All the planets aligned and I finally got my dream project. Let me introduce you all to Nena:
She's a 1987 Zermatt Silver NA.
Generally in good mechanical condition but certainly suffering from a lack of recent use, and has been mainly parked up since Covid according to the MOT mileage.
Most of the issues are unsurprisingly perished rubber and seals, and brittle/snapped plastic.
Jobs done so far:
Bloody good wash and vacuum.
Brakes all round fully serviced, the rear right caliper slides were a bit sticky, again due to lack of use, so I bit the bullet and did them all, including replacing the rear pipes (one had an MOT advisory).
New Hankook Kinergy All Seasons.
New number plates and surrounds.
Repaired and replaced all Wipers.
Fitted a period looking Blaupunkt Barcelona DAB/USB in place of the awful Kenwood disco effect head unit.
Repaired the tape cover / armrest lid. Didn't feel like paying the earth for a new one only to break again so I fitted small black piano hinges instead. Looks and works fine for £5.
Repaired the odometer and fitted LED instrument panel lights while I was in the area.
Fixed the horn pad, it was held on by hope, tape and blu-tac.
Popped a new plastic grommet into the Tailgate cable release mechanism so I don't have to keep climbing into the boot.
Repaired the cracked indicator surround.
Jobs to do:
Booked in to the garage to replace the leaky front end seals, going to have the belts replaced at the same time. They've only done about 2000m according to the history (odometer seems to have broken sometime between the 25 and 26 MOT and I have no reason to assume it has done much more than 200m in the year, but they've been on for five years and obviously have oil sat on them, so it just makes sense to have them replaced while its in).
There's an MOT advisory for small exhaust leak but I can't find it. I suspect its been recorded as a catch-all because theres a smell - most likely burnt oil from the back of the dizzy seeping onto the exhaust manifold. I'll get it up on the ramps again after the oil seals repair and have another look.
Fit LHD LED headlamps. I spend a lot of time in Europe, so I needed LHD lamps anyway. Originals were more expensive. On trying to fit them the brackets are all corroded and one of the plastic surround mounts snapped off, so I'm going to replace and repair all the mounts to make swapping the headlamps over a 10 minute plug and play job when I travel.
Wire in an ignition live switched USB Connector to prevent the risk of plugged in items draining the battery if I forget to remove them. This is primarily for the mobile (Waze and Spotify of course), but I'm also fitting a small speedo GPS HUD. It just makes sense, the dial numbers are too small to see and the wheel is in the way, and having a HUD in my modern car makes me appreciate actually looking at the road. I've got a kmh one but will buy a mph too, they're only £15 so I'll fit it on a velcro pad to swap when I do the lights at Calais.
After that, I'm hoping to use her for a few road trips this summer, see if any other issues appear, then get her in for a repaint this winter. She's presentable from 5m away but when you get up close theres lots of areas where the lacquer is starting to peel or the paint is faded (although that in itself is difficult to see due to the amazing properties of Zermatt Silver being almost chameleon like from Silver to Champagne to Gold depending on lighting).
Joined the club, looking forward to sharing Nena's journeys with you all.
Almost forgot! Fitted some matched alloy dustcaps for 4bhp increase (one per wheel obviously).
She's a 1987 Zermatt Silver NA.
Generally in good mechanical condition but certainly suffering from a lack of recent use, and has been mainly parked up since Covid according to the MOT mileage.
Most of the issues are unsurprisingly perished rubber and seals, and brittle/snapped plastic.
Jobs done so far:
Bloody good wash and vacuum.
Brakes all round fully serviced, the rear right caliper slides were a bit sticky, again due to lack of use, so I bit the bullet and did them all, including replacing the rear pipes (one had an MOT advisory).
New Hankook Kinergy All Seasons.
New number plates and surrounds.
Repaired and replaced all Wipers.
Fitted a period looking Blaupunkt Barcelona DAB/USB in place of the awful Kenwood disco effect head unit.
Repaired the tape cover / armrest lid. Didn't feel like paying the earth for a new one only to break again so I fitted small black piano hinges instead. Looks and works fine for £5.
Repaired the odometer and fitted LED instrument panel lights while I was in the area.
Fixed the horn pad, it was held on by hope, tape and blu-tac.
Popped a new plastic grommet into the Tailgate cable release mechanism so I don't have to keep climbing into the boot.
Repaired the cracked indicator surround.
Jobs to do:
Booked in to the garage to replace the leaky front end seals, going to have the belts replaced at the same time. They've only done about 2000m according to the history (odometer seems to have broken sometime between the 25 and 26 MOT and I have no reason to assume it has done much more than 200m in the year, but they've been on for five years and obviously have oil sat on them, so it just makes sense to have them replaced while its in).
There's an MOT advisory for small exhaust leak but I can't find it. I suspect its been recorded as a catch-all because theres a smell - most likely burnt oil from the back of the dizzy seeping onto the exhaust manifold. I'll get it up on the ramps again after the oil seals repair and have another look.
Fit LHD LED headlamps. I spend a lot of time in Europe, so I needed LHD lamps anyway. Originals were more expensive. On trying to fit them the brackets are all corroded and one of the plastic surround mounts snapped off, so I'm going to replace and repair all the mounts to make swapping the headlamps over a 10 minute plug and play job when I travel.
Wire in an ignition live switched USB Connector to prevent the risk of plugged in items draining the battery if I forget to remove them. This is primarily for the mobile (Waze and Spotify of course), but I'm also fitting a small speedo GPS HUD. It just makes sense, the dial numbers are too small to see and the wheel is in the way, and having a HUD in my modern car makes me appreciate actually looking at the road. I've got a kmh one but will buy a mph too, they're only £15 so I'll fit it on a velcro pad to swap when I do the lights at Calais.
After that, I'm hoping to use her for a few road trips this summer, see if any other issues appear, then get her in for a repaint this winter. She's presentable from 5m away but when you get up close theres lots of areas where the lacquer is starting to peel or the paint is faded (although that in itself is difficult to see due to the amazing properties of Zermatt Silver being almost chameleon like from Silver to Champagne to Gold depending on lighting).
Joined the club, looking forward to sharing Nena's journeys with you all.
Almost forgot! Fitted some matched alloy dustcaps for 4bhp increase (one per wheel obviously).
