Not much of a 'project' thread for this car, however just thought i'd make a thread during the 'cleandown' i'll be doing on this car. Will just be used as a daily,
Purchased it off ebay for £266, picked it up from hampshire, drove it back up to Redcar , around 298 miles on the way back, the needle has just got past half way on the gauge so pretty good on fuel, It may be a 40 litre tank mind compared to my old diesel which was a 30 litre (which used to get around 480 miles to a tank i may add).
Reason i've decided to get a forte is because my diesel blew a head gasket, needed new tyres, and MOT and tax, the shell is completely rotten and mainly filled with expanding foam It only cost me £200, and would cost more to get it through a test and back on the road than it would to just replace it.. Plus this forte was cheap enough.
the 3 Door AX's are far better on a run also, with the windows down on the 5 door AX's i found i got air in my face, where as on the 3 Doors the air was entering the car behind me so i didnt need to squint while driving due to air moving diractly into my eyes >_<
Electric windows, Remote central locking, a GT kit which is pretty cool..
Anyway, I will be polishing this on Sunday, plans are: Claybar, borrow a machine polisher and give it a good polish and use a good wax on it - product brand yet to be decided on!
The paintwork is very dull, however the actual bodywork has the be one of the BEST ax's i have ever seen. Even if it wasnt may car - i would be saying the same thing.
The arches are immaculate, all the GT kit is all original and looks as though its never been off.
The wishbones look brand new, bumper mounts are all absolutley pristine.
Took a few pictures earlier, sorry for the poor quality, just thought i'd share while im on here.. Ill take some better pictures on Sunday hopefully.
Front Bumper mount.. There is absolutley no rust, just dried up mud/road crap.
Wishbones look brand new after running a finger over them to clean crap off.
.. Back arches are the same, no rust at all - just road crap! All the kit mounts are mint too!
The bits that stick out at the end of the sills are pristine too!
.. Rear bumper mount..
I'll get them cleaned out and take some pictures just for reference.
Shame to use it as a runabout really as it really has to be one of the best base shells to start a VTS conversion with! Absolutley mint.
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Started cleaning the engine bay down today.
Is rather crying out for my spare 16v engine i have in the garage haha. Fuel econemy will provail this time though
Some pictures anyway, sorry for poor light. Will get some better ones tomorrow or by next weekend.
On axle stands so i can clean arches and get to the bulkhead easier as well as change driveshafts (one is knackered), possibly a wheel bearing too will have to see.
better shot of those bumper mounts i was talking about
Will probably paint one or two bits in the bay for the crack as they are a little too rough for my liking. Shouldnt take long.
New plugs, leads, oil, filter, coolant etc coming up too.
On the way home it was running a little too hot for my liking (but holding temp). The rad was unbelieveably caked up with crap inside. Took ages to flush it out with so it looked clean. Should be fine now, will check the thermostat make sure thats not sticking open, possibly renew it anyway as they are only cheap.