el 3.2S

Was planning to drain coolant and start to fit new water pump, thermostat and belt but decided instead to do the "easier" job of changing gearbox oil. Got all the parts removed in order to gain access to fill and drain plugs and then found that I could not shift the fill one. Going to buy a better 10mm hex fitting tomorrow and try a longer bar for more leverage - what could possibly go wrong?

Looks warmer than 4c, there is a chap in shorts!

Small trip to town for some Christmas shopping. Great to use the car again despite coolant tank crack. Bit of venting via cap, once there and once home again and seem to have not lost any liquid. Slightly better power to weight ratio too now due to all carpet etc stripped out of boot lol 

Quick pic on way home at top of the road as nice sunset:

Number plate looks a bit strange, as flash must have been on.

On 5 de diciembre de 2017 at 9:23 PM, JohnnyUK said:

If you release the coolant cap after a short trip that will help stop the tank expanding... My replacement 2nd hand tank was £40 and included the later 04 cap. try and buy the "whitest" tank if you do. 

Just saw this. Will try doing that with the cap, as only ever really do short trips anyway. That was a bargain for the tank and cap.  I paid about £20 for an 04 cap recently. Risky buying a used tank though, knowing my luck I would probably buy a duff one.

I had a nice drive in it for the first time in ages, despite the coolant leak. Had plenty distilled water on standby in the boot. Drove steadily (mostly) coupled with the lower temperatures these days, meant I dod not loose too much at all.

Fitted led lights in the doors and managed to blow the fuse due to a bent contact. Got that all sorted then realised there is a light by the mirror too - only had the car 3 years lol. Will have to get one for there now too.

Got a scare when returning to my car in the car park this morning. There was a small lake of coolant underneath it and it was still coming out from right side of the engine when I arrived. Was not quite sure how to proceed but decided to buy some distilled water (10 litres lol). Only took 0,5 litres to get back up to the max line - looked like a lot more had leaked out though? Drove fairly sedately home without incident. Some google searches indicated it may be the coolant cap causing the problem. Mine is an old one with the number ending in 0, so went to the dealer and bought a new one which ends in 4. Hoping that this €20 investment cures it.

50 minutes ago, Patt said:

Top tip of the day - if you order up the rubber screw holders that secure the covers under the frunk, ie the two stupidly long screws you need to undo to check your drain holes - the rubber bits the screws go into....they will do the same job and are less likely to go walk abouts too...

from a man who has been there ;-)

Thanks for that will keep it in mind, already ordered replacements. It is a daft design, hopefully I manage, or the blue tac may become a permanent fixture .

Received my new clear LED middle brake light today. Removed the old one and promptly lost the two rubber mounting sleeves as they fell down the back somewhere never to be seen again.  After this, I did some reading on the internet and found out to take care during removal....... dooohhh. Currently held on by two lumps of hard working blue tac, doing a great job. Went to the dealers and ordered two replacements.

Got my new rear spoiler into the paint shop, they quoted 30€ all in, so not too bad.

Currently out in the garage cleaning the interior. Permanent roof down motoring and the strong winds of late have dumped large amounts of dust and powder over everything. Now where is the Gliptone.....

This evening, I removed the tombstone like standard rear spoiler and fitted a Chinese (lol) Cayman style one. More or less got it sitting right. Hopefully get it painted next week. Incredible delivery time, China to rural Spain in 6 days.

Just bought a clear middle brake light. Look forward to getting home and fitting it, together with the spoiler.

Not physically done anything as thousands of km away at work but have bought a small wing type rear spoiler to fit in place of the tombstone thing. Got in on USA  E Bay and it is coming from China lol.

23 minutes ago, CarlM said:

Rain in Spain?! Sounds like an excuse for a public holiday!! Mind you I remember that when it rains it really rains heavy, my Mum used to have a place in Mojacar and on the rare occasion of rain it bucketed down 

I've not had mine out of the garage for a week now, dull and drizzle over my way☹️

Actually there has been more rain than usual this winter which is good for reservoir water levels etc as last few years have been dry. Still not a very common occurrence and when it happens it always makes the news. This is often due to car accidents etc as they continue to tailgate etc and generally drive like a cross between Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, even in the worst weather conditions. Thank goodness it never snows down our way. 

It is often extremely heavy when it does rain and infrastructure does not cope very well. Had no internet for about 12 hrs on Friday. 

55 minutes ago, CarlM said:

Had my first look in the engine compartment since I got the car last November, flicked a detailing brush around to redistribute the dust, hovered the carpet and put it all back together again!?

Hahaha I know that feeling. Think it was about a year before I saw the engine in my car. Possibly managed a bit more as actually removed some dust and checked the air filter, before reassembly.

Today and for last 3 days my car has not left my garage due to rain. This makes the access track to my house, really muddy and more suited to a 4x4.

6 hours ago, boxtaboy said:

What's the difference between the top and bottom pic? I don't see any difference. 

Was the £14 to get the bonnet opened?

My daughter is over just now so we took a little drive to the Mirador Hotel for coffee this morning. Nice twisty road about 20 mins inland.

Up at 06:00 hrs and into Malaga for the ITV (MOT) at 07:19hrs. Rather annoyingly my car failed on the tinted side windows. The very same ones that passed no problem last year. It is such a subjective test more based on how your vehicle conforms to standard spec or homologation. I have had many run ins with them with another car I have (exhaust, valence, suspension, air filter, spoiler etc) so the experience is not new. The widow tints were fitted by the previous owner and were of a subtle shade and of good quality. I would not have fitted them but I grew to like them.

Got home and ripped them off, then the fun started trying to remove the glue. A combination of acetone and insect spray with a large dose of elbow grease eventually did the trick

New ITV (just to check the windows) booked for 08:36 hrs tomorrow, so bit of a lie in lol. 

Guess I should be grateful they never picked up on the rear under spoiler which I fitted, as they would take a dim view of that.