TGPlayer1
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2016
- Messages
- 2
Welcome to my thread about a cheap purchase born out of necessity that turned into a relatively expensive project, as they so often do.
So let's start at the beginning, which was August 2015, when I was in need of a daily driver as my current car, a track orientated Ford Puma, had become far too impractical to use everyday. I struck gold one day when I came across this little gem. It ticked all the right boxes - small engine for insurance, auto for daily comfort, SE spec and unbeatable Honda reliability. When I found out it was going for £100 I didn't waste a moment and snapped it up. It had a few months MOT, a good wedge of service receipts, 91K on the clock and it drove spot on. All it needed was one tyre changing so I bunged the spare on to keep me legal until I got some nicer alloys.
I didn't realise at the time but it seems the leather seats are a very rare find.
It's got it's fair share of battle scars, but I knew I'd probably add a few so I didn't care, it's character!
The first jobs on my list were to fit new discs and pads on the front and a new cambelt.
Being a Honda it didn't take very long and I could set about the paintwork, as it needed polishing.
All shiny
. Also you can see my first upgrade - MG Hairpin 16x6.5J alloys, with new rubber all round. I also picked up a Sony Bluetooth head unit not long after this.
These tyres, well two of them, didn't last very long, as a high speed mounting of the curb saw the end of a couple after just 4 months.
So two more new tyres went on, and to celebrate I did this about a month later
Turns out EJ9s aren't so great at off-roading, so I had to get a Land Rover to tow me out after three hours.
After that came the MOT fail, as both trailing arm bushes were knackered - the big ones - and were a bastarding nightmare to get out. Eventually I managed but both the arms ended up getting bent, sending the tracking way out, and the one LCA bush wouldn't come, so I had to do this
Anyway it got bodged back together and it passed the MOT, but the massive amount of toe-in at the back meant my rear tyres wore out in no time, so I bought some adjustable toe arms and had it laser aligned.
I've jumped forward a bit here, missing the 40mm suspension drop, Skoda-sourced front lip and exhaust mods.
It's from a 2013 Fabia if anybody is interested and fits perfectly, it just needs riveting on. Also you can see I matt blacked the grill, and I did the rear badge too.
As for the exhaust I fitted a decat pipe and a universal Hornet back box with 3" tip - it's fecking LOUD and I love it, but my neighbours don't, or my girlfriend, or my parents.
Strangely, I don't have any pictures of it on the car, nor any of it on the current wheels and winter tyres, so I'll do a couple for completeness. I also bought a set of MG Multispoke 17s for next summer, snatching them up at a mere £40 I am well chuffed. No usable tyres on them but I did a quick test fit and I liked what I saw.
Ta ta for now and I look forward to becoming a regular member of the forum.
So let's start at the beginning, which was August 2015, when I was in need of a daily driver as my current car, a track orientated Ford Puma, had become far too impractical to use everyday. I struck gold one day when I came across this little gem. It ticked all the right boxes - small engine for insurance, auto for daily comfort, SE spec and unbeatable Honda reliability. When I found out it was going for £100 I didn't waste a moment and snapped it up. It had a few months MOT, a good wedge of service receipts, 91K on the clock and it drove spot on. All it needed was one tyre changing so I bunged the spare on to keep me legal until I got some nicer alloys.
I didn't realise at the time but it seems the leather seats are a very rare find.
It's got it's fair share of battle scars, but I knew I'd probably add a few so I didn't care, it's character!
The first jobs on my list were to fit new discs and pads on the front and a new cambelt.
Being a Honda it didn't take very long and I could set about the paintwork, as it needed polishing.
All shiny
. Also you can see my first upgrade - MG Hairpin 16x6.5J alloys, with new rubber all round. I also picked up a Sony Bluetooth head unit not long after this.
These tyres, well two of them, didn't last very long, as a high speed mounting of the curb saw the end of a couple after just 4 months.
So two more new tyres went on, and to celebrate I did this about a month later
Turns out EJ9s aren't so great at off-roading, so I had to get a Land Rover to tow me out after three hours.
After that came the MOT fail, as both trailing arm bushes were knackered - the big ones - and were a bastarding nightmare to get out. Eventually I managed but both the arms ended up getting bent, sending the tracking way out, and the one LCA bush wouldn't come, so I had to do this
Anyway it got bodged back together and it passed the MOT, but the massive amount of toe-in at the back meant my rear tyres wore out in no time, so I bought some adjustable toe arms and had it laser aligned.
I've jumped forward a bit here, missing the 40mm suspension drop, Skoda-sourced front lip and exhaust mods.
It's from a 2013 Fabia if anybody is interested and fits perfectly, it just needs riveting on. Also you can see I matt blacked the grill, and I did the rear badge too.
As for the exhaust I fitted a decat pipe and a universal Hornet back box with 3" tip - it's fecking LOUD and I love it, but my neighbours don't, or my girlfriend, or my parents.
Strangely, I don't have any pictures of it on the car, nor any of it on the current wheels and winter tyres, so I'll do a couple for completeness. I also bought a set of MG Multispoke 17s for next summer, snatching them up at a mere £40 I am well chuffed. No usable tyres on them but I did a quick test fit and I liked what I saw.
Ta ta for now and I look forward to becoming a regular member of the forum.