Bianca Ratlye

[C2K]

Bit and run?

To be honest, I lost the love for the TVR long time ago. It wasn't as involving to drive as i'd have hoped plus you couldn't take it/park it anywhere and every arsehole from here to kingdom come wanted to race you - it gets a bit tiresome, i prefer gunning this thing 10/10ths knowing if break something it'll cost a few quid to fix and not hundreds.

The purpose of buying the golf was to enjoy my savings on a daily basis, rather than have a garage queen that was constantly in the way. I love it tbh, it's comfy, quiet, goes well, has all the toys I could hope for and makes for a very nice daily driver. Plus the Dynaudio is awesome.

that said, if i get a job in South Africa in a few years I shall be obtaining a 996 911 GT3RS 3.6 in White or Orange.

[C.A.R.]

'Hit and run' my phone decided to autocorrect it

You never know, it may well have been bitten by a big blue car?!

Yea to be honest when I rocked up at yours to hassle you with my clutch you didn't seem overly proud of the TVR! You just seemed kinda 'meh' about it, whereas I was awestruck. Can see where you're coming from though with the whole ownership issues, can imagine that being a pain.

Do you mean 997? The 996 GT3 was the one which was typically white with either blue or red wheels and decals/wing. The 997 was the orange/lairy green one :p I wouldn't turn either down though. I'm a 993 fan myself, a GT2 sits in my dream garage, but a Turbo with the wide arch kit is much more attainable these days...

[Ruan]

Plus the Dynaudio is awesome.

Dynaudio fweinds!

[C2K]

Last night it lashed it down, so all I did was order some replacement slimline fans since a reputable dealer who built the car my equipment came from managed to fit two Spal blowers to the back of the rad... I kind of need this to work in conjunction with airflow if I intend to use it on a cooldown lap..

Tonight I found a spot of time after work to introduce the car to my friend Mr Clay:



Wore out half a clay bar in terms of maximum times you could fold over, with it repeatedly looking like this:



Since I then needed to hose the car down, I quickly managed to get some Auto Finesse Citrus Power Bug and Grime remover all around the boot shut (as brown crap comes out every time i pressure wash the car) and all around the rear 3/4 windows and petrol flap.



Before:


After:


That does me for tonight - took it for a little drive and all seems ok still, taking i to work tomorrow to show it off (whilst it's working lol). It's still early days and obviously will take some time to ensure i'm out of the woods.

[Alee83]

Looks good!! That citrus stuff looks good. May have to invest in some of that...

[C2K]

It's quite useful stuff, right concentraion for attacking the sort of ming you find accumulating in shuts - spray on and agitate with a litle brush and it works a treat.

[C.A.R.]

I have green / brown ming in my roof gutter strips, stuck along the top edge of the spoiler and all around the tailgate glass like in your picture.

I've just been paid. Time to buy some new gloop!

[C2K]

It's annoying to say the least. This car is a loooooooooooooong way from looking respectable, but it's all about finding the time to do stuff to it. Got a busy week ahead so it probably won't go very far.

It did make it to work this morning so all the other engineers have been having a nose this morning at my shed.

[Ruan]

Dynaudio is winrar. Epic quality sounds packaged in an OEM setup. Really finishes the car off nicely in terms of being a nice place to be!

I know right!

Problem is now, I've been totally spoilt by it, it was a £2700 option on my car and was rare as hell to find, no matter what car I'm going to have next, it probably won't have the top spec sound package, it's not going to live up...

[C2K]

Dynaudio is winrar. Epic quality sounds packaged in an OEM setup. Really finishes the car off nicely in terms of being a nice place to be!

I know right!

Problem is now, I've been totally spoilt by it, it was a £2700 option on my car and was rare as hell to find, no matter what car I'm going to have next, it probably won't have the top spec sound package, it's not going to live up...

A snip at £525 for my GTD system then!! 8 speakers, an amp and a spare wheel mounted sub. Nice.

Top tip - save interior jobs for rainy days!

Given it was completely lashing it down I set out to complete some interior jobs - i.e. find why my centre console didn't light up. It's a little different than my HDi was, and given none of the 4 bulbs lit up I expected to find it unplugged (as with everything else on this car, formerly owned by a muppet), but to my surprise all 4 bulbs were blown. Fortunately, having scrapped numerous heaps of s**t over the years i've amassed a few of the correct bulb, and managed to sort this out pretty easily.

Bombsite:


Light at the end of the tunnel:


Seen the light:


Afterwards I took the clocks out to find why I had dark spots at 40, and 5000RPM as per this pic:



The two bulbs looked ok on visual inspection, but failed continuity - in the bin they went and in go two more spares:



Success! Another two minor jobs off the list.

[Matt-Rallye]

Love the attention too little details! if you ever sell this car just pm me a price lol

On another note my brothers TSi golf has the top spec sound package, epic sound quality and not too much bass like most manufactuers go for.

[C.A.R.]

I had this faff of a task not long ago replacing bulbs. Question is, how much of the dash had you reassembled before realising you had more blown bulbs?

Satisfying when it's done though.

[C2K]

I had the dash in pieces knowing what to look for though, so went in armed with a plan.. thats my style.

I wouldnt describe myself as a perfectionist, but certain things irritate me and I can't leave them be.

[Toms306]

Guess I must be a perfectionist then.

Must admit the Rallye seems to be getting the attention it deserves now!

Btw, what tar remover (or similar?) do you use....wasn't a spot of tar on the HDi when I got it lol!

