Lewis's Moonstone Wagon

[LewisG]

Thought Id make a project thread considering the work my step dad and myself have done on this car. I wanted a reliable, bigish car that was visually appealing and was good on fuel, I had little cash as I'm 19 and on minimum wage and obviously insurance played a big part. I found this car on ebay, 143k on the clock, new brake pads and discs all round, good interior, cambelt changed at 130k and good tyres all round. It was listed as spares and repair because the gearbox was dodgy, the guy said you had to double clutch it to get into 3rd and 4th, although on the test drive it seemed to work fine. Apparently it had recently been serviced, although I checked the engine oil level while I was there and it was really low, didnt notice any leaks. So I bought it knowing it could be repaired. I paid next to nothing for it so wasnt bothered about having to spend money on it. So I drove it home from stevenage to colchester, roughly 2 hour drive which was the first time id drove a car since passing my test lol. Really surprised at how easy it was to drive. Anyway parked it up for a week as didnt want the gearbox to go, in the meantime I located a gearbox that had done 82k so bought it. Took me and my step dad 2 days Literally nothing went right, taking it out wasnt that bad but the replacement gearbox wouldnt go in, it took us 3 hours to just to get the gearbox to line up and slot in, ive never been relieved so much when it slotted in Also replaced the clutch and clutch cable.


F***ed gearbox about to come out






82k gearbox

So yeah, possible the worst weekend of my life but looking back I would do it again, now I know how it comes out, where the bolts are ect.

I Think the cause of the first gearbox not working probably was due to the fact it was bone dry, I literally took the drain plug off and nothing came out lol

That got me on the road, so I could drive to work and back.

Cleaned the car up and this is how it looked





Notice something? The absolutely shot beam? So next was a replacement beam, managed to source one from a GTI breakers in thetford, That was an easy job actually I thought it would be hard to be honest, took me 2-3 hours.



Apologies for the lack of photos, always forget.


All the little problems it had:
Drivers electric window not working - Fixed
Rear Wiper motor Relay - Fixed
Rear bumper bracket snapped - Fixed
Brake light doing its own thing - Turned out to be the bulb

So anyway It was due an MOT, it failed on:
Nearside Registration plate lamp not working
Offside front tyre not fitted in accordance with side wall instructions
Offside brake hose excessively deteriorated

Anyway I took it straight to a tyre place and got a new tyre as it was a winter tyre and quite warn anyway, next I went to ECP and got a brake hose and ordered some LED bulbs from ebay for the number plate lamp.



Looked pretty cool I thought

Back for a re-test and passed! No Advisories so I was very happy.

Next on my list was a set of cyclones, unfortunately for some daft reason I bought these


At first I kinda liked them, then after a few weeks I thought they just looked chavy and didnt suit the car, plus I was getting sick of taking the spacers off everytime.

Eventually got a set of cyclones





Then a really wanted a splitter to finish the front end, got one from JamesG on here



Also you can see my Aero wipers and my mist jets I also bought

Thats it for the moment, I know most of you have already seen this from the 12469963 threads Ive made asking for help ect but I thought it would be a good idea to make a project thread rather then keep making threads. I will update as I go along.
Thanks for reading.[/color]

[LewisG]

How it currently stands after a wax. Also got a mint bonnet and wing from Toms306







Got a mint front bumper and arch liner coming from Jaymes306

[Toms306]

Looking good Lewis.

[LewisG]

Received my front bumper the other day From Jaymes306. After I cleaned it its come up really nice







The only downside is the three tabs on the bottom are missing.

[7057sam]

That bumper looks mint shame they never stay like that

[Eeyore]

I'm finding it stupidly difficult to find good condition bumpers these days that one looks mint!

[LewisG]

Picked up these on sunday, freshly refurbished in a custom anthracite.

[Frosty]

Only just seen this thread, looking good though chap. Needs a little tap with the lowering stick but looking good.

Any plans performance wise?

[Mattcheese31]

Looks good mate, nice to see you saving a car and just getting it nice rather than doing lots of pointless stuff

[LewisG]

Thanks guys.

Recently Ive blanked the EGR
Replaced both turbo hoses(split)

Payday ill be ordering Eibach 30mm springs and Im still deciding if I want to get the windows tinted, just not sure how it will look.

[Frosty]

I think tinted windows work well on estates. The 1s on mine are done and jimbo recently got his 1s done.

[LewisG]

I want to get my front badge in anthracite, chrome looks so tacky, not sure where to go with that though, black masks aswell when I grow some balls and give it a go.

I really like yours, the LED reverse lights interested me as I have trouble reversing in the dark too

[Frosty]

TBH them bulbs haven't made much difference, i think estate reverse light are just rubbish

[Jimbo]

Yeah ill have to agree on that, because the led bulbs worked well on my hatch,
Maybe theres something different about the estate lenses that dont allow as much light through

[LewisG]

I gave the beast a thorough clean, I used Autoglym shampoo then their deep cleanser followed by High Definition wax.
Came up pretty well I think







Next job is mintex dics and pads, HEL braided lines, paint the calipers gold.
Then I can order my tyres and get my anthracite clones fitted!

[7057sam]

Wheels looking great,going be mint when it's all done.

What tryes are you going to run??

[LewisG]

Wheels looking great,going be mint when it's all done.

What tryes are you going to run??

195/55/15s for comfort, goodyear efficient grip performance 

[DeeTurbo]

I didn't realise you did a project thread.

Did you get your lowering springs and how are the new speakers?

[LewisG]

I didn't realise you did a project thread.

Did you get your lowering springs and how are the new speakers?

The springs are on hold at the moment I need to get the brakes and tyres first. Yeah the speakers are great! I'll definitely need a sub and amp though just not sure what brands to go for yet. 

[LewisG]

Okay so finally got round to fitting new brake discs, pads and braided lines. I then got new tyres for the anthracite clones, I went for Goodyear Efficient grip performance 55s, the grip is insane and the car feels so much better to drive.

Bought a new jack and some axle stands too








MOT next month, as far as I'm aware everything is okay. So fingers crossed

[Frosty]

Looking good mate. Hope it all OK for mot

[7057sam]

Wheels looks great

Get some lows on her

[LewisG]

Had it's MOT today...........


Passed with no advisories!!!

Plans this summer:

1. Change lower engine mount, then all 3 would of been changed.
2. Custom cat back exhaust made by Longlife
3. Refurbished Rear Axle
4. Drive shaft seals, Need to get genuine ones this time, pattern ones failed within months

[7057sam]

Well done mate

Always nice when it goes straight through

[Toms306]

Which pattern seals did you get? I've used the Bilstein ones several times without a problem now...

[LewisG]

Which pattern seals did you get?  I've used the Bilstein ones several times without a problem now...

Febi I think

[Toms306]

Well that's odd, not had a problem with mine.