Funkysi

Here goes then. 1. engine strip down, heads skimmed and pressure tested, valves reground, stem seals replaced and get it gas flowed and ported if you can do this yourself, parts for rebuild will cost about £1k - by a builder £2.5-£3k 2. repsray complete cat and repair rear sill rust Complete respray will cost about £1k for a cheapo job to £3k+ for a decent one) - sill repair, you'll be needing to get a panel beater on the case for those are sills are almost non-existant. That'll cost you another £500 - £750 3, re-upholster interior seats and replace all cloth on door cards and dash, consul etc.....if in leather, that'll be £500 - £1,000 depending on quality and whether you do it yourself or not 4. new carpet - second hand is best bet - new will cost as much as a respray! 5. reseal underneath and waxoil for hours. So, add it all together, worst case scenario, including the cost of the car would be about £10k with all that, best case scenario about £6k - to get a pretty much standard car. Usually when people restore a Z they'll be starting off with something that either needs paint or an engine - when they need a lot of both and have a lot of rust, it becomes uneconomically viable because there are better project cars out there. You'd be more sensible to break what you have for spares and hold out for a tidy one. I understand you might want to restore it, but you can buy a good one to start off with with the money you'd throw at that.

Yup, that's Murt's old car. I wondered when it might turn up next. Not surprised you found the suspension harsh. I've been in that car and Murt had it as low as possible - to low IMO. The damage to the glass was caused by the previous owner to Murt. I think it was Meht's car and that's when the damage happened - quite a while ago now. I actually fitted that front bumper for him. Needed a bit of paintwork from memory - could have done with a repaint when he had it. So it's now on its 3rd owner since Murt?

I value it at £1.99 :wack: They should give your insurance police for free with that! :lol:

My biggest bug bear with cyclists are those who refuse to use cycle lanes, yet enjoy holding up mile upon mile of traffic! They get their roads for free! Even worse than this are those who do that and refuse to buy lights for their bikes!

Can I ask how much you paid for this car?

I've had a couple of French cars. I mirror Mandy's comments generally. When I was at university, I had a part time job at the docks in Southampton driving new Renaults off the ships. I thought they were all awful, apart from the sporty Clios and the odd Avantime. They felt tinny, flimsy and of poor quality. Out of all the French manufacturers though, I must say, Citroen have always been the best quality and the most innovative. I had a Citroen ZX 16v when I was 19, it was only about 4 or 5 years old. 167bhp, had the excellent chassis from the 306 and really looked the part. Ubber rare too. I thought this actually had decent build quality for a French car, better than Vauxhall at the time as I had had an Astra MK3 before that. The last nice looking Peugeot was the 306 and 406 coupe. Rumour has it that Peugeot designers went out to lunch in 2001 and never returned! Having said that, they're starting to make attractive cars again. The facelifted RCZ actually looks quite nice despite the fact that its underpinnings and drivetrain share a lot in common with the hideously ugly 308. Although there's been a very recent re-hash of that which has drastically improved its aesthetics. Before I picked my Leon on, up I had a rental car for a few days - a 208 and that was awful to drive. The worst gearbox I've experienced in many years. Not positive shifting at all, it felt like you were stirring porridge. The play in the gate was something that you'd find in cars designed and built 20+ years ago. Poor quality plastics and general dowdy specification left a bitter taste. Glad it was only a rental....then you have things like this....I mean...WTF were they thinking? 3008 - blurgh. One of the ugliest things to come out of France in recent years. Made worse by the fact that it was available in poo brown. It's such an awkward looking vehicle. 308 and in particular the 308 SW - this is actually quite a flattering photo of it too! The hatch wasn't much better. Gopping Even the 508 looks strange. Not bad on paper, but when you see it in the flesh, it looks a little strange and cheap. As I've said, Peugeot have now started to make some nicer looking cars again. The facelift of the 308 makes it look semi-appealing despite the fact that it's a pretty drab car. The 208 looks a little better than the 207, despite it 'feeling' like a last-decade vehicle. Facelifted RCZ really does look the part though, the first one just looked like a drugged 308, but with subtle changes, this version looks really nice and actually, a as a 'design', prettier than the Audi TT. It's a shame the interior and drivetrain aren't up to much. Renault lost the plot completely I think. The new Clio is a strange looking blob, they've ditched their medium sector car, the Laguna - their last one was frightfully ugly. The Megan - even the coupe 3 door hatch things looks a little on the bland side and the rest is just an ugly selection of little Eurobox thingies. If I were to buy a French car, it would always be Citroen I think. Current C5, although a bit long in the tooth is a nice looking car The DS3 has a fresh and neat look to it. ...so does the DS5 C3 though....eeek. Worst of their current lineup. But it's a shopping cart for the aged! Citroen however have been through a phase of producing drivel. The facelifted Xsara... First C5 - ugly and awkward looking. C6 - I can appreciate its innovation, but it sure is ugly.

