OMG! What have I done?

[Slammed 66]

So....

I decided I needed to go to sangliers next year for the big meet and what better way to do it than build a car for the weekend.

I'm now realising how stupid the above comment sounds.

It gets worse....

A phase 1.

I haven't had a phase 1 for many years and really fancied a silver one, but when an electric blue popped up I honestly couldn't say no.

Ok, so it had no engine or box. Not the end of the world is it?
The full body kit has been painted. Not to worry, it's all available.
It's at the other end of the country. I can always get a recovery firm to collect it.

These were the answers I came up with as I stubbornly talked myself into buying it.

So here it is as it arrived this morning





So a quick breakdown of costs so far

Car £550
Engine/box £300
Recovery £190
Bodykit £970

So that's £2010

That's without mentioning all the graft that's to be applied or the hidden costs that are still to raise there ugly heads. For example, when it arrived this morning I found out that it has no keys at all. Great. That's another £50 then.

It would have been cheaper and far easier to have just bought the black phase 1 that's for sale on here

Suffice to say that I now feel gutted and a complete tw@

So.. Words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated as I'm already thinking of ways to recoup what I've spent and just buy a working phase 1.

Unhappily yours,

Ross

[Haz]

was talking to martin about this as a px when i was selling my 5, alot to do cosmetically to get it back to oe but didn't appear to be a rot box.
the kit can be repaired/painted back to dark grey/black etc (see josh's thread as i did his as a tester) which could be cheaper if you haven't bought it already?
or tbh, just leave it alone and sort it when its road legal, just concentrate on just what its missing rather than looks otherwise it will turn into a big project.
on the plus side there's a fair bit to do which is more time than parts so will keep you busy while you sell the unwanted bits and hunt around for bargains.
good luck

[Brigsy]

Just paint the kit as haz said get stuck in and it will be up and running in no time, plenty of time before sangliers

[phase i 16 v turbo]

I saw this pop up a while back. Can still get OE decals.

[Penfold aka The Dealer]

Story of my life, got to love impulse buys )

Leave the kit blue, it's not that bad, or just paint it black....

The main thing would be change them ugly wheels!!!

[Slammed 66]

Story of my life, got to love impulse buys )

Leave the kit blue, it's not that bad, or just paint it black....

The main thing would be change them ugly wheels!!!

Well, I've done a deal on my van which includes the phase 1 kit so it would be unfair on everyone to say I don't want it all now though it would probably be smarter.

As for the wheels I've got some 8x15 schmit modern lines which will be going on very shortly.

Oh yeah, other things I noticed.

Passenger seat won't lock into the floor and the backrest won't tilt forward. It's stuck fully reclined.

O/s wing has no side repeater and the n/s does.

Thanks for the positives guys

Ross

[chris]

I am sure u can do it mate it doesnt look to bad why dont you like said above get it running and get an MOT then worry bout cosmetics after. the bodykit can wait keep us updated theres always someone selling something cheap

[Mart]

It'll all be worth it when you're sitting at a Sangliers pub on that Friday night, cold beers on the go, sun beating down on all the cars parked up, having good laughs & banter with us all, looking forward to the event the next day

[Ricardo]

It'll all be worth it when you're sitting at a Sangliers pub on that Friday night, cold beers on the go, sun beating down on all the cars parked up, having good laughs & banter with us all, looking forward to the event the next day

+1

I'll look forward to having a look round it

[jesus in the seat of a 5]

Ross .....

never fret buddy, weve all bought cars , parts etc etc with our hearts and not our heads..., i know i have, my wife allways reminds me....
as for the car bud, well, i think you cant beat a lecky blue ph1, not many on the road etc etc and the colour is the best of any imho... (i am biased}, i have to say , i agree with the other , get an engine in and box, get them running sweet, ditch the alloys for a set of phase 1 rims or cup rims, paint the body kit black, buy the replica oe phase 1 decals, stick them on, clean the ole girl up, mot and enjoy with us in france.

ps im so impressed with your courage im sure youll need to ring me for a cheap set of oe rims and a whole un painted body kit...........

