My cheap(ish) 172 Cup

[MAXRUNDOWN]

Yeah, to be honest, it’s looking like this will need to be repainted. At least if it is they will be painting a good bumper and not a damaged one.

As yours was painted whilst it was on the car, how long did they have it for?

They took the bumper off to paint it, but I did leave the car with them. They did the bumper, side strips, and door bullets. I dropped it off on Sunday evening before I went back to work and he had it done by Wednesday

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

It will be a problem for me to leave it with them because of my work and also I’m going to be moving house very soon. I’ll just get their advice and see what they can do.
The underside of my side skirts are really rough so it might be an idea to paint those, but then I’ll be going down the route of asking them to paint the rear bumper and also the boot spoiler, which I’m sure was from a different car as well. It’s never ending lol.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

I dropped my bumper off yesterday with the local body shop and they said that they will match it as close as possible. To make it look perfect they recommended blending everything in but I don’t really want to have paint done on the car and also I have no time to leave the car with them. I’m moving house in the next few days and I work every day so the car is absolutely essential. This is probably the main reason why I’m so picky about any noise or potential problem with the car.

You can read about my latest shenanigans regarding the top engine mount & bracket in the engine section on CS. Sometimes you can make the usual clicking clunking noises from the suspension and I just remember from the past that it’s usually down to the top mounts which probably need checking for tightness. I’ll get that done over the next few weeks and then the car will go into Birchdown for a service, MOT, and a few bits and pieces to be fitted.

My friend said to me yesterday that I should just buy a newer car and not have any worries. That’s really not my bag as I just love this car, even though I feel like I am constantly working on it. I went to the local motor shop yesterday to buy a new set of wipers and the same guy served me who had fitted wipers to it two years ago and he said that he remembered the car. I think that just shows how special these are and how few of them are on the road now.

It’s like an old dog that you love and could never have put down at the vets, but it keeps pissing all over the carpet.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

I picked up my bumper from the body shop today. It looks like they’ve done a really good job on it, but I’m not going to get chance to fit it until the weekend after next. I have a few days off work then and I’ve just moved house, so I’m going to be busy tidying my s**t up mostly. I’ll see if I can spend the day or so having a go at a couple of jobs and fit the bumper. I’ve posted that my current bumper is for sale but given that it has some damage on it and it’s not in the true Mondial Blue colour I may just take the bits off it and sell them separately and then bin the bumper.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Not much to write up about at the mo as the house move and work have taken all of my time. A few jobs/MOT being done in the next few weeks so will update then.

But....a milestone has been reached. It's now just past 140k on the clock and the engine feels great. I'm getting 43mpg going to work and back (M-way at 60 and Manchester traffic mix) and it's not missed a beat. The only issue I have is a strange noise from the exhaust, which is fairly new. It sounds like it's gently touching something on the body when I set off or drive very slowly but the brackets and hangers are new. It'll be looked at soon when it's in for service.

The other thing is some t**t has put a scratch in my back bumper and a few marks on the sides. It could have been done at work but i've no idea TBH. My dads car has some very odd light scratches on the bonnet and passenger side but where he parks it at home you can't get at the passenger side. It could just be a huge coincidence but if someone is damaging the cars we've no idea why. My family have lived in that house for over 62 years and we know the whole street. It could have been done whilst he been shopping and with my marks being spotted we are just putting two and two together. If it continues i'll have to by some kind of camera for my car and use it to check if it is at my parents home. Odd and very sad.

But, 140k and still going strong is pretty cool.

 

[bowen86]

Pain about the damage, especially to both vehicles. Likely a shitty coincidence tbh, given they've lived their so long, unless there's a new neighbour thinking they own the place.

Exhaust could have worked loose. Give the fixings a nip up.

 

[ex-Chinese Dave]

Another day and another big bill....but hopefully the last big one for the next 3 years when the belts are due. Fingers crossed....

So, we had some new bits fitted yesterday. New rad, thermostat, knock sensor, front discs and pads and sump gasket all fitted. The power steering switch was gone (again!) so that was renewed and the exhaust knocking noise was the centre exhaust mount gone (they don't last long it seems!). It also had a 12 month service and an MOT of which it sailed through with no advisories.

New injectors were fitted that are only a few thousand miles old as it was cheaper to buy these at £100 than clean mine. The car returned 47.5 mpg on the way home and that included being sat in traffic on the M56 and M62. I may get a slightly improved MPG but I find out for sure over the next few weeks.

I also had a gear linkage kit fitted. This was a bit of a hit and miss to be honest. The gear change feels better and the loud clunking noise is gone but I can still hear a slight clunk at times, just not the same clunk FFS. Now that the kit has been fitted I think the only thing left is the gear linkage itself that I'll have to try and sort. I need a diagram of the arm from the gear stick under the car to the linkage pin (the bit that was changed) to see if there is anything that can be tightened or re-bushed. There has to be something I can do with it as i've exhausted everything else. But as I said the gear change is much much better now.

I've done a ton of stuff to this car but it was expected after a few weeks of ownership. As it stands I would not get back the investment i've made, but the plan is to keep the car so I'm ok with it. Not sure if the value of these will go up a lot over the next few years but to put it into perspective my mate has just paid £16k for a Yaris that does 76mpg just for his commute and a weekly trip to the hills. I'm using my Cup as a daily and to be fair I know what i'd prefer. How will his car be in 23 years time? I know i'll still be fixing mine in 23 years time.

I've still got stuff to do such as fit the new bumper,repair the heated rear window, replace the seatbelt buttons, some bulbs in the dash etc etc etc so onwards and upwards I say. I love it!

(Some bits will be up for sale soon....bumper, fog surrounds, injectors, washer blanks and whatever else I find)