Discussion
Oh well. All it took was for me to rent another garage, meaning 2 extra parking spaces, and in the space of a month, I've filled both of them. The second as of this evening.
I'll apologise in advance for the lack of pics in this particular post, but it was dark when I got home, so tomorrows update will address this unforgivable shortcoming.
This is a bit of an experiment. Pre-covid, I was taking my 2003 Evo 8 around Scotland every easter, in convoy with a bunch of like minded space cadets for a 3 day fix of lunacy. This, while fun, was an extraordinarily expensive gig in the Evo ( fuel consumption chiming in at 17mpg or less, often finishing off rear pads and front discs ( APs ), 2 windscreens in 3 days on one particular trip and a turbo that shat itself the last time, requiring a replacement and a remap. It's also done the front end paintwork no favours, nor the plastic headlamp protectors, which have been replaced twice now. I could have had a fortnight in the Bahamas for a fraction of the costs involved, but why apply common sense and deprive yourself of fun, right?
However, in deference to the fact that, despite putting it through this, it's become the most valuable vehicle I own by some distance, and has only 53k miles on it, I've gone halfers with a mate on a blue metallic, 6 careful owners from new, 2001, 108k miles, FSH, 11 months MOT 2 seater mid engined roadster with leather interior, what could possibly be almost new, quite desirable unmarked OZ alloys, but which, to my eyes, don't suit the car, and with a sadly appalling mix of low rent rubber, a somewhat less than weatherproof hood, and a particularly low rent cone filter, which, through being recently oiled, appears to have upset the MAF sensor. There are clearly some oil leaks. It also has the bizarrely placed TTE rear spoiler. There are some scratches and dents, none of which are insurmountable. One key, which just has enough juice in the fob to operate the central locking. I can't decide whether or not 100 miles approx every year for the last 3 years between MOTs is a good thing or not.
On the upside, there are many pluses. It was 4 miles away. I live in Newcastle, and the last time I bought a vehicle it involved an overnight stay in Dartford. In lockdown. So this being so close was a rare treat and a major inducement. On Tuesday, when I first looked at it, there were dasboard lights, but it needed the help of jump leads to crank. After 5 weeks of inactivity it started instantly and was silent from cold with no oil smoke. These things can be prone to burning oil, which you can often smell and see on the dipstick, but the oil was clean and to the level. There was no mayo on the filler cap. Tonight, even though it had only run for 15 mins the other night, it fired up with no assistance, so hopefully a decent battery.
Despite the vendor operating a business discouragingly named " Cat cars ", out of a premises that wouldn't have surprised me to have had bouncers to throw you in and "wipe your feet when you leave signage" at the exit, and which generally could be compared unfavourably to Brad Pitt's caravan site in Snatch, it's HPI clear.
It has FSH, with some invoices, together with all of the original books, inc. the instructions for the factory alarm in the factory leather wallet. It has 11 months MOT. Further sleuthing appeared to confirm the actual existence of the test station. The condition of the interior, which is leather, is very good. Everything works, and it appears remarkably free of rot. It feels exceptionally tight to drive, light clutch, decent gearchange, nice steering, no untoward noises. The discs and 3 of the calipers are new. The radiator appears to be in great condition and there are no signs of previous leaks in the vicinity of it's location.
And all this for £900! Half of the admittedly wildly optimistic initial asking price, due to my inherent charm and product knowledge. I might have made the charm part up. However, for whatever reason, I really got on with the seller, and despite dubious appearances, he was a great guy to deal with.
My best mate, Scotland madness co-driver, who is also in for the princely sum of £450, and will be taking on half the brunt of any costs, plus inputting his mechanical expertise, drove it back to my place this evening and pronounced himself to be delighted with it. As am I. High praise from two ex Toyota employees, especially as he was a spannerman of some note in local Toyota circles back when these were current. Well, we'll be delighted until the motor lunches itself due to the inevitable disintegration of the pre cats anyway, at which point I suspect things may turn a little sour. To help prevent a stage 5 wallet remap, I intend to instigate a conversation that may culminate in the removal of the innards of said cats, although given the presence of heat wrap on the manifold, it's possible someone has hopefully had enough knowledge and beaten us to it. Or more probably, just had the foresight to fit this due to the absence of the standard heat shield.
The plan is to insure and tax it for a month, find and fit a standard airbox, clean or replace the MAF, use it instead of the Evo to lap Scotland in, get it aesthetically and mechanically as good as practically financially possible, and see if we can at least regain our outlay in the summer.
