Sam's '98 XSi - Irene

[samass]

Here she is, in an old photo, before i even got her on the road



1998, 2.0l 16v XSi 5 door, with 97k on the clock.

My sister had her before I did, and after a few months the cambelt snapped so she sat at the garage for the best part of a year before we finally got her towed back to mine. Original plan was to break her for parts and try get back the money we paid for her, but then I found a cheap engine and gearbox, complete for £150.

no brainer really, out with the old, in with the new;





Did the sensible thing of a full service on the engine before i dropped it in, plugs, cambelt, oil, etc,etc, chose the better of the two clutches aswell.

Took about a week, fitting it in around uni and that, did new wishbones, handbrake cables, RO/S caliper, front discs and pads, fresh brake fluid and she was ready to go!
Got her through the MOT second time round, needed a new indicator bulb, and that was it!

That was all back in may/june of last year, and I drove her up to scotland the weekend after the mot with no issues!

So as it stands, totally standard other than I removed the grill from the front grill, it was all broken and looked shit.

Shes my daily, which is a biiit pricey, but ho hum, shes quick and comfy!

Plans as and when I can afford, are crystals, leccy windows in the back, lowered a bit, and I've always wanted yellow tinted fogs and headlights, so I might just do that come payday... also gunna wire in some extra boot lights, want to be able to see what im doing back there!

[Foxy-jim]

Looks good mate! Not sure on the colour but fair play for rebuilding her! Must have beenfun haha.

[samass]

cheers man!
yeah it was interesting, first time id done anything that major to a car, good learning opportunity!
i know what you mean, the colour isn't what id have chosen, bianca is what i want! but it has grown on me, and does look good in the sun when its clean!

[Niall]

Looks good mate. Always a good learning curve changing an engine!
Needs a ph3 front bumper.

[samass]

cheers man, yep, pretty steep too!

hmmmm i dooo like the ph3 bumper... but i also like the ph2! decisions, decisions...

[Niall]

cheers man, yep, pretty steep too!

hmmmm i dooo like the ph3 bumper... but i also like the ph2! decisions, decisions...

I've always thought the ph3 bumper was sportier (makes sense seeing as they put it on the sporty 306s in ph2). Your car though!
Oh and I think I know where you live now. Just round the corner from Penrhyn road campus arnt you?

[samass]

very true, does look awesome, always had a soft spot for black plastic on the bumpers... im a bit weird tho haha

nope, up the other end, know where dominoes is? about a mile down the road off that round about towards Ham

[Niall]

Couldn't of been more wrong then! Haha
Ve always had a soft spot for gloss black bump strips. Would look great I reckon!

[samass]

haha could have been, if i was still living at robin hood!

nahhh satin black FTW!

[Foxy-jim]

Seeing as you like dumping yourself in at the deep end, why dont you give a respray a go on it! Could do it bianca then!

[samass]

Seeing as you like dumping yourself in at the deep end, why dont you give a respray a go on it! Could do it bianca then!

damn, don't put silly (read: awesome) ideas in my head, my bank can't take them!

[Foxy-jim]

Ok im sorry...go on do it!

[samass]

Ok im sorry...go on do it!

maaaaybe one day, but for now, there is still a big enough list of knocks and clunks and dent and dings and other annoying maintainence shizz before i can attack it and make it look better

on that note, had to replace the ICV this week, idled at 2k rpm, gay.

[Foxy-jim]

A nice and economical idle then haha.

[samass]

so, got the idle sorted, broke the foglights. blah blah, more of that later

but, today wasn't raining, hurrah! so the bitch got cleaned






must have used about 6 different products, and it took about 3.5 hours.

really not happy with the paint tho, so many chips and scratches and swirl marks and ugh

polished the bonnet tho, doesn't look too bad really, but i forgot to take a picture... ah well

C&Cs welcome as always!

[Toby]

Nice and shiny

[Niall]

Bung us a few drinks for the materials and your welcome to come and use my polishing mop

[declantg]

Respray it diablo?

[samass]

i actually have a mop under my bed.... but no proper paste, id just be silly and use Tcut [only joking...]

don't be silly... if it gets resprayed [which it won't] it'll be some sort of ice white

[Foxy-jim]

Aren't you doing the respray? Hahaha.

[samass]

hahahahaha
please, like i cana fford a respray! i can barely afford to drive it right now!
id be more likely to buy an already white [or black], tidier car first. too many dents and shit on this, cleaning just brought them all to my attention again!

[Foxy-jim]

Get looking for a new one then!

[samass]

got some presents in the post...

[samass]

so, just finished these off...



im pretty happy with how they came out tbh! i had no idea what i was doing, and had never done it before, but ive ALWAYS wanted yellow tinted headlights, possibly ever since james may had that citroen thing on the classic car rally they did a while back...
anyhoo, the finish isnt great up close, a few bubbles, but you cant see them in the pic, so whaaatever!

so, what do you guys think? ill get them on the car tomorrow hopefully, and then post more pics.

[4WayDiablo]

Dont look too bad. It actually looks like a camera effect! Next question what do they look like on the car :-)

[samass]

haha yeah it does, first few pics i took made the whole room look yellow, they actually look a bit more vivid irl, but my phone is shit, in every way!
i know dude, i hope they look good! i reckon it could go either way...

[4WayDiablo]

I recon it could look good! Was it a spray?

[samass]

i think so too! in my head it looks good, has done for years!

nah this vinyl film stuff, easier to reverse if it looks shit!

[4WayDiablo]

Even better! I would have got some but keeping mine standard atm

[samass]

yeah dude, always like a safety net!
furry muff, any particular reason?