Actually, in person, the Passat's interior is really nice. I had an R-Line Passat a few years ago and absolutely loved it. I thought the interior was easy on the eye, functional and well built. They are an underrated car IMO. Leaps and bounds about the Mondeo - which I think I over rated. R36 is awesome IMO

I find the A1 a right ugly bugger of a car. DS3 is one of the prettiest of the superminis IMO. Fiesta needs replacing now - ST looks quite nice, but it's not that great. Ibiza isn't all that nice, the Clio - not quite sure what it's meant to be, but another oddity. Polo looks really nice, if a little bland. Just a really awkward looking shape...

Please say you're powdercoating it black and not some lurid colour. ;) Nice cars on the previous page. :)

The older Zafiras are now pretty worthless though. That's one of the MK1s and you can get them for a song. It might be more sellable, but not sure what price you'll get for it....

Are they tuneable? Modern diesels can have their HP upped very easily by way of remap. I have a Leon FR 170 diesel as a dd and would like to get it remapped. Should see 200bhp which isn't too bad. SERIOUSLY good fun to drive. Even with the TC on, it wheel spins in second gear. Without, it spins in 3rd.

Whilst I don't really like superminis, I think the DS3 is a great looking little car and still looks fresh a good few years after launch.

Hope the body is staying stock. I am sure it is knowing you. :) You going to smooth off the stonechip effect on the sills and bumpers? Best thing you can do IMO and the only thing you need to do to the body. Gives it a really crisp look. Did mine years ago and it smartens up the car.

Agreed. I absolutely LOVE driving in Europe. I think the extra space helps, but French roads for example are almost billiard-smooth and more often than not, have light traffic only on them. The French actually know how to drive. I don't really enjoy driving in the UK. Roads are narrow, heavily congested, poorly surfaced, driven on by incompetent motorists.

Yeah, that or slowly, very slowly starts to edge past. I've always wanted to make up little placards that I can flash at other motorists - "Why are you in the middle lane?" is one that would get used the most I think. Drives me up the bloody wall!

Highway code + general rant * Tossers sat in the middle lane overtaking nothing but cats eyes * Tossers driving around with their mirrors folded in - how can you do this? It's like walking around with your shoelaces undone and your fly open. * Tossers driving around with their rear wiper going....when it's not even raining - shows up their mirror usage * Tossers who fail to negotiate a roundabout correctly - it's not difficult. In fact it's piggin' easy. If it's so easy, then why the feck do you get into the wrong lane and cut people up EVEN WHEN THERE ARE FECKIN ARROWS ON IT! * Tossers who throw litter out of their car windows - a trait of bad breeding, but why throw litter onto the roads etc? It's easier to do it when you get home - muppets. Plenty of shit drivers out there!

The thing I don't like about those Bosch wiper blades is that god-awful knuckle. I'm on the hunt for Lexus IS200 wiper blades. Neat and tidy! :)

Absolutely! Awful colour/finish for wheels

Absolutely! 100% better than matt black! The silver looks great - clean and fresh! Nice work!

Matt black is not flattering, he's doing the right thing! Clean and sharp! :)

It won that award 10 years in a row I think!

So glad they're going silver! Nice wheels, but matt black looks grubby/dirty/awful! :) Powdercoat silver is really nice almost like a matt-chrome with gloss if that makes much sense. Similar finish to the grilles on the 'R' version VW vehicles.

I have the blinds on them. Internal ones though. The outside shuttering looks interesting, but I bet they're pricey!

I have heard there is translucent sound insulation for glass. I get a lot of noise - rain noise - on my velux windows. They're double glazed, but was wondering whether anyone knew of anything on the market that might help reduce it some more without going down the route of getting them tripple glazed?

Not with that front bumper! :lol: ;)