My first estate, but second 306.

[me-tm]

So, I've had an eventful week.

My old ph1 Bianca XLdt 5dr spat out a conrod on Wednesday, but it was running about 24psi for at least 2 years, and was generally a bit of a heap.

I also sold my MX-5 on Thursday for £1450.

Yesterday, I spent £770 of that on this...





Ph3 HDi estate LX.
Yeah, ok, it doesn't have the leather seats of the Meridian, but I don't care. It still has electric front windows, electric mirrors and air con. This car is worlds apart from my old ph1. It's quiet and refined, the gearchange actually feels like a gearbox, not a broomstick in a bowl of porridge, the brakes actually work, and it actually handles instead of wallowing about the place!

It's sitting at 110k miles, with the timing belt done at 89k, and a refurbed rear axle fitted only 3k miles ago!

The exterior is a wee bit scabby and the driver's side wing looks to have been resprayed quite badly at some point (I may just replace the whole thing) and the left-hand foglight in the front bumper needs replaced. However, the interior is immaculate.

Oh yeah. The rear wiper was removed by the previous owner due to it having packed in. I might just leave it. Looks quite cool de-wipered.

My progress so far:
- Removed the gash wheel trims
- Debadged the doors and the tailgate
- Fitted my own head unit and door speakers
- Washed / waxed it

Plans:
- Possibly replace driver's side wing, front bumper and maybe both headlights (the lenses are a little bit scratched)
- Replace left-hand foglight
- Source some alloys for it. The steelies on it have snow tyres, so I'll keep hold of them for the winter. Oh yes, those are 15" steelies on it.
- Maaaaybe a remap in future, but I find it alright anyway

[me-tm]

Look what I found in the scrap yard!



I whipped the Xsara mist jets off it and stuck them on my estate though.

I also got a ph3 passenger headlight, because the one on my estate is a bit scratched up. I'll fit that after this cup of tea.

Actually, the car I took the headlight from is the same Diablo Red ph3 that I got that bonnet hinge on my ph1 from!

One other bit of progress on the estate - I tightened the throttle cable to eliminate the horrible deadzone on it. I can now heel-toe successfully!

[adamm306]

looks nice mate wouldnt mind a 'state one day

[me-tm]

Right, so I have a question for everybody.

How the hell do you remove the foglamps from the front of a ph3?! I've never owned one before, and was poking and prodding at one in the scrappy this morning and had absolutely no idea!

[C2K]

There are 3 hex headed screws that attach it to the bumper. Two horizontal ones at the top and a vertical one at the bottom.

[Jonny81191]

Quicker to remove the bumper, at which point it's obvious

[Curt]

Why'd you sell the '5? You seemed fairly smitten on Nutz

[me-tm]

Why'd you sell the '5? You seemed fairly smitten on Nutz

As nice as they are, it was utter shite on fuel, and I'm now commuting 13 miles each way to a (currently) lower paid job. It was also a bit noisy and uncomfortable. Yeah, on the right road it was awesome when you could open it up, but when can you do that? Not very often. The rest of the time it just irritated me.
This is like a living room on wheels in comparison!

[me-tm]

Well, I said I wasn't going to get Cyclones...



So I didn't!

[Tyronnster]

Look what I found in the scrap yard!



I whipped the Xsara mist jets off it and stuck them on my estate though.

I also got a ph3 passenger headlight, because the one on my estate is a bit scratched up. I'll fit that after this cup of tea.

Actually, the car I took the headlight from is the same Diablo Red ph3 that I got that bonnet hinge on my ph1 from!

One other bit of progress on the estate - I tightened the throttle cable to eliminate the horrible deadzone on it. I can now heel-toe successfully!

Is that a Bosch I see

[Piggy]

another moonshine fwend

[samass]

looks pretty good that mate, whereabouts in aberdeen are you? i'm only in stonehaven atm...

[cwspellowe]

looks pretty good that mate, whereabouts in aberdeen are you? i'm only in stonehaven atm...

To Knockhill! WITH ALL THE ESTATES!

[samass]

private trackday??

[cwspellowe]

Grab the tea trays. Private estate FWD drift day.

[samass]

i'll just take the tyres off my rear wheels, that'll do the trick, create some nice tracks for the bikers too

[me-tm]

NO WAI. Somebody local!

I'm in the Woodside bit of town, so north of the city centre. Stonehaven's only a stone's throw away though (unintentional pun!)

Any idea how to remove a wing and a bumper then? Never done that before. I've got a replacement wing here and I'm waiting for some front fogs from Jammapic to come through the post.

[samass]

I'm not technically a local, but I am for the time being!!

no idea where that is lol, but cant be more than 45 mins away, right?

yeah, piece of piss, bumper is a few 13mm bolts under the arch liners, and wings are a few ten mm bolts here and there, and a couple of rivets

[me-tm]

Definitely not 45 minutes away.
What you doing in Stonehaven anyway?

[samass]

oh right haha

I'm just up for the summer, my lease ended on my place down south and my sister lives up here, bro in law's dad sorted me out with a job in laurencekirk, free rent and a job ftw

[me-tm]

I meant definitely not 45 minutes away as in it's probably less.
The more I think about it though, you're probably right, as to get there I need to get through town first.

You don't happen to have the implements necessary to remap an HDi, do you? (long shot, I know)

[samass]

ah gotcha, and yep, lack of bypass ftl!!

unfortunately not, I could 'remap' a DT tho

[me-tm]

Pah!

I know how to tune a DT. Did a bosch conversion on my old one! It was running a good 24psi for a couple of years before throwing a rod...

Might pop down to Stonehaven to meet you at some point though. See if I can enlist your help with bumpers and wings.

Actually, I have a question. How hard is it to reprogramme a ph3 key fob? I only have one key for this car, so if I could get a blank key blade (anybody know where?) and a second-hand fob I'd be sorted for a spare.

[samass]

yeah, do it man! or i might come up to you, not too sure how happy my bro in law would be about having another car being worked on on his drive

umm, dunno, there's a guide somewhere, or Niall knows

[Toms306]

I'm not technically a local, but I am for the time being!!

no idea where that is lol, but cant be more than 45 mins away, right?

yeah, piece of piss, bumper is a few 13mm bolts under the arch liners, and wings are a few ten mm bolts here and there, and a couple of rivets

Bumper is also 10mm bolts. 4 of them. Will be easier to remove the washer bottle first, unless its nuts are rusted in like both of my HDis...

And the wings use 10mms and a 13mm at the slam panel, and a couple of rivets as you say.

Not difficult though, hardest bit is the top bolt in the wing inside the wheel arch...literally no access lol. Although you only have to undo that one a bit, the bracket has a cutout so the wing slides off after the bolt is loosened.

[me-tm]

It had to be done...

I've also got a Galletto on order. Mwuhahahahaaaaaa

[me-tm]

So I'm in a tight spot with regards to remapping this.

I've got the Galletto cable, but the software CD is cracked.

Anybody got the Galletto 1260 software they could email me or something? PM me if you do, pleeeease?

[me-tm]

Stage 1 map successful.

How can I sum it up?

This might do:

The new front tyres I've booked for Saturday morning are entirely justified now.

[Midnightclub]

Nicely done mate, getting there

[me-tm]

So, I have absolutely zero knowledge when it comes to detailing. Can I get some info / advice on it?

My car has a few small, very shallow scratches on it. I reckon the paint is recoverable if I had the knowledge to.

So, my question is, what products should I get and how do I use them?