We'll address the oil leaks. I need to find a tame dent guy. I reckon me and my trusty polisher can remove most of the scratches, and I have various tricks to disguise those which prove to be more stubborn. The driver's side vent in the quarter panel will unavoidably require paint. I suspect tyres will have to be factored in before the off, as I don't fancy anything remotely wet, weather wise, on the 4 excuses it's currently shod with. We're also talking about at least supplying it for sale with a replacement roof. All of this assumes we don't launch it into a Loch, or throw it terminally and irreparably deep into the Scottish scenery while trying to keep up with some undoubtedly faster and more exotic company.
More when daylight and further inspection allows.
I'll apologise in advance for the lack of pics in this particular post, but it was dark when I got home, so tomorrows update will address this unforgivable shortcoming.
This is a bit of an experiment. Pre-covid, I was taking my 2003 Evo 8 around Scotland every easter, in convoy with a bunch of like minded space cadets for a 3 day fix of lunacy. This, while fun, was an extraordinarily expensive gig in the Evo ( fuel consumption chiming in at 17mpg or less, often finishing off rear pads and front discs ( APs ), 2 windscreens in 3 days on one particular trip and a turbo that shat itself the last time, requiring a replacement and a remap. It's also done the front end paintwork no favours, nor the plastic headlamp protectors, which have been replaced twice now. I could have had a fortnight in the Bahamas for a fraction of the costs involved, but why apply common sense and deprive yourself of fun, right?
However, in deference to the fact that, despite putting it through this, it's become the most valuable vehicle I own by some distance, and has only 53k miles on it, I've gone halfers with a mate on a blue metallic, 6 careful owners from new, 2001, 108k miles, FSH, 11 months MOT 2 seater mid engined roadster with leather interior, what could possibly be almost new, quite desirable unmarked OZ alloys, but which, to my eyes, don't suit the car, and with a sadly appalling mix of low rent rubber, a somewhat less than weatherproof hood, and a particularly low rent cone filter, which, through being recently oiled, appears to have upset the MAF sensor. There are clearly some oil leaks. It also has the bizarrely placed TTE rear spoiler. There are some scratches and dents, none of which are insurmountable. One key, which just has enough juice in the fob to operate the central locking. I can't decide whether or not 100 miles approx every year for the last 3 years between MOTs is a good thing or not.
On the upside, there are many pluses. It was 4 miles away. I live in Newcastle, and the last time I bought a vehicle it involved an overnight stay in Dartford. In lockdown. So this being so close was a rare treat and a major inducement. On Tuesday, when I first looked at it, there were dasboard lights, but it needed the help of jump leads to crank. After 5 weeks of inactivity it started instantly and was silent from cold with no oil smoke. These things can be prone to burning oil, which you can often smell and see on the dipstick, but the oil was clean and to the level. There was no mayo on the filler cap. Tonight, even though it had only run for 15 mins the other night, it fired up with no assistance, so hopefully a decent battery.
Despite the vendor operating a business discouragingly named " Cat cars ", out of a premises that wouldn't have surprised me to have had bouncers to throw you in and "wipe your feet when you leave signage" at the exit, and which generally could be compared unfavourably to Brad Pitt's caravan site in Snatch, it's HPI clear.
It has FSH, with some invoices, together with all of the original books, inc. the instructions for the factory alarm in the factory leather wallet. It has 11 months MOT. Further sleuthing appeared to confirm the actual existence of the test station. The condition of the interior, which is leather, is very good. Everything works, and it appears remarkably free of rot. It feels exceptionally tight to drive, light clutch, decent gearchange, nice steering, no untoward noises. The discs and 3 of the calipers are new. The radiator appears to be in great condition and there are no signs of previous leaks in the vicinity of it's location.
And all this for £900! Half of the admittedly wildly optimistic initial asking price, due to my inherent charm and product knowledge. I might have made the charm part up. However, for whatever reason, I really got on with the seller, and despite dubious appearances, he was a great guy to deal with.
My best mate, Scotland madness co-driver, who is also in for the princely sum of £450, and will be taking on half the brunt of any costs, plus inputting his mechanical expertise, drove it back to my place this evening and pronounced himself to be delighted with it. As am I. High praise from two ex Toyota employees, especially as he was a spannerman of some note in local Toyota circles back when these were current. Well, we'll be delighted until the motor lunches itself due to the inevitable disintegration of the pre cats anyway, at which point I suspect things may turn a little sour. To help prevent a stage 5 wallet remap, I intend to instigate a conversation that may culminate in the removal of the innards of said cats, although given the presence of heat wrap on the manifold, it's possible someone has hopefully had enough knowledge and beaten us to it. Or more probably, just had the foresight to fit this due to the absence of the standard heat shield.