[Tony Walker]

Looks like a good base to start with

[TopCat]

Imagine the feeling when you've got it completed and running & looking great!

That's worth more than any money in my book.

Electric blue is a great colour too! Good luck with it pal.

[Slammed 66]

Very small update but...

It'll be heading to Billy's on Friday for heart transplant operation.
After that operation I should hopefully find myself with a running phase 1.

I'm over the initial shock of the purchase now and looking forward to getting it legal.

Ross

[gtmatt]

I did the same with my car payed as you spent 6000 up to now over 3 years still not done but i enjoy my self 

[rs250nut]

I would try and soda blast the body kit should bring it back to black

[Slammed 66]

Quick update:

Been over to Manchester tonight to collect the car from billy after having the new engine and box fitted.

Still a fair bit to do on it before I can declare it as a full runner but all the hard work is done now.

My jobs for the next few weeks are:

Oil and filter change
Replace broken fuel pump
Fit header tank and all coolant and boost hoses
Fit my pace cooler but I'd like to look for a charge cooler at some point.
Change gear oil
Try and get a new alarm fob as the car is fitted with an alarm/immobiliser and no keys or alarm fob were supplied with the car

But it's a lot closer than I would have got it in the limited time available so thanks billy

In the meantime have a couple of pics of the coolest way to collect a 5












Cheers

Ross

[Tony Walker]

[Big Steve - Raider]

Ross, get that body kit painted and she'll soon be looking sweet as!

As Mart says, when you're supping Les Biers in Sanglers you'll be chuffed!

[Slammed 66]

Ross, get that body kit painted and she'll soon be looking sweet as!

As Mart says, when you're supping Les Biers in Sanglers you'll be chuffed!

No need to paint the kit now Steve as I've been promised an absolutely mint kit as part of the deal on my van, minus the rear bumper but I've got a good phase 1 rear bumper that I'm going to make mint anyway.

I'm expecting lots of nasty surprises along the way with this car but, a chilled local beer in the French countryside looks like a real possibility now so I'm finally getting motivated.

Going to have to ring mike after Christmas and get some bits ordered


Ross

[Slammed 66]

Went down the unit today to get a look at it in daylight.

There seems to be a hell of a lot to get done but I made a short list to get me started (not including any bodywork)



Engine all in and nearly sorted




Also fitted some headlights to make it look a little more complete







That's all for today

[westy94]

I am sure this is my old phase 1 reg looks so familiar

[Slammed 66]

Well, what a strange day!

Got down the barn earlier with the intention of plumbing the car up and trying to get it running. I'd been out to pick up some parts from a local guy that I'd need for the operation such as a new fuel pump relay and a reserve tank pump.

Put the car on the ramp and got cracking with sorting the numerous fuel leaks. With that done I dropped the car down and set to with the coolant and boost hoses. Totally wrecked a samco top hose as the bleed screw tore itself out of the hose but luckily I had a spare top hose. Had to make up some hoses that were missing from old spare ones but got there in the end.

Finally got to the point of starting the car and.....








It fired up! On 3 cylinders but it soon went on to 4.

Here, I'll prove it!


http://youtu.be/lQh-bbKhHMA



This made me all

I then noticed that my temp gauge wasn't doing anything. The temp sensor is wired up so I guess it's probably knackered. Cooling fan never came on but I don't know if the car ever got to full temp anyway so that's a job for another day.

This all sounds great but after the engine was fitted I had my suspicions as to the the state of the headgasket. I paid for the engine and box being told that it was 100% fine and tested. I asked for a vid of it at full temp to see the fan cutting in and never got one but I assumed it would still be ok. After the engine was fitted I was told " obviously there's no garauntee with the engine, it's sold as seen" and "I'm not saying the headgasket has gone but if it has I'll do it for you cheaply" alarm bells rang at this point and I was instantly dreading the day when I'd fire it up.

