfortunately when it came to buying my own car, as a student, I ended up with a bright yellow N reg (1974) Escort Mk1, bought in 1989/90. Lots of jobs performed on the car; welding, patching, replacing, bodging etc. (note the technical terms here), by a mate who was the drummer in the band that I was playing in and also happened to be a trainee mechanic.

I remember buying it from some dodgy back street place and trying to make it home with clouds of black smoke billowing out, two illegal tyres and no brakes worth mentioning. Happy days.

04-08-2008, 03:33 PM	#46
E92-Mark Environmental petrol head. 6 Rep 165 Posts Drives: 330d Coupé Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bristol, England iTrader: (0) Garage List 2006 E92 - 330D [0.00] 2005 E90 320d SE [0.00]	F reg 1.3 Astra, with 60K miles on the clock, but only because the speedo was limited to 5 digits The only car I've ever sold for more than I bought it for! __________________ Currently : 330d SE Coupe, TiAg, Jade Leather Sports seats, HiGloss trim, 17" 188s, 6MT, CA, SunRoof, HBA, Pro Audio, 6CD, Bluetooth & Armrest Retired : 320d SE E90, SG, Blk Leather, Xenons, Bluetooth
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04-08-2008, 05:18 PM	#53
roofer Lieutenant 21 Rep 584 Posts Drives: 335D M Saloon Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Essex iTrader: (0)	I used to work in a scrapyard evenings/weekends (and most schooldays) proper srappie, smothered in shit, taking MK2 jags apart in the main. An old MK1 Cortina came in with the 1600 pre crossflow in it, which was blown up hammering round the yard, and after much arseing about had a crossflow dropped in, with a set of chrome rostyles 14 at the time, and must confess to taking it for the odd night time trip around Walthamstows back doubles in 77. It led eventually to an Anglia with a big valve in it that took 3 years to assemble, and was promptly wrecked when getting airborne on the hump back bridge down Lea Bridge Rd Them was the days when the old bill just had pale blue 1.1 escorts, or Triumph P.I's that always broke down in a chase.
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04-09-2008, 04:13 AM	#54
sheps Colonel 73 Rep 2,396 Posts Drives: C63 AMG Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cambs, UK iTrader: (2)	The first car I owned was in 1993, aged 18 The car was an immaculate 1988 MG Metro turbo - owned by an MG owners club 40-something who still lived at home with his mum - the car was his life. Honestly, if he could have driven the thing into his bedroom and slipped his p*nis into the exhaust pipe, he would have. The first modification I made was to install an Alpine and Rockford Fosgate stereo system (which cost me as much as the car!) The second modification was to buy an alarm after I caught someone trying to break into said car for said stereo system. The third modification was to buy a bleed valve and wind the boost up to almost constant detonation levels. The fourth modification was to sell said car (with a melted engine) after a total of 8 weeks ownership, for a 1984 Mk1 Astra GTE (which, at the time, was awesome) __________________ Gone but not forgotten: 325i M Sport (E92), Black Sapphire, Coral Red Dakota, 19" 225's, Seat Heating, 6FL and de-badge Replaced by 6.2 litres of AMG powered C class.
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04-09-2008, 05:19 AM	#56
PhilR Second Lieutenant 9 Rep 283 Posts Drives: E93 330d M Sport Auto Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Teesside / Surrey iTrader: (0) Garage List 2002 Mercedes CLK 3 ... [0.00] 2007 Audi Q7 S Line ... [0.00] 2006 (56) 330d M Sp ... [0.00]	My First Car Good Thread! My first car (back in 1989) was a terecotta (spelling?) Ford Escort 3 door WHN 757 Y (1984 I think). My Dad paid around £2000 for it (garage). It was the daddy being the 1.3 GL as it had a 5 speed box, rev counter, fancy wheel trims and tinted windows. That baby was pushing out a mighty 45PS whilst delivering around 33mpg. Even had a go faster stripe on the side. My fondest memory was replacing a knackered brake caliper on the front passenger side with much reference to a Haines manual. I bought the replacement caliper from a scap yard for £10 and then had to buy a Special Ford allen key - cost me £5. Alternative was to pay a garage £120 for part and fitting. I was a struggling student and chuffed to bits with my endeavours. 2 Years later I sold the Escort and treat myself to a MKII XR2 (£3095)- D reg in Paris Blue. It had been lowered and had the twin webbers with about 90ps and was about £500 less than list (Private). To this day it is still one of the best cars I have ever driven! I have even thought about buying one for fun as recently as last Year and reliving my youth. Since then I have owned or had the following Co Cars before finally Volvo 345GL in maroon - don't ask Corsa 1.2LS - 1st Co Car Astra 1.7D - Bag of spanners Astra 1.4LS - Flat as a ....... Laguna 1.8RT - Quite a nice Motor VW Golf V5 (170ps) - drank heavily VW Golf GTTDi (150PS) - nice motor Saab 9-3 Vector Sport (1.9 TiD 150) - comfortable but bland I've suddenly come over all nostalgic! Phil