The plan is to insure and tax it for a month, find and fit a standard airbox, clean or replace the MAF, use it instead of the Evo to lap Scotland in, get it aesthetically and mechanically as good as practically financially possible, and see if we can at least regain our outlay in the summer.
We'll address the oil leaks. I need to find a tame dent guy. I reckon me and my trusty polisher can remove most of the scratches, and I have various tricks to disguise those which prove to be more stubborn. The driver's side vent in the quarter panel will unavoidably require paint. I suspect tyres will have to be factored in before the off, as I don't fancy anything remotely wet, weather wise, on the 4 excuses it's currently shod with. We're also talking about at least supplying it for sale with a replacement roof. All of this assumes we don't launch it into a Loch, or throw it terminally and irreparably deep into the Scottish scenery while trying to keep up with some undoubtedly faster and more exotic company.
More when daylight and further inspection allows.
Edited by Heaveho on Friday 23 February 00:27
Wow, what a day!
Pics.......start of the day.
The roof's a right clip.....
The wheels are new, but it's a no from me.....
These are meant to be black. Some knobhead though this was an improvement.......
Not only did someone design a purpose built kit to muller the MAF, but some idiot actually paid for it and fitted it....
Battery is superb.....
Absolute result with this. The original manifold has collapsable pre cats that turn to dust over time, then get ingested back into the cylinders under vacuum, turning the cylinders and rings to scrap. Someone with common sense has seen the light and fitted an aftermarket manifold with the pre cats deleted....saved us hours of fun, as we had put aside this afternoon for dismantling the exhaust and smashing them out.....
This...........
and this cheered me up immensely........
as did the general lack of corrosion........
wire brushed, black paint and Lanoguard......
and again.........
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/U9vq7ULp[/url
standard airbox and pipework going back in..........
Pics.......start of the day.
The roof's a right clip.....
The wheels are new, but it's a no from me.....
These are meant to be black. Some knobhead though this was an improvement.......
Not only did someone design a purpose built kit to muller the MAF, but some idiot actually paid for it and fitted it....
Battery is superb.....
Absolute result with this. The original manifold has collapsable pre cats that turn to dust over time, then get ingested back into the cylinders under vacuum, turning the cylinders and rings to scrap. Someone with common sense has seen the light and fitted an aftermarket manifold with the pre cats deleted....saved us hours of fun, as we had put aside this afternoon for dismantling the exhaust and smashing them out.....
This...........
and this cheered me up immensely........
as did the general lack of corrosion........
wire brushed, black paint and Lanoguard......
and again.........
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/U9vq7ULp[/urlstandard airbox and pipework going back in..........
The car had a running fault when we bought it. It basically didn't want to rev. I put it down to the cone filter, and noted in the SH that the K&N had been oiled during a service. Which would suggest the MAF was probably knackered. I heard about a Roadster being broken for spares locally and scored for the airbox and MAF for £20. I swapped the MAF when I got home, and it fixed it, so removed the K&N and refitted the standard airbox, as I didn't want another dead MAF.
It was on the ramp for about 4 hours, during which time it became apparent it had had a new rear subframe, 4 recent discs, handbrake cables and 3 new calipers. The rad is in great nick. We replaced loads of missing trim clips, re-welded a buzzy exhaust heat shield, and re-affixed loose undertrays. For how little we paid, we're both stunned with what we've ended up with. It has some expensive options, TTE rear spoiler and stainless rollover hoop. And then we drove it! With the MAF fixed, it turned out to be a quiet, freespinning, revvy engine, light clutch, lovely gearchange and steering. Very tidy leather interior, factory Sony double din head unit. But a knackered electric aerial. Heartbreak. Everything else works faultlessly.
The side vents will hopefully be replaced with the standard black ones on Monday from the same donor that the airbox came off, along with the black trim in the centre of the rear bumper, which isn't the best. I need a dent guy. Badly! The paint has so far responded very well to attention with an orbital buffer. We're currently searching for a set of standard alloys with decent tyres, as the wheels on it now, OZ racing, are possibly almost new and unmarked, but not to our taste. The roof is an ongoing discussion.