As it turns out, I think there's a fair chance the headgasket has gone

There was a fair bit of scum appearing in the header tank and the oil cap that was clean before the first fire up had a creamy layer after 5 minutes running.





Later on I swear I had droplets of water forming under the oil cap whilst running.

I'm not going to go any further with it until I get the temp gauge working again but let's just say, I'm pissed off to say the least!


With my time being so limited and funds too I think that this car seeing Sangliers this year just isn't going to happen

Next year it should though and I'm actually thinking of pulling the engine and box out and having someone do a B18FT conversion on it for me instead.

[Tony Walker]

As its been stood water on the caps fine it really needs to be driven and or idled for hours to be sure it's not condensation.obviously temp sensor and rad fan loom relay sensor need to be sorted and or checked. I'd take the thermostat out for now just running up to test rad and sensor. Its easy to throw it back in.

[Slammed 66]

I took the stat out before even firing it tony. Hopefully it's just the temp sensor that's stopping the gauge from working.

[fossie]

I took the stat out before even firing it tony. Hopefully it's just the temp sensor that's stopping the gauge from working.

My wires on the sensor were goosed on mine buddy. Had the same problem. Works fine with a bit of new wiring fella

[R5MJH]

check piston comps mate may be worth seeing what they are

[rs250nut]

Run a block/sniff test before you start taking things apart.

[Dave Reed]

Easy enough to sort a h/g out.. I've got a unused spare in the garage you can have for free (just cover the postage).. So get testing and hopefully it ain't, but if it is then its yours for free as said

[LiamR]

Easy enough to sort a h/g out.. I've got a unused spare in the garage you can have for free (just cover the postage).. So get testing and hopefully it ain't, but if it is then its yours for free as said

The above is the owners club at its best ! very impressed Dave

[Slammed 66]

Easy enough to sort a h/g out.. I've got a unused spare in the garage you can have for free (just cover the postage).. So get testing and hopefully it ain't, but if it is then its yours for free as said

Big thanks Dave

I won't know for sure until I've done some tests but if it is worst case scenario then I shall certainly take you up on your offer.

Thanks again dude, I really appreciate that

Ross

[Dave Reed]

Big thanks Dave

I won't know for sure until I've done some tests but if it is worst case scenario then I shall certainly take you up on your offer.

Thanks again dude, I really appreciate that

Ross

No worries Ross.. Just gis a shout mate

[DaveL485]

Starting on 3 and picking up after a few revolutions is a symptom of HG....take care....

[Slammed 66]

Yeah I'm fairly sure that headgasket is the issue but still not run a compression test yet. In the video you can see a fair bit of steam through the awful exhaust pipes. It was a fairly warm day when the vid was taken and it had been running 10 mins by that point so I wouldn't have expected to see any.

[Slammed 66]

Been down the unit again to do a compression test. Got everything rigged up and turned the car over and got no compression result what so ever. Bloody cheap compression tester that I bought from a different forum the other year leaks and won't record

So I still don't know what the state of the engine is but the more time that passes, the more I think about having my old 'europarts' engine rebuilt or going for a B18 transplant.

It certainly won't be making it to sangliers this year but that just gives me more time to get it right for next year instead

I also took my 8x15 schmitt rims down with me to try out. They really need a refurb but look the nuts in my blinkered opinion.



Before:






After:














Deffinately need to trim the rear arches and edge of the bumper a little though

[chris]

looks loads better allready mate i love them wheels on it.

[r5_scotty]

the same wheels as phil has. schmidtssssssssssssss

[B18ftMOJO5]

Wheels make the car. Looks nice mate.

[Brigsy]

Looks way better with the new rims on

[dangerous dave]

Like the rims, kinda gives me an idea of what mine will look like in blue with azevs..

[Tony Walker]

Wheels transform the car

[Chris Beer]

Cannot believe how much of a winner you have hit with trying those wheels on the 5 !

Looks ****ing awesome man !

[Romil Davda]

Its a real shame you can't make it to Sangliers with this baby... Great work done so far, keep it up Ross