Stephen

Well well well, that's a boulder that's turned I never thought I'd see. There's only one thing we disagree on now.

Well there you go then, expert advice is always worth having.

Haha! Must be due a meeting soon mate.

They say 2 weeks mate. Apparently UV and infrared from sunlight helps it harden faster. I've hit it with the cutting compound the next day before.

What about the attempt before?

Aside from the little or large faux par, it actually looks like an ok car. £3200 buy it now for a twin turbo manual, could be a good buy. Goes without saying it needs investigation but yeh.

Have you just left the sprayed finish? Or did you compound it?

Yeah, interest only wasn't an option we could have. Plus I wouldn't want it. That kinda makes sense though. It was fixed for the first two years, so I've just refixed it for the next four. If nothing else it helps to budget. Yeah I can pay up to 10% off fee free, but I don't think il have 18k disposable a year to just throw at the mortgage lol.

I mean them not you.

Just refixed it for four years, going through the paperwork my new rate of 3.5% down from 4.69% which works out over the term is pay back nearly double. I'm not a maths genius but 3.5% is double, how do they work this all out?

Sounds a bit excessive and alarmist doesn't it.

You've got the rear calipers on upside down mate. I did the same myself. Makes them a **** to bleed.

Fire the engine up with the belts off as said and see if the noise remains.

I was expecting worse reading the comments. Definitely not a late car, that's probably the import year. Some odd modifications, the whole in the ashtray, the viewing panel in the rear screen. I'd be dubious of the mileage and it does appear to be an NA. 4k is a bit much, if it was 3k it would likely be worth a look as it does look straight with the odd bits being easy cosmetic fixes.

I might switch to the k&n ones once I've used up my stock. It's got a nut on the bottom, would make life easier.

Well I'm glad you pointed them out because I can't tell them from Adam. Rubbish with famous people.

You do have the correct rating fuse? Your not trying to run a small sun off it either are you? Good news on the oil filter. The oil goes black in these cars pretty quick, turbos high heat low volume all takes its toll. Hence why you should change it every 3k miles. You may be right though that it's the crud coming through. See what your next change looks like. As for the exhaust, that the problem with those japspeeds. Fitment isn't perfect every time. If I was you I'd disassemble the joint, work some exhaust gasket sealant into the joint and granch the bolt up. I know your worried about damaging the bolt but if that did happen you only need an m12 but and bolt iirc. Replacement can be acquired easy.

The bolt? There's two bolts that control the tension of the belt then a mounting bolts. The bolt running from left to right controls tension, the one going front to rear secures this. Check the tension of the belt. Once your happy with the tension then do up the securing bolt. I don't think that's your PS belt though I'm afraid. If you really wish to isolate the belt noise, then remove them and run the engine. The battery won't charge like this and you will have no PS, aircon or cooling etc, it's just for testing for a very short period. 10 seconds maybe. Tbh you should be able to work out where the noise is coming from without using this method. You could use some hairspray as well, it will stop each belt individually squealing temporarily. As I say though I don't think it's a loose belt.

Should be able to push it back by hand with the nipple open. Don't be tempted to force them back with it closed, you risk flipping the seals in the BMC and you don't need that headache.

I haven't I'm afraid but Google will throw up some pictures for you. Make sure you buy an OEM one rather than a pattern part. The pattern ones aren't much cop.

Time for a new oil pressure sender. If you had no oil pressure the engine would be very tappetty. Those 4 cams and 24 hydraulic lifters demand a lot of oil. Fortunately it's an easy fix. On the passenger side is the sender, by the engine mount. Unscrew it and screw in a new one, done. You can also wind in a 1/8npt iirc, 0-100psi pressure gauge as a test and take a manual reading for accuracy and peace of mind. These cost a few quid.

Looks a little excitable, you know the type, wants to chew your ear off. I don't think it's fishy just a bit over the top. It's a twin turbo manual for 2.5k, it's cheap. If your looking, it may be worth a look.

Have you thought about how your going to paint it? Are you going to paint the whole panel? Blending it in will be really hard. Just take your time getting it smooth on the primer coat, it's crazy how tiny defects suddenly appear once the paint goes down.

Welcome. Good luck with your project, looks like it could be a touch rusty.

What he said. You can cover that up but there's further problems behind. Some proper surgey will be required there mate in the near future.