I'm not often this surprised by how much car so little money can buy, today has been an unexpected motoring highlight.
It was on the ramp for about 4 hours, during which time it became apparent it had had a new rear subframe, 4 recent discs, handbrake cables and 3 new calipers. The rad is in great nick. We replaced loads of missing trim clips, re-welded a buzzy exhaust heat shield, and re-affixed loose undertrays. For how little we paid, we're both stunned with what we've ended up with. It has some expensive options, TTE rear spoiler and stainless rollover hoop. And then we drove it! With the MAF fixed, it turned out to be a quiet, freespinning, revvy engine, light clutch, lovely gearchange and steering. Very tidy leather interior, factory Sony double din head unit. But a knackered electric aerial. Heartbreak. Everything else works faultlessly.
The side vents will hopefully be replaced with the standard black ones on Monday from the same donor that the airbox came off, along with the black trim in the centre of the rear bumper, which isn't the best. I need a dent guy. Badly! The paint has so far responded very well to attention with an orbital buffer. We're currently searching for a set of standard alloys with decent tyres, as the wheels on it now, OZ racing, are possibly almost new and unmarked, but not to our taste. The roof is an ongoing discussion.
I'm not often this surprised by how much car so little money can buy, today has been an unexpected motoring highlight.
Mr Tidy said:
That looks like a bit of a bargain.
Whilst not hugely powerful it should be great for a Scottish loony trip as that's more about corners than long straights!
It was all I could do to keep up with it in our IS300 Sportcross on the way back home from the workshop! It's pretty quick, but it must only weigh about the same as a flip flop.Whilst not hugely powerful it should be great for a Scottish loony trip as that's more about corners than long straights!
Fallen on my feet. Broke all the rules, didn't really look at it properly, bought the first one we saw. I'm not entirely naive, but there's been more than an element of luck involved. If we can get it aesthetically to the condition it's in mechanically, there's a reasonable chance we'll come out of this in a situation financially where our wives actually believe we aren't the educationally sub normal, easily deceived, semi comatose, escaped mental patients with the fiscal acumen of a toddler, pair of biffs they've always understandably looked down on until now.
As always, I live in hope, not expectation.
Edited by Heaveho on Saturday 24th February 23:45
Edited by Heaveho on Saturday 24th February 23:48
Summit_Detailing said:
Used to sell these when new...great cars!
Looks like you lucked in on finding a nice one too.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Chris
Thanks, I worked for Toyota for a few years, but these came out the year after I left and I'd never driven one. It's one of the most surprising cars I've ever driven. What I expected and what I got are poles apart. Everything about it feels just so right, even on crap tyres. Currently trying to address that.Looks like you lucked in on finding a nice one too.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Chris
The thing it really needs is the thing I imagine you do now going by your username!
So this had another scrub today. I managed to score for a pair of mint side vents from the breaker I got the airbox from. £20. Happy days.
I gave the outside a quick chamois to get the rain and Saturdays workshop session handprints off it, and blacked the tyres. The roof is mullered and looked utterly skanky, so I took the unusual step of giving it a wipe over with some of the tyre dressing to ginger it up aesthetically. As experiments go, cheap fix. It looks very different after todays efforts, very much smarter than it had been a couple of hours previously and has made me all the more enthusiastic about getting it as nice as is practically possible.
The engine bay given the toothbrush and dry paintbrush treatment to rid it of surface grime before the application of a splash of dressing on the plastics.
The frunk got the same treatment. I swapped the wiper spindle nuts around, the domed one is meant to be on the passenger side, as it's the only one on show when the bonnet is closed. All of the trim clips are now fitted, it had loads missing.
I've brought the service history file in, as it has the details of the supplying dealer. I'm going to have a local number plate supplier make up a replica set of original dealer plates, rear screen decal and tax disc holder. One of tonight's jobs is searching the net to see if that model year should or shouldn't have the larger rear plate that some Toyotas of this era sometimes were supplied with. Details matter!
Unbelievably the entire handbook package is still present and complete after 23 years and 6 owners.
We ordered a pair of rear bumper grilles, as ours don't stand up to close scrutiny. Ebay. £20. So far everything we've bought for it has been £20! I had been hoping to take these from the breaker we got the other bits from, but sadly, being an import, the o/s had been butchered to fit a rear fog light.