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04-09-2008, 05:27 AM	#57
NathanJT Techie Geek 37 Rep 681 Posts Drives: 330d M Sport Manual Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Derby, UK iTrader: (0)	I was 15 and was bought a 1100 'Special' Mini for my birthday. Then spent the next 2 years rebuilding the thing completely. Rebuilt the engine and gearbox entirely (new fuel and water pumps etc). Replaced about 80% of the body panels after a crash course in Mig welding from my dad. Replaced the rear sub-frame and aligned it so it didn't crab. Fitted a new fuel tank. replaced the entire braking system. Slave, master cylinders and pipes. Ripped out the standard exhaust and replaced i with a straight through center pipe (ooh it was loud). Stripped and replaced the interior, vinyl roof and wiring loom. Refurbished a set of 1100S wheels which I found in a scrap yard somewhere in Birmingham. Sprayed it the original Yellow and sourced all the replacement badges. THEN fitted twin Webber Carbs (oh it did sound nice), Added a set of Riccaro seats and a "bangin' ICE setup" (ok so it was a head unit and 4 speakers ). Oh and lets not forget the oh so important rear facing spot light ("It's because the reversing lights are so crap officer and I live in the countryside"). It was ACE and so worth the time and money! __________________ 330d M-Sport \| Sapphire Black \| Black Dakota \| Nav Pro \| iDrive \| Bluetooth \| PDC \| Xenons \| Hot Seats \| Tracker \| Blacklines
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04-09-2008, 06:22 AM	#58
Steve A Brigadier General 96 Rep 3,465 Posts Drives: too much Join Date: May 2007 Location: Manchester UK iTrader: (0)	1.3 Ford Fiesta Supersport i was 17 and my mum bought it me as she still felt guilty my dad had died ( not that it was here fault) http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...%3Den%26sa%3DN It handles way better than the XR2. I put some pepperpot alloys on, trid my hand at ICE but it ended up more like cold I did used to change the plugs and points etc I really loved that car until some tw*t stole it as i was doing a Business studies evening class..........wankeeeeerrrrrsssssss __________________ C350 cdi sport estate facelift 457lbft 130i M SportMercedes C350 CDI Sport Estate AutoMini Cooper Auto.Mercedes E250 CGI,Lexus IS-F,R36, RS4 Saloon,ML 420 CDI SPORT,M6, 335d, C55, C32, M3, M5, S3, ALL SOLD but fondly remembered
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04-10-2008, 03:50 PM	#59
Alex1974 New Member 0 Rep 26 Posts Drives: 335i Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: South West, UK iTrader: (0) Garage List 2008 E92 335i M Sport [0.00]	My first car was a 1986 Vauxhall Astra 1.3L in Gazelle Beige (a sort of custard yellow!) with a brown interior. It was a solid car, a much nicer drive than Escrotes of the same era. It seems really old school now though - four speed gearbox, wind up windows, manual choke, steel wheels with hubcaps. My only DIY was an 'On A Mission' sticker... oh, the shame! I bought it in 1994 when I was 20, since then I've had: Fiat Punto 55S - dog slow but 100% reliable. Rode and handled badly, which takes some doing Alfa GTV 2.0 Twin Spark - gorgeous car, lovely induction rasp and pointy handling but big bills cause I bought a pup Porsche 968 x 2 - great cars, a bit old skool now but a real modern classic. Not the best round town or on the motorway but sublime on a fast b-road. __________________ E92 335i M Sport, 6MT, Sparkling Graphite / Saddle Brown / Dark Grey Poplar, Bluetooth, 6FL, Hi-Fi Speaker System, Heated Seats
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04-10-2008, 04:17 PM	#60
RockIt Lieutenant Colonel 95 Rep 1,720 Posts Drives: Mercedes C350 Coupe Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Curry Capital of Yorkshire! iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 Mercedes C350 ... [0.00] 2008 Audi TTS [0.00] 2006 E92 330i SE [0.00]	I was fortunate to have regular use of a cracking Datsun 260z and then a Mazda RX7 MK1 when I was younger, both owned by my then girlfriend. Unfortunately when it came to buying my own car, as a student, I ended up with a bright yellow N reg (1974) Escort Mk1, bought in 1989/90. Lots of jobs performed on the car; welding, patching, replacing, bodging etc. (note the technical terms here), by a mate who was the drummer in the band that I was playing in and also happened to be a trainee mechanic. I remember buying it from some dodgy back street place and trying to make it home with clouds of black smoke billowing out, two illegal tyres and no brakes worth mentioning. Happy days. __________________ RockIt!
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