[C2K]

I use auto finesse oblitarate but tbh theyre all in the same vain, but cant remember if I used it on the hdi. The roads I commuted on were pretty old but in good nick, it was mostly past farms and stuff then main arterial a roads.. I actually bought the tar remover as the mini was splattered with it up the doors when we got it, despite being valeted.

Im lucky enough to have the skills and the resources to do what needs to be done now, but time was a premium for a long time. If im going to do a job I tend to do it right, sure I do a temp fix and forget to make it permanent now and then but no need to rush this, its not a daily!

[Toms306]

Ah I see, for some reason our cars get covered in sticky spots of what I can only assume is tar pretty quickly. They don't jetwash off either and its annoying that the car never looks clean because of it, plus I don't have the patience for claying lol.

[C2K]

I had a spot of time yesterday so though i'd tackle the bonnet. It had been destickered previously, ignore the bottom left corner - my mate did that on a whim about 6 months ago to see if it would shine nicely.

Masked up 50%


Polishing done and a few 50:50 shots to show what i've been trying to correct.




After that I polished the other half but naturally the fading light made it a little difficult to see. It's difficult with white polish on a white car.

[mcvite]

Looking good mate

[C2K]

So took advantage of the nice weather today, and have spent all day outside. Mostly in the garden though, but found a bit of time for the Rallye. Today I bring you more proof that this car was formerly owned by a bodge artist of epic proportions....

I refitted the front arch liner and cleaned the front wheel up whilst it was off, then set about finding out why I had been losing fuel - but only when filling up. I had noticed, though couldn't fathom why, that the leak was proportional to how much I pulled the trigger on the fuel pump!!

As per earlier posts I had already changed the filler elbow for a new one, so I knew it wasn't that. The arch liner was already off, so having a quick sniff in the wheel arch I got a suspicious whiff of fuel halfway up the filler. Only one thing for it, off it comes....

Of course, this is the bit where one and one come together...



Oh look, there is some very professional looking masking tape there... clearly OEM... I must investigate further...



Oh deary me, the masking tape was hiding a massive blob of epoxy, which you can guarantee has been attacked by the petrol.. What a bodge..

So why is there a hole there? Well my friend, that one I do have the answer to... I have a roll cage.. which bolts to the rear wheel arches... which someone's obviously drilled with no regard for what was in the arch!!



I'm at a loss for words.. so this pic sums it up for me:

[Niall]

well at least you found what it was!

[C.A.R.]

Gaffa tape fixes everything, no?!

It's like the instant gasket a very well known garage used on a tapper GTi6 after a skim...

[Toms306]

I've seen plenty of bodges across 306s but that's gotta be one of the best!

[Dum-Dum]

That's f*cking quality lol. I'm sure I never owned your rallye lol

[ozonehostile]

Lmao what a fine bodge

[C2K]

I had been racking my brains as to why it would only leak at the petrol pump, and i kept getting the occasional whiff as I passed the car so when i had some time naturally I had a look. I honestly could not believe my eyes lol, seriously what a muppet.

It was built to MSA blue book in terms of the cage and the seats but the car itself shouldn't have been near a track. Worn out p bushes, dead balljoints, cheap scratty coilovers, mismatched budget tyres on lasers, all sorts of daft things like that.

Still, almost bodge free now!!

[Tom]

Epic, thats a get you home when your stranded bodge at most haha!

[C2K]

Indeed it is! Can't believe he was tracking it on that - especially given his attitude to track days was to tow the car there so that if he binned it he could at least get home!!

Imagine if you rolled it, the petrol would be everywhere!!

Just picked me up some of these badboys!!


Made by Russian guy over on the GTi6 forum, he'd made a batch of them to his own designs two years ago in the quest for more adjustability. He'd originally sold them all and I missed out through being too slow to the party, but turns out 3 sets never sold so if you want some you better be quick as i've just bought a set!!

[C2K]

Today was a slow day. I was meant to go to work but couldn't be arsed so sacked it off. Managed to get a bit done on the car at least, but as ever i'm avoiding major mechanical jobs as I don't want to immobilise it before a house move!

So, time to sort out the dodgy rear washer jet. It had worked once, but recently the pump just whirred away and nothing happened. I needed to take the spoiler off anyway to sort out a couple of spots of rust, so off she came:



Quick scrub of the shut, again there was more ming growing in here. Auto Finesse Citrus Power again.



So, whilst that was taking effect, I stuck a big needle into the washer jet.. it spurted some black filth out at me like a tube of paste lol.



So, in with the needle again, only this time it spat at me like a naughty child!



After this it still wasn't pumping, so off with the nozzle! Quick wash in a bucket and tap it on the roof...



Nice! Put it back together and... ta-da!



I suspect it was just bacterial growth, from the stagnant screenwash sitting in the tube for so long whilst I was in Africa. We get it with oil systems at work quite a lot, where the conditions are just right for bacteria to propagate.

So, touched up these spots of rust quickly whilst I was there:



And took the lights out to clean all the moss and ming out!



After that, I hoovered an absolute ton of s**t out the back! Bit more respectable now. And that'll do for tonight.

Short of continuing to polish it, not much more I can do now without taking big stuff apart.

[ozonehostile]

i certainly don't miss the never ending mission that is trying to keep a Bianca 306 clean aha

[C2K]

Yes indeed, you are very right. The birds drag shit off the house roof too so with it being in front of the garage there is a constant stream of debris on the roof. Once i've got it shiny, i'll give it a good coat of wax. Just trying to stop things growing in the dark places!!!