There's rust on the engine lid around the mounting points for the TTE rear spoiler. There are 2 blue engine lids currently for sale on ebay, both without spoilers which we would prefer, both look to be in nice nick. Typically, one at £50 at the other end of the country and collection only, the other do-able for collection 100 miles away but twice the price! I'm going in on the phone with my best negotiating skills for the nearer one. We think the spoiler will be valuable to someone else as it's a dealer supplied option, so will maybe be able to come out of the bootlid scenario without any financial hit. Not having to paint either the original lid or any used item we buy will obviously be a saving.
My co-owner has also been busy, and has found another local Roadster owner who wants to do a straight swap with his standard alloys with reputedly decent tyres for our OZ racing ones. If they're any good, game on. We both have sets of standard wheel bolts and genuine Toyota locking wheel nuts from our days working at the dealers.
When ( if ) we get the original wheels on, the calipers and hubs will be much more on show, so I'll repaint all of that. Not a very pleasant job, not one I really enjoy, but the results are always worth the effort if you're diligent about prep and masking up.
Total outlay so far £960, plus some fuel, plus our labour ( so far about 9 hours between us ) and bits and bobs we've already had in the garage, trim clips, valeting stuff, etc. Think it's fair to say that this week will begin to see costs mount up what with number plates etc, various incoming ebay purchases and taxing and insuring it on the 1st of the month. So far, I don't begrudge it a penny. Once it's as good as we can get it, in theory it'll go back on the market and if successful, we may go halves again on something. However, we're both very taken with it, as is my mates wife, so who knows!
I gave the outside a quick chamois to get the rain and Saturdays workshop session handprints off it, and blacked the tyres. The roof is mullered and looked utterly skanky, so I took the unusual step of giving it a wipe over with some of the tyre dressing to ginger it up aesthetically. As experiments go, cheap fix. It looks very different after todays efforts, very much smarter than it had been a couple of hours previously and has made me all the more enthusiastic about getting it as nice as is practically possible.
The engine bay given the toothbrush and dry paintbrush treatment to rid it of surface grime before the application of a splash of dressing on the plastics.
The frunk got the same treatment. I swapped the wiper spindle nuts around, the domed one is meant to be on the passenger side, as it's the only one on show when the bonnet is closed. All of the trim clips are now fitted, it had loads missing.
I've brought the service history file in, as it has the details of the supplying dealer. I'm going to have a local number plate supplier make up a replica set of original dealer plates, rear screen decal and tax disc holder. One of tonight's jobs is searching the net to see if that model year should or shouldn't have the larger rear plate that some Toyotas of this era sometimes were supplied with. Details matter!
Unbelievably the entire handbook package is still present and complete after 23 years and 6 owners.
We ordered a pair of rear bumper grilles, as ours don't stand up to close scrutiny. Ebay. £20. So far everything we've bought for it has been £20! I had been hoping to take these from the breaker we got the other bits from, but sadly, being an import, the o/s had been butchered to fit a rear fog light.
There's rust on the engine lid around the mounting points for the TTE rear spoiler. There are 2 blue engine lids currently for sale on ebay, both without spoilers which we would prefer, both look to be in nice nick. Typically, one at £50 at the other end of the country and collection only, the other do-able for collection 100 miles away but twice the price! I'm going in on the phone with my best negotiating skills for the nearer one. We think the spoiler will be valuable to someone else as it's a dealer supplied option, so will maybe be able to come out of the bootlid scenario without any financial hit. Not having to paint either the original lid or any used item we buy will obviously be a saving.
My co-owner has also been busy, and has found another local Roadster owner who wants to do a straight swap with his standard alloys with reputedly decent tyres for our OZ racing ones. If they're any good, game on. We both have sets of standard wheel bolts and genuine Toyota locking wheel nuts from our days working at the dealers.
When ( if ) we get the original wheels on, the calipers and hubs will be much more on show, so I'll repaint all of that. Not a very pleasant job, not one I really enjoy, but the results are always worth the effort if you're diligent about prep and masking up.
Total outlay so far £960, plus some fuel, plus our labour ( so far about 9 hours between us ) and bits and bobs we've already had in the garage, trim clips, valeting stuff, etc. Think it's fair to say that this week will begin to see costs mount up what with number plates etc, various incoming ebay purchases and taxing and insuring it on the 1st of the month. So far, I don't begrudge it a penny. Once it's as good as we can get it, in theory it'll go back on the market and if successful, we may go halves again on something. However, we're both very taken with it, as is my mates wife, so who knows!
Turns out only the imports had the larger number rear plates, so it's a like for like.
Currently watching a job lot of parts inc. genuine floor mats. We think we can sell on the bits we don't need, and recoup costs. Tomorrow might be interior valet day. Anyone recommend a good black leather dye? It's generally in great nick inside, just want to tidy up the drivers bolster.
Also just watched a vid on Youtube showing how to remove the roof. It's fiddly and time consuming, loads of the interior has to come apart, and there's a million fasteners to lose, but not inherently difficult by the looks of things, so I might put my brave pants on and replace it at home if I can find a good used roof for reasonable money.
If we can tax and insure it for a month, do Scotland without becoming part of the landscape or blowing it up, get the dents out, fix the aerial, and replace the roof ourselves, and it ends up standing us £1500, we might make a grand on it. Doing all that and keeping it below £1500 is probably a bit optimistic though, and doesn't allow for fuel etc. As it stands, with a limit of £1500, there's £540 in the kitty, so it's likely an ask too far. However, we've been lucky so far, we aren't paying anyone else for labour costs, so we'll hope for the best.
Currently watching a job lot of parts inc. genuine floor mats. We think we can sell on the bits we don't need, and recoup costs. Tomorrow might be interior valet day. Anyone recommend a good black leather dye? It's generally in great nick inside, just want to tidy up the drivers bolster.
Also just watched a vid on Youtube showing how to remove the roof. It's fiddly and time consuming, loads of the interior has to come apart, and there's a million fasteners to lose, but not inherently difficult by the looks of things, so I might put my brave pants on and replace it at home if I can find a good used roof for reasonable money.
If we can tax and insure it for a month, do Scotland without becoming part of the landscape or blowing it up, get the dents out, fix the aerial, and replace the roof ourselves, and it ends up standing us £1500, we might make a grand on it. Doing all that and keeping it below £1500 is probably a bit optimistic though, and doesn't allow for fuel etc. As it stands, with a limit of £1500, there's £540 in the kitty, so it's likely an ask too far. However, we've been lucky so far, we aren't paying anyone else for labour costs, so we'll hope for the best.
pistolpete12 said:
I've had a few of these,
My current one I have had for 6 years,(although very far from stock) the remind me of my old mk1s
They are hugely underrated the more you drive it, the more fun you will have
Have a lot of fun around Scotland!!!
Thanks. I still have an "88 MK1. Got any spares for the Roadster I might be interested in? My current one I have had for 6 years,(although very far from stock) the remind me of my old mk1s
They are hugely underrated the more you drive it, the more fun you will have
Have a lot of fun around Scotland!!!
ferret50 said:
Smear of Tiger Seal on the wear points of the roof?
You will not see it from 10'!
Well, someone already had a go at that with mixed results. It's not pretty. But bizarrely still watertight, against all odds.You will not see it from 10'!
I'll apologise in advance for no pics and will rectify asap. I was interrupted by a numpty babbling crap and ended up working until it was dark.
So, the expense has started in earnest today. £80 for an engine cover in the correct colour that I have to travel 250 round trip miles to collect next week. But expect to at least offset the cost with the sale of the spoiler.
I ordered a set of number plates in the correct font with the supplying dealer logo, address and phone number, with blue border. I had the rear slightly enlarged to 5" deep so it fills the rear plinth, as it looks odd as is with a standard depth plate. It's not technically correct, but aesthetically more pleasing. They're also making matching rear screen decals ( x2 ) as I might replace the roof and hence the screen. The biggest expense so far at £85!
I bid on a job lot of bits on ebay. Won't pay much more than the £25 I put on today. There are parts we don't need, so hope to cherry pick what we want and re-sell the rest to cover it.
I spent a not especially pleasurable couple of hours valeting the interior, something I never really enjoy. More toothbrush and dry paintbrush action, plus a major Henry hoover session. On the plus side, I found a bag containing replacement clips for the side vents, half of the originals which exploded on removal, despite my best efforts. On the downside, my mate has already ordered new ones which we now won't need, and one of the trim rings around the heater controls flew off when I was cleaning. There's evidence this isn't it's first rodeo looking at the glue residue left behind.
However, the result is a very presentable interior, with room for minor improvement with regard to very slight renovation of the leather.
I also spent a short time having another go at some more of the scratches with a machine polisher. It's a slow but gradual improvement.
My new annoyance is the staining of the black window trims which appear to be resolute in not responding to my attempts at renovation. Even the machine polisher has had little effect. Things like this simply cause me to become obsessed with finding a solution, so they're on borrowed